The Gist

On The Gist, Theresa May's resignation. In the interview, Dan Taberski's latest podcast series Running From Cops digs into the long-running reality series Cops to understand what's actually going on in those arrests on screen and how accurate the stories that we see are. He's here to talk about why the show is so watchable, how the cops work with cameramen to exploit those being arrested, and how...

On The Gist, a look at the worst arguments in the debate over abortion. In the interview, After Parkland follows the lives of those affected by the Parkland shooting. That includes Tori Gonzalez, who lost her boyfriend, Joaquin Oliver, to the tragedy. Gonzalez is on The Gist alongside documentary filmmakers Emily Taguchi and Jake Lefferman to discuss the making of the film, useful ways to talk abo...

On The Gist, Biden's electability. In the interview, eight states have passed bills to limit abortion access so far this year. And while these may not end up surviving challenges in court (whether Supreme or lower), getting an abortion is already difficult for women in many parts of the country. Planned Parenthood president Leana Wen reminds us that abortion providers can be vanishingly rare in so...

On The Gist, oh, Ben Carson. In the interview, Felipe Lopez was once billed the Dominican Michael Jordan. His star power even in high school led the team to play in bigger New York City venues—the better to fit the legions of fans who cheered as he carried Harlem's Rice High School to a championship victory. But his court domination dwindled in college, and in the NBA. Lopez joins The Gist to talk...

On The Gist, the gift to the Morehouse graduates is great, but should it be celebrated or just the standard? In the interview, Linda Taylor committed many crimes, but only one of them—welfare fraud—really mattered to politicians, the press, and the public. Anecdotes about kidnapping and possible murder would only get in the way of the portrait Ronald Reagan presented to American voters in 1976, of...

On The Gist, Grumpy Cat is dead. So are Bill de Blasio's chances at winning the White House. In the interview, 1999 might be the greatest year in film—think The Matrix , The Sixth Sense, and Fight Club . But does Magnolia belong in the great movie pantheon, and should we really have been as impressed with American Beauty as we were? Brian Raftery, author of Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew...

On The Gist, what correlates with anti-abortion views (and votes) more than being a man? Being a Republican. In the interview, Jared Diamond brings new meaning to the old slogan that the personal is political. The author of Guns, Germs, and Steel argues that just as individuals go through crises to which they may either adapt or flounder, nation states face moments that define their strength domes...

On The Gist, anti-abortion state legislatures know full well that the Supreme Court could one day turn on Roe v. Wade . In the interview, Chuck Rosenberg is a former U.S. attorney who also once worked for Robert Mueller. He's here to talk about his new podcast The Oath , where he sits down with other former government officials like Preet Bharara and James Comey and discusses the ins and outs of p...

On The Gist, the NBA draft lottery. In the interview, Richard Clarke doesn't have security clearance anymore, so on his podcast he talks to a lot of people who still do. His 10 years as a White House official gave him the bug for asking questions to sharp experts on matters of life or death—otherwise known as national security. Clarke joins us to talk about the need to make a "frenemy" out of Chin...

On The Gist, groans over Game of Thrones . In the interview, Maria Konnikova is back for another round of "Is That Bullshit?" Because Mike experiences less anxiety than most, he has often wondered if he has higher levels of anandamide—a neurotransmitter associated with regulating anxiety and stress—caused by a specific genetic variation. Maria walks him through the complicated biology, the researc...

On The Gist, Instagram and FOMO. In the interview, they say president Trump has killed comedy. But in Larry Wilmore's book, comedy isn't responsible for leading us to the "right" kind of outrage or political enlightenment. Its role—get this—is to make us laugh. "Activists should engage in activism, and I always feel like that's why we have these words that are different," Wilmore says. "Comedy exi...

On The Gist, magic mushrooms afoot! In the interview, every Avengers movie has an argument at its core. In the Marvel franchise's finale— Avengers: Endgame —director Anthony Russo says it's "that you can change destiny, but at the same time, you can't always change it on your terms." He and his co-director (and brother) Joe Russo weigh in on that, the term "fan service," and the fact that in the c...

On The Gist, maybe Trump wants to be impeached? Then it's a change of format as all the former and current producers of The Gist gather together for a roundtable. Founding producer Andrea Silenzi discusses the origins of The Gist, past producers Chris Berube and Mary Wilson talk about the thrills of covering the presidential debates, and current producers Pierre Bienaimé and Daniel Schroeder join...

On The Gist, president Trump's mixes and matches idioms all the time, but his rhetoric doesn't really suffer from it. In the interview, 2014 was full of retro vibes and repeats, with hits like "Happy," "All About That Bass," and "Blank Space" echoing older styles and Eminem's "Monster" recreating his past chart-topping collaboration with Rihanna. Chris Molanphy is on the show yet again to walk us...

On The Gist, do we need primary debates? We're starting our fifth anniversary celebration week with a look back at the past. Radiolab 's Jad Abumrad was a guest on the first episode of The Gist so he's back to reflect on the last five years, how podcasting has changed, and the impact of the medium. In the Spiel, podcasts aren't perfect, but they are progress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...

On The Gist, is it unusual that Attorney General William Barr didn't look at the underlying evidence covered in the Mueller report? In the interview, Tuca & Bertie is the new series from Lisa Hanawalt, best know for her art direction on Bojack Horseman . She's here to discuss the origins of her new series, all the jokes she fits into the background, and how she figured out if China exists in her s...

On The Gist, how many people have declared they're running for president? In the interview, breaking a record doesn't always mean going home a winner. Adam Levin learned that in his recent run on Jeopardy! , where he banked more money than any runner-up in the history of the game show (thus walking away with just $2,000). He tells Mike, a fellow Jeopardy! alumnus, about his tactics—and the fact th...

On The Gist, the latest in the Mueller report saga. In the interview, the Kentucky Derby is this Saturday, but this year, the horse racing event is overshadowed by high fatality rates among equines in California's Santa Anita Park: 23 have died in just three months. Peter Fornatale follows the races closely, and sees mismanagement on both the park's track and in the appeasement measures that follo...

On The Gist, the New Yorker's profile of John Bolton. In the interview, coders have gone from a band of misfits to rulers of Silicon Valley. Clive Thompson is out with a book about that evolution, which examines the reckless product design stoked by the pursuit of hockey-stick revenue growth and a lack of workplace diversity—whether across gender, socio-economic class, or even age. "The ageism is...

On The Gist, the news media is getting better at demoting the names of America's mass shooters. That's a good thing, even as the internet's darker corners do the opposite. In the interview, comedian Josh Gondelman is from Boston, but he often comes across as Minnesota nice. Can a comedian get laughs without being a bit of an asshole? Gondelman discusses that, his latest comedy album— Dancing on a...

On The Gist, the 2020 candidates' proposals shouldn't be compared to some progressive ideal, but to some of the stuff we spend taxpayer dollars on now. In the interview, the pace of technological change means we might only be catching onto malicious disinformation techniques after it's too late to counter them. Still, scientific inquiry is useful in telling us how manipulation works. In The Misinf...

On The Gist, the difference between one million and one billion. In the interview, Nathaniel Rich is here to discuss his new book Losing Earth about the decade of 1979-1989 and why they are so important to understanding America's political history of climate change and the current state of denialism we find ourselves in. In the Spiel, is impeachment worth it? If we don't will Trump get reelected?...

On The Gist, whether he's on the most electable part of the political spectrum or not, Joe Biden is about to go through the wringer. In the interview, winning a major sports championship is a thrill few ever get to know. But what happens when you keep stacking trophies, like the NBA's Golden State Warriors have done in recent years? The Athletic's Ethan Strauss covers the team, and wonders "if the...

On The Gist, Kate Smith's rendition of "God Bless America." In the interview, comedian and filmmaker Lake Bell is here to discuss her new tv series Bless This Mess . About a newlywed couple who move from New York City to Nebraska, it's a play on the fish-out-of-water trope, but packed with more jokes than you know what to do with. Bless This Mess airs on Tuesdays at 9:30pm on ABC. In the Spiel, th...

On The Gist, Rudy Giuliani was a big, loud, and busy distraction this past Sunday. In the interview, it's a round of "Is That Bullshit?" with Maria Konnikova. In the hot seat: the humble egg. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that eggs can increase your chances of heart disease. But is this study all it's cracked up to be? The nutritional science h...