The Gist

On The Gist, Mike says goodbye to Roy Moore yet again, after an Alabama judge rejected Moore's lawsuit to contest his opponent's Senate win. In the interview, Dan Ariely tells us "how we misthink money and how to spend smarter." That's the subtitle of his book on the ways we value the wrong things and fail to think long term. Ariely is the co-author, with Jeff Kreisler, of Dollars and Sense . In t...

On The Gist, Mike runs through the major news of the past few days, while much of the news media is on vacation. In the interview, Hobby Lobby scored a famous Supreme Court win for evangelicals in 2014, allowing certain corporations to deny covering their employees' contraception costs. Professor of theology Candida Moss tells us about the family behind the company, and their crusade to promote fu...

On The Gist, Ken Stern explains why the deplorable label doesn't sit well with him, even if it's defensible. Stern is the author of Republican Like Me: How I Left the Liberal Bubble and Learned to Love the Right . In the Spiel, is life better in the U.S. or Europe? Mike considers it with David Plotz , CEO of Atlas Obscura . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hoste...

On The Gist, why the Republican tax overhaul is unlikely to spur hiring. Michael Carpenter explains what we lose when the Trump administration doesn't try to put the heat on Russia. Carpenter is a former deputy assistant secretary of defense and foreign policy adviser to former Vice President Joe Biden. He and Biden are the co-authors of the Foreign Affairs article, " How to Stand Up to the Kremli...

On The Gist, it seems that congressional investigators have nabbed a big fish: Jill Stein. Plus, New York Times columnist David Leonhardt explains why the Republicans absolutely had to pass the tax bill, even if polls suggest it could be an albatross around their necks during the midterms. Leonhardt authors the Times ' absolutely essential Opinion Today newsletter . In the Spiel: Income inequality...

On The Gist, Mike talks about the consequences of fast-tracking a major tax overhaul. In the interview, how did the team behind The Daily manage to create a show that's unlike anything we've heard before and also oddly perfect for this moment in news? Host Michael Barbaro and managing producer Theo Balcomb say they talked extensively about what they didn't want to sound like. "I was like, 'Oh my g...

On the Gist, why we shouldn't fret every time companies like Netflix show how they're using our personal data. In the interview, Maria Konnikova runs us through the foods that can turn your skin orange, blue, and red, and whether that's even a bad thing. Konnikova is the author of The Confidence Game . In the Spiel, what the latest Star Wars movie has in common with Donald Trump. Learn more about...

On The Gist, President Trump's judicial nominations are starting to look ridiculous. In the interview, comedian Jeff Ross got a little tired of his shtick as a go-to roast guy for Comedy Central's famous Friars Club sendups. So he started skewering not people, but places, ideas, and institutions. His latest special, ­­ Jeff Ross Roasts the Border , takes viewers to Brownsville, Texas, a city along...

Chris Hurst doesn't want you to know him as the guy whose girlfriend was fatally shot during a live broadcast. But it is a huge part of what compelled him to pursue elected office: "Part of what I want to do is … take this spotlight, that I wish I had a receipt for … 'cause I'd gladly return it, and shine it on people that aren't normally seen." Hurst is a newly elected state representative in Vir...

On The Gist, Omarosa makes for the exits. In honor of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees announced today, we're playing an excerpt from our live show last month, when we went over the ballot with Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy and Washington Post humorist Alexandra Petri. In the Spiel, reflecting on the Doug Jones win in Alabama. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adc...

On The Gist, the #MeToo movement is only influential insofar as its targets can feel shame and enact accountability. In the interview, biographer Robert Dallek accounts for Franklin D. Roosevelt's ruthless pragmatism. As president, FDR made the decision to round up 120,000 Japanese Americans to "strike resonant chords with most Americans," and he was silent on anti-lynching bills to appease Democr...

On The Gist, we can have sympathy for all kinds of people—just not the guy who loses all his money on bitcoin. In the interview, Lenora Chu tells the story of her American family's rude awakening to Chinese education practices. When Chu moved her family to Shanghai, she eagerly enrolled her young son into an elite Chinese public school. She expected academic rigor and an emphasis on work ethic. Bu...

On The Gist, is President Trump to blame for today's violence in Gaza? In the interview, columnist John Archibald surveys the Senate race in Alabama, where Doug Jones has become the abortion candidate and Roy Moore has become the Trumpism candidate. In the Spiel, don't talk to Mike about Trump's slurred speech. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simpleca...

On The Gist, Walmart gets a new name. In the interview, Slate 's Dahlia Lithwick thought about one thing when Senate Democrats started calling for Al Franken's resignation: Merrick Garland, which she points to as the beginning in a trend of Democrats trying to be honorable and Republicans trying to win at all costs. Are Democrats abandoning process too readily, only to see Republicans surge ahead...

On The Gist, Slate 's Jim Newell explains the moral and political case for forcing out Sen. Al Franken. Dozens of Senate Democrats called on Franken to resign after a seventh woman accused him of sexual misconduct on Tuesday. Bob Garfield has spent much of his journalism career talking to eccentrics. In his one-man show, Ruggedly Jewish , the quest to explore his own identity dovetails with the st...

On The Gist, why Alabama's decrepitude is not incidental to Roy Moore's competitive bid for Senate. In the interview, Russell Shorto tells the stories of six people living through the Revolutionary War—one is George Washington; the other five, you've probably never heard of. Shorto's book is Revolution Song . In the Spiel, a counterpoint to Jill Filipovic's New York Times column arguing that the s...

Before Pete Souza became the most famous troll on Instagram, he was the White House photographer for the duration of the Obama administration. Souza explains his approach to capturing moments and shares why he doesn't consider his work to be propaganda. His book of pictures from the Obama presidency is Obama: An Intimate Portrait . In the Spiel, should the store that sells you candy also sell you...

Bob Saget has long been known as the cuddly, sitcom dad with a surprisingly raunchy side. The comedian talks about the two shows that launched his career and the very first jokes he wrote as a teenager. Bob Saget 's comedy special is Zero to Sixty . In the Spiel, Mike pays an overdue visit to mail from listeners, and awards a Lobstar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adch...

There hadn't been an English-language novel about ethnic Koreans living in Japan until this year's Pachinko . Author Min Jin Lee chalks it up to the complicated history of the Korean Japanese. They were colonized by Japan, they were forced or compelled to migrate, and they were targets of anti-Korean discrimination. But Lee was surprised to find that many Korean Japanese don't see themselves as vi...

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were very different guys representing opposing political parties. Jefferson was a wildly popular aristocrat from Virginia; Adams was a middling, dyspeptic lawyer from Massachusetts. But they were fast friends, and their relationship ultimately survived a presidential election in which they faced off as candidates. Historian Gordon S. Wood explains why their friendsh...

Can you move toward greater income equality without asking America's richest to give something up? In a word, no. On The Gist, Richard Reeves argues that the upper echelons of the U.S. are bogarting wealth that would otherwise go to the middle class. His latest book is Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do Ab...

Elliott Abrams narrowly missed out on the State Department's No. 2 job under President Trump, and it wasn't just because of his sharp criticism of Trump, the candidate. In his book, Realism and Democracy , he argues that the U.S. should stay involved ­in the Arab world, going against the Trump administration's "America First" doctrine. Abrams also sounds off on Trump's use of the presidential pard...

Standup comic and writer Dana Gould talks to Mike about growing up in a family of manly hunters and writing a character inspired by his dad. Gould is the creator of IFC's Stan Against Evil , a show about a small-town New Hampshire sheriff who fights demons. In the Spiel, how to get a rise out of your uncle over the holidays. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Host...

The anti-war movement of 1968 looks inevitable today, but at the time, it felt "freaking bananas." MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell explains the charisma of Bobby Kennedy, the fervor of Eugene McCarthy, and the crushing blow they dealt to sitting President Lyndon B. Johnson, who withdrew from the campaign after a narrow win in the New Hampshire primary. O'Donnell wrote about the race in his latest book,...

In his 37 years as president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe has learned how to play hardball. While his past methods have invited sanctions for human rights violations, the 93-year-old is staying within the confines of the law to fend off the coup at his doorstep. Chipo Dendere , a visiting assistant professor of political science at Amherst College, tells us more. In the Spiel, Mike considers Charles...