The Gist

An agreement is reached to help feed the world and export grain from Ukraine. Mike explains this musically, thus dipping to a Lerner & Loewe point. Plus, Biden's verbal struggles as compare to his Republican predecessors. And the first half of our interview with Linda Villarosa, author of Under The Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

UCLA law professor Adam Winkler says the recent SCOTUS ruling on handgun licensing wasn't just a gun rights case, it was the first step in a big shift toward taking more and more power away from the States to do anything to stem the tide of gun violence. In the Spiel, we play "Names In The News," including telescopes, former Clinton Officials, and the successfully fled. And, how hard is it to plan a coup anyway? Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Atlantic's Graeme Wood interviewed Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and travelled the country to assess the impact the 36 year old is having on a kingdom trying to unmoor itself from antiquity. President Biden might want to listen to this debrief. Plus, The January 6th Committee hears from some key figures on Teams Crazy and Normal. Also, the glories of the Webb Telescope and the valuable service it provides in our slow realization that the Hubble was lying to us all this time. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's no way to solve inflation if you don't understand what caused inflation.  And what caused inflation, aside from the supply chain, and the Ukrainian war was domestic spending. David Laibson Robert I. Goldman Professor of Economics at Harvard University drops by to offer his insight and solutions.  Also on the show, SCOTUS made fetuses people when it comes to abortion, but what about in other contexts? And in the Spiel, has Joe Biden lost his desire to fight? Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, we start with a podcast extra we held over from our Thursday interview with Professor of Rhetoric Jennifer Mercieca, author of Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump, about how the former President uses language as a weapon. And then, in honor of Boris Johnson's removal from the UK Prime Minister role, we listen back to Mike's 2016 interview with Financial Times columnist Ed Luce conducted shortly after Boris was named UK Foreign Minister. Luce is the author of Time to Start Thinking: America and the Spectre of Decline, and he shared some interesting insights about Boris as he rose to the top of UK politics. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The internet collectively dunked on an incredibly stupid statement about gun laws. Also on the show, Eric Barker, author of Plays Well with Others: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Relationships Is (Mostly) Wrong. Plus, it's an Antwentig! A new Lobstar is born. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Professor of Rhetoric Jennifer Mercieca, author of Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump, has submitted evidence to the January 6th Committee as to how Donald Trump uses words to incite violence more slyly than meets the eye. Plus, Boris Johnson is out, and a comparison of orphaned victims of gun violence tells us what we all know but seldom grapple with: the usual victims are usually forgotten. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Gofundme Link Washington Post Link Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anti-oil activist have taken to gluing themselves to works of art to make a point. As if we were going to pass that one up! Also on the show, we're joined once more by Sarah Longwell of the Bulwark, who reveals what her focus groups are telling her about the January 6th Commission. Plus, HIMARS systems are advanced weapons having a big impact in Ukraine; compared to American forms of threat abatement, they're pretty straight forward. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sarah Longwell, host of the podcast The Focus Group—and also host of actual bona-fide, gold-standard focus groups—reports on the changing sentiment after the Dobbs ruling. Plus, a president tries to shame companies into lowering prices, while a governor thinks now is the time for fiscal stimulus. And the Highland Park shooter is, in some ways, atypical, but, at the same, time horrifyingly familiar. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week's installment of Best Of The Gist, we listen back to a chunk of Mike's September 2020 interview with Jonathan V. Last, editor of The Bulwark. Last explains that although remaining optimistic with regards to the legitimacy of the SCOTUS, he is ultimately losing faith that some voters care not for a system of governance that is capable of functioning competently. Then, we listen to Mike's Monday Spiel on a similar theme. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 1954 film Salt Of The Earth was made under enormous strain. The production crew had been blacklisted; the cast was half professionals, half laborers; and J. Edgar Hoover's FBI was interfering with this supposed piece of communist propaganda. Writer and creator John Mankiewicz, along with director Aaron Lipstadt, discuss The Big Lie, their Audible Original story (via Fresh Produce Media) of the making of the film. Plus, no one much likes fact-checking Biden, and a USB stick lost in Japan leads to a reflection on the news—or maybe the world—adopting a tragic frame. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When it comes to Ukraine, former U.S. Army Lieutenant General Ben Hodges is more hopeful than much of the military establishment. The former Commanding General of the United States Army in Europe makes his case. Also on the show, the Supreme Court's makes for confusing case law...sometimes they're textualists, sometimes they find different justifications to suit their actual doctrinal goals. And in the Spiel, President Biden thinks the U.S. is experiencing comparatively low inflation, even though the facts say otherwise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Does Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony change everything, clarify vividly, or demand corroboration urgently? Possibly, definitely and not necessarily says Quinta Jurecic, Senior Editor at Lawfare. Plus, Mike analyzes the idea of an "Inverse-OPEC" not to be confused with the Upside Down NATO, and the Double Reverse Unesco. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cassidy Hutchinson, former Mark Meadows aid testifies before the committee that Donald Trump...did a lot. A Very lot. Plus, Princeton Professor of Sociology Patrick Sharkey and author of the 2018 book Uneasy Peace: The Great Crime Decline, the Renewal of City Life, and the Next War on Violence, talks about if we are indeed experiencing that next war. Plus, the left critique of Democratic leaders not doing enough to fight for abortion rights. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After Dobbs, the Supreme Court can lay claim to a lot of pejorative: "extreme," "unsafe," "unfair," "unkind" …but what about "illegitimate?" Also, how Chief Justice Roberts' lonely status is entirely unsurprising. Plus Mike interviews Kim Masters of The Hollywood Reporter and host of KCRW's The Business about the massive Netflix sell off, and how it changes what we, and Wall Street, thought about streaming. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, with recent gun reform regulations in our near past, the January 6th Hearings ongoing, and the ramifications of the overturn of Roe versus Wade yet to fully wash over us, we find ourselves yet again wondering about the future of our democracy. If only something could be done to lessen the chasm between the two parties…like maybe stop thinking about our politics as a binary equation? We thought it a good moment to listen back to Mike's January 14, 2020 interview with Lee Drutman about his then-new book Breaking The Two Party Doom Loop: The Case For Multiparty Democracy In America. Then, we replay Thursday's Spiel, in which Mike mulls over the Supreme Court's aforementioned ruling on guns. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Supreme Court says we have no right to our rights, and it leaves women to suffer. Mike looks at historic death rates from abortion and advances a constitutional argument to protect the youngest victims. We're also joined by Ben Wittes, Editor In Chief of Lawfare to talk about the Senate's Jan 6th hearings, discuss which version of stupid-versus-crazy best serves Trump as a legal defense, and what the costs of prosecution might be. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In his latest novel, Tracy Flick Can't Win, author Tom Perrotta attempts to wrestle his iconic character (which Reece Witherspoon helped to brand in the 1998 film Election) away from the zeitgeist and return her to the fictional universe he created for her. Mike and Tom discuss how one does that exactly. Also, you may not be following the internet the way Donald Trump does. And in the Spiel, Mike mulls over the Supreme Court ruling on guns. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When $4 to $8 million was allegedly stolen from his ranch, which had been hidden inside a sofa, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa was accused of covering up his status as crime victim. Mike attempts to track a tale that winds its way through Windhoek, a spy master, an antelope auction, and, possibly, a one-armed soccer star. Plus, Sunshine Hillygus, Professor of Political Science a Duke, talks about the wrong way we try to convince young people to vote. And a January 6th insurrectionist gets sentenced…after having been elected to office. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Pride flag is synonymous with inclusion…unless, of course, you are the color indigo. Confused? That's why we've convened another Vexillology Corner with Ted Kaye, secretary of the North American Vexillological Association and the author of Good Flag, Bad Flag. Plus, the Texas Senate committee on the Uvalde shooting convenes, as the US House of Representatives January 6th commission continues. And in the Spiel, a misleading CNN report purports to find massive racial disparities in hundreds of heat-related deaths, but the numbers just aren't there. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices