On the Gist, Mike is out this week, so we’re digging in the archives for some of our best interviews. In the interview, Mike is joined by author, comedian, podcast host, and actor Michael Ian Black to talk about his latest book, A Better Man: A (Mostly Serious) Letter to My Son. Black was persuaded to write the book after publishing a New York Times op-ed on school shootings and gun control in 2018. Part advice and part memoir, A Better Man poses the question: why is it always boys and young men who are pulling the trigger? Black challenges readers to expand their definition of masculinity while refraining from denigrating qualities traditionally seen as feminine. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Cheyna Roth. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gist

Encore: Comedian Michael Ian Black Talks Masculinity

The Gist is on hiatus. In the interview from the Gist archives, Mike is joined by author, comedian, podcast host, and actor Michael Ian Black to talk about his latest book, A Better Man: A (Mostly Serious) Letter to My Son. Black was persuaded to write the book after publishing a New York Times op-ed on school shootings and gun control in 2018. Part advice and part memoir, A Better Man poses the question: why is it always boys and young men who are pulling the trigger? Black challenges readers to expand their definition of masculinity while refraining from denigrating qualities traditionally seen as feminine. Email us at thegist@slate.com Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Gist, #TedFled. In the Interview, his new documentary has been called “jaw-dropping,” “incendiary,” “riveting,” and “engrossing.” Sam Pollard’s new film MLK/FBI is about the bureau’s surveillance and harassment of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The film delves into new and declassified documents as well as restored footage to reveal the government’s long past of targeting Black activists. Pollard tells Mike, “I was just trying to tell a good story. About two men on the same trajectory one with a goal to take his people to the Promised Land, and the other one with a goal to stop that man from doing that.” Sam Pollard is an award winning director, editor and producer. He was nominated for an Oscar for his 1997 documentary 4 Little Girls, and has won two Emmys for his documentary editing. In the Spiel, we’re worried about the cows in Texas. Hat tip, Moo Muffs! Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Cheyna Roth. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

‘Till the Cows Come Home

On the Gist, we rush to Limbaugh’s judgment. In the Interview, political and media historian, Brian Rosenwald, joins Mike to talk about Rush Limbaugh’s rise to popularity in conservative media, his power as a voice and entertainer in talk radio, the influence he had on the Republican party, and who is primed to carry his torch over the AM dial or in podcasting. As a national broadcaster, Limbaugh developed a political perspective over his career that to the left perpetuated harmful ideas, and to the right, uplifted and championed their values. Limbaugh was awarded the presidential medal of freedom February 4, 2020, and died February 17, 2021 of complications from lung cancer at 70 years old. Rosenwald is editor of Washington Post’s Made By History blog, scholar in residence at the Partnership for Effective Public Administration and Leadership Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania, and author of Talk Radio’s America: How an Industry Took Over a Political Party That Took Over the United States. And we give up the spiel to keep talking to Rosenwald about the aftermath of Limbaugh. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Cheyna Roth. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Limbaugh’s Lamentable Legacy

On the Gist, Southern cold snap! In the Interview, Sonari Glinton is back! Which means we’re talking cars. Glinton and Pesca discuss GM's recent proclamation to go electric by 2025. Glinton says that it's not that car makers aren't making profits off of going electric, it's that General Motors' commitment is a sign that the state of things are grave. He projects that automotive companies will be entering into partnerships in an effort to solve environmental problems, and that the new Biden administration in conjunction with the depart of transportation will lead efforts to push the U.S. out of the recession. Glinton is a well-known host in the public radio and podcast realm, and is a former NPR business reporter covering the auto industry and economics. In the spiel, trying to predict the history books.  Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Cheyna Roth. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How History Will Remember Trump

On the Gist, Mike lives for the arguments Trump’s lawyers are making because, well, they’re really bad. In the Interview, “She loves America. For her, she was there showing support for the American political process.” SUNY Geneseo political science professor and author Karleen West talks to Mike about her mother’s participation in the January 6th insurrection. West has spent years studying insurrections in Latin America, but on January 6th, her personal and professional collided. Mike and West talk about how West’s mother is a strong woman, but doesn’t consider herself a feminist, the radicalization of her mother, and how her mother is still proud of her...despite not really knowing what her career is.  In the spiel, assailing democrats, and two words: Swiss cheese. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Cheyna Roth. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Directionless are Misleading

On the Gist, exploring the complexities of the personal stakes of the Senators in the Trump Impeachment trial. In the Interview, it’s the second half of our conversation with Jonah Blank, an anthropologist, writer, author, and former policy director for South and Southeast Asia on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Blank joins Mike to talk about the Myanmar coup, the default of cheering on populism, conflicts and communal violence, and the threat to democracy. Blank is author of Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God, and Mullahs on the Mainframe, and currently based in Singapore. He’ll be back on the show next week. In the spiel, picking apart Lindsey Graham.   Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Cheyna Roth. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the Victims are the Jurors

On the Gist, the prosecution in Trump’s Impeachment is firing on all cylinders. In the Interview, we take a look inside the FBI’s fight against white supremacy and domestic terrorism. Frank Figliuzzi is a 25-year veteran of the FBI. He joins Mike to talk about why the country needs a domestic terrorism law, the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol, and how the FBI is battling the threat from within the United States. Figliuzzi is the author of The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau’s Code of Ethics. In the spiel, like Gaston and the guys who went after Frankenstein’s monster before him, no matter what his defense says, Trump did incite an angry, pole-bearing mob. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Cheyna Roth. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Trump’s Lawyers Will Defend the Indefensible

On the Gist, the Belknap case is clear precedent. In the Interview, it’s round two of vaccine talk. Mike and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a former Detroit health director and epidemiologist, talk about equity and the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. They also discuss why we shouldn’t heroicize the pharmaceutical industry, using the issue of the sixth dose as a compelling example. El-Sayed’s new book Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide is out now. He’s also the host of America Dissected from Crooked Media, among many other projects. In the spiel, Trump’s defense tested a few losing arguments. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Cheyna Roth. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Belknaps and Bad Lawyers

On the Gist, ads for “The Big Game” are given the Pesca treatment.  In the Interview, it’s vaccine talk. Mike sits down remotely with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a former Detroit health director and epidemiologist about the COVID-19 vaccine. They talk about how social media has spread both information and misinformation, how the response to the coronavirus is eerily similar to climate change, and how Canadians have managed to get things right. Plus, when politics and health collide: El-Sayed’s new book Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide is out now. He’s also the host of America Dissected from Crooked Media, among many other projects.   In the spiel, George Shultz’ legacy as a public servant.  Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Cheyna Roth. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comparing COVID-19 vaccines and Climate Change with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed

On the Gist, cost of living and minimum wage around the U.S. In the Interview, journalist David Gilbert from Vice News joins Mike to talk about QAnon, the cult of disinformation, it's propulsion into 2021, and how people from all walks of life are susceptible to believing. Plus, Gilbert translates Marjorie Taylor Greene's floor speech, and explains why it wasn't a disavowing of Q or the conspiracy theories she still believes in.  In the spiel, it’s the first lobstar of the antentwig of 2021! Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Cheyna Roth. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taking QAnon Seriously

On the Gist, stripping Majorie Taylor Greene of her committee membership, but Republicans still want to keep her around. In the Interview, it’s coup talk. It’s part one of an interview with Jonah Blank, an anthropologist, writer, author, and former policy director for South and Southeast Asia on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Blank joins Mike to talk about the Myanmar coup, the default of cheering on populism, conflicts and communal violence, and the threat to democracy. Blank is author of Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God, and Mullahs on the Mainframe, and currently based in Singapore. He’ll be back on the show next week. In the spiel, Representatives Nancy Mace and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are fighting. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Cheyna Roth. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stand By Your Lunatic: Republicans Want Marjorie Taylor Greene to Keep her Committees

On the Gist, importing walkie-talkies into Myanmar. In the Interview, we’re coming into a new constitutional cycle, and it means Democrats could take quite a bit of power. Well, if they don’t blow it. We’ve been in the same Republican-dominated cycle for decades, according to Jack Balkin, author of The Constitutional Cycles of Time. Balkin and Mike talk about the extreme political polarization not seen since the Civil War, constitutional rot, and, just for fun, delve into conservative complaints about de-platforming and free speech. Balkin is a Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment and Director for The Information Society Project at Yale Law School. In the spiel, delving into the Trump files ahead of the Impeachment trial. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Cheyna Roth. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Impeachment Defenses

On the Gist, Alexei Navalny’s sentence. In the Interview, it’s part two of a conversation with historian Jill Lepore about her latest book: If Then: How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future. Jill discusses that with data mining and analysis there is greater potential for the demeaning of democratic processes, and why in 2021, accepting social media and twitter as a proxy for public opinion and polling could be risky. Lepore is an author, a New Yorker writer, and historian. She is also host of a podcast called The Last Archive from Pushkin. In the spiel, looking for relief? Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Cheyna Roth. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coronavirus Symptom Check

On the Gist, once a Nobel Peace Prize winner, now a war criminal. In the Interview, writer Jill Lepore joins Mike for part one of their conversation on her latest book: If Then: How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future, a precursor to data and polling companies. If Then is an account on the mid-century boom in the advertising industry and its overlap with political marketing. Lepore articulates the deep prejudice in polling at the time, the rise of awareness of computers, and how Simulmatics' people machine's duplicity was made legible. In the spiel, the GameStop/Wall Street debacle starring the usual suspects. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Cheyna Roth. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Making Fun of the GameStop Stonks

Slate's The Gist with Mike Pesca. A daily afternoon show about news, culture, and whatever else you'll be discussing with friends and family tonight.

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