Month: October 2014

Russell Brand's calling for revolution now, to overthrow the system that he says supports extreme inequality. David Babbs, executive director of 38 Degrees, wants popular campaigns to bring about change and strengthen democracy. Juliet Barker re-examines the Great Revolt of 1381 and finds not a peasants' revolt but one by a new middle class in the shires, dissatisfied with a London elite. Philosopher Susan Neiman looks at how we are expected to abandon the adventures of youth if we are to grow up and asks, is there a new way to imagine what it means to be mature?

Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Today on The Gist, political writer Harry Enten from FiveThirtyEight reviews upcoming races of note, and the overall reliability of polling data. Plus, High Times editor-in-chief Dan Skye discusses the history of the magazine, and why he’s decided to reveal his real name. A new history of the magazine is out called High Times: A 40-Year History of the World's Most Infamous Magazine. For the Spiel, Mike steps out. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2

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Today on The Gist, Paul Slovic from Decision Research offers insight into panic psychology. Plus, whiskey sommelier Heather Greene guides Mike through an in-studio tasting: Tullamore Dew, Angel’s Envy, and Brenne. She’s the author of Whiskey Distilled: a Populist Guide to the Water of Life. For the Spiel, is the opera the The Death of Klinghoffer unconscionable slander or a mere trifle? Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2

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Today on The Gist, a question about opera that has (almost) nothing to do with the controversy over The Death of Klinghoffer at the Metropolitan Opera. Mike asks mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili, star of the Met’s new production of Carmen, what it’s like to perform opera — from a seated position. Then, why are real wages not growing anywhere near the rate they once did? Adam Davidson from NPR’s Planet Money gives the economists’ explanation. For the Spiel, we’d like to be trusted as much as we’re mistrusted. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2

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