The Gist - Do Strict Voter Laws Make a Difference?

Last summer, the Supreme Court stopped North Carolina from using a strict voter ID law that would likely disadvantage Democrats and “target African Americans with almost surgical precision.”

Now, the court is facing two more restrictive voter laws that could seriously change American elections. Rick Hasen covers the wild world of election law on his blog. He joins Mike to discuss the new cases, and other ways that Republican-governed states have tried to suppress turnout.

For the Spiel, a Pesca family musical postcard for the holidays.

Today’s sponsors:

Rocket Mortgage from Quicken Loans. Rocket Mortgage brings the mortgage process into the 21st century with an easy online process. Check out Rocket Mortgage today at QuickenLoans.com/gist.

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Bay Curious - What Happens to San Francisco’s Recycling Once It Leaves the Curb?

Take a trip to Recology's Recycle Central, where San Francisco's waste is sorted and sent off for processing. Join the Bay Curious team as they test your trash I.Q.


Reported by Lindsey Hoshaw. Produced and edited by Olivia Allen-Price, Vinnee Tong, Paul Lancour and Julia McEvoy. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller.


Ask us a question at BayCurious.org.


Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

The Gist - We Could Use Jon Stewart Right Now

Jon Stewart had a rough time hosting The Daily Show. By 2015, he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in years. Exposure to Fox News had taken a toll. Writer Chris Smith chronicles Stewart’s reign in a new oral history, which looks at the comedian’s broader impact on political culture. 

For the Spiel, Mike has cat scratch fever! Literally.   Today’s sponsors:

 

Betterment, the largest automated investing service. Get up to six months of investing free when you go to Betterment.com/gist.  

And Bon Appetit. For a limited time, you can give a one-year subscription to Bon Appetit for 15 percent off. Plus, they’ll even throw in a cool tote bag! Get this deal today by going to bonappetit.com/giveBA and use promo code 15OFF.

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Opening Arguments - OA27: Abortion and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Part 1

In this week’s episode, we return to the subject of abortion and pick up with a cliffhanger from way back in episode #11, where Thomas was asked how he would have handled what became the Supreme Court case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992).  We talk about that landmark decision, how it changed the … Continue reading OA27: Abortion and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Part 1 →

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The Gist - Putin Plays the Long Game

As Michael McFaul knows well, sometimes the interests of the United States and the interests of Exxon Mobil don’t line up. “You have to find oil where it is … and that tends to be controlled by autocrats around the world, and you have to do deals with them,” says McFaul, who was America’s ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014. Here, McFaul weighs in on the Rex Tillerson nomination for secretary of state, Russia’s likely hacking of the U.S. election, and Putin’s designs in the Baltics.

For the Spiel, what we know about Trump’s plan for Taiwan.   

Today’s sponsors:

Soothe. For a massage delivered right to your door, go to Soothe.com. Use code GIST at checkout and you’ll get $30 towards your first massage.

And LifeAfter.What happens to our digital lives when we’re gone? LifeAfter, a new series from GE Podcast Theater and Panoply, the creators of last year’s award-winning The Message, explores these very questions. Listen and download LifeAfter wherever you find your podcasts.

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