Author: Peach Fish Productions

In another edition of Is That BS? Sadie Dingfelder joins to ask: is chatting with your ficus legit, or just verbal compost? The science of sound and strawberries might surprise you. Then in The Spiel, Mike breaks down Israel’s sweeping strike on Iran—targeting nuclear sites, scientists, and generals—in what may be a turning point for the region and for Ukraine. Also, New York Democrats choose between a grocery-store socialist and a mispronouncing Cuomo in just 11 days. Produced by Corey Wara
Production Coordinator Ashley Khan
Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠
To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Economist Allison Schraeger and Slow Boring’s Matt Yglesias join Mike to discuss the unrest in Los Angeles — and how to protest without giving Donald Trump a win. Then, the trio surveys the NYC mayoral mess — or, if not a mess, whatever government-run grocery stores are. Plus, the Big Beautiful Bill is only one of those things, and it’s the worse one. Goat Grinders: summer smells, promiscuous earbuds, and that final month of school when they stop even pretending to educate the children. Produced by Corey Wara
Production Coordinator Ashley Khan
Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠
To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New York Times reporter Jonah Bromwich joins to discuss Dragon on Centre Street: New York v. Donald J. Trump, his journalist account of the only Trump trial that resulted in a verdict. They explore how Alvin Bragg revived a politically fraught case using a little-known state election statute, and how, despite prosecutors’ storytelling edge in court, Trump’s narrative skills ultimately resonated more strongly with voters. Bromwich delves into the balancing act between legal ethics and electoral pressure that defined the prosecution’s strategy. Plus, a new Weinstein verdict, part familiar, part new, and part still undecided. Produced by Corey Wara
Production Coordinator Ashley Khan
Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠
To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Author Matt Hongoltz-Hetling returns with The Ghost Lab, a rollicking deep dive into New Hampshire’s paranormal subculture, where Bigfoot lurks behind every maple tree and alien abductees fill out grant forms. He profiles a ghost-hunting crew that includes a psychic medium, a paranormal paralegal, and a Bigfoot believer who swears the aliens took him more than once. What starts as a tour of fringe science becomes a sharp look at America’s low-trust spiral—where more people believe in demons than in their own democracy. Plus, up top: LA erupts in protest, and Gavin Newsom practically begs Donald Trump to arrest him. Produced by Corey Wara
Production Coordinator Ashley Khan
Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠
To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former Washington Governor Jay Inslee argues Democrats can win on climate—if they frame it as jobs, savings, and health, not just apocalypse. He points to his state’s 62–38 vote preserving ambitious emissions policy, even in red counties, as proof voters can be persuaded. But national polls rank climate near the bottom of priorities, and skeptics like Matt Yglesias say the green agenda may be driving voters away. Plus: it has become ordinary to label events extraordinary—plus the Spiel sorts hype from heat in L.A.'s latest explosion of ICE raids, flash-bangs and freeway fires. Produced by Corey Wara
Production Coordinator Ashley Khan
Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠
To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Replay of the interview Mike Pesca did with Ben Dreyfuss on The Gist List. Click the link below to subscribe for free to The Gist List.

The Gist List

Produced by Corey Wara
Production Coordinator Ashley Khan
Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠
To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Comedian, freestyler, and archaeology grad Chris Turner joins the show to explain how a middle-class British kid  became one of the most dazzling improv lyricists in comedy. From his early days writing one-liners to mesmerizing crowds at the Comedy Cellar with rhymes about chlamydia, Hispaniola, and Jerry Springer, Turner charts a path that makes no sense—until you see it live. He talks about bombing in polite accents, fax machines causing drive-by shootings, and why freestyling is more like tennis than chess. Plus: ear-wiggling, axolotl envy, and the double-edged sword of being good at something nobody believes you can do. Produced by Corey Wara
Production Coordinator Ashley Khan
Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠
To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Leah Litman, author of Lawless: The Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes, argues that originalism masks a partisan project, while critics counter that Roe’s reversal doesn't require conspiracy. Her pop culture–infused book uses The Barbie Movie, American Psycho, and Arrested Development to advance critiques of the conservative court. Plus, the NYC mayoral debate crammed nine candidates into two chaotic hours, yielding more zingers than substance. And in the Spiel, rather than accept the usual narrative about the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, a look at actual turnout data post-Shelby County v. Holder—which suggests far less than a real-world calamity. Produced by Corey Wara
Production Coordinator Ashley Khan
Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠
To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Law Professor Leah Litman, author of Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes argues that the current Supreme Court operates as a vessel for conservative grievance, with its most consequential 6–3 rulings forming the true shape of its ideological project. Litman insists those rulings matter more than any others—but is that because they affect more lives, or because non-6–3 decisions muddy the thesis? Along the way, she’s not afraid to indulge in snark and overstatement—defending her “vibes-forward” tone as capturing a kind of deeper reality. Mike subjects this vibes-nalysis to a bit of strict scrutiny. Produced by Corey Wara
Production Coordinator Ashley Khan
Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠
To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pulitzer Prize–winner Rick Atkinson joins to discuss The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777 to 1780, the second volume in his Revolutionary War trilogy. He explores the crucial but often-overlooked role of France, the underestimated grit of American generals, and the British strategic failures rooted in imperial delusion. Also in the show: Geert Wilders' far-right party pulls out of the Dutch coalition, prompting a government collapse. Immigration strains, war displacements, and global dominoes; we analyze why this Dutch de-Wilders meant such bewilderment. Produced by Corey Wara
Production Coordinator Ashley Khan
Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠
To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices