The Gist - China Told Us Who They Were

In 1999, two colonels in the Chinese army authored a treatise titled “Unrestricted Warfar.” It told of plans to define war as to include corporate espionage, global pandemics, and trade violations. Retired U.S. Air Force General Robert Spalding writes about all that’s come to pass since that doctrine, in his new book, War Without Rules: China’s Playbook for Global Domination. Also, Ken Starr’s many misdeeds, and in the UK it’s God Save The Queue.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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The Gist - BEST OF THE GIST: Good News Edition

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, we listen back to the Tuesday Spiel about a recent spate of really fabulous news that just gets drowned out by the steady drumbeat of negativity. Then we listen back to Mike’s February 26, 2018 interview with Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, who argues that we’ve had a roughly 300-year run of steady improvements in technology, health, and civility, and that it just so happens that the only thing as constant as human progress is our tendency to focus on human shortcomings. Pinker’s interview corresponded with the release of Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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The Gist - An Oil Price Cap Could Work

Daniel Yergin, author of The New Map: Energy, Climate And The Clash Of Nations is fairly optimistic about the odds of success on capping oil prices. Mike and Vladamir Putin express doubts. Plus, immigrants on the Vineyard, and King Charles has it pretty good for a guy with limitless wealth and no oversight committee.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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The Gist - Putin’s Slick Substance

Daniel Yergin, an energy expert and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The New Map: Energy, Climate & Clash of Nations, diagnoses Putin’s oil strategy and explains why reliance on the country that provides 10% of the word’s oil supply lead to such massive disruptions. Plus, Swedes obsessed with gun crime, and Trump offers a worse trade than Detroit Lions. Also, Putin has some internal critics, for now.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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The Gist - Why Will Writes

After 50 years of columns, George F. Will realizes he writes in order to think. The Pulitzer Prize winner and author of American Happiness and Discontents discusses a political culture coming unmoored by degrees, and his stance on dungarees. Plus, MAGA-backed candidates will either damn their party or damn us all, and the tempting-but-deadly siren call of a pet kangaroo.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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The Gist - QAnon Shaman To His Left, Police To His Right

Luke Mogelson, author of The Storm Is Here: An American Crucible was right there in the Capitol when the insurrection brewed. He’s back to recount what he saw. Plus, there is a spate of fantastic news for children, combatants, and actresses in comedy series.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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The Gist - Crashing The Capitol

New Yorker staff writer Luke Mogelson was inside the Capitol as the QAnon Shaman and other insurrectionists took over the Senate Chamber. He had been chronicling clashes with extremist groups for years, as chronicled in his new book, The Storm Is Here: An American Crucible. Plus, Kamala Harris makes an argument about MAGA hurting the United States’ standing the eyes of others, and does the U.S. TV viewer really care THIS MUCH about the Queen?

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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The Gist - BEST OF THE GIST: Susan Orlean Extra + Juul To Pay $438.5 Million

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, some extra bonus content from our Wednesday interview with New Yorker staff writer Susan Orlean about her craft and the obituaries she’s been writing. And then we listen back to Wednesday’s Spiel about the recent $438.5 ruling against Juul for its role in marking vaping products to kids.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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The Gist - Oz and Incest

A few years ago, Dr. Oz gave an interview about cousin incest. He was wrong, he just didn't know he'd be running for Senate 8 years later. Plus, it's a Vexillology corner with Ted Kaye. In the Antwentig, when is a good time for pushback and when does Mike let it go?


Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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New American City Flags Survey

NAVA (The North American Vexillological Association) has launched a public survey to rate the designs of over 300 U.S. municipal flags adopted since 2015. The survey will run through November 30. We encourage all Gist fans interested in vexillography to take it. With so many new flags to rate, the survey results will provide a wealth of analytical information for community leaders, scholars, designers, hobbyists, and others interested in flags. Please visit the survey at https://bit.ly/cityflag-survey-pesca to make history in American city flags!

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The Gist - China Is Always Watching

Josh Chin, Wall Street Journal Deputy Bureau Chief in Beijing and co-author of Surveillance State: Inside China’s Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control, discusses just how effective the Chinese panopticon is, delivering government services to some, as it oppresses others. Plus, the special master decision gets a special appeal, and Queen Elizabeth’s passing results in an international outpouring.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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