Author: Peach Fish Productions

On The Gist, the Amazon is on fire.

In the interview, Sen. Jeff Merkley was the first member of Congress to visit the migrant detention centers along the border and view the atrocious ways we were treating the people forced to live there. He’s here to talk with Mike about the crisis, the failure of the Trump administration, and what we can do about it. His new book is America Is Better Than This: Trump’s War Against Migrant Families.

In the Spiel, Trump and Israel.

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On The Gist, Scaramucci was wrong about Trump.

In the interview, journalist David Robson is here to talk about his new book The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes. He and Mike talk the intelligence quotient, the blind spots smart people have, and why it might be a good idea to talk about yourself in the third person.

In the Spiel, Trump as all of America.

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On The Gist, if Peter Navarro wants to criticize the Wall Street Journal, he really ought to read it once in a while.

In the interview, it’s easy to condemn the CIA’s post-9/11 interrogation techniques in retrospect. But as agency alumnus Philip Mudd puts it, “boy, back then, people said ‘take out the stops, make sure it doesn’t happen again.’” He talks about the relative effectiveness of harsh interrogation techniques, and why that shouldn’t be a factor if ever American forces countenance them again (answer: the issue is a moral one). Mudd is a former deputy director at the Counterterrorism Center and the author of Black Site: The CIA in the Post-9/11 World.

In the Spiel, there isn’t all that much conservative hand-wringing over the New York Times’ special coverage of historical slavery in America… but what’s there is pretty uninspired.

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On The Gist, despite what Peter Navarro says, a yield curve inversion there was indeed (and a recession there may be).

In the interview, in a Democratic field crowded with grand policy promises, Tim Ryan’s more centrist ideas have been crowded out. But should they be? The Ohio congressman tells Mike about increasing manufacturing and focusing education on social and emotional learning.

In the Spiel, the difference between bad politics and bad policy.

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On The Gist, the varying sizes of Trump and Greenland.

In the interview, journalist Steve Rushin is here to talk with Mike about his new memoir Nights at White Castle. They discuss the amorphous nature of nostalgia, why children should go on boring vacations, and the podcast Ball & Chain that he hosts with his wife, basketball great Rebecca Lobo.

In the Spiel, Sha Na Na.

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On The Gist, Slate’s Jordan Weissmann tells guest host Sean McElwee which presidential candidates’ signature ideas are hot (and which are not).

In the interview, the Green New Deal isn’t just a set of climate policies—it’s a chance to break with the uneven benefits afforded by the original New Deal and other progressive policies. Julian Brave NoiseCat (McElwee’s colleague at Data for Progress) and activist Adrien Salazar (of the think tank Demos) are in the studio to share their expertise on the stimulus package.   

In the Spiel, McElwee digs into polling results from his own Data for Progress.

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On The Gist, getting a bit willy-nilly with “white supremacy.”

In the interview, John Hickenlooper may be mulling a pivot from presidential to Senate candidate, but he was at the Iowa State Fair to weigh in on issues that affect the entire country—and to strike a moderate tone. In last year’s midterms, he says, “the successful Democrat did not embrace the Green New Deal and did not embrace ‘Medicare for All.’ That’s what we’re going to need to do to beat Donald Trump.” 

In the Spiel, there is no greater joy than knowing which kids’ shows—from our own generation or not—are crap.

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On The Gist, Biden’s gaffes.

In the interview, Maria Konnikova, author of The Confidence Game, is back for another round of Is That Bullshit? This time she and Mike talk all about attention spans. There always seem to be claims that attention spans are shrinking, but is that true? Should we be worried that we feel distracted more and more or just take a deep breath and embrace it? 

In the Spiel, the Ebola cure.

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On The Gist, the opinions of the people at the Iowa State Fair.

In the interview, Jay Inslee was among the 21 Democratic presidential candidates to converge on the Iowa State Fair this past weekend. Washington’s governor grabbed a seat with Mike to talk about applying his state’s environmental victories to the federal level, taxing Amazon, and getting rid of the gridlocking filibuster.

In the Spiel, The Gist went to the Iowa State Fair and got answers from Democratic presidential candidates about filibuster reform.

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On The Gist, the real consequences of immigration laws.

In the interview, Charles Duhigg is who you get when you combine an investigative reporter with an agony aunt. In his new Slate podcast (How To!), he teases out advice on everyday problems, from how to tell a good joke to how to rob a bank (alright, the problems aren’t that common). You can subscribe to How To! on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

In the Spiel, Trump, children, and shootings.

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