The Gist - The Thrilling Don Winslow

On The Gist, Joe Biden’s nose nuzzle.

In the interview, Don Winslow’s new book The Border is the final part of his trilogy on drug cartels. He’s here today to discuss the work, how it’s been twenty years in the making, and the difficulty of trying to get things right.  

In the Spiel, Betsy DeVos’ indefensible Special Olympics funding cuts. 

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The Gist - “Guest is God”

On The Gist, the next wave of start-ups should be like the tech companies we have now, but with a conscience.   

In the interview, filmmaker Anthony Maras is more wedded to a theme—people in extremis—than a form, and his latest is a thriller based on true events. Hotel Mumbai follows a band of diverse survivors holed up in the Taj, one of the targets in India's 2008 terrorist attacks. “Something kind of magical happened, which is all these barriers that usually divide people evaporated.” 

In the Spiel, Donald Trump: bullshitter or shitposter?

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The Gist - Adam Schiff Is Not Okay

On The Gist, Mike Pesca, in true hipster fashion, laments the end of Wow Air.

In the interview, much of the news media was guilty of hyping up the knockout blow that Mueller’s report would deliver president Trump. But a few journalists on the left were always skeptical of the investigation’s origins and potential. Among them is Nation contributor Aaron Maté, who saw in the Mueller probe a distraction from the Democratic Party’s failure in 2016—and from the stories that really matter.          

In the Spiel, Rep. Adam Schiff comes out swinging.

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The Gist - The Boeing Lesson

On The Gist, Boeing is in a tight spot.   

In the interview, the boxing match between Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas was one for the ages. Everyone so expected Tyson to win that people weren’t even placing bets until the odds were 42 to 1. In the new 30 for 30 film 42 to 1, Gist guest Jeremy Schaap (and Ben Houser) explore this shocking upset and how the fight changed boxing and these fighters’ lives. 

In the Spiel, if we’re going to build a wall, how about the one between church and state? Looking at you, Pennsylvania. 

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The Gist - Trump’s Post-Mueller Strategy

On The Gist, the latest gridlock facing the Green New Deal should clue in its backers in Congress.

In the interview, Huwe Burton was 16 years old when detectives browbeat him into a false confession of murder. He spent about 20 years in prison as a result, and found an outlet in the quarter-mile track that he and other inmates built their endurance on. Since his release and exoneration, he hasn’t stopped running. Burton’s story is told in a Lope Magazine article—"Innocent People Don’t Run”—by Liam Boylan-Pett, who also joins us in the studio. 

In the Spiel, the Trump reelection campaign’s bizarre memo to all “Television Producers” leans on cherry-picked quotes.

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The Gist - The Mueller Report Report

On The Gist, we should be willing to accept that the Barr letter and Mueller report won’t lead to any indictments.

In the interview, David Priess, former CIA staffer and daily intelligence briefer for Robert Mueller, is here to talk about the Mueller report. What do we know? What questions are still unanswered? And where do we go from here? Priess’ latest book is How to Get Rid of a President: History’s Guide to Removing Unpopular, Unable, or Unfit Chief Executives

In the Spiel, the Mueller report does not exonerate Trump, even if Trump thinks it does.

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The Gist - The Real March Madness Upset

On The Gist, ISIS may be defeated, but the people who made up its forces aren’t gone. 

In the interview, novelist John Lanchester is here to discuss his new novel The Wall, the symbolic and practical use of walls, and how closely we should pay attention to our dreams.  

In the Spiel, Jim Nantz shouldn’t be in those Capital One commercials for March Madness.

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The Gist - Solving Maternal Mortality

On The Gist, have you heard about the mob hit that took place a few weeks ago?

In the interview, journalist Sarah Kliff joins us to discuss maternal mortality rates in the United States, what California has done to fix it, and what the rest of the country should learn from them. Kliff is the host of Vox’s The Impact.  

In the Spiel, Donald Trump on John McCain’s funeral.

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The Gist - What Merchants of Truth Gets Right

On The Gist, it wouldn’t just be morally right for Trump to finally denounce white nationalism. It would be politically smart.

In the interview, Jill Abramson’s Merchants of Truth: The Business of News and the Fight for Facts was released to glowing reviews—but valid accusations of plagiarism and factual errors took some of that shine off. As Mike asks Abramson (a former executive editor of the New York Times), were the negative headlines so grabby that they’ve damned the book’s valuable insights? And would that in itself prove many of her worries about journalism in the 21st century? 

In the Spiel, the New York Times, biased? You don’t say.

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