Author: Peach Fish Productions

David Frum, former Bush speechwriter and Atlantic contributor discusses Republican cowardice, Democratic excess, and the structural dangers facing American democracy. Frum argues that Donald Trump’s 2025 threat is deeper, more organized, and more perilous than ever before. Plus, Axios reporter Alex Thompson’s apt remarks puncture the often hollow spectacle of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

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Produced by Corey Wara
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Today on the Gist, we open the vaults to 2020 to revisit and interview with Dr. Paul Offit and we replay Monday's spiel on The Full Ginsburg.

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Alan McPherson author of The Breach: Iran-Contra and the Assault on American Democracy joins to discuss the Iran-Contra affair and how it plagued both the end of Regans Presidency and George H. W. Bush’s, but also how it ties into the politics of today. Also, Pete Hegseth is a dirty dirty boy, or at least has a dirty dirty line.  Plus, its an Antwentig. 

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Jeff Maurer, former Last Week Tonight writer, has been knee-deep in century-old New York Times clippings—considering the differences between yesterday’s fascism fears and today’s. In Part 2, Jeff analyzes John Oliver’s recent reliance on straw men and Jon Stewart’s fairly triumphant return to The Daily Show. Plus- who is favored in a trade battle between the US and China contested on questions of tolerance for suffering? 

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We conclude our conversation with Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee, authors of In Covid’s Wake, exploring how political structures—not just bad actors—amplified the crisis. Plus, revisiting a 2021 Washington Post article that sided with YouTube’s removal of a DeSantis-hosted panel questioning masking for young children. And in "The Spiel", a probe of what experts must do to recover lost public trust, especially when once-dismissed claims turn out to be plausible.

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The authors of In Covid’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us, political scientists Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee, join for a full-show interview to discuss our failures during the pandemic. The evidence shows non-pharmaceutical interventions did nothing, but the tradeoff was trillions of dollars in deficit spending, lost learning and solitary deathbeds. Plus, Pete Hegseth may be leaking more than leadership; after his second round of Signal-based scheming, the veteran Fox-man-turned-defense-secretary is reportedly on the chopping block.

Produced by Corey Wara

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Senator Chris Van Hollen made the rounds on all five Sunday shows to discuss the detention of Kilmar Abrego Garcia—but curiously avoided using Kilmar’s first name. A dissects of rhetorical and how even drink orders can become political code. Professor Michael Harte talks tariffs and trade and reflects on his time as chief economics advisor to the Falkland Islands. And in the Spiel, a deep dive into the trivia, origins, and peculiar legacy of the “Full Ginsburg.”

Produced by Corey Wara

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Today on The Gist. ITs a day dedicated to Chickens. Mikes 2017 opening about UK's Chicken places named after US States, and the British are squawking about a different kind of chicken — the chlorinated kind — with tabloids clucking and trade talks at risk of being deep-fried.

Produced by Corey Wara

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Comedian T.J. Miller joins this episode of Funny You Should Mention. You might know him from Silicon Valley, Deadpool, or that time he had a choice between brain surgery with a 10% fatality rate vs. almost surely dying by 35. It is the funniest conversation ever had with the phrase "10% fatality rate" hanging in the air. Also why T.J. insists that comedy should feel like jazz played on a flaming trampoline, and how to let a crowd set the course while always steering the ship.

Produced by Corey Wara

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Boston Globe columnist Carine Hajjar and The Commercial Break’s Bryan Green debate whether Joe Rogan’s platforming of antisemitic conspiracies signals a deeper rot—or just the cost of open conversation. Plus: should Harvard be defunded? And will Kilmar Abrego Garcia stay in a Salvadoran prison? In Goat Grinders, we take aim at student driver bumper stickers, White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood’s biting critique of SNL, and nothing left to stream.

Theme by Max Kerman

Produced by Corey Wara

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