The Gist - The End of Conventional Wisdom in Politics

On The Gist, Chuck Todd has HAD IT with Ted Cruz. We’ll hear what that sounds like. Then, a look at some lasting lessons from the Bernie Sanders campaign with BuzzFeed’s White House correspondent Evan McMorris-Santoro. He’s the host of the new podcast No One Knows Anything. For the Spiel, the icky coziness of the White House Correspondents dinner.

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Start the Week - Cross-dressing and masculinity with Grayson Perry

On Start the Week Grayson Perry discusses the concept of masculinity in modern Britain with Mary Ann Sieghart. The new artistic director at the Globe Theatre, Emma Rice, explains how she is playing with gender in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, and the celebrated mezzo-soprano Alice Coote talks of her career in 'breeches', singing the male role. The former artists' model, Kelley Swain reveals what it's like being the object of a work of art. Producer: Katy Hickman.

The Gist - Buzz Aldrin! He Walked on the Moon!

They say no one ever remembers the second man who walked on the moon. That’s so not true! On The Gist, octogenarian Buzz Aldrin steps into our studios to discuss his unique life story and the future of international space travel. His new book is called No Dream Is Too High: Life Lessons From a Man Who Walked on the Moon. For the Spiel, why the NFL and ESPN networks should stop tut-tutting Miami draft pick Laremy Tunsil.

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The Gist - The National Emergency We Call Donald Trump

On The Gist, Jacob Weisberg helps present favorite moments from the first month of Slate’s Trumpcast. First, he talks to journalist Mark Leibovich about Donald Trump’s transition into a more tolerable candidate. Then, we ask clinical psychologist Ben Michaelis about narcissistic personality disorder and how he would treat Trump. To close out the episode, Hanna Rosin of Slate’s DoubleX Gabfest and NPR’s Invisibilia gives her mom a call to ask a simple question: Mom, why are you voting for Trump?

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The Gist - The So-Called “So-Called Acela” Primary

On The Gist, we discuss the connection between infrastructure and money with Justin Fox from Bloomberg View. Then, Noah Charney explains why the art of Hieronymus Bosch is so hauntingly freaky. He’s the author of The Art of Forgery: The Minds, Motives and Methods of the Master Forgers. For the Spiel, inside the so-called “so-called Acela primary.” There’s no Gist Wednesday, but we’ll be back with a normal show on Thursday.

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Start the Week - Anish Kapoor on Light and Dark

On Start the Week the sculptor Anish Kapoor talks to Andrew Marr about his fascination with voids and black holes, and his excitement at the latest technological advances in deepest black: vantablack. The astrophysicist Martin Ward explains his research into supermassive black holes and why we're finding more of them, while the solar physicist Lucie Green journeys to the centre of the sun where each photon takes hundreds of thousands of years to reach the surface, but just eight minutes to shine as light on the Earth. Writer Ann Wroe walks on the Downs to experience how light affects Nature, and she turns to the artists to meditate on the nature of light. Producer: Katy Hickman

Picture credit: Anish Kapoor.

The Gist - Purpleness

On The Gist, music writer Chris Molanphy guides us through the purple rain. We’ll remember Prince’s impact on the Billboard chats over the course of his career. Chris writes Slate’s Why Is That Song No. 1 column. He recently wrote about Prince for Slate: “How Prince Ruled the Charts in the ’80s—Even When His Name Wasn’t on the Songs.” For the Spiel, where should we draw the line when it comes to how we treat our prisoners?

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The Gist - The Energy Crisis and the End of American Liberalism

On The Gist, Josh King answers our question about President Obama’s visit with King Salman of Saudi Arabia. He was our guest earlier this week, and he’s the author of Off Script: An Advance Man’s Guide to White House Stagecraft, Campaign Spectacle, and Political Suicide. Then, Meg Jacobs joins us to discuss the lasting political legacy of the ’70s gas crisis. She’s the author of Panic at the Pump: The Energy Crisis and the Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s. For the Spiel, the president who was usurped off the $20. It’s not who you might think.

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