Category: 3-SometimeCommentary

How do you own your failures? Today on The Gist, Slate’s Justin Peters finds meaning in his televised humiliation he experienced on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. He recently wrote about the experience of losing $225,000 on in his story I Wanted to Be a Millionaire: How failing colossally on a game show changed my life for the better. Justin is part of the improv comedy duo From Justin To Kelly. For the Spiel, a few insights to add to the ample coverage of the Brian Williams story. Complete Slate’s podcast listener survey! Tell us about yourself and your favorite podcasts so that Slate can serve you better. We’d appreciate two minutes of your time. Go to slate.com/survey. Today’s sponsors: Stamps.com. Sign up for a no-risk trial and get a $110 bonus offer, when you visit Stamps.com and enter promo code TheGist.

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Is the White House’s new National Security Strategy just a procedural brief, or does it tell us a larger story about U.S. foreign policy? Today on The Gist, Slate’s Fred Kaplan explains why security strategies are now exponentially more complicated than they were in decades past. Plus, NBC’s Tony Dokoupil reports on how the military has groomed meteorologists to be intellectually and physically capable of running with our most elite warriors. His multimedia feature is called “Send In the Weathermen.” For the Spiel, the steady decline of McDonald’s seen through a cultural lens. Complete Slate’s podcast listener survey! Tell us about yourself and your favorite podcasts so that Slate can serve you better. We’d appreciate two minutes of your time. Go to slate.com/survey. Today’s sponsors: Stamps.com. Sign up for a no-risk trial and get a $110 bonus offer, when you visit Stamps.com and enter promo code TheGist.

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Why is international justice so slow and sclerotic? Today on The Gist. David Kaye, law professor and director of the International Justice Clinic, explains why verdicts are hard to come by in the International Criminal Court. Then, in-house vexillologist Ted Kaye explains how Fiji and New Zealand are dropping the Union Jack from their flags. For more flag news, we strongly recommend subscribing to the Vexilloid Tabloid, the bimonthly newsletter of the Portland Flag Association. For the Spiel, to the South we go. Complete Slate’s podcast listener survey! Tell us about yourself and your favorite podcasts so that Slate can serve you better. We’d appreciate two minutes of your time. Go to slate.com/survey. Today’s sponsor: The Great Courses, engaging audio and video lectures taught by top professors. Courses like “Fundamentals of Photography.” Right now, get 80 percent off the original price when you visit thegreatcourses.com/gist.

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Anne McElvoy talks to the novelist Adam Thirlwell about his latest book, described as 'suburban noir'; its setting "a kind of absence, without a focus or centre". The academic Nick Hubble takes issue with the cultural representation of suburbia and the snobbery surrounding it. When Richard McGuire created his graphic masterpiece 'Here' he collapsed millennia of history into the corner of one suburban house, and the photographer Hannah Starkey looks back at photos from the end of the twentieth century to see what they say about changing Britain.

Producer: Katy Hickman.

Anne McElvoy talks to the novelist Adam Thirlwell about his latest book, described as 'suburban noir'; its setting "a kind of absence, without a focus or centre". The academic Nick Hubble takes issue with the cultural representation of suburbia and the snobbery surrounding it. When Richard McGuire created his graphic masterpiece 'Here' he collapsed millennia of history into the corner of one suburban house, and the photographer Hannah Starkey looks back at photos from the end of the twentieth century to see what they say about changing Britain.

Producer: Katy Hickman.

Today on The Gist, a conversation about fetal homicide laws with Emily Bazelon from New York Times Magazine. Plus, Emily Yoffe of Slate’s Dear Prudence column joins us for a Post-Prudie impact statement with past letter-writer “Little Girl Lost.” For the Spiel, names in the news. Today’s sponsors: Squarespace.com. Get a free trial and 10 percent off your first purchase when you visit Squarespace.com and enter offer code GIST. And, by The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, the new documentary series from HBO. It starts Feb. 8 and airs Sundays at 8 p.m. only on HBO. Complete Slate’s podcast listener survey! Tell us about yourself and your favorite podcasts so that Slate can serve you better. We’d appreciate two minutes of your time. Go to slate.com/survey.

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Today on The Gist, we might have audio from Brian Williams’ helicopter being shot down. Plus, storyteller Matt Dicks tells us about how he pares down memorable moments from his life into the five seconds that are worth telling. He’s helping us train a master storyteller here on The Gist. Want to pitch your tale? Tell us your name, a little bit about you, and brief version of your story. Call 304-607-GIST (4478) with your minute-long pitch. Complete Slate’s podcast listener survey! Tell us about yourself and your favorite podcasts so that Slate can serve you better. We’d appreciate two minutes of your time. Go to slate.com/survey. Today’s sponsors: Squarespace.com. Get a free trial and 10 percent off your first purchase when you visit Squarespace.com and enter offer code GIST. And, The Great Courses. Their course on “The Art of Storytelling: From Parents to Professionals” is a great fit for The Gist listeners. Order from eight of their best-selling courses at up to 80 percent off the original price. Go to thegreatcourses.com/GIST.

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Are headlines about “three-parent babies” far-fetched, or spot-on? Today on The Gist, BuzzFeed science editor Virginia Hughes reminds us what we wish we remembered about mitochondrial DNA from ninth-grade biology. Plus, music writer Chris Molanphy explains why Tom Petty received credit for Sam Smith’s top-10 hit “Stay With Me.” For the Spiel, lower-upper middle-lower-upper class warfare. Complete Slate's podcast listener survey! Tell us about yourself and your favorite podcasts so that Slate can serve you better. We'd appreciate two minutes of your time. Go to slate.com/survey. Today’s sponsors: Stamps.com. Sign up for a no-risk trial and get a $110 bonus offer, when you visit Stamps.com and enter promo code TheGist. Also, Squarespace.com. Get a free trial and 10 percent off your first purchase when you visit Squarespace.com and enter offer code GIST.

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Today on The Gist, a look at how propaganda thrives in North Korea from the perspective of Kim Jong-il’s former poet laureate, Jang Jin-sung. He’s the author of Dear Leader: Poet, Spy, Escapee—A Look Inside North Korea. For the Spiel, a new way to understand the fiery conversation about vaccines. Complete Slate’s podcast listener survey! Tell us about yourself and your favorite podcasts so that Slate can serve you better. We’d appreciate 2 minutes of your time. Go to slate.com/survey. Today’s sponsors: Citrix GoToMeeting. When meetings matter, millions choose GoToMeeting. Get a free 30-day trial by visiting GoToMeeting.com and clicking the “try it free” button. Also, Squarespace.com. Get a free trial and 10% off your first purchase when you visit Squarespace.com and enter offer code GIST.

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Today on The Gist, political analyst Jonah Blank from the RAND Corporation explains the geopolitical impact of election results in Sri Lanka. Plus, are any of those detox diets worth your while? Mike asks Maria Konnikova of The New Yorker to explain the cleanse she does every day. For the Spiel, beast mode explained. Today’s sponsors: Stamps.com. Sign up for a no-risk trial and get a $110 bonus offer, when you visit Stamps.com and enter promo code TheGist. Also, Squarespace.com. Get a free trial and 10 percent off your first purchase when you visit Squarespace.com and enter offer code GIST. Promo Code: Gist.

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