Category: 3-SometimeCommentary

Today on The Gist, judicial biographer Bruce Allen Murphy explains how Anton Scalia became a lone wolf of the high court. Then Slate’s Emily Bazelon and Mike Pesca debate how sexual assault is being discussed and dealt with on campuses today. Is it possible to overcompensate for the silence and injustices of the past? For the Spiel, a heapin’ helpin’ of portion control. 

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Can you sue the United Nations over a tragic cholera outbreak in Haiti? Well, first you have to figure out how to serve top diplomats with papers. Today on The Gist, lawyer Stanley Alpert says U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was served last week outside of the Asia Society, but U.N. spokesman says a security guard interceded. Then, Invisibles author David Zweig explains a path to professional success that doesn’t involve relentless self-promotion. And forget Upworthy—in today’s Spiel, everything’s crapworthy.

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Today on The Gist, song lyrics made literal. Wits host John Moe has written a book of imagined pop culture correspondences called Dear Luke, We Need to Talk, Darth. Plus, Mike speaks with RAND political scientist Jonah Blank for an anthropological look at negotiating in Afghanistan’s Pashtun society. For the Spiel, Mike debuts his new imaginary radio show “Least Qualified.”

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Tom Sutcliffe talks to the director Erica Whyman about a series of plays by the RSC which focus on the idea that 'well behaved women rarely make history'. The historian Helen Castor looks back at the Middle Ages to some of the earliest roaring girls, while the soprano Joyce DiDonato brings alive Mary, Queen of Scots, the tragic hero of Donizetti's opera. The political activist Julie Bindel has been behaving badly since she came out as a lesbian in the 1970s. She looks at what it means to be gay in 2014 and whether the genuine gains that have been achieved in the last forty years have castrated a once-radical social movement. Producer: Katy Hickman.

Tom Sutcliffe talks to the director Erica Whyman about a series of plays by the RSC which focus on the idea that 'well behaved women rarely make history'. The historian Helen Castor looks back at the Middle Ages to some of the earliest roaring girls, while the soprano Joyce DiDonato brings alive Mary, Queen of Scots, the tragic hero of Donizetti's opera. The political activist Julie Bindel has been behaving badly since she came out as a lesbian in the 1970s. She looks at what it means to be gay in 2014 and whether the genuine gains that have been achieved in the last forty years have castrated a once-radical social movement. Producer: Katy Hickman.

Today’s Gist is a special New Haven hotel room dispatch. Mike shares an excerpt from the New Haven ideas festival event “Thinking About Sports.” He was a panelist there alongside legendary sportswriter and NPR commentator Frank Deford, poet Elizabeth Alexander, and author Nicholas Dawidoff. Also in today’s show, we ask Dartmouth professor of pediatrics James D. Sargent about McDonald’s new happy meal branding, and how other countries limit marketing to young children. In today’s Spiel, some ideas about ideas festivals. 

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Today on the Gist, political writer Harry Enten from Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight handicaps Democratic and Republican chances in November’s key Senate races. Plus, Adam Davidson from Planet Money explains why economic theory says a higher minimum wage is a terrible, terrible idea, but economic reality may differ. In today’s Spiel, Mike teaches us his special song hack with help from “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot and “Whoomp! (There It Is)” by Tag Team.

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Do nasty comments affect how readers perceive an article? Maria Konnikova of The New Yorker discusses research on the psychology of negative Internet comments. Then, in light of GM CEO Mary Barra’s testimony before the House on Wednesday, law professor David Luban explains why lawyers sometimes hide or compartmentalize information to protect their companies from liability. For the Spiel, Mike does the numbers.

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On today’s The Gist, Mike and New York magazine’s Jessica Pressler head to a laundromat to discuss what the hot new laundry app Washio says about the worldview of the bros who make apps. Plus, law professor Dean Rivkin explains how truancy fines work against the problems they’re trying to solve. In the Spiel, Mike explores headlines that overpromise and underdeliver.

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With many well-respected liberal thinkers pressuring Ruth Bader Ginsburg to step down while a Democrat’s in the White House, what might be going through her mind? Today on The Gist, Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick discusses the latest news from the high court. Then, with ISIS on the march in Iraq, the American Interest editor Adam Garfinkle shares historical and contemporary insight from the right. In today’s Spiel, our countdown of reasons Mike thinks the late Casey Kasem was overrated.

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