The Gist - Steven Pinker: “Common Knowledge Changes Everything”

Steven Pinker joins to discuss his new book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life, exploring how shared awareness coordinates everything from markets to manners. He traces spirals of silence, costly signals, and why a single public moment can flip private hunches into history.

Also: the sentencing in the intended assassination of Justice Brett Kavanaugh — what the court record shows about Nicholas (Sophie) Roske’s change of mind, and why eight years can be both just and long.

And in the Spiel: the Supreme Court’s new term, and an un-panicked look at Trump’s shadow-docket “wins,” what the justices actually stayed, and why.

Produced by Corey Wara

Production Coordinator Ashley Khan

Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠

Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠

Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

The Bulwark Podcast - Bill Kristol and Jane Fonda: The New ‘Fierce Urgency of Now’

ICE is intentionally provoking violence in the nation’s cities and then glorifying it with their crack video team. Meanwhile, the rhetoric coming from Trump true believers about their desire for a ‘benevolent’ authoritarian strongman is truly alarming. But governors and members of the judiciary are behaving like we still have a republic —and that the insurrectionist president can’t just deploy Guard troops in whatever state he wants. Plus, the Dems should consider broadening their aims with the shutdown, and Jane Fonda is reviving her father’s McCarthy-Era free expression group.

Jane Fonda and Bill Kristol join Tim Miller.

Leave a comment

show notes


1A - ‘If You Can Keep It’: Trump’s New Vision For The Military

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth outlined some stark changes to the U.S. military’s policies and norms at last week’s gathering of its top brass.

From new standards that question the fitness of women in combat roles, to deploying the military to U.S. cities, the White House is outlining a new vision for the armed forces. It’s also looking to eliminate existing channels to report abuse and harassment within the ranks and implement random polygraph tests.

We talk through all these changes, how they affect our troops, and what they mean for civilians.

Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ atplus.npr.org/the1a.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

The Commentary Magazine Podcast - Israel on the Cusp

Jonathan Schanzer joins the podcast to discuss the ways in which the maligned Israeli approach to the war in Gaza may have, in fact, made its victory this week possible—and if there is no end at hand, establishes its grim but necessary path forward. Programming note: No podcast on Tuesday, October 7, in observance of Sukkot. Give a listen.


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Daily - The ‘Grim Reaper’ of the Government Shutdown

During the continuing government shutdown, President Trump has posted memes depicting Russel T. Vought, the White House budget director, as the grim reaper.

Coral Davenport, a Washington correspondent for The Times, explains how Mr. Vought, a once obscure official, has become one of the most influential figures in Washington.

Guest: Coral Davenport, a Washington correspondent for The New York Times, focusing on the Trump administration’s dismantling of federal rules.

Background reading: 

  • Mr. Vought has exerted his influence over nearly every corner of President Trump’s Washington with his command of the levers of the federal budget.
  • Both parties are resigned to deadlock as the government shutdown takes hold.

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Start the Week - Yanis Varoufakis on Greece’s civil war

The economist Yanis Varoufakis found himself in the eye of the storm as Greece’s Minister of Finance in 2015, at the height of the country’s debt crisis. Now he reflects on his political awakenings and the women who influenced him in Raise Your Soul. It’s a family story that starts in Egypt in the 1920s and traces Greece’s tumultuous century through Nazi occupation, civil war, dictatorship, socialism and economic crisis.

The historian Professor Mary Vincent focuses on the Spanish Civil War and has written about fascism, political violence and its impact on the people. She sees both similarities and stark differences between the Greek and Spanish Civil Wars and ponders the question of how global politics influence what happens in nation states.

As a new translation of Thucydides’s The History of the Peloponnesian War (by Robin Waterfield) is published, the classicist Professor Paul Cartledge explains why this ancient text has remained essential reading for military leaders and politicians for centuries. Thucydides’s account of the war between Athens and Sparta that began in 431 BCE depicts the devastation of civil war and reflects on the nature of political power.

Producer: Katy Hickman Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez

The Source - The KIND Shark: Daniel Lubetzky

“Business can be a force for good." That’s the view of Daniel Lubetzky, best known as the founder of KIND Snacks, a star on "Shark Tank," philanthropist and the author of the book, "Do the Kind Thing: Think Boundlessly, Work Purposefully, Live Passionately," which lays out his philosophy of combining business, kindness, and social impact. Lubetzky will be the keynote speaker for San Antonio Startup Week.array(3) { [0]=> string(20) "https://www.tpr.org/" [1]=> string(0) "" [2]=> string(1) "0" }

Chapo Trap House - UNLOCKED: ICE is Coming to a City Near You feat. Memo Torres

Will interviews Los Angeles reporter Memo Torres, whose site L.A. TACO shifted from covering food and culture in the city to some of the most indispensable and horrific coverage of ICE raids available. Memo tells us about what happens to people when they get kidnapped, covering the horrors of fortress America, and practical advice for those who might find themselves in ICE’s crosshairs. Read more at L.A. TACO: https://lataco.com/  And follow Memo Torres on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/el_tragon_de_los_angeles/?hl=en