Start the Week - Storytelling at the Edinburgh Festivals

Andrew Marr presents a special edition of Start the Week at the Edinburgh Festivals, weaving together ancient stories and contemporary fiction - from Scotland to Iceland via ancient Greece.

He speaks to award-winning writers Pat Barker, Sjón and James Robertson and the singer-songwriter Karine Polwart. Karine also performs live.

Producer: Katy Hickman.

The Gist - Crazy Rich Asians Is Important

On The Gist, guest host Stephanie Foo dives into Crazy Rich Asians, speaking with friend and fellow producer Kat Chow about Asian representation in media, the inspiration to create, and a hope that this film will lead to more Asian-centered media. 

Then she speaks with producer and former film professor B.A. Parker about seeing your own culture depicted on screen, and how exciting it is to see stories and jokes not meant for you. 

In the Spiel, Stephanie considers whether America has failed her, and why she is so proud of being an immigrant.

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The Gist - Sweep the Left

On The Gist, nobody move or the economy gets it, Trump says.

The guys behind the left’s most irreverent podcast (Chapo Trap House) want the Democratic Party to forget about Robert Mueller and set their sights on 2020. But in the short term? They’re rooting for a blue wave. Alongside Felix Biederman and Brendan James, Thursday’s guests Matt Christman, Will Menaker, and Virgil Texas are co-authors of The Chapo Guide to Revolution: A Manifesto Against Logic, Facts, and Reason.

In the Spiel, when you hear “everyone does it” down in Washington, you know something’s amiss.

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Pod Save America - “It’s Cohen down for real.”

The President has been implicated by his lawyer in a crime that involves the cover-up of extramarital affairs through illegal campaign contributions, and Republicans in Congress refuse to do anything about it. Then CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins Jon and Dan to talk about what’s next for the Mueller investigation, the Kavanaugh confirmation battle, and his new podcast, “RBG: Beyond Notorious.”

The Gist - Don’t Touch The “I” Word

On The Gist, guest host Alex Roarty thinks Sen. Elizabeth Warren has a way better message than simply “impeach Trump.”    

#NeverTrump Republicans are a vanishing breed. Crooked Media’s Tim Miller is one of them, and he tells Alex that the news media’s biases favor president Trump more than they weigh him down. 

In the Spiel, history suggests Democrats will sweep the House in November. But don’t forget that we’re dealing with the poll-defying Donald Trump here.  

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The Gist - Trolls and Trump’s Lies

On The Gist, guest host Max Kerman considers why politicians are getting duped by Sacha Baron Cohen.

Trump has lied so many times since he took office that it’s difficult for the normal person to focus on them. Luckily we’ve got Daniel Dale at the Toronto Star keeping track. Dale joins us to talk about what it’s like reporting on American politics as a Canadian, including the similarities of covering former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.

In the Spiel, how to engage with trolls.

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The Gist - What Happened to “America’s Mayor”?

On The Gist, how will Rudy Giuliani go down in history, and in public memory?

The midterm elections are looming, and the big question is how far the Democrats will go. Are they really likely to retake the House of Representatives? And how would that affect Trump’s re-election campaign in 2020? Gist guest host Steve Kornacki talks to another political statistics wiz, Sean Trende of RealClearPolitics, about why we should be wary of using probabilities to predict elections.

In the Spiel, a tale of clear state borders and unclear rules.  

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The Gist - Listening to Inanimate Objects

On The Gist, if Trump weren’t so repulsive, would we judge his murky dealings a little more kindly?

And we don’t much think about the inanimate objects in our lives, never considering the rich inner life of the lamppost, the can of Coke, or the humble pillow. But Ian Chillag knows they have stories to tell, and he gets them to speak out in his new podcast Everything Is Alive.

In the Spiel, Mike talks to the guest hosts who will rule The Gist all next week.

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The Gist - Goodbye to the Queen of Soul

On The Gist, the free press.

Aretha Franklin has died at 76, and she was much more than a golden voice. Slate’s Chris Molanphy recalls her talents at the piano and in the composition room, where she wrote timeless music and, with her covers, transformed songs from her own genre and beyond. (See “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Let It Be,” and, of course, “Respect.”) Molanphy is the host of the Slate podcast Hit Parade

In the Spiel, the straw ban and balloons.

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