Category: 3-SometimeCommentary

Today on The Gist, as rockets rain from Gaza, Israeli society is resigned to the fight. We speak with Israeli journalist Shlomi Eldar and former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, who explain what makes the current military goal different from past conflicts. Plus, Maria Konnikova of The New Yorker explains how so-called bandwidth poverty strains our mental resources and makes decision-making harder. For the Spiel, parents are now getting arrested for letting their kids out.

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Today on The Gist, political analyst Jonah Blank from RAND explains how young democracies navigate fair elections. Plus, Mike speaks with Sonja Lyubomirsky, the author of The Myths of Happiness, about how we can make ourselves into happier people by doing the things that happy people do. For the Spiel, no, you probably won’t succumb to a brain-eating amoeba.

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Today at Slate, we announced a changing of the guard. Mike talks with David Plotz, who after 6 years as editor is stepping down, and Julia Turner, who just became Slate’s first female editor in chief. Plus, Mike gets help from memory champ Nelson Dellis in memorizing the rest of The Star Spangled Banner with help from Pauly Shore. For the Spiel, Mike vets stats with a stats vet—stat.

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Is not visiting the U.S.-Mexico border President Obama’s Katrina? Josh King from Polioptics explains how he would best position Obama if (slash when) he does makes a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border. Then Sarah O’Holla tells us about her blog My Husband’s Stupid Record Collection and plays a few recent finds. For the Spiel, Mike unwraps what 20,000 book sales really mean.

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Today on the show, writer Mike Sacks explains how it’s easier than ever to begin a career in comedy. In his book Poking a Dead Frog, Sacks asks comedians to explain their process without killing their humor. Plus, Dru Johnston reads his essay “I Think I Should Get More Credit for Killing Hitler” from the Occasional. And Ivan Oransky of MedPage Today and Retraction Watch unwraps the illicit world of peer-review fakery.

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For what was Mike’s most enjoyable visit to the principal’s office, today’s Gist assembled a panel of educators to discuss teacher tenure. We’re joined by Alisa Algava, former director of the Randolph School, Ada Rosario Dolch, retired high school principal, and Margaret Ryan from the Harlem Link Charter School. Our panelists are all alumnae of Bank Street College. Plus, Slate’s Ken Early describes what it was like in the stadium when Brazil fans learned a hard truth. For the Spiel, the world through a lens of strong and weak. 

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Today on The Gist we discuss a new cache of steamy missives from Warren G. Harding to his mistress. The bootleg microfilms were first uncovered by James D. Robenalt, author of The Harding Affair: Love and Espionage During the Great War. But first, was Boston College’s oral history archive politically motivated? Kevin Cullen from the Boston Globe explains how the project, which recorded the raw details of life in the IRA, opened old wounds in Northern Ireland. In today’s Spiel, Mike’s done tooting his own horn.

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As Washington State’s recreational marijuana law goes into effect on Tuesday, Steve Elliot of Toke Signals explains the problems recreational and medical users should anticipate. Then, how do you set boundaries with a toxic family member when beginning your own family? Slate’s Emily Yoffe joins us for a Post-Prudence Impact Statement with past letter writer Unmolested. For Mike’s Spiel, David Gregory of Meet the Press stems the tide of evasion.

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Tom Sutcliffe talks to Michael Holroyd about why he put his own family in the spotlight in his late 50s novel A Dog's Life, only published in the UK after the death of his parents. Family secrets and a doctor's revenge are at the heart of Herman Koch's darkly comic novel, while Hugo Blick's new television series, An Honourable Woman, explores how the sins of the father resonate in the present. The playwright Rona Munro looks ahead to a trilogy of plays which chart the rise and fall of Scotland's Royal Family, from James I to III, with tales of love, war, treachery and intrigue. Producer: Katy Hickman.

On the 75th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s famous farewell to baseball, we talk to author Jonathan Eig about what Gehrig did with the rest of his short life. Also, Maria Konnikovia on Facebook’s emotions study, and no one’s going to breaka Mike’s stride.

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