RadCasts

Today on The Gist, Jared Feldman from Canvs explains how social media is supplanting the old-fashioned focus group for media buyers and TV shows. For the Spiel, how American elections could benefit from candidates with less information. Today’s sponsor: Casper, the online retailer of premium mattresses for a fraction of the price. Get $50 toward any mattress purchase by visiting casper.com/gist and using the promo code GIST.   Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus.   Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook.

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Today on The Gist, does the Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev feel remorse? Seth Stevenson has been reporting for Slate on the trial and shares the latest insight into how the defense is attempting to humanize. Plus, are there adverse health effects that come with artificial sweeteners? For a game we call “Is That Bulls--t?,” we take Maria Konnikova of the New Yorker out for lunch to see what she sprinkles in her iced tea. For the Spiel, was the research into Deflategate a worthwhile expense?  Today’s sponsor: QuickBooks. If you work for yourself, try QuickBooks Self-Employed. It helps separate your business and personal expenses, estimate your federal quarterly taxes, and more. See what QuickBooks Self-Employed can do for you with a free 30-day trial at tryselfemployed.com/thegist. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus.

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On Start the Week Mariella Frostrup talks to the academic Hamid Dabashi about his critique of European intellectual heritage and identity. In his polemic Can Non-Europeans Think? Dabashi argues that those outside the West are often marginalised and mis-represented. Ancient Greece dominates the intellectual landscape in Europe and Edith Hall looks back to explore what made this civilisation so successful. The Greeks of Ancient Athens were always questioning their society and asking what makes people happy, and Douglas Murray wonders whether the secular West has stopped asking those questions, and is the shallower for it. The artist Glenn Ligon takes inspiration from black writers and abstract expressionists to give a fresh perspective on the values of contemporary America. Producer: Katy Hickman.

On Start the Week Mariella Frostrup talks to the academic Hamid Dabashi about his critique of European intellectual heritage and identity. In his polemic Can Non-Europeans Think? Dabashi argues that those outside the West are often marginalised and mis-represented. Ancient Greece dominates the intellectual landscape in Europe and Edith Hall looks back to explore what made this civilisation so successful. The Greeks of Ancient Athens were always questioning their society and asking what makes people happy, and Douglas Murray wonders whether the secular West has stopped asking those questions, and is the shallower for it. The artist Glenn Ligon takes inspiration from black writers and abstract expressionists to give a fresh perspective on the values of contemporary America. Producer: Katy Hickman.