The Gist

Hang onto your skirts: Clueless co-star Stacey Dash is running for Congress. On The Gist, returning champion Maria Konnikova is back to sum up the social science on poker tells: Are they BS? Konnikova writes for the New Yorker and is the author of The Confidence Game. In the Spiel, we should acknowledge our progress. Please fill out the Slate podcast survey at slate.com/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, President Trump's latest poetry reading. Last week on the show, we talked about the manifold reasons for optimism in the world. This week, Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker builds on that argument, adding that we've had a roughly 300-year run of steady improvements in technology, health, and civility. It just so happens that the only thing as constant as human progress is our tendency to focus on human shortcomings. Pinker's latest book is Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. In the Spiel, why it should be worrying that the California Democratic Party snubbed Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Trump boosted an empty idea at CPAC: arming teachers to stop mass shooters. In the interview, Derek DelGaudio is the magician of our time. His one-man show, In & of Itself, questions identity in a political atmosphere that's consumed by it. In the Spiel, "unsubstantiated" stories about Trump's lecherous behavior on the set of The Apprentice are obviously, completely, and sadly believable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, NBC's coverage of Olympic athletes' backstories is a little too obvious. Slate tech writers April Glaser and Will Oremus examine the most plausible methods for reining in our tech overlords. Glaser and Oremus are the hosts of Slate's If Then. In the Spiel, NRA honcho Wayne LaPierre's speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference was downright loony. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek will be moderating a gubernatorial debate in Pennsylvania. Mike says no thanks. In the interview, Gregg Easterbrook is ever the optimist. Despite what your push alerts and Facebook news feed are telling you, the world is steadily getting safer, wealthier, and less afflicted by war and disease. Easterbrook is the author of It's Better Than It Looks: Reasons for Optimism in an Age of Fear. In the Spiel, gun control advocates shouldn't compromise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Team USA's low medal count would be a bummer if these Winter Olympics weren't so goofy. In the interview, Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs didn't campaign on universal basic income, but he's bringing it to his city. Later this year, some residents will start getting $500 a month. In the Spiel, conservative commentators have it plain wrong when it comes to gun control. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, the market for "how to survive a shooting spree" videos shows how far we've strayed in dealing with gun violence. Interracial marriage on a national level has only been legal for 50 years, after the landmark Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia. Anna Holmes and Lacey Schwartz are two of the minds behind The Loving Generation, a video series by Topic.com on identity and dynamics within multiracial families. In the Spiel, it's a no-brainer: Ban civilian ownership of the AR-15, and fewer will die. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Filling in for Mike Pesca today is Leon Neyfakh, still smoldering after his first season as host of Slate's hit podcast, Slow Burn. Leon is indulging in a new fascination lately: the latest "left Twix vs. right Twix" ad campaign and its insistence that we should all pick one. But, of course, we insist on taking sides. Slate writer Justin Peters sheds some light on the New York Times' swift hiring and firing of tech journalist Quinn Norton. In Leon's Spiel: We must have some moral absolutes. But what is the cost of eschewing bothsidesism? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, names are stupidly important when it comes to getting elected. The Trump administration is proposing a boost in military spending, but the country's defense budget actually peaked under President Obama during the troop surge for the war in Afghanistan. Bipartisan support for massive defense spending has been the norm since the Reagan era. Foreign Policy's Dan De Luce tells us about it. In the Spiel, lawyer Michael Cohen's out-of-pocket expenses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, on the White House budget's effort to replace half of food-stamp funding with crappy meal boxes. How do you fix one of the most gerrymandered states in the country? It helps to have a tireless amateur mapmaker in your ranks. Mike talks to Amanda Holt, who spurred Pennsylvania to redraw its legislative districts in 2013 and is closely watching the state's ongoing court battle over its congressional districts. In the Spiel, the American intelligence community still has to convince the White House that Russia's up to no good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today's Gist, we get metaphysical. The White House is always in chaos. But can chaos be a permanent condition? Maria Konnikova returns to play our favorite game and answer the question: Does an athletic uniform's color affect the athlete's performance? Konnikova writes for the New Yorker is the author of The Confidence Game. In the Spiel, why Norway is a Winter Olympics marvel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, it's The $10,000 Pyramid with a budget deal twist. Is it possible we don't know enough about national debt to call our politicians when they're peddling nonsense? New Yorker staff writer Adam Davidson addresses some common misconceptions and sums up the Republican tax cuts and spending bill this way: "Rich people are stealing the money." In the Spiel, the Olympics are back, and the Russians got off easy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, the "When did you stop beating your wife?" question in the White House press briefing. In the interview, Iran may have shelved its nuclear ambitions, but the Middle East is still in trouble. Slate's Joshua Keating wonders if the Iran deal was worth it. In the Spiel, the world of the FEMA scammer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Trump wants a parade. On The Gist, America's longest war, in Afghanistan, rumbles on under a third U.S. president. There is still no exit plan. Steve Coll's new book explores the covert side of America's campaign in Afghanistan and the secretive Pakistani intelligence wing lending support to the Taliban. Coll's book isDirectorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the Spiel, considering Christopher Steele and Carter Page. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Listen, chattering classes: Let's at least chatter correctly. We take a minute on the proper name pronunciation for the scandals of the day. Today on The Gist, U.S. foreign policy is a mess. But U.S. foreign policy has been a mess for decades. Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, explains. In the Spiel, what they were thinking in the stands of President Trump's speech on Monday in Ohio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist: Dow goes down, Trump gets mad. In the interview, comedian Phil Rosenthal went to six cities across the globe to eat everything they had to offer and put it on Netflix. He tells Mike about his new show, Somebody Feed Phil, and the creative angst behind the sitcom that put him on the map: Everybody Loves Raymond. In the Spiel, Justin Timberlake didn't bring sexy back thanks to white privilege alone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Super Bowl LII is an occasion to ask the age-old question: Who's more obnoxious, people from Philadelphia or Boston? Plus, Another Period takes the Gilded Age as its setting to satirize the worst of reality TV: extravagant wealth, petty arguments, and a shaky camera. Riki Lindhome co-created and stars in the Comedy Central show. In the Spiel, a reprise of the vaunted documentary, Busted: 43 Minutes of Crisis and Conflict, a production of the American Dream is Deadworks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Lyndon B. Johnson doesn't always get the consideration he deserves as one of America's great presidents. On today's Gist, historian Joshua Zeitz says LBJ's fight for welfare reform and civil rights redefined the country, even as those legal achievements come under attack by today's Republican Party. Zeitz is the author of Building the Great Society: Inside Lyndon Johnson's White House. Plus, a Spiel from the 2016 archives: Vote Jabba! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Trey Gowdy bows out. Fred Kaplan explains why foreign policy experts are concerned by the Trump administration's move to renege on its choice of ambassador to South Korea at the last minute. Kaplan writes the War Stories column for Slate. He is the author, most recently, of Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War. In the Spiel, you know what they say: The president who claps the loudest pleases the crowd best. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, the pomposity and circumstantial evidence of the State of the Union. Janesville, Wisconsin, had the oldest operating GM assembly plant in the country until 2008. The factory's closure left thousands of employees in the lurch. Amy Goldstein's book Janesville: An American Story describes the choices facing three families as they pick up the pieces of a busted local economy. In the Spiel, the right things to say when you're being nuked and the right way to say them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, get your clutching pearls ready. Russia alleges that the U.S. is trying to interfere in its election. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been politically precocious since well before his own sports scholarship at UCLA. His latest column for the Guardian argues it's "time to pay the tab for America's college athletes." He says student players should unionize. In the Spiel, the tactics that responsible Republicans use to communicate their potential opposition: They speak in their home-state argot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, the Doomsday Clock would be scary if it weren't so bogus. In the interview, after years of gently poking fun at Portland, Oregon's chill-but-not vibe, Portlandia is on its final season. Series co-star Carrie Brownstein unpacks the show's humor and tells us how a wedding toast kind of doubled as an audition to get the show greenlit. In the Spiel, Mike awards a Lobstar after an especially lengthy antentwig. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

From the annals of monkey research, how 10 primates were gassed in the service of a bad study. Today on The Gist, investigative reporter David Cay Johnston, who has been reporting on President Trump long enough to simply call him Donald. Johnston has an appreciation for Donald's trademark swindles: refusing payment, lying to vendors, abridging photocopies. He's not surprised to see the same methods at work in the Trump administration. He likens the Trump administration to "political termites," eating their way through the structures of the U.S. government, leaving holes throughout. Johnston is the author of It's Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America. In the Spiel, the trial, coverage, and sentencing of Larry Nassar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Devin Nunes probably doesn't know squat. In the interview, Democrats hold most of the Senate seats up for grabs in this year's midterms, which means they have a lot to lose. But importantly, mathematician Jordan Ellenberg says election predictions often fail to account for national mood. Ellenberg is the author of How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking. In the Spiel, Mike defends his bougie laundry routine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, more details come out about Garrison Keillor. In the interview, it turns out something can be good for your taste buds without being bad for your health. Monosodium glutamate has gotten a bad rap since 1968, when a medical journal suggested it might cause all kinds of symptoms. Dan Pashman, creator and host of the Sporkful podcast, tells us why MSG isn't the boogeyman it's been made out to be (and why he adds it to his own cooking). In the Spiel, behold, the mystical power of Maine Sen. Susan Collins' talking stick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, what just happened? And are Democrats sniveling losers or Machiavellian savants? McClatchy reporter Alex Roarty explains why the animating force driving both Democrats and Republicans right now is a loud conservative minority. In the Spiel, Greece has beef regarding which part of world gets to be called "Macedonia." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Up first on The Gist: It appears the Stormy Daniels story checks out. Plus, Saturday marks the first anniversary of President Trump's inauguration. The hosts of Slate's Trumpcast join Mike to revise old predictions, make new ones, and consider whether Democrats should be rooting for impeachment via the Robert Mueller investigation. And in the Spiel, we're on the verge of another government shutdown. It seems normal now. Or have we lost track of what normal looks like? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, how about those Fake News Awards, huh? Alan Jacobs questions your ability to think for yourself. Can you really rid yourself of your biases, or do you just develop better biases? Are you really any better than your estranged friends at finding answers, or have you just chosen a different group with whom to associate? Jacobs is the author of How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds. In the Spiel, relive the horrifying 43 minutes during which America thought a just-inaugurated President Donald Trump had removed Martin Luther King Jr.'s sacred bust from the Oval Office. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, the bad news from Freedom House. U.S. Air Force officer Edward Lansdale promoted a "hearts and minds" approach to diplomacy in the Philippines and Vietnam, only to be steamrolled by America's elite class of policymakers. Max Boot tells us about Lansdale and his own newfound recognition of white privilege and other ideas from the left. Boot's new book is The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam. In the Spiel, why the continuing resolution is sucking all the fun out of politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, the press is too squeamish to clarify that "shithouse" isn't much better than "shithole." In the interview, more on fire and fury—nuclear fire, rhetorical fury, and the consequences of both. Jeffrey Lewis and Aaron Stein, hosts of Arms Control Wonk, assess the Trump administration's tough talk on North Korea and the danger of a South Korea that decides to take matters into its own hands. In the Spiel, Aziz Ansari isn't blameless, but he doesn't deserve a total destruction of his career, either. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Mike examines Trump's bottom-of-the-barrel statements on immigration. In the interview, Dina Temple-Raston explains how she became fascinated by the teenage brain. After years of covering terrorism for NPR, she was stunned to see so many young people leaving their homes to join ISIS. Teenagers aren't just prone to falling in with terrorist recruiters: Their underdeveloped minds make them more susceptible to video gaming compulsions and violent behavior. Why? Temple-Raston finds answers in her Audible Original series, "What Were You Thinking?" In the Spiel, a skit about the science (and lopsided sex ratio) of turtle love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Mike skewers a columnist for concluding that President Trump is sane. In the interview, comedian Judah Friedlander wants to let you know that his new comedy special is all him, even though it's got Netflix's name on it. The 30 Rock alum talks about matters of social justice, satire, and jingoism. In the Spiel, Democrats should stop questioning Trump's mental acuity and focus on midterms instead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, a brief look at what Norway is doing right. In the interview, we turn to self-help experts Kristen Meinzer and Jolenta Greenberg about the "new you" books that are good, bad, and absolute nonsense. Meinzer and Greenberg are hosts of the Panoply show By the Book. In the Spiel, Mike discovers the best transliteration ever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Joe Arpaio's life after pardon. In the interview, MacArthur "genius" award winner Betsy Levy Paluck tells us about her research into mass media and public opinion. We might have the impression that our beliefs are based on reason. But what our neighbors think (or what we think they think) has a lot to do with it, too. In the Spiel, how to charm Twitter trolls into submission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Sen. Lindsey Graham is defending the president extra hard on television … because he knows Trump's watching. In the interview, NPR's media correspondent David Folkenflik tells us what to make of Fire and Fury, the book that claims to reveal how dysfunctional the Trump administration really is. In the Spiel, Mike gives props to Oprah for her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes. But that doesn't mean she should run for president. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, third-party voters should answer for Donald Trump's terrible policies at home and warmongering around the world. In the interview, fields don't get much more male-dominated than those of the NFL. Our guest Jen Welter made history as the first woman to hold a coaching position in the league, training the Arizona Cardinals' inside linebackers in the 2015 preseason. Welter is the author of Play Big: Lessons in Being Limitless From the First Woman to Coach in the NFL. In the Spiel, a story about coats, the cold, and charitable giving. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Mike wonders whether the "winner picked out of a bowl" antics in Virginia's House of Delegates will really matter much. In the interview, former Democratic Rep. Jason Altmire has straightforward advice for candidates in blue-collar America: appeal to the center or lose out. Just as importantly, Altmire argues, the Democratic Party as a whole has to let them do it. Altmire's book is Dead Center: How Political Polarization Divided America and What We Can Do About It. In the Spiel, Mike says the economy is looking up, and that means Republicans could keep their congressional majorities in the midterms ahead—barring a foreign policy disaster, of course. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Mike calls foul on the mashup terms used to describe big weather events, such as the latest: bombogenesis. In the interview, police shootings regularly make headlines, but what does the big picture look like? Sam Sinyangwe is a data analyst at Mapping Police Violence, an organization that recently looked at all 1,129 cases in which a person died at the hands of the police in 2017. And yes, there is a racial disparity. In the Spiel, the barbs traded between President Trump and Steve Bannon truly are the stuff of Shakespeare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Mike tips his hat to the musical talents of Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, who announced his retirement Tuesday. In the interview, it took a perfect storm to bring down Richard Nixon's presidency, and it's not guaranteed that another will come for Donald Trump. Slate's Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons tell us about their chart-topping podcast, Slow Burn, and why it shouldn't necessarily give hope to those who want Trump out. In the Spiel, President Trump's latest round of self-congratulating tweets omit a few facts, as usual. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Mike is down with feminism but argues that woke should be Merriam-Webster's word of the year instead. In the interview, Anjelah Johnson was living off grocery store gift cards in L.A. before a new thing called YouTube launched her comedy career. Someone uploaded a video of her stand-up routine to the site in 2007; it quickly racked up millions of views and landed Anjelah an agent. Johnson's fourth comedy special, Mahalo & Goodnight, is on EPIX, Apple Music, and Spotify. In the Spiel, we should be taking a closer look at New York City's latest crime, rape, and murder statistics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Mike says goodbye to Roy Moore yet again, after an Alabama judge rejected Moore's lawsuit to contest his opponent's Senate win. In the interview, Dan Ariely tells us "how we misthink money and how to spend smarter." That's the subtitle of his book on the ways we value the wrong things and fail to think long term. Ariely is the co-author, with Jeff Kreisler, of Dollars and Sense. In the Spiel, Mike looks back on the worst op-eds of 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Mike runs through the major news of the past few days, while much of the news media is on vacation. In the interview, Hobby Lobby scored a famous Supreme Court win for evangelicals in 2014, allowing certain corporations to deny covering their employees' contraception costs. Professor of theology Candida Moss tells us about the family behind the company, and their crusade to promote fundamental Christianity. Moss is the co-author, with Joel Baden, of Bible Nation: The United States of Hobby Lobby. In the Spiel, it's almost as if the scales are tipped in favor of Vladimir Putin as he runs for re-election in March. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Ken Stern explains why the deplorable label doesn't sit well with him, even if it's defensible. Stern is the author of Republican Like Me: How I Left the Liberal Bubble and Learned to Love the Right. In the Spiel, is life better in the U.S. or Europe? Mike considers it with David Plotz, CEO of Atlas Obscura. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, why the Republican tax overhaul is unlikely to spur hiring. Michael Carpenter explains what we lose when the Trump administration doesn't try to put the heat on Russia. Carpenter is a former deputy assistant secretary of defense and foreign policy adviser to former Vice President Joe Biden. He and Biden are the co-authors of the Foreign Affairs article, "How to Stand Up to the Kremlin." In the Spiel, robots take over. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, it seems that congressional investigators have nabbed a big fish: Jill Stein. Plus, New York Times columnist David Leonhardt explains why the Republicans absolutely had to pass the tax bill, even if polls suggest it could be an albatross around their necks during the midterms. Leonhardt authors the Times' absolutely essential Opinion Today newsletter. In the Spiel: Income inequality may not be the perfect descriptor for what ails us, but it's the best term we've got. And the Republican tax bill makes our inequality problem worse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Mike talks about the consequences of fast-tracking a major tax overhaul. In the interview, how did the team behind The Daily manage to create a show that's unlike anything we've heard before and also oddly perfect for this moment in news? Host Michael Barbaro and managing producer Theo Balcomb say they talked extensively about what they didn't want to sound like. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I never want to do a jobs report,' " says Balcomb. " 'Can we promise we're never going to do a jobs report?' " In the Spiel, Republicans aren't necessarily committing political suicide with their $1.5 trillion tax plan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the Gist, why we shouldn't fret every time companies like Netflix show how they're using our personal data. In the interview, Maria Konnikova runs us through the foods that can turn your skin orange, blue, and red, and whether that's even a bad thing. Konnikova is the author of The Confidence Game. In the Spiel, what the latest Star Wars movie has in common with Donald Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, President Trump's judicial nominations are starting to look ridiculous. In the interview, comedian Jeff Ross got a little tired of his shtick as a go-to roast guy for Comedy Central's famous Friars Club sendups. So he started skewering not people, but places, ideas, and institutions. His latest special, ­­Jeff Ross Roasts the Border, takes viewers to Brownsville, Texas, a city along the U.S.-Mexico border where a huge steel fence is meant to keep migrants from crossing into the United States. In the Spiel, bidding farewell to the legendary sports radio host, Mike Francesa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Chris Hurst doesn't want you to know him as the guy whose girlfriend was fatally shot during a live broadcast. But it is a huge part of what compelled him to pursue elected office: "Part of what I want to do is … take this spotlight, that I wish I had a receipt for … 'cause I'd gladly return it, and shine it on people that aren't normally seen." Hurst is a newly elected state representative in Virginia. For the Spiel, an exclusive clip from Donald Trump Jr.'s testimony to the House Intelligence Committee, courtesy of Maura Quint and McSweeney's. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On The Gist, Omarosa makes for the exits. In honor of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees announced today, we're playing an excerpt from our live show last month, when we went over the ballot with Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy and Washington Post humorist Alexandra Petri. In the Spiel, reflecting on the Doug Jones win in Alabama. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.