The Gist

On The Gist, the #MeToo movement is only influential insofar as its targets can feel shame and enact accountability. In the interview, biographer Robert Dallek accounts for Franklin D. Roosevelt's ruthless pragmatism. As president, FDR made the decision to round up 120,000 Japanese Americans to "strike resonant chords with most Americans," and he was silent on anti-lynching bills to appease Democratic segregationists who would later help him pass New Deal legislation. Dallek's book is Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life. In the Spiel, the Alabama Senate election will come down to all registered voters, not just the roughly 26 percent who happen to be black and are reliably Democratic. 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, we can have sympathy for all kinds of people—just not the guy who loses all his money on bitcoin. In the interview, Lenora Chu tells the story of her American family's rude awakening to Chinese education practices. When Chu moved her family to Shanghai, she eagerly enrolled her young son into an elite Chinese public school. She expected academic rigor and an emphasis on work ethic. But she was surprised to find authoritarian teachers and desperate, obsequious parents. What, if anything, should the U.S. borrow from the Chinese education model? Chu's book is Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve. In the Spiel, what the abortion issue did to sort the parties. 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, is President Trump to blame for today's violence in Gaza? In the interview, columnist John Archibald surveys the Senate race in Alabama, where Doug Jones has become the abortion candidate and Roy Moore has become the Trumpism candidate. In the Spiel, don't talk to Mike about Trump's slurred speech. 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, Walmart gets a new name. In the interview, Slate's Dahlia Lithwick thought about one thing when Senate Democrats started calling for Al Franken's resignation: Merrick Garland, which she points to as the beginning in a trend of Democrats trying to be honorable and Republicans trying to win at all costs. Are Democrats abandoning process too readily, only to see Republicans surge ahead again? Dahlia is the host of Slate's Amicus. In the Spiel, the FBI's testimony on Capitol Hill. 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, Slate's Jim Newell explains the moral and political case for forcing out Sen. Al Franken. Dozens of Senate Democrats called on Franken to resign after a seventh woman accused him of sexual misconduct on Tuesday. Bob Garfield has spent much of his journalism career talking to eccentrics. In his one-man show, Ruggedly Jewish, the quest to explore his own identity dovetails with the story of an uneasy America. The show is touring in Chicago on Saturday, Dec. 9. And for the Spiel, why President Trump's Jerusalem announcement solidifies his reputation as the chaos candidate. 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 Alabama's decrepitude is not incidental to Roy Moore's competitive bid for Senate. In the interview, Russell Shorto tells the stories of six people living through the Revolutionary War—one is George Washington; the other five, you've probably never heard of. Shorto's book is Revolution Song. In the Spiel, a counterpoint to Jill Filipovic's New York Times column arguing that the sexual harassers who covered the election threw the whole thing to 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.

Before Pete Souza became the most famous troll on Instagram, he was the White House photographer for the duration of the Obama administration. Souza explains his approach to capturing moments and shares why he doesn't consider his work to be propaganda. His book of pictures from the Obama presidency is Obama: An Intimate Portrait. In the Spiel, should the store that sells you candy also sell you health care? 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.

Bob Saget has long been known as the cuddly, sitcom dad with a surprisingly raunchy side. The comedian talks about the two shows that launched his career and the very first jokes he wrote as a teenager. Bob Saget's comedy special is Zero to Sixty. In the Spiel, Mike pays an overdue visit to mail from listeners, and awards a Lobstar. 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.

There hadn't been an English-language novel about ethnic Koreans living in Japan until this year's Pachinko. Author Min Jin Lee chalks it up to the complicated history of the Korean Japanese. They were colonized by Japan, they were forced or compelled to migrate, and they were targets of anti-Korean discrimination. But Lee was surprised to find that many Korean Japanese don't see themselves as victims of racism. "They would actually see it as, culturally, their norm," says Lee. "I think it's very hurtful to think that you're hated all the time, so you have to think of the story that you can live with." In the Spiel, are President Trump's tweets worse than President Nixon's paranoia? 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.

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were very different guys representing opposing political parties. Jefferson was a wildly popular aristocrat from Virginia; Adams was a middling, dyspeptic lawyer from Massachusetts. But they were fast friends, and their relationship ultimately survived a presidential election in which they faced off as candidates. Historian Gordon S. Wood explains why their friendship should give us hope. Wood's book is Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. In lieu of a Spiel today, we're sharing a piece of The Gist's Washington live show. Mike talked to FiveThirtyEight senior writer Perry Bacon Jr. about the Alabama Senate race and the growing momentum behind the Republican tax bill. 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.

Can you move toward greater income equality without asking America's richest to give something up? In a word, no. On The Gist, Richard Reeves argues that the upper echelons of the U.S. are bogarting wealth that would otherwise go to the middle class. His latest book is Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do About It. And today, Mike pulls a Spiel from the archives: What President Trump means when he says everybody. Or anybody. Or nobody. 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.

Elliott Abrams narrowly missed out on the State Department's No. 2 job under President Trump, and it wasn't just because of his sharp criticism of Trump, the candidate. In his book, Realism and Democracy, he argues that the U.S. should stay involved ­in the Arab world, going against the Trump administration's "America First" doctrine. Abrams also sounds off on Trump's use of the presidential pardon. In the Spiel, Mike weighs the New York Times' coverage of your run-of-the-mill American Nazi. 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.

Standup comic and writer Dana Gould talks to Mike about growing up in a family of manly hunters and writing a character inspired by his dad. Gould is the creator of IFC's Stan Against Evil, a show about a small-town New Hampshire sheriff who fights demons. In the Spiel, how to get a rise out of your uncle over the holidays. 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.

The anti-war movement of 1968 looks inevitable today, but at the time, it felt "freaking bananas." MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell explains the charisma of Bobby Kennedy, the fervor of Eugene McCarthy, and the crushing blow they dealt to sitting President Lyndon B. Johnson, who withdrew from the campaign after a narrow win in the New Hampshire primary. O'Donnell wrote about the race in his latest book, Playing With Fire. In the Spiel, Mike skewers president Trump's double standards when it comes to sexual assault. 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.

In his 37 years as president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe has learned how to play hardball. While his past methods have invited sanctions for human rights violations, the 93-year-old is staying within the confines of the law to fend off the coup at his doorstep. Chipo Dendere, a visiting assistant professor of political science at Amherst College, tells us more. In the Spiel, Mike considers Charles Manson and why serial killers don't get attention like they used to. 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.

Comedian Gilbert Gottfried is known for his notorious voice and jokes that toe the borderline between daring and tasteless. In the documentary Gilbert, we see his softer side: his wife, Dara, rubs schmutz off his robe, his kids hug him goodbye before padding off to school, he sweet-talks a hotel concierge into giving him free deodorant. Gottfried, Dara, and the film's director Neil Berkeley joined Mike to talk about what makes Gilbert special. In the Spiel, are you running for office? A sitting senator? A first-term president? Mike Pesca is here to give you advice on surviving your sexual misconduct scandals. 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.

Elizebeth Smith got her start poring over Shakespearean verse for secret messages that were not there. But she soon used those skills to break codes used by America's enemies in both world wars. The FBI took credit for her decryptions of Nazi messages, and her husband's work received much greater attention from the wars' historians. Jason Fagone changes that with his latest book,­ The Woman Who Smashed Codes, and joins Mike to talk about it. In the Spiel, Mike surveys podcasting comedians' reactions to Louis C.K.'s admitted sexual misconduct. 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.

How can savvy activism topple decades of legal precedent? The ACLU's David Cole tells us about three issues in which like-minded citizens advanced their agenda: marriage equality, gun ownership, and checking George W. Bush's war on terror. Cole's book is Engines of Liberty: The Power of Citizen Activists to Make Constitutional Law. In the Spiel, Mike considers Brett Talley, President Trump's odd pick for federal district judge. 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.

President Trump's top economics adviser is Kevin Hassett, a guy who has made some very bad calls—most notably, his assertion that the Bush tax cuts would make the U.S. economy recession-proof. New Yorker writer Adam Davidson takes us to economics school and parses some of Hassett's years old gobbledygook. In the Spiel, holding Bill Clinton's accusers to today's standards. 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.

As America's prison population surged in the '80s and '90s, private prisons were billed as the solution. They were supposed to bring innovations to incarceration and save tax dollars. But as criminal justice expert Lauren-Brooke Eisen tells us, private prisons are no more cost-effective, and the corporations behind them operate in secrecy. Eisen's book is Inside Private Prisons. In the Spiel, Mike skewers the Republican 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.

Loudon Wainwright III has been plumbing his personal relationships and dysfunctions for decades in his music. His latest book continues on that theme as he examines the influence of his father. The book is Liner Notes: On Parents & Children, Exes & Excess, Death & Decay, & a Few of My Other Favorite Things. In the Spiel, Mike is not yet done talking about Roy Moore and Louis C.K. 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.

As the Soviet Union crumbled, George H.W. Bush's strategy was simple: say nothing. Historian Jeffrey Engel tells us about Bush's plain oratory and his relationship with the USSR's last leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. Engel says Bush Sr. and Trump scarcely look like they're from the same party—which, of course, they aren't. His book is When the World Seemed New. In the Spiel, reacting to the allegations against Roy Moore and Louis C.K. 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.

Democrats are feeling triumphant after Tuesday's state and local elections. But it's not a referendum on the president until his name is on the ballot, so E.J. Dionne and Thomas Mann are here to explain remains unique about this moment in American history. Dionne, Mann, and Norman Ornstein are the authors of the book One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported. In the Spiel, hating on the latest iOS update. 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.

Theodore Johnson caught our attention for his tweets about how the White House reacts to protest from black Americans. He brings an interesting perspective as a black man in the U.S. with two decades of military service under his belt—identities, he writes, that stand "toe to toe." Johnson is a fellow at New America and a former speechwriter for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In the Spiel, what Harvey Weinstein's network of spies tells us about the power of legacy media. 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.

How do you attempt to document an event as complex and inexplicable as the Vietnam War? Filmmaker Lynn Novick says it helped to prioritize Vietnamese voices as well as people with a flair for speaking. "There's a poetry in just how people express themselves that we look for," said Novick. She and Ken Burns co-directed The Vietnam War, airing now on PBS. In the Spiel, Mike tsk-tsks Donna Brazile's tell-all. 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.

The #MeToo movement is flushing out clear-cut cases of sexual harassment and assault, but is it helping us judge cases that are far murkier? Erin Gloria Ryan, senior editor for the Daily Beast, wonders whether people will separate into two camps: those who think accusers should be listened to, regardless of consequences, and those who think the accused should be punished, regardless of evidence. In the Spiel, is this really the lowest point in U.S. history? 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.

The tax plan is out, and New Yorker writer Adam Davidson joins us to play One Question, One Question Only: Is this tax reform? And the voluble Michael Rapaport unleashes his opinions about various "stickmen" (read: athletic Casanovas) and why he's embarrassed to be a Knicks fan. Rapaport's new book is This Book Has Balls: Sports Rants from the MVP of Talking Trash, and he hosts the podcast I Am Rapaport. And in the Spiel, what went wrong in protecting Americans from armies of Russian trolls. 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.

Birgitta Jónsdóttir has an unusual background for a politician: she's a poet and a free speech activist. Since 2013, she's been a member of the Icelandic parliament representing the anti-establishment Pirate Party. Jónsdóttir talks to Mike about what it's like to work within a fledgling political party and why she's disappointed with what Wikileaks has become. In the Spiel, how not to respond to a terrorist attack. 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.

Was Dr. Seuss racist? Or did his books just not age well? And what is the appropriate response to a canonical work that seems to be littered with racially charged depictions? Philip Nel takes on all these questions and poses some more of his own in his latest book, Was the Cat in the Hat Black? In the Spiel, what if the office of the presidency were leveraged for the sake of constant distraction? We are finding out. 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.

Can you be scared to death? Can your hair go white from fear? This sounds like a job for "Is That Bullshit?" with Maria Konnikova, our favorite BS detector. Konnikova writes for the New Yorker and is the author of The Confidence Game. In the Spiel, the never-ending baseball game and a bothersome T-Mobile ad. 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.

Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker has rolled out the kind of marijuana legalization bill progressives love to fawn over and libertarians love to ridicule. The plan would pressure states to legalize marijuana by withholding federal money. Booker cedes that the bill's passage doesn't seem imminent, but he likens marijuana legalization to gay marriage, another proposal that saw a rapid surge in popular support: "I'm believing in—I'm claiming a sea change coming in the future." In the Spiel, what is justice for Bowe Bergdahl? 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.

Talking about sex makes some people squirm. For everyone else there's Guys We Fucked, a podcast hosted by Corinne Fisher and Krystyna Hutchinson that started off as a series of interviews with their old partners. Now it's more of a coffee klatsch between two raunchy feminists.Their new book is F*cked: Being Sexually Explorative and Self-Confident in a World That's Screwed. And in the Spiel, Bannon, Bulgarian mutiny, and beluga whales. 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.

Jacob Weisberg says the Clinton campaign's links to the Steele dossier matters, but not as much as the veracity of the oppo research itself. Weisberg is host of Trumpcast and editor in chief of the Slate Group. In the Spiel, the death of Fats Domino. 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.

Shareholder returns aren't the only barometer of CEO success anymore, or else Jeff Bezos would be on top. In recent years, sustainability and diversity have gained importance—and in those areas, European CEOs are lapping their American competitors. Adi Ignatius, editor in chief of the Harvard Business Review, joins us to discuss the metrics for CEO success and how businesses struggle to diversify. The Harvard Business Review just published its rankings of the best-performing CEOs in the world of 2017. And a discursive Spiel about President Trump's chances of passing tax reform. 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.

Kathleen Horan writes obituaries for the living. Her Audible original series, Mortal City, is an anthology of lesser-known New York characters: Douglas the sanitation worker, Serge the barman, Rocky the ambulance commandant. "I just kept feeling like there were people that I was missing," says Horan. She prefers to talk to people who live and work on the city's margins: "They just can't help but show you higher up on the thigh of their story." In the Spiel, the latest page in the very long scrapbook on President Trump's communication catastrophes. 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.

Marc Maron says he "didn't know anything about anything" when he began working in radio. But producer Brendan McDonald can tell you the moment he knew Maron could be a radio star. It was during a morning show on the ill-fated Air America network, and then-host Maron was ranting about overcooked lentils. "The phones lit up," said McDonald. The two went on to create WTF With Marc Maron, the podcast now known for intense interviews with comedians, many of whom Maron quarreled with in the past. Maron's latest book, Waiting for the Punch, is a collection of interview excerpts. In the Spiel, a few things Mike doesn't understand about other people. 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.

Some national flags are created to unify nations, but others are simply based on myths. The Danes believe God threw theirs from heaven, and the Catalonians tell the story of a severed arm dragged across a shield. Vexilloligist and author Tim Marshall joins us to explain these myths and the complex politics of national flags. Marshall's new book is A Flag Worth Dying For. In the Spiel, a right-wing provocateur provokes often, but not well. 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.

If the roulette wheel keeps stopping on green, it's bound to stop on red soon, right? It must be time for another round of "Is That Bullshit?" Maria Konnikova returns to debunk our ideas about probability and gambling. Konnikova writes for the New Yorker and is the author of The Confidence Game. In the Spiel, the Russian connection. 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.

Thought-leaders build careers out of TED talks, inspirational quotes, and branded products. Dexter Guff is a big player in that space, teaching his listeners how to crush it every day. But Dexter Guff is not a real guy. His podcast, Dexter Guff Is Smarter Than You, is a satirical show starring actor Peter Oldring. Oldring explains the origins of the Dexter Guff character and the difficulties of executing dry humor. In the Spiel, Slate contributor Seth Stevenson sizes up Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton. 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.

You can't get away from Obamacare news, and with each repeal effort there are familiar, wild-eyed claims from the law's supporters and detractors. Will chipping away at the Affordable Care Act cause people to die? Did the health care law "bend" the cost curve? Did your taxes go up to pay for healthcare for the poor and the sick? Mike interrogates some of these pronouncements with Vox's Sarah Kliff. Listen to her new weekly podcast, Impact. Pitchforks down, please: a Spiel about why New York Times op-ed columnist Mayim Bialik isn't a monster. 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.

Why did it take years of reporting before any news organizations could nail down the Harvey Weinstein story? NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik says previously, the allegations received only "twilight" coverage. He considers why NBC might have whiffed on the Weinstein story, and how the network's hard pass is being recast in conservative circles. Folkenflik is the author of Murdoch's World: The Last of the Old Media Empires. In the Spiel, who was the star of the New York City mayoral debate? It wasn't Oxford-style discourse. 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.

What does it mean to be Muslim in the U.S. right now? Slate's Aymann Ismail set out to understand, interviewing the founder of right-wing website Gateway Pundit, a former Muslim extremist, and his own family members, among others. What Aymann has learned so far has surprised him. His Slate video series is "Who's Afraid of Aymann Ismail?" In the Spiel, jokes didn't take down Harvey Weinstein. 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.

Things are looking bleak in Oklahoma. Low taxes and slashed state spending mean schools, prisons, and even the state capitol building itself are failing. Russell Cobb, a native Okie, explains how his home state came to be so screwed up. In the Spiel, what's so wrong with a gun registry? 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.

Comedian Jason Kravits can write a Broadway hit, on the spot. That's the premise of his improv cabaret show, where he invents tunes based on audience suggestions, such as "Yom Kippur" or "a Victorian sewer." The show, Off the Top, is on the second Saturday of every month at the Duplex in Manhattan. His next show is Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. In the Spiel, the Environmental Protection Agency. 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.

Masha Gessen returns to The Gist, this time to talk about her latest work, The Future Is History. Gessen uses the book to examine the ways in which post-Soviet Russia failed to process the traumas of totalitarianism. In failing to reckon with its past, did Russia doom itself to a bleak future? In the Spiel, the dearth of details in the Trump administration's 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.

This week, we learned that Russian-linked Facebook ads targeted swing states during the 2016 election. Initially hesitant about sharing information with the government, Facebook finally gave in to avoid a deeper discussion on regulation, but tech companies have grown so big that it might be time for the government to step in. Journalist Franklin Foer explains how tech has become so powerful, and why it's essential to be skeptical of technological innovation. Foer's new book is World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech. In the Spiel, gun-control regulations. 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.

Has the military become more tolerant of collateral damage under President Trump? Why are there no good military options in North Korea? And who does it hurt when the president goes off-script about Kim Jong-un? Retired Maj. Gen. James "Spider" Marks has the answers. In the Spiel, the cost of paying constant attention to the president's myriad sins and insults. 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.

Before the Cold War, the president spent most of his time focusing on long-term problems facing the nation. But ever since Franklin D. Roosevelt, the president has had to devote more time to immediate crises than overarching strategy. Author Jeremi Suri explains how the office of the president has changed so drastically—and whether there's any way for occupants to succeed now. Suri's new book is The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America's Highest Office. In the Spiel, more ways to think about gun reform. 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, we're thinking about the mass shooting in Las Vegas and the errors we make when we attempt to explain the motives of an attacker. Author Masha Gessen says it's all part of our desire to reassure ourselves that we won't fall victim to a bomb blast or a spray of bullets. "As soon as we find an explanation, we set it aside and we're reassured that it's not going to happen to us." Gessen went in search of an explanation for the Boston Marathon bombing in her book, The Brothers. She'll be back soon to talk about her latest book, The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia. In the Spiel, Mike found the perfect metaphor for our familiar reaction to a mass shooting. 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.

Charlatans and magical thinkers aren't new to this country; they helped shape it. So goes the thesis of Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire. Author Kurt Andersen joins Mike to consider religious quacks, the wackadoodles of the left and right, and the shrinking authority of the academy. Andersen is the host of Studio 360. In the Spiel, we're long overdue for another Lobstar. 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.