The Gist podcast

The Gist

For thirty minutes each day, Pesca challenges himself and his audience, in a responsibly provocative style, and gets beyond the rigidity and dogma. The Gist is surprising, reasonable, and willing to critique the left, the right, either party, or any idea.

For thirty minutes each day, Pesca challenges himself and his audience, in a responsibly provocative style, and gets beyond the rigidity and dogma. The Gist is surprising, reasonable, and willing to critique the left, the right, either party, or any idea.

 

#3012

Finding Political Kryptonite with Paula Poundstone

On this Saturday crossover episode, Mikes recent guest spot on Nobody Listens to Paula Pou... more

21 hrs Ago

34 MINS

34:35

21 hrs Ago


#3011

Benjamin Saltzman: The Art of Turning Away

Today on the Gist, why cruise ships are essentially floating vessels of exclusively bad ne... more

Yesterday

41 MINS

41:04

Yesterday


#3010

Not Even Mad: Russ Muirhead & Ben Dreyfuss

Today on the Gist, the US intelligence assessment of the Iran blockade, and why the curren... more

07 May 2026

57 MINS

57:17

07 May 2026


#3009

Jonathan Vigliotti: The Olympic Rush to Rebuild LA

Today on the Gist, why ten-dollar words like "instantiation" might sound smart but ultimat... more

06 May 2026

43 MINS

43:26

06 May 2026


#3008

Joseph Moore: Negotiating With Drug Dealers for Real Estate Success

Today on the Gist, Robert F. Kennedy's initiative to get Americans off psychiatric medicat... more

05 May 2026

29 MINS

29:48

05 May 2026


#3007

Joseph Moore: The Despair Industrial Complex

Today on the Gist, parsing terrible geology analogies about gas prices dropping "like a ro... more

04 May 2026

37 MINS

37:42

04 May 2026


#3006

Ethan Strauss: Great Writers, Bad Thinkers, and the Death of the Sports Gamer

Mike and Ethan Strauss joined to talk on Substack and they talked about Ethan's 4:00 a.m. ... more

02 May 2026

54 MINS

54:34

02 May 2026


#3005

Liz Hoffman: Why We Are So Pessimistic About a Resilient Economy

Today on the Gist, digging into the rhetoric around California's Proposition 36 and examin... more

01 May 2026

37 MINS

37:32

01 May 2026


#3004

Liz Hoffman: Will AI Trigger a Jobless Food Fight?

Today on the Gist, assessing the political fallout from the Supreme Court's Callais decisi... more

30 Apr 2026

36 MINS

36:27

30 Apr 2026


#3003

Suzy Hansen: How The Syrian War Radicalized Erdoğan

Today on the Gist, a look at the recent security incident at the White House Correspondent... more

29 Apr 2026

41 MINS

41:11

29 Apr 2026


#3002

Ted Dintersmith: The Life-Changing Math Schools Ignore

Today on the Gist, examining the confusing details and conspiracy theories surrounding the... more

28 Apr 2026

43 MINS

43:43

28 Apr 2026


#3001

Richard Lapper: Why Lula Didn't Become a Chavista

Today on the Gist, reflecting on the president's black tie press conference remarks about ... more

27 Apr 2026

38 MINS

38:39

27 Apr 2026