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.
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Shadi Hamid joins to discuss his new book, The Case for American Power, arguing that progressives' retreat from global engagement is a mistake. He contends that while the Left often views U.S. hegemony as intrinsically immoral—citing the legacy of Iraq and the tragedy in Gaza—the alternative of withdrawal often leads t
Anthony Weiner and John Ketcham break down a Congress being flayed by its own fringes, where the "crazies" sometimes deliver the sharpest institutional critiques. They then assess Pete Hegseth and the possible release video of a lethal Caribbean boat strike, the challenges reshaping New York politics, and what it reall
Holiday dread is real enough—fraught family gatherings, forced merriment, and the persistent myth that December is the peak month for suicide. In truth, it's the lowest month for suicides, even as the season brings elevated risks of car crashes, cardiac emergencies, and alcohol-related ER visits. Sadie Dingfelder joins
The philosopher discusses The Book of Memory: How We Become Who We Are, exploring how recollection constructs identity, coherence, and the personas we inhabit. He explains why memory is less an archive than an act of ongoing authorship, shaped by emotion, imagination, and the stories we rehearse. The conversation trace
Daniel Zoughbie discusses Kicking the Hornet's Nest: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East from Truman to Trump, arguing that Truman's one-sided recognition of Israel and decades of U.S. overreliance on defense distorted the region's trajectory. He traces missed off-ramps from Oslo to the Olmert–Abbas talks, explainin
On this Saturday edition, Mike Pesca joins the cast of Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone to explain the dopamine minefield of modern sports betting. He walks Paula and Adam Felber through the mechanics of the "vig," the absurdity of Cleveland pitchers throwing balls into the dirt to cover prop bets, and the time NBA l
