The Gist

On The Gist, Louis C.K. isn’t as despised as Twitter makes it seem, which is why an eventual comeback is likely. In the interview, Maria Konnikova breaks down the science of fasting, and why it’s currently associated with cancer treatments. Can it really help reduce cancer growth? And is it a useful practice for healthy individuals? Konnikova is a New Yorker contributor and the author of The Confidence Game. In the Spiel, gerrymandering is bad for democracy and great for the GOP. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, the news media reveres John McCain because he failed with grace—and wasn’t too conservative. Chances are you’ve heard #AbolishICE before. Journalist and activist Sean McElwee kick-started it and argues it’s not just the agency that needs to go down, but the criminalization of undocumented residence within American borders. In the Spiel, stupid stuff comes in threes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, guest host Stephanie Foo dives into Crazy Rich Asians, speaking with friend and fellow producer Kat Chow about Asian representation in media, the inspiration to create, and a hope that this film will lead to more Asian-centered media.  Then she speaks with producer and former film professor B.A. Parker about seeing your own culture depicted on screen, and how exciting it is to see stories and jokes not meant for you.  In the Spiel, Stephanie considers whether America has failed her, and why she is so proud of being an immigrant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, nobody move or the economy gets it, Trump says. The guys behind the left’s most irreverent podcast (Chapo Trap House) want the Democratic Party to forget about Robert Mueller and set their sights on 2020. But in the short term? They’re rooting for a blue wave. Alongside Felix Biederman and Brendan James, Thursday’s guests Matt Christman, Will Menaker, and Virgil Texas are co-authors of The Chapo Guide to Revolution: A Manifesto Against Logic, Facts, and Reason. In the Spiel, when you hear “everyone does it” down in Washington, you know something’s amiss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, guest host Alex Roarty thinks Sen. Elizabeth Warren has a way better message than simply “impeach Trump.”     #NeverTrump Republicans are a vanishing breed. Crooked Media’s Tim Miller is one of them, and he tells Alex that the news media’s biases favor president Trump more than they weigh him down.  In the Spiel, history suggests Democrats will sweep the House in November. But don’t forget that we’re dealing with the poll-defying Donald Trump here.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, guest host Max Kerman considers why politicians are getting duped by Sacha Baron Cohen. Trump has lied so many times since he took office that it’s difficult for the normal person to focus on them. Luckily we’ve got Daniel Dale at the Toronto Star keeping track. Dale joins us to talk about what it’s like reporting on American politics as a Canadian, including the similarities of covering former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. In the Spiel, how to engage with trolls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, how will Rudy Giuliani go down in history, and in public memory? The midterm elections are looming, and the big question is how far the Democrats will go. Are they really likely to retake the House of Representatives? And how would that affect Trump’s re-election campaign in 2020? Gist guest host Steve Kornacki talks to another political statistics wiz, Sean Trende of RealClearPolitics, about why we should be wary of using probabilities to predict elections. In the Spiel, a tale of clear state borders and unclear rules.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, if Trump weren’t so repulsive, would we judge his murky dealings a little more kindly? And we don’t much think about the inanimate objects in our lives, never considering the rich inner life of the lamppost, the can of Coke, or the humble pillow. But Ian Chillag knows they have stories to tell, and he gets them to speak out in his new podcast Everything Is Alive. In the Spiel, Mike talks to the guest hosts who will rule The Gist all next week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, the free press. Aretha Franklin has died at 76, and she was much more than a golden voice. Slate’s Chris Molanphy recalls her talents at the piano and in the composition room, where she wrote timeless music and, with her covers, transformed songs from her own genre and beyond. (See “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Let It Be,” and, of course, “Respect.”) Molanphy is the host of the Slate podcast Hit Parade.  In the Spiel, the straw ban and balloons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, autocracy isn’t always bad for an economy. But as Turkey shows, idiocy definitely is. Reality television has a reputation for uninhibited narcissism, ruthless competition, and terrible business pitches. But when Jon Murray created The Real World in 1992, he worked to make something complex and innovative, not a circus of humanity’s basest instincts. And in A&E’s Born This Way, Murray follows the lives of individuals with Down syndrome in Los Angeles, sharing their laughter and tears, their beautiful community, and how they strive to be just like everyone else. In the Spiel, Christine Hallquist makes history. Can she do it again in November? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, should news outlets halt election coverage on Election Day? “Usually, if you look at American history, we’ve kind of taken a relook at our democracy every 50 years.” And now we’re overdue, according to Jason Kander, an Army veteran and Democratic candidate for mayor of Kansas City. The big things to shake up: how we draw district lines, run primaries, and finance electoral campaigns. Kander’s book is Outside the Wire: Ten Lessons I've Learned in Everyday Courage.  In the Spiel, the president and nondisclosure agreements. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Trump is a racist? That’s not much of a scoop, Omarosa. There were plenty of Republicans standing against Donald Trump—before he won the White House. After the 2016 election, many of them traded in their values for a seat on the bandwagon. Rick Wilson isn’t among them, and he explains why in his new book Everything Trump Touches Dies: A Republican Strategist Gets Real About the Worst President Ever. In the Spiel, America’s worst kind of racism lies between microaggression and all-out white supremacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike Pesca talks with Leon Neyfakh, host of the Slate podcast Slow Burn, about season two of the hit show. Subscribe to Slow Burn here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, “the so-called chairman of the Intelligence Committee,” Devin Nunes. Superheroes and comic books may seem ripe for parody nowadays with the constant onslaught of nerd media, but The Venture Bros. has been doing it for years. Part Jonny Quest parody, part exercise in the esoteric, this show really leans into its own quirks. Jackson Publick, one of the show’s creators, helps us understand the wonderful absurdity of The Venture Bros., with its seventh season currently airing on Adult Swim.  In the Spiel, Omarosa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Trump’s lack of income disclosures. Colin Kaepernick took a stand in 2016 by taking a knee during the national anthem at a football game, sparking a debate about racial injustice that continues to roil. But he’s just the latest in a long line of black activist athletes that have used their status to raise awareness and protest. Howard Bryant uncovers the history of these athletes in his book The Heritage: Black Athletes, a Divided America, and the Politics of Patriotism. In the Spiel, the “unfreakingbelievable” New York Times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Jay Sekulow and Rudy Giuliani. The financial crisis of 2008 wasn’t just an American phenomenon. It was felt all across the globe, with other Western countries suffering the same pain, but enough hasn’t been done about our banks to ensure long-term stability. Will we ever be able to recover fully without a complete overhaul of the current system? Adam Tooze explores this in his new book, Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World.  In the Spiel, Ohio’s special election.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Trump’s lies and steel mills. The Arab Spring caused a major shift in Egypt in 2011, and the politics only got murkier during the military coup in 2013. But are autocrats really the best allies for the United States, or just for our current president? David Kirkpatrick explores what happened to Egypt during the Arab Spring and the military coup in his new book, Into the Hands of the Soldiers: Freedom and Chaos in Egypt and the Middle East.  In the Spiel, who Trump calls stupid. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Turkey and Trump. We’ve got another round of Is That Bullshit? Drugs treating cognitive malfunctions like narcolepsy, ADHD, and Alzheimer’s disease, are useful for people with those conditions—but what about the rest of us? Can ADHD medication make us smarter? Can narcolepsy drugs really keep us awake longer? Resident debunker Maria Konnikova explains.  In the Spiel, Jay Sekulow and lawyers on television. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, guest host Jeffrey Lewis fills in for Mike and talks about trying to solve big problems. Regulating space is tough because it surrounds the whole world, and people can’t even agree where the Earth’s atmosphere stops and space begins. Jonathan McDowell, astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, thinks he has the definitive answer to where that line is. McDowell recently published “The Edge of Space: Revisiting the Karman Line” in Acta Astronautica. In the Spiel, North Korea and nuclear weapons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, QAnon and sound design. Comedian Guy Branum is a hilarious intellect with an intimidating amount of pop culture knowledge. In his new book, My Life as a Goddess: A Memoir Through (Un)Popular Culture, Branum explores things like his love of civics, his Northern California childhood, and his experiences writing jokes for other people. In the Spiel, we’ve got another Lobstar of the Antentwig. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices