The Gist

On The Gist, who makes the CNN Sucks onesie? Jimmy Carter’s reputation is that of an ineffective president. But his chief domestic policy adviser, Stuart Eizenstat, argues that Carter fought for America’s energy independence, doubled the size of the national park system, and appointed “more minorities and women to judgeships and senior positions than all 38 presidents before him put together.” Eizenstat’s book is President Carter: The White House Years. In the Spiel, the local radio scandal of Joe Benigno. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, let’s face it: A.I. and robots are going to take jobs from us humans. Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination has restarted the debate on how we vet candidates and whether the Supreme Court is too easy to game. Lori Ringhand, a professor of law at the University of Georgia and an expert on the Supreme Court, explains how much the court has actually changed, or not, in our lifetime. In the Spiel, three theories on how this whole Mueller investigation thing is going to end. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, sorry, not every product gets to be a lifestyle brand. A few decades ago, it wasn’t uncommon for voters to support the presidential candidate from one party and the senator from another. “Ticket-splitting” is pretty rare now, and as Alan Abramowitz argues, just one of the many signs of an America divided. Abramowitz’s book is The Great Alignment Race, Party Transformation, and the Rise of Donald Trump. In the Spiel, there may well be discrimination in college admissions offices. But let’s face it: Top-notch schooling is available way beyond the Ivy League. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, do we really have to give up plastic straws? Then, and more seriously: a look back on a recent episode. On Wednesday, The Gist ran an interview with Allison Yarrow about 90s Bitch, her book about sexism in the age of 24-7 news coverage. And in the Spiel, Mike offered a rebuttal of sorts with statistics on the plight of women in the ’80s versus the ’90s. It improved, didn’t it? A shrinking gender wage gap! Less domestic violence! Greater representation in the Senate! But some listeners said that wasn’t the point, and took issue with the episode. Christina Cauterucci, June Thomas, and Veralyn Williams of the Waves (Slate’s podcast on gender and feminism) join Mike to discuss the episode, the reactions, and the lessons learned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, the glee of seeing Facebook stock take a dive. Imran Khan is poised to lead Pakistan as its next prime minister. The former cricket star campaigned on a promise of transparency, but his focus “is only on anti-corruption when it comes to finding ways to bring down political opponents,” says Alyssa Ayres, formerly of Obama’s State Department for South Asia. Ayres is the author of Our Time Has Come: How India Is Making Its Place in the World.  In the Spiel, how autocrats are starting to use the excuse of fake news. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, let’s imagine what’s in that “enhanced” Michael Cohen tape. Born in the 1990s, the 24-hour news cycle was especially unkind to women. The media of the age consistently bashed women’s sexuality, ambition, and presentation of women such as Monica Lewinsky and Nancy Kerrigan (case in point: a Washington Post article that asked, “Is Nancy a bitch?”). Journalist Allison Yarrow explores this double-standard and its repercussions in her new book, 90s Bitch: Media, Culture, and the Failed Promise of Gender Equality. In the Spiel, that was an interesting interview, right? To go with it, Mike pulls statistics on the plight of American women in the ’90s compared with the ’80s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, President Trump’s high approval ratings aren’t as significant as they seem. America is a playground for the rich, and that’s in good part because of the expansion of lobbying that started in the 1970s. Steven Brill lays out the many ways in which power begets power in Tailspin: The People and Forces Behind America’s Fifty-Year Fall—and Those Fighting to Reverse It. In the Spiel, keeping track of Trump’s bullshit claims is truly God’s work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, we’re proposing a 2018 Housing and Urban Development festival in Sonoma, California. Convicted killer Scott Dozier was scheduled to become Nevada’s first executed inmate since 2006, until the procedure was canceled with just hours to go. That wasn’t a victory for Dozier, who has dropped his appeals and spoken out to the media—including Vice’s Gianna Toboni—about his willingness to die.     In the Spiel, how our president reaches out to foreign leaders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, ideals are better when kept as general as possible because the more specific the get, the more exclusive they become. Bobcat Goldthwait made a name for himself with an oddball stand-up act complete with shrieks, grunts, and experimental jokes. But some 10 years after burying that character, his latest work is as a writer and director. His TruTV anthology series, Misfits & Monsters, mashes up television tropes within the genres of horror and comedy.  In the Spiel, Zoe Chace explains why we should stop hoping for Republican senators to stop Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court appointment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, about those outlandish celebrity baby names. When the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision made unlimited campaign contributions legal, one state put up a fight. In Dark Money, documentary filmmaker Kim Reed and journalist John Adams exposed the influence of anonymous campaign contributions on Montana’s state government even before the Supreme Court rubber-stamped the problem. In the Spiel, would the high road be so easy to take if Papa John’s pizza were delicious? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Girl Scouts are earning cybersecurity merit badges. Sinclair Broadcast Group is trying to acquire Tribune Media so it can extend its television reach, but Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is throwing up roadblocks, which is odd because Sinclair is so pro-Trump. NPR’s David Folkenflik joins us to explain exactly what’s going on and why Pai is hindering the company he previously seemed to help. In the Spiel, Vladimir Putin’s denials that he has Donald Trump in his pocket. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, the crocodile massacre in Indonesia that got no attention. Work-life balance gets a lot of lip service, but we rarely pull it off. Brigid Schulte, host of the Better Life Lab podcast, is looking for solutions in a world of late-night work emails, shaky job security, and Workaholics Anonymous meetings. Better Life Lab is a partnership of Slate and New America. In the Spiel, president Trump’s mea culpa was delivered with all the skill of a fourth-grader. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Trump’s press conference with Putin and the red herrings involved. Silicon Valley is steeped in self-made mythology, with stories about giants like Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and Marissa Mayer. But how did Silicon Valley really come into being? Adam Fisher, whose new book is Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley, joins us to discuss where it all started—and the valley’s potential future. In the Spiel, how journalists should respond to criticisms of the media and how they should hold talk show guests accountable.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, it turns out your ethnicity is really easy to guess. AnneMarie Sgarlata got rid of her TV months ago, but she still heard about President Trump’s pardon of Dwight and Steven Hammond this week—and she wasn’t happy. Sgarlata was among the lawyers who originally prosecuted the Hammonds for burning federal land and putting the lives of firefighters, hunters, and a teenage boy at risk. In the Spiel, what America’s political parties can learn from cereal brand mascots. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, the biases of Peter Strzok and the need to connect accusations with actual evidence. President Trump’s first appointment to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, benefited from anonymous donations worth millions. To Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, this “dark money” has created a frightening loop: Deemed lawful by the Supreme Court in 2010, it gives special interests a lock not just on elected officials, but on the courts themselves. In the Spiel, Trump might not know the difference between Wisconsin and Minnesota. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, “Brett” has got to be the lamest name among Supreme Court justices (or nominees). “If Jim Brown’s the past, Michael Bennett’s the future.” So says sports writer Dave Zirin, who recently published both a biography of Brown and co-authored Bennett’s memoir. Why the contrast between these two football players? Michael Bennett is a deliberate progressive, while Jim Brown’s work to save young men from gang life is marred by a history of domestic abuse. Zirin’s books are Jim Brown: Last Man Standing and Things That Make White People Uncomfortable. In the Spiel, Rep. Jim Jordan picked the wrong hill to die on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Trump isn’t strategic or defiant, he’s just rapacious. When discussing #MeToo, the focus is often on the power that men exerted when sexually harassing women, but are their sexual motivations getting left out of the conversation? Emily Yoffe wrote about this in her new piece “Understanding Harvey,” for the Highline, and joins us to discuss. In the Spiel, Hollywood has taught us that cars explode, but in reality they hardly ever do. Shouldn’t movies teach us more practical lessons about how to handle crises?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, comparing Trump’s antics to a reality show is no longer a scarlet letter. Yes, there are storytelling competitions, and Matthew Dicks wins a lot of them. His secret? Keep it visual, and forget about the tangents. Dicks’ new book is Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling. In the Spiel, “people trapped in holes” is a tale as old as time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, the shamelessness of the Wall Street Journal editorial board on Scott Pruitt leaving the Environmental Protection Agency. Advertisements are a pain, interrupting our television programs and distracting us while we play games on our phones. They’re a necessity though, funding all the entertainment we consume. Ken Auletta joins us to discuss the current state of advertising and its uncertain, data-driven future. Auletta’s new book is Frenemies: The Epic Disruption of the Ad Business (and Everything Else).  In the Spiel, can we please just have targeted ads already? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Scott Pruitt is out as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency because it turns out someone really can be too corrupt for Trump. Let us next turn to the Supreme Court—not in America, but Poland, where the rightwing government is forcing nearly 40 percent of judges into retirement. Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer says the country’s latest swerve toward authoritarianism proves that democracy can erode just about anywhere. In the Spiel, Michael Moore claims to know where the Democratic Party has gone wrong and what it needs to do to change direction, but how reliable is he? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices