The Gist

Well, what do you know? In 2016, Trump tweeted that he wasn’t trying to get a top security clearance for his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. A year later, he’s finally right. On The Gist, what’s so special about an octopus? Slate’s Daniel Engber has a takedown of the many-armed beast of the deep: The research on cephalopod intelligence is flimsy, he says, and the octopus is hardly the first animal to have fascinated us with its methods of escape. In the Spiel, it’s time to name another Lobstar. One more thing: Please fill out the Slate podcast survey at Slate.com/podcastsurvey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on The Gist, a unified theory of Donald Trump. Plus, Trump dragged his fellow Republicans and made his Democrats grin like Cheshire cats at the televised meeting on gun control. What are the chances that the White House lets Trump’s comments stand? Mike talks to Slate politics writer Jim Newell. In the Spiel, the president has a lot of retrograde ideas that suit him. Here’s one that doesn’t: steel tariffs. One more thing: Please fill out the Slate podcast survey at slate.com/podcastsurvey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Quick, who’s the Federal Reserve chairman? If you can’t remember, take heart: Our minds are filled to capacity with the flotsam and jetsam of the Trump White House. On The Gist, are you as virtuous as you think? Likely not. Christian Miller delved into social science research to find out if we tend to misjudge the strength of our own moral fiber. Miller’s book is The Character Gap: How Good Are We? In the Spiel, NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch has a hard time living up to her own media criticism. One more thing: Please fill out the Slate podcast survey at slate.com/podcastsurvey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hang onto your skirts: Clueless co-star Stacey Dash is running for Congress. On The Gist, returning champion Maria Konnikova is back to sum up the social science on poker tells: Are they BS? Konnikova writes for the New Yorker and is the author of The Confidence Game. In the Spiel, we should acknowledge our progress. Please fill out the Slate podcast survey at slate.com/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, President Trump’s latest poetry reading. Last week on the show, we talked about the manifold reasons for optimism in the world. This week, Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker builds on that argument, adding that we’ve had a roughly 300-year run of steady improvements in technology, health, and civility. It just so happens that the only thing as constant as human progress is our tendency to focus on human shortcomings. Pinker’s latest book is Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. In the Spiel, why it should be worrying that the California Democratic Party snubbed Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Trump boosted an empty idea at CPAC: arming teachers to stop mass shooters. In the interview, Derek DelGaudio is the magician of our time. His one-man show, In & of Itself, questions identity in a political atmosphere that’s consumed by it.  In the Spiel, “unsubstantiated” stories about Trump’s lecherous behavior on the set of The Apprentice are obviously, completely, and sadly believable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, NBC’s coverage of Olympic athletes’ backstories is a little too obvious. Slate tech writers April Glaser and Will Oremus examine the most plausible methods for reining in our tech overlords. Glaser and Oremus are the hosts of Slate’s If Then. In the Spiel, NRA honcho Wayne LaPierre’s speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference was downright loony. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek will be moderating a gubernatorial debate in Pennsylvania. Mike says no thanks.  In the interview, Gregg Easterbrook is ever the optimist. Despite what your push alerts and Facebook news feed are telling you, the world is steadily getting safer, wealthier, and less afflicted by war and disease. Easterbrook is the author of It's Better Than It Looks: Reasons for Optimism in an Age of Fear.       In the Spiel, gun control advocates shouldn’t compromise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Team USA’s low medal count would be a bummer if these Winter Olympics weren’t so goofy.      In the interview, Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs didn’t campaign on universal basic income, but he’s bringing it to his city. Later this year, some residents will start getting $500 a month.  In the Spiel, conservative commentators have it plain wrong when it comes to gun control. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, the market for “how to survive a shooting spree” videos shows how far we’ve strayed in dealing with gun violence.    Interracial marriage on a national level has only been legal for 50 years, after the landmark Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia. Anna Holmes and Lacey Schwartz are two of the minds behind The Loving Generation, a video series by Topic.com on identity and dynamics within multiracial families.  In the Spiel, it’s a no-brainer: Ban civilian ownership of the AR-15, and fewer will die. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Filling in for Mike Pesca today is Leon Neyfakh, still smoldering after his first season as host of Slate’s hit podcast, Slow Burn.  Leon is indulging in a new fascination lately: the latest “left Twix vs. right Twix” ad campaign and its insistence that we should all pick one.  But, of course, we insist on taking sides. Slate writer Justin Peters sheds some light on the New York Times’ swift hiring and firing of tech journalist Quinn Norton.  In Leon’s Spiel: We must have some moral absolutes. But what is the cost of eschewing bothsidesism?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, names are stupidly important when it comes to getting elected.  The Trump administration is proposing a boost in military spending, but the country’s defense budget actually peaked under President Obama during the troop surge for the war in Afghanistan. Bipartisan support for massive defense spending has been the norm since the Reagan era. Foreign Policy’s Dan De Luce tells us about it. In the Spiel, lawyer Michael Cohen’s out-of-pocket expenses.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, on the White House budget’s effort to replace half of food-stamp funding with crappy meal boxes. How do you fix one of the most gerrymandered states in the country? It helps to have a tireless amateur mapmaker in your ranks. Mike talks to Amanda Holt, who spurred Pennsylvania to redraw its legislative districts in 2013 and is closely watching the state’s ongoing court battle over its congressional districts.   In the Spiel, the American intelligence community still has to convince the White House that Russia’s up to no good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s Gist, we get metaphysical. The White House is always in chaos. But can chaos be a permanent condition? Maria Konnikova returns to play our favorite game and answer the question: Does an athletic uniform’s color affect the athlete’s performance? Konnikova writes for the New Yorker is the author of The Confidence Game.   In the Spiel, why Norway is a Winter Olympics marvel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, it’s The $10,000 Pyramid with a budget deal twist. Is it possible we don’t know enough about national debt to call our politicians when they’re peddling nonsense? New Yorker staff writer Adam Davidson addresses some common misconceptions and sums up the Republican tax cuts and spending bill this way: “Rich people are stealing the money.”  In the Spiel, the Olympics are back, and the Russians got off easy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, the “When did you stop beating your wife?” question in the White House press briefing.  In the interview, Iran may have shelved its nuclear ambitions, but the Middle East is still in trouble. Slate’s Joshua Keating wonders if the Iran deal was worth it.  In the Spiel, the world of the FEMA scammer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trump wants a parade. On The Gist, America's longest war, in Afghanistan, rumbles on under a third U.S. president. There is still no exit plan. Steve Coll’s new book explores the covert side of America’s campaign in Afghanistan and the secretive Pakistani intelligence wing lending support to the Taliban. Coll's book isDirectorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan.   In the Spiel, considering Christopher Steele and Carter Page.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listen, chattering classes: Let’s at least chatter correctly. We take a minute on the proper name pronunciation for the scandals of the day. Today on The Gist, U.S. foreign policy is a mess. But U.S. foreign policy has been a mess for decades. Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, explains.  In the Spiel, what they were thinking in the stands of President Trump’s speech on Monday in Ohio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist: Dow goes down, Trump gets mad.  In the interview, comedian Phil Rosenthal went to six cities across the globe to eat everything they had to offer and put it on Netflix. He tells Mike about his new show, Somebody Feed Phil, and the creative angst behind the sitcom that put him on the map: Everybody Loves Raymond.   In the Spiel, Justin Timberlake didn’t bring sexy back thanks to white privilege alone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Super Bowl LII is an occasion to ask the age-old question: Who’s more obnoxious, people from Philadelphia or Boston? Plus, Another Period takes the Gilded Age as its setting to satirize the worst of reality TV: extravagant wealth, petty arguments, and a shaky camera. Riki Lindhome co-created and stars in the Comedy Central show. In the Spiel, a reprise of the vaunted documentary, Busted: 43 Minutes of Crisis and Conflict, a production of the American Dream is Deadworks.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices