The Gist

On The Gist, Mike calls foul on the mashup terms used to describe big weather events, such as the latest: bombogenesis.   In the interview, police shootings regularly make headlines, but what does the big picture look like? Sam Sinyangwe is a data analyst at Mapping Police Violence, an organization that recently looked at all 1,129 cases in which a person died at the hands of the police in 2017. And yes, there is a racial disparity.         In the Spiel, the barbs traded between President Trump and Steve Bannon truly are the stuff of Shakespeare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Mike tips his hat to the musical talents of Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, who announced his retirement Tuesday. In the interview, it took a perfect storm to bring down Richard Nixon’s presidency, and it’s not guaranteed that another will come for Donald Trump. Slate’s Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons tell us about their chart-topping podcast, Slow Burn, and why it shouldn’t necessarily give hope to those who want Trump out.     In the Spiel, President Trump’s latest round of self-congratulating tweets omit a few facts, as usual. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Mike is down with feminism but argues that woke should be Merriam-Webster’s word of the year instead. In the interview, Anjelah Johnson was living off grocery store gift cards in L.A. before a new thing called YouTube launched her comedy career. Someone uploaded a video of her stand-up routine to the site in 2007; it quickly racked up millions of views and landed Anjelah an agent. Johnson’s fourth comedy special, Mahalo & Goodnight, is on EPIX, Apple Music, and Spotify.  In the Spiel, we should be taking a closer look at New York City’s latest crime, rape, and murder statistics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Mike says goodbye to Roy Moore yet again, after an Alabama judge rejected Moore’s lawsuit to contest his opponent’s Senate win. In the interview, Dan Ariely tells us “how we misthink money and how to spend smarter.” That’s the subtitle of his book on the ways we value the wrong things and fail to think long term. Ariely is the co-author, with Jeff Kreisler, of Dollars and Sense.  In the Spiel, Mike looks back on the worst op-eds of 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Mike runs through the major news of the past few days, while much of the news media is on vacation.      In the interview, Hobby Lobby scored a famous Supreme Court win for evangelicals in 2014, allowing certain corporations to deny covering their employees’ contraception costs. Professor of theology Candida Moss tells us about the family behind the company, and their crusade to promote fundamental Christianity. Moss is the co-author, with Joel Baden, of Bible Nation: The United States of Hobby Lobby. In the Spiel, it’s almost as if the scales are tipped in favor of Vladimir Putin as he runs for re-election in March. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Ken Stern explains why the deplorable label doesn’t sit well with him, even if it’s defensible. Stern is the author of Republican Like Me: How I Left the Liberal Bubble and Learned to Love the Right. In the Spiel, is life better in the U.S. or Europe? Mike considers it with David Plotz, CEO of Atlas Obscura. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, why the Republican tax overhaul is unlikely to spur hiring. Michael Carpenter explains what we lose when the Trump administration doesn’t try to put the heat on Russia. Carpenter is a former deputy assistant secretary of defense and foreign policy adviser to former Vice President Joe Biden. He and Biden are the co-authors of the Foreign Affairs article, “How to Stand Up to the Kremlin.” In the Spiel, robots take over.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, it seems that congressional investigators have nabbed a big fish: Jill Stein. Plus, New York Times columnist David Leonhardt explains why the Republicans absolutely had to pass the tax bill, even if polls suggest it could be an albatross around their necks during the midterms. Leonhardt authors the Times’ absolutely essential Opinion Today newsletter. In the Spiel: Income inequality may not be the perfect descriptor for what ails us, but it’s the best term we’ve got. And the Republican tax bill makes our inequality problem worse.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Mike talks about the consequences of fast-tracking a major tax overhaul. In the interview, how did the team behind The Daily manage to create a show that’s unlike anything we’ve heard before and also oddly perfect for this moment in news? Host Michael Barbaro and managing producer Theo Balcomb say they talked extensively about what they didn’t want to sound like. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I never want to do a jobs report,’ ” says Balcomb. “ ‘Can we promise we’re never going to do a jobs report?’ ” In the Spiel, Republicans aren’t necessarily committing political suicide with their $1.5 trillion tax plan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the Gist, why we shouldn’t fret every time companies like Netflix show how they’re using our personal data.    In the interview, Maria Konnikova runs us through the foods that can turn your skin orange, blue, and red, and whether that’s even a bad thing. Konnikova is the author of The Confidence Game.  In the Spiel, what the latest Star Wars movie has in common with Donald Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, President Trump’s judicial nominations are starting to look ridiculous. In the interview, comedian Jeff Ross got a little tired of his shtick as a go-to roast guy for Comedy Central’s famous Friars Club sendups. So he started skewering not people, but places, ideas, and institutions. His latest special, ­­Jeff Ross Roasts the Border, takes viewers to Brownsville, Texas, a city along the U.S.-Mexico border where a huge steel fence is meant to keep migrants from crossing into the United States.     In the Spiel, bidding farewell to the legendary sports radio host, Mike Francesa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chris Hurst doesn’t want you to know him as the guy whose girlfriend was fatally shot during a live broadcast. But it is a huge part of what compelled him to pursue elected office: “Part of what I want to do is … take this spotlight, that I wish I had a receipt for … ’cause I’d gladly return it, and shine it on people that aren’t normally seen.” Hurst is a newly elected state representative in Virginia. For the Spiel, an exclusive clip from Donald Trump Jr.’s testimony to the House Intelligence Committee, courtesy of Maura Quint and McSweeney’s.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Omarosa makes for the exits.  In honor of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees announced today, we’re playing an excerpt from our live show last month, when we went over the ballot with Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy and Washington Post humorist Alexandra Petri.  In the Spiel, reflecting on the Doug Jones win in Alabama. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, the #MeToo movement is only influential insofar as its targets can feel shame and enact accountability. In the interview, biographer Robert Dallek accounts for Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ruthless pragmatism. As president, FDR made the decision to round up 120,000 Japanese Americans to “strike resonant chords with most Americans,” and he was silent on anti-lynching bills to appease Democratic segregationists who would later help him pass New Deal legislation. Dallek’s book is Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life.  In the Spiel, the Alabama Senate election will come down to all registered voters, not just the roughly 26 percent who happen to be black and are reliably Democratic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, we can have sympathy for all kinds of people—just not the guy who loses all his money on bitcoin. In the interview, Lenora Chu tells the story of her American family’s rude awakening to Chinese education practices. When Chu moved her family to Shanghai, she eagerly enrolled her young son into an elite Chinese public school. She expected academic rigor and an emphasis on work ethic. But she was surprised to find authoritarian teachers and desperate, obsequious parents. What, if anything, should the U.S. borrow from the Chinese education model? Chu’s book is Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve.   In the Spiel, what the abortion issue did to sort the parties. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, is President Trump to blame for today’s violence in Gaza?  In the interview, columnist John Archibald surveys the Senate race in Alabama, where Doug Jones has become the abortion candidate and Roy Moore has become the Trumpism candidate.   In the Spiel, don’t talk to Mike about Trump’s slurred speech. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Walmart gets a new name.  In the interview, Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick thought about one thing when Senate Democrats started calling for Al Franken’s resignation: Merrick Garland, which she points to as the beginning in a trend of Democrats trying to be honorable and Republicans trying to win at all costs. Are Democrats abandoning process too readily, only to see Republicans surge ahead again? Dahlia is the host of Slate’s Amicus.  In the Spiel, the FBI’s testimony on Capitol Hill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Slate’s Jim Newell explains the moral and political case for forcing out Sen. Al Franken. Dozens of Senate Democrats called on Franken to resign after a seventh woman accused him of sexual misconduct on Tuesday. Bob Garfield has spent much of his journalism career talking to eccentrics. In his one-man show, Ruggedly Jewish, the quest to explore his own identity dovetails with the story of an uneasy America. The show is touring in Chicago on Saturday, Dec. 9.  And for the Spiel, why President Trump’s Jerusalem announcement solidifies his reputation as the chaos candidate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, why Alabama’s decrepitude is not incidental to Roy Moore’s competitive bid for Senate.  In the interview, Russell Shorto tells the stories of six people living through the Revolutionary War—one is George Washington; the other five, you’ve probably never heard of. Shorto’s book is Revolution Song. In the Spiel, a counterpoint to Jill Filipovic’s New York Times column arguing that the sexual harassers who covered the election threw the whole thing to Donald Trump.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before Pete Souza became the most famous troll on Instagram, he was the White House photographer for the duration of the Obama administration. Souza explains his approach to capturing moments and shares why he doesn’t consider his work to be propaganda. His book of pictures from the Obama presidency is Obama: An Intimate Portrait.  In the Spiel, should the store that sells you candy also sell you health care? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices