BEST OF THE GIST: Criticizing NPR on NPR Edition

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, Mike’s recent appearance on the House Of Strauss podcast, in which he and Host Ethan Strauss discuss Harrison Butker’s recent commencement address, which would have gone over without a hitch in 1894, but alas, it was delivered in 2024. Harrison is the placekicker of the Kansas City Chiefs, and his remarks drew fire from just about everywhere.    Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara  Email us at [email protected]  To advertise on the show: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist  Subscribe to our ad-free and/or PescaPlus versions of The Gist: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/  Follow Mike’s Substack: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mary Jo Pitzl covers politics for the Arizona Republic, meaning she's steeped in where the state stands on abortion law. Plus, Harrison Butker's spiritual advisor has some odd thoughts on the digestive systems of all working women. Also, a food fight turned sh*t show in the House Oversight Committee. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at [email protected] To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Journalist Matt Katz's father was barely in his life, and when he was, it was fairly unpleasant for Matt. Then a genetics test tore up Matt's script. That deadbeat dad might have been a deadbeat, but he didn't seem to actually be his dad. Who was? His nine-part podcast Inconceivable Truth details the journey to find out. Also, the cold, hard facts about Cold Lava. Plus, the Obi Wan argument on college campuses and in Gaza. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at [email protected] To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Economist Allison Schrager, Bloomberg columnist and author of An Economist Walks into a Brothel: And Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk, makes the case for working well into your 70s. And even if you think the case is "poor," that's exactly what you'll be if you opt out of the workforce at 62. Plus, a French gangster known as La Mouche, or "The Fly," shoots his way to freedom as the French fret about the Olympics. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at [email protected] To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A cicada invasion dawns, and edible bugs are all the, if not rage, then opportunity for a quirk filled cooking segment. Plus, protesters at Harvard negotiate their way out of trouble, whereas their Princeton counterparts are redefining hunger, or at least "hunger strike". And we are joined by Wall Street Journal columnist and India expert Sadanand Dhume to discuss Narendra Modi and the world's most sprawling election. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at [email protected] To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A glimpse into the Trump Trial, where a sleepy former President is somehow more compelling than hush money, off-the-book payments, and getting stiffed on your bonus. Plus, life expectancy by race complicates the narrative of "white supremacy." And we're joined by Sarah McCammon, National Political Correspondent at NPR and author of The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at [email protected] To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | MikePesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, Mike’s December 5, 2023 interview with author, journalist, and former director of the International Crisis Group’s Arab-Israeli Project, Nathan Thrall. Nathan won the Pulitzer Prize this past week for his most recent book, A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy.    Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara  Email us at [email protected]  To advertise on the show: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist  Subscribe to our ad-free and/or PescaPlus versions of The Gist: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/  Follow Mike’s Substack: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Andy Mills and Matthew Boll are out with a new podcast Reflector. Now available. Episode 1 concerns Naltrexone, a drug that actually works to stop alcohol cravings, and yet 12-Step programs are much more popular, despite being much less effective. We are joined by Andy to also talk about media capture and the great podcast fake enthusiasm epidemic. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at [email protected] To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | MikePesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Steve Fishman is the host and executive producer of The Burden, a podcast which focuses on the string of iffy convictions attained thanks to the police work of a high-flying Brooklyn cop in the 1990s. Plus, balloon releases and issues of cultural insensitivity. And of all of Donald Trump's positions over the years, "missionary" might be the least objectionable. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at [email protected] To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | MikePesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cindy McCain says there's a "full-blown famine" going on in Gaza. The agency she heads at the UN does not agree. Plus, a House of Representatives hearing into NPR bias was skipped by NPR's CEO and not even covered on CPSPAN, but it did feature a House Republican saying he likes his NPR station, a House Democrat saying maybe NPR really should consider the allegations of bias. And we're joined once more to talk Paul Manafort and other fans of sumptuous fabrics with Brody Mullins, author of The Wolves of K Street: The Secret History of How Big Money Took Over Big Government. https://surfshark.deals/GIST Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at [email protected] To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | MikePesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices