Television Doesn't Understand Why People Watch TV

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, we bring you a recent episode of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie, on which Mike Pesca was the guest. It’s an hour of Nick and Mike talking quite a bit about how NPR lost its way.    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

It wasn't only North Carolina Senate candidate Mark Robinson's political ambitions that were naked, it was his forum for web posting—the Nude Africa website, where he declared himself a "Black Nazi," and where he detailed his particular taste in pornogrpahy. Plus, RFK Jr. takes a lover, and it seems she's a member of the 4th Estate. Plus, we're joined by writer, director, and actress Jennifer Esposito. She starred in Summer of Sam and Spin City, and now she's out with a new film, Fresh Kills. She joins to talk mafia movies, her Staten Island upbringing, and the torture of making and marketing an indie film today. 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

Today a wide-ranging interview with Maryland Governor Wes Moore. We talk about the bipartisan blame for America's housing policy, why Baltimore's murder rate is drastically declining, and his studied assessment of international terrorism. Plus, Mike's fruitless foray into correcting an inaccurate tweet about pet eating. Also, we just posted a video version of Mike's interview with Bradley Tusk from yesterday's show. Find it here. 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

We do everything on the phone, so why not vote? It's much more secure than you think, says Bradley Tusk, author of Vote With Your Phone: Why Mobile Voting Is Our Final Shot At Saving Democracy. Plus, one of America's two great newspapers tracks down a lost cat that could swing the election, or could have if she were not "lost" but "lunch." 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

We're joined once more by sitting federal judge Frederic Block to discuss his thought process in sentencing and forgiving. His new book is A Second Chance: A Federal Judge Decides Who Deserves It. Plus, Biden strategically drags his feet on the acquisition of U.S. Steel. And Hezbollah's pagers go off in a big way. 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

The Emmy's are a tradition wherein excellence in television is honored by a long display of inartful television. Plus, Elon Musk is carelessly worsening the atmosphere around the second assassination attempt against Donald Trump. And we're joined by Judge Frederic Block of the Eastern District of New York, who has sentenced scores of defendants to long prison terms, but now the law is providing him with a means to reconsider some of those sentences. He discusses how he approaches his duties under the First Step Act in his new book, A Second Chance: A Federal Judge Decides Who Deserves It. 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

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, with the permission of the fine folks at the Savage Lovecast, we will listen to Mike being interviewed by Dan Savage of the trés popular Savage Lovecast, for his series “Sex & Politics.” They discuss the debate and the election, and Mike gives sex advice. So, there’s that.    Big thanks: Nancy Hartunian, Dan Savage, and the crew  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

The UK's Keir Starmer and President Joe Biden are apparently arming the Ukrainians in a way that Vladimir Putin does not approve of. Plus, veteran political journalist Joe Klein, of the Sanity Clause Substack, joins to discuss the debate, the election, and what the Democrats are finally doing right. Also, in the plastic straw wars ... it's the last straw! https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/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 | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the technical research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory, Renée DiResta studied disinformation and alerted social media companies to violations of their own rules. This opened her up to charges that she was engaging in censorship. Out with a new book, Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality, DiResta discusses those accusations and the difference between disinformation, disliked information, and normal political puffery. She also denies being an active CIA agent, which is exactly what a CIA agent might say. Plus, Donald Trump's cognition needn't be the source of investigation when it's output is the source of so much content. https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/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 | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump clashes with Kamala Harris in their only scheduled presidential debate. Among the important issues debated: abortion, inflation, and immigrants eating pets. Reasonable people can differ on two of those three issues. Mike is joined by Steve Hayes, editor of The Dispatch to discuss. They disagree on abortion policy, though not on Trump's arguments explaining and advancing his policy. They also disagree on the fairness of the moderators. But their disagreement is a veritable symphony of productivity, as opposed to much of what we heard last night. https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/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 | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices