The Gist

On The Gist, how about those Fake News Awards, huh?  Alan Jacobs questions your ability to think for yourself. Can you really rid yourself of your biases, or do you just develop better biases? Are you really any better than your estranged friends at finding answers, or have you just chosen a different group with whom to associate? Jacobs is the author of How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds.   In the Spiel, relive the horrifying 43 minutes during which America thought a just-inaugurated President Donald Trump had removed Martin Luther King Jr.'s sacred bust from the Oval Office. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, the bad news from Freedom House. U.S. Air Force officer Edward Lansdale promoted a "hearts and minds" approach to diplomacy in the Philippines and Vietnam, only to be steamrolled by America's elite class of policymakers. Max Boot tells us about Lansdale and his own newfound recognition of white privilege and other ideas from the left. Boot's new book is The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam.      In the Spiel, why the continuing resolution is sucking all the fun out of politics.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, the press is too squeamish to clarify that "shithouse" isn't much better than "shithole." In the interview, more on fire and fury—nuclear fire, rhetorical fury, and the consequences of both. Jeffrey Lewis and Aaron Stein, hosts of Arms Control Wonk, assess the Trump administration's tough talk on North Korea and the danger of a South Korea that decides to take matters into its own hands.  In the Spiel, Aziz Ansari isn't blameless, but he doesn't deserve a total destruction of his career, either. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Mike examines Trump's bottom-of-the-barrel statements on immigration. In the interview, Dina Temple-Raston explains how she became fascinated by the teenage brain. After years of covering terrorism for NPR, she was stunned to see so many young people leaving their homes to join ISIS. Teenagers aren't just prone to falling in with terrorist recruiters: Their underdeveloped minds make them more susceptible to video gaming compulsions and violent behavior. Why? Temple-Raston finds answers in her Audible Original series, "What Were You Thinking?" In the Spiel, a skit about the science (and lopsided sex ratio) of turtle love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Mike skewers a columnist for concluding that President Trump is sane. In the interview, comedian Judah Friedlander wants to let you know that his new comedy special is all him, even though it's got Netflix's name on it. The 30 Rock alum talks about matters of social justice, satire, and jingoism. In the Spiel, Democrats should stop questioning Trump's mental acuity and focus on midterms instead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, a brief look at what Norway is doing right.  In the interview, we turn to self-help experts Kristen Meinzer and Jolenta Greenberg about the "new you" books that are good, bad, and absolute nonsense. Meinzer and Greenberg are hosts of the Panoply show By the Book.   In the Spiel, Mike discovers the best transliteration ever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Joe Arpaio's life after pardon.    In the interview, MacArthur "genius" award winner Betsy Levy Paluck tells us about her research into mass media and public opinion. We might have the impression that our beliefs are based on reason. But what our neighbors think (or what we think they think) has a lot to do with it, too. In the Spiel, how to charm Twitter trolls into submission.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Sen. Lindsey Graham is defending the president extra hard on television … because he knows Trump's watching. In the interview, NPR's media correspondent David Folkenflik tells us what to make of Fire and Fury, the book that claims to reveal how dysfunctional the Trump administration really is.    In the Spiel, Mike gives props to Oprah for her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes. But that doesn't mean she should run for president. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, third-party voters should answer for Donald Trump's terrible policies at home and warmongering around the world. In the interview, fields don't get much more male-dominated than those of the NFL. Our guest Jen Welter made history as the first woman to hold a coaching position in the league, training the Arizona Cardinals' inside linebackers in the 2015 preseason. Welter is the author of Play Big: Lessons in Being Limitless From the First Woman to Coach in the NFL.  In the Spiel, a story about coats, the cold, and charitable giving. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Mike wonders whether the "winner picked out of a bowl" antics in Virginia's House of Delegates will really matter much. In the interview, former Democratic Rep. Jason Altmire has straightforward advice for candidates in blue-collar America: appeal to the center or lose out. Just as importantly, Altmire argues, the Democratic Party as a whole has to let them do it. Altmire's book is Dead Center: How Political Polarization Divided America and What We Can Do About It.  In the Spiel, Mike says the economy is looking up, and that means Republicans could keep their congressional majorities in the midterms ahead—barring a foreign policy disaster, of course. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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