The Gist

Once upon a time, late-night talk shows were like boozy dinner parties, fun chat-fests where movie stars would reveal a little too much about themselves. Now, they're marked by anti-septic games of charades and sing-alongs. Comedian Guy Branum wants to bring anarchy back to late night with Talk Show: The Game Show. "We'll all watch these people in TV and singing; we know what they're good at," says Branum. "A talk show should let you inside of them a bit more."  Plus, we head back to Vexillological Corner for a discussion of city flags with flag expert Ted Kaye.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Slate columnist and Harvard University lecturer Yascha Mounk is worried about liberal democracy. He says Marine Le Pen's second-place finish in France isn't a cause for relief—it's a sign she's closer to power than ever. "It's easy to be right about the problems, it's difficult to be right about the solutions, and there the populists have nothing to offer," says Mounk. He writes the Good Fight column.  Plus, Mike translates the Pope's speech and annotates the Trump administration's income tax reform plan.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes set out to write a book about Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential bid long before the home stretch of the campaign. In October, Allen got a note from their editor, who was having trouble reconciling his expectation of a Clinton win with his reporters' work uncovering the aimless mess behind the "I'm With Her" stickers. Then Election Day happened. Allen is co-author of the book, Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign.  In the Spiel, why couldn't Clinton find a clear message?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Comedian Moshe Kasher is a self-professed lefty and a general fan of cultural sensitivity, but he has a big problem with outrage culture. His new talk show, Problematic, takes aim at any unabashed troglodytes, as well as their supposedly enlightened brethren. As Kasher puts it: "How could it be that both sides think the other side is arguing from a place of zero reality?" Problematic airs on Comedy Central on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. (9 p.m. Central). In the Spiel, we're throwing out the 100-day yardstick.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's 1987, and the breakthrough creativity of the early '80s is beginning to sour. Also, everyone's hair is ridiculous, but that's beside the point. Chris Molanphy is our guide to the year's Billboard's hits, which taught us, as he says, that "fairly great art can result from commerce and studio polish." Molanphy writes Slate's Why Is This Song No. 1 column. Plus, what to do about America's antiquated industries, like steel and coal. And Mike answers your emails, tweets, corrections, and anger in the Lobstar. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2012, a man named John B. McLemore wrote an email to This American Life asking the radio show to investigate a murder in his hometown. What resulted is S-Town, a podcast that explores McLemore and the people around him. Producer and host Brian Reed stops by to answer our burning questions about the show and how locals in Woodstock, Alabama, have responded since its release. (A warning: certain references in this interview will only make sense if you've heard S-Town. If you haven't listened yet, it's wise to save this episode for later.)  Plus, karma finally catches up with Bill O'Reilly.  Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Experts have had a rough year. Tom Nichols sees a new fervor in the country's anti-intellectualism, and he thinks it stems from frustration with elites. Turns out, there's a difference between the people with expertise and the people with power. Nichols is a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College. His book is The Death of Expertise. In the Spiel, the two recent suicides in the news tell us something about how we talk about murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why are crack users given such long, punishing sentences? It's because of political gamesmanship around crime in the '80s. In the new Audible series 100:1 The Crack Legacy, journalist Christopher Johnson looks at how inner-city drug panics led to today's mass-incarceration crisis.  On the Spiel, a thought about America's warship debacle. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ariel Levy's 2013 New Yorker essay about losing her son, "Thanksgiving in Mongolia," was among the most recommended pieces of writing in recent memory. Levy expands on the essay in her memoir, The Rules Do Not Apply. In the book, Levy wonders if, in wanting to do it all, she set herself up for heartbreak over the things she could not have.  In the Spiel, a unified theory of President Trump's policy reversals.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Maria Konnikova has been a special correspondent on The Gist since it began, debunking common myths and pseudoscience. Now, she's starting her own show, a narrative podcast about cons called the Grift. The first two episodes are available for download on your podcatcher of choice.  Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If aliens came to Earth looking for a dystopian novel that reflected the current political reality, would you recommend that they read The Handmaid's Tale? Guest host Alexandra Petri considers this quandary with Mallory Ortberg, Slate's Dear Prudence advice columnist. In the Spiel, it's time to talk about United Airlines.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joe Swanberg and Jake Johnson have made a couple of can't-miss indie films in the last few years, including Drinking Buddies, Digging for Fire, and the new poker comedy Win It All. The collaborators talk about improv, making a believable world on-screen, and Jake's unusual leading man role on the Fox sitcom New Girl.  In the Spiel, Mike rounds up some news that fell through the cracks this week.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Letterman was full of contradictions. He hated celebrity, but he hosted a talk show. He was playful, but he never seemed to be enjoying himself. In The Last Giant of Late Night, reporter Jason Zinoman explores the many facets of Letterman's art, and how the TV landscape has suffered without him.  In the Spiel, the real stories behind the fall of Alabama's governor, the Wells Fargo clawback, and one teenager's quest for free chicken nuggets.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Slate's Osita Nwanevu defended the actions of Middlebury College students to silence visiting speaker Charles Murray last month. If we consider some opinions to be beyond the pale of acceptability, who's to say that the students were wrong in putting Murray's past writings in that category? Nwanevu is an editorial assistant at Slate.  In the Spiel: If you really think about it, Bill O'Reilly is a lot like Bashar al-Assad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does President Trump want to achieve with Thursday's escalation of force against Syria? Fred Kaplan considers all the angles, including this one: Ordering a strike against a single Syrian air base was one of the lesser military actions President Trump could have approved. Kaplan writes the War Stories column for Slate.  In the Spiel, like a clueless boyfriend in a zip-up sweater, Trump went to Jared.  Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Chicago Cubs used to be the Susan Lucci of baseball. Now they're looking more like Meryl Streep. As a fan, how do you become accustomed to winning? Scott Simon has written a memoir about his life as a too-devoted Cubs fan and how he's adjusting to life as a winner. Simon is also the host of Weekend Edition Sunday from NPR. In the Spiel, we bid farewell to a beloved, deeply tender jerk.  Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at Slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In The Discovery, director Charlie McDowell imagines a world where the afterlife has been proven, and a man played by Jason Segel is trying to negotiate the emotional consequences. McDowell says he was out to make a kind of "grounded sci-fi," in the vein of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. "It's not focused on a futuristic look or society," says McDowell. "It's a backdrop for exploring the characters." The Discovery premiered on Netflix on Friday.  In the Spiel, one question, and one question only, about chemical weapons in Syria.  Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tabitha Soren is not a natural baseball fan. She got interested when her husband, Michael Lewis, was working on his book Moneyball. As Lewis became obsessed with teaching his readers another way to watch the game, Soren focused on showing people how to see the players in a different way: as fallible and broken people who sacrifice their bodies for a chance to play in the major leagues. The result is Fantasy Life, a 15-year span of photographs of a group of minor league draft picks for the Oakland A's. In the Spiel, yeah, we're having a hard time understanding this whole "unmasking" business, too. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trump was the chaos candidate, but he's finding little success as the chaos president. He's turned off Democrats and the Freedom Caucus, failed to pass a new health care law, and faced blockades in the courts against his travel ban. We call up veteran GOP strategist Mike Murphy to discuss the impossible spot the White House is in, and why Democrats shouldn't blockade Neil Gorsuch. Murphy's podcast is Radio Free GOP. In the Spiel, checkin' in with the Trump base. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a long hiatus, the groundbreaking comedy show Mystery Science Theatre 3000 returns to piteously mock the worst movies ever made. Show creator Joel Hodgson and new head writer Elliott Kalan (The Daily Show) explain how to get some tiny pleasure out of cinematic garbage. The show returns on Netflix April 14.  In the Spiel, why Melissa McCarthy will never keep up with relentless self-parody artist Sean Spicer.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices