The Gist

Dana Mattioli is the Wall Street Journal's "Amazon Reporter," and author The Everything War: Amazon’s Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power. Plus, Harvey Weinstein's overturned conviction is portrayed as a defeat of the reality of rape prosecutions. Mike argues that we actually don't have to choose between justice for sexual assault victims and giving criminal defendants the full protections of the law. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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 Tracie McMillan's new book, The White Bonus: Five Families and the Cash Value of Racism in America, the author documents the lives and experiences of a handful of white Americans, including herself, and then attempts to quantify their racial benefit. Plus, Harvey Weinstein's NY State conviction is thrown out—a history and analysis of the Sandoval ruling. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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

Joe Biden's uncle mostly likely wasn't eaten by cannibals, but he could have been, which is more than some members of the public can swallow. Germany resumes UNRWA funding after a UN investigation. And a legal breakdown with Tyler McBrien, managing editor of Lawfare, who has a seat inside the courtroom for the Trump trial into hush money payments and election fraud. McBrien details the judge's upbraiding of defense council and lays out what exactly the jury will have to wade through in order to render a verdict. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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

Ray Suarez is here to talk history, policy, and personal journeys as he discusses his book, “WE ARE HOME: Becoming American in the 21st Century: An Oral History.” Plus, Binghamton NY's "Smoke Outside the Binghamton Police Station” does not go particularly well for all those who actually smoked outside the Binghamton Police Station. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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

College campuses are spoiled by protests, the White House calls out antisemitism, but the NYPD says the soon-to-be-expelled students were perfectly nice. Not nice are calls for 10,000 more October 7ths. But there's a difference between "not nice" and "not acceptable." On the show today, Mike plumbs the difference and explains when anti-zionism really is antisemitic. Plus, the Dems should bail out Mike Johnson. And we're joined once more by Damon Linker to talk politics and shrubbery. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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, the first half of our interview with Damon Linker, author of the Notes From The Middleground Substack about his recent Guest Essay for the Opinion page of The New York Times titled, "Why Is Biden Struggling? Because America Is Broken." Then we listen back to Mike’s analysis of NPR’s choice of its new CEO, Katherine Maher.    Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara  Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com  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

Today a special show, wherein Mike discusses former NPR editor Uri Berliner's critique of the network he no longer works for, including claims about Berliner's veracity and validity. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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

Canadian police are making arrests in the 2023 theft of $14 million of gold from an Air Canada flight. The criminals weapon of choice? Guns? Dynamite? How about fraudulent bills of lading for scrod? Also on the show, Max Stearns is the author of the new book Parliamentary America: The Least Radical Means of Radically Repairing Our Broken Democracy. We will discuss the needed repairs. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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

Evan Waite, writer for Family Guy and The Onion, discusses his career, theories of comedy, and his new book, Life Wants You Dead: A Calm, Rational, and Totally Legit Guide to Scaring Yourself Safe. Plus, why can't Ukraine have the defenses that Israel has? And a new NPR CEO critiques truth. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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

Arwa Damon, recently back from Gaza, is a former CNN International Correspondent who has transitioned to relief work. Her organization is INARA, the International Network for Aid, Relief & Assistance. She discusses the situation in Gaza, how opaque Israeli inspection protocols delay aid, how the killings of World Central Kitchen workers complicated the job of relief workers, and how Gaza compares to other war zones she's covered. ln the Spiel, we can now declare that murder is down, even if we've been falsely declaring it for some time now. And Donald Trump loves comparing himself to Al Capone. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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

On the show today, an Iranian attack repelled. And, in a full-show interview, Will Thomas, assistant professor of law at the University of Michigan, joins to talk about Trumps recent bond hearing and explains the process behind the bond and how people go about paying it. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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, listen to Mike’s show opener this past Thursday about the death of O.J. Simpson. Then we listen back to our December 6, 2016 interview with Ezra Edelman, whose documentary O.J.: Made In America, explored Simpson’s life. It won the Oscar for Best Documentary at the 2016 Academy Awards.    Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara  Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com  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

Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo are the eco-directors of Food Inc 2, which raises questions about how American agribusinesses have an unhealthy relationship with politicians, communities, and our bodies. Plus, the beatings out of Chechnya will continue ... within strict BPM limits. And part two of our look at On The Media's featherbed of a segment on UNRWA and Israel. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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

Chris Molanphy drops by to count down the hits of 1988, a time when we weren't worried, we were happy, and we were making the transition from the exiting of dreams and the entering of cars. Also, in 1988 OJ Simpson was in a new movie called The Naked Gun. Today, OJ Simpson, football great, and adjudicated killer of two people is dead. We can say that and be factual. Plus, an On The Media segment on UNRWA leaves out a bit of context, namely a single inculpatory fact about UNRWA's members involvement in October 7th, or support of Hamas. Link to Episodes mentioned in Spiel: On The Media What Matters Now to Haviv Rettig Gur: UNRWA's problem isn't the terrorists in its ranks Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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/adcho

The Bulwark's Marc Caputo says Florida's six-week limit on abortion is vulnerable, but not certain, to go down via popular referendum. Even so, Donald Trump has such a huge advantage in the state he's unlikely to suffer from its presence on the ballot. Caputo also says Trump's strategic ambiguity, or even avoidance, of the issue will probably work, based on the general Trump unaccountability theory. Plus, the Tik Tok Taoiseach. And also, what's a "Taoiseach?" Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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 Arizona Supreme Court has banned almost all abortions in the state, deferring to a law written in 1864. Also on the show, a brief history of Ecuador and embassies. Plus, the continuation of our interview with Keith Humphreys, Stanford Professor and co-author of the Atlantic story, "Why Oregon’s Drug Decriminalization Failed." Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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

Keith Humphreys, Stanford Professor and author of Addiction: A Very Short Introduction, talks about the of failure of a local Oregon ordinance he was called in to offer expertise about. We discuss his Atlantic story, "Why Oregon’s Drug Decriminalization Failed." Plus, the path of totality, and dealing with Hamas over hostages. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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, Mike’s Thursday Spiel about the carnage at NPR and the reason for it. Then we listen back to part of Mike’s January conversation with Jeremy Hobson, host of The Middle and long-time public radio personality, about what’s going wrong at NPR. This part of the interview with Jeremy was formerly a PescaPlus extra.    Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara  Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com  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

Jena Martin is a pathologist by day who has produced a six-part podcast series looking back at the recovered memory movement of the late 1980s and early 90s. Everyone was having them, were any real? Plus, a partial traipsing down the path of totality in advance of Monday's eclipse. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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

Another round of bloodletting in the world of podcasting and public radio. NPR listenership is down 15-20%, and the excuses the industry is relying on wither, don't apply, or are flat out wrong.  Mike offers a path to course correction that he doubts his old colleagues will take. But one public broadcaster is crushing it ... the BBC. Could this be because Mike is prominently featured in Episode 3 of Helen Lewis Has Left The Chat? And we're joined by Emily Blout, author of Media and Power in Modern Iran to talk about her recent article, "The Disturbing Rise of Strategic Antisemitism." Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 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