The Gist

Middle East analyst Aaron Magid joins the show to discuss King Abdullah II and the argument at the heart of his book The Most American King. Magid explains how his political instincts track American priorities more closely than those of many regional leaders. Also, a look at a muddled argument from Rep. Tony Gonzalez about ICE masks, and a WEAVE SPIEL that runs from Lindsey Vonn's helicopter ride to Truth Social conspiracies, Bad Bunny math, and  habit of outsourcing criticism to a handful of angry internet posts. Produced by Corey Wara Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Mike is joined by Chris Cillizza to break down Donald Trump's rambling proposal to nationalize elections, debating whether it's a master plan or just the former president "saying s**t." They discuss why the scheme is constitutionally impossible but politically potent, how the "counter-mobilization" of voters might backfire on the GOP, and dissect the brutal layoffs at the Washington Post—questioning if Jeff Bezos is a villain or just a billionaire tired of losing $100 million a year. Produced by Corey Wara Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Comedian Geoffrey Asmus explains how Catholic school, priests chasing laughs, and a Randy Moss analogy shaped his sense of what technically counts as a joke. We talk about layered comedy that lets different audiences hear different things and how losing fans can be a sign the bit is working. Plus: Lutherans, LinkedIn shame, Wikipedia ambition, country capitals, and why spacing is the real superpower. Produced by Corey Wara Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Jonathan Cohen, author of Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling, makes the case that the only credible reform agenda is friction, slowing bets, delaying deposits, and cutting off the design features that turn even Czech table tennis into a high stakes trap. Also on the show, Conor Patrick Heffernan traces how ideas of strength evolved, from Charles Atlas chests to bodybuilding's takeover of Hollywood, and why the human body mostly just responds to resistance, not trends. Plus a lament for the Washington Post's decline, how the Times out-competed it by poaching talent, and the brutal economics of serious nonfiction journalism in 2026. Produced by Corey Wara Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Today on the Gist, contextualizing Donald Trump's "wrong and crazy" proposal to nationalize elections, arguing that while the rhetoric is alarming, the Constitution makes it impossible to execute. Then Conor Heffernan, author of When Fitness Went Global, joins the show to discuss the history of "physical culture," explaining why he lifts heavy stones in graveyards and how the first fitness influencer, Eugen Sandow, shifted the world from functional strength to pure aesthetics—while selling a few bogus dumbbells along the way.  And in the Spiel, Mike analyzes the recent FBI raid in Georgia, arguing that Trump's attempt to weaponize the DOJ to prove a stolen election will likely backfire by highlighting his biggest political liability.  Produced by Corey Wara Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

The Spiel looks at the latest Epstein document dump and why each release manages to embarrass powerful people while resolving almost nothing. With millions of files still unreleased, disclosure itself becomes a spectacle that displaces accountability. Then, David Greene joins to talk about an act that may be either civic heroism or mild insanity: helping turn Lancaster's 230-year-old newspaper into a nonprofit newsroom built for a digital future. Plus, the arrest of Jill Biden's former husband and a mini history lesson on the semi-legendary the Delaware bar he once owned. Produced by Corey Wara Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

David Greene joins us to talk about his new podcast, David Greene Is Obsessed, where opera singers map public restrooms, pizza-tour guys chase the perfect slice, and even David Arquette turns Bozo the Clown into an intellectual-property saga. We get into why an obsession can unlock a different kind of interview, plus Greene's own confessions, from the Hay-Adams bathroom workaround to sports fandom.  Plus: the Mississippi miracle, and what China's van-based math prodigies say about how serious nations approach the future. And in the Spiel, life expectancy hits 79 in 2024, why that stat misleads even when it's true, and why good news gets swamped by the bad stuff. Produced by Corey Wara Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/ ⁠For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Today on the Saturday show, Mike shares a conversation he had with Charlie Sykes, former host of The Bulwark and current host of the new podcast To the Contrary. They discuss how ordinary citizens with cell phones in Minneapolis became Donald Trump's kryptonite, exposing the chaos of his immigration enforcement strategy and forcing a rare retreat from the administration. Charlie and Mike break down why the "chaos as a ladder" theory backfired, why ICE's brutality is finally breaking through to the "normies," and whether Republicans in Congress will ever rediscover their spines and reclaim their Article I powers. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Paul D. Miller joins the show to argue that international law is a set of norms, not a moral court. A former CIA analyst and Army intelligence officer now at Georgetown, Miller explains why post-conflict reconciliation only works when locals accept it, why Israel faces a unique double standard, and how democracies navigate war without becoming what they're accused of being. We discuss Rwanda, denazification, Kosovo, Gaza, civilian casualty ratios, and why just war theory still matters after the shooting stops. Plus, the arrest of Don Lemon—why it's less a First Amendment crisis than another example of selective punishment, pretextual enforcement, and politics disguised as law. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Mike contemplates the hierarchy of American attention, contrasting the 50 million eyes on the AFC Championship game with the obscurity of the men leading the "Metro Surge" in Minnesota. Then, Ruy Teixeira (The Liberal Patriot) and Jesse Adams (The Ivy Exile) join for Not Even Mad. The panel debates whether the chaos in Minnesota is a strategic "theater" of enforcement or a policy failure that's alienating the very public that requested it. They also dissect Trump's Davos "Greenland" rhetoric—is it a serious expansionist play for America's 250th anniversary, or just a loud way to bully NATO into paying up? Plus, a blizzard of "Goat Grinders" covering the Dodgers' billions, the "black Jewish" reboot of Blue Bloods, and the pharmaceutical ads keeping broadcast TV alive. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

ICE's aggressive actions in Minnesota were meant to project force and restore order, but instead produced chaos, public distrust, and a political backlash. The administration's theory was that confrontation would favor enforcement, making protesters look extreme and Democrats indulgent, yet shootings, muddled explanations, and obvious narrative gaps flipped that contrast. plus Thomas Goetz joins the show to talk about Drug Story, his podcast that tells American history one medication at a time, from Lipitor to Ozempic. We look at disease awareness ads, the profit motive behind them, and the case that pharma marketing has occasionally succeeded where public health messaging has fallen short. In the Spiel, I count how many mouse clicks and file openings it now takes just to approximate what used to be straightforward acts of cognition. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Thomas Goetz joins the show to discuss his new podcast Drug Story, starting with the chain from FDR's death to cholesterol science, statins, and the cold math behind drug effectiveness. The conversation moves through Lipitor and EpiPens to show how evolving medical knowledge, good intentions, and pharmaceutical incentives can quietly reshape public health at massive scale. Plus, Trump is perhaps rethinking his Minnesota deployments, as the fire trucks exit.  In the spiel a look at why the word "pretext" keeps surfacing in descriptions of Trump administration ICE actions, especially in Minnesota. What the term actually means, why it is often misapplied, and what its ubiquity reveals about how this administration justifies force before retreating. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Elliot Williams joins to talk about his new book Five Bullets: The Story of Bernie Goetz, New York's Explosive '80s, and the Subway Vigilante Trial That Divided the Nation.  He walks through the courtroom oddities, like a "ballistics demonstration" staged with Guardian Angels as stand-ins, and explains why there was always a legally defensible path to either convicting or acquitting Goetz. The conversation places New York itself as another character in the story of safety and perception, showing how fear influenced juror belief. Plus the idea of moral injury and how official narratives around the recent Minneapolis ICE shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti reflect ethical damage being felt in real bodies and in public outrage. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

First, Mike argues that Stephen Miller's promise of "federal immunity" to ICE agents is just as reckless as Donald Trump telling Iranian protesters the U.S. is "locked and loaded"—two instances of leaders writing checks their followers' safety can't cash. Then, from the vault (2022): Michelle Tafoya explains why she traded Monday Night Football for political podcasting. She discusses her "conservative libertarian" worldview, admits she might lack the "stomach" for a Senate run, and recounts the "hideous" experience of being "ambushed" on the Dan Le Batard show. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Today on The Gist, Mike explains why he won't be watching Netflix's Skyscraper Live, arguing that Alex Honnold's latest stunt is an "attractive nuisance" that plays on our darkest voyeuristic instincts rather than the Olympic ideal. Then, New York Times reporter Kenneth Vogel joins the show to discuss his book Devil's Advocates. He breaks down the "sh*tbag business" of foreign lobbying, covering Paul Manafort's pioneering work with dictators, Rudy Giuliani's "security consulting" hustle, and the very real legal exposure facing Hunter Biden.  Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Critic and essayist Jason Guriel joins to talk about Fan Mail and how cultural criticism curdled once gatekeepers vanished and celebration replaced judgment. He makes the case that abundance without curation doesn't democratize culture so much as drown it, leaving readers unsure what's worth their time—or why craft should matter at all. Plus, an analysis of Jack Smith's combative testimony before Congress and how "perjury traps" function when politics, not truth, is the goal. Also, dueling descriptions of Donald Trump at Davos—Pericles to admirers, shambolic horror show to skeptics—and what the split says about our fractured attention economy. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Chuck Klosterman returns with his one-word book, Football, using the Raiders' brand mystique—and the Pac-12 reduced to two lonely teams—as proof that the sport's identity outlives its on-field logic. He argues the short-term cash grab (conference realignment, NIL, gambling) is eroding the traditions that made college football feel timeless, even while the Saturdays are still great. Along the way: concussions as a rehearsal for America's broader "we can change it" institutional cycle, body cams as the reform that boomeranged, and the bleakly funny idea that our real hobby is forensic videography. Plus, a Davos "weave" tour where Trump sells "Green New Scam" riffs to bewildered Swiss elites, then Todd Blanche signals DOJ won't even bother with the usual investigative fig leaf after the Minnesota ICE killing. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Author Chuck Klosterman joins the show to discuss his new book, Football, and how football's strange mechanics, from hidden labor to stop-start pacing,and its resistance to casual play, have helped turn it into the last true monoculture. He also makes the case that future critics will misread football as decadence, missing what it actually revealed about the era that embraced it. Also, the double pardon of the same woman convicted twice for fraud, including a scheme selling counterfeit 5-Hour Energy drinks. Plus a Spiel on how Donald Trump and Stephen Miller make reckless promises of protection that can get supporters hurt or killed. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Mike joins Jeremy Hobson on The Follow Up to discuss the "awful but lawful" nuances of the Minneapolis ICE shooting, the potential blowback of the Trump administration branding it a "riot," and why threats against Iran often ignore dangerous second-order effects. Plus, a Spiel from the week analyzing the flood of anonymous quotes in Dexter Filkins' New Yorker profile of Marco Rubio, and why unnamed sources might reveal more about the reader's bias than the subject's character. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Comedian Liza Treyger explains why she prefers the 1:30 a.m. Comedy Cellar crowd—the drunk, the horny, the post-Broadway undead—and why bombing early is harder than thriving late. Her Netflix special Night Owl doubles as a thesis on power, hypocrisy, and why men who "hate Taylor Swift" seem uniquely unable to stop talking about her. Treyger argues that worst moments often are the résumé, that comedy works better when it sounds unwritten, and that moral panic is usually just bad joke construction in disguise. Plus: owls, tattoos, true crime, and just a little but about Luigi. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Charles Duhigg returns to explain why great talkers are usually great listeners, and how "looping for understanding" can lower the temperature in almost any disagreement.  Plus, a Spiel about going on the record about going off-the-record and we play everybody's favorite Game "Who is Donald Trump Threatening Here" Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Today on The Gist, a look at Donald Trump's plan to cap credit card interest rates at 10%—a populist move that might actually rob the poor to pay for the rich man's travel perks. Then, former CIA analyst and The Rest Is Classified co-host David McCloskey discusses his new novel, The Persian. He explains how real-world Mossad operations inside Iran are so "insane" they don't even need to be exaggerated for fiction, from remote-controlled machine guns to the devastating pager attack that crippled Hezbollah's command and control. He also breaks down the "unlikely but plausible" tradecraft used in the Israel-Iran shadow war and why the U.S. organizational and legal structure wouldn't—or couldn't—pull off the same stunts. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Reese Gorman of Notus (and the On Notus podcast) explains the outlet's "teaching hospital" model for young journalists—and reports that Republicans are privately furious about being cut out of Venezuela, tariffs, and appropriations, even as almost none of them do anything to reclaim Congress's prerogatives beyond symbolic discharge petitions. Then, Dexter Filkins' new profile is our guide to Marco Rubio's ideological malleability as career strategy: swallow the zig, repeat the zag. Plus, why the left's most radical policy ideas can spread under the cover of benevolent framing and definitional ambiguity—and why that's a branding and governing problem for Democrats even if the far right remains more dangerous overall. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Former FBI agent Séamus McElearney, author of Flipping Capo: How the FBI Dismantled the Real Sopranos, walks through the case that shattered the DeCavalcante crime family. He explains the mob's quiet tax on regular people via unions—no-show jobs, pension skims, and an asbestos local run by guys who couldn't pass the test (so they had someone take it for them). He also gets into the overlap with The Sopranos and contrasts real life with the one premise he says flatly wouldn't happen: a boss talking mob business to a shrink. Plus, the Renee Good shooting and the way "objectively reasonable" ends up riding on an officer's story; and in the Spiel, Iran's protests and "semi-official" media; and how the fake Fed investigation is Trump's own attempt at an autocrat-like crackdown. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/ ⁠For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Mike breaks down the U.S. abduction of Nicolas Maduro, arguing that Donald Trump's penchant for exaggeration shouldn't blind us to actual strategic successes. He digs into why media "truth-tracking" often fails to account for real-world military outcomes, using the Fordow strikes and the defeat of ISIS as proof that a leader's bad narration doesn't always mean a failed mission. Plus... A vault interview with Oxford's Ben Ansell on "FADFO"—the phenomenon of "fucking around and not finding out"—and how modern guardrails allow political radicals to escape the consequences of the chaos they create. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

The physician and health-policy veteran lays out six "simple" rules for a long, healthy life, arguing that most wellness advice fails by demanding perfection—and that moderation, sociability, and routines matter more than optimization. He gets data-nerdy on risk (Everest versus skydiving), alcohol as social lubricant, and why "good" ice cream can fit into a sane diet. Plus, a look at the Trump administration's politically self-sabotaging response to the Minneapolis ICE shooting—and a detour through the seized "ghost fleet" tanker Marinera (formerly Bella 1), the kind of ship that survives by constantly changing its identity. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Michael A. Cohen, author of the Truth and Consequences newsletter, and Charles Fain Lehman, Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, debate the capture of Nicolas Maduro and whether Marco Rubio is positioning himself as the "Governor General of Latin America." The panel analyzes Tim Walz's exit from the Minnesota governor's race amid a $9 billion pandemic fraud scandal and the controversial appointment of Cea Weaver to New York's housing office. Plus,the debunking of the "Heritage American" myth that only 37–39% of the population meets the pre-1860 ancestry criteria, the New York Times' creative statistics on 8.5 MPH bus speeds, and Larry David's strict January 7th statute of limitations on wishing anyone a "Happy New Year." Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

The thriller-machine (and civics savant) returns to talk The Viper, the latest Zig-and-Nola mystery, and why he'll write 350 pages before he bothers naming the thing. Plus, a harrowing Minneapolis video after an ICE agent shoots into a slowly moving SUV—and the yawning gap between what the footage seems to show and DHS talk of "rioters" and a "weaponized" vehicle. Also: the debut of what may become a recurring segment—Let's Parse What Tony Dokoupil Said—from a 17-second January 6th mention to a Marco Rubio kicker that might have been a "meh" joke or might have been the death knell of democracy, depending on your source. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/ ⁠For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Andy Mills, creator of The Last Invention podcast, explores I.J. Good's 1965 concept of an "intelligence explosion"—and explains why "AGI" is a deceptively harmless term for a world-changing event. The central problem? Modern AI acts like a black box, often producing results that shock even its designers with no clear explanation of how they got there. Plus: A rebuttal to "spheres of influence" thinking, and why carving up the world is a bad strategy. Produced by Corey Wara | Coordinated by Lya Yanne | Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist    

Venezuelan expert Quico Toro explains why the removal of Nicolás Maduro feels historic—and yet leaves Venezuela largely unchanged, with the regime's machinery fully intact.  Toro warns that Washington's belief in Rodríguez as a workable "moderate" badly misreads her ideological lineage and incentives. Plus: a spiel on Trump's lies and bombast—why presidential exaggeration is a poor proxy for judging whether high-risk foreign operations actually succeed. And the thickness of Venezuelan oil, Trump blood, and maybe Trump himself. Produced by Corey Wara | Coordinated by Lya Yanne | Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Mike Pesca digs into the vault for two 2017 interviews exploring the "ground game" of the New York stand-up scene and the "ad hominem screech" of early outrage culture. Dan Soder discusses his transition from a hard-drinking youth to a maturity fueled by caffeine and cannabis, admitting that his iconic Russian accent bit remains the "Free Bird" closer he can't quite escape. Meanwhile, Moshe Kasher dissects the launch of his series Problematic and the shallowing of the American brain, arguing that a comedian's primary duty is the "primacy of laughter" rather than social activism. Along the way: why Arizona rain smells like "hot nails" and how lighting a cigarette at night acts as a lighthouse for the mentally ill. Produced by Corey Wara Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

Rosebud Baker explains why motherhood is the most political act of her life and how she handles breastfeeding pressure by claiming she's "raising her daughter autistic" with formula and vaccines. The SNL writer joins Mike Pesca to discuss her transition from the "joke-heavy" homework of her first special to the conversational honesty of Motherlode, while detailing her process of churning out 50 headlines a day for Weekend Update. Along the way: the "embarrassing" ego of Elon Musk's comedy crusade, the legacy of her grandfather James Baker, and the dolphin-riding photo that finally convinced her comedian husband to get a hair transplant. Produced by Corey Wara Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

Comedian Robby Hoffman explains why she treats complaining as "enjoying"—and why her Depression-era instincts make her shakier during good times than disasters. Her approach to stand-up is visceral rather than cerebral: she doesn't remember the bit about the woman closing the airplane bathroom door, she replays the movie and watches her body operate on its own. Along the way: memories of growing up with nine siblings in Montreal poverty, where conflict wasn't optional ("we didn't get to not know anything"), the nightstand intervention that changed her brother Schnaer's life, and why she keeps a crisp $100 bill in her wallet like Depression-era insurance. Plus, the greatest taxonomy of social fakery ever delivered by a lesbian comedian—a warning that "being offended isn't that bad" and people who put "kind" in their Twitter bios are statistically suspect. Produced by Corey Wara Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

Oxford-educated archaeology student turned freestyle sensation Chris Turner joins Mike Pesca to explain how his "British period" of deadpan one-liners evolved into the show-stopping rap flow that now defines his Comedy Cellar sets. Turner discusses the "evolutionary advantage" of not knowing the rules of hip hop as a ten-year-old in Manchester—a blissful ignorance that convinced him freestyling was just "making up a story"—and how he uses those same instincts to neutralize hecklers today. Along the way: a masterclass in the "tennis match" of flow state, the absurdity of 50 Cent's car-based fax machine, and a spontaneous freestyle that weaves together Jerry Springer, RFK Jr., and the "Antilles heel" of Hispaniola. Produced by Corey Wara Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

Michelle Buteau explains why she is the "achievable Beyonce" for government workers and how her history editing grim news footage at WNBC led her to a record-breaking comedy career. Her new special, A Beautiful Mind, marks her as the first woman of color to headline Radio City Music Hall—a feat she attributes to the same grit that carried her through five years of IVF and "weird needles" at TSA. Along the way: the "dangerous" trend of punching down in comedy, the specific anxiety of visiting a Bronx reptile sanctuary while high on an edible, and the culture shock of a Dutch husband who still defends the practicality of wooden clogs. Produced by Corey Wara Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

Actor and comedian T.J. Miller explains why a traumatic brain injury is his improvisational "cheat code"—and how a 2010 surgery for an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in his right frontal lobe fueled a career of manic chaos. Miller discusses the "invisible disability" of brain surgery and the high-stakes gamble of a 10% fatality rate. Along the way: a tour of city mottos, from the low-bar honesty of Toledo to the bizarre promise that Auburn, Washington is "more than you imagined." Plus, a look at the "Bulgarian" financial ecosystem of Fort Wayne, Indiana, where a three-bedroom house costs $485 a month. Produced by Corey Wara Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

Mike unlocks two interviews from the vault featuring comics who navigate the cultural minefield with very different styles. First, Sarah Silverman discusses her evolution from "arrogant ignoramus" character comedy to earnest podcasting, reflecting on her blackface controversy, her embrace of the "Bernie bro" label, and why she believes being wrong never feels shitty if you're willing to learn. Then, Kyle Kinane joins to talk about his special Loose in Chicago, the specific pain of being a Cubs fan (pre-World Series win), and his low-stakes conspiracy theories about Trader Joe's parking lots. Produced by Corey Wara Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

In this special holiday week episode, Mike sits down with comedian Alex Edelman, fresh off a Tony Award for his show Just For Us and a spot on the Time 100 list. They discuss the "liquid dynamics" of a Comedy Cellar audience, the art of bombing while testing new material, and why jokes about the Israel-Gaza conflict are the hardest tightrope in comedy right now. Edelman explains why comedy thrives in doubt rather than certainty, how he uses "invisible pillars" to structure a narrative, and why he believes a joke should be "conversant with the moment, not beholden to it." Plus, Mike offers a critique of the mockumentary format glut in modern sitcoms. Produced by Corey Wara Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

In this special Christmas Day edition, Mike gives the gift of Roy Wood Jr., a comedian who embodies the "profundities in punchlines" ethos. Wood joins to discuss his CNN show Have I Got News for You, his upbringing as the son of a pioneering radio journalist, and the central thesis of his comedy: that in a fractured world, people prioritize dopamine over truth. They debate whether political comedy has devolved into mere applause lines, why comedians are the new op-ed writers, and the delicate art of crafting a joke about police reform that actually lands with everyone. Plus, Mike explains why you need a "Christmas Eve" song if you want your novelty hit to last. Produced by Corey Wara Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

In a special Christmas Eve edition, Mike brings you a "gift" from the comedy vault: an interview with the brilliantly off-kilter Django Gold. A veteran of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Onion, Gold discusses his YouTube special Bag of Tricks and his commitment to playing a paranoid, morose character on stage—a persona he claims is "closer to who I really am" than any bubbly crowd-pleaser. They dissect the mechanics of anti-humor, the joy of "uncomfortable staring," and why Gold believes the best comedy leaves the audience "a little dimly lit." Plus, Mike muses on the specific genius of "Christmas Eve" songs versus generic holiday tracks. Produced by Corey Wara Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

Thomas Chatterton Williams joins to discuss his new book, The Summer of Our Discontent: The Age of Certainty and the Demise of Discourse. He argues that the racial reckoning of 2020 was not an inevitable tide of history but a perfect storm of pandemic isolation, polarizing politics, and institutional failure. TCW dissects how mainstream institutions—from the New York Times to the Philadelphia Inquirer—abandoned objectivity for "moral clarity," and how misinformation about cases like Jacob Blake fueled a cycle of violence in Kenosha. Mike and Thomas debate whether the Left's introspection is necessary to defeat the "worse" impulses of the MAGA Right, or if it just alienates the base. Produced by Corey Wara Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

Quico Toro joins to discuss Charlatans: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Hucksters Bamboozle the Media, the Markets, and the Masses, distinguishing the "parasitic" nature of the charlatan from the hit-and-run tactics of the scammer. He traces the lineage of the grift from the official alchemists of 16th-century Venice to the upsell tactics of Trump University, arguing that loneliness and the internet have created a "target-rich environment" for swindlers. Then, a pivot to the environment: Mike and Quico debate whether the "green halo" around solar and wind constitutes its own form of elite misinformation, and why the villainization of nuclear energy—and the partisanship of climate policy—has stalled real progress. Produced by Corey Wara Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠