2,000 episodes

For thirty minutes each day, Pesca challenges himself and his audience, in a responsibly provocative style, and gets beyond the rigidity and dogma. The Gist is surprising, reasonable, and willing to critique the left, the right, either party, or any idea.

The Gist Peach Fish Productions

    • News
    • 4.6 • 3.5K Ratings

For thirty minutes each day, Pesca challenges himself and his audience, in a responsibly provocative style, and gets beyond the rigidity and dogma. The Gist is surprising, reasonable, and willing to critique the left, the right, either party, or any idea.

    What's Eating Uncle Bosie?

    What's Eating Uncle Bosie?

    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
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    • 41 min
    Immigration: A Story Both Inspiring And Whack

    Immigration: A Story Both Inspiring And Whack

    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
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    • 42 min
    When "Anti-Zionism" Is A Get Out Of "Antisemitism" Free Card

    When "Anti-Zionism" Is A Get Out Of "Antisemitism" Free Card

    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

    • 45 min
    BEST OF THE GIST: NPR CEO OMG Edition

    BEST OF THE GIST: NPR CEO OMG Edition

    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

    • 37 min
    Saving NPR

    Saving NPR

    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

    • 34 min
    Gold Heist, Foiled

    Gold Heist, Foiled

    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
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    • 49 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
3.5K Ratings

3.5K Ratings

markbakerprague ,

Refreshing

Always thought-provoking and interesting. I am as far from a MAGA Republican as you could possibly be, but at the same time, I don’t feel like I have a real home on the progressive left, and I think that’s where a lot of people (including Mike) find themselves. More power to people who look for nuance and who are not afraid to cut against the grain when necessary. And yes, I would like to hear more about the situation at NPR. Thank you.

News curious ,

More about journalism

I enjoy learning about this. I’m also a disappointed fan of npr. Old enough to remember the wonder of the early years. And the CBC As It Happens.

Jeffwu78_2 ,

Entertaining, informative antidote to tribalism

The Gist was here before Trump was a candidate, and there’s a reason it has worked for so long. It’s that Mike Pesca’s curiosity and playful energy happens to be far stronger than a pure desire to get high ratings. This leads him to pursue genuinely interesting and diverse topics while resisting the siren song to give red meat for a tribal audience. I’ve returned to the Gist after several years of absence, and it is refreshing. I’d admit I spent some of those years listening to heterodox podcasts that were enjoyable in the way they exposed the lunacy of some on the left. But they also became predictable and downright annoying when many of them drifted rightward due to audience capture. The Gist, after all these years, still holds to those center-left values that I hold dear: Be curious, follow the truth fairly where it leads, and don’t be a jerk.

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