The Gist

Mike Pesca (and his production team) make sure this is not an echo chamber for the Left. A breath of fresh air. Not every show is stellar—a lot depends upon the quality of the guests—but some are worth six or seven stars (the Eddie Izzard episode, for example). That said, Eddie did gently correct Mike on, shall we say, some of the over-certainty of his style, but, in the world of journalism, he is hardly alone in being so. Some episodes are also hampered by MP’s tendency to sound a little like one of those guys who recite at high speed all the terms and conditions at the end of an ad. If you’re talking so fast that you sound garbled, perhaps it’s time to slow down a little and/or re-record after a little script editing. Or maybe that’s what the half-speed function on iTunes is for? I’d always wondered why it was there. Other times-like his recent spiel on single payer helthcare-Mike gets a little too carried away. The piece was so ridden with logical fallacies that it blew away what might have been a more reasoned argument.

Welcome return

Mr mike pesca and crew are like the steak...you know when you save the best for last (granted that’s 6 year old mentality)

Been listening to this for years, and still love it. When the rest of my feed is not super appealing, I can always click on The Gist and hear something surprising and entertaining. Same format every day: 1) reflection on current events, 2) interview with somebody interesting from an unexpected field or walk of life, 3) opinion. His politics are clear, but he's very thoughtful about them and he asks great questions. And of course he's funny and extremely high energy.