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
    • 4.5 • 27 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.

    Cool To Be Cringe Kamala

    Cool To Be Cringe Kamala

    Kamala Harris, or at least some fans, try to remix her way to Coolsville, but there's a detour into Dorksylvania. Sure, go ahead, every candidate gets that treatment, and it all evens out into a thin lime-green meme. Also on the show, we speak with Ibrahim Nash’at, an Egyptian filmaker who imbedded with a group of Taliban soldiers in Afghanistan following the US military withdrawal. The resulting film, Hollywoodgate, is a bizarre, tense, and unique glimpse into how a feared fighting force transitions from guerrilla warfare to actual leadership.

    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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    • 33 min
    Cherrying The Biden Tenure

    Cherrying The Biden Tenure

    So Biden didn't say goodbye, but he did explain that duty surpassed ambition in his decision to not seek re-election. Jonah Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief of The Dispatch, drops by to discuss some of the Biden theses. We will also diagnose where Kamala Harris now stands, and where she needs to move to win the favor of the median voter, a person too often forgotten as we chase the label of being "brat." 
     
    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

    • 40 min
    How To Moderate Great Debate

    How To Moderate Great Debate

    Kyle Clark, anchor and debate moderator for 9NEWS, Denver's NBC affiliate, recently got a lot of attention for his deft moderation of a debate between Lauren Boebert and five Republican rivals. The kudos were deserved, and in this feature interview, Clark discusses how to conduct a good debate, his critique of CNN's recent debate, and which of the latest trends in long-form interviewing annoy him. Also on the show, Netanyahu goes to Washington ... where he's greeted by maggots.

    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

    • 42 min
    Harris "Prosecuting" Trump

    Harris "Prosecuting" Trump

    Astead Herndon, host of The New York Times' podcast The Run-Up, has been covering Kamala Harris for a while. He was the Times' campaign reporter for Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign, and last year he wrote the extensive and fairly devastating profile titled, "In Search of Kamala Harris" for The New York Times Magazine. He here to discuss Harris' skill set, why the cross pressures of the past are gone today, and what arguments she thinks will work against Donald Trump. Plus, as Harris embraces and emphasizes her role as prosecutor, an examination the effectiveness of that argument considering the scale of past prosecutions.

    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

    • 38 min
    Biden Out, Harris In, GOP Still Thinks They'll Win

    Biden Out, Harris In, GOP Still Thinks They'll Win

    After party leaders, donors, and voters made clear that they didn't want Joe Biden running, this past weekend, the President bowed out. Vice President Kamala Harris is there to take the mantle. Benjamin Wallace-Wells, staff writer for The New Yorker, joins us to talk about the factors that contributed to Biden's decision, the opportunities for Harris to make inroads, and if other Democratic politicians really wanted the job. Plus, how Harris can credibly answer the charge that she's a failed "Border Czar." And does Harris' path to the nomination undercut the charge that Trump is the one who is a threat to democracy?

    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

    • 41 min
    BEST OF THE GIST: RNC 2024 Edition

    BEST OF THE GIST: RNC 2024 Edition

    In this installment of Best Of The Gist, we replay Mike’s examination of the polarizing effect of fiery political rhetoric is blamed for political violence. And, with political violence on all American minds, we listen back to our 2015 interview with Bryan Burrow who explains what America’s radical underground revolutionaries from the 1970s are up to now. He is the author of Days Of Rage: America’s Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence. 
     
    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

    • 30 min

Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5
27 Ratings

27 Ratings

wysurfin ,

Coffee on Screen :)

One of the few shows that walk barefoot on the hot coals of current topics. Then I was hit with a Latin translation that caused me to shower my laptop in the physical manifestation of a belly laugh

Tdddeingee ,

Clever, Sharp,Insightful

Mike Pesca invites great guests and asks very thoughtful questions. His skills as a critical thinker and entertaining orator make almost every episode well worth the time.

voltroner ,

Big Intellect, frivolous arguments

Yay. He’s back.
Was it the pandemic? Being cancelled? Or is Mike just letting his contrarian disposition let loose now that he’s on his own? Whatever it is, something has caused Mike to drift off course from a show that used to be extremely insightfully and informative. Nowadays Mike is fighting the fights no one asked for.

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