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.

    Hush Little Stormy

    Hush Little Stormy

    Mike interviews Neil Gross, a former cop turned Colby College Sociology professor and now author of Walk the Walk: How Three Police Chiefs Defied The Odds and Changed Cop Culture. We're also joined by Leon Nixon, who voiced the audiobook—a profession he took up after more than 20 years in law enforcement. Plus, a look at the loudest hush money in history. And how Michael Cohen is a colorful character, but he's a questionable character to put on the witness stand.

    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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    • 38 min
    Vaccines, Masks, And The Lessons Of Covid

    Vaccines, Masks, And The Lessons Of Covid

    Following yesterday’s conversation with David Zweig about the known and unknown risks associated with how we dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic as a society, today Mike drills down on masks and vaccines with two public health communicators. First up, science writer Michael Schulson, author of the recent article “Do Masks Work? It’s A Question of Physics, Biology, and Behavior” in the digital magazine Undark, then Mike talks with epidemiologist and author of the Your Local Epidemiology Substack, Katelyn Jetelina.

    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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    • 39 min
    The Harms We Cause While Doing Good

    The Harms We Cause While Doing Good

    During the Covid-19 pandemic, we limited contact with other people, we wore masks, and we closed public schools. These actions saved lives. Sort of, says David Zweig, a New York-based writer who became a voice of informed opposition to these sacrifices, stating that we may be saving some lives, but at what cost? His Substack is Silent Lunch. We broke our normal format this episode to give you a longer cut of Mike’s interview with Zweig, who has a book on our public health systems’ response to the pandemic coming out this summer called An Abundance Of Caution.
    Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara 
    Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com 
    To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist 
    To subscribe to an Ad-Free or Premium version of The Gist: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/
    Follow Mike's Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack 
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    • 40 min
    BEST OF THE GIST: Three Pointer Edition

    BEST OF THE GIST: Three Pointer Edition

    In this installment of Best Of The Gist, with 2023 March Madness underway, we listen back to Mike’s 2022 critique of the instinctive, and backward, admonishment so many announcers issue as time is winding down, “You don’t need a 3!” Then we listen to this past week’s Spiel on whales. 
    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

    • 19 min
    What Makes A Flag Bad?

    What Makes A Flag Bad?

    We’re joined this episode by Ted Kaye for another installment of Vexillology Corner, wherein we discuss the big survey of city flags (check them out), the winners and losers, and the difference between a good and bad flag. Plus, attacking TikTok. And in the Antwentig, the Cochrane study questioning masks.

    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
    How Benghazi Continues To Warp America

    How Benghazi Continues To Warp America

    Former diplomat Ethan Chorin joins us to talk about his book Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink. Plus, San Francisco proposes reparations for black residents which has a price tag in the hundreds of billions of dollars. And the Congressional art of asking a questioning and doing everything you can to suppress an answer.

    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

    • 39 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
3.5K Ratings

3.5K Ratings

Number1Domo1978 ,

Long time listener, first time reviewer

While I’ve been listening to and enjoying The Gist for quite some time, even enduring the post-Slate draught, I was moved to review after listening to the Friday 2/24/23 episode on book bans. I live in TN so, alas, this issue is relevant to me, a mother of two public school children. But it was the last three minutes on a local Orlando news story that had me laughing out loud. It was…”wild.” You can count on Mike Pesca for not only original thought, excellent interviews, and non doctrinaire commentary, but a real appreciation of the absurd. The Gist is the hands-down best daily political podcast in Lake Okeefenokee, or wherever you’re listening from.

novus42 ,

Too many ads.

I am listening for 5 minutes and the show did not start yet. Just ads. Not sure if there is something after all this ads

NotZed ,

Great thoughts and a bit of tomfoolery

I have been listening to the show for years and his return has been relatively smooth. Only show I listen to on a very regular basis. For being an opinion show it actually covers the news pretty well. Only issue I have with Mike is that he seems to have an issue with blind Corgis. I have know more why.

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