The Gist

The families of Sandy Hook Elementary were faced with a horrible tragedy compounded by a cynical charlatan and a cadre of like-minded conspiracists. Writer Elizabeth Williamson dissects how the tactics personalities and counter measures in Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth. In the Spiel Mike has been restive on the subject of Daylight-saving so it's time to follow the science. Plus, why the example of Harvey Weinstein is cited as justification of disparate agendas. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Academy Awards presents a show, post-slap, that is indistinguishable from pre. We're expected to interpret what happened as a part of Smith's hero's journey. Plus Professor Aditi Paul researched if college students actually like hooking up, and if the women liked it as much as the men. Spoiler: They Didn't but just by a little. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the NCAA's March Madness basketball tournament heats up, on this week's Best Of The Gist, we bring you a pair of stories from college sport. The first is part two of Mike's interview with John Tauer, the head coach of the St. Thomas University's basketball team, which made an unprecedented leap ahead of this season from Division 3 to Division 1. Tauer discusses what changes when a team makes such a bold move. Then we listen back to our Monday show, when Mike Spieled about University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, who won the NCAA title in the 500. Other swimmers protested her inclusion in the women's division as unfair. Some swimmers, including ones she out-touched supported her right to swim as her true self. Mike looks at the arguments on both sides, points to many as ridiculous, but a few as legitimate and truly vexing. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Tauer head coach of the St. Thomas Tommies has won two national championships on the Division III Level, this year he was thrust into Division I, which should have meant a nearly winless season. Instead, the team found a way to beat playing bigger, faster, more highly recruited opponents. In the spiel, it's an Antwentig, and Lobstars are to be awarded. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Karan Soni (Deadpool) plays the awkward Ravi, who is a bit frightened then a bit taken with the secretly rebellious Geraldine Viswanathan (Blockers) Rita in Seven Days, which opens March 25. In the spiel Mike contemplates Candace Owens: Dupe or Dope. And does the Los Angeles mayoral race stink on ice? Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

But so is a round Earth. So how do these square pegs in round holes justify themselves? With YouTube videos, of course, but also sometimes with some violence. Mike talks with Kelly Weill, author of Off the Edge: Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything about these sometimes-problematic folks. In the Spiel, Mike considers the case against an opera about Emmett Till that was co-written by a black composer and a white librettist. And in Senate Judiciary Hearing news, Senators and potential Supreme Court justices agree: murderers are bad. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John McWhorter, author of Woke Racism and Nine Nasty Words stops by to discuss a linguistic trend Mike has noticed, about phrases that are totalizing but at the same time, particular. In the Spiel Mike discusses attention spans, Ukraine, and how unrelated they are. Plus Lindsey Graham goes "Freakin' Nuts" Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lia Thomas University of Pennsylvania swimmer won the NCAA title in the 500. Other swimmers protested her inclusion in the women's division as unfair. Some swimmers, including ones she out-touched supported her right to swim as her true self. Mike looks at the arguments on both sides, points to many as ridiculous, but a few as legitimate and truly vexing. Plus, Frank Bruni on losing some of one sense, while gaining a lot of another. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week's Best Of The Gist, we listen back to Monday's Spiel about who's to blame for inflation. Weirdly, it's not Mitch McConnell's fault. Then, in our archival interview from September 2020, Jonathan V. Last, editor of the Bulwark, talked with Mike about the then recent passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the potential political fallout. Last walks through some of the nightmare scenarios, and then he explains that although he remains optimistic with regards to the legitimacy of the SCOTUS, he is ultimately losing faith that some voters care not for a system of governance that is capable of functioning competently. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers, the co-creators of Search Party haven't just made a hilarious TV show for 5 seasons, they put their finger on a type of character that used to be called Millennial but now is just called "people". Plus, Do You Feel the Lavrov Tonight? Sergey Lavrov engages in media critique. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices