The Gist

On the Gist, the Jim Comey letter came out four years ago today. In the interview, Mike talks with Scott Braddock, editor and Texan political analyst at the Quorum Report. Braddock is also host of Texas Take, a podcast from the Houston Chronicle. They talk about what's at stake on the ballots for election day, and how compared with previous years Texans have been voting in record numbers. In the spiel, Trump's exceptions. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the Gist, don't worry about things you can't control. In the interview, Alaska Public Media's Nat Herz joins Mike to talk about the races above the lower 48. Herz details the dramatic Alaskan Senate race between Al Gross and Daniel Sullivan, how the Pebble Mine scandal and the salmon fishing industry are important points of discussion, and how the presidential campaigns have been able to pound the pavement in Alaska. Cue Sarah Palin appearing as a surrogate for the Trump campaign in a Cabela's parking lot. In the spiel, clinging to hope. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the Gist, Trump and Armenians. In the interview, Georgia Public Broadcasting's Bill Nigut is here to talk with Mike about Georgia. He fills Mike in on the details of the fight between Kelly Loeffler, Doug Collins, and Raphael Warnock, and shares how impressed he's been with Jon Ossoff's debate performance against incumbent David Perdue. They also discuss how Biden is trying to reach voters in the state, and if there's any chance it could go blue. Nigut is the host of Political Rewind. In the spiel, Trump watched 60 Minutes. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the Gist, red-string theories and conspiratorial last-ditch efforts. In the interview, Mike and Slate's national correspondent Will Saletan recap the final presidential debate. They discuss the Trump camp's thwarted strategy of practicing restraint to expose Biden, the self-congratulatory and attacking exchanges between the two candidates, and why this debate might only make a difference for Trump in his attempts to score points with low-information and eleventh hour-voters. In the spiel, Trump's misconceptions about the race. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the Gist, our civic obligations in 2020. In the interview, Mike talks with journalist and veteran broadcast anchor Dan Rather about his decades-long career in covering elections, highlighting a few cautionary tales learned from the 2000 race between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Rather explains that for some major networks, making the right call in 2000 was marred by corporate interference in the control rooms, plus he stresses that unexpected delays could fuel conspiracy theories. Patience will be a virtue come "voting night," he explains. Rather is the author of What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism, the host of The Big Interview on AXS TV, and the host of a documentary called Human Nature, which is now streaming on Netflix. In the spiel, Michael Moore's political predictions in 2020. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the Gist, Mike checks in with this Lawfare piece, and the U.S. Elections Project. In the interview, Mike talks with Brian Rosenwald, a media historian and fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, about how election night might play out. They discuss the idea of a red mirage, how Republican governors can bring order to things, and how far-right talk radio is going to digest the results. Rosenwald is the author of Talk Radio's America: How an Industry Took Over a Political Party That Took Over the United States. In the spiel, Trump's bad surrogates. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the Gist, network news election branding. In the interview, Mike talks with Julie Pace, Washington Bureau Chief for the Associated Press, about the AP's history in counting the vote since 1848, how they've traditionally declared winners, and an explanation on how they will be going above and beyond in 2020 in sharing the race calls that they are and aren't making. In the spiel, local political television ads. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the Gist, we're launching a week-long focus on election night and how different news organizations handle making the winning calls. In the interviews, Mike talks with NBC News' national political correspondent Steve Kornacki about his network's decision desk, their processes in tabulation, and how they will be closely monitoring the votes coming in days after Tuesday, November 3. Kornacki is the author of The Red and the Blue. Then, Mike speaks with CNN's Brian Stelter about CNN's plan for coverage, and the outsized role that Fox News represents and his predictions for their election day narrative. Stelter is the author of Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the Gist, the price of corn. In the interview, former senior strategist for the NRA Joshua L. Powell is back for the second half of his conversation with Mike. They run down a series of NRA opinions and he and Mike go back and forth about how much NRA members believe things like "the only solution to a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," and whether we should own AR-15s. Powell's book is Inside the NRA: A Tell-All Account of Corruption, Greed, and Paranoia within the Most Powerful Political Group in America. In the spiel, dueling town halls. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the Gist, David Ruffin. In the interview, former senior strategist for the NRA Joshua L. Powell is here to discuss his new book, Inside the NRA: A Tell-All Account of Corruption, Greed, and Paranoia within the Most Powerful Political Group in America. During the first half of this two-part conversation, he and Mike talk about the nefarious ways Wayne LaPierre used the NRA to push forward polarizing but niche interests, and the case New York State Attorney General Letitia James is bringing against them. In the spiel, Amy Coney Barrett's personal life is judicial. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices