The Gist

On the Gist, an Alaskan drama. In the interview, Mike talks with Robert Cahaly, head pollster of the Atlanta-based Trafalgar Group. Cahaly explains their polling methodology in gathering accurate opinion data, why social desirability bias comes into play, and how his team was able to predict Trump's win in 2016. Now he posits that in 2020 Trump has more support than the polls could be showing. In the spiel, Kabuki-style hearings continue for Amy Coney Barrett. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the Gist, uniting with your would-be kidnappers? In the interview, Mike talks to former Obama staffer Elliot Williams about his new podcast Made to Fail, a show where he explores the different ways governmental institutions across have been made intentionally dysfunctional, like the Florida unemployment system, and the impact it has on people in need of such infrastructure. All episodes of Made to Fail are available wherever you get your podcasts. In the spiel, processing Amy Coney Barrett. 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, mishegoss in Michigan. In the interview, Mike talks with Stephen Dubner, host and co-author of Freakonomics, and Angela Duckworth, a psychologist and best-selling author of Grit. Dubner and Duckworth are the hosts of the new podcast No Stupid Questions, where in each episode they take turns posing a question, and give each other the chance to puzzle out their responses. The questions Mike poses for them include how to separate art from artist and how to navigate microaggressions. No Stupid Questions releases new episodes every Sunday at 5am ET from Stitcher. In the spiel, Trump on talk radio. 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 vice presidential debate and expanding SCOTUS. In the interview, Mike is joined by author, comedian, podcast host, and actor Michael Ian Black to talk about his latest book, A Better Man: A (Mostly Serious) Letter to My Son. Black was persuaded to write the book after publishing a New York Times op-ed on school shootings and gun control in 2018. Part advice and part memoir, A Better Man poses the question: why is it always boys and young men who are pulling the trigger? Black challenges readers to expand their definition of masculinity while refraining from denigrating qualities traditionally seen as feminine. In the spiel, how the Hasidic community in New York City is handling COVID-19. 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, a vice presidential debate starring plexiglass. In the interview, Mike hosts a roundtable discussion with journalist Richard Kreitner and Vox's Matthew Yglesias to talk about how each of their new books address the problem of an ever-increasing American population. They debate if the U.S. should split into more manageable nations, or if the country should keep pushing population growth. Yglesias' book is One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Big, and Kreitner's latest is Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America's Imperfect Union. In the spiel, Delco, South Philly, and NY tri-state area Italian Americans for Joe Biden. 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, a buffet of bad takes from Joe Piscopo. In the interview, CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is here to discuss a topic the Gist can't seem to get enough of recently, the Mueller investigation. Toobin's new book, True Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Investigation of Donald Trump, explores the investigation and analyzes its failures, and he talks with Mike about Mueller's misplaced trust in institutions, and how sympathetic we should find him in light of that. In the spiel, how do you feel about Trump's diagnosis? 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's doctor has reasons. In the interview, former FBI agent Peter Strzok is here to discuss his new book Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump. He and Mike discuss the investigation into Trump and Russia, the ways kompromat could push Trump to make decisions based on Russian interests, and how Trump vilified two federal agents over personal text messages that were leaked to the press by the Justice Department. In the spiel, even the president can catch COVID, but what does that even mean? 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's mask strategy. In the interview, Mike is joined by David Priess, COO of the Lawfare Institute, an organization and online magazine which focuses on national security issues. Priess posits some worst case scenarios in light of President Trump contracting Covid-19, the unexpected vulnerabilities and uncertainties that lay ahead, historical norms of disclosure for a president, and the ultimate Continuity of Government Plan - the election. Priess is a former CIA officer, and author of The President's Book of Secrets and How to Get Rid of a President: History's Guide to Removing Unpopular, Unable, or Unfit Chief Executives. In the spiel, Trump has no one to blame but himself. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Jamila Bey. 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's falsehoods. In the interview, Mikes talks with neuroscientist, Stanford University professor and best-selling author, David Eagleman, about his latest book Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain. Eagleman says that the way the brain is able to change and adapt to adversity is still inspiring new developments and new questions. In the spiel, making a political comeback. Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Jamila Bey. 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, there were a great many missteps last night on the presidential debate stage, but despite the rhetorical slips, Biden stayed on his feet to glide past Trump. In the interview, Mike and Slate's national correspondent, Will Saletan, recap the first presidential debate. They dissect the prep and implemented strategies of both the Trump and Biden camps, the gratuitous exchanges between the two candidates, Chris Wallace's performance as moderator, and how to curb the electoral nightmare scenarios looming on the horizon. In the spiel, Donald Trump did not say, "Yes!" when asked if he repudiated white supremacy. But was it because he wouldn't do it, or was it because he has the inability to articulate? Email us at thegist@slate.com Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Jamila Bey. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices