The Gist

On The Gist, Joe Biden had no good answers at Thursday's Democratic debate. In the interview, the Washington Post's Anna Fifield is out with a new book on Kim Jong-un. She interviewed as many people who have had even a fleeting interaction with the man as possible, in an effort to get the clearest picture yet of what the head of the Kim dynasty is really like. Fifield's book is The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un. In the Spiel, Kamala Harris has charisma, but is she a flip-flopper too? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, an absurd criminal charge in Alabama. In the interview, the Iron Curtain couldn't block radio waves, or, in the '50s and '60s, a new form of music called rock and roll. András Simonyi, a former Hungarian ambassador to the United States, was electrified by Elvis and the Beatles, and says that "without rock and roll, I don't think the Soviet Union would have broken up." Simonyi is the author of Rocking Toward a Free World: When the Stratocaster Beat the Kalashnikov. In the Spiel, pat them on the back all you want, not every debating Democrat can be a winner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, the first Democratic primary debate is about to start. In the interview, Ben Lindbergh is a staff writer at the Ringer, host of the Effectively Wild podcast, and author of the new book The MVP Machine: How Baseball's New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players. He's here to talk America's favorite pastime, what baseball is like in a post-Moneyball era, and if data is making the game less interesting to watch. In the Spiel, George Will weighs in on the state of baseball. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Trump and Pence talking nonsense. In the interview, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, especially when it comes to elections. MSNBC's Joy-Ann Reid figures that "the hungriest constituency" often gets its way at the ballot box. Black voters sent Barack Obama to the White House; xenophobes got their guy in Donald Trump; and in 2020, the group that swings the vote could very well be the women who regret their inaction in 2016—especially if Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren gets the nomination. Reid is the host of AM Joy and the author of The Man Who Sold America: Trump and the Unraveling of the American Story. In the Spiel, the messiness of leadership. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Kamala Harris still has a lot to answer for. In the interview, media outlets used to employ ombudsmen—public editors who addressed readers' concerns and weighed in on a newspaper's reporting. Those roles have disappeared over the years but the Columbia Journalism Review wants to change that. Kyle Pope, the magazine's editor, recently announced the hiring of four journalists to publicly engage with the work of the New York Times, the Washington Post, MSNBC, and CNN. In the Spiel, voters in Istanbul have just rebuked Turkish president Recep Erdogan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, how much sanity does it cost to change a lightbulb? In the interview, babies don't come with instructional manuals, but the publishing industry is more than ready to bombard new parents with the latest, always evolving wisdom on how to raise a human right. But Emily Oster's new book is a rare scientific look at child-rearing, grounded in her expertise as a rational economist and her experience as an anxious mother. Oster is the author of Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool. In the Spiel, president Trump's directionless foreign policy is on full display against Iran. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, are children growing horns? In the interview, how does Pandora know what music I want to hear? That's all thanks to the work of Nolan Gasser, musicologist and the architect of Pandora's Music Genome Project. He's here to talk the origins of the project, the classification of music species, and why Sarah McLachlan fans might be in for a surprise. Gasser's new book is Why You Like It: The Science & Culture of Musical Taste. In the Spiel, the most ambitious climate deal the world has ever seen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, presidential candidates say the darndest things. In the interview, the best profile writer of our day doesn't focus much on what her subjects are wearing—so we'll only quickly mention that in the studio with The Gist, Taffy Brodesser-Akner was wearing a fetching leopard-print jumpsuit ("I'm dressed up for a party tonight"). Brodesser-Akner discusses her experience profiling the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and other untouchable celebrities, and how that work is felt in her debut novel, Fleishman Is in Trouble. In the Spiel, the reparations hearing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, when science proves George Carlin right. In the interview, Raphael Bob-Waksberg is the creator of Bojack Horseman, but his so-earnest-it-hurts talent also extends to print. His new collection of short stories is Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory, and he's here to talk with Mike about love, George Saunders, and why everybody is so down on puns. In the Spiel, the Patrick Shanahan debacle exposes a White House in shambles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Trump knows how to produce himself. In the interview, America's discovery of oil fields has long been entwined with godly significance—whether these were exploited by oil barons like the Rockefellers or the smaller producers (or "wildcatters") they contended with. University of Notre Dame historian Darren Dochuk explores the intersection of oil and religion in America in his new book, Anointed with Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America. In the Spiel, Iran and attacks on oil tankers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices