The Gist

Thought-leaders build careers out of TED talks, inspirational quotes, and branded products. Dexter Guff is a big player in that space, teaching his listeners how to crush it every day. But Dexter Guff is not a real guy. His podcast, Dexter Guff Is Smarter Than You, is a satirical show starring actor Peter Oldring. Oldring explains the origins of the Dexter Guff character and the difficulties of executing dry humor. In the Spiel, Slate contributor Seth Stevenson sizes up Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You can't get away from Obamacare news, and with each repeal effort there are familiar, wild-eyed claims from the law's supporters and detractors. Will chipping away at the Affordable Care Act cause people to die? Did the health care law "bend" the cost curve? Did your taxes go up to pay for healthcare for the poor and the sick? Mike interrogates some of these pronouncements with Vox's Sarah Kliff. Listen to her new weekly podcast, Impact. Pitchforks down, please: a Spiel about why New York Times op-ed columnist Mayim Bialik isn't a monster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why did it take years of reporting before any news organizations could nail down the Harvey Weinstein story? NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik says previously, the allegations received only "twilight" coverage. He considers why NBC might have whiffed on the Weinstein story, and how the network's hard pass is being recast in conservative circles. Folkenflik is the author of Murdoch's World: The Last of the Old Media Empires. In the Spiel, who was the star of the New York City mayoral debate? It wasn't Oxford-style discourse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does it mean to be Muslim in the U.S. right now? Slate's Aymann Ismail set out to understand, interviewing the founder of right-wing website Gateway Pundit, a former Muslim extremist, and his own family members, among others. What Aymann has learned so far has surprised him. His Slate video series is "Who's Afraid of Aymann Ismail?" In the Spiel, jokes didn't take down Harvey Weinstein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Things are looking bleak in Oklahoma. Low taxes and slashed state spending mean schools, prisons, and even the state capitol building itself are failing. Russell Cobb, a native Okie, explains how his home state came to be so screwed up. In the Spiel, what's so wrong with a gun registry? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Comedian Jason Kravits can write a Broadway hit, on the spot. That's the premise of his improv cabaret show, where he invents tunes based on audience suggestions, such as "Yom Kippur" or "a Victorian sewer." The show, Off the Top, is on the second Saturday of every month at the Duplex in Manhattan. His next show is Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. In the Spiel, the Environmental Protection Agency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Masha Gessen returns to The Gist, this time to talk about her latest work, The Future Is History. Gessen uses the book to examine the ways in which post-Soviet Russia failed to process the traumas of totalitarianism. In failing to reckon with its past, did Russia doom itself to a bleak future? In the Spiel, the dearth of details in the Trump administration's tax plan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, we learned that Russian-linked Facebook ads targeted swing states during the 2016 election. Initially hesitant about sharing information with the government, Facebook finally gave in to avoid a deeper discussion on regulation, but tech companies have grown so big that it might be time for the government to step in. Journalist Franklin Foer explains how tech has become so powerful, and why it's essential to be skeptical of technological innovation. Foer's new book is World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech. In the Spiel, gun-control regulations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Has the military become more tolerant of collateral damage under President Trump? Why are there no good military options in North Korea? And who does it hurt when the president goes off-script about Kim Jong-un? Retired Maj. Gen. James "Spider" Marks has the answers. In the Spiel, the cost of paying constant attention to the president's myriad sins and insults. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before the Cold War, the president spent most of his time focusing on long-term problems facing the nation. But ever since Franklin D. Roosevelt, the president has had to devote more time to immediate crises than overarching strategy. Author Jeremi Suri explains how the office of the president has changed so drastically—and whether there's any way for occupants to succeed now. Suri's new book is The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America's Highest Office. In the Spiel, more ways to think about gun reform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices