The Gist

Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson are the authors of the new book "Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity." We discuss how history shows (through evidence) that progress depends on the choices we make about technology. Plus, a movie about a doll got a Texas senator and a Tennessee representative upset. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Evelyn Gosnell is a behavioral scientist who, as Managing Director of Irrational Labs, studies and advises the biggest apps and social media sites in existence. We discuss a recent TikTok intervention she designed to reduce the spread of misinformation. Plus, Joe Biden's non-difficult decision whether to pack the supreme court. And Bill de Blasio and his wife to separate but continue living together. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy July Fourth, Americans, and happy Tuesday to the rest of planet Earth. Today, the production staff of The Gist is off for the holiday, but we threw together a couple "independence" themed archival segments, so you'd have something to listen to at the beach once the couple sitting next to you stops arguing about their failed "open relationship." First up is Mike's 2014 interview with Craig McAllister about the failed Scottish independence referendum of that year. Then we listen back to our 2017 interview with historian Gordon S. Wood about his book Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to our ad-free and/or PescaPlus versions of The Gist: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mike's Substack: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No. He's Not. But the coverage of the phosogypsum issue might lead a concerned citizen to conclude otherwise. Wait, what phosphogypsum issue? The Gist offers the definitive coverage of the issue. Plus, T. J. Raphael host and produce of COVER UP: THE PILL PLOT talks about her exciting new podcast. And unrest in France and Manipur, which you may not have heard of, though its many times as deadly. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, we listen back to Thursday's Spiel about Billy Joels We didn't Start the Fire. Speaking of Billy Joel, we play an unaired segment from our interview with Anthony Scaramucci where he tells a story about Billy Joel. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Atlantic writer and Pulitzer Prize Winner, Anne Applebaum has chronicled Eastern Europe's unstable relationship with communism, democracy, and Vladimir Putin. She's based in Poland, and we wanted to get her perspective on NATO, Progozhin, and Putin's next move. Plus, SCOTUS scraps the Student Debt Forgiveness Plan, while, in the Antwentig, all debts are settled. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brett Forrest is a national security correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and the author of a new book about how ... and who ... the FBI recruits to do its dirty work abroad. His book is Lost Son: An American Family Trapped Inside the FBI's Secret Wars, a story of how a young man named Billy Reilly disappeared into Russia. Plus, SCOTUS scrap Affirmative Action in colleges, and Fall Out Boy fails to start the fire ... so Mike tries. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new study indicates that humans have been slurping up water at such a greedy pace, we're actually causing the Earth to tilt. And this means? Unclear. But to put this into perspective ... we can't. And we're joined once more by Lee Berger, the South Africa-based paleoanthropologist who discovered a species of early human who may have done some things we thought only we can do, but Homo Naledi did them 250,000 years prior. Physically accessing the remains was a harrowing adventure in itself. Plus, what would happen if a dog became President? And the retailer Giant is facing retail theft, but also still wants us to scan our own orange juice. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to our ad-free and/or PescaPlus versions of The Gist: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mike's Substack: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Homo Naledi is an extinct species of hominin discovered by a team led by Lee Berger. If Berger is right, Naledi's actions predate a few of the traits we had assumed to be uniquely Homo Sapien. Plus, Donald Trump crinkles paper on tape. And the signs of Generalized Epistemic Degradation. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to our ad-free and/or PescaPlus versions of The Gist: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mike's Substack: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Charles Kupchan, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Georgetown professor, and former National Security expert in the Obama and Clinton Administrations, discusses the motives and next moves for Validmir Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin. Plus, Anthony Blinken's non-answerer extraordinaire. And how tracing down a stat can almost kill ya. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices