The Gist

Have blue-collar workers fallen for a Republican bait-and-switch? On The Gist, journalist Steven Greenhouse sets aside globalization and turns to the domestic forces suppressing wages and hammering workers: Republican-backed anti-union laws, a feeble response from Democrats, and cultural amnesia around the labor movement’s achievements. Greenhouse is working on a follow-up to his 2008 book, The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker. For the Spiel, the photos of the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There is virtue in delight! We chanced upon new building materials, better computer software, and a global economy by frittering away our time. On The Gist, author Steven Johnson says our flights of fancy may have driven most of human progress. Johnson’s new book is Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World. For the Spiel, the passings of 2016.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The current world order is fragile, and President-elect Donald Trump has shown himself to be sensitive, antagonistic, and gleeful about turning existing dynamics upside-down. How could this affect the United States’ role in defusing international conflicts? Dan De Luce, chief national security correspondent for Foreign Policy magazine, runs through a few scenarios. “The executive branch has expanded dramatically,” said De Luce. “We are a long way from where we were when this country was founded and the president has enormous power in foreign policy.” For the Spiel, the big headlines of 2017.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last summer, the Supreme Court stopped North Carolina from using a strict voter ID law that would likely disadvantage Democrats and “target African Americans with almost surgical precision.” Now, the court is facing two more restrictive voter laws that could seriously change American elections. Rick Hasen covers the wild world of election law on his blog. He joins Mike to discuss the new cases, and other ways that Republican-governed states have tried to suppress turnout. For the Spiel, a Pesca family musical postcard for the holidays. Today’s sponsors: Rocket Mortgage from Quicken Loans. Rocket Mortgage brings the mortgage process into the 21st century with an easy online process. Check out Rocket Mortgage today at QuickenLoans.com/gist. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jon Stewart had a rough time hosting The Daily Show. By 2015, he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in years. Exposure to Fox News had taken a toll. Writer Chris Smith chronicles Stewart’s reign in a new oral history, which looks at the comedian’s broader impact on political culture.  For the Spiel, Mike has cat scratch fever! Literally.   Today’s sponsors:   Betterment, the largest automated investing service. Get up to six months of investing free when you go to Betterment.com/gist.   And Bon Appetit. For a limited time, you can give a one-year subscription to Bon Appetit for 15 percent off. Plus, they’ll even throw in a cool tote bag! Get this deal today by going to bonappetit.com/giveBA and use promo code 15OFF. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Michael McFaul knows well, sometimes the interests of the United States and the interests of Exxon Mobil don’t line up. “You have to find oil where it is … and that tends to be controlled by autocrats around the world, and you have to do deals with them,” says McFaul, who was America’s ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014. Here, McFaul weighs in on the Rex Tillerson nomination for secretary of state, Russia’s likely hacking of the U.S. election, and Putin’s designs in the Baltics. For the Spiel, what we know about Trump’s plan for Taiwan.    Today’s sponsors: Soothe. For a massage delivered right to your door, go to Soothe.com. Use code GIST at checkout and you’ll get $30 towards your first massage. And LifeAfter.What happens to our digital lives when we’re gone? LifeAfter, a new series from GE Podcast Theater and Panoply, the creators of last year’s award-winning The Message, explores these very questions. Listen and download LifeAfter wherever you find your podcasts. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus

James Osborne writes about energy and politics for the Houston Chronicle. He’s covered Rex Tillerson for years, yet they’ve never spoken directly. During his time as CEO of ExxonMobil, Tillerson has rarely granted interviews and only gives one press conference a year. For 15 minutes. Osborne says Tillerson has never really had to face the press—a luxury he’ll be forfeiting if he’s confirmed as secretary of state next year. In The Spiel, the media still doesn’t know how to cover blue collar workers. Today’s sponsors: 1-800-Flowers. To get beautiful bouquets starting at just $29.99, go to 1800Flowers.com on your desktop or mobile device, click the radio icon, and enter code gist. And by Stamps.com. With Stamps.com, you can buy and print official U.S. postage for any letter or package using your own computer and printer. For a four-week trial and a $110 bonus offer, go to Stamps.com, click on the microphone, and enter GIST. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. S

Kyle Kinane doesn’t want your agreement applause. Or your voting boosterism. In fact, Kinane is quite prepared to disappoint you—he’s kind of built a brand on it. On The Gist, Kinane raises a hand in support of jokes about rich people and racists—just let him explain. Kinane’s latest stand-up special is Loose in Chicago, you can see him in the Netflix series Love, and his podcast is called Boogie Monster.  For the Spiel, Mike goes trawling for another Lobstar.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Writer Jeff Chang went to Ferguson, Missouri, on the one-year anniversary of the shooting of Michael Brown. What he saw there helped inspire his latest collection of essays, We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation (a book the Washington Post’s Carlos Lozada has called the year’s smartest). On The Gist, Chang explains why the calls for police accountability are valid even in cases when officers appear to follow protocol.  For the Spiel, an evaluation of the Trump Cabinet according to age, demographic, and proximity to women in bikinis.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump decried the cost of a very important plane, tweeting, “Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!” Boeing then disputed Mr. Trump’s numbers, saying their contract was worth only $170 million. Turns out, unlike other Twitter rants, Trump was kind of right this time. But on The Gist, analyst Todd Harrison warns that lowering the cost of Air Force One might involve some compromises, like outsourcing the contract to a foreign company. Harrison is a director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.  For the Spiel, Mike works his sources to get you the latest on Canadian birds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ezra Edelman wasn’t planning to make a documentary about O.J. Simpson. But then ESPN offered him five hours of airtime. Edelman’s movie (which eventually grew to nearly eight hours) explores a variety of themes through the lens of Simpson’s life and trial. O.J.: Made in America has just been named to the Oscar shortlist for Best Documentary.   For the Spiel, Mike goes to school on the Electoral College.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With the nomination of Tom Price for health and human services secretary, it’s clear that Donald Trump wants to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a more conservative plan. Sarah Kliff has spent weeks looking through the health care plans put forward by Republicans such as Price and Paul Ryan. Her conclusion? Good news for healthy people, not so much for sick people. Sarah is a co-host of The Weeds podcast.  For the Spiel, what the media can and can’t do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tidiness is tyranny, and Tim Harford is here to set you free. The author of Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives makes the case for routine-busting labor strikes, cluttered desks, and leaving your emails unsorted. He also explains why we’re smart to want scatterbrained musicians and orderly accountants. Harford writes the Undercover Economist column for the Financial Times. For the Spiel, exciting times! Let’s dig into the Indiana tax code.  Today’s sponsors: Rocket Mortgage from Quicken Loans. Rocket Mortgage brings the mortgage process into the 21st century with an easy online process. Check out Rocket Mortgage today at QuickenLoans.com/gist. InterContinental Hotels & Resorts. Take a multisensory journey into the InterContinental life and discover the Empathy stories where you learn about other cultures and expand your own life simultaneously. Download the Empathy audio stories on iTunes. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a

Aaron Renn says the PEOTUS made a smart move by keeping Carrier in the United States. But saving one company is not an economic policy. Renn is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He recently argued Trump could fall into a “mayor trap” if he doesn’t start thinking about the big picture.  For the Spiel, Mike Pesca enters the (admittedly off-brand) Shark Tank.    Today’s sponsors: Placemakers, a new Slate podcast made possible by JPMorgan Chase. This podcast tells the stories of neighborhoods, businesses, and nonprofits that are working together to move their communities forward. Download and subscribe to Placemakers wherever you get your podcasts. MVMT Watches. Get 15 percent off today, with free shipping and free returns, by going to MVMTWatches.com/gist. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Does brainstorming light a creative fire or smother the sparks of invention? Our regular guest Maria Konnikova looks at the merits of spitballing. Konnikova writes for the New Yorker and is the author of The Confidence Game. For the Spiel, Donald Trump saves a thousand manufacturing jobs! Great. Now, what about the other 311,000?  Today’s sponsors: Placemakers, a new Slate podcast made possible by JPMorgan Chase. This podcast tells the stories of neighborhoods, businesses, and nonprofits that are working together to move their communities forward. Download and subscribe to Placemakerswherever you get your podcasts. LifeAfter. What happens to our digital lives when we’re gone? LifeAfter, a new series from GE Podcast Theater and Panoply, the creators of last year’s award-winning The Message, explores these very questions. Listen and download LifeAfter wherever you find your podcasts.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slat

For years, Thomas Frank has been the Cassandra of the Democratic Party, arguing that it had long since sold out working Americans and was using a socially liberal agenda to paper over its new corporate allegiances. Like Cassandra, he was largely ignored—until the election of President-elect Donald Trump. Frank is the author of Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? Ray Zaborney is a Republican political strategist based in Pennsylvania. He and Mike jousted on Twitter as the Blue Wall went red on election night. Today on The Gist, Zaborney pushes back against the notion that Trump voters in the Rust Belt were snookered by the candidate’s outsize claims. The Spiel is on hiatus. It will be back on Wednesday. Today’s sponsors:  Basecamp. If you’re running your own business on email, texts, chat, or meetings, you’re doing it the hard way. Luckily there’s a better way: Try Basecamp for free today at basecamp.com/gist. Indochino, the company that’s reinventing men’s fashion. Go to Indoc

Tell Me Something I Don’t Know is a new podcast game show from Stephen Dubner, the journalist behind Freakonomics. While radio quiz games are nothing new (in fact, Mike has hosted one himself), Dubner wants to do something different with this program, where experts have to engage with people from a field they are totally unfamiliar with. TMSIDK debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes podcast chart earlier this month.  For the Spiel, Donald Trump’s distraction game.    Today’s sponsors: Betterment, the largest automated investing service. Get up to six months of investing free when you go to Betterment.com/gist.   MVMT Watches. Get 15 percent off today, with free shipping and free returns, by going to MVMTWatches.com/gist. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our favorite cultural cabal in Cleveland has spoken. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced its nominees for induction in 2017—and the picks are incomparable as always, with Chic, Pearl Jam, and Kraftwerk in the running. Chris Molanphy discusses shoo-ins and long shots. He writes the “Why Is This Song No. 1?“ column for Slate. For the Spiel, a special holiday message from Mike Pesca.  Today’s sponsors: MVMT Watches. Get 15 percent off today, with free shipping and free returns, by going to MVMTWatches.com/gist. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ben Shapiro is a pretty conservative guy. He’s written books like Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences Americansand The People vs. Barack Obama, and he’s a former contributor to Breitbart. But earlier this year, Shapiro quit the site over his editor’s unwillingness to defend reporter Michelle Fields, and he declared himself a never Trump-er. Now, he’s facing waves of anti-Semitic abuse by people on the self-declared alt-right. Shapiro is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Wire.   In the Spiel, we look to Canada for levity and insight.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Nigel Farage described it, the election of Donald Trump was “Brexit times three.” Comedian Josie Long knows this all too well. The comedian and radio host has a new stage show, Something Better, where she takes on the gloomy nationalist politics of her homeland and the scary parallels between Brexiteers and Trumpites. The show is playing in New York until Dec. 3, and in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the new year. In the Spiel, Tila Tequila is a Nazi.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices