The Gist

What would you expect from a video game inspired by Henry David Thoreau's sojourn in the woods? In Walden, a game, players can contemplate the forest, go boating with Ralph Waldo Emerson, and practice civil disobedience. The game was developed by the Game Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California. Lab Director Tracy Fullerton explains why she thinks Thoreau might have liked the game. In the Spiel, our faith in the military might not be blind, but it is blinkered. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett is the grand inquisitor of human emotions. Her book, How Emotions Are Made, inspired a big chunk of the latest season of NPR's Invisibilia. Barrett says scientific research shows that emotions are highly variable and utter creations of our minds. Some of her resulting conclusions may surprise you. In the Spiel, Mike goes there: white privilege and rape culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A few years ago, an unassuming young woman named Kelly Sun teamed up with Phil Ivey, the world's most famous poker player. Using some questionable strategies, the two managed to win millions of dollars from casinos across the world. Now the casinos are saying what they did is cheating, and they're trying to get their money back in court. Reporter Rose Eveleth tells Sun and Ivey's story in a new audio documentary, A Queen of Sorts, part of the ESPN podcast series 30 for 30. In the Spiel, yeah, no, #NoConfederate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Alan Alda's new book is called If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? The title comes from his own bad experiences talking to doctors and other science professionals, including one that screwed up his smile for years. "We need to get people talking like people…it's all about empathy," says the actor, who also founded the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University. In The Spiel, why we should actually care about the bizarre Scaramucci–New Yorker interview. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tom Jennings dug through hours of archival media footage to tell the story of Son of Sam, the serial killer who terrorized New York City in 1976 and 1977. The resulting documentary is part of the Smithsonian Channel's Lost Tapes series. The Lost Tapes: Son of Sam airs Sunday on the Smithsonian Channel. Also, a breakdown of the Boy Scouts' apology for Donald Trump's jamboree speech. 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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

According to Joan C. Williams, about a third of the country feels talked down to. These are the white working class folks, the people who went for Trump, the people who feel that terms like disruption just mean more hassle and pain. "We can't expect people to have elite values if we don't give them elite lives," says Williams. She's the author of the book White Working Class. For the Spiel, why does everyone sound like Goodfellas while doing an Anthony Scaramucci impression? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After the G-20 Summit, Ian Bremmer broke the news to Americans about Trump's secret second meeting with Vladimir Putin. He says he did it because so many American allies were commenting on the rendezvous in private. "The people in the room, they found it disconcerting that the person Trump was more comfortable with is their adversary," says Bremmer. He joins us to discuss Russia, Rex Tillerson's future in the White House, and the decline of American power. Bremmer is an author and risk analyst at the Eurasia Group. For the Spiel, did you know the Washington Post is owned by Amazon? Trump really wants you to know that. 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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Kevin McDonald moved to New York, his sketch troupe, Kids in the Hall, had a deal with Lorne Michaels to make a new comedy show. But these were during some lean years for Michaels. "We were in a closet," says McDonald, "and he was being audited, so it was us and a bunch of auditors. Once in a while, if we said something really funny, we could hear the auditors giggling on the other side of the room." While Kids in the Hall was never as famous as Saturday Night Live, the show became legendary for a discerning subset of comedy fans. "It's like unsweetened lemonade—only 20 percent of people like us, but those who do really love us." McDonald is now hosting a podcast with live shows across the U.S. For the Spiel, a not so surreal end for Salvador Dalí's remains. 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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz compa

If things had gone well, America would still be in the Paris Agreement on climate change, green energy would be spreading across the country and Al Gore wouldn't have needed to make a sequel to An Inconvenient Truth. But it didn't work out that way. With his new movie hitting theaters next week, Gore remains hopeful during these depressing times. "If somebody told me five years ago, marriage equality would be the law in all 50 states, I would have asked what they were smoking," says the former vice president. "But it did happen, because it became a choice between right and wrong. That's where the climate movement is now." For the Spiel, why persuading doubters is so hard when it comes to climate change science. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mike Sacks is not just a comedian; he's also a comedy historian. This summer, he's unearthed a rare artifact, the cult classic, Dixie-fried action movie Stinker Lets Loose. "Some famous people have cited this movie as a big influence on them," says Sacks, citing Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. "You can hear it in some of his lyrics, for sure." A 40th-anniversary novelization of Stinker is available now, with an intro by Sacks. For the Spiel, why does Donald Trump keep saying stupid things to the New York Times, a newspaper he purports to hate? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Maria Konnikova returns to look at a tool prosecutors have used for decades: handwriting analysis, or graphology. Older versions of the practice have used handwriting to predict everything from a person's mental state to their capacity for murder. "People have been convicted based on it," says Konnikova. "We're not talking about phrenology. Graphology is still something that exists in the United States. There are societies of graphologists." Konnikova is the author of The Confidence Game and host of the Panoply podcast The Grift. For the Spiel, Trump's voting commission may be hobbled, but it can still do some real harm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Economist Tyler Cowen is disdainful of social media, heartened by recent immigrants, and wary of pot. He thinks that, in our collective desire for comfort, we are postponing big and necessary changes that will sow instability in the years ahead. "Right now Americans are failing to regenerate sources of future progress," Cowen writes, "and thus they are borrowing against the future rather than paying their bills." Cowen's latest book is The Complacent Class. In the Spiel, are things going any better abroad? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our friend Dan Pashman from the Sporkful podcast returns to explain the new field of study known as gastrophysics and why our brains have a big influence over how we taste food. For example, research shows we like the taste of food served with heavy cutlery and ice cream presented with brighter colors. "It could be something evolutionary," says Pashman. "With brighter colors, ice cream tastes sweeter." Check out Pashman's interview with gastrophysicist Charles Spence. For the Spiel: Ann Coulter versus Delta, Day 3. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Director David Lowery has made one of the most remarkable films of 2017 so far, and he's built it around a ridiculous image: a white sheet with two eye-holes cut out. So what makes "A Ghost Story" feel so epic? And what's with that 10-minute pie scene? Spoilers abound. For the Spiel: so, who was in the room with Don Jr. and the Russians? 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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Retired Admiral James Stavridis wants to remind us: Despite headlines about the rise of ISIS, there are bigger existential threats to America. "Terrorism is not apocalyptic, it's a tool," says Stavridis. He warns that conflicts with Russia and China are much more worrisome and likely to include a maritime component. "Again and again when there's a crisis, the first question from the president is, where are the [aircraft] carriers? They are flexible and they can strike." His new book is Sea Power. In the Spiel, making a supergroup of the musicians in Trump's White House. 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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's not that things are so terribly bad right now, it's that circumstances have failed to keep up with expectations. So says Edward Luce, chief U.S. columnist for the Financial Times, whose new book surveys the ensuing crisis of confidence in liberal democracies. Luce's book is The Retreat of Western Liberalism. In the Spiel, Bridgegate winds down. 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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Lawfare's Benjamin Wittes on the latest #ENSH (errant national security horses---) and the brewing scandal surrounding Donald Trump Jr.'s emails. In the Spiel, we're going back to the event that set all this in motion: the Miss Universe pageant of 2013. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The jobs report has been good, the U.S. isn't in a shooting war, and the economy is booming. So why is Trump still in the high 30s in terms of popularity? Political scientist Seth Masket says it's because of Trump's abrasive presence on Twitter. Masket recently made the case for why it's in everyone's best interest for the president and the social media giant to part ways in the Pacific Standard. In the Spiel, Kellyanne Conway, the gift that keeps on giving. 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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Daniel Okrent did not have a lot of fun as the first public editor for the New York Times. "I was like internal affairs in a police department," said Okrent. "Nobody liked to see me coming." That said, Okrent defends the role ombudsmen play at news organizations, and he thinks the Times messed up earlier this year when it axed the public editor position. In the Spiel, there was no Labrador at the Trump-Putin meeting, so … good sign? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Conservative Philip Klein doesn't think the presence of moderate senators means we'll get better health care policy. "Centrists always get credit and adoration by many elements of the media for talking to the other side and not being ideologically rigid," he says. "But I think that's another way of saying they can be bought off easily." Klein writes about health policy for the Washington Examiner. Also, the failing New York Times op-ed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.