The Gist

On The Gist, Wyatt Cenac explains the thinking behind his comedy showcase series Night Train With Wyatt Cenac, premiering on NBC’s comedy streaming service Seeso on Thursday. For the Spiel, Borisexit: the fanfare and drama of Boris Johnson’s thanks-but-no-thanks speech. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, senior political writer and analyst Harry Enten explains FiveThirtyEight’s 2016 Election Forecast.  For the Spiel, a forewarning about forearms: Are we ready for our Army men and women to roll up their sleeves?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, author Sloane Crosley on writing characters who are smarter than you, literary witch hunts, and borrowing Spider-Man’s ethos when writing. Her novel, The Clasp, is now out in paperback.  For the Spiel, will we remember the Brexit as an argument against direct democracy?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Financial Times journalist Edward Luce returns to discuss the Brexit vote and its imminent consequences. Luce’s latest book is Time to Start Thinking: America and the Spectre of Decline (though the American title is the more pointed Time to Start Thinking:America in the Age of Descent).  For the Spiel, what’s the value of a cri de coeur? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Seems as good a day as any to talk about the British Invasion. On The Gist, we listen back to the Billboard hits of 1964, the beginning of Beatlemania in the states. Regular guest Chris Molanphy explains how other groups rode the Beatles’ coattails to the top of the pop charts. Molanphy writes Slate’s “Why Is This Song No. 1?” column.  Plus, Chad Millman’s big lesson after the betting markets got the Brexit vote wrong. Millman is the host of ESPN’s Behind the Bets podcast.  For the Spiel, we have just witnessed the triumph of gut over brains.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, René Auberjonois shares his tips for defying typecasters and enjoying a varied acting career. He plays a minister in Blood Stripe, the psychological thriller about a female Marine adjusting to life after the military.  In the Spiel, one unifying theory for all the day’s news.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why don’t we all have jetpacks? Who’s the weirdest docent at your local natural history museum? On The Gist, comedian (and former airplane mechanic) Alonzo Bodden and science communicator Alie Ward explain. Their new show, How to Build … Everything, airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. Eastern on the Science Channel. For the Spiel, trying to summon up some concern for the Donald Trump of North Korea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Would Donald Trump by any other name be Boris Johnson? On The Gist, Financial Timescolumnist Ed Luce, author of Time to Start Thinking: America and the Spectre of Decline, traces the parallels between Brexit supporters and Trump fans. For the Spiel, how gun laws are like insulin.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, teetering on the brink of a Brexit, a scrutiny of Team Leave’s propaganda. And a futile attempt to find out if Big Freedia goes through with her wedding. The answer lies in Season 5 of her Fuse TV show, Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce. For the Spiel, editing the transcript of the Orlando shooter’s 911 calls.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, performer, musician, and comedian Dave Hill reflects on his contribution to the Donald Trump empire: ringtones. His new book is Dave Hill Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.  For the Spiel, all dogs go to heaven—copycats, however, take the “Stairway to Heaven.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Black Flag vocalist Henry Rollins talks about being more than the guy from the band. His latest movie is The Last Heist. Jesse Armstrong explains satirical string-pulling in his book, Love, Sex, and Other Foreign Policy Goals.  For the Spiel, lovers of quail, unite!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, New Yorker writer Maria Konnikova takes a gimlet eye to explanations for sleepy eyes: Are owls and larks bulls--t? Konnikova is the author of The Confidence Game.  For the Spiel, Donald Trump’s sanest line is crazier than Mitt Romney’s biggest gaffe.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, impressionist John Di Domenico discusses embodying The Donald. Plus, another installment of our “postcard” series: Devin Leonard talks about the U.S. postal service and how early visionaries thought it might topple slavery. Leonard is the author of Neither Snow Nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service.   For the Spiel, have you noticed something different at Mets games? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, former military interrogator Lena Sisco on deception detection. Her book is called You’re Lying: Secrets From an Expert Military Interrogator to Spot the Lies and Get to the Truth. For the Spiel, a few thoughts on the shooting in Orlando.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Dave Zirin calls in from Muhammad Ali’s funeral procession in Louisville. Zirin is sports editor at The Nation, host of the Edge of Sports podcast, and author of the Muhammad Ali Handbook. For the Spiel, questioning the assumptions in the Stanford rape case.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, actor Michael C. Bernardi is Mordcha the Innkeeper in Fiddler On The Roof, now on Broadway. His father, Herschel Bernardi, was the third man to play Tevye in the musical. For the Spiel, who will be remembered with as much veneration as Muhammad Ali?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, former Corey Pegues wanted to stop being a drug runner in his Queens neighborhood. So he enlisted in the military and joined the top brass of the NYPD. His new book is Once a Cop: The Street, the Law, Two Worlds, One Man. For the Spiel, pretty much a direct appeal for angry emails from Bernie Sanders supporters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, a postcard with Devin Leonard on the origins of the phrase “going postal.” Leonard’s new book is Neither Snow Nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service. Plus, Stephen Teret on smart guns. For the Spiel, Hillary Clinton’s cinch of a clinched nomination.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Chuck Klosterman imagines how time erodes common ideas, like what counts as a great American novel and how we decide who’s smart. His new book is But What If We’re Wrong? For the Spiel, tyrants and their cats.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, comedian and musician Tim Heidecker. He attracted a cult following with Adult Swim television hits such as Decker and Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Some of the same deadpan observations can be heard in his music. Heidecker’s first solo album is In Glendale. For the Spiel, elections make us all relativists.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices