The Gist

On The Gist, National Review has one good take on the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation story … and a lot of bad ones. In the interview, we’re used to thinking of societies along the “liberal/conservative” spectrum, but cultural psychologist Michele Gelfand has her own axis to consider: tight versus loose. They aren’t quite the same: Abu Dhabi, for instance, may be conservative, but its role as the crossroads of the Middle East lends it looser norms. In Scandinavia, we’ve got the opposite. Gelfand’s book is Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World. In the Spiel, you wrote in, and Mike read up: It’s time for the Lobstar of the Antentwig. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Christine Blasey Ford deserves a hearing on her own terms, and that’s all we can say for now. Bert Kreischer is a comic who started out as just the biggest college partier in America according to Rolling Stone magazine in 1997. Since then he’s been grappling with fame, how much of his own life to use for comedy, and the way his father shamed him into doing stand-up comedy. Kreischer’s new special on Netflix is Secret Time. In the Spiel, Jeopardy finally notices podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, the latest in inane Trump statements. Climate change is bigger than any one of us, including the president of the United States. Given his backward policies and denials of scientific fact, he deserves his share of criticism in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. Climate scientist Andrea Schumacher explains which aspects of hurricane season can be expected to get worse as the planet warms. Schumacher is a research associate at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University. In the Spiel, ­­more on John Hockenberry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, taking issue with the sloppy headlines about the support (or lack thereof) for Brett Kavanaugh. In the interview, Stacey Abrams’ run for governor in Georgia has been criticized because of her huge outstanding debt. That got Ozy.com reporter Nick Fouriezos wondering how much political candidates typically owe as they run for office. He dug into the finances of 396 political candidates to see how much they owed, and to whom. In the Spiel, a presidential penis prognostic. You’re welcome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Hurricane Florence. Ethan Hawke has stunned us with his earnest, moving performances on-screen, but he’s also a talent behind the camera. His new directorial feature Blaze explores the life and love of the largely forgotten musician Blaze Foley. He joins us to talk filmmaking, the difficulty of music, comic book movies, and why we should appreciate criticism from our elders. Blaze premieres nationwide on Sept. 21.  In the Spiel, the allegations of Kavanaugh’s sexual assault. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Vladimir Putin, RT, and the Salisbury poisoning.   Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez might have scary values to conservatives. But to the national director of the Democratic Socialists of America, she’s a moderate. Maria Svart calls the DSA a “big tent organization,” meaning it makes room for everything from AOC’s Scandinavian-style social policies to the more radical workforce ownership of businesses.  In the Spiel, the end of primary season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, John Hockenberry’s piece in Harper’s. Donald Trump is no stranger to settlements, and the latest of these come between his administration and hundreds of asylum-seekers. They were rejected after making their cases under the duress of being separated from their children … or their parents. “How are the kids supposed to say why they fear persecution? Try having that conversation with a 4-year-old,” says Margo Schlanger, who headed the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties under Obama. If approved by the court, the settlement would give the migrants a second chance to apply for asylum.  In the Spiel, impeachment.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Vladimir Putin’s “private citizen” excuse doesn’t hold water. In the interview, philanthropic billionaires are better than villainous ones, but Anand Giridharadas argues they could do better. Instead of insisting on the superiority of private efforts, they ought to pay more taxes and leave some things to the government. Giridharadas’ book is Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. In the Spiel, FiveThirtyEight currently says Republicans have a 1-in-6 chance of keeping the House. What else has that kind of odds? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Mike is thinking he’ll vote Andrew Cuomo—but he’s open to you changing his mind. The 2014 shooting of Michael Brown upheaved many things in the U.S., including the career of DeRay Mckesson, who quit his job as an educator to become a full-time activist. Now he uses his podcast Pod Save the Peopleas a national platform to speak out against police violence and highlight news that flies under the radar. Mckesson’s new memoir is On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope. In the Spiel, want to feel less anxious? Put the phone down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, are we having a national crisis? The New York Times’ publication of an anonymous op-ed has sparked rounds of speculation as to who’s behind it—and the deep-state trappings it describes. Some see the word “lodestar” as signature Mike Pence, but as Sadia Afroz explains, stylometry—the analysis of prose to uncover its author’s identity—is a little more complicated than looking at individual words. Afroz is a senior research scientist at the International Computer Science Institute. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Lincoln, Kennedy, and Lincoln Kennedy could all speak better than President Trump. If you’re old enough to remember November 2016, you know that telling a good story—even an untrue one—wins elections. Author Yuval Noah Harari worries that populism has liberalism beat on this front, especially given an uncertain future looming with AI, biotechnology, and the possible obsolescence of the human worker. Harari’s new book is 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. In the Spiel, a lawmaker’s voting record is the only thing we should judge them on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing. The Pentagon’s third-in-command is reportedly losing his job, and it’s hardly making news. As the Defense Department’s first-ever chief management officer, John Gibson is in charge of saving billions of dollars for reinvestment. He’s to be fired because of a reported “lack of performance,” but Defense News’ Aaron Mehta says the task was nearly impossible in the first place.  In the Spiel, who really wrote that New York Times op-ed?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Bob Woodward’s good intentions. Wealth and road trips are two of America’s favorite obsessions. In his new novel, Lake Success, Gary Shteyngart explores these themes through the story of a hedge fund manager who, after a crisis, takes a trip across the country by bus. Shteyngart joins us today to discuss his research on Wall Street, the concept of privilege, and his trips on Greyhound busses.   In the Spiel, Gwyneth Paltrow and jade eggs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation is all but certain. A recent Donald Trump tweet gave credence to a bogus (and dangerous) claim: that South Africa’s white farmers are the first targets in a looming genocide. Quartz reporter Lynsey Chutel has the actual statistics, as well as the political context—land reform—that pushed white nationalists into embracing victimhood in the first place. In the Spiel, a roundup of the minor scandals that broke over Labor Day weekend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Democrats, Republicans, and the N-word. Facebook now has television shows. While it might be surprising for viewers, for creators it’s an exciting new avenue to find an audience for shows not necessarily meant for the mainstream. Strangers is precisely one of those shows, about two queer women trying to make it in New York City. Creator Mia Lidofsky joins us to discuss her show, how wonderfully queer it is, and what it’s like making a show for Facebook. The new season of Strangers is all available to stream on Facebook Watch.  In the Spiel, funerals.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, there’s no use sugarcoating Starbucks’ Frappuccino. And in the interview… unprecedented! Preposterous! Unimaginable! Trump’s presidency and the GOP’s machinations actually do have antecedents, says historian Heather Cox Richardson. They’re in the 1890s, when robber barons partnered with the Republican Party to pack the courts. Richardson is the author of To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party.  In the Spiel, what do we make of the Catholic Church? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, war games are back. Hoaxes have fooled us at least since the era of P.T. Barnum, but they’re especially prevalent in our era of political disinformation. Kevin Young is the author of Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News and tells us about the racist roots of the hoax and how hoaxes often lead us to believe what we wanted to in the first place. In the Spiel, Trump shouldn’t try to critique an algorithm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, Louis C.K. isn’t as despised as Twitter makes it seem, which is why an eventual comeback is likely. In the interview, Maria Konnikova breaks down the science of fasting, and why it’s currently associated with cancer treatments. Can it really help reduce cancer growth? And is it a useful practice for healthy individuals? Konnikova is a New Yorker contributor and the author of The Confidence Game. In the Spiel, gerrymandering is bad for democracy and great for the GOP. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, the news media reveres John McCain because he failed with grace—and wasn’t too conservative. Chances are you’ve heard #AbolishICE before. Journalist and activist Sean McElwee kick-started it and argues it’s not just the agency that needs to go down, but the criminalization of undocumented residence within American borders. In the Spiel, stupid stuff comes in threes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On The Gist, guest host Stephanie Foo dives into Crazy Rich Asians, speaking with friend and fellow producer Kat Chow about Asian representation in media, the inspiration to create, and a hope that this film will lead to more Asian-centered media.  Then she speaks with producer and former film professor B.A. Parker about seeing your own culture depicted on screen, and how exciting it is to see stories and jokes not meant for you.  In the Spiel, Stephanie considers whether America has failed her, and why she is so proud of being an immigrant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices