The Gist

The world used to be full of empires. Is it time for an imperial resurgence? On today's Gist, Robert D. Kaplan, national correspondent for the Atlantic, makes the argument for something that looks a lot like a modern empire, although with a less fraught name. Plus, a look at new research into how we taste, with Charles Spence of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory, who wrote on the subject in Flavour Journal. For the Spiel, remembering NPR’s good witch, Margo Adler. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on The Gist, where do you draw the line with your husband’s close female friends? Emily Yoffe of Slate’s Dear Prudence column joins us for a post-Prudie impact statement concerning a husband’s proposed road trip with an ex. Then, Susan Crawford, author of Captive Audience, explains why Hollywood and cable subscribers everywhere have the right to be spooked and outraged by the possible Fox-Time Warner merger. For the Spiel, it’s time for another an-twentig. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How good did the Roman emperors have it? The Gist asks UCLA history professor Ronald Mellor to compare a ruler’s bounty in the ancient world with life in modern America. Plus, Kashmir Hill from Forbes explains the latest tarnish on Facebook’s reputation for dubious privacy practices. In today’s Spiel, another botched execution and what it teaches us about the death penalty. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on The Gist, writer Dave Hill tells us about what it’s like to go on a naked cruise. Then, Mike explains why investor Bill Ackman’s high-profile accusations against Herbalife failed to make the company go the way of Enron. Michael Regan, the editor at large for Bloomberg News, shares what made this presentation unique, despite Wall Street’s cool reaction. For the Spiel, the news from Sioux Falls. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are all civilians are automatically innocent? Today on The Gist, host Mike Pesca debates a Wall Street Journal op-ed from Thane Rosenbaum, Senior Fellow and Director of the NYU Forum on Law, Culture & Society. Plus, Dr. Dalia Gavriely-Nuri from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, offers translations and insight into Israeli operation names such as Operation Protective Edge and Operation Pillar of Defense. For the Spiel, classics ruined. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on The Gist, reporter Challen Stephens explains how an investigative journalism initiative has brought new attention to horrible prison conditions in Alabama. Then, we learn about the top-secret mission of one of NYC’s first Italian heroes, NYPD Lt. Joe Petrosino. Mike Dash, author of The Fist Family, explains how new clues have emerge in this unsolved murder. For the Spiel, how the mundane often undoes technology. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on The Gist, Slate’s Anne Applebaum shares insights into Vladimir Putin’s next move. How might the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 affect what Applebaum believes is Putin’s failing strategy in Ukraine? Then, count penguin poo with researcher Michelle LaRue from the University of Minnesota’s Polar Geospatial Center. She’s using satellite imagery to get a better count on penguin populations. In today’s Spiel, the MH17 story is all about the telling detail. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on The Gist, Ben Lillie from Story Collider explains how muon particles may help us see inside of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Plus, Archie Comics announced this week that its Life With Archie series would end with protagonist Archie Andrews taking a bullet to save his gay best friend. Jonathan Merrifield, host of the Riverdale Podcast, tell us what this means for fans. For the Spiel, Riverdale Action News takes over this podcast with other breaking comics news. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on The Gist, as rockets rain from Gaza, Israeli society is resigned to the fight. We speak with Israeli journalist Shlomi Eldar and former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, who explain what makes the current military goal different from past conflicts. Plus, Maria Konnikova of The New Yorker explains how so-called bandwidth poverty strains our mental resources and makes decision-making harder. For the Spiel, parents are now getting arrested for letting their kids out. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on The Gist, political analyst Jonah Blank from RAND explains how young democracies navigate fair elections. Plus, Mike speaks with Sonja Lyubomirsky, the author of The Myths of Happiness, about how we can make ourselves into happier people by doing the things that happy people do. For the Spiel, no, you probably won’t succumb to a brain-eating amoeba. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today at Slate, we announced a changing of the guard. Mike talks with David Plotz, who after 6 years as editor is stepping down, and Julia Turner, who just became Slate’s first female editor in chief. Plus, Mike gets help from memory champ Nelson Dellis in memorizing the rest of The Star Spangled Banner with help from Pauly Shore. For the Spiel, Mike vets stats with a stats vet—stat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is not visiting the U.S.-Mexico border President Obama’s Katrina? Josh King from Polioptics explains how he would best position Obama if (slash when) he does makes a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border. Then Sarah O’Holla tells us about her blog My Husband’s Stupid Record Collection and plays a few recent finds. For the Spiel, Mike unwraps what 20,000 book sales really mean. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on the show, writer Mike Sacks explains how it’s easier than ever to begin a career in comedy. In his book Poking a Dead Frog, Sacks asks comedians to explain their process without killing their humor. Plus, Dru Johnston reads his essay “I Think I Should Get More Credit for Killing Hitler” from the Occasional. And Ivan Oransky of MedPage Today and Retraction Watch unwraps the illicit world of peer-review fakery. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For what was Mike’s most enjoyable visit to the principal’s office, today’s Gist assembled a panel of educators to discuss teacher tenure. We’re joined by Alisa Algava, former director of the Randolph School, Ada Rosario Dolch, retired high school principal, and Margaret Ryan from the Harlem Link Charter School. Our panelists are all alumnae of Bank Street College. Plus, Slate’s Ken Early describes what it was like in the stadium when Brazil fans learned a hard truth. For the Spiel, the world through a lens of strong and weak.  Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on The Gist we discuss a new cache of steamy missives from Warren G. Harding to his mistress. The bootleg microfilms were first uncovered by James D. Robenalt, author of The Harding Affair: Love and Espionage During the Great War. But first, was Boston College’s oral history archive politically motivated? Kevin Cullen from the Boston Globe explains how the project, which recorded the raw details of life in the IRA, opened old wounds in Northern Ireland. In today’s Spiel, Mike’s done tooting his own horn. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Washington State’s recreational marijuana law goes into effect on Tuesday, Steve Elliot of Toke Signals explains the problems recreational and medical users should anticipate. Then, how do you set boundaries with a toxic family member when beginning your own family? Slate’s Emily Yoffe joins us for a Post-Prudence Impact Statement with past letter writer Unmolested. For Mike’s Spiel, David Gregory of Meet the Press stems the tide of evasion. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the 75th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s famous farewell to baseball, we talk to author Jonathan Eig about what Gehrig did with the rest of his short life. Also, Maria Konnikovia on Facebook’s emotions study, and no one’s going to breaka Mike’s stride. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on The Gist, Mike talks with Alice Goffman, author of On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City. Goffman, who’s white, lived in a black Philadelphia neighborhood while attending the University of Pennsylvania and chronicled how differently her classmates and her neighbors were treated for similar offenses. In today’s Spiel, Mike considers the way the story of three murdered Israeli teenagers has been covered in the Middle East. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Alan Mulally packs up his desk, Bryce Hoffman explains how the outgoing Ford CEO harnessed talent and led a cultural change from within the company. Then, Jen Banbury explains what happens when the Amish start learning how to make and invest millions. Mike’s Spiel responds to the U.S.-Belgium World Cup results before they are decided. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An obscure U.S. government agency called the Export-Import Bank is under fire from the GOP. Rana Foroohar of Time explains why politicians gunning for this credit agency could hurt the export market. Also, flop analyst Geoff Foster explains why so much of the World Cup involves players dramatically lurching and clutching their injured body parts. In today’s Spiel, Mike takes a step way back to evaluate the Hobby Lobby verdict. Get The Gist by email as soon as it’s available: slate.com/GistEmail Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slate…id873667927?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices