The Gist

On The Gist, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large Deborah Birx describes the challenges in fighting the AIDS/HIV epidemic. She oversees the nation's plan for AIDS relief. For the Spiel, a brief meditation on renowned charmer Boris Johnson, now the United Kingdom's top diplomat.

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On The Gist, we take a closer look at Type A. Is it real? How is it measured? Can it get you out of a ticket for aggressive driving? We get answers from Maria Konnikova, writer for the New Yorker and author of The Confidence Game. For the Spiel, Rudy Giuliani's lies matter.

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On The Gist, what political ad men might have picked up from Caravaggio. Adam Levine, associate director of the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio, explains the thinking behind the upcoming exhibition, "I Approve This Message: Decoding Political Ads." For the Spiel, screwing around with Zika funding.

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On The Gist, why it's better to crash our spacecrafts than to litter the solar system with our earthly microbes. Summer Ash explains everything you didn't know you wanted to know about the Juno space probe orbiting Jupiter. Ash is the Director of Outreach for Columbia University's Department of Astronomy.

For the Spiel, discord will always be with us.

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On The Gist, Slate correspondentJustin Peters on the life and death of free-culture crusader Aaron Swartz and the history of copyright in the United States. Peters wrote The Idealist: Aaron Swartz and the Rise of Free Culture on the Internet. In the Spiel, reflecting on recent shootings of black men by police and of police by a black man.

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On The Gist, a case for the modern office as a subject of high literature. J. Bradford Hipps discusses finding more than mockery in the anonymous office park where he set his novel, The Adventurist.

For the Spiel, an economical five minutes on the five hours the FBI director spent testifying at a congressional hearing.

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On The Gist, Devin Leonard returns with the last installment of our postcard series to discuss the evolving economics of the U.S. Postal Service. Leonard's book is Neither Snow nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service. Plus, Bruce Shapiro ponders the best way to cover mass shootings if the goal is to limit future massacres. Shapiro is executive director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia Journalism School.

For the first-ever, midshow Spiel: Twinkies. For the traditional closing Spiel: dying in vain.

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On The Gist, are you really saving the planet with your recycling? New Yorker writer Maria Konnikova, takes on what may be our most controversial round of "Is That Bulls--t?" Konnikova is the author of The Confidence Game. On the Spiel, porn on the Juno spacecraft's hard drive.

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On The Gist, Xavier Dphrepaulezz, aka the Fantastic Negrito, returns to reflect on his second career in music, Prince's influence, and the gentrification of America's greatest cities. His new album is The Last Days of Oakland. For the Spiel, it's time for another Lobstar of the Antentwig.

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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.

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