On The Gist, why he lies: a new theory.

"I've hit rock bottom. I'm writing for a cartoon." Such were the thoughts of Mike Reiss when he joined the writers' room for The Simpsons in 1989. Thirty years later, he's worked on all but two seasons of the show, and says it's had one real impact: making television smarter and faster. Reiss' book, co-written with Mathew Klickstein, is Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies From a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons.

In the Spiel, stop us if you've heard this one before: President Donald Trump creates a problem, sometimes makes the problem a little less bad, and then takes a load of credit.

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