The Gist

Americans are skeptical of regulation, no matter how much they hate hair in their hot dogs. Why are Republicans winning this argument? Jacob Hacker is director of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale University and author of the new book American Amnesia.   For the Spiel, an ethics scandal hits South Dakota. Yes, South Dakota! Today’s sponsor: Dunkin’ Donuts. Upgrade your day with DD Perks. Earn a free Dunkin’ Donuts beverage when you enroll by using promo code DDPODCAST, and speed past the line in-store with on-the-go ordering. Download the Dunkin’ app and enroll today. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Dow hitting 20,000 might sounds like great news to you, but to anthropologist Arthur Demarest, it’s an ominous echo of what he’s seen befall the Maya, the Aztecs, and the Inca: a spectacular apogee followed by collapse. Demarest studies the decline of civilizations. He says his research has shown that societies that avoid total disintegration undergo some other kind of major political or economic crisis. For the Spiel, good news. We’ve fixed the Oscars.  Today’s sponsor: Policy Genius. Shop and compare all the top-rated life insurance companies in one place. Go to PolicyGenius.com today to save over 70 percent off other prices for life insurance. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Southern Poverty Law Center rushed to track the surge in reported hate incidents after the election—a surge that appears to have died down. Heidi Beirich explains the SPLC’s plans to weed any hoaxes out of its data and why it’s a bad idea to minimize incidents of hate just because they don’t rise to the level of a crime. For the Spiel, getting acquainted with Canada’s Trump(s). Today’s sponsor: Points of Courage, a podcast from Hiscox Insurance about the adventure of starting up a business. Check out Points of Courage wherever you get your podcasts, and learn more about how Hiscox Insurance can help protect your business by going to Hiscox.com. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Yorker staff writer Maria Konnikova returns to play “Is That Bullshit?” This week, the persistent nutritional myth about vitamin C. The actual vitamin, not the singer. Maria’s most recent book is The Confidence Game.  Plus, one of Barack Obama’s dreams has finally been realized: a plain white t-shirt store is open in Hawaii. Sponsors: ZipRecruiter. Post your job listing to all the top job sites with a single click. Try it for free by going to ZipRecruiter.com/gist. And Blue Apron. Blue Apron’s meal kits are delivered right to your door and make cooking at home easy. Get your first three meals free by going to BlueApron.com/gist. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at Slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald J. Trump was voted into office by an impatient electorate that had no ability to measure his rhetoric against a political record. Slate political writer Will Saletan predicts that national impatience will not be kind to Mr. Trump. Saletan is the author of Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War. U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., joined dozens of his colleagues boycotting the inauguration. He explains what Democrats can do to draw attention to Mr. Trump's conflicts of interest. Michael Waldman penned two inaugural addresses for former President Bill Clinton. Waldman says Mr. Trump’s speech was remarkable for what it didn’t include: any mention of the Constitution, liberty, or democracy. “Which is something that presidents do," Waldman said. "It’s almost like a religious incantation in these speeches.” For the Spiel, some non-Trump news. How Gambia got its groove and the fight against fake news in Sweden.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nick Thune took the long way to stand-up comedy, performing Enrique Iglesias cover songs and making a stop in rehab before graduating from high school. On The Gist, he explains why he’s not scared of silence on stage and what made him ditch his guitar. His new special, Nick Thune: Good Guy, is streaming now on Seeso.  In the Spiel, asking much of Steven Mnuchin and parrying with Rick Perry.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You didn’t have to agree with William F. Buckley to marvel at his intellect, his swiftness, and his wit. Starting in 1966, Buckley got to show off his skills every week on Firing Line, his pioneering television show devoted to debate. Heather Hendershot watched nearly 1,500 episodes of the show, and though she still doesn’t agree with Buckley, she admires how he created a place for high-minded argument. Hendershot is the author of Open to Debate: How William F. Buckley Put Liberal America on the Firing Line. For the Spiel, is the circus shutting down or will confirmation hearings be going for a bit longer? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On every major piece of legislation in the Obama era, congressional Republicans have thrown up roadblocks and been reluctant to compromise. Can Democrats do the same in the age of Trump? Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute and The Atlantic looks at the options facing the Congressional opposition and the future of everyone’s favorite obstructionist tool, the filibuster.  In the Spiel, why we don’t judge presidents based on their inauguration’s Nielsen ratings.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So, who is Donald Trump’s most troubling Cabinet pick? Is it Jeff Sessions, who received an 11 percent score on civil rights issues from the NAACP? Or Rex Tillerson, who was unprepared for questions about Vladimir Putin’s regime? Or Ben Carson, who didn’t seem to know anything about the mandate of Housing and Urban Development? Slate’s chief political correspondent weighs in on the first week of hearings for Trump’s Cabinet picks. In the Spiel, it’s Lobstar time again.    Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at Slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, race was front and center at the confirmation hearing for Trump’s attorney general nominee, Jeff Sessions. Cory Booker and the head of the NAACP testified that Sessions’ history of alleged racist comments and his voting record suggested he could not fairly uphold the rights of all Americans. The Alabama senator fired back that he was not a racist and had fought to honor historical figures like Rosa Parks. The whole affair raised questions about how to discuss race, “whiteness,” and issues of identity politics in the Trump era. Marc Lamont Hill is a professor at Morehouse College, a frequent commentator on CNN, and a host for BET News. His new book is Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable, From Ferguson to Flint and Beyond. In the Spiel, Kellyanne Conway’s war on the media. Today’s sponsor: LifeAfter. What happens to our digital lives when we’re gone? LifeAfter, a new series from GE Podcast Theater and Panoply, the creators of last year’s award-winning The Message, explores these v

Between the shady unverified intelligence dossier, Trump’s strange press conference, and the Rex Tillerson hearings, this has been a head-spinning 24 hours. We called up Slate’s War Stories correspondent Fred Kaplan to make sense of it all. Kaplan is most recently the author of Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War.  In the Spiel, an analysis of President Obama’s farewell and the meaning of activism.  Today’s sponsor: Policy Genius. Shop and compare all the top-rated life insurance companies in one place. Go to PolicyGenius.comtoday to save over 70 percent off other prices for life insurance. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’ve been reading the Onion the past eight years, you know that Vice President Joe Biden is a hair metal–loving party machine. He’s set up a fog machine at the State of the Union address. He’s regaled crowds with stories from his historic summer of ’87. And he’s been busted many, many times for his shady side hustles. Chad Nackers, head writer at the Onion, talks about how his site created a whole new character to satirize Obama’s tee-totaling vice-president, and the delicate balancing act of finding jokes that don’t normalize the next president.  For the Spiel, don’t worry, the Amazon Echo won’t turn on you, Space Odyssey–style. It’ll just order stuff you don’t want.  Today’s sponsors: Indochino, the company that’s reinventing men’s fashion. Go to Indochino.com to get any premium suit for just $389, plus free shipping, when you use promo code gist at checkout. Rocket Mortgage from Quicken Loans. When it comes to the big decision of choosing a mortgage lender, work with one that has your best interest

Are millennials really less money-focused than their forebears were? Do the kings of finance obsess over money because society doesn’t give them another way to measure their success? How can we make ditch-digging meaningful work? On The Gist, behavioral economist and Wall Street Journal columnistDan Ariely weighs in; think of him as the Dear Abby for the smartphone set. Ariely is the author of Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations.  For the Spiel, surely the glitz and glamour of the Golden Globes will stop Trump! Right?    Today’s sponsors: ZipRecruiter. Post your job listing to all the top job sites with a single click. Try it for free by going to ZipRecruiter.com/gist. And by Lifeafter. What happens to our digital lives when we’re gone? LifeAfter, a new series from GE Podcast Theater and Panoply, the creators of last year’s award-winning The Message, explores these very questions. Listen and download LifeAfter wherever you find your podcasts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph

The National Institutes of Health used to have blanket advice for parents: Don’t give peanuts or peanut products to children under the age of 4. The result? Between 2003 and 2014, it seems likely more Americas were killed by bad advice about peanuts than by acts of terrorism. Why did it take so long to change these guidelines? Marion Nestle says we know very little about the science of food allergies. She’s the author of Food Politics.  In the Spiel, explaining hacking in a way even Donald Trump would understand.    Sponsors:  What happens to our digital lives when we’re gone? LifeAfter, a new series from General Electric Podcast Theater and Panoply, the creators of last year’s award-winning The Message, explores these very questions. Listen and download LifeAfter wherever you find your podcasts. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Yorker writer Maria Konnikova returns for another round of everyone’s favorite game, “Is That Bulls--t?” Konnikova takes on a long-held theory about hair growth: The more often you shave, the faster it grows back. Konnikova’s most recent book is The Confidence Game.  In the Spiel, the Megyn Kelly backlash begins.    Sponsors:  ZipRecruiter. Post your job listing to all the top job sites with a single click. Try it for free by going to ZipRecruiter.com/gist. Harry’s. Get the smooth shave you deserve. Right now Harry’s is giving away their shave set for free when you sign up. All you have to cover is the shipping. Go to Harrys.com, enter code gist at checkout and you’ll also get one of their post-shave balms for free. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mara Wilson became iconic in the 1990s, but she hasn’t appeared in a film since the year 2000. In her memoir Where Am I Now? Wilson explores the joys and difficulties of her life after child stardom. Mara’s book was recently named one of the best of 2016 by NPR. Sponsors: Betterment, the largest automated investing service. Get up to six months of investing FREE when you go to Betterment.com/gist. What happens to our digital lives when we’re gone? LifeAfter, a new series from GE Podcast Theater and Panoply, the creators of last year’s award-winning The Message, explores these very questions. Listen and download LifeAfter wherever you find your podcasts. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ralph Nader’s second work of fiction, Animal Envy, imagines a world where animals can talk to people and start demanding rights. Nader says the fable is meant to prompt deeper thinking about our relationship with nature. “We need to talk about what-if, because if we don’t, we can’t kick in our idealism and imagine real possibilities,” says the 82-year-old author and advocate. Nader also weighs in with his thoughts on the Trump presidency, and how to win a political argument. In the Spiel, Donald Trump’s rockin’ New Year’s Eve.   Sponsors:  Stamps.com. Buy and print official U.S. postage right from your desk. Go to Stamps.com and use promo code gist for a 4-week trial plus a $110 bonus offer – including postage and a digital scale. And Blue Apron. Blue Apron’s meal kits are delivered right to your door, and make cooking at home easy. Get your first THREE meals FREE by going to BlueApron.com/gist. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial

Bob Boilen, creator and host of NPR’s All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts, built his book around something he learned in his nearly 30 years of covering music: Artists are tired of talking about their own work, but ask them about what inspires them, and they’ll light up. Boilen’s book of interviews is the epically titled Your Song Changed My Life: From Jimmy Page to St. Vincent, Smokey Robinson to Hozier, Thirty-Five Beloved Artists on Their Journey and the Music That Inspired It. For the Spiel, a defense of 2016.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When comedian Laurie Kilmartin found out her father had advanced lung cancer, she processed it the best way she could: by tweeting jokes about her father’s decline. The real-time mourning gave rise to Kilmartin’s stand-up special, “45 Jokes About My Dead Dad,” available on Seeso. Kilmartin is a writer for Conan on TBS and author of Sh*tty Mom: The Parenting Guide for the Rest of Us.  In the Spiel, noting the death of Debbie Reynolds and the prospects of a two-state solution.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the Russian ambassador to Turkey was killed in front of cameras by an assassin, Alexandra Zapruder had one thought: “There’s another Zapruder film.” Her new book, Twenty-Six Seconds, looks at how her grandfather’s film of the John F. Kennedy assassination changed media and American life, and how her family dealt with the grave responsibility of being part of American history.  In the Spiel, there’s a war on Mike’s birthday.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices