Mike Pesca (born December 29, 1971) is an American radio journalist and podcaster based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He is the host of the daily podcast, ''

The Gist ''The Gist'' is an American daily news podcast hosted by Mike Pesca. The show was originally produced by ''Slate'' magazine starting in May 2014 and was suspended by Slate on February 22, 2021. A year later, Pesca relaunched the podcast under ...

,'' and the editor of ''Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs in Sports History.''

Career

Mike Pesca first appeared on radio as a ten-year-old caller to a local

sports program, offering his opinion on the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

. In 1997, Pesca got his first job in radio, as an intern at the station working on ''New York & Co'', which would later become '' The Leonard Lopate Show''. Pesca went on to work as Producer-At-Large for the

WNYC WNYC is an audio service brand, under the control of New York Public Radio, a non-profit organization. Radio and other audio programming is primarily provided by a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations: WNYC (AM) and WNYC- ...

and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

program '' On the Media'' (OTM). He had a recurring segment on OTM called "Mike's Shoes", in which he would "disgorge little bits of media fluff" he encountered. In late 2005, he became the first NPR reporter to have his own

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

, ''On Gambling with Mike Pesca'' on which he discussed topics related to

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

. He served as a

reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

for NPR and ''Slate'''s mid-day show '' Day to Day'', on which he also occasionally filled in as

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...

. Other public radio programs he has guest hosted include '' The Bryant Park Project'', ''

Talk of the Nation ''Talk of the Nation'' (''TOTN'') is an American talk radio program based in Washington D.C., produced by National Public Radio ( NPR) that was broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. It focused on current events and controversial ...

'', ''

On Point ''On Point'' is a radio show produced by WBUR-FM in Boston, Massachusetts, and syndicated by American Public Media (APM). The show addresses a wide range of issues from news, politics, arts and culture, health, technology, environmental, and bu ...

'', '' Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' and '' The Brian Lehrer Show''. Since 2014, Pesca has served as host of ''Slate'''s daily podcast ''

''. Prior to joining the ''Slate'' staff, Pesca served as a National Desk

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

for

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

(NPR). Pesca's reports have been featured on ''

Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 a ...

'', ''

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

'' and ''

Weekend Edition ''Weekend Edition'' is a set of American radio news magazine programs produced and distributed by National Public Radio ( NPR). It is the weekend counterpart to the NPR radio program ''Morning Edition''. It consists of ''Weekend Edition Saturday ...

''. He covered mainly

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

and

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

for the network, and previously he has covered a wide range of topics including

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

, and

the arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of m ...

. He also appears on the

WBUR-FM WBUR-FM (90.9 FM) is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Boston University. Its programming is also known as WBUR News. The station is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, along with WGBH and W ...

/NPR program '' Here and Now'' as well as

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

, ''

PBS NewsHour ''PBS News Hour'', previously stylized as ''PBS NewsHour'', is the news division of PBS and an American daily evening news broadcasting#television, television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS Network affiliate#Member stations, member stat ...

'', and

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

. He is a regular contributor to the NPR program ''

Sunday''."Remembering When A Teacher Had His Back"
''

Sunday'' November 24, 2013. He has also written for ''Slate'' and the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. In addition to his weekly duties as a panelist on ''Slate'''s ''Hang Up and Listen'' podcast, Pesca has appeared as a guest on many popular podcasts including NPR's Planet Money, ''Slate'''s Culture Gabfest, Luke Burbank's Too Beautiful to Live, The Sporkful and Maximum Fun's Jordan, Jesse, Go!. In February 2014, Pesca announced that he was leaving NPR to join ''Slate'' magazine. In announcing the hiring, ''Slate'' podcasts executive producer Andy Bowers called Pesca "one of the most interesting, exciting on-air personalities working today." Pesca has also filled in as host of the NPR radio program ''Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me'' when Peter Sagal was away. In May 2018, Pesca edited and published ''Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs in Sports History'', a collection of essays in which authors explore alternative histories in the world of sports. That month, ''Slate'' started releasing ''Upon Further Review'', a weekly podcast based on chapters from the book. In February 2021, Slate indefinitely suspended Pesca after he debated colleagues over whether people who are not Black should be able to quote a racial slur in some contexts. Slate's announcement stated that "this was not a decision based around making an isolated abstract argument". On September 3, 2021, Pesca and Slate "mutually agreed to part ways", and Slate sold ''The Gist'' to Pesca, who announced plans to take the show to an independent platform. The Gist has returned for "Season 2," produced by Peach Fish Productions. It premiered on January 24, 2022.

Personal life

Mike Pesca was born in

Oceanside Oceanside may refer to: Places United States *Oceanside, California ** Oceanside Transit Center *Oceanside, New York Oceanside is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the southern part of the town of Hempst ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He is of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

heritage, and his surname is the Italian word for "peach." In his podcast, ''The Gist'', Pesca has described himself as "the son of a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

" and as someone who "grew up Catholic, a little bit." Pesca attended

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, where he was a member of the

Alpha Epsilon Pi Alpha Epsilon Pi (), commonly known as AEPi, is a college Fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded at New York University in 1913. The fraternity has more than 150 active chapters across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Israel ...

fraternity and served as vice-president of the school's intra-fraternity council. He graduated from Emory in 1994. Pesca has two sons (Milo and Emmett) with his ex-wife, Robin Dolch, a public relations executive. He is a fan of the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

and St. Johns Red Storm. In 2006, Pesca appeared as a contestant on the

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead g ...

'', where he led going into the Final Jeopardy round, but finished in third place. In 2020, Pesca became engaged to Michelle Hunter with the assistance of Buddy the Rat.

Awards

Pesca is a two-time Edward R. Murrow Award winner. The Murrow awards are presented by the

Radio Television Digital News Association The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA, pronounced the same as " rotunda"), formerly the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), is a United States-based membership organization of radio, television, and online news dir ...

(formerly the Radio and Television News Directors Association) for excellence in electronic journalism. He most recently was awarded the 2010 Murrow for audio sports reporting in the Radio Network/Syndication Service category. He received the award for the season-long weekly series, ''Friday Night Lives'', on "the phenomenon of

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

" which Pesca created with NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman. The series aired throughout 2009 and 2010 on ''All Things Considered''. Pesca won the 2001 Murrow Award for Best Radio Feature Reporting for his report "Cracker Jack" that aired on ''On the Media'' on August 4, 2001. The feature's premise was that

Cracker Jack Cracker Jack is an American brand of snack food that consists of molasses-flavored, caramel-coated popcorn balls and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of trivial value inside. The Cracker Jack name and slogan, "The More You E ...

's inclusion by name in the song Take Me Out to the Ballgame amounts to the "most successful product placement in history".

References

External links

*
Pesca's NPR archive
Selected stories by Mike Pesca: * 2010 Murrow award winner
Friday Night Lives

Just How Fattening Is That Cupcake?

Voters Clueless on Giuliani's Abortion View

Are Katrina's Victims 'Refugees' or 'Evacuees?'

A Race to Save the Dogs of New Orleans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pesca, Mike NPR personalities American radio reporters and correspondents American male journalists Living people 1971 births Contestants on American game shows Place of birth missing (living people) American news podcasters Jewish American journalists Emory University alumni 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American Jews American people of Italian descent