The Gist: Zephyr Teachout on corruption, TMBG on the #NotAMovie challenge.

Ladies and Gentlemen! A Challenge of Human Intellect and Vigor from They Might Be Giants.

Ladies and Gentlemen! A Challenge of Human Intellect and Vigor from They Might Be Giants.

A daily news and culture podcast with Mike Pesca.
March 23 2015 6:48 PM

The #NotAMovie Challenge Begins

Tweet us an imaginary movie title, and you might inspire a new They Might Be Giants song. 

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Logo by Derreck Johnson/Slate.

Listen to Episode 220 of Slate’s The Gist:

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Now that we’ve become indifferent to illegal and even legal forms of corruption, what will it take to improve the accountability of our public officials? Our guest Zephyr Teachout examines corruption’s past and present. She’s the author of Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin’s Snuff Box to Citizens United. Plus, They Might Be Giants have always aspired to write movie themes, so they’ve asked Mike Pesca to enlist listeners to help with a demo. From now until April 6, tweet titles of imaginary movies to @slategist using the hashtag #NotAMovie. For the Spiel, the return of talk-show karaoke.

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Mike Pesca is the host of the Slate daily podcast The Gist. He also contributes reports and commentary to NPR.