In Glizz We Trust
Plus: Mike Lindell happy about Dominion verdict, the not-so-promising promise of Trump’s golden visa & brideflation in the Chinese marriage market.
It’s almost here—the most American of holidays—the day of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest (and also Independence Day). While I love the Fourth of July, fireworks and parades, one of my favorite traditions is the hot dog eating contest, particularly how MC George Shea not so much introduces superstar Joey Chestnut so much as summons him like a tubular-meat-stick-devouring-demon from the belly of the nation. Every year, Shea gives us a sermon, a poem, and a threat to the known universe, all before the first hot dog hits bun.
This year, we’ll see the return of Joey Chestnut, the hot dog devouring demigod, and I can hardly wait for the George Shea spin on his entrance. Back in 2015, he was described as the man who “represents all that is eternal in the human experience” and arriving “Through the curtain of the aurora, a comet blazes to herald his arrival, and his victory shall be transcribed into every language known to history, including Klingon.”
Where else but America could a man be called ‘the rock on which we stand’ for dunking 62 hot dogs in water and swallowing them into his soul?
Welcome to the Gist List—a news roundup, interesting things you should know, and my thoughts leading up to today’s podcast episode.
Here’s what’s on my mind:
🛏️ Mike Lindell will rest his head easy on a MyPillow tonight.
🖼️ The Louvre strikes back.
🪡 Former Project Runway contestant shot and killed at No Kings rally.
👰🏻♀️ Brideflation in the Chinese marriage market. (🔒)
💳 Will Trump’s Trump Card attract enough buyers? (🔒)
The Gist List
Jury Finds MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Defamed Former Executive at Denver-Based Dominion Voting Systems (CPR News)
A federal jury has ruled that MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell defamed former Dominion Voting Systems executive Eric Coomer and must pay $2.3 million in damages, but despite having to empty out his pockets, he is in GREAT spirits. The verdict is a far cry from the $62.7 million former Dominion employee Eric Coomer was seeking.
The jury found that only three of the ten statements Coomer, who faced harassment and threats after Lindell’s statements accusing him of treason, challenged met the legal bar for defamation, but he still views it as a legal vindication, because, you know, $2.3 million.
Lindell, on the other hand, practically skipped out of court knowing MyPillow was spared the financial fallout. Described by Kyle Clark (who has been on the show before) as “defiant and loud as usual,” Lindell explained that he was “millions of dollars in the hole” but is staying afloat on the lumpy life raft of supporters buying MyPillows and supporting his defense fund in hopes he’ll finally reveal his evidence of election rigging. In response to being asked when he would release said evidence, he said, “I’m not a grifter. I’d be the worst grifter … I’m not good at it. I just spend it all.”
Louvre Forced to Close After Staff Walk Out Protesting Overcrowding (The Art Newspaper)
The French love of art is rivaled only by their passion for work stoppages, and perhaps their snootiness toward tourists. This story is therefore rife with Francophilia. Gallery attendants, ticket agents, and security walked off the job during a routine meeting, protesting unmanageable crowds, understaffing, and neglect from leadership. Tourists with tickets in hand were left stranded outside in the heat, with no explanation—just shuffled out of that great, glass pyramid.
As it turns out, in addition to loud hordes of tourists clad in athleisure and refusing to properly greet staff and keep their hands off the art, the building is in terrible disrepair, and there is a staff shortage. The Louvre is the most visited museum in the world, with 8.7 million visitors in 2024, and caps visitors at 30,000 per day; however, it still isn’t enough. The French government has promised a €730–€834 million, decade-long overhaul, but for now, water will continue to leak into the building.
Bystander Shot During Salt Lake City No Kings Protest Dies at the Hospital (KUER)
The No Kings protest turned deadly over the weekend in Salt Lake City when a man was shot and killed by a stray bullet. The timeline is complicated, so stick with me here:
The event was, at least initially, peaceful and organized with a designated safety team in place. (Although not an official one, as “peacekeepers” are not a formal designation recognized by the Salt Lake Police Department.)
A couple of volunteer peacekeepers observed Arturo Gamboa, wearing all black, separate from the crowd, move behind a wall and take an AR-15-style rifle from a backpack.
The volunteers drew their own handguns and told Gamboa to drop the weapon, but Gamboa instead started to move into a “firing position.”
One of the volunteer peacekeepers fired three shots and killed a bystander, Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, and wounded Gamboa.
While Gamboa never fired his weapon, he is being held on suspicion of murder, something which sounds to me like it will be, and should be, hard to prove in a court of law. The thing about Gamboa is that he regularly open carried at events like this, and his friends are saying that this was just a deadly “miscommunication.” Whatever the case, this is a tragedy for Ah Loo and his family as he leaves behind a wife and two young children.
Perhaps it is fair to say that bringing guns to a rally (rather than relying on the police to keep the peace) is a bad idea.
Bride Prices Are Surging in China (The Economist)🔒
In China, there’s a long-standing tradition in which the groom’s family pays the bride’s. What once used to be a modest sum, “Bride Prices” are nearly doubling in rural areas and going even higher in cities. Obviously, when your country spent decades enforcing limits on how many children you can have, resulting in a massive gender imbalance, brideflation can go through the roof. Beijing has responded by discouraging the practice, as it may discourage marriage overall, but they’re not enforcing it (yet).
Also skyrocketing: Chinese stocks of nuclear warheads.
Lutnick Hails Trump's $5 Million Investor Visa as Almost 70,000 Apply (Financial Times)🔒
The Trump golden visa is attracting global attention, with nearly 70,000 people having signed up for it. And by “it,” I mean they have entered their information into trumpcard.gov, which appears to be a sales lead form. The idea is that people with a cool $5 million lying around can buy their visa into the U.S., and that this revenue would go towards tackling the national debt.
Of course, anyone can enter their information into this lead form (and Gist List editrix and American citizen Kathleen just did), so the quality of these leads might be suspect. But even if all 70,001 people who have signed up so far paid the $5 million necessary to get the visa, it would give us only $350 billion. I know that sounds like a lot, but the defense budget for 2023 was $820.3 billion, so the anticipated revenue might end up being the Pentagon office snack budget.
It’s also worth noting that the U.S. is not the only country that does this. Malta, Spain and Switzerland (obviously) do this with varying requirements like owning land or investing in businesses.
Yesterday on The Show: The Case for Optimism in a World Obsessed with Crisis
Zachary Karabell of The Progress Network and the What Could Go Right podcast presents a case for “edgy optimism,” highlighting under-covered successes in medicine, education, and public policy. From New Mexico’s universal childcare to gene therapies for sickle cell disease, he argues that the problem isn’t a lack of progress—it’s our inability to recognize it. Plus, a new U.S. ad from Benjamin Netanyahu adapts the famous Talmudic credo “Rise and Kill First” into something just a little more TV-friendly.
There’s more where that came from. Listen to The Gist, and upgrade to Pesca Plus for the ad-free version.
Have a story you want us to talk about or an opinion you want to share? Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com or share your thoughts in the comments. We might give you a shoutout in our next newsletter or on the air.