Mike Pesca is the host of Slate's The Gist.

"There was a time when the most intelligent guy in your town was just the guy who knew the most — he knew the family genealogy, he knew facts. We've gotten away from that. The facts are there on a computer. So I think the definition of intelligence has a lot to do with synoptical connections — the ability to make connections, the ability to make analogies. So I have these conceptual scopes — I find a way to tie seemingly disparate things together. This is how my mind naturally thinks, but this is also — since I have this show I know that I have to turn out content for it — this is how I've conditioned my mind to think."