Just The Gist

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Just The Gist
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65 episodes

  • Just The Gist

    JTG MINI: The Man Who Lived In An Airport For 18 Years | Mehran Karimi Nasseri

    31/03/2026 | 42 mins.
    In the movie The Terminal, Tom Hanks plays a man who is forced to live in an airport for 9 months after his passport is declared invalid. Most people know that The Terminal was based on a true story, but they don't know that in real life, Mehran Karimi Nasseri wasn't stuck at the airport for 9 months. He ended up living there for 18 YEARS. He entered the international terminal of Charles de Gaulle Airport in 1988, and didn't leave until 2006, all because he didn't have a valid passport.

    Getting by with gifts from airline staff and travellers, 'Sir Alfred' used two benches as a bed, washed in the airport toilets and ate McDonalds for every meal. This is Just The Gist (MINI) of Mehran Karimi Nasseri; the stateless man who lived in Terminal One at Charles de Gaulle Airport for almost 20 years, the bureaucratic nightmare that put him there, and the far sadder truth about why he stayed.

    We give you Just The Gist, but if you want more, there's Breakin' Nooz, JTG After Show AND Bonus eps! You can access them by joining the Gistener Club via the Just The Gist Patreon or Apple Premium Subscriptions.

    Watch Just The Gist episodes on Youtube @JustTheGistPodcast
    Follow Just The Gist on Instagram and TikTok @JustTheGistPodcast
    Follow Rosie in all the places at @RosieWaterland
    Want to give us a SuGISTion? Tell Rosie to stop singing so much? Email us at [email protected]
    Just The Gist is a Just The Network production. Executive Producer and Host: Rosie Waterland | Senior Producer and Editor: James Joseph | Producer: Kate Leaver | Additional production support: Hayley Staveley | Acast Legends: Guy Scott-Wilson and Simon McDermott | Production Assistant: Pocket
    Don't forget to follow and give us 5 stars, which means something apparently!

    Thank you, as always, for Gistening. Now go say something impressive at a dinner party.

    The 15-Year Layover — Michael Paterniti, GQ (via Longform)
    AP News: Mehran Karimi Nasseri, 'The Terminal' man, dies in Paris airport
    The Guardian: 'Terminal Man' lived in Paris airport for 18 years — I'll never forget my weeks with him
    All That's Interesting: Mehran Karimi Nasseri
    New York Times Magazine: Waiting For Spielberg
    The Guardian: The man The Terminal left behind
    Here To Where (2002 film, available on Vimeo)
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  • Just The Gist

    Just The Gist of… the McDonald’s Monopoly Fraud

    25/03/2026 | 45 mins.
    For more than a decade, the entire McDonalds Monopoly game in the US was completely rigged. From 1989 to 2001, anybody who won a major prize in the competition had actually cheated, with help from someone on the inside. That someone was Jerome ‘Jerry’ Jacobson, Head of Security for the company in charge of making and distributing the McDonald’s Monopoly pieces. But when McDonalds found out that nobody was legitimately winning the major prizes, they still let the public spend their money trying to win in one last competition, because the FBI needed to go undercover to catch the Monopoly cheaters in a massive McSting. And when Jerry Jacobson finally revealed how he had pulled the whole thing off, it literally came down to one accidental fluke.

    This is Just The Gist of the McDonald’s Monopoly Fraud.

    We give you Just The Gist, but if you want more, there's Breakin' Nooz, JTG After Show AND Bonus eps! You can access them by joining the Gistener Club via the Just The Gist Patreon or Apple Premium Subscriptions.

    Watch Just The Gist episodes on Youtube @JustTheGistPodcast
    Follow Just The Gist on Instagram and TikTok @JustTheGistPodcast
    Follow Rosie in all the places at @RosieWaterland
    Want to give us a SuGISTion? Tell Rosie to stop singing so much? Email us at [email protected]
    Just The Gist is a Just The Network production. Executive Producer and Host: Rosie Waterland | Senior Producer and Editor: James Joseph | Producer: Kate Leaver | Additional production support: Hayley Staveley | Acast Legends: Guy Scott-Wilson and Simon McDermott | Production Assistant: Pocket
    Don't forget to follow and give us 5 stars, which means something apparently!
    Thank you, as always, for Gistening. Now go say something impressive at a dinner party.

    ......

    McMillion$ — Official Trailer (HBO)
    The Daily Beast "How An Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald's Monopoly Game and Stole Millions" by Jeff Maysh
    The Guardian "McMillion$: the bizarre story of how one man stole $24m from McDonald's"
    Vanity Fair "The True Crime Story Behind McMillion$"
    The New York Times "McMillion$ on HBO, Explained"
    CNBC "How the McMillions Scammers Rigged the McDonald's Monopoly Game and Stole $24 Million"
    NPR "How the Ex-Cop Who Scammed McDonald's Monopoly Got Caught"
    Adweek "McDonald's Revives Monopoly With a Wink at Its Scandalous Past"
    Wikipedia: McDonald's Monopoly (the promotion)
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  • Just The Gist

    JTG MINI: WTF is going on with Gypsy-Rose Blanchard?

    24/03/2026 | 54 mins.
    If you go to prison for having your mother murdered, it’s probably best not to joke about it in an effort to grow your TikTok following, no? That’s exactly what Gypsy-Rose Blanchard did this week, and since her story is part of JTG lore, we thought it was time to check in: two years after being released from prison, what exactly is going on with Gypsy-Rose Blanchard?
    Gisten to our original episode on Gypsy-Rose and Dee Dee Blanchard right here.
    Gisten to our bonus book club episodes on Gypsy-Rose’s memoir My Time To Stand:
    Part 1
    Part 2
    .
    We give you Just The Gist, but if you want more, there's Breakin' Nooz, JTG After Show AND Bonus eps! You can access them by joining the Gistener Club via the Just The Gist Patreon or Apple Premium Subscriptions.
    Watch Just The Gist episodes on Youtube @JustTheGistPodcast
    Follow Just The Gist on Instagram and TikTok @JustTheGistPodcast
    Follow Rosie in all the places at @RosieWaterland
    Want to give us a SuGISTion? Tell Rosie to stop singing so much? Email us at [email protected]
    Just The Gist is a Just The Network production. Executive Producer and Host: Rosie Waterland | Senior Producer and Editor: James Joseph | Producer: Kate Leaver | Additional production support: Hayley Staveley | Acast Legends: Guy Scott-Wilson and Simon McDermott | Production Assistant: Pocket
    Don't forget to follow and give us 5 stars, which means something apparently!
    Thank you, as always, for Gistening. Now go say something impressive at a dinner party.
    .
    Watch the ‘We listen and we don’t judge’ video with Gypsy-Rose and Natalie Reynolds
    Watch Gypsy’s apology on TMZ
    Gypsy-Rose Blanchard Instagram

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  • Just The Gist

    JTG MINI — The La La Land / Moonlight Oscars Mix-Up

    18/03/2026 | 47 mins.
    At the 2017 Oscars, La La Land was announced as Best Picture. The producers rushed the stage. The speeches started. And then a panicked staffer ran on, confusion spread through the Dolby Theatre, and La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz grabbed the microphone and said: "There's a mistake. Moonlight, you guys won Best Picture. This is not a joke."
    It was the most chaotic two minutes and twenty-three seconds in Oscars history — and it all happened because one accountant couldn't put his phone down.
    This is Just The Gist Mini of the La La Land/Moonlight Oscars mix-up: the story of Brian Cullinan, the PricewaterhouseCoopers partner who was so busy tweeting celebrity selfies backstage that he handed Warren Beatty the wrong envelope — and then stood in the corner mouthing "shit" while someone else cleaned up his mess.

    ..........

    We give you Just The Gist, but if you want more, there's Breakin' Nooz, JTG After Show AND Bonus eps! You can access them by joining the Gistener Club via the Just The Gist Patreon or Apple Premium Subscriptions.
    Watch Just The Gist episodes on Youtube @JustTheGistPodcast
    Follow Just The Gist on Instagram and TikTok @JustTheGistPodcast
    Follow Rosie in all the places at @RosieWaterland
    Want to give us a SuGISTion? Tell Rosie to stop singing so much? Email us at [email protected]
    Just The Gist is a Just The Network production. Executive Producer and Host: Rosie Waterland | Senior Producer and Editor: James Joseph | Producer: Kate Leaver | Additional production support: Hayley Staveley | Acast Legends: Guy Scott-Wilson and Simon McDermott | Production Assistant: Pocket
    Don't forget to follow and give us 5 stars, which means something apparently!
    Thank you, as always, for Gistening. Now go say something impressive at a dinner party.

    ..........

    "They Got the Wrong Envelope": An Oral History of Oscar's Epic Best Picture Fiasco — The Hollywood Reporter, 2018
    How the Wrong Envelope Triggered a Best Picture Fiasco — The Hollywood Reporter, 2017
    PwC Takes Full Responsibility for Oscars Best Picture Error — CNN, 2017
    PricewaterhouseCoopers' Brian Cullinan Wanted to Perform at Oscars — Variety, 2017
    Oscars Stage Manager Details PwC Accountants' Incompetence — The Wrap, 2017
    New Photos Show PwC Accountant Tweeting, Mixing Envelopes Backstage — Variety, 2017
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  • Just The Gist

    Just The Gist of… The 1989 Oscars, aka The Worst Oscars in History

    17/03/2026 | 53 mins.
    In 1989, the Oscars opened with Snow White going on a date with Rob Lowe, giant cardboard stars with human legs, and (for some reason) dancing tables. The ceremony was so bad that Disney sued, seventeen of Hollywood's biggest stars penned an open letter saying they were ashamed, and producer Allan Carr never worked again. Today Rosie breaks down the 61st Academy Awards — widely considered the worst Oscars in history. This is Just The Gist of the 1989 Oscars disaster.

    ......

    We give you Just The Gist, but if you want more, there's Breakin' Nooz, JTG After Show AND Bonus eps! You can access them by joining the Gistener Club via the Just The Gist Patreon or Apple Premium Subscriptions.
    Watch Just The Gist episodes on Youtube @JustTheGistPodcast
    Follow Just The Gist on Instagram and TikTok @JustTheGistPodcast
    Follow Rosie in all the places at @RosieWaterland
    Want to give us a SuGISTion? Tell Rosie to stop singing so much? Email us at [email protected]
    Just The Gist is a Just The Network production. Executive Producer and Host: Rosie Waterland | Senior Producer and Editor: James Joseph | Producer: Kate Leaver | Additional production support: Hayley Staveley | Acast Legends: Guy Scott-Wilson and Simon McDermott | Production Assistant: Pocket
    Don't forget to follow and give us 5 stars, which means something apparently!
    Thank you, as always, for Gistening. Now go say something impressive at a dinner party.

    ......

    'I Was Rob Lowe's Snow White': The Untold Story of Oscar's Nightmare Opening (The Hollywood Reporter, 2014)
    The Worst Oscars Ever — the behind-the-scenes story of Allan Carr (Los Angeles Magazine, 2010)
    The Oscars' 1989 Snow White Opening Was a Disaster — director Jeff Margolis reflects (IndieWire, 2024)
    Let's Revisit the Train Wreck That Was the 1989 Academy Awards (AV Club, 2020)
    61st Academy Awards (Wikipedia)
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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About Just The Gist

The brand new official Just The Gist podcast is right here (and we've had a glow up)!Rosie Waterland tells amazing stories about anything and everything, but with just enough detail to make you sound impressive at a dinner party. Let's get Gistening....Subscribe now so we pop straight back into your feed the moment a new episode drops. Got a question, suggistion, or burning hot take? Get in touch: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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