In “The Remnant,” Jonah Goldberg enlists a “Cannonball Run”-style cast of stars, has-beens, and never-weres to address the most pressing issues of the day. Is America doomed? Has liberalism failed? And will mankind ever invent something better than ‘90s-era “Simpsons?” Mixing political history, pop culture, rank punditry, and shameless book-plugging, Goldberg and guests will have the kinds of conversations we wish they featured on TV. And the nudity will (almost) always be tasteful. Brace your bingo cards.
The podcast The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg is created by The Dispatch. The podcast and the artwork on this page are embedded on this page using the public podcast feed (RSS).
A dramatic week of big acquisitions left Jonah tired, but ranty. Brace for some I Told You So’s, “abundance” horseshoe theory, Trumpworld triangulations, and blue-on-blue violence.
Show Notes:
—The SCOTUSblog acquisition
—Wednesday’s uncontroversial G-File
—Kevin Williamson’s critique of the "abundance" Democrats
—Jamie Weinstein and Larry Diamond on The Dispatch Podcast
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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David Bahnsen, a fan favorite and friend of the pod, stops by the show to discuss his new book, Full Time: Work and the Meaning of Life with Jonah Goldberg. Jonah and David cover the China question, U.S. reliability, and Kevin Hassett’s antics.
Show Notes:
—David’s book, Full Time: Work and the Meaning of Life
—The Wall Street Journal: “Meet MAGA’s Favorite Communist”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes make their Remnant debut to discuss their buzzy new book, Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House. Jonah Goldberg and the authors dig into the nitty-gritty of all three 2024 presidential bids, that debate, Kamala Harris’ ascension and missteps, and the story of Joe Biden’s decline.
Show Notes:
—Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg spends ninety minutes plotting his transition to telethon moderation, lambasting the youth, and reminding the new GOP that you can’t pick and choose who gets universal rights. Plus: further ruminations on the bond market and the anniversary of the shot heard ‘round the world.
Show Notes:
— The Fair Jessica for The Dispatch: ”Revenge of the Title IX Dads”
—Advisory Opinions on Humphrey’s Executor
—The Wall Street Journal: “Meet MAGA’s Favorite Communist”
—G-File: “The Shot Heard Round—and Round and Round—the World”
—Irving Kristol: “The American Revolution as a Successful Revolution”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg responds to Christopher Rufo and his fight to "to recapture the regime and entrench our ideas in the public sphere," using 20th-century Marxist Antonio Gramsci's ideas. This is a bonus Ruminant –– expect your regular Saturday Goldberg variation to arrive at the normal time.
Show Notes:
—Meet MAGA’s Favorite Communist
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Jonah Goldberg is rolling like a stone through Ivy League speaking events and is holed up in New Haven to conduct an AMA with the one and only Chris Stirewalt. Topics range from marmot taxonomy, Tom Selleck’s career ethics, Maserati salesman attire, and of course, rank punditry galore.
Show Notes:
—Continue your education on The Gay Place
—Ross Douthat for the New York Times: “It’s Trump’s Revolution”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg is joined by Adam Kirsch to discuss Kirsch’s new book, On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice. What does settler colonialism actually mean in the Israeli context? Where did the school of thought originate? And how can Israel move forward under the framework of settler colonialist ideology?
Show Notes:
—Order Adam’s new book, On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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For your Saturday listening pleasure, Jonah Goldberg ruminates upon the latest Dispatch editorial, the sibylian nature of Suicide of the West, the problems with planned economies, and the back-of-house responsibilities of the federal government.
Plus: dunce caps for the “deep state” and the font choices of the first Alien movie.
Show Notes:
—The latest Dispatch editorial: “Slouching Towards Tyranny”
—Yuval Levin: The Great Debate
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg knows many a public intellectual, but linguist extraordinaire John McWhorter is one of his favorites. John returns to the show to discuss his new book, Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words. Topics include: grammars of the elite, the imposition of language rules, the they-shaped elephant in the room, and the mystery behind the disappearance of “thou.”
Show Notes:
—Order John’s book, Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words, here
—The Finnish Path to Relaxation (Drinking at Home, Alone, in Your Underwear)
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics at the Cato Institute and a general tariff expert, took some time out of his very busy schedule to talk to Jonah Goldberg about Trump’s trade-deficit delusions,why reciprocal tariffs will harm the United States, and the likelihood of increased inflation as trade tensions rise.
Show Notes:
—Scott’s Capitolism newsletter for The Dispatch
—Scott’s column on trade deficits
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Siri misogyny meets trade policy, while Howard Lutnick’s idiocy fuels debates on markets and democracy. Jonah Goldberg clamors for liberal democratic capitalism supremacy and says a prayer for the global economy, as public-choice theory explains our collective hypocrisy.
Show Notes:
—Worship at the church of Scott Lincicome
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Frustrated with never-ending interstate repairs and constant airline delays, Jonah Goldberg looks to the sky and wonders; Why does nothing work? Marc J. Dunkelman, fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, has the answers. Marc and Jonah discuss the origins and transformation of American progressive policy, the spirit of the NIMBYs, and a bold proclamation that we need even more institutions to achieve good governance.
Show Notes:
—Order Marc’s book, Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress―and How to Bring It Back here
—Learn more about the Watson Institute
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg is joined by Luke Coffey, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and Ukraine expert extraordinaire, to discuss his recent visit to the region and the state of the Ukraine-Russia war. Luke and Jonah debate where Ukrainians stand after the infamous Oval Office debacle, the cracks in the Russian army, and the indispensable value of close European alliances—which seem to mean little to MAGA world.
Show Notes:
—Luke's scholar page at the Hudson Institute
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Having exhausted his Jeffrey/Jonah Goldberg jokes on The Dispatch Podcast, Jonah Goldberg launches into an epic rant on the tyranny of intellectual mobs, the flaws of morally blind due process, and the emerging artificial intelligence anime art movement. Plus: long-view Signal-gate revelations and the superficial logic of the Trump administration’s tariff strategy.
Show Notes:
—The Maoist anime AI drawing in question
—Yuval Levin’s latest Remnant appearance
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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It’s fan-favorite week at Casa de Remnant.Jonah Goldberg is joined by Thomas Chatterton Williams, staff writer at The Atlantic and fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, to discuss illiberalism on the right, dole out some sympathy for the most ardent defenders of wokeness, and dig into Thomas’ upcoming book, Summer of Our Discontent: The Age of Certainty and the Demise of Discourse.
Show Notes:
—Thomas’ piece in The Atlantic: “How the Woke Right Replaced the Woke Left”
—Musa al-Gharbi on The Remnant
—Jonah’s “Critical Trump Theory”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Not since Thomas Jefferson podcasting alone has a guest been so wise as Yuval Levin, who joins Jonah Goldberg to discuss the recent trend of Lebowskian communication mishaps, the danger of obsessive abstraction in Trumpian times, and the promise of connecting with the median voter.
Show Notes:
—The Atlantic: "Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans"
—Yuval on "The Ezra Klein Show"
—Yoni Appelbaum on The Remnant
—National Review: "Look on My Works, Ye Mighty, and Despair!"
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Join Jonah Goldberg on a journey up the Northeast Regional line as he ruminates upon the impeachment of federal judges, the enemy within, the world’s laziest Congress, and the chicken and the egg game for oligarchs and plutocrats. Plus: disturbing DOGE casualties and a greatest hits reel of Jonah’s analogies.
Show Notes:
—Jonah’s LA Times column from this week
—The New York Times: Curtis Yarvin Says Democracy Is Done. Powerful Conservatives Are Listening
—Yoni Appelbaum on The Remnant
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Yoni Appelbaum, deputy executive editor of The Atlantic, makes his Remnant debut to discuss his new book, Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity. Jonah Goldberg and Yoni discuss America's unique social and geographic mobility, the tricky history of tenements, and the dirty laundry of zoning.
Show Notes:
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Clifford D. May, founder and director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, enters The Remnant multiverse with Jonah Goldberg to reevaluate the world stage and all its conflicts. Cliff and Jonah debate who’s leading the new Axis of Evil and dig into the growing trend of expansionist politics and the depressing lack of fact-based arguments in contemporary foreign policy.Show Notes:
—Listen to the "Foreign Policy" podcast
—The Wall Street Journal: “The Painting That Explains Trump’s Foreign Policy”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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An overserved and hungover Jonah Goldberg gets into arguments with ChatGPT, picks fights with free speech “martyrs,” and offers a unified theory of Trumpism, all in a day’s Ruminant.
Show Notes:
—Jim Geraghty for National Review: “Why the Ukraine Cease-Fire Deal is No Cause for Celebration”
—Jake Meador for The Dispatch: “The Perils of Positive Thinking”
—The Wednesday G-File in question
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg has gone AWOL, and Kevin Williamson of Dispatch fame has risen to the task of Remnant hosting duties. Kevin is joined by Devin DeCiantis and Ivan Lansberg to discuss their new book, The Enduring Enterprise: How Family Businesses Thrive in Turbulent Conditions. The trio covers crony capitalism, how businesses can succeed amid political chaos, and how family enterprises can survive the breakneck speed of social change.
Show Notes:
—Devin and Ivan for Salon: “The Return of Crony Capitalism”
—Order The Enduring Enterprise: How Family Businesses Thrive in Turbulent Conditions.
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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There’s a whole lot of red on various stock market indices this week, so Jonah Goldberg has conscripted Michael Strain, director of economic policy at the American Enterprise Institute, to talk money. Topics include: the likelihood of recession, tumultuous trade policy, and Jonah’s crusade against the cryptocurrency reserve.
Show Notes:
—Cato Institute: “The Problem of the Tariff in American Economic History, 1787–1934”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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After sufficiently kvetching over Weimar-style cigar inflation, Jonah Goldberg ruminates upon Donald Trump tripping over tariffs, the abhorrent actions of the Department of Justice regarding the Eric Adams case, and the insanity of the proposed crypto reserve. Plus: the fallout from last week's Oval Office disaster and a grim prediction for the next three years.
Show Notes:
—Scott Linsciome in The Dispatch: “‘Reciprocal Tariffs’ Are Trump’s Worst Trade Idea Yet”
—Burke's “Birds of Prey” speech
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg came to the Remnant studio exhausted by his nightshift at the cable news factory, so he enlisted one Brother Chris Stirewalt to save the show once again. Jonah and Chris analyze Trump’s Tuesday night address to Congress from all angles, including but not limited to the Democrat’s shenanigans and the reviled Wilsonian origins of the State of the Union address.
Show Notes:
—Brother Stirewalt for The Hill: “Separating Show and Substance as Trump Addresses Congress”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg is joined by author and research analyst Ross Benes to discuss his new book, 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times. Jonah and Ross discuss beanie babies as a precursor to crypto, the political triumph of the WWE, and the age of media deregulation. Plus: the phenomenology of moral panics and the bourgeois-ification of transgressive culture.
Show Notes:
—1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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From the civilizational lynchpin of gratitude to the misplaced obsession with diplomacy to MAGA’s mafia style of governance, today’s Ruminant will be a one deep cut after another for Suicide of the West readers. There will also be one or two I-told-you-so’s.Show Notes:
—Return to the source material and order Suicide of the West
—G-File: “The Democrats Dilemma”
—Vintage Goldberg in National Review: “The European Miracle”
—Infinite Scroll: “MAGA as Master Morality”The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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A Ruminant of Homeric length about the distress of the liberal world order will be released tomorrow, but the fallout from the meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump today necessitated a rapid emergency rant. Enjoy your bonus episode and the sunsetting of American honor.
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Christopher Scalia, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, stops by the show to drop some culture on one Jonah Goldberg. The two discuss all things literature and what great books could give the conservative movement.
Plus: George Eliot’s conception of nationalism and Jonah’s thoughts on the new season of Severance.
Show Notes:
—Pre-order: 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven't Read)
—Listen to “The Back of the Book” podcast
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg is joined by American Enterprise Institute fellow and author Michael Rosen to discuss his new book, Silicon and Clay: What Ancient Jewish Wisdom Can Teach Us About AI. Jonah and Michael cover the difference between lunch bucket AI degrowthers vs. Butlerian jihadist doomers before diving into the lore of the mystical figures of the golem and the dybbuk and what they can teach us about our approach to artificial intelligence.
Show Notes:
—Pre-order Like Silicon from Clay: What Ancient Jewish Wisdom Can Teach Us About AI
—Commentary, January 1966: “The Golem of Prague & The Golem of Rehovoth.”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg has words for the Trump administration signaling its willingness to betray Ukraine and turn allies into vassals all in the name of a faux-realist approach to geopolitics that feels more Corleone than Kissinger.
Plus: an apology to Anthony Scaramucci, ruminations on the Eric Adams case, and the MAGA-induced pressure campaign within the conservative movement.
Show Notes:
—Wednesday G-File: “Realism for a Condo Salesman”
—Friday G-File: “Faded Glory, Growing Dishonor”
—"The Rest is History" podcast with Anthony Scaramucci
—Advisory Opinions on Eric Adams
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Pippa and Zoë have chastised Jonah Goldberg for the recent lack of female voices on The Remnant, so Sarah Isgur has staged a Steinem-style takeover of the show alongside Caroline Criado-Perez to discuss one of Sarah’s favorite books, Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men.
Sarah and Caroline dig into the glaring gender bias in data science, econometrics, clinical research, and healthcare. Plus: a debate over the potential for a misandrist pendulum swing in the progressive era.
Show Notes:
—Caroline’s book, Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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New York Times columnist Bret Stephens makes his Remnant debut, joining Jonah Goldberg for a discussion of the first month of the second Trump administration, the Chamberlain-esque negotiations for peace in Ukraine, and the infuriating instances of moral ignominy on college campuses.
Show Notes:
—Bret’s ‘Never Trump” piece in the New York Times
—Jonah’s ‘Never Trump’ piece in National Review
—“The Power of the Powerless,” Vaclav Havel
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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While Jonah Goldberg is usually riding solo on Ruminant episodes, today he is joined by his newly adopted island chicken, Rex. Jonah educates Rex about the relationship between the judicial and the executive branch, what constitutes autocracy, and the grounding of Critical Trump Theory. Plus: further ruminations on American sovereigntists and Pete Hegseth’s early actions as secretary of Defense.
Show Notes:
—John McCormack on Darren Beattie
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Chris Stirewalt remains in control of The Remnant throne whilst Jonah vision quests, and has brought another excellent guest to enlighten ye loyal listeners: William Galston, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and Wall Street Journal columnist. The two discuss the health of the constitutional order, the hardheadedness of the Democratic Party, and how progressives can actually sway public opinion.
Show Notes:
—Galston for the Wall Street Journal: “Trump, USAID, and the Rule of Law”
—John Yoo for National Review: “Trump Has Launched a Necessary Fight Over the President’s Spending Discretion”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg has abandoned SS Remnant for greener pastures. Luckily, the inimitable Chris Stirewalt has taken the helm once again. Chris is joined by Kori Schake, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and foreign policy egghead extraordinaire to cover the artificial intelligence arms race, the China question, and Trump’s proposal for peace (?) in Ukraine.Plus: effective deterrence against Iran, an evaluation of Israel’s successes and struggles in Gaza, and potential military reforms for an increasingly unstable world.
Show Notes:
—Kori Schake for The Dispatch: “Has World War III Begun?”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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With the help of a Yuval Levin and a Silly Putty support system, Jonah Goldberg opens this Ruminant with a recommendation not to panic about the Trump administration quite yet. He does, however, bemoan the president’s fantasy about a U.S. sovereign wealth fund before wondering about what the next generation of Democratic leaders might look like.
Show Notes:
—Nick Catoggio on the DOGE hoax
—Jonah and Katie Herzog on Mike Pesca's The Gist
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Francis Fukuyama makes a triumphant return to The Remnant to discuss the current state of liberalism, the flaws with emerging sects of postliberalism, and the rapidly deteriorating expectations of normalcy for the second Trump administration.
Plus: reactionary horseshoe theory, the new American oligarchy, and the risks of Trumpian expansionism.
Show Notes:
—The Patrick Deneen article in question
—Yascha Mounk and Francis Fukuyama talk Trump 2.0
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Alex Tabarrok, professor of economics at George Mason University, joins Jonah Goldberg to discuss the exceptional nature of American democratic capitalism and debate the merits of all sorts of borders.
Later in the episode, Jonah gets a crash course in crypto and asks Alex about the future and ethics of AI and large language models.
Show Notes:
— Alex’s piece on Liberal Fascism and CurtisYarvin
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg has gone to drastic lengths to cure his latest illness, absconding to Belize to drink fresh coconut water and ponder his life choices in the rainforest. Ruminations from his hammock include Donald Trump’s irresponsible comments on the tragic DCA plane crash, the ongoing tariff debate, and the discourse surrounding the hierarchy of love.
Show Notes:
—Michael Moynihan on The Remnant
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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New York Times columnist and best-selling author Ross Douthat joins The Remnant today to discuss his new book, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious, and dive into some rank punditry. Ross and Jonah Goldberg talk tech execs in Washington, spiritual metaphysics, and what Emilia Perez says about the relationship between culture and politics.Later in the episode, Ross explains why religion—no matter what flavor—is necessary for a healthy individual and a thriving nation.
Show Notes:
—Ross’ conversation with Marc Andreessen
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Francis Dearnley, executive editor at The Telegraph and Remnant fan-favorite, stops by the show to discuss the struggles of U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the British perspective on Donald Trump’s second term and the rise of populism, and the desperate need for functional governance. Plus: targeted solicitor slander, the lunacy of London living, and an update on Ukraine.
Show Notes:
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Buckle up, there are tiny, crazy monkeys on tricycles riding around inside Jonah Goldberg’s brain, and the only way to let them out is an epic, mega Ruminant. You’re welcome, America.
Jonah begins with a defense of his free spirit and recent snarkiness before he launches into a critique of Curtis Yarvin’s recent antics in the New York Times. He covers FDR’s stint in Silicon Valley, neo-reactionary historical revisionism, and other lines of sophomoric nonsense. In the realm of politics: the hypocrisy of social conservatives, the dueling moral repugnancy of Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s pardons, and the problems with abandoning conservative principles to own the libs.
Show Notes:
—Curtis Yarvin's NYT Interview
—“The Road to Serfdom is Paved with B.S.” (The Reactionary Mind Review)
—Chris Cox on Woodrow Wilson and post-Reconstruction South
—Stephen Pinker, “A History of Violence”
—Mike Warren in The Dispatch: “How the Heritage Foundation Sold Its Birthright”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Michael C. Moynihan, fellow podcaster extraordinaire and Lisan al-Gaib of the House Un-American Activities Committee, pays a visit to the Court of TheRemnant to defend Bill Buckley, discuss horseshoe theory as it relates to immigration, and critique cheap radicalism.
Plus: the problems with post-liberalism, the slippery slope of foreign policy obsession, and a neocon apologia session.
Show Notes:
—Michael’s work for The Free Press
—Brother Stirewalt on Henry Wallace
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg has a bone to pick with John Podhoretz’s exuberance over the second Trump ascension. Once John has been adequately chastised, the pod couple covers Trump’s inauguration speech, discuss the new President’s slew of executive orders and foreign policy plans, and engage in some kvetching over Joe Biden’s final moves. Towards the end of the episode, John airs his grievances on the ceasefire deal in Israel and allows Jonah to play some Gen X pop culture bingo.
Show Notes:
— “The Anti-Woke King of Hollywood Lets Loose”
— Adaam's interview with Nadav Eyal
— Sarah Isgur on Biden's blunders
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Dialing in from the mystical land of Indiana, Jonah Goldberg ruminates upon Lord Acton’s parable of absolute power and abject corruption, the distinction between good manners and draconian DEI policies, the distinction between market signaling and sound business decisions, and the vice signaling dominating the right in anticipation of Trump’s ascension.
Show Notes:
—A 2002 vintage Goldberg from the cellar
—Further rumination on Trumpian corruption
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Dr. Hal Brands joins Jonah to discuss the future of global alliance blocs, China and Russia’s material interests, and how to cut a nuclear deal with Iran. Stay tuned for a reality check on the Greenland acquisition plan. Brands is a professor of global affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, a senior fellow at AEI, and most recently author of The Eurasian Century: Hot Wars, Cold Wars, and the Making of the Modern Century.
Show Notes:
—Purchase Brand’s book, The Eurasian Century, here
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Dispatch in-house California expert James P. Sutton joins Jonah Goldberg to provide a sober, conspiracy-free evaluation of the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles County. James and Jonah weigh the extent of human error versus political error, disastrous insurance policy failures, and how public officials can best ensure that something like this never happens again. Plus: the role of climate change and what makes for a fair accusation of blame.
Show Notes:
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Sir Jonah Goldberg, the earl of The Dispatch, uses his teatime to discuss his preference for the Dutch masters, the Stranger Things play, and Henry VIII’s array of underwear models. Somehow, he ties it all back to personal pluralism, forestry management, the abject failures of democratic city governance, and Donald Trump's new imperial ambitions.
Show Notes:
—Cross & Country with Jonathan Rauch
—Jonah’s appearance on The Charles C.W. Cooke Podcast
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg had an insatiable hankering for beans on toast and has thus opted to abandon ye loyal listeners for an English vacation. To fill the Jonah-shaped vacuum, Sarah Isgur and Michael Warren of Dispatch fame have revived The Collisionto talk all things legal and presidential one last time.
They cover the latest developments in Donald Trump’s New York criminal case and classified documents case before turning to the question of January 6 pardons. Say what you will about the president-elect, he sure does give our hosts a plethora of material to work with.
Show Notes:
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Brookings Institution senior fellow and best-selling author Jonathan Rauch has returned to The Remnant once more to subject his latest book to Jonah Goldberg’s barrage of inquiry. The book in question, Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy, seeks to remind Americans that liberalism cannot function without strong Christian institutions and argues that living the Christian doctrine could help fix our democracy.
Jonah and Jonathan discuss new ways to protect American pluralism, spiritual formation in the civic realm, and the admirable strategies of the Church of Latter-day Saints.
Show Notes:
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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After attending to the various and sundry, Jonah Goldberg explains why you should read George Orwell's Politics and the English Language, why the conflation between "the swamp" and "the deep state" irritates him so much, and the issue with saying "Trump is Hitler."
Show Notes:
—Jonah's debate with Charles Kesler
—Kevin Williamson on the Deep State and Vikings
—Kevin Williamson on Jimmy Carter
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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On the first Remnant episode of 2025, Jonah Goldberg is joined by Chris Stirewalt to discuss the ethical implications of doing something “country style,” debate who made the biggest political mistake of 2024, and dive into the strategic value of “popularism.” Few are more qualified than Chris to kick off another year of punditry, eggheadery, rabbit holes, and rumination.
Show Notes:
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg is joined by Virginia Postrel, the former editor of Reason magazine, best-selling author, and contributing editor for Works In Progress to discuss technocrat schadenfreude, selective dynamism, and Jonah’s Burkean sympathies. Plus: a discussion on the right-wing version of utopia and the myths of American nostalgia.
Show Notes:
—Virginia’s latest book, Fabric of Civilization
—A Video Introduction to Dynamism
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg jubilantly welcomes the new year with a responsible intake of schadenfreude, as MAGAworld tumbles into disarray over immigration. Will the unprecedented wisdom of tech bros solve all the intractable problems that have plagued our country for years or just most of them? Tune in to this Ruminant for a tour of the race-baiting and loathing on the far right.
Warning: Please consult a doctor if your schadenfreude lasts longer than four hours.
Show Notes:
-Elon's God Complex, per Mr. Goldberg
-Nick Catoggio on the Elon/MAGA break up
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Once again, Jonah Goldberg has received countless requests from the children of the world for some serious conservative eggheadery for Christmas. Ever benevolent, Jonah has obliged by hosting Richard Reinsch, the Editor in Chief of the Civitas Outlook at the University of Texas to discuss how conservatives can reform existing institutions from the inside out. Jonah and Richard also cover the legitimacy of Trump’s perceived mandate, the merits of competitive federalism, the storied history of conservative doomcasting, and the future of the Republican party.
Show Notes:
—Tevi’s Commentary piece on the Obama fallout
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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In the spirit of the holidays, Remnant-verse Uncle Tevi Troy joins Jonah Goldberg to lament the changing times, discuss the downstream effects of the Obama years, debate the best time travel references, and spitball some solutions to the chaos in the Democratic Party. Later in the show, Tevi and Jonah cover the future of Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s love affair and remind everyone to stay in their own lanes.
Show Notes:
—Wall Street Journal report on Grandpa Joe
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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As the holiday season reaches its zenith, the gods of punditry have forced one Jonah Goldberg to cover a looming government shutdown at the hands of the de facto president. He predicts Elon Musk’s aims in his congressional meddling, expounds upon the difference between being wrong and being evil, and reminds us all that liberal democratic capitalism will not fill the gaping hole in the soul of man. Plus: Jonah makes a list of his favorite historians—check it twice in the show notes.
Show Notes:
—Jonah’s intellectual history master list
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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It’s high time to start the postmortem of the latest Great Awokening. Jonah is joined by sociologist and author Musa al-Gharbi to discuss his new book, We Have Never Been Woke. Musa makes the casethat many of the maladies of the woke movement stem from a desire to achieve social justice without individual sacrifice and that wealth redistribution is much more complicated than the Macbook Marxists have been led to believe. Jonah and Musa discuss the capitalist soul of a seemingly altruistic elite, the concept of asymmetric multiculturalism, trustafarians, and the formula behind major social progress movements.
Show Notes:
—Musa’s book: We Have Never Been Woke
—The Credential Society: A Historical Sociology of Education and Stratification
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah Goldberg has been feeling censored by the tyranny of Sarah Isgur lately, so he’s decided to bring in the big guns: Greg Lukianoff, the president and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). Greg and Jonah discuss the current state of free speech writ large, the legal distinction between defamation and free expression as it relates to artificial intelligence and deepfakes, and what it really means to defend morally reprehensible speech.
Plus: a closer investigation into the intellectual history of the destruction of free speech and Greg’s evaluation of Elon’s Twitter takeover.
Show Notes:
—Greg’s recent piece for The Dispatch
—FIRE’s college free speech rankings
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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It’s Friday the 13th, and little rodents are crawling around inside Jonah Goldberg’s brain. What else is new? This week’s Ruminant considers the drones flying over the Garden State, Jonah’s best Tucker impression, a redux of Liberal Fascism featuring Luigi Mangione, and a clapback to those opposed to impeaching Joe Biden. Plus: transport by elephant, a critique of Time magazine, and Trump’s faith in tariffs.
Show Notes:
—No ifs, ands, or buts about it
—Jonah’s G-File: Impeach Joe Biden … Seriously
—Trump’s "Person of the Year" interview
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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There are many pressing questions plaguing the mind of modern man. Where do we go when we die? What is the meaning of life? Was Christopher Columbus Jewish? Razib Khan, the unofficial geneticist of The Remnant, stops by to answer the latter, arguing that cultural identities are very different from genetic identities. Jonah and Razib get into the 23&Me craze, the Dalai Lama’s microaggressions, and genomes from the old world. Plus: what happened to epigenetics, some Nazi myth debunking, and some hard truths for the Hapsburgs and horses.
Show Notes:
—Razib’s piece in The Dispatch
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Amid a flurry of calls for Jonah Goldberg’s resignation as flagship podcaster lead by disgruntled Dispatch employee Sarah Isgur, our intrepid host has decided to dive into the question of impeachment power. Jonah is joined by Yale Law School professor Keith Whittington to discuss why the Founders included impeachment in the Constitution, what actually qualifies as high crimes and misdemeanors, and how presidential pardon power ought to be used.
Show Notes:
—Keith’s writing for The Dispatch
—Keith’s latest book: The Impeachment Power: The Law, Politics, and Purpose of an Extraordinary Constitutional Tool
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Intra-Dispatch disputes dominate today's Ruminant. But don't worry, Jonah also talks about other things on this Ruminant, including some perennial questions: What is a deep state and how can I join? Why does Pete Hegseth want to be defense secretary? Will Sarah be pardoned by Joe Biden for her egregious crimes against lexicology?
Show Notes:
—The history of Horatio Nelson
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah may have readjusted to Eastern Standard Time, but his mind remains preoccupied with India. In order to get some further clarity, Jonah is joined by his American Enterprise Institute colleague and Wall Street Journal columnist Sadanand Dhume. Jonah picks Sadanand’s brain on the R.S.S. (the Indian right), the principles of conservatism in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the economic progress of the country. Later in the episode, they discuss what happened to Indian liberalism, Japanese Hannity, and the trouble with Canada.
Show Notes:
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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The days are getting shorter, the weather is growing colder, and the Trump cabinet nominees keep getting stranger. Jonah is joined by Free Press columnist Eli Lake to discuss effective intelligence agency reform, what the term “deep state” actually means, and Jonah’s plan to abolish the FBI and negotiate the ransom price for Sarah Isgur with Kash Patel. Plus: ruminations on the Warren Commission, the debunking of the Eyes Wide Shut analogy, and a masterclass in making s—t up. Take out your bingo cards for this one, folks.
Show Notes:
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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For your Thanksgiving entertainment, Jonah rethinks his latest conversation with his non-mentor Yuval Levin and ruminates on how both the left and the right Gesellschaft all the Gemeinschaft.
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As the masses prepare their turkey basters, side dishes, and psyches for Thanksgiving, Jonah is giving thanks to the things he holds most dear: institutions, conservatism, and Yuval Levin.
Yuval and Jonah take some time to express their gratitude for the great American miracle, discuss the treason of the clerks phenomenon plaguing modern institutions, and consider how the exhausted majority can finally get what they want.
Later in the episode, Jonah brings up politics at the table and forces Yuval to cover the smorgasbord of Trump Cabinet nominees, the ineffectual nature of big promises, and the future of coalitional politics.
Show Notes:
—Jonah on the authority of experts
—Yuval: What Trump’s Win Doesn’t Mean
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Move over, Kerouac: Jonah Goldberg is back from India, and he has some tales to tell. Delusional, exhausted, and chock full of new ideas, Jonah pontificates upon the scalable logic of Judeo-Christian frameworks, fermented Tibetan yak cheese, and the ongoing saga of who will be the next U.S. attorney general. His hallucinations grow more intense as the episode devolves into discussions of some in-house controversy, the plight of being caught in the middle, and some dental hygiene advice.
Show Notes
—The new age health guru defense
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Earlier this week, Jonah took a visit to a sacred temple in India, where he engaged in several hours of deep meditation that eventually resulted in his ascension to nirvana. Those who have reached the highest plane of enlightenment tend to reject earthly concerns like podcasts, so the helm of The Remnant has been passed to a former theater critic operating under the alias of Kevin D. Williamson.
Kevin is joined by Frank Bruni of the New York Times, primarily to discuss The Exorcist, which happens to have a lot of crossover with the current state of American politics. The two dig in to the absence of gratitude and obsession with grievances plaguing political discourse, the roots of mounting resentment between economic classes, and the woes of commercial air travel.
Show Notes
—Frank’s latest book, The Age of Grievance
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Even as he embarks on a grand adventure in India, Jonah is seduced by the siren song of U.S. punditry. After providing a brief recap of the resoundingly successful inaugural Dispatch Summit, he gives in to the uncontrollable urge to pontificate and punditrate. To mitigate his anti-malaria medication hallucinations, Jonah takes a break from the smog and samosas to discuss the deteriorating quality of the Trump cabinet nominations, the gross mischaracterization of neoconservatism, and the increasing corruption of morals and ideas on the right.
Show Notes:
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Twenty-five years ago, Jonah found himself stranded without a passport in a crowded street in Karachi. With nowhere else to turn, he spent the last of his rupees on a rescue call to none other than Commentary editor John Podhoretz. John obliged, and continued to rescue Jonah throughout the course of their friendship by coming on TheRemnant whenever Jonah is down and out for a guest.
The two start the show by workshopping some potential design choices for their future podcast studio before diving in to some post-presidential election punditry, discussing the first slew of Cabinet appointments, U.S.-Israel relations, the London underground, and the idiocy of political mandates. Plus: the race to the bottom for speaker of the House and Senate majority leader, Jonah’s pessimism and John’s optimism, and the consequences of the recess appointment system.
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah made one singular endorsement this election season; he cast his presidential ballot for Paul Ryan. To thank Jonah for his lonely, intrepid work on the Ryan ’24 campaign that wasn’t, the former Speaker joins Jonah for a very special live taping of The Remnant from this year’s Dispatch Summit.
They discuss the pitfalls and peaks of Trump’s economic plan, why incumbent parties continue to lose (and ways to avoid an infinity of single term majorities), how to solve the debt crisis, and the fame game in Congress—but the party doesn’t stop there. Later in the show, Jonah and Paul debate the durability of American institutions, consider Trump’s proposed cabinet appointments, and determine how Reaganite conservatives can walk the line between supporting good policy and descending into MAGAness.
Show Notes
—Yuval Levin’s latest Dispatch piece
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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At long last, it’s over. The ever-intrepid Jonah remains trapped in the CNN studios, but was granted an hour to return to the sausage making factory for a quick rundown of what happened on Tuesday night. He discusses the potential self-fulfilling prophecy of alleging threats to democracy, the record minority turnout for Donald Trump (and what it means for the Democratic party), and the lessons to be learned from the era of language policing and the term “Latinx.” Later is the show, Jonah explains the importance of a more nationally oriented campaign strategy, the value in a digestible vocabulary of moralism, and reminds us all that despair is never the answer.
Show Notes
—Dispatch Live: Election Night Stream
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Note: Things got a little heated on CNN Friday morning. It’s been a long election year. Nevertheless and always a mensch, Jonah addresses the controversy related to Donald Trump’s recent comments regarding Liz Cheney.
Manic, spiritually exhausted, and scarred from attempting to get Pippa into her Halloween costume, Jonah capitulates to a brief period of punditry until he is overwhelmed with nausea and pivots to a scathing critique of the right’s new obsession with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Later in the episode, Jonah gives a lesson on self-determination, indulges in even more Woodrow Wilson bashing, sings the praises of Yuval Levin once again, and dismantles the case for “unity.”
Show Notes
—Jonah’s anti-endorsement endorsement
—David Frum’s defense of Wilson
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah and Chris Stirewalt have been conscripted from their respective caves of sequestration and dragged into the American Enterprise Institute studio for one last round of 2024 election outcome punditry. Chris and Jonah cover the sorry state of polling practices, engage in some risky predictions, and bemoan the parties’ new political bases. Later in the episode, they take a crack at amateur demographic delineation and put on their leg warmers to take it back to the ’80s for some rehashing of partisan realignment. Chris can hardly remember who the Democratic nominee is and Jonah is full of jokes, but at the end of the day, some salient points are made for ye loyal listeners.
Show Notes
—Wednesday’s TMD on the polling industry
—Will TV viewers trust Brother Stirewalt?
—Seth Masket’s piece for The Dispatch
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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If Jonah had it his way, “The Fighting Uruk-hai” would be playing softly in the background of this entire episode, but he’s lost his privileges.
If that doesn’t give you an idea of what this Remnant episode entails, shame on you—but we’ll give you a few hints anyway. Jonah is joined by Christopher Cox, former congressman and SEC chair, to discuss his new book, Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn.
Christopher has taken a new approach to his biography of Jonah’s arch nemeses, focusing on the women’s suffrage movement and Wilson’s views on race. Jonah and Christopher discuss the historically hagiographic treatment of Wilson, the highly un-woke construction of American progressivism, the relationship between the women’s suffrage movement and Jim Crow laws, and Jonah’s litany of grievances with the un-distinguished man of the hour.
Show Notes:
—Pre-order Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn
—The accompanying picture book
—Ichabod by John Greenleaf Whittier
—The Myth of Left and Right byVerlan and Hyrum Lewis
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah has a gift for the masochists that punish themselves by running to the tune of his rants: a long, bingo-card friendly, esoteric Ruminant.First, Jonah forces everyone to listen to Tucker Carlson’s creepy “Daddy” analogy before returning to the ole reliables: gemeinschaft and gesellschaft, the incessant lizard-brain blabbering of late-stage election season, and the nebulous definition of fascism. To wrap up Ruminant el clasico, Jonah chastises Kamala Harris and the other jabronies throwing the “f” word around, comes to the defense of Liberal Fascism, and ponders the rising authoritarian tendencies of the big tech bros.
Show Notes
—German Big Business and the Rise of Hitler
—Final tickets for The Dispatch Summit
—Stellar reporting from Michael Reneau
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Team Remnant has a gift for ye loyal listeners: an entire episode where Donald Trump and Kamala Harris go unmentioned! (Almost...) Jonah is joined by Kenneth Pollack, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, to discuss the increasingly tenuous conflict in the Middle East. Ken makes the case that accusations of total war between Israel and Iran are blown far out of proportion, inevitably leading Jonah to throw a small tantrum and predict worst-case scenarios. Later in the episode, Ken and Jonah discuss the future of Hezbollah following Israel’s pager attack, Iran’s nuclear status, and the role of the U.S. in ensuring deterrence in the region.
Show Notes
—Ken’s Monday Essay for The Dispatch
—Ken’s piece in Foreign Affairs
—The Dispatch’s October 7 commemoration
—Get your Dispatch Summit tickets!
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Republicans are embracing protectionism and populism and Democrats have lost the white working class. Political scientist and professor Seth Masket joins Jonah to discuss his latest piece in The Dispatch and get to the bottom of the changing constitutions and compositions of the political parties. Seth and Jonah dig into the history of American political realignment, the GOP’s strategy in winning over the working class, the black electorate, and the current state of polling. Plus: the strange obsession with undecided voters, Jonah’s ongoing existential dread, and a grievance airing power hour.
Show Notes:
—“What Are We Talking About When We Talk About a Realignment?”
—Steadfast Democrats: How Social Forces Shape Black Political Behavior
—Steve and Jonah’s State of The Dispatch
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah explores what a Kamala Harris presidency might look like, examines the potential worst-case scenario of either presidential candidate winning, and dives into who The Dispatch’s content is designed to reach.The Agenda:
—Best- and worst-case scenarios for the election
—What would a Harris presidency look like?
—Irrational voting practices
—Does Trump believe in democracy?
—Who is The Dispatch’s audience?Show Notes:
—Remaking Conservatism, One Plank at a Time
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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NOTE: This is only part of the full State of The Dispatch. To listen to the full Dispatch Live with Jonah and Steve that aired on Tuesday, join The Dispatch and watch here.
There are many ways to celebrate birthdays. MTV had My Super Sweet 16, Jewish American Princesses have blowout bat mitzvahs, and The Dispatch has, well, Jonah and Steve. In this special free preview of Dispatch Live, packaged with love for ye loyal Remnant listeners, Jonah and Steve begrudgingly eat their spinach and discuss the dark, stormy cloud that is the 2024 election, lament the rapidly deteriorating state of the media environment, and discuss all their wildest hopes and dreams for the future of The Dispatch. If you enjoyed this free preview, do yourself a favor and subscribe to The Dispatch for access to all the party favors Team Dispatch has to offer.
Show Notes
—Steve reflects on the last five years
—The Dispatch’s founding manifesto
—The full live State of The Dispatch
How to subscribe to The Skiff:To follow The Skiff on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you catch your podcasts, please follow these instructions:
Note: If your preferred podcast player asks you to subscribe by RSS feed you’ll need to copy and paste a URL link. To get that link, go back to the menu with all of the options to subscribe (the page with all of the player logos), scroll to the bottom, and copy the link you see there. Then, go back to your player and paste it in the field.
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and Donald Trump’s love of tariffs. Jonah has braved the no-man’s land that separates conservatives and libertarians to enlist Scott Lincicome, Vice President of the Cato Institute, to discuss his newest report and provide a crash course on tariffs, inflation, and free market principles. Scott makes the case that comparison between 19th century tariff policy and the contemporary global market is a fool’s errand, predicts the best case scenario of what could be achieved if Trump implements his economic plan, and calls out the hypocrisy of the Republicans bullish on tariffs. Plus: a rare moment of Goldbergian sympathy for Rand Paul, the consequences of modifying supply chains, and the stagnating disconnect between economists and politicians. Jonah antagonizes free trade hardliners, Scott is a good sport, and Newt Gingrich is beclowned; it’s all in a day’s work at The Remnant.
Show Notes:
—Phil Magnus debunks tariff myths
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah remains in a similar mental state as fans of the New England Patriots, disaffected and disappointed by a once-successful dynasty that has been reduced to a trash-talking caricature of itself. Alas, the show must go on, so Jonah launches further into his critique of the CBS News scandal, yet another Ta-Nehisi Coates debacle, and Tim Walz’s shoddy critique of the Electoral College. Later in the episode, Jonah ruminates upon The Dispatch’s fifth anniversary, The Remnant bingo card staple that is the evergreen contradistinction between patriotism and nationalism, the correct definition of hypocrisy, and the role memory plays in gratitude.Show Notes:
—The Dispatch anniversary livestream
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Christine Rosen, Jonah's American Enterprise Institute compatriot and Commentary magazine contributor, usurped today’s episode of The Remnantand invited Eliana Johnson, editor-in-chief of the Washington Free Beacon and former Politico White House correspondent, to discuss the fallout from Ta-Nehisi Coates’ CBS interview, Kamala Harris’ rocky 60 Minutes appearance, and the Harris campaign’s pick-and-choose approach to identity politics.
Plus: the anxiety caused by Tim Walz’s rocky rollout, the rhetorical upper-hand held by J.D. Vance and Ron DeSantis, and Christine’s mild obsession with the political spouses, specifically the liability that is Doug Emhoff.
Show Notes
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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There’s turmoil in the People’s Republic of The Dispatch. Democratically elected President Jonah J. Goldberg was deposed in the early hours of the morning by dissident General Kevin D. Williamson, who has taken over The Remnant airwaves in an often-precedented coup d’état.
Kevin is joined by Mitch Kokai, senior political analyst at the John Locke Foundation, to discuss the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and the potential consequences on the fast-approaching presidential election. Kevin and Mitch negate the loony conspiracies stemming from the storm, discuss the status of polling sites across the state, and dig into the voter demographics of the southern swing state. Mitch explains why North Carolina is in a unique position this election season, and makes a case that it’s time for the sane among us to reclaim the term “RINO” once and for all.
Show Notes:
—Kevin’s reporting from Asheville
—Learn more about the John Locke Foundation
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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If you’re seeking to slow the passage of time, you should consider a career in political punditry during the zenith of an election season. Jonah’s Saturday stand-up revisits a news week that has felt more like a news epoch. He reconsiders Tuesday’s vice capades to remind the people what “book banning” really means—outside of a wildly efficient marketing strategy—and opines upon the end of the Port Union Strike and the scourge of collective bargaining. Later in the episode, Jonah pivots to express his deep frustrations with Trump’s increasingly dark rhetoric, the damning lack of strategy behind it, and the blame that falls on the hapless normie Republicans capitulating to the crazies. This leaves our intrepid host sick and tired of political malarkey, allowing himself to call out what is supremely stupid and remind the critics that revenge is a dish best served cold.
Show Notes:
—Send in your guest suggestions: [email protected]
—Dispatch Summit Tickets (Code: SIGNMEUP for discounted prices)
—Jon Rauch’s interview with Jonah
—Kevin’s Springfield, Ohio, investigation
—Chris Stirewalt has a poll party
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Recording live from the Cosmo the Wonder Dog Memorial Studio in the catacombs of the American Enterprise Institute, it’s the rankest pundits east of the Mississippi: Jonah Goldberg and Chris Stirewalt! Chris is back in Remnant action and ready to talk Tim Walz’s anxieties, grocery store monopolies, and J.D. Vance’s personality disorder.
A few things they know for certain—normie Republicans are feeling left out and low-propensity voters are playing hard to get—but many questions remain unanswered. Are there persuadable voters who are ready to give Trump the popular vote? Did Vance’s debate performance help the Republican ticket, or was it just an act of self-service? Is Walz duping the progressives, and if so, do they believe him? All shall be revealed through the prophecies of Brother Stirewalt, alongside a raucous discussion of the best Grizzly Bear actors of the 20th century, the minutiae of some controversy in the pollster world, and the long-forgotten, oft-neglected elections in the House and Senate.
Show Notes:
—Ink Stained Wretches with Chris and Eliana Johnson
—Chris for The Dispatch: “The Chameleon and the Caterpillar”
—Ben Wallace in The New Yorker: “J.D. Vance Got the Conversation He Wanted”
—Dispatch Summit Tickets (Code: SIGNMEUP for discounted prices)The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Have you ever wondered what podcasting pundits would have discussed during the Great Schism? Today’s Remnant episode might give you a good idea.Jonah is joined by George Weigel, distinguished senior fellow at the Ethics and Policy Center, to talk all things Vatican City. George and Jonah evaluate Pope Francis, dig into the historical relationship between the Catholic Church and state actors, and discuss just war theory as it relates to ongoing conflict in the Middle East and criticism of Israel. Setting their sights on the United States, they then turn to the wacky world of Catholic integralism and the anxiety reflected by the online ‘trad-cath’ movement. Further lines of inquiry include: How do we remedy contemporary cultural decay? How does one strike a balance between free expression and harmful hedonism? And what on God’s green earth is going to happen with the Catholic voting bloc?
Show Notes:
—George’s biography of Pope John Paul II
—Irving Kristol: “Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case For Censorship”
—The Dispatch crew on Pope Francis
—Peggy Noonan on the choice between awful and empty
—George on the new Great Awakening
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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It’s been a great week for The Remnant. Jon Rauch gave us a rundown on the formation of Goldbergism while Sam Harris broke runtime records, so consider today’s Ruminant the cherry on top. Jonah runs through some of his greatest hits, reminding listeners that Trump plays a much bigger part in the proliferation of wokeness than his grifter army cares to admit, negating the idea of stochastic terrorism once again, and bemoaning the culture wars’ capture of the presidency. No Ruminant would be complete without disdain for Woodrow Wilson and instances of volksgemeinschaft, allowing Jonah to blame to current state of American politics on pesky play-pretend revolutionary predecessors. Plus: the case for the return of bourgeois values and the firm re-assertion that there is no such thing as a presidential mandate.
Show Notes:
—Jonah’s column on presidential mandates
—The Economist, “America is becoming less woke”
—Woodrow Wilson, “Leaders of Men”
—Dispatch Summit Tickets (Code: SIGNMEUP for discounted prices)
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Are you there, God? It’s Sam Harris and Jonah. At long last, the neuroscientist-philosopher and father of the new atheism movement has come to The Remnant for a Horatian salon that is poised to discuss the really big questions—questions so big we had to double the length of the episode. Jonah and Sam debate dogma, epistemological free-for-alls, the emancipation of C-3PO, and truth as its own defense. Questions abound: Would society be free from all ill if every man and institution was fully secularized? When do we defer to the experts? How do we grapple with the cognitive dissonance of human nature and our modern ethical sensibilities?But the party doesn’t end there. In the second hour of their conversation, Jonah and Sam dig into the root causes of the rise of antisemitism in elite institutions, ranging from cultural addiction to transgression to the feelings economy. They cover the rise and future of artificial intelligence, speak to the camaraderie that comes with being a classical liberal, and discuss what has been gnawing at the back of everyone’s brain: What happens after Trump? Fair warning, if you make it to the end, you may have some newfound fears about an impending dogpocalypse.
Show Notes:
—Sam’s podcast: “Making Sense”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Twenty-one years after Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan revolutionized the chick-flick with Freaky Friday, the powers that be have finally greenlit a remake. Fans were surprised to discover that the studio has taken a different approach to the reboot; this iteration of the film will feature two of the foremost voices in American political punditry, and will concern the intellectual history of one Jonah Goldberg.
Jonathan Rauch of the Brookings Institution has taken over Jonah’s role as host extraordinaire to flip the script and provide you, dear listener, with an understanding of Jonah’s intellectual journey throughout his career, ultimately hoping to understand how Jonah prevented himself from turning into a grifting, red-hatted pod person. Jon forces Jonah to revisit his first book, leading to an epic dive into the history of the American conservative movement, along with some hypothesizing behind its disappointing pivot to populism. Further lines of questioning from Mr. Rauch cast a wide net: Did Jonah pioneer horseshoe theory? Can we blame all of this on Sarah Palin? How did Jonah process the rise of Trump and prepare his defensive strategy? Was Jonah ever tempted to join the ranks of the sellouts? The host with the most who is no longer the host reveals all, including The Dispatch’s origin story, the final word on Hillary Clinton, and the hope that rests in the moral minority.
Show Notes:
—Jonah and Jon on the weakness of parties
—Steve Hayes, Donald Trump, and John McCain
—National Review: Against Trump
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah is coming off an electric evening with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, where he danced with fire eaters and geeked out with fellow think tank nationals. As a result, he is well prepared to dig into the Hezbollah-pager plot, Trump’s Freudian slip in his attempt to combat antisemitism, the Rich Lowry non-controversy, and the continued bad behavior of J.D. Vance. To close it out, Jonah scolds the media for playing morality police and reminds those still inhabiting the world of the sane of the unbelievable idiocy of Donald Trump’s defenders.
Show Notes:
—The Heart of a Cheetah by Magatte Wade
—The RFK Jr./Olivia Nuzzi affair—err, “situationship”
—A pretty long story about a thing that didn’t happen
—A pretty long podcast about a thing that didn’t happen
—Human Progress reviews “An Edible History of Humanity”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Many have sung songs of change, from Charles Bradley to David Bowie to Tupac Shakur. The pace of social and economic changes—and the way they make us feel—is the subject of constant debate. Jonah is joined on today’s episode by Tom Standage, a historian and the deputy editor of The Economist, to make the case that rapid change caused by innovation is nothing new in the annals of history. Jonah and Tom consider why man always jumps to doomsday when new technologies emerge, debate the merits of an organic diet, and discuss the storied history of brews and lager. Plus: the mythologization of the Medieval Age, a soliloquy to honor the historical lynchpin that is the potato, and the supernatural powers of a good cocktail.
Show Notes:
—Human Progress reviews “An Edible History of Humanity”
—“A History of the World in 6 Glasses”
—“An Edible History of Humanity”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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On today’s episode, Jonah is joined by Dispatchheavy-hitter Kevin D. Williamson to discuss his latest piece, “The Exotic Cat-Eaters of Springfield, Ohio.” Unlike many of those sharing unsubstantiated rumors of Haitian migrants eating pets, Kevin actually took a trip to Springfield and spoke with members of the community. This is not a tale of dystopian fur-baby slaughter, but instead a reckoning on the character of J.D. Vance, whom Kevin believes has scapegoated impoverished, hard-working people for his own political purposes.
Jonah considers the legitimacy of Kevin’s claim that Vance is the “most despicable human being in public life,” why so many people are chasing the lie of the pet-hungry immigrants, and the plague of cleverness that is damaging the right. As a treat, if you make it all the way to the end, you’ll catch Jonah and Kevin circumvent the question of the hour: Who are they voting for?
Show Notes:
—“The Exotic Cat-Eaters of Springfield, Ohio”
—Kevin on the church of climate change
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Much like the crackpots that have descended upon his inbox, Jonah is disgruntled, paranoid, and cranky. This week’s Ruminant concerns the fallout of the Harris/Trump debate, bullies and Jew-haters, and Tenet Media’s insensible goons. Jonah later reminds us of the principle of “they hate us ‘cause they ain’t us,” the distinctions between the anti-left and the anti-state camps of the Right, and misplaced power worship of authoritarianism and revisionism. Finally, Jonah goes full-circle to revisit Trump’s incessant debate stage blathering; and no, nobody is eating cats.
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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In a continued effort to provide you, dear listener, with a break from the incessant debate coverage, Jonah invites American Enterprise Institute foreign policy superstar Danielle Pletka on the show to find out what the hell is going on in the rest of the world.
The tour begins with the Ukraine-Russia war, with Danielle and Jonah setting their sights on Kursk to discuss how the incursion will affect the course of the conflict and the Russian psyche. They then turn their sights to Israel, making the case for moral clarity on the left, highlighting the nefarious forces behind pro-terrorist activity in the U.S., and calling out the useful idiots in the isolationist camp.
Show Notes:
—Danielle’s Substack: “What the Hell is Going On?”
—Danielle’s Podcast: Again, “What the Hell is Going On?”
—The Reagan Foundation’s foreign policy survey
— “The Anti-Semitism Money and Power Network—and How to Smash It”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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When Jonah isn’t wrangling spaniels into his sprinter van or running to and from the CNN studio, he moonlights as the assistant treasurer of the International Christine Rosen Fan Club. To thank him for his loyal service, Christine drops by the studio to discuss her new book, The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World. Jonah and Christine dive into the downsides of the digital world, the end of boredom (and what we lose when we eliminate it), the disconnect between the evolution of technology and the evolution of man, and where we draw the line with our relationship to technology. Should we engineer our way out of the problems of human nature? How do we navigate a world where man no longer shares one reality? Does Christine want us to go back to the Dark Ages? This Remnant installment has the answers … as long as you don’t listen to it in the waiting room.
Show Notes:
—Get your hands on The Extinction of Experience
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content— click here.
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As much as it pains Jonah to admit it, Steve was right about the magic of Door County, Wisconsin. After he adequately disparages a few more of Steve’s opinions, Jonah cleans up after Tucker Carlson and his crackpot “historian” crony. He discusses the role of intellectual and moral corruption in the legitimization of dishonorable revisionism, negates the Zinn-ification of history, and namedrops some philosophers. Plus: the consequences of appeasing your fans, the incessant misuse of the word “regime,” and the goofy goober grifters of Tenet Media.
Show Notes:
—The Tucker interview in question
—Niall Ferguson corrects the record
—Nick Catoggio on the grifters
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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You asked, Jonah has answers. In order to secure his limited edition Blu-ray disc of Aquaman and the Sea-Monkeys, David French has abandoned his post as Remnant guest host, forcing Jonah to appeal to heaven and answer some listener questions. This installment of Remnant AMA features insider knowledge of the business side of The Dispatch, Jonah’s intellectual journey, fish farms, and the possibility of a return to true statesmanship. Plus: the distinction between Trump-inflicted damage and Harris-inflicted damage, the malicious shift in defining conservatism, and Jonah's thoughts on van life.
Show Notes:
—Paul Bloom’s Remnant appearance
—Advisory Opinions with Yuval Levin
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Gather around the campfire at the RV Park in Coon Valley, Wisconsin, to hear the tale of Brother Chris Stirewalt, who has traversed land and sea to tell Jonah legends of Costco demographics, the chief of the Minnesotan fiefdom, and the looming Trumpian hangover on the GOP’s horizon. Brother Stirewalt is benevolent enough to catch Jonah up to speed on the presidential race and shoddy polls, closing it all out with a few predictions regarding the elusive unicorns of the American electorate: the remaining undecided voters.
Show Notes:
—Subscribe to Stirewalt on Politics
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah, under the anvil of God and parked outside a Colorado Walmart, gives an update on his current cross-country trek. He ruminates on Kamala Harris' first interview and whether her connection to the Biden administration will actually matter to voters. His psephological Tourette syndrome subsides so he gets into the minutiae of his Wednesday G-File on how Christianity rewired the Western mind and why that's good news even if it’s not quite the good news. Something about a Walmart parking lot brings out the Thomistic. Plus: more on the Bulwark Front of Judea vs. the Judean Dispatch Front.
Show Notes:
—Dominion: How The Christian Revolution Remade the World
—Friday's Dispatch Podcast roundtable
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah has chosen to heed the advice of Horace Greeley to go west and get away from the crowds of idlers and imbeciles, anointing none other than Dispatch senior editor Mike Warren as Remnant guardian extraordinaire. Mike is joined by Semafor’s Dave Weigel for some punditry a la carte. Mike and Dave (who do not need wedding dates) cover RFK Jr.’s recent Trump endorsement, the state of the undecided voting bloc, what to make of the swing state map, and how Americans are feeling about Kamala Harris.Show Notes:
—Mike’s Dispatch Politics item on RFK
—Dave’s "Americana" newsletter
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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It’s been a very hot summer in Washington, and Jonah wants someone to blame. To get to the bottom of things, AEI scholar Roger Pielke stops by the studio to discuss the dissonance between politicized science and perspicacious reality. Jonah wants to know: How do we manage our energy supply? Is climate change really an existential threat? Should we nuke hurricanes? What happens when you mix science with ideology? Roger has the answers, and then some: AI models, Olympic controversies, and the wild world of degrowth. Tune in for a tour through the storm, where science meets politics and common sense fights for a seat at the table.
Show Notes:
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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It’s a beautiful Friday morning in Washington, D.C., and Jonah has decided to pick a fight with Alexander Graham Bell. He ruminates upon the long decline of the convention (and who’s to blame), the insidious lying and mudslinging from both parties (Breaking: It’s wrong to bully children), and the parameters of minding your own business. Once Jonah has eaten his spinach and completed his convention punditry speed run, he ponders the ethics of critiquing patriotic sincerity, arguing that Donald Trump is not the patriot he pretends to be.
Show Notes:
—“Doug Emhoff, Modern-Day Sex-Symbol”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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All right, enough. It’s time for a break from all the news. To lighten things up, Jonah brings on AEI senior fellow Fred Kagan to talk about war. Fred is the director of AEI’s Critical Threats Project and a leader in strategic military analysis, so this installment of The Remnant gives you a front row seat in the situation room. Fred and Jonah discuss the next steps for the Ukrainian army, how the U.S. can mitigate future conflict with Russia, and the minutia behind Russian military strategy that may place Putin at a disadvantage. They review the Kursk incursion, draw a distinction between the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the war in Ukraine, and consider the future of the war in Israel.
Show Notes:
—Ukraine and the Problem of Restoring Maneuver in Contemporary War
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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The 2024 Democratic National Convention is in full swing, leading Jonah to summon Mike Pesca of The Gist to provide ye loyal listeners with an insider look into the galactic gnostic council of podcasting elders. Mike and Jonah debate the existence of structural antisemitism and the weaponization of the term “genocide,” explore the contrast between the online perceptions and real-world implications of Tim Walz's candidacy, and question whether Kamala Harris has reached the point of diminishing returns in avoiding the media. Violent agreement is had all around, platform questions are proposed for the Harris campaign, and the duo review Joe Biden's swan song before the elders return to their respective punditry fiefdoms.
Show Notes:
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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On this week’s Ruminant, Jonah attempts to talk himself out of a hangover, which inevitably leads back to vintage Hillary Clinton punditry. Ah, the good old days.Jonah’s quest back to the world of the sober begins with the demystification of price gouging and federal minimum wage hikes, followed by further thoughts on the divorced parent interpretation of partisan politics. Then, we find Jonah reminiscing on days of productions past, bringing us the beauty of discussions devoid of journalists and politicians.The rehashing of Hillary Clinton leads Jonah to argue that Trump may just be feeling insecure, which explains why the former president is having such a dang hard time staying on message. When all is said and done, there is a Skiff episode to be recorded, and Jonah will remain forever cursed to spend his days talking his way out of something.
Show Notes:
—Think Tank with Ben Wattenberg
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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On this installment of The Remnant, Jonah bestows dear friend of the pod Tevi Troy with his black velvet eight-timer guest club blazer. To celebrate, Jonah and Tevi discuss Tevi’s upcoming book, The Power and the Money: The Epic Clashes Between Commanders in Chief and Titans of Industry. This Trojan epic has it all: the tension between big government and big business during the rapid changes of the early 20th century, Woodrow Wilson screwing up, how business tends to mix with political pleasure. Pay close attention to catch some top-tier Jonah lore, the pet presidents of history’s biggest business tycoons, and the sneaky motivations of woke corporatism. Apologies to Henry Ford.
Show Notes:
—Rave reviews for The Power and the Money
—The return to the smoke-filled room
—National Affairs: “Liberal Practice v. Liberal Theory”
—1600 Lessons leadership program
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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By rule of Remnant law, if Jonah doesn’t have fellow Dispatcher Chris Stirewalt on the show at least once every ninety days, frogs will fall from the sky and the oceans will turn to ice. To avert global catastrophe, Chris is back to check in on the electoral dumpster fire. Jonah and Chris discuss the difficulty of maintaining the upper hand in a vibes election, the Republican obsession with media coverage, and the domestic disputes between the Mommy and Daddy parties. In addition, the 2004 Presidential election is rehashed to shed light on the mimetic warfare waging in the vice presidential race as Jonah and Chris put the pressure on Tim Walz to talk to the press and make some predictions regarding the upcoming Democratic National Convention.Show Notes:
—Trump turned politics into reality TV. Now Harris is the show to watch.
—The windsurfing adThe Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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There’s a lot on Jonah’s mind this morning. He’s gaslighting himself about being gaslit, lamenting the diminishing standards of acceptable presidential candidate behavior, and waltzing back some of his initial reactions to VP candidate Tim Walz. Critiques of Wednesday’s G-File are addressed (shame on you, Willem Dafoe), noting the death of true cultural criticism in the age of identity politics. Once that whole fiasco is cleared up, Jonah ponders the bigger questions: Is there such a thing as good dogma? What are we worshipping when we worship politics? Will Jonah’s producers and assistant besmirch him for the length of this Ruminant? All will be revealed.
Show Notes:
—Dictionary of Voegelinian Terminology
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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The inimitable Walter Russell Mead, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, stops by to enjoy what can only be described as an intellectual smorgasbord. Jonah and Walter evaluate the ongoing war in Israel, diving into the land-for-peace fallacy, questions about what constitutes nationhood and patriotism, and how to orient American foreign policy toward a more peaceful future. The duo then pivots to a more theological realm, discussing the apocalypse, how liberalism and Marxism mirror Abrahamic faiths, and the conflation between political conviction and moral intuition.
Show Notes:
—Mead’s Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How it Changed the World
—Mead’s The Arc of the Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People
—How Team Biden can aid peace in Israel
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Set your VCR’s for a one-of-a-kind, super-epic, think tank crossover episode! Brookings Institution senior fellow Jonathan Rauch is the special guest star today, joining Jonah to discuss all things party politics. Topics range from primary reform and the introduction of rank-choice voting to the newly announced Democratic vice presidential pick Tim Walz. Jonathan and Jonah also discuss two unique immunities to partisan diseases: populism on the left and antisemitism on the right.
Show Notes:
—The return to the smoke-filled room
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Sweaty, hot, and unprepared. Jonah is listening to the Cranberries and driving his car over nails on the way to CNN, where they will likely lock him in the studio and force him to pundit until the full moon rises. To distract himself, he ruminates upon social Darwinism, pronunciation, the National Association for Black Journalists, and the stunning lack of seriousness on the Right.
Show Notes:
-AO eviscerates Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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When Jonah finds himself in times of trouble, John Podhoretz comes on TheRemnant. The theme for today’s episode is something all pundits enjoy: the blissful embrace of intellectual schadenfreude. Jonah and John make the case for equivocation within the Harris campaign strategy, discuss the definition of weird and the be-clowning of Project 2025, and call out the astounding lack of outrage regarding the Democrats’ antisemitism problem. To close it all out, the duo covers the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political head of Hamas.
Show Notes:
—Nick Catoggio on flip-flopping
—The O.G. “To Hell with You People”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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For a much-needed break from the 2024 election news cycle, Jonah visits his Floridian friend, Dr. Will Inboden, who serves as the director of the Alexander Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida. Jonah and Will discuss UF’s unique approach to higher-education reform, preach a sermon of Reaganite revival, and project some fears regarding the future of foreign policy.
Show Notes:
—Learn more about the Hamilton Center
—Will’s book: The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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The Ruminant is usually a very indulgent ninety minutes for Jonah, but today’s episode is dark-chocolate-mousse-topped-with-caviar indulgent. It’s only fair, after all; Jonah was right about a lot of things, so we’ll give him this one. The New Right (and the media coverage of the faction) remain the target of Goldbergian ire, Joe Biden’s true character (and, by rule of Remnant law, destiny) is revealed, and progressive shibboleths (and their human incarnations) are critiqued. Jonah speculates on the viability of Mayor Pete’s potential vice presidential bid and experiments with a very grand dark-web hypothesis.
Show Notes:
—Jonah on The Gist with Mike Pesca
—Bret Weinstein’s grand hypothesis
—The Fair Jessica's new piece in The Atlantic
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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It’s been a crazy few weeks, so The Remnant’s editorial czars have allowed Jonah to bring back Dispatch CEO Steve Hayes to engage in some classic punditry. After Steve forces Jonah to make some monocausal arguments about Joe Biden’s withdrawal and Kamala Harris’ ascension, the pair lay out some soft predictions regarding the outcome of the 2024 race, call out some DEI-hire hypocrisy, and consider the pros and cons of flip-flopping politicians.
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Call her an oracle or consider her a wise observer of Occam’s razor, but Bulwark contributor A.B. Stoddard saw this coming. A.B. returns to The Remnant to discuss her longstanding—and ultimately correct—prediction that Joe Biden wouldn’t be on the presidential ballot in November. Among the questions discussed in this Biden-Harris post-mortem: Is Jill Biden the American Eva Perón? Is Nancy Pelosi a bene gesserit? Jonah and A.B. have the answers, helping ye loyal listeners make sense of Kamala Harris’ coronation and her potential running mates, J.D. Vance’s growing pains, and the causes of conspiracy.
Show Notes:
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Though we all got precious little sleep the past two weeks, we are nothing if not devoted to our listeners. In this belated Ruminant, Jonah looks back at a week that contained years (yet also very little). Is there much to say about J.D. Vance's nomination and RNC speech? Did Trump, having survived an assassination attempt, cross the Hegelian threshold and become a nigh-Napoleonic age spirit? Will Jonah get to sleep in his own bed this weekend? Important questions all.
Show Notes:
-WATCH: Dispatch after hours reacting to The Neverending Trump Speech.
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As Jonah predicted in the outro of yesterday’s Remnant episode, everything is indeed on fire. To help interpret what is perhaps the most chaotic news cycle in recent memory, Jonah is joined by Bulwark contributor Damon Linker.
Tune in for Jonah and Damon’s referendum on newly selected VP candidate J.D. Vance, the state of the GOP at the 2024 convention, and the conversions of conservative think tanks. To close it out, they discuss the great Republican schism and the fallout of the Trump assassination attempt.
Show Notes:
—Damon’s Substack: Notes from the Middle Ground
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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On today’s episode of TheRemnant, Jonah’s guest is none other than Robert Doar, the president of the American Enterprise Institute. The two New Yorkers inevitably spend much of the episode quibbling over New York City. Fortunately for us, they also laud the Eisenhower administration and RFK’s (the first one, not the falcon one) DOJ, discuss the realities of the Jim Crow era and welfare reform, and dive into some top-tier AEI lore. Jonah remains obsessed with the topic of neoconservatism, so to close it all out, he drags Robert into the discourse.
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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This week’s Ruminant is dedicated to the devoted gnostic scholars of “Trumpism,” the Holy Grail of embattled conservative intellectuals and political toadies alike. Jonah also addresses the new elephant in the room: Project 2025 (consider our fact check on the discourse as mandatory reading). Blame the early hour, but Jonah also finds himself regressing to his days of media criticism, and even doubles down with media criticism-criticism. For dessert, he responds to comments on his debate with Niall Ferguson.
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
—Eliana Johnson: “Meet the Harvard whiz kid who wants to explain Trumpism”
—The Dispatch fact-checks Project 2025
—Jonah debates Niall Ferguson on The Remnant: Is America a late-stage Soviet country?
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Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the octagon! The summer of 2024 has been one of epic feuds: Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake, Joe Biden vs. George Clooney, and, most notably, Jonah vs. Hoover Institute fellow and Free Press columnist Niall Ferguson.
Jonah and Niall duke it out over the latter’s controversial claim: that America is the new Soviet Union. Jonah says nyet. Questions fly and accusations abound. Why is U.S. life expectancy declining? Is Jonah in denial? Is Niall just a provocateur? This match-up covers it all: the distinction between excess freedom and excess repression, why fentanyl is different than vodka, what causes deaths of despair, how illiberalism shapes both institutions and social outcomes, and what Cold War II could look like. As for the title-winner? We’ll let you be the judge, comrade.
Show Notes:
—Niall Ferguson: “We’re All Soviets Now”
—Jonah Goldberg: “No, We Are Not Living in ‘Late Soviet America”
—“Why Socialism Failed in the United States”
—Joseph Schumpeter: “Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy”
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We’ve heard the English countryside is lovely in July, so The Remnant is taking a vacation. Daniel Hannan, member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom, stops by to discuss last week’s historic British elections. The Conservatives have taken a beating, a new prime minister takes the helm, and exceptions are acknowledged. Daniel and Jonah bridge the gap between American and British politics, prod at Trumpery and its Farage-ian offshoot, and take a day trip to France to investigate the popular front and the far-right.
Show Notes:
—Jonathan Haidt, The Happiness Hypothesis
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Independence Day is in the rearview mirror, and the party is over at the Goldberg dojo. On today’s episode, Jonah airs some grievances with the current state of political discourse: the Democratic Party is screwing the pooch, Vice President Kamala Harris is burdened by what has been and more burdened by what can be, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is overrated, etc. Further ruminations cover executive privilege, the mystique of the Serbian Black Hand, and quotations from the book of Coolidge.
Show Notes:
-A Brief History of Executive Privilege
—The super-mega-extravagant episode of Advisory Opinions
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Luke Burgis, author and professor of business at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship, grants Jonah a well-deserved break from punditry with a crash course in mimetic theory. René Girard takes center stage as Luke and Jonah discuss the roots of human desire; how such desires lead to tribalism, conflict, and violence; and the relationship between mimetic processes and social discord. Scapegoats and gossip abound as Luke schools both high-minded Remnant listeners and theoretical normies on the psychology of nepotism, institutional debacles, and mob mentalities.
Show Notes:
—Rob Henderson on luxury beliefs: Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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To repent for his absence and abbreviated Ruminant, Jonah bequeaths listeners a special live episode, featuring American Enterprise Institute all-stars Chris Stirewalt and Yuval Levin. Together, the trio conducts a presidential debate post-mortem. Is it finally time for the Democratic Party to face the music? Have we reached the endgame of a nightmare political era? What is a golf handicap? Topics outside debate-gate include the Supreme Court verdict in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, George Washington’s basement crypt in the Capitol, and the dangers of ultra-transparent governance.
Show Notes:
—Yuval Levin: American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation-and Could Again
—Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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There are days in media that call upon the entire newsroom to fuel up on caffeine and join in camaraderie to produce timely, round-the-clock coverage. Then there are days that leave a producer waiting lonesomely for a Ruminant recording until 11p, while the interns are out drinking, the staff long asleep, and the research assistant returned to the locked basement under the trapdoor where she slumbers and dreams about her vanishing youth and Il Duce's future show notes. But come rain or come shine, this Ruminant will be out, speedrunning through topics including the balmy days of Georgia, the furies of President Biden, and the dehumanizing language of Mr. Goldberg.
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With Jonah still MIA, Chris Stirewalt returns as Remnant guest host extraordinaire, joined by Benn Steil, director of international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss Steil’s latest book and determine if the bizarreHenry Wallace was a noble man of the soil, an unsophisticated victim, or vindictive villain. To determine how Wallace changed the course of history, Stirewalt and Steil discuss the Soviet Union’s duping of an Einsteinian genius, the cult of Nicholas Roerich, and why you should never slaughter 6 million pigs.
Show Notes:
— Chris' American Enterprise Institute page
— Benn Steil’s The World that Wasn’t
— Benn Steil’s The Marshall Plan
— Oliver Stone’s The Untold History of the United States
— Benn Steil and Elisabeth Harding’s “The Farm Legacy of Henry Wallace: Regressive Subsidies”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here
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Jonah abdicates his duties and conscripts Dispatch national correspondent Kevin D. Williamson to pick up the slack. Kevin is joined by Kent Lassman, the president and CEO of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, to discuss Adam Smith, free trade, and the recent SCOTUS verdict on Moore v. U.S. Kevin and Lassman shoulder the Sisyphean burden of decoding tax law, discuss the miracle of American innovation, and debate the hot question of punditlandia: Who should make law?
Show Notes:
-Follow Kevin’s work at The Dispatch
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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On this week’s installment of The Ruminant, Jonah talks about all the things he says he doesn’t want to talk about. Digs are thrown at tariffs, the administrative state, popular fronts, and executive orders. The definitions of unity and democracy are debated as Jonah bushwhacks the path towards productive political debate. To close it all out, Jonah revisits the Juneteenth discourse and addresses his Soviet kerfuffle with Niall Ferguson.
Show Notes:—Kevin Williamson for The Dispatch: An Economic Policy that’s Just a Little Bit Radical
—Scott Lincicome for The Dispatch: Trump's Latest Tariff Idea is Dangerously Foolish
—David French for Advisory Opinions on the administrative state
—Charles Murray: By the People
—Jonah’s piece on Juneteenth: American Passover
—Niall Ferguson for The Free Press: We’re All Soviets Now
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Remnant mainstay Matthew Continetti, director of domestic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Jonah for a trip to think-tanklandia. Rank punditry abounds: Joe Biden’s identity crisis is discussed, the vibes of the American electorate are analyzed, immigration policy is considered, and laughs are had all around. As a treat for all 16 listeners who care, Matt and Jonah revisit the recent Ruminant diatribe on neoconservatism and review the new hit reality TV show that is the United States Senate.
Show Notes:
-The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservativism
-Matt’s new Commentary Magazine piece: Who Will Speak for America?
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Francis Dearnley, assistant comment editor at The Telegraph and host of the daily “Ukraine: The Latest” podcast, joins Jonah to dig into the wide, Whiggish world of British politics. Francis helps those of us in the former colony understand the who’s and what’s of British conservatism, the B-word (Brexit, that is), and the failures of U.K. immigration policy. Francis and Jonah continue this brilliant edition of The Remnant by discussing the anti-Israel demonstrations in the U.K., the future of war in Ukraine, and how Russia can be defeated.
Show Notes:
—The New York Times: The Enduring Importance of the 1965 Immigration Act
—Enoch Powell: Rivers of Blood
—Douglas Murray: How Mass Immigration Makes Antisemitism Worse
—George Orwell: Second Thoughts on James Burnham
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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First and foremost, Jonah clears up the controversy surrounding The Dispatch cake-gate and discusses the rats that live in his walls. Topics for this week’s Ruminant include Donald Trump’s return to the Capitol, the true intentions of free-speech absolutists, the insidious nature of the Hamas PR team, and the most recent episode of The Skiff with David French. Jonah condemns trolling and partisan point-scoring and continues to pontificate on Hunter Biden’s legal woes.
Show Notes:
—Targeting of Jewish Homes in New York
—Matt Continetti for the Free Beacon: No Haven for Hamas
—The Dispatch Podcast on Justice Alito
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Ben Sasse, former U.S. senator and current president of the University of Florida, stops by for a fantastic conversation covering college admission reforms, the most sought after job in higher education, problems facing collegiate history departments (and how to solve them), and the roots of the recent campus protests. In order to avoid Sasse’s desire to discuss the College World Series, Jonah asks the big question: Where have all the good politicians gone?
Show Notes:
-The Hamilton Center at the University of Florida
-Washington’s Farewell Address
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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The one and only Yuval Levin, director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Jonah to discuss his new book, American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation—And Could Again. Jonah peppers Yuval with a variety of questions: Is the Constitution a cultural document or a document that creates the culture? Why are the principles of the Constitution so hard to export? How do we interpret the Civil War-era amendments? Buckle in for a deep dive on unity, the Electoral College, and a healthy dose of Woodrow Wilson slander.
Show Notes:
—American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation-And Could Again
—The American Revolution as a Successful Revolution
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Jonah has been dog-less and alone in his house for too long. Consequently, today’s Ruminant delves with unrepentant granularity into the history of neoconservatism. From its founders to its detractors, Jonah gives the full sweep, and all to grapple with a single question: Is the current crop of left-skeptic liberals—including Nellie Bowles, Yascha Mounk, John McWhorter, et al.—really just a new batch of neocons?
Show Notes:
—The Cult of the Presidency by Gene Healy
—Michael Crowley’s profile of Joe Biden (2001)
—“Civil Liberties” by Irving Kristol
—“The American Revolution as a Successful Revolution” by Irving Kristol
—The Remnant with Nellie Bowles
—The Remnant with Yascha Monunk
—The Remnant with John McWhorter
—The Remnant with Jonathan Haidt
—The Remnant with Richard Reeves
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Dispatch senior editor Mike Warren capitulates to Jonah’s pleas for a spontaneous conversation to unpack the various legal woes plaguing the news cycle this week. Plea deals fall apart, guns are found in dumpsters, and hush money is paid. As usual, there are political implications and lots of both sides-isms. Stayed tuned for the down low on Mar-a-Lago, some Supreme Court speculation, and Jonah and Mike’s takes as to why the media leans to the left.
Show Notes:
—The Joe Biden interview In question
—The Prince of Darkness by Robert D. Novak
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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The wonderful Nellie Bowles joins Jonah to discuss her new book, Morning After the Revolution: Dispatches from the Wrong Side of History. Score some Remnant bingo points for a conversation on topics including (but certainly not limited to) the “Abolish the Police” movement, the hypocrisy of progressivism, the importance of skeptics, and memory-holing.
Show Notes:
—Morning After the Revolution: Dispatches from the Wrong Side of History
—Nellie on Honestly with Bari Weiss
—The New York Times on the COVID-19 Lab Leak Theory
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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On this week’s Ruminant, Jonah drinks coffee and remembers things. Topics include his thoughts on the newest installment of the Mad Max franchise, Donald Trump’s karmic retribution, and a Muslim exotic dancer named Lulu. He also touches on the state (or lack thereof) of the alt-right, and responds to the critiques of Wednesday’s G-File.
Show Notes
—Chris Hemsworth’s Prosthetic Nose
—Trump’s Guilty Verdict (and the subsequent reactions)
—Auditions for Trump’s VP Ticket
—The Rise and Fall of the Alt-Right
—Bigotry and Crackpots on the Right
—Bigotry and Crackpots on the Right
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Atlantic writer Caitlin Flanagan joins Jonah for an episode that bounces from topic to topic, from the “trans thing” to the COVID-10 lockdowns and the failure of the modern-day lefties. Take out your daubers for a number of bingo card call-outs and stay tuned for a sentence Jonah’s never uttered before.
Show Notes:
—Alice Walker's issue with the Jews
—Tom Wolfe's "The Great Relearning" essay
—UCLA medical school's racial quotas
—Jesse Singal's Remnant appearance
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Jonah hijacks the GLoP Culture podcast, kicks John Podhoretz out of the driver’s seat, and floors it into The Remnant feed with Rob Long sitting shotgun. They discuss Rob’s Come to Jesus moment, Jonah’s crass words to Jon Karl (are there any dues?), and of course, a little bit of pop culture. Stick around to hear hot takes on improv, The Fall Guy, and Frosted. And John, we know you’re listening.
Show Notes:
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Jonah picks a fight with the alts—both left and right—on this episode of TheRuminant, with a healthy dose of both-sides-are-wrong argumentation. Tune in for thoughts on Justice Samuel Alito’s flag-gate, President Joe Biden’s commencement speech at Morehouse College, and America’s proud (?) history of moral panics.
Show Notes:
—AO episode on Alito flag incident
—Biden’s Morehouse College commencement address
—Countries recognizing a Palestinian state
—Michael Warren’s piece on the Mar-A-Lago raid
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Ken Pollack, a Remnant all-star and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Jonah for an extended discussion on the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the race to be the supreme leader’s successor. The two also get into the various Iran appeasement campaigns, Biden’s approach to Israel, and the necessity of the United Nations.
Show Notes:
—Reuters reporting on the Ayatollah’s successor
—Ken’s most recent book, Armies of Sand: The Past, Present, and Future of Arab Military Effectiveness
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Jonah invites Alison Gopnik, a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley, to discuss the ideal way to raise little barbarians—also known as human babies. The two weed through the metaphors of garden parenting vs. carpentry parenting and the need of being needed before making a small segue into caregiving policy ideas. (The government can’t love you, Jonah!)
Show Notes:
—Friedrich von Hayek’s Nobel Prize speech
—Jonathan Haidt on The Remnant
—Sarah Hardy’s book on mothers
—Alison Gopnik’s “Theory theory”
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Stranded on a highway, gazing into the smoggy horizon, Jonah contemplates plaintively social media's latest display of statistical illiteracy demonstrated by a proclaimed preference of many women to be stranded alone with a bear, rather than a man. If you were wondering why you all didn't receive a G-File today, ladies and gentlemen, there you have it.
Show Notes:
—Nick Catoggio’s “Never Trump” piece
—Megan McArdle on man vs. bear
—Jonathan Haidt on The Remnant
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Get your bingo cards at the ready, because Jonah is joined by Ryan Bourne—a policy scholar at the Cato Institute and author of The War on Prices: How Popular Misconceptions about Inflation, Prices, and Value Create Bad Policy—for a decisively wonky Remnant on all things prices. What are prices? Why doesn’t price fixing work? And what's up with the libertarians?
Show Notes:
—Economics in One Virus: An Introduction to Economic Reasoning through COVID-19
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Voters weighing actual policy positions? A man can dream. No, it’ll be vibes—not issues—driving voters to the polls in November. Jonah invites Seth Masket, director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver, on today’s episode of The Remnant to commiserate over the sorry status of the current American electorate, Sister Souljah strategies, and the lack of centrist Democrats.
Show Notes:
—Why anti-Biden books aren't selling
—Seth's previous appearance on The Remnant
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What peeves Jonah about the Biden administration’s increasingly hostile stance towards Israel isn’t just the geopolitical recklessness, but also the political incompetence. This Ruminant is a fuming rant about abandoning allies, the Cult of Youth, and the war against all things normal. Jonah also responds to the drama he stirred up among the anti-Trump (and anti-anti-Trump) crowd.
Show Notes:
—This week’s episode of The Dispatch Podcast
—Jonah’s tweet about anti-Trumpers and Biden
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Back from his trip to the Commentary offices in New York, Jonah is joined by Kevin Williamson to discuss his review of fatherhood so far, Jonah’s thoughts on the Broadway production of Tommy, and the corrupting influence of populism. The two also get into the state of U.S.-Israel relations and why rooting for your team is easier than reading Hayek. Stick around to learn about Kevin’s sorry football career.
Show Notes:
—NYT article on a pro-Trump non-profit
—The Remnant with John Podhoretz
—Michael Brendan Dougherty’s piece on Sam Francis
—Poll on the most important issues for college kids
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Jonah drops by Commentary’s New York headquarters and holds John Podhoretz hostage for an hour and a half to discuss the Jews, Suicide of the West, and the allure of fame and TV. Stay tuned for a history of Commentary’s geographical history (who asked?), the decline of American journalism (spoilers!), and optimism about the future (really?). Also, happy birthday to The Fair Jessica.
Show Notes:
—"MIT ends Diversity Statements in Faculty Hiring"
—"The Collapse of the News Industry Is Taking Its Soul Down With It"
—"Conservatives in the Mist" coverage by NYT
—Jeff Goldberg's loss is our gain
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Spurred by Robert Kagan’s new book, Rebellion: How Antiliberalism Is Tearing America Apart--Again, and by Thursday’s Remnant, Jonah spends the majority of this interminable episode responding to Kagan’s critique of conservatism, from contextualizing William F. Buckley’s role on the right to recounting the left's history of intellectual anti-liberalism. Also, kudos to the frat bros who saved the American flag.
Show Notes:
—King-Slutzky answers questions
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Jonah is joined by Robert Kagan—a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of Rebellion: The Antiliberal Tradition That Is Tearing America Apart - Again—to debate Robert’s theory on the anti-liberal history of conservatism and why he thinks Trump is a logical product of the American right.
Show Notes:
—Robert’s profile at Brookings
—Miles Taylor’s book, Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump
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Jonah invites Sarah onto The Remnant to grill her on her sociopathic “subtweet,” debate the ethics of killing dogs, and peer into the minds of anti-Israeli student protesters. But for the main course, the two argue about Trump’s immunity case. Listeners’ discretion is advised.
Show Notes:
—Nick Catoggio's Boiling Frogs newsletter on Kristi Noem
—Centennial Crisis: The Disputed Election of 1876
—Join The Dispatch for access to our exclusive Skiff feed
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Jonah begins by ruminating on the Supreme Court oral arguments for Donald Trump’s immunity case and explains why he doesn’t understand how people could be sympathetic towards the former president. He then turns to the Heritage Foundation’s spat with Erick Erickson before getting to the Columbia protests and Elon Musk’s surprisingly apt observation on the oppressor-oppressed paradigm.
Show Notes:
—Advisory Opinions on the oral arguments
—The Collision on the oral argument
—Ukraine: The Latest with Jonah
—Erick Erickson’s article on free markets
—George Packer's piece in The Atlantic
—Columbia student who said Zionists don’t deserve to live
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Audio doppelgänger Chris Stirewalt joins Jonah on today’s episode of The Remnant to venture through the polluted backwaters of media conglomerates and uncover a whole host of “whataboutism” garbage: the rise of antisemitism on campuses, the media bias in covering these protests, and the terrorist chants coming from the mouths of these students. The two also opine on the faces adorning a far-right fecal Mt. Rushmore, including the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar. They discuss more serious matters as well, such as the current snapshot of poll numbers and whether or not Stormy Daniels is a porn “star” or just an actress.
Show notes:
—What's the Matter with Kansas? by Thomas Frank
—"What's the Matter with Kansas?" by William Allen White
—Chris Stirewalt's Remnant episode with Tyler Austin Harper
—Bloomberg: Biden Trails Trumps
—Chris' piece for The Dispatch on Nevada's poll numbers
—Nikki Haley voters in Pennsylvania
—Gallup: Americans showing average enthusiasm for voting in 2024
—Jonah’s appearance on a CNN panel with Lulu Garcia-Navarro
—Students chant "Go back to Poland!"
—Piece on Mike Johnson in The Atlantic
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Jesse Singal makes his Remnant debut to discuss his piece for The Dispatch on the Cass Review and the problem with the current consensus about gender transition treatments for children. The two debate the question of social contagion and the difficulties in reporting on "The Science."
Show Notes:
—Jesse Singal's piece for The Dispatch
—Hannah Barnes on Blocked and Reported
—Steven Pinker's Enlightenment Now
—Coverage on the shooting of Jacob Blake
—Will Saletan's piece for Slate on GMOs
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After fending off the voices coming from inside his walls, Jonah begins today’s Ruminant by discussing the latest entry in the House Speakership saga and Marjorie Taylor Greene’s incoherent foreign policy. He then turns to the recent pro-Palestinian protests and how their facing consequences is a sign of nature healing. Stick around for the usual intellectual history nerdery.
Show Notes:
—Boiling Frogs on Mike Johnson
—Dispatch Politics on Mike Johnson
—Wanderland on MTG’s appeasement and Neville Chamberlain
—Boiling Frogs on Joe Biden’s “Sister Souljah moment”
—Activist threatening Bakersfield city council
—The Remnant with Nancy French
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Eli Lake, The Remnant’s resident bloodthirsty war hawk, returns to the pod to break down the situation with Israel and Iran. The two get into why America has no strategic vision on Iran, the growing alliance of left- and right-wing isolationists, and how Tucker Carlson has become so unhinged.
Show Notes:
—Eli’s profile at The Free Press
—Eli’s piece on Tucker Carlson and Russia
—The Remnant with Nancy French
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Jonah is joined by author, speechwriter, and ghostwriter Nancy French to discuss her new book, Ghosted: An American Story. Nancy tells the tale of how she came to meet the permanent guest host of Advisory Opinions (who is now dead to Jonah), how the Republican Party’s embrace of Donald Trump left her and her family ostracized, and also gives an update on her battle with cancer.
Show Notes:
—Bristol Palin’s book, Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far
—Nancy’s investigation into abuse at a Christian camp
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Jonah opens up this week’s Ruminant with an indulgent diatribe against Top Chef and Wisconsin cheese. He then pivots toward even more divisive topics, such as Trump’s abortion statement and the messiah-like energy around Barack Obama. Then our culinary-political connoisseur goes on an epicurean journey of topics: hostile work environments, the problems with binary choices, and the definition of a liberal.
Show Notes:
—Friday's Dispatch Podcast roundtable
—Top Chef Wisconsin Cheese Festival recap
—American Masters: "The Incomparable Mr. Buckley"
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Jonah is joined by Dr. Einat Wilf—a former member of Israel's Labor Party and author of The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace. They discuss Israel's failure to reckon with antisemitism in the pro-Palestinian movement, how the two-state solutions got derailed, and what bad leadership means for the future of the conflict.
Show Notes:
—Dr. Wilf on the history of Zionism and UNRWA
—Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II
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Was it your racism or economic despair that made you vote for Donald Trump? That’s the question media outlets are asking white people in the Rust Belt and Appalachia, much to the dismay of guest-host Chris Stirewalt.
In today’s episode of The Remnant, Chris is joined by Tyler Austin Harper—a professor at Bates College—to discuss his piece for The Atlantic critiquing White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy. Join the two as they break down coastal journalists’ mischaracterizations of rural America, the disdain for these Americans, and why it’s good to interact with people culturally different than yourself.
Show Notes:
—Harper for The Atlantic: Polyamory, the Ruling Class’s Latest Fad
—A new AP-NORC poll shows Americans still agree on most core American values
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Frazzled and under-caffeinated, Jonah jogs through some sundry punditry, from the state of The Federalist Society to beltway media’s bipartisan fixation with pounces.
Show Notes:
—This week's Dispatch Podcast roundtable discussion
—Advisory Opinions episode on the Federalist Society
—Advisory Opinions episode on federal judges visiting Israel
—Gregg T. Nunziata's piece for The Dispatch
—Nigel Tufnel via The Simpson's fan Wiki
—Michael Weiss on Dispatch Live
—J. D. Vance's tweet on Havana Syndrome report
—Chef José Andrés reaction to World Central Kitchen deaths
—No Labels reporting from The Dispatch
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On today’s episode of The Remnant, Jonah attempts to live out his closeted dream of becoming an American spy by diving into a report titled "The Kremlin's Occupation Playbook: Coerced Russification and Ethnic Cleansing in Occupied Ukraine." He is joined by Karolina Hird, author of the report, to discuss the Kremlin’s heartbreaking tactic of deporting and forcibly adopting Ukrainian children, a ploy designed to alter the demographic fabric of the occupied territories. Hear about the critical issue of delayed aid to Ukraine, Russia's strategic use of timing on the battlefield, and the strictly censored Russian media landscape that stifles authentic discourse on the conflict.
Show Notes:
—Karolina Hird's profile at the Institute for the Study of War
—Interactive Map: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine
—ISW's Ukraine Conflict Updates page
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In a refreshing break from rank punditry, Jonah is joined by Sadanand Dhume—a Wall Street Journal columnist and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who specializes in South Asian political economy—to answer the question: How is India doing? Dhume also gives a lesson on the religious demographics in India and how the caste system actually works.
Show Notes:
—Dhume at the Wall Street Journal
—Dhume’s book, My Friend the Fanatic: Travels with a Radical Islamist
—Dhume: Indian Muslims Flunk the Israel Test
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Jonah ruminates on the UN Special Rapporteur’s report alleging genocide in Gaza and the minimization of sexual violence on October 7. And if you weren’t day-drinking yet, he then kvetches about lousy concepts of social justice, the Ronna McDaniel-NBC News controversy, and the growing urge to oversimplify complex topics with monocausal explanations.
Show Notes:
—UN Special Rapporteur’s report
—ABC News report on random punching incident
—Jonah’s LA Times article on October 9
—The Remnant with Jonathan Haidt
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Jonah ruminates on the UN Special Rapporteur's report alleging genocide in Gaza and the minimization of sexual violence on October 7. And if you weren't day-drinking yet, he then kvetches about lousy concepts of social justice, the Ronna McDaniel-NBC News controversy, and the growing urge to oversimplify complex topics with monocausal explanations.Show Notes:
—UN Special Rapporteur's report
—ABC News report on random punching incident
—Jonah's LA Times article on October 9
—The Remnant with Jonathan Haidt
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Jonathan Haidt makes his long-heralded return to The Remnant to discuss his new book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. He and Jonah discuss the unique issues facing Gen Z and the mental health crisis brought on by the proliferation of smartphones and social media. And unlike many other public intellectuals, Haidt has solutions. In regular Remnant fashion, Jonah also steers the conversation into the differences between the French and English Enlightenment, and how understandings of human nature can affect how we parent.
Show Notes:
—The Coddling of the American Mind
—The Remnant with Rob Henderson
—What the Web Needs: More Gated Communities
—New York Magazine on the freedom of sex
—The Anxious Generation website
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Rob Henderson, a psychologist and author, makes his Remnant debut to discuss his new book Troubled: A Memoir of Family, Foster Care, and Social Class. Growing up in poverty and moving through multiple foster homes in California, Henderson noticed a disparity between elite beliefs and the actual tools he used to climb the social ladder. The two explore this concept of "luxury beliefs," our screwed up foster care system, the arguments for mandatory public service, and more.
Show Notes:
—Rasmussen report on Affirmative Action
—Charles Murray's review of Rob's book
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Jonah reaches new heights of self-indulgence on today's Ruminant, explaining why he's a soft Whig and why Romanticism is making everything worse. Devoted listeners will be quick to catch a whiff of Suicide of the West as Jonah veers to discuss the origin of identity politics and the structural resilience of liberal democracies. Have your bingo cards and German dictionaries at the ready.
Show Notes:
—The Remnant with Allen Guelzo
—Orwell's Notes on Nationalism
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Having endured years of Jonah's targeted bullying campaign, AEI senior fellow Tim Carney joins the pod to celebrate the release of his new book Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture is Making it Harder to Raise Happy, Healthy, and Successful Children. The two discuss why millennials aren’t having kids, why being a father in public is stigmatized, and whether feminism is undoing itself.
Show Notes:
-Germany’s birth rates are dropping
-Rethinking Sex: A Provocation
-Wild Problems: A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us
-Michelle Goldberg on Family Friendly in the New York Times
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Jonah invites prolific historian, scholar, and author Allen C. Guelzo, to discuss his new book, Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment, and has plenty of questions: What does Abraham Lincoln tell us about democracy? Why did Lincoln call himself a conservative? What went wrong with the revolutions of the 1840s? What does Lincoln tell us about the rise of post-liberalism? Stay tuned for the usual highfalutin discussions on conservative intellectual history.
Show Notes:
—Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment
—Christopher DeMuth: Why America Needs National Conservatism
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Jonah overcomes his flu-induced hallucinations and ruminates on the current attempt by Congress to force a sale of TikTok and Trump's suspicious flip-flop on the issue. The hallucinations reappearing, Jonah begins to complain about the bots on Twitter making dumb arguments for isolationism and ending Ukraine aid. With whatever sanity he has left he argues against Chuck Schumer's call for new elections in Israel and explains the importance of commitment to allies.
Show Notes:
—Boiling Frogs on TikTok divestment
—ISW: The Kremlin's Occupation Playbook
—Jonah's LA Times article on the use of "genocide"
—Sen. Schumer calls for new elections in Israel
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Dan Senor, author of The Genius of Israel: The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World and host of Call Me Back with Dan Senor, returns to discuss the state of Israel's war against Hamas as the IDF begins to move into Rafah. How is Israeli society holding up? What should we make of growing accusations of genocide? Can Israel achieve its military objectives? What do Israelis think about American politics? And what is does future for Jews in America look like?
Show Notes:
—Tablet: How the Gaza Ministry of Health Fakes Casualty Numbers
—John Podhoretz: They’re Coming After Us
—Dan Senor's previous appearance on The Remnant
—Jonah: The Many Problems With Accusing Israel of ‘Genocide’ in Gaza
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Chris Stirewalt, the Arby's of punditry and host of The Hill Sunday, was so eager to return to The Remnant that he joined in the midst of another episode. Awkwardness overcome, the two tackle the big questions: Why can't we learn our lesson? Where are Nikki Haley voters going come November? How should we interpret primary turnout? When will the reckoning come? And why can't democrats figure out crime? Chris "Unpledged Delegate" Stirewalt has the answers.
Show Notes:
—Jonah's LA Times column on the GOP establishment
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Jonah reassures listeners on today’s Ruminant that this election is not a Flight 93 election and America as we know it will not end come January 2025. He then turns to comment on the Supreme Court ruling that Colorado can’t disqualify Trump from their ballots and the growing treatment of presidents as monarchs. And just as you thought you avoided more State of the Union rank punditry...
Show Notes:
—The Dispatch editorial: The American People Should Demand Better
—Advisory Opinions on the Colorado SCOTUS decision
—The Dispatch's new newsletter Techne
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The last time Razib Khan—a geneticist and author of the Unsupervised Learning Substack—appeared on The Remnant to discuss genes and behavior, Jonah couldn’t resist focusing their conversation exclusively on canines. Today, Razib is finally back to explore the genetic makeup of the world’s second most important animal, human beings. He and Jonah try to keep the science simple and the nudity tasteful as they explore some highfalutin topics: How has our knowledge of genetics evolved over time? What can our genes tell us about our ancestors? And are genes the ultimate predictor of intelligence and disease?
Show Notes:
- Razib’s Substack, Unsupervised Learning
- Razib: “The Longer I Live, the Wronger I Get to Be”
- Razib interviews Chris Stringer
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How do habits influence behavior? Significantly, according to returning Remnant favorite Cass Sunstein, Harvard professor and co-author of the new book Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There. In it, he argues that breaking habits and routines can enable us to find greater fulfillment in life. But why did humans evolve to acquire habits in the first place? How do habits desensitize us? And how can we encourage people to adopt healthy habits of the heart?
Show Notes:
- Cass and co-author Tali Sharot on how we become habituated to horrible things
- Cass’ Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech
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Jonah, used and abused by CNN, is prepared to deliver a level of rank punditry not yet seen in legacy media. He begins today's episode of The Ruminant by eulogizing Mitch McConnell's tenure in the Senate, noting the positive correlation between disdain for McConnell and general unseriousness. Briefly touching on the state of primaries and Biden's low popularity, he then explains his most recent G-File on Aaron Bushnell's suicide and how boredom is (not so slowly) killing us. Stick around for some ruminations on his episode with James Kirchick.
Show Notes:
—The Remnant with James Kirchik
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If the American Enterprise Institute were a prison, education policy scholars Rick Hess and Michael McShane would be the leaders of its most feared inmate gang. Today, they join Jonah not simply to pressure him into swearing loyalty, but to discuss their new book, Getting Education Right: A Conservative Vision for Improving Early Childhood, K-12, and College. It’s no secret that America’s education system is struggling, but what can actually be done to reform it? What does it mean to be a conservative in education? Are teachers paid enough? And does the Department of Education have any reason to exist?
Show Notes:
-Rick and Mike’s new book, Getting Education Right
-Rick and Mike: “The Past and Future of Education Reform”
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Today’s episode of The Remnant features James Kirchick, the prolific pundit and author of Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington. Recently, James published an essay in Liberties that examined how gay culture has changed in American life since the 1980s. But despite the success of the gay rights movement, LGBTQ issues remain prominent in the culture war. Why is this the case? Where do we go from here? And how would Jonah’s grandpa feel about this episode?
Show Notes:
—Watch this episode on YouTube
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Jonah attempts to avoid the straitjacket while The Fair Jessica is away, so he decides to spend an hour talking to himself in a dark basement. He goes through a number of topics to make even the most excitable eggheads nauseated, from the fad of stay-at-home girlfriends (why milk the cow ladies?) to Biden’s irresponsible dog ownership. Jonah regains sanity for a second to talk about the Alabama Supreme Court's IVF ruling before hallucinating about rodents and going gonzo on Tucker's trip to Russia.
Show Notes:
–Stay-at-Home Girlfriends Are Having a Moment
– Listen to Advisory Opinions on Alabama's IVF issue
– Biden's German shepherd banished from the White House
– Jonah's G-File: Nations, Nation-States, and Nationalism
– The Lewis brothers on The Remnant
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Marriage is a fundamental institution, so why is it under attack from both ends of the political spectrum? In his new book, Get Married, Brad Wilcox—a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a professor at the University of Virginia—makes the case that getting married and starting a family is the best way of leading a prosperous life. But how can law and culture encourage Americans to tie the knot? Why has public interest in marriage declined? And how does marriage make people better off?
Show Notes:
– Brad: “Marriage Is Key to Living Your Best Life”
– Brad: “Why You Should Get Married”
– The Remnant with Russ Roberts
– Elizabeth Grace Matthew: Can People Be Persuaded to ‘Get Married’?
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On today’s episode of The Remnant, Jonah’s disdain for the elderly leads him to step into the intellectual octagon with a man nine days his senior: novelist and CNN host Jake Tapper. Jake’s new show, United States of Scandal, takes a darkly comedic look at some of America’s wildest political controversies, and Jonah’s eager to discuss all the sordid details while keeping the nudity as tasteful as possible. Is Washington full of conspiracies? How many chemicals were in Larry King’s hair? And do scandals even matter anymore in the age of Trump?
Show Notes:
- Jake’s new show, United States of Scandal
- Jake on the origins of the series
- Watch this episode on YouTube
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Having woken up to the Alexei Navalny news, Jonah spends this Ruminant thinking through what the Russian opposition leader’s death might portend. From tzars and (real) settler colonialism to useful idiots a-la Tucker Carlson, the good listener should expect a very Russian episode. Пожалуйста. A more patient listener will also hear Jonah revisiting his conversation with the Lewis brothers, due to somewhat popular demand.
Show Notes:
-The Lewis brothers on The Remnant
-Bernie Sanders on Soviet chandeliers
-Dan McLaughlin: "Tucker Carlson's Lowest Moment"
-Kevin D. Williamson: "The Full Duranty"
-WSJ: "China's Shipyards Are Ready for a Protracted War. America's Aren't"
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Once again, Jonah has abandoned his Remnant duties to spend the week nibbling on sponge cake while watching the sun bake. Fortunately, Chris Stirewalt, America’s favorite simple country pundit, is on hand to take control of the program. He’s joined by Ruy Teixiera, author of Where Have All the Democrats Gone? and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, to discuss what the wretched state of our parties could mean for the 2024 election. The GOP has spent the last decade having an extended nervous breakdown, so why haven’t the Democrats used this opportunity to become the dominant party? For that matter, why can’t Democratic candidates get a grip on working class voters? And why can’t all politicians just be normal?
Show Notes:
- Ruy’s Substack, The Liberal Patriot
- Ruy’s latest book, Where Have All the Democrats Gone?
- Ruy’s The Emerging Democratic Majority
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Is there really such a thing as left and right? Scholars Hyrum and Verlan Lewis don’t think so. In their book, The Myth of Left and Right, the brothers argue that this generalization is undermining sophisticated political discourse. And on today’s episode of The Remnant, they join Jonah to explain why, when two tribes go to war, a point really is all you can score. Do terms like conservative and liberal really have any use? Why are we having an election between two wretched candidates? How do industrialized democracies around the world think about the political spectrum? And will Jonah ever get sick of talking about Liberal Fascism?
Show Notes:
- Verlan on the myth of ideological polarization
- Hyrum and Verlan’s book, The Myth of Left and Right
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Tired and sunburnt, Jonah chimes in from somewhere in the Virgin Islands to share his thoughts (ramblings?) on the little he knows from the news of the past week. But stay tuned for a crossover of his appearance on Kevin Williamson’s podcast, How The World Works.
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If you’ve never been a resident of the Washington egghead-osphere, you’re probably not familiar with the 20th-century political scientist Edward Banfield. But Kevin Kosar—a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and noted KISS fanatic—thinks that you should be. In 1951, Banfield published Government Project, an account of the U.S. government’s attempt to remake the lives of some of its citizens by establishing a cooperative farm in Arizona during the Great Depression. The project didn’t go so well, and Kevin believes it holds vital lessons about the limits of government planning that Americans across the political spectrum would be wise to recall today. Tune in for neocon nerdery, but stick around for some more contemporary wonkery on what’s gone wrong with Congress.
Show Notes:
- Kevin’s podcast, Understanding Congress
- Edward Banfield’s Government Project, reissued with a new introduction by Kevin
- Kevin on Banfield’s The Unheavenly City
- Banfield’s The Moral Basis of a Backward Society
- Kevin and Phil Wallach: “The Case for a Congressional Regulation Office”
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What’s the meaning of life? 42? Pizza? The Remnant? David Bahnsen may or may not have the answer, but he’s at least certain of what makes life satisfying: honest, productive work. In his new book, Full-Time, he explores how work can allow us to find purpose and fulfillment. But is all work equally meaningful? Is the market best placed to determine its value? And does David have a higher net worth than Scrooge McDuck?
Show Notes:
– David’s new book, Full-Time: Work and the Meaning of Life
– David: “The Problem with a ‘Work–Life Balance’”
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Jonah starts on a cheerful note with lessons from Groundhog Day, but quickly the grim realities of our fallen world drag him back to punditry. If you manage to get past the brooding about Taylor/Kelce, philosophical pragmatism, and the American propensity for conspiracies, then you'll be subjected to passages from Liberal Fascism and, worst of all, notes about anti-NATO Twitter. Good luck.
Show Notes:
–Jonah: “It’s Nietzsche’s World, You’re Just Living In It”
-Jonah: "A Movie for All Time"
-The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory
-Jonah: "Look What You Made Me Do"
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Jonah serves up a jumbo slice of rank eggheadery on today’s Remnant to compensate for yesterday’s shockingly (or perhaps mercifully) brief episode. He’s joined for the first time by Peter Berkowitz, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and prolific writer on politics and America’s liberal tradition, to wax Yiddish on topics of both broad and minimal interest. What do academics and philosophers have against the English language? Do ideas actually matter? And what does the nationalist right get wrong about freedom?
Show Notes:
-Jonah: “It’s Nietzsche’s World, You’re Just Living In It”
-Peter’s first book, Nietzsche: The Ethics of an Immoralist
-Samuel Moyn’s Liberalism Against Itself
-Peter’s Constitutional Conservatism: Liberty, Self-Government, and Political Moderation
-Peter responds to Robert Kagan
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Has America lost its sense of humor? In Jonah’s view, only a Brit with a distinctly stiff upper lip can answer that question. He’s joined on today’s Remnant by journalist and politician Daniel Hannan, who’s back on the show to explore when and why America began to take a turn for the crazy. Why do recessions lead to populism? Is political apathy actually a good thing? And has the United Kingdom become besotted by its own post-liberal movement?
Show Notes:
– Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature
– Matt Ridley’s The Rational Optimist
– The Remnant with Yuval Levin
- Watch this episode on YouTube
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Jonah is well-rested which means an extra long and digressive Ruminant in which he recounts his experience debating Ezra Klein at an event in Ohio. He then ruminates on conservative intellectual history (the free spot on your bingo cards), the left-wingification of the right wing, and the benefit of “invisible hand” systems. Ignore the sounds of the asylum staff trying to break through the door.
Show Notes:
— Jonah: Does Reality Change Ideas or Vice Versa?
— Adrian Vermeule: Liberalism and the Invisible Hand
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Finally back from his escapades in the Midwest, Jonah invites Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and resident "debts and deficits" wonk, back on The Remnant. They discuss the necessity of raising taxes on the middle class, how much weed it would take to balance the budget, and the extinction of fiscally conservative Republicans. What can be done about the debt? What would happen if the IRS is abolished? Why is Jonah so afraid of monetary policy?
Show Notes:
— Brian's page at the Manhattan Institute
— Brian: The Rich Aren’t Rich Enough to Balance the Federal Budget
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On today’s special and prematurely released episode of The Remnant, Jonah is joined by Sarah Isgur, the host of the niche legal pseudo-podcast, Advisory Opinions, to explain Chevron deference and its prognosis at the Supreme Court. They explore the potential implications of overturning it—the good, the bad, and the ugly—and the likelihood of Congress getting its act together. However, the main event is the debate over whether our lizard brains truly care about policy. Did the abolition of slavery affect the 1860 election? Did Lincoln win because he was tall? Is Sarah a vulgar Marxist? (Plus, Sarah provides an update on Mailboxgate.)
Show Notes:
—Jonah’s LA Times column on Chevron
—Ben Sasse on the third episode of The Remnant
—Last week’s episode of The Dispatch Podcast
—Kim Strassel: The Them-vs.-Us Election
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Jonah is in a suspiciously pleasant mood coming off The Dispatch's live event in New Hampshire but regular disclaimers of tiredness still apply. Before replaying the Ruminant's greatest hits, he criticizes Rand Paul's ironic response to Donald Trump's claim of presidential immunity, explains how 2024 might begin to look like 2016, and kvetches about the anti-Trump crowd's catastrophization. Stick around for some ruminations on doggy eugenics.
Show Notes:
— Trump's "full immunity" truth
— Rand Paul's filibuster against John Brennan
—Jonah: Mau-Mauing the Dogcatcher
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While Jonah heads to New Hampshire, Chris “Dixville’s Notch” Stirewalt reassumes his rightful position as chief poobah of The Remnant. He’s joined by Christine Rosen—AEI senior fellow, Commentary magazine columnist, and noted “quiet car Karen”—to discuss the state of the 2024 election as we approach the New Hampshire primary. At this point, it seems certain that Trump will be the GOP nominee, but what will this mean for his opponents? For that matter, who will be his running mate? Is America still like The Handmaid’s Tale? And should people who eat loud snacks on airplanes be shown no mercy?
Show Notes:
- Trump takes the lead in New Hampshire
- Chris discusses the 2024 election at AEI
- Chris: “Haley’s Narrow Path Runs Across DeSantis’ 2028 Ambitions”
- Watch this episode on YouTube
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Ross Douthat is back on TheRemnant to provide a post-mortem for the Iowa caucuses. With the first result of the race now in, is Donald Trump’s renomination guaranteed? Where did Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley go wrong? Would a second Trump administration be staffed entirely by crazy people? And could a Trump-Biden rematch cause Jonah and Ross to rethink their life choices?
Show Notes:
-Watch this episode on YouTube
-Ross: “How Trump’s Opponents Made Iowa Easy for Him”
-Ross’ 2020 book, The Decadent Society
-Ramesh Ponnuru: “The 2024 Campaign Has Left Republicans in a State of Confusion”
-Martin Gurri’s The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium
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Full of rage and regret, Jonah reconsiders the life choices that led to him watching the interminable DeSantis-Haley debate start to finish, and plans to inflict his pain on listeners. He also revisits his argument about Hitler inflation in Democratic electioneering, and, at a listener's request, considers the ties between DEI and Marxism.
Show Notes
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Determined to prove that Advisory Opinions is merely a niche secondary podcast, Jonah is joined today by Adam White—the American Enterprise Institute’s resident law-talkin’ guy—to ramble through the latest in legal controversies. Topics on the docket include a potential Biden impeachment, legal threats to Donald Trump, and how the Supreme Court is holding up in these turbulent times. Plus, tune in to find out if America will ever become a land without lawyers.
Show Notes:
—Adam: “Common Law Judgements, Common Sense Justices”
—Kurt Lash on the 14th Amendment
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Get your bingo cards ready, because Remnant stalwart Mo Elleithee makes an overdue return to the program to kvetch about some familiar topics. Mo believes that we’re heading for a terrifying 2020 rematch. But could one of Donald Trump’s opponents still make a comeback, and will Joe Biden manage to make it through a full campaign? For that matter, what’s wrong with American elites? How can we reverse declining trust in institutions? And how did Jonah come to have more hatred for primaries than life itself?
Show notes:
- Watch this episode on YouTube
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Hungover from a night of CNN debate wonkery and inadequately caffeinated, Jonah provides an especially nerdy Ruminant covering yesterday’s town hall with Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, the strange desire to have a beer with presidential candidates, and the Biden administration’s lacking response to the Houthis, the latter inevitably leading to a lengthy defense of having a Navy. He discusses all of this while leaving enough (probably too much) time for the reification of diversity and some lousy defenses on behalf of Claudine Gay.
Show notes:
- Yesterday's Dispatch Podcast
- Jonah’s piece on Haley’s civil war answer
- Jonah’s most recent G-File on Claudine Gay
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Jonah completes his American Enterprise Institute hat trick on today’s Remnant with Yuval Levin, AEI’s director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies. The two start with some hesitant media criticism of the reaction to Harvard President Claudine Gay’s resignation before turning to the novelty, or lack thereof, of the oppressor-oppressed paradigm, the usefulness of horseshoe theory, and the need for strong institutions. Prepare your bingo cards.
Show notes:
- Conservatism as an Ideology by Samuel Huntington
- Jonah's LA Times column on horseshoe theory
- Watch this episode on YouTube
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It’s finally 2024, but instead of looking ahead with optimism, Jonah would rather use The Remnant to kvetch about the many lows of last year. Today, he’s joined by Matthew Continetti—still adjusting to his new role as the American Enterprise Institute’s leading corporate suit—to decide whether 2023 should be considered the worst year in modern political history. But given the unfolding presidential race, is 2024 shaping up to be any better? Is a Trump renomination guaranteed? And will Biden even make it to the finish line?
Show Notes:
- Jonah: “Nikki Haley’s Slavery Gaffe Is a Rare Misstep From a Good Politician”
- Robert Kagan on a Trump dictatorship
- Matthew Schmitz: “The Secret of Trump’s Appeal Isn’t Authoritarianism”
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Of all the (many) things Jonah hates, he has a unique resentment for the concept of New Year’s Eve. If you share his disdain for the holiday, then try ringing in 2024 with the bitter grumblings of today’s discombobulated, needlessly lengthy Ruminant rather than a trip to Times Square or an overpriced prix-fixe dinner. As usual, a number of urgent questions are addressed: Could Nikki Haley’s recent slavery gaffe tank her campaign? Why is partisanship problematic? What’s the latest on the war in Israel? And how did Jonah learn to stop worrying and (sort of) love horseshoe theory?
Show Notes:
- Jeff Blehar: “Nikki Haley’s Sin Isn’t Racism”
- Jonah: “The Left’s Whackjob Problem—and Ours”
- Michael Lind: “The New National American Elite”
- Jonah: “New Year’s Kiss-Off”
- Jonah: “The Year of the Horseshoe Theory”
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Jonah’s in full fanboy mode on today’s long-anticipated Remnant. His guest is Paul Bloom—respected psychologist, prolific author, and noted body double for Al Gore and soundalike for Donald Sutherland—who’s back on the program at last to answer all of Jonah’s burning questions about human behavior and the mind. How should we feel about Freud? Who should decide what issues are taboo? And are people born with an innate political orientation? Viking babies and sci-fi aficionados alike will find much to appreciate.
Show Notes:
- Paul’s previous Remnant appearance
- Paul’s latest book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (now available in paperback)
- Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil
- The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning
- Jonah: “Speaking Freely About Free Speech”
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Jonah indulges in one of his favorite traditions in today's Remnant: kvetching about economics with Michael Strain, the American Enterprise Institute’s director of economic policy studies. Their conversation offers a crash course in the history of economics as a social science, a guide to the myths of income inequality, and a few musings on what really caused the Great Depression. Plus, they explore perhaps the most important topic of all: TV shows you should watch instead of paying attention to your children this holiday season
Show Notes:
-Dr. Strain: “The Myth of the 1%”
-Jonah: “Mr. Piketty’s Big Book of Marxiness”
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The holidays are nearly here, and there’s nothing more likely to encourage festive cheer than a wide-ranging, ultra-rambly Ruminant. Today’s episode offers musings on Trump’s removal from Colorado ballots, the complicated politics of abortion, and the enduring dumbness of populism. But those also looking for an uplifting seasonal message will find it in Jonah’s thoughts on why gratitude is so important this time of year. Merry Christmas!
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Frederick Kagan
- Advisory Opinions on the Colorado Supreme Court decision
- Advisory Opinions with Will Baude on Trump’s presidential eligibility
- Yuval Levin on the anti-Trump 14th Amendment strategy
- Jonah on Trump’s dictatorial flirtations
- The Dispatch Podcast on abortion law
- Ramesh Ponnuru’s The Party of Death
- Jonah on Claudine Gay and diversity
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As 2023 draws to a close, Jonah invites Frederick Kagan—director of the American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project—back on The Remnant to explore how we can expect the conflicts between Israel and Hamas and Russia and Ukraine to unfold in 2024. They also discuss how the Biden administration should approach Iran and China, what the 2024 election could mean for American foreign policy, and what history can teach us about modern warfare.
Show Notes:
- Dr. Kagan: “The High Price of Losing Ukraine”
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In this interview only episode, Eli talks to Jonah Goldberg, host of the Remnant Podcast and a founding editor of the Dispatch. They discuss the inevitability of a GOP Trump nomination and the recent warnings that a second Trump term will bring the end of democracy.
Note: This episode originally aired on The Re-Education with Eli Lake
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Jonah’s even more bleary-eyed than usual on today’s Ruminant, which begins innocently enough before transforming into an epic rant of astonishingly nerdy proportions. After opening with a few thoughts on why free speech absolutism might actually not be something to strive for, he dives into an ultra-indulgent reflection on the legacy of Liberal Fascism prompted by a recent Niall Ferguson piece on the goals of higher education. Listeners with a penchant for intellectual history will delight in the esoteric questions raised: How did antisemitism originate? What did the Nazis do to change institutions? And how can members of the Remnant remain in high spirits?
Show Notes:
-Jonah: “Speaking Freely About Free Speech”
-The Remnant with Sarah Isgur on Nazis marching in Skokie
-Niall Ferguson: “The Treason of the Intellectuals”
-Julian Benda’s The Treason of the Intellectuals
-The Remnant with Bret Devereaux
-Jonah on Trump the day-one dictator
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On today’s Remnant, Jonah joins GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas to discuss what we can do to fix Congress and our other broken institutions of government. Come prepared with your bingo cards, because the nerdery covers some of Jonah’s favorite bugaboos, including Congress’ transformation into a parliament of pundits, the weakening of our major parties, and the historical roots of antisemitism.
Note: this episode originally aired on We Hold These Truths with Dan Crenshaw.
Show Notes:
-Watch this episode on YouTube
-Dan’s podcast, Hold These Truth
-Jonah’s problem with small dollar donors
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Ancient historian Bret Devereaux is back on the Remnant to provide a definitive answer to the year’s biggest question: Why do men really think about the Roman Empire? He also gives an overview of Israel’s history and the origins of today’s conflict, and examines whether Donald Trump could really become the next Caesar. Prospective dictators in need of career advice are strongly encouraged to tune in.
Show Notes:
-Bret’s previous Remnant appearance
-The Remnant, hosted by Brother Stirewalt, with Mike Duncan
-The Remnant with Russell Moore
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Hulkamania’s running wild on the latest excruciatingly indulgent Ruminant, which sees Jonah’s curmudgeonly ranting reach new heights of excess. Major topics today include the rise of antisemitism on college campuses, the hideousness of Vivek Ramaswamy, and whether the ongoing GOP primary is just one big waste of time. But devoted listeners should also tune in to learn about the link between pro wrestling and Donald Trump, Jonah’s growing urge to deport his assistant, and why the Howard Zinnification of the left is so dangerous.
Show Notes:
-The Dispatch Podcast on another pointless GOP debate
-Advisory Opinions on antisemitism in higher education
-Jonah: “Antisemitism Is Just a Symptom”
-The Remnant with Ruy Teixeira
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Since the war in Ukraine began, Jonah has made a habit of plugging the Telegraph’s daily podcast on the subject, Ukraine: The Latest. Today, Francis Dearnley—an assistant comment editor at the newspaper and one of the podcast’s regular hosts—joins The Remnant for an in-depth look at how the show gets made, and what the future holds for Ukraine. Other topics include the fatal allure of historical determinism, the dreary state of British politics, and why Woodrow Wilson is still history’s greatest monster.
Show Notes:
-Francis’ page at the Telegraph
-Francis’ podcast, Ukraine: The Latest
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While Advisory Opinions continues its slow transformation into a dating podcast, Jonah invites Sarah Isgur back to The Remnant for some potent punditry on the unfolding 2024 election. Are the Bidens a crime family? Is it inevitable that Trump will be renominated? And what would a second Trump term actually look like? All of these questions and more will be addressed, but you’ll need to stick around until the end to learn about a man’s correct placement on the sidewalk and the virtues of food sharing.
Show Notes:
-New York Times: “Why a Second Trump Presidency May Be More Radical Than His First”
-Robert Kagan: “A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending.”
-Jonah: “George Santos hasn’t been convicted of a crime. Congress was still right to kick him out”
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On today's interminable Ruminant, Jonah subjects listeners to musings about the death of Henry Kissinger and the gross reveling by some. He then turns to the shortcomings of realpolitik and realism, the debate between Gov. DeSantis and Gov. Newsom, the anticipated sequel to Suicide of the West, and the presence of post-liberalism on the right. Stick around to find out why Jonah doesn't write comedic columns anymore.
Show Notes:
-G-File: Elizabeth Warren, Countess of Sandwich, Schmears the Market
-Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved by America’s Ruling Class, Finally Dies
-George Will: The Conservative Sensibility
-Axios: The Trump job applications revealed
-Donald Trump poses the biggest danger to the world in 2024
-Paul Wolfowitz’s interview with Vanity Fair
-Danielle Pletka on The Remnant
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Jonah returns to distinctly Frenchian territory on today’s Remnant, which explores the state of evangelicalism in America. His guest is Tim Alberta, a staff writer at The Atlantic and author of The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism. Tim’s new book raises an exigent question: Why are so many interpreting faith through the lens of politics instead of the other way round? Tune in to learn all about Tim’s religious journey, how Donald Trump’s relationship with the evangelical movement is changing, and why Jonah feels both ideologically homeless and secure at the same time.
Show Notes:
-Tim’s new book,The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism
-Tim: “My Father, My Faith, and Donald Trump”
-Tim: “Donald Trump Is on the Wrong Side of the Religious Right”
-The Remnant with Russell Moore
-Jonah: “No Movement That Embraces Trump Can Call Itself Conservative”
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Today’s Remnant features the overdue first appearance of AEI senior fellow Danielle Pletka, who joins the program to discuss the ongoing conflicts in Israel and Ukraine. What does the future hold for both countries? Why has antisemitism become so prevalent? How’s Benjamin Netanyahu doing? And does the U.N. have any reason to exist?
Show Notes:
- Danielle’s podcast, What the Hell Is Going On?
- Ruth Wisse on the explosion of antisemitism
- Mike Gallagher on TikTok’s propaganda
- Danielle: “Iran Is the Problem”
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Jonah delivers another ill-advised Ruminant full of his regular grievances such as: the lack of national gratitude, the moral equivalent of war, the antiquated concept of left and right, and of course the misuses of the term fascism.
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As a Thanksgiving treat, Jonah invites Chris “Giblets” Stirewalt—his favorite Gen X nostalgist—back on The Remnant to dispense some ruthlessly rank punditry on the state of the 2024 election. With Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley now doing most of the fighting in the GOP primary, do either of them pose a viable threat to Donald Trump? And if the former president captures the nomination, what will that mean for an increasingly fragile-looking Joe Biden? You’ll also want to tune in to learn why men really think about the Roman Empire (yes, the issue is unresolved), and to learn some dark, turkey-related secrets.
Show Notes:
- Chris interviews Mike Duncan on Ancient Rome
- Chris: “Nikki Haley’s Unproven Reserves”
- Ben Smith: “Why Nikki Haley is Ready for This Ugly Media Moment”
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Twenty years ago, the Democratic Party seemed poised to dominate American politics. But having alienated many of their traditional working class voters, that dominance didn’t come to pass—and the party could be on the precipice of a political disaster. To understand how we got here, Jonah invites Ruy Teixeira—senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of The Liberal Patriot on Substack—back on The Remnant for some white hot wonkery on the shifting demographics of America’s major parties. In his new book, Where Have All the Democrats Gone? Ruy explores the Democratic Party’s evolution and what it should do to get back on track. Why did the working class turn on the Democrats in the first place? What will it take for the party to embrace a more moderate policy platform? And why is everyone so determined to make the perfect the enemy of the good?
Show Notes:
-Ruy’s Substack, The Liberal Patriot
-Ruy’s new book, Where Have All the Democrats Gone?
-Ruy’s earlier book, The Emerging Democratic Majority
-Ruy: “A Three Point Plan to Fix the Democrats and Their Coalition”
-Jonah’s first AMA on The Skiff, The Dispatch’s members-only podcast feed
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Jonah begins today’s Ruminant by staring blankly into the ether, but he’s quickly jolted back to reality by the latest in political asininity. Recently, America has faced an upsurge in antisemitism across the political spectrum, and Jonah has plenty of thoughts about why this is happening and how we can stop it. In predictably slapdash fashion, he also explores the astonishingly dumb trend of young Americans sympathizing with Osama bin Laden, and what 2024’s political coalitions will look like. Also, tune in for an important dingo update.
Show Notes:
-Jonah: “Democrats Are Right to Worry About Biden in 2024”
-Matt Lewis: “Ben Shapiro Astonished by Candace Owens Being Her Usual Self”
-Isaac Schorr: “The Shameful Nods to Antisemitism From Candance Owens and Tucker Carlson”
-Ian Haworth: “Tucker Carlson Sells ‘Just Asking Questions’ Antisemitism”
-Charlie Cooke: “Wokesters for Osama bin Laden?”
-The Economist’s Intelligence podcast on another Trump victory
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Jonah’s even more sleep-deprived than usual on today’s Remnant due to dingo-related difficulties. Thankfully, however, his guest has more than enough rich insights on hand to keep him awake. He’s joined by Alexandra Hudson—writer, academic, and author of the new book, The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves.
It’s clear that American society isn’t in a particularly civil state, and there’s plenty of appetite for improvement. But Alexandra thinks that we often fail to grasp what civility really means in the first place. Armed with an esoteric collection of historical references, she and Jonah explore what the distinction is between civility and politeness, how we can bring about a “civility renaissance,” and why civility is foundational to liberal democracy. Break out your bingo cards.
Show Notes:
- Alexandra’s new book, The Soul of Civility
- Defining the World: The Extraordinary History of Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary
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Jonah teams up with Mike Rothschild (who, shockingly enough, is not a member of the Rothschild family) to discuss conspiracy theories and the fallacies that undergird them on today's Remnant. In a conversation that touches on wackiness ranging from Pizzagate to the Rothschilds' supposed lease on Israel, Jonah and Mike try to understand why conspiracy theories formulate and what makes people subscribe to them. What do pro-Trump conspiracy theories indicate about the state of our institutions? Why is antisemitism such a pervasive evil? And a general decline in in social media to connect crazy people to crazy ideas in ways that underground bookstores never could.
Show Notes:
-Mike’s new book, Jewish Space Lasers
-Mike: “The Internet Never Met a Conspiracy Theory It Can’t Love”
-Mike: “On the Rothschilds’ Myth in Literature and Film”
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The close of another week brings another indulgent Ruminant, in which Jonah dedicates an inordinately long rant to the one subject he’s unquestionably an expert on: his own beliefs. Today’s topics include the latest Republican presidential debate, Joe Biden’s prospects for 2024, the ongoing conflict in Israel, and David Brooks’ recent suggestion that Jonah belongs on the “right edge of the left,” all of which raises important questions: How likely is it that someone other than Biden will be the Democratic nominee? Is there really a distinction between anti-Zionism and antisemitism? Why will Jonah never consider himself a leftist? And will the Fair Jessica’s efforts to end the solo podcast ever prove successful?
Show Notes:
- The Dispatch Podcast, recorded live from New York, on the latest GOP debate
- An audience Q&A with Jonah and Steve, available exclusively for Dispatch subscribers
- Jonah: “How Anti-Zionism Shrugs Off Antisemitism”
- The Remnant with David Brooks
- Jonah’s review of Yuval Levin’s The Great Debate
- Bid to win a lunch with Jonah in D.C.
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On today’s Remnant, Jonah welcomes Dan Senor, a prolific pundit, political adviser, and author of the new book, The Genius of Israel: The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World. As tragic as the unfolding situation in Israel may be, Dan joins the program to bring a welcome degree of optimism to our discourse on the subject. Israel, it turns out, has become one of the happiest societies in the world in recent years. But simultaneously, levels of fulfillment have plummeted in the United States. Dan’s book explores why this is the case, and what lessons Americans should take from Israel to strengthen our social fabric and build communities that emphasize the importance of each individual. Tune in for all of the uplifting details.Show Notes:
- Dan’s new book, The Genius of Israel
- Sebastian Junger’s Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging
- The Remnant with Russ Roberts
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For the first time in far too long, New York Times columnist David Brooks is on the Remnant to dispense some of the hottest political wisdom you’ll find this side of Lake Michigan. Lately, David’s been concerned with a serious challenge to America’s social fabric: It seems like most of us can’t really get to know other people. Our country is full of people who feel unseen or misunderstood, and this is fueling our loneliness epidemic and the broader collapse of community. In his new book, How to Know a Person, David offers some solutions to this crisis that largely begin on an interpersonal level. But what does it really mean for people to be seen? What common mistakes do we make in our interactions with others? And will those punk kids ever get off Jonah’s lawn?
Show Notes:
-Watch this episode on YouTube
-David’s page at the New York Times
-David’s new book, How to Know a Person
-Richard Weaver’s Ideas Have Consequences
-Enter to win a lunch with Jonah in D.C.
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Jonah seldom discloses his fears, but on today’s Ruminant, he’s forced to reveal his greatest weakness: the common cold. Despite the large amount of travel he’s undertaken in recent weeks—which he begins the episode by describing in needless detail—he’s managed to avoid getting sick, but germs are closing in on him. If there’s one thing Jonah hates more than man flu, however, it’s young people (or, at least, society’s misguided worship of young people). Today’s episode is all about youthful opposition to Israel in America: what’s driving it, what it says about our culture, and why it seems to prove that the experiment with “safetyism” on college campuses has failed. Stick around until the end for a few thoughts on Donald Trump’s strange relationship with the law.
Show Notes:
- Jonah: “Settle This One for Me”
- The Coddling of the American Mind
- “Hip hip hooray” is fascist?
- The Remnant with Jean Twenge
- The Dispatch Podcast introduces Jamie Weinstein
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Is Joe Biden a secret genius? Today’s Remnant guest—Atlantic staff writer Franklin Foer—wouldn’t quite go that far, but he does believe that the president is much more politically adept than you might think. Foer developed a newfound respect for the commander in chief while writing his new book, The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future, and he joins Jonah to explain why. Listeners are also encouraged to tune in to hear Jonah and Frank yearnfully reflect on their misspent youth and the joys of cross-partisan lunches.
Show Notes:
- Frank’s page at The Atlantic
- Frank’s new book, The Last Politician
-Jonah: “Advice for Biden: Be Like Ike”
-Nate Cohn: “Why Less Engaged Voters Are Biden’s Biggest Problem”
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Jonah’s finally back from Europe after plotting world domination there for the last few months, and he’s ready to get the Remnant party started. Today’s episode features the overdue return of Greg Lukianoff, president and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. He’s written a new book, The Canceling of the American Mind, which digs into the rise of cancel culture in American life and what we can do to reverse it. But how should cancel culture be defined in the first place? Why does Greg see it as a crisis of historic proportions? How can colleges be fixed? And is Jonah the ultimate grifter?
Show Notes:
- Greg’s new book, The Canceling of the American Mind
- The Coddling of the American Mind
- “Steven Salaita, the Media, and the Struggle for Academic Freedom”
- Carole Hooven’s T: The Story of Testosterone
- Greg is profiled in Politico
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Jonah's never-ending vacation brings him to Prague on today’s worldly Ruminant, but fleeing deeper into Europe can’t help him escape his mid-life crisis. After a few brief musings on such intellectually stimulating subjects as toilet paper and Indonesian cuisine, he dives into less significant issues like the House speakership debacle, the ideological origins of left-wing opposition to Israel, and the ongoing dumbification of the GOP. Get your Che Guevara shirts ready for an interesting ride.
Show Notes:
- Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth
- Edmund Burke on the East India Company
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Jonah’s Italian vision quest has nearly concluded, but he still has a few corners of his subconscious left to search. That leaves the Remnant in need of a guest host, and who better to captain the ship once again than Chris Stirewalt, America’s favorite country pundit? Chris has worn his egghead hat for his last few episodes, but today, he embraces his true nature as a political dirtbag driven solely by the pursuit of rank punditry. To that end, his guest is The Dispatch’s own David Drucker, who joins to discuss the 2024 election in all of its endless stupidity. Do any of the GOP candidates not named Donald Trump actually have a chance? How’s Biden been doing lately? And is going “all in on Iowa” a political death knell for Tim Scott and Ron DeSantis?
Show Notes:
- David’s page at The Dispatch
- Chris’ Remnant with Amity Shlaes
- Chris’ Roman Remnant with Mike Duncan
- David’s Dispatch interview with Chris Christie
- David: “Ron DeSantis Endorsements Keep Coming”
- Ben Terris: “The Make-Believe Republican Primary”
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The Remnant further affirms itself as America’s leading podcast in book promotion today, as journalist and NPR host Steve Inskeep brings his velvety tones to the program to discuss his new book, Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America. Though studies of Honest Abe aren’t exactly in short supply, Steve’s has a unique hook: It tells Lincoln’s life story by examining sixteen of his encounters with prominent figures, each of whom disagreed with him in some way. The questions raised are significant: Why is there an abiding fascination with Lincoln in the American consciousness? How did Lincoln become a Republican? And could a novel about Lincoln fighting Nazis with a pet poodle in tow become an all-time bestseller?
Show Notes:
-Watch this interview on YouTube
- Steve’s new book, Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America
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After yet another week of chaotic travel, Jonah can’t resist recording a Ruminant to settle his addled mind. Coming to you from the seas of Southern Italy, today’s offering is marginally less excessive than usual, as Jonah focuses his ornery energy on the Israel-Gaza war and how America’s political parties are reacting to it. Other, equally grim topics include the limits of the United Nations, the state of the Ukraine conflict, and Russian collaboration with Iran.
Show Notes:
- The Wall Street Journal on potential Iran support for Hamas
- The Trotskyite origins of postcolonial theory
- President Biden's Oval Office address on Ukraine and Israel
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It’s been a while since the Remnant featured some spirited kvetching about identity politics and wokeness in American life, but those issues haven’t exactly faded away. Today’s guest is Yascha Mounk, a prolific author and academic whose new book, The Identity Trap, examines where exactly woke ideology emerged from and how it became so influential. Yascha’s thesis is that an obsession with group identity is leading many progressives astray despite their good intentions, and that this is ultimately hindering progress toward true equality in American life. But why are so many people from across the political spectrum falling into the identity trap? What’s the appeal of populism and nationalism? And will Jonah’s growing crotchetiness soon cause him to completely give up on intellectual history?
Show Notes:
-Watch this interview on YouTube
-Yascha’s new book, The Identity Trap
-Yascha’s previous book, The Great Experiment
-Yascha’s previous Remnant appearance
-Calvin Coolidge’s speech on America’s 150th birthday
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Unable to secure an interesting guest or topic of conversation for today’s Remnant, Jonah is forced to invite Steve Hayes—his benevolent business partner and world-renowned cheese curd enthusiast—back to the program for their annual reflection on the state of The Dispatch. All of the obvious topics are addressed, including how The Dispatch is doing, what goals have been achieved, and what’s coming next as things continue to grow. But loyal listeners will also want to tune in for answers to some common questions. How has election coverage changed over time, and what will The Dispatch do in 2024 to set itself apart? What will it take for The Dispatch to attract new readers and continue to expand? And will a Corner-style blog ever surface on the site, or will Steve remain blinded to its usefulness by a haze of beer and Buffalo sauce?
Show Notes:
- The Skiff, a new podcast feed exclusively for Dispatch members
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It’s not everyday that people show you who they are, but the terrorist attack in Israel gave us a glimpse into the soul of America's overeducated elite - and it wasn't a pretty sight. In a contempt-fueled rant, Jonah blasts the left for its wishy-washy response to the massacre and the right for losing the plot on America's foreign interests. Stay tuned for some rank punditry before Jonah takes a break from this darkening world and absconds to the Italian coast.
Show Notes:
-Jonah’s Remnant with Jay Cost
-Law firm rescinds offer to Summer Associate for Palestine support
-The incredibly tragic CNN report
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Is America a republic or a democracy? Jonah has forced many recent Remnant guests to answer this question, but only Jay Cost—a historian and senior fellow at AEI—has written a whole book on the subject. It’s called (creatively enough) Democracy or Republic? The People and the Constitution, and Jay joins the show today to flesh out its thesis. In an era of declining civic virtue and institutional trust, are the tools of government that the Founders developed strong enough to deal with today’s challenges? What are the pros and cons of the democratic process? And how can we help restore an understanding of the Constitution among America’s youth?
Show Notes:
- Jay’s new book, Democracy or Republic? The People and the Constitution
- Jay’s previous Remnant appearance
- The Remnant with Jim Pethokoukis
- Irving Kristol: “The American Revolution as a Successful Revolution”
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On Saturday Hamas militants invaded Israel, gunning down and abducting civilians, firing rockets on city centers, and holding entire villages hostage. In response, Israel has declared war on Gaza and things are only about to get uglier from here. A sleep-deprived Adaam James Levin-Areddy, senior multimedia producer at The Dispatch and host of Uncertain Things, joined Jonah to discuss the past 24 hours in Israel, Hamas' brutal reign in Gaza, Adaam's theory of peace privilege, Bibi's legacy, and what's coming next.
By the way: This was also the inauguration of The Dispatch's members-only feed The Skiff, which will include all future impromptu chats and bone-picking arguments between Jonah and friends, as well as AMAs, emergency pods, and other random audio goodies. In his magnanimity, Jonah decided to share this debut episode with the freeloading masses. But if you want more Remnant, along with the moral ebullience of supporting The Dispatch, please join us.
And to all our members who've already come aboard our Skiff –– thank you, from the bottom of our tired, shriveled hearts. You are the reason the lights are still on. And we have lots in store for you. Stay tuned.
To get The Skiff on your personal podcast player:
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To follow The Skiff on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you catch your podcasts, please follow these instructions:
-Choose which device you prefer to listen on (Mac, iOS, Android…).
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Note: If your preferred podcast player asks you to subscribe by RSS feed you’ll need to copy and paste a URL link. To get that link, go back to the menu with all of the options to subscribe (the page with all of the player logos), scroll to the bottom, and copy the link you see there. Then, go back to your player and paste it in the field.
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The end of another week brings another unfocused, ultra-rambling Ruminant, which finds Jonah aggravated by a fresh potpourri of political asininity. Featured topics today include the crisis at the border and Biden’s declining credibility, similarities between the radicalism of the young right and left, and the incoherence of arguments for student loan debt forgiveness. There’s even some brief criticism of the Clintons mixed in for anyone feeling nostalgic.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant, hosted by Brother Stirewalt, with toga community ambassador Mike Duncan
- The Remnant with James Pethokoukis
- NBC lists the “terrifying trade-offs” of student loan repayment
- The great climate conspiracy
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The future has a lot of enemies these days, and most of them seem to agree that progress is behind us while nothing but disaster lies ahead. Today, AEI’s Jim Pethokoukis is back on the Remnant to challenge that idea. His new book, The Conservative Futurist, makes the case for a risk-taking, future-oriented American society driven by technological change. But what would such a society look like in practice? How could it come into being? And what makes futurism and conservatism compatible?
Show Notes:
- Jim’s book, The Conservative Futurist: How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised
- Jim’s Substack, Faster, Please!
- Jim’s Political Economy podcast
- Jim’s previous Remnant appearance
- Virginia Postrel’s The Future and Its Enemies
- Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future
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Why do men really think about the Roman Empire? If that question has been keeping you up at night in recent weeks, you’ll want to tune in to the latest Remnant for some conclusive answers. Jonah’s away again on a wild expedition through the commonwealth, which means it’s up to Chris Stirewalt to host today’s crash course in Ancient Roman politics and history. His guest—making an eagerly anticipated return to the program—is Mike Duncan, host of the oft-plugged Revolutions podcast, bestselling historical author, and noted influencer for the toga community. If you don’t know your Caesar from your Caligula, their conversation will get you up to speed. And it’ll also help you appreciate what relevance Rome has to the contemporary United States.
Show Notes:
- The Storm Before the Storm, Mike’s history of the Roman Republic
- Hero of Two Worlds, Mike’s biography of the Marquis de Lafayette
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Though his wife and RA continue to plead for him to stop, Jonah can’t be deterred from following the self-destructive path of the weekly Ruminant, especially with a legion of overly eager wedding guests on his side. Today’s episode features a predictably peculiar melange of topics, among them the hideous second GOP debate, the misguided fondness for autocrats present on parts of the right, and the validity of the Biden impeachment inquiry. Remnant devotees should stick around until the end for further details on The Skiff, an exciting new podcast feature coming to The Dispatch that’s sure to consume far too much of your life.
Show Notes:
- The Dispatch Podcast on the second GOP debate
- Philip Bump: “The Rise of ‘Chinese Communist Party’ as a Pejorative”
- Jonah: “When the Stupid Futility Is the Point”
- Do the facts speak for themselves?
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Get your bingo cards ready once again, because today’s Remnant offers a greatest hits of Goldbergian geekdom. Jonah’s joined today by libertarian writer Brink Lindsey, a senior vice president at the Niskanen Center and the author of The Permanent Problem on Substack. Together, they dig into urgent matters of social policy—institutional decay and the challenges of modern capitalism among them—libertarian philosophy, and Thailand’s problematic geography. Did the libertarian project fail? Do intellectuals really shape the world? And how can we make the mass affluence provided by capitalism sustainable?
To sign up to The Skiff (the members-only Dispatch super-feed):
Show Notes:
-Brink’s Substack, The Permanent Problem
-Brink: “Life Under ‘an Immense and Tutelary Power’”
-Brink: “The Advance of the Monoculture”
-Brink: “Libertarian Roots Revisited”
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Jonah’s travels have concluded and he’s back on the homefront, which can only be good news for holders on the Remnant bingo card. To celebrate his return, the ever-reliable Matthew Continetti is back on the program for some piping hot punditry on the latest in political dysfunction. Matt recently abandoned Jonah’s department at the American Enterprise Institute to become the director of its domestic policy division, and this betrayal won’t go unpunished. But when they aren’t viciously attacking one another’s office allegiances, the duo is able to provide incisive answers to a host of political questions. Is a government shutdown incoming? What’s going wrong with conservative institutions? How can populism be a good thing? And what will it take for politicians to stop beclowning themselves?
Show Notes:
- National Review: “Pence’s Populism Speech Was Admirable, but It Misidentified the Target”
- Jack Butler on Pence and populism
- How much do voters trust both parties?
- The Remnant with Tom Nichols
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Frank Sinatra once observed that “you’ve either got or you haven’t got style,” but when you’re living out of an RV in the wilds of Iowa—or, for that matter, representing your state in the halls of the US Senate—that doesn’t really matter. Jonah’s still on the road today, but he can’t outrun his existential dread. To drown it out for a while instead, he delivers yet another unfocused, inordinately long Ruminant to end the week. This time, much of his irritation is directed toward the renewed jackassery of Matt Gaetz and the politics of a potential Biden impeachment, but plenty of righteous indignation is also reserved for the Senate’s new dress code and the increasingly shaky prospect of a second Biden term. Plus, tune in to hear Jonah elaborate on why men spend so much time thinking about Rome (almost as much, in fact, as they spend thinking about Nixon).
Show Notes:
- Mike Duncan’s Revolutions podcast
- Jerry Muller’s The Mind and the Market
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Jonah’s vision quest isn’t ending anytime soon, which means there’s an opening for a continuing stream of guest hosts to captain the lumbering vessel that is the Remnant. Today, Sarah Isgur takes the leading role, and her guest is fellow Texan Kevin Williamson, who joins primarily to discuss everything you could imagine about the Lone Star State. Topics include recent impeachment drama, Ted Cruz’s chronic case of annoying-itis, the strange state of local politics in the state, and the heresy that is sauce on Texas smoked ribs. Stick around until the end to hear what all of this has to do with Ken Paxton’s crusade against the mystical deep state.
Show Notes:
- Kevin and David French field listener questions
- The Wall Street Journal on why Ken Paxton was acquitted
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Hurry up and pay your union dues, because today’s Remnant is all about labor. It’s been more than a week since his departure, but Jonah’s still lost in the wilds of the heartland, vainly attempting to overcome his mid-life crisis from an RV living room. In these desperate times, Chris Stirewalt reassumes control of the program to bend it to his West Virginian will, but thankfully, he’s joined by a special guest who brings some leaven to the Goldberg-less loaf. That guest is renowned historian Amity Shlaes, who’s here to discuss the origins of labor unions, Lyndon B. Johnson’s relationship with industry, and the elections of the 1960s and ‘70s. It’s a crash course in US history that’ll leave you significantly more pro-Coolidge.
Show Notes:
- Amity’s page at National Review
- The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression
- Coolidge
- The Great Society: A New History
- Chris’ book on populism, Every Man a King
-Video version of this episode
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In a brief respite from his latest cross country adventure, Jonah camps out beneath the Idaho mountains to record another rambling Ruminant. As usual, the questions raised cover a little of everything: How should we think about Mitt Romney’s legacy? Is Russia still a terrible country (spoiler alert: Jonah’s answer is yes)? What’s the difference between authoritarianism and totalitarianism? And will Jonah’s ignorance of music allow him to discuss Nicaraguan Sandinistas without once referencing the Clash?
Show Notes:
- Phil Klein: “Mitt Romney Was No Profile in Political Courage”
- Nick Catoggio: “The Party’s Over”
- McKay Coppins: “What Mitt Romney Saw in the Senate”
- The Dispatch Podcast on Putin’s bromance
- Mike Duncan’s podcast on the Russian Revolution
- Claire Berlinski: “Dear Linda Yaccarino”
- The Remnant with Megan McArdle
- The Remnant with Scott Lincicome
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Having ascended from the proletariat to the ruling class in the hierarchy of the Cato Institute, Scott Lincicome returns to the Remnant not simply to flaunt his success, but to issue an urgent defense of an embattled concept: globalization. In these troubled times, many of the left and right alike have become hostile to the relatively free movement of people, goods, and ideas across national borders. But Scott maintains that globalization is an unequivocal force for good, and that the most common criticisms of it are rooted in myths. With that in mind, Cato has launched “Defending Globalization,” a new multimedia initiative dedicated to—shockingly enough—combating anti-globalization narratives. Can Scott make a compelling case for the project in the Remnant arena, or will he melt like nacho cheese under Jonah’s intense scrutiny?
Show Notes:
- Scott’s page at The Dispatch
- Scott’s work at the Cato Institute
- “Defending Globalization,” Cato’s new initiative
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Megan McArdle returns to the Remnant today for a discussion that has the luxury of being detached from current events. Things operate at a high level of abstraction throughout—even the rank punditry is more nerdishly academic than usual—as she and Jonah analyze and debate a handful of topics that seem to render him increasingly despondent. Can resentment among elites explain Donald Trump’s success? Do ideas actually matter, or have all intellectuals wasted their lives? Just how ugly should we expect 2024 to be? And can Jonah outrun his ongoing mid-life crisis in a ramshackle RV?
Show Notes:
-Megan’s page at the Washington Post
-Fusion, a new magazine from the American Institute for Economic Research
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Jonah’s in a distracted state of mind on today’s Ruminant, but that can’t stop him from rambling at a wholly unnecessary length. Springing haphazardly between subjects, he offers thoughts on the distinction between populism and conservatism, the brain-killing stupidity of our election, and the role ideologues should play in society. He also reflects on his discussion with Tom Nichols about the state of the right from earlier in the week, and clarifies a few key points. In these troubled times, you can’t keep a good pundit down.
Show Notes:
- The Dispatch Podcast on our stupid election
- The Remnant with Tom Nichols
- The Remnant with Jean Twenge
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Chris Stirewalt can be many things—caveman lawyer, Southern fried good old boy, etc.—but today, he’s a simple pundit from the backwoods who’s back on the Remnant to dispense some rank insights on the state of our parties and how the 2024 election is shaping up. The resulting conversation is exactly what you’d imagine: an onslaught of pop culture references tempered by a modicum of sobering political analysis. How clear is it that Biden can defeat Trump? What do the current Democratic and Republican coalitions look like? And should the Department of Energy move to West Virginia (Chris’ answer won’t surprise you)?
Show Notes:
- Chris: “Five Known Unknowns for 2024”
- The Remnant with Tom Nichols
- Steven Teles and Robert Saldin: “The Future Is Faction”
- Chris’ book on populism, Every Man a King
- Michael Lind: “America’s Woke Elite Monoculture”
- The Remnant with Robert P. George
- Jonah: “Democrats Are Making a Risky Bet With Biden”
- Mike Duncan’s The Storm Before the Storm
- Kevin Williamson: “The Whited Sepulcher”
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The Remnant’s streak of obvious guests who have inexplicably never appeared on the program continues today, as professor turned Atlantic staff writer Tom Nichols joins the show to provide some uncut, fiercely nerdy analysis of our current political malaise. Much of his conversation with Jonah concerns the ongoing conflict in Ukraine—namely, how America has handled it, and what’s really motivating Putin. But after that, the stage is set for an epic debate between the duo on what it means to be “Never Trump” in 2023, and where principled conservatives should go from here. Also, fans of Succession may recognize Tom from his appearances on the show; tune in to learn some behind the scenes secrets.
Show Notes:
- Tom’s latest book, Our Own Worst Enemy
- Orlando Figes’ The Story of Russia
- Tom: “The Ukrainian Counteroffensive Is Not an Action Movie”
- Tom: “I Was a Pundit on Succession”
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Ignoring the desperate pleas of those closest to him, Jonah reaches new heights of excess on today’s needlessly long Ruminant. Still on a China kick, he begins by addressing the country’s spiraling economy and illiberal regime, but quickly becomes distracted by a handful of similarly grim topics, including the awfulness of Russia and the poisonous role of the coalitional instinct in American life. Stick around for musings on the Clarence Thomas controversy, Mitch McConnell’s health, and civic ignorance in American life. Oh, and to hear a few intimate details about the discomfort Jonah feels when staring at himself for an extended period.
Show Notes:
- Jonah: “China’s Economy Is Spiraling”
- Jonah: “Xi’s Republic of China”
- The Remnant with Luke Coffey
- The Prince, The Economist’s podcast on Xi Jinping
- John Tooby on coalitional instincts
- David French: “The Articulate Ignorance of Vivek Ramaswamy”
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Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Luke Coffey returns after an appearance last October with esteemed Remnant guest host Klon Kitchen. In that time, a whole mess of insanity has gone on in Ukraine—some of it good, some of it worrying. Now that we’re a year and a half into the maelstrom, do Ukrainians still like Zelensky? How long can Russia keep its hand on this kind of a hot burner before wrenching it away? And above all, Luke gives us the reasons for optimism about the situation and why it’s not only desirable but important to keep that optimism alive for Ukraine’s sake.
Show Notes:
-Luke’s page at the Hudson Institute
-Luke: “How the War Could Make Ukraine a Defense Powerhouse”
-Luke: “Don’t Hold Your Breath for an End to the Ukraine War”
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By popular demand, psychologist and author Jean Twenge joins the Remnant today to affirm Jonah’s status as America’s most arrogant Gen Xer. Dr. Twenge’s recent work has focused on generational differences, the challenges facing Generation Z, and how generational changes are influenced by developments in technology. All of these subjects and more are examined throughout, and many disturbing questions are answered: Why are Gen Zers living life at such a slow pace? What’s the real link between pornography and America’s sex recession? What determines generational happiness? And can anything shatter Jonah’s ‘70s-bred ego?
Show Notes:
-The Remnant with Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff
-William Strauss and Neil Howe’s Generations
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Today’s Ruminant raises a predictably peculiar question within its opening moments: How can rodentology help us understand the first Republican debate? Jonah’s answer may surprise you, but what’s more surprising is that it connects quite naturally to another of the week’s hot topics: the debate over what America’s role should be in the war in Ukraine. With plenty of vim and slightly less vigor, he dedicates most of this episode to exploring what form American foreign policy should take, and why we must remember that Putin is the villain in this conflict.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Michael H. Parsons (rat guy)
- The Dispatch Podcast on the debate that didn’t matter
- Jonah breaks down the debate with Chuck Todd
- Tevi Troy: “Moderators Have Ruined Presidential Debates. Let’s Get Rid of Them.”
- The Remnant with Luke Coffey
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If the Remnant has a failing, it’s that, in almost 700 episodes of relentlessly nerdy conversation, Robert P. George hasn’t once appeared on the program. Today, Jonah rectifies that mistake, inviting the beloved Princeton professor and director of the James Madison Program onto the show to discuss America’s fraying civic bonds, and what we can do to stem the tide of illiberalism. They also provide some uniquely sophisticated punditry on the 2024 election, examine what it takes to build a conservative institution, and clear up some confusion around Robby’s name. Brothers and sisters alike are encouraged to tune in.
Show Notes:
- Dr. George: “Universities Shouldn’t Take Political Positions”
- Dr. George: “How Universities Can Restore Academic Freedom and Free Speech”
- Dr. George’s advice for incoming students
- Julien Benda’s The Treason of the Intellectuals
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It’s another round of intense national security wonkery on today’s Remnant, but this time, Jonah’s joined by an overdue first-timer rather than a returning favorite. His guest is Robert D. Kaplan, a prolific writer on foreign policy and author of the new book, The Loom of Time, which explores the state of politics in the Greater Middle East and makes the case for a realist approach to the region. But what does foreign policy realism look like in practice? What kind of shape is democracy in around the world? And what does the future hold for today’s great powers?
Show Notes:
- Robert’s new book, The Loom of Time: Between Empire and Anarchy, from the Mediterranean to China
- Robert: “Order After Empire: The Roots of Instability in the Middle East”
- Robert: “Will America Share Rome’s Fate?”
- Frederick Kagan: “Biden Could Have Stopped the Taliban. He Chose Not To.”
- Orlando Figes’ The Story of Russia
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Jonah’s in an uncharacteristically effulgent and ebullient mood on today’s Ruminant, but don’t let his high spirits trick you into expecting a less ranty and discombobulated episode than usual. Jonah kicks things off with some extended thoughts on the problems with small dollar donors, before shifting, somehow, into a discussion of the coalition instinct among human beings. If that sounds a little too cerebral, rest assured that the latter half of this episode provides nothing but unfiltered punditry on the ongoing Hunter Biden scandal, the latest Trump controversies, and the state of conservative commentary.
Show Notes:
- Jonah’s problem with small dollar donors
- This weekend’s Dispatch Podcast
- The Remnant with Daniel Hannan
- The Remnant with Ken Pollack
- Advisory Opinions on the Georgia indictments
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In keeping with the Remnant’s long tradition of providing edifying counter-programming, Jonah’s joined today by Ken Pollack—AEI senior fellow and expert on the Middle East—to discuss the latest on Iran and American policy toward the region. “Since the 1979 revolution,” Dr. Pollack writes in his latest piece for Foreign Policy, “Iran’s leadership has single-mindedly attempted to dominate the Middle East and drive the United States and Israel out.” But now, Tehran is shifting its approach, and Iranian grand strategy is placing a new emphasis on diplomacy. What does that mean for the United States? How will it affect other relationships between nations? And does Jonah’s general grouchiness stem from his political realism?
Show Notes:
- Dr. Pollack: “Iran’s Grand Strategy Has Fundamentally Shifted”
- The Remnant with Frederick Kagan
- The Remnant with Daniel Hannan
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Sleep-deprived and disoriented in his shrinking ghetto of the egghead-osphere, Jonah’s in desperate need of a euphonious English accent to help him collect his thoughts. Fortunately, prolific author Daniel Hannan is on hand to provide exactly that, and to offer some erudite insights into a wide range of political and philosophical topics. How should we define republican virtue, and what does that have to do with fighting wokeism? Is Britain’s conservative movement a stable force or a hot mess? Has Russia always been awful? And do Europeans think America has gone insane?
Show Notes:
- Inventing Freedom, Daniel’s oft-plugged book
- Kevin Carroll: “An Unthinkable Choice”
- Orlando Figes’ The Story of Russia
- Joseph Henrich’s The WEIRDest People in the World
- George Orwell: “Second Thoughts on James Burnham”
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Jonah’s world is often defined by the things he hates, but just can’t resist talking about. Today’s Ruminant kicks off with an unrelenting rant against many of such subjects, including Trump; populism; and petty, meaningless Twitter feuds. After that, things drift in a more eggheady direction, as Jonah examines Israel’s governmental framework and provides a few musings on public morality. But even if none of those eclectic topics interest you, you’ll want to stick around until the end of this episode to answer an urgent call. The Remnant has received a nomination in the 2023 Podcast Awards, and we need you, our faithful listeners, to vote for the show right here.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Andy McCarthy
- The Dispatch Podcast on Israel’s constitutional moment
- Politico on the online porn industry’s retreat
- Vote for the Remnant in the 2023 Podcast Awards
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On today’s Remnant—which happens to be more than a year in the making—Jonah’s joined for the first time by Ian Rowe, a senior fellow at AEI and the author of Agency (2022), which explores how young people can build strong families and take control of their destiny. Much of their conversation focuses on one of Ian’s primary interests, the success sequence, and whether it’s still valid in modern America. But plenty of wonkish musings are also mixed in on the importance of stable marriages, the achievement gap in education, and the values we should impart to our children.
Show Notes:
-AEI’s special forum on the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington
-The Remnant with Thomas Sowell
-Ian: “A Vision of Black Success”
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If you were hopelessly confused by Jonah’s recent conversation with Sarah Isgur on the Trump indictment, prepare to be even more bewildered by today’s follow-up, which features the overdue Remnant return of Andy McCarthy, National Review’s chief legal poobah. It’s an episode of relentless legal nerdery as they dig deep into the weeds on Trump’s latest legal woes, and whether the claims against him hold up to scrutiny. There’s also some less mind-melting discussion mixed in on the legacy of the Civil Rights Act, the madness of Sidney Powell, and whether the federal government was right to punish Al Capone for tax evasion (yes, really).
Show Notes:
- Andy’s page at National Review
- Jonah and Sarah on the indictment
- The McCarthy Report on the indictment
- Andy: “Anti-Indictment and Pro-Editorial”
- Andy: “The Civil-Rights Theory of Indicting Trump for Election Interference”
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From a mysterious fortress in the depths of the Adirondacks comes today’s Ruminant, which may be the most pointless in quite some time. Addled from weeks of often traumatic travel, Jonah can’t quite keep his thoughts in order, and the result is an episode that glides across the surface of a whole range of topics. Among these are English theater, the Trump indictment, and the evolving Hunter Biden saga. But thanks to the sublime landscape around him, he dedicates most of his time to climate change and the latest hysterics from Greta Thunberg. No, Soylent Green still isn’t reality.
Show Notes:
- The Economist: “Soylent Green Is an Eerie Prophecy”
- Jonah: “Soylent Green Is Wrong, People”
- Jonah: “Threat Level Midnight Forever”
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Back in the USA—but sadly not back at chez dingo—Jonah’s in a particularly exhausted state on today’s Remnant. It doesn’t help that his original plan for this episode—a fun, substance-free conversation with Sarah Isgur—was thwarted by the latest Trump indictment news, which forces the duo to engage in some actual serious discussion on the subject. They explore whether the indictment holds up to scrutiny, how the field of GOP candidates should respond to it, and whether Trump could rightly be convicted under criminal law. Then, as a bonus feature, Jonah taps into another area of Sarah’s expertise—she’s both the mother and wife of a male—to examine how we can address the challenges facing men in civil society. It’s an episode so informative, you’ll wonder why that niche legal podcast even exists.
Show Notes:
- The Collision, Sarah and Mike Warren’s new newsletter
- Sarah and Mike on the new Trump indictment
- The Morning Dispatch, three strikes edition
- Jonah: “Who Are the Real Kingmakers? Voters.”
- Nate Cohn: “Yes, Biden and Trump Are Tied”
- Christine Emba: “Men Are Lost. Here’s a Map Out of the Wilderness.”
- Jonah: “The New Right Is Neither New nor Right”
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There’s been no shortage of disgruntled commentary in conservative media about the state of New York City recently, but it’s important to remember how bad things used to be in comparison. Today, Jonah is joined by old friends Tevi Troy and Vincent Cannato to reflect on what the Big Apple was like in the ‘70s. They dig into urban politics, criminology, and what it takes to reverse social decay, while also providing a few nostalgic musings that could serve as the foundation for an Odd Couple reboot. Just as Rodgers and Hart intended, they’ll have Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island too.
Show Notes:
-The Remnant with criminologist Shawn Bushway
-The Remnant on Portland’s decline with Nancy Rommelmann
-Tevi’s Intellectuals and the American Presidency
-Tevi: “The Odd Couple Metric”
-The Remnant with Matt Continetti on The Right
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Today’s Ruminant finds Jonah across the pond, indulging in greasy fish wrapped in newspaper while trying to forget about some of the less pleasant aspects of his recent trek through the Italian mountains. After recounting a few tales of that arduous expedition, he switches his brain into pundit mode, addressing some of the biggest political questions that have arisen during his absence. What’s going on with the Hunter Biden plea deal? Have the wheels fallen off the DeSantis bus? And what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?
Show Notes:
-The Telegraph’s Ukraine podcast, which should really be sponsoring the show at this point
-The McCarthy Report on Hunter Biden’s plea deal
-Kathryn Jean Lopez: “Jason Aldean Isn’t Helping”
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Thanks to David French’s treachery, Jonah is forced to step into the world of evangelicalism on today’s episode, which features the Remnant debut of Russell Moore, a theologian, pastor, and writer at Christianity Today. Dr. Moore’s new book, Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America, calls for an evangelical revival in the face of America’s contemporary challenges. Together, he and Jonah take a deep dive into what that revival should look like and what role religion should play in American life, while providing enough context to ensure heretical listeners won’t be lost at sea.
This episode is sponsored by our friends at FIRE. FIRE's mission is to safeguard and uphold the right of all Americans to freedom of speech. Be a part of the front line of a growing movement by joining the FIRE Update.
Show Notes:
-Dr. Moore’s new book, Losing Our Religion
-C.S. Lewis’ The Weight of Glory
-Christine Emba: “Men are lost. Here's a map out of the wilderness.”
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If you’re fearful of the future, you may not want to tune in to today’s terrifying Remnant. Jonah’s guest is Nita Farahany, a professor at Duke Law School and the author of The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology. The book explores the rise of neurotechnology—devices designed to track our brain signals to figure out exactly what we’re thinking and feeling and why. But would a world of mental surveillance and ubiquitous neural interfaces be exciting or dystopian? And what are the implications of this technology for our laws, behaviors, and liberties?
This episode is sponsored by our friends at FIRE. FIRE's mission is to safeguard and uphold the right of all Americans to freedom of speech. Be a part of the front line of a growing movement by joining the FIRE Update.
Show Notes:
-Dr. Farahany’s new book, The Battle for Your Brain
-The Remnant with Jonathan Adler
-Dr. Farahany: “TikTok Is Part of China’s Cognitive Warfare Campaign”
-Shoshana Zuboff’s The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
-Dr. Farahany: “Searching Secrets”
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Jonah performs a rare act of magnanimity on today’s Remnant, freeing Abe Greenwald, Commentary’s executive editor, from the verbal oppression of John Podhoretz. Abe’s first appearance on this program is long overdue, and he’s quick to dispense some dark secrets of the Commentary podcast that he’s clearly been bottling up. But when the political analysis begins, it’s as pure and wide-ranging as you’d expect. There’s an extended discussion of how America became a low-trust society, an exploration of conspiracy theories and whether those who peddle them are worth debating, and a round of obligatory kvetching about the state of conservatism. Whether Jonah and Abe are as seductive as many new right thinkers seem to be, however, is for you to decide.
This episode is sponsored by our friends at FIRE. FIRE's mission is to safeguard and uphold the right of all Americans to freedom of speech. Be a part of the front line of a growing movement by joining the FIRE Update.
Show Notes:
- The John Podhoretz Show, aka the Commentary podcast
- Abe: “Leave the Grandkids Out of It”
- Jonah: “When Reality Is a Punch in the Face”
- Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s mishap
- David French: “The Rage and Joy of MAGA America”
- Crushing Senority on the Commentary podcast
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Any malefactors of great wealth who also happen to be devoted Remnant listeners may wish to avoid today’s episode. Jonah’s guest is Matt Lewis, a senior columnist at The Daily Beast, who’s on the program to discuss his new book, Filthy Rich Politicians: The Swamp Creatures, Latte Liberals, and Ruling-Class Elites Cashing in on America. Together, they explore “how the rich get elected and the elected get rich,” and what that means for American politics. Some grouchy musings on the future of the GOP are also mixed in, as well as a few more wholesome reflections on Matt’s life in West Virginia.
This episode is sponsored by our friends at FIRE. FIRE's mission is to safeguard and uphold the right of all Americans to freedom of speech. Be a part of the front line of a growing movement by joining the FIRE Update.
Show Notes:
- Matt’s new book, Filthy Rich Politicians
- Matt’s page at The Daily Beast
- Mike Murphy on why Trump won’t win the primary
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If you thought the Ruminant was incoherent at the best of times, you may be completely unprepared for today’s unpredictable onslaught of twists and turns. Grappling with a serious hangover, Jonah begins with a reflection on the war in Ukraine and somehow ends by discussing his newfound love for The Bear, all the while emitting a distracting array of grunts and groans. Along the way, he also finds time for a few more substantial and vituperative rants, which primarily concern his disdain for Adam McKay and what we get wrong about college admissions.
This episode is sponsored by our friends at FIRE. FIRE's mission is to safeguard and uphold the right of all Americans to freedom of speech. Be a part of the front line of a growing movement by joining the FIRE Update.
Show Notes:
- Scott Lincicome: “‘The Bear’ Is a Tribute to Dynamism—and What Blocks It”
- Jonah on friends on the life and legacy of Paul Cantor (skip to 2:55:35 to hear Jonah’s most despised question)
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If you’re obsessed with pop culture but can’t stand Rob Long and John Podhoretz, today’s Remnant may be the weird, wonderful, and interruption-free GLoP alternative you’ve been waiting for. Jonah’s joined for the first time by Christopher Scalia, former academic suit turned scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Their paths recently crossed during an AEI panel on the legacy of cultural critic Paul Cantor, where they offered some exceptionally square-eyed geekery on TV shows both obvious and obscure. Jonah felt the event raised a number of urgent questions, so today, they provide answers: What happened to P.I. shows? Does The Godfather glamorize the mafia? How is wokeness influencing television? And is Chris really related to a famous justice? (Spoiler alert: Yes.)
This episode is sponsored by our friends at FIRE. FIRE's mission is to safeguard and uphold the right of all Americans to freedom of speech. Be a part of the front line of a growing movement by joining the FIRE Update.
Show Notes:
- Jonah and Chris discuss the life and legacy of Paul Cantor
- Joan Biskupic’s American Original: The Life and Constitution of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
- Chris: “‘Tom Jones’ Is No Masterpiece”
- The Remnant with Bret Devereaux
- Paul Cantor’s Gilligan Unbound
- Paul Cantor’s The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture
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There’s been quite the media furore about rising crime rates in recent years. But now that COVID is behind us and cities are alive again, are the numbers on crime moving in a more positive direction? RAND Corporation criminologist Shawn Bushway is back on the Remnant today to answer this question, and to address a few other points of concern and uncertainty surrounding policing and criminal justice in modern America. What determines rates of recidivism? Are certain crimes becoming more common than in the past? Is there merit to broken windows theory? And have we finally got beyond defunding the police?
Show Notes:
- Dr. Bushway’s previous Remnant appearance
- Dr. Bushway’s research on hiring people with criminal histories
- “Ex-Prisoners Face Headwinds as Job Seekers, Even as Openings Abound”
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Today’s Ruminant finds Jonah on an uncharacteristic high, and no, his good mood can’t be attributed to a certain substance that was recently discovered in the White House. He’s actually in elevated spirits because a recent AEI event prompted him to rediscover the work of Paul Cantor, a late scholar at the University of Virginia who analyzed pop culture through a conservative lens. He begins today’s program with a thorough exploration of Cantor’s work, before delivering similarly overlong rants on the American Founding and the purpose of the Supreme Court. Sometimes, the Remnant can feel like a wonderful drug.
Show Notes:
-Jonah and friends discuss Paul Cantor
-Vanity Fair: “America Has a Supreme Court Problem”
-The Remnant celebrates the Fourth of July
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Trapped on the island of Nantucket, a guestless Jonah uses today’s Remnant to provide an impromptu meditation on the Fourth of July. His musings explore the meaning of the Declaration of Independence, whether America is a nation or an idea, and why it’s vital to teach American history. Listen with a hot dog in one hand and a miniature flag in the other to feel like a true patriot.
Show Notes:
- Henry Fairlie: “The Shot Heard Round the World”
- The Gettysburg Address and the meaning of the 4th
- Irving Kristol: “The American Revolution as a Successful Revolution”
- Calvin Coolidge on the Declaration of Independence
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Rather than dedicating today’s Ruminant to another interminable rant about the state of the GOP (although if you’re interested in one of those, you might want to read Wednesday's members-only G-File, hint-hint), Jonah focuses his attention on topics less likely to drive him utterly insane. These include some major recent Supreme Court decisions, his shrinking skepticism of horseshoe theory, and our tendency to overlook the meaningful distinctions between friends, family, and strangers. Tune in also to hear Jonah thoroughly dispel all rumors of his anti-Italian bigotry.
Show Notes:
- The GLoP Culture podcast
- The Dispatch Podcast on the end of affirmative action
- The Remnant with Bret Devereaux
- Guy is released from the pit for a Remnant AMA
- Jonah: “Defending Conservatism—From the Right”
- Gertrude Himmelfarb’s The Roads to Modernity: the British, French, and American Enlightenments
- Violence and Social Orders: A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History
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Unable to find a guest who’s willing to tolerate his ramblings, an anesthetized Jonah is forced to return to the AMA format on today’s distinctly messy Remnant. Temporarily freed from his pit, Guy, Jonah’s immigrant manservant, offers a fresh batch of listener questions that cover everything from the latest in Supreme Court controversies, to the prospect of a Dispatch blogging section, to the conservative underpinnings of popular movies and TV shows. But although their conversation contains a few nuggets of genuine substance, most of it proves to be so pointlessly indulgent that you may be better served by simply listening to the week’s first episode again.
Show Notes:
-The Remnant with Bret Devereaux
-Advisory Opinions on Alito’s preemptive strike
-Justice Alito’s Wall Street Journal op-ed
-Jonah: “Stop Pining for the ‘Good Old Days’”
- he Daniel J. Boorstin Reader
-Jonah discusses Patrick Deneen on the Acton Institute podcast
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Jonah’s unwashed historical nerdery is usually unparalleled, but on today’s Remnant, he may finally have met his match. His guest? Ancient historian Bret Devereaux, who joins to discuss all things Roman. With topics including war and peace, political philosophy, and the cruelty of Spartan society, their conversation is sure to eliminate any misguided nostalgia you may have for the past.
Show Notes:
- Bret talks Orc battle tactics on that niche legal podcast
- Bret on Ancient Greece and Rome
- Bret makes a correction on social conservatism
- Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined
- Azar Gat’s War in Human Civilization
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Saddened by hate mail and addled by a dingo-related health scare, Jonah’s in an exceptionally frazzled state of mind on today’s predictably excessive Ruminant. He begins his ramblings by addressing a crude spat between Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Green in the middle of the House floor before pivoting to some recent Russian war crimes in Ukraine. Then, it’s nerdery all the way down as he revisits last week’s G-File, which inspires a rant on the philosophical origins of liberalism, what defines American culture, and why there really is nothing new under the sun.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Stephanie Slade
- The Remnant with Robert Kagan
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WARNING: The following episode contains multiple references to a certain American president who shall not be named. Due to the high volume of mentions, The Dispatch production team used discretion in playing the musical cue which normally follows all such mentions. We apologize in advance.
On today’s Remnant, Jonah is joined by Robert Kagan—leading scholar of foreign policy and senior fellow at the reviled Brookings Institution, where the sweet taste of candy never gets old—to discuss his new beach read, a 700-page history of America’s role in the world in the first half of the 20th century. Their conversation covers everything from the origins of the League of Nations to the wackiness of Charles Beard, with some fiendishly nerdy musings on isolationism, nativism, and conservatism mixed in for good measure. Predictably, Jonah does not make good on his initial promise to “not get too deep into the weeds.”
Show Notes:
-Due to the insane amount of "Wilson" name drops in this episode, there will only be one Wilson theme music play
-The Ghost at the Feast: America and the Collapse of the World Order, 1900-1941
-The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History
-American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis
-“Challenging the U.S. Is a Historic Mistake”
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Patrick Deneen has released a new book, and predictably, Jonah has some pointed opinions on it. To critique Deneen’s post-liberal vision for American society and the political right, Jonah is joined by a returning Stephanie Slade, senior editor at Reason and noted liberty-lover. With furious agreement and ornery hand-wringing, they take a deep dive into the strange world of the new right, analyzing how seriously we should take its vision for the conservative movement. They also provide a few thoughts on the state of Catholicism, what the Dobbs decision revealed about voters, and why nobody can agree about immigration.
Show Notes:
-Jonah: “Patrick Deneen's Otherworldly Regime”
- Stephanie: “Liberalism Isn't Rule by Elites”
-Stephanie: “The New Right Isn't So New”
-Stephanie: “The Rise of Right-Progressivism”
-Adrian Vermeule: “Integration From Within”
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Despite the desperate pleas of his wife, his RA, and his psychiatrist, Jonah insists on continuing to record the Ruminant, and his sanity may be steadily slipping away with each mumbled syllable. Today, he largely resists the temptation to discuss the Trump indictment, instead digging into Johns Hopkins’ baffling new classification of lesbians, California’s push to punish “non-affirming parents”, and the sheer lack of decorum we all must now endure. Things conclude on familiar ground with an ol’-fashioned, extra-curmudgeonly rant about the new right’s bizarre nostalgia for the Dark Ages.
Show Notes:
- The McCarthy Report on Trump’s indictment
- Advisory Opinions, also on Trump’s indictment
- The “non-men” of Johns Hopkins
- Michael Knowles and the 1220s
- Politico’s Patrick Deneen profile
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In what may be the most focused conversation in the history of this podcast, Jonah is joined by Rick Hess—AEI senior fellow and esteemed education policy wonk—to discuss his new book, The Great School Rethink. During COVID, it became clear that American schools could use an overhaul. But what should reform look like in practice? Rick has answers, and he also has thoughts on hot-button subjects ranging from the education-industrial complex (yes, it’s a thing) to the debate over school choice and standardized tests. Other topics addressed include the use of technology in schools, the role of parents in education, and the nature of choice. As usual, if it’s eggheadery you’re after, the Remnant will never give you up or let you down.
Show Notes:
-Rick’s new book, The Great School Rethink
-Rick: “Schools Are Trying to Do Too Much”
-Rick: “Moving from “Reform” to “Rethinking”
-James Q. Wilson’s Bureaucracy: What Governments Do and Why They Do It
-Arthur Bestor’s Educational Wastelands: The Retreat From Learning in our Public Schools
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Live from the uncomfortably moist surroundings of Houston, Texas, Jonah’s joined by Jonathan Adler—Case Western University professor and trusted law-talking guy—for some scatterbrained political, legal, and economic geekery. Today’s topics include the Trump indictment, the full-spectrum crankery of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the slow decline of common good constitutionalism, and how free markets can help the environment. Throughout, the punditry is unfiltered, the policy talk is relentlessly eggheady, and the Hillary bashing is surprisingly pertinent.
Show Notes:
- Jonathan: “Learning How to Fish”
- Jonathan: “Senate Goes Nuclear, Expect Fallout”
- Jonathan: “Markets and Dematerialization”
- Matthew Scully’s defense of Robert F. Kennedy Jr…
- Samoa suffered a measles outbreak after anti-vaccine sentiment rose
- Jonah: “Republicans wanted Clinton prosecuted for her emails. And now they defend Trump?”
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Tired, disorganized, and intent on burdening listeners with his personal problems, Jonah nonetheless approaches today’s eclectic Ruminant with aplomb. Granted, it helps that the details of the most pressing item on the docket—namely, the indictment of one Donald J. Trump—aren’t particularly clear yet, which allows Jonah to rant without sliding into too deep of a depression. Afterward, he touches on Chris Licht’s departure from CNN, why misuse of the term “isolationism” is so rampant, and what it takes to build a fulfilling life.
Show Notes:
- The Morning Dispatch breaks down Trump’s indictment
- Tim Alberta: “Inside the Meltdown at CNN”
- A special live Remnant on Jonah, Chris, and Steve’s departure from Fox
- Jonah: “Your Life Portfolio—and Ours”
- Robert Kagan’s The Ghost at the Feast
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Klon Kitchen—former Dispatch national security extraordinaire turned private sector sellout—is back on the Remnant to take a deep dive into the exciting (read: terrifying) realm of artificial intelligence. With ChatGPT becoming ubiquitous, debate is raging over whether advancements in AI will bring forth an apocalyptic future or a brave new world. Klon’s prediction is that we’ll end up somewhere in the middle, and he has answers to all of the most intriguing questions of the moment: How exactly does AI work? Should we worry about machines replacing human workers? And will Jonah ever forgive David French for his treachery?
Show Notes:
- Advisory Opinions on an infelicitous use of ChatGPT
- Marc Andreessen: “Why AI Will Save the World”
- Nearly a third of adults under 30 support surveillance in their homes
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Armed with a provocative assortment of inappropriate puns, Jonah invites AEI Senior Fellow Philip Wallach onto the Remnant for the first time to discuss the importance of Congress and what we can do to fix the legislative branch. As holders of the Remnant bingo card are well aware, reforming Congress by expanding its size and discouraging performative behavior within its ranks has been one of Jonah’s primary obsessions since the launch of this program. Today, he’s sure to indulge in as many nerdish lines of inquiry on the subject as possible, waxing Yuvalian from start to finish. What core functions is Congress failing to perform? When did the institution begin to decline? And are its deficiencies fueling broader cultural partisanship?
Show Notes:
- Phil’s new book, Why Congress
- Phil: “Time for Congress to Choose Deliberation Over Dysfunction”
- Phil: “If We Give Up on Congress, What Will We Lose?”
- Ben Sasse’s Kavanaugh hearing speech
- Lyman Stone on expanding Congress
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Today’s predictably overlong Ruminant finds Jonah haunted by foreign language commercials, which seem to be infiltrating all of his favorite podcasts and TV shows. Fortunately, his terror provides a useful launching pad for a rant on the nature of language and its role in shaping (or, in most cases, degrading) public thought on nuanced political issues. Tune in also for some obscenely rank punditry on Donald Trump’s dishonesty, Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid, and monetary policy, a subject that Jonah can’t help but have thoughts on despite professing to know nothing about it.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with David Bahnsen
- The Trump document saga continues
- The Remnant with Matt Continetti
- Rich Lowry: “How We Help People Like Megan Fox”
- The Economist: “What America has got wrong about gender medicine”
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After a spate of episodes crammed with mercilessly rank punditry and self-indulgent eggheadery, it’s time for the Remnant to get wonky once again. Jonah’s guest today is AEI’s Hal Brands, who’s back to discuss all things foreign policy. With the Ukraine conflict raging, tensions continuing to mount between the U.S. and China, and debates about America’s role in the world consuming the right, there’s no shortage of topics up for grabs. Does the United States actually have a strategic vision anymore? What’s the relationship between history and public policy? And will Chinese or American robots overthrow mankind first?
Show Notes:
- Hal’s new book, The New Makers of Modern Strategy
- Hal: “Biden Will Find That Breaking Up With China Is Hard to Do”
- Hal: “How the American War Machine Ran Out of Gas”
- Rank punditry and notes from Ukraine on Dispatch Live
- Kevin Williamson: “The Burial of the Dead”
- Orlando Figes’ The Story of Russia
- Jonathan Kirshner’s An Unwritten Future
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David Bahnsen, Jonah’s trusted economics guru, is back on the Remnant to provide some raw, unfiltered wonkery on the latest in financial disasters. From the debt ceiling deal to the persistence of inflation, no policy matter, however terrifying, can escape his wonky gaze. Tune in also for a few musings on the Japanification of America, the appeal of conspiracy theories, and the nuttiness of the new right (yes, again).
Show Notes:
- David’s Capital Record podcast
- The Morning Dispatch breaks down the end of the debt limit saga
- Kevin Williamson: “The Burial of the Dead”
- David: “How to Fight the Politicization of Business”
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On the verge of a full recovery from his schnozzle surgery (more ominously referred to as “the operation”), Jonah’s prepared to indulge in another needlessly long Ruminant that blends a generous helping of conservative dorkery with a smidgen of rank punditry. He gets things started with a few thoughts on Ron DeSantis’ glitch-ridden campaign announcement, but afterward, it’s time for a highfalutin geekout as he examines the failure of the new right to appeal to people who aren’t chronically online. Stick around until the end for a defense of a recent G-File.
Show Notes:
- The Morning Dispatch on DeSantis’ campaign launch
- Answering listener questions with Guy on the Remnant
- The Dispatch Podcast dispenses rank punditry
- Vanity Fair: “The American Conservative May Be on Its Last Legs”
- Charlie Cooke: “Why Can’t Progressive Writers Defend the Law”
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On today’s Remnant, Jonah’s brain is uniquely scrambled. He’s still disoriented after slipping into a near comatose state last week, and his nose hasn’t quite readjusted to the feeling of fresh air. Rather than forcing a guest to deal with his mental malaise, he brings Guy, his immigrant manservant, back onto the program to field another round of carefully cultivated listener questions. The resulting conversation—which touches on the 2024 election, the purpose of American conservatism, the shame of closeted Kiss fans, and Jonah’s deranged fondness for a blowtorch—is as peculiarly nerdish as you’d expect
Show Notes:
- The Remnant, hosted by Chris Stirewalt, with David Drucker
- Jonah: “Does the GOP Deserve Tim Scott?”
- Albert Jay Nock’s Memoirs of a Superfluous Man
- David Pietrusza’s 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents
- Jonah: “Goldberg’s Conservative Canon”
- Keeping the Tablets: Modern American Conservative Thought
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While Jonah struggles with a nasal incident, Chris Stirewalt—more commonly recognized as Pooh Richardson’s number one fan—returns to the Remnant command chair. He’s joined by Dispatch Politics mastermind David Drucker to discuss a horrifying subject that’s inescapably consuming everything: the 2024 election. The punditry is uncut, the pop culture references are punchy, and the nudity is tasteful as they examine what we should expect from each GOP candidate. Can anyone match Donald Trump’s mastery of schmoozing? Can Tim Scott appeal to American families? And does Ron DeSantis qualify for carbon-based life?
Show Notes:
- David’s newsletter, Dispatch Politics
- Dispatch Politics: “Tim Scott Takes His 2024 Shot”
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It’s that time again: Chris “Lil’ Enos” Stirewalt is back on the Remnant to provide his signature blend of square-eyed pop culture nerdery and fiendishly rank punditry. What do the size of Congress, James Comey’s ego, and The Dispatch’s profit margin have to do with one another? Was the Durham report an explosive game-changer or a damp squib? How’s the Republican primary shaping up? And are we really about to endure a Trump-Biden rematch? Only Chris and Jonah possess the knowledge of Smokey and the Bandit necessary to answer these questions with maximum insight.
Show Notes:
- Subscribe to The Dispatch and watch an exclusive live Remnant with Jonah, Chris, and Steve Hayes
- The Remnant with Elizabeth Nolan Brown
- Chris: “The Republican Case for Lying Down for Trump Again”
- Noah Rothman: “GOP Voters Are Making Impossible Demands of a Trump Alternative”
- Jonah: “Our No-Win Scenario”
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Last year, Remnant regular and AEI scholar Matt Continetti published The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism, a tome so nerdy that he and Jonah needed two full podcast episodes just to discuss the first half of it. Today, Matt returns to the program to continue working through the history of the right from the ‘80s to the present. Or, at least, that was the plan. Instead, the conversation ends up focusing on the nature of the new right, how Pat Buchanan changed conservatism, and what Donald Trump’s devotees actually want. Plus, listeners of the Commentary podcast will be delighted to find that Matt is actually allowed to speak.
Show Notes:
- The Right, now available in paperback
- Part one of Matt’s previous Remnant nerdfest…
- Lionel Trilling’s The Liberal Imagination
- Julius Krein: “I Voted for Trump. And I Sorely Regret It.”
- Christopher Lasch’s The Revolt of the Elites
- Tom Wolfe: “The Great Relearning”
- Ezra Klein: “The Problem With Everything-Bagel Liberalism”
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In what may be the most indulgent Ruminant ever recorded (which is really saying a lot), Jonah delivers a supremely curmudgeonly rant that encompasses everything from the formative years of Western civilization to the 2024 presidential election. After providing a pointless overview of his taste in political podcasts, he dives into the importance of taboos in society, and why throwing away centuries of inherited wisdom might not be the best idea. (Hint: Suicide of the West is still available from all good booksellers.) Then, it’s rank punditry all the way down, as Jonah offers musings on the Jordan Neely situation, rising crime in cities, the baby bust, and the continuing madness of Donald Trump. It’s as cheery an episode as you’d expect.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Elizabeth Nolan Brown
- The Dispatch Podcast on all things Trump
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In a twist on the standard Remnant formula that nobody asked for, Jonah is joined by noted chicken wing connoisseur Steve Hayes to co-host today’s episode. Their guest is Ben Smith, founder of Semafor, former editor in chief of BuzzFeed News, and author of the new book, Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. The book takes us back to the early days of the internet to explore how the rivalry between Jonah Peretti of BuzzFeed and Nick Denton of Gawker paved the way for today's climate of disinformation, and naturally, it raises a number of questions. How has journalism changed since the dawn of the internet? Why does the young right tend to confuse social media with real life? What can we do to fix the media landscape? And will Jonah ever get over the golden age of blogging?
Show Notes:
- Ben: “Confessions of a Media Chronicler”
- Semafor
- Benjy Sarlin: “Take Donald Trump seriously, not literally, on ‘fake news’”
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It’s been a while since the Remnant featured some pro-natal wonkery. To fill that void, Jonah’s joined today by Elizabeth Nolan Brown, a senior editor at Reason, to discuss her cover story for the latest issue of the magazine, “Storks Don't Take Orders From the State.” Together, they discuss the many burning questions surrounding baby-making in modern America: Why are fertility rates falling (spoiler: Elizabeth doesn’t think it’s because there’s a crippling sex recession)? Are pro-natalist policies working in other places? What are the main reasons to have children? And will Jonah ever explain his hatred of old people?
Show Notes:
- Elizabeth’s author page at Reason
- Elizabeth’s cover story, “Storks Don't Take Orders From the State”
- Jonah: “The Worst Fang Club”
- Yuval Levin: “The Changing Face of Social Breakdown”
- Jonah: “I Think We’re Turning Japanese”
- Brian Doherty: “Libertarian Party Faces State Rebellions”
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Jonah finds himself alone with the quadrupeds on today’s Ruminant as the Fair Jessica embarks on a grand European adventure. Isolated and caffeine-deprived, he’s in especially indulgent form as he rambles through a handful of interrelated topics. First up on the docket is a Supreme Court case that could scale back American bureaucracy, which prompts an extended discussion of how most of the problems we face in modern society can be attributed to a lack of self-government (whatever that means). Afterward, Jonah touches on the importance of institutions in a hyper-technological world, the dumbness of Republican and Democratic rhetoric around crime, and the improbable link between soup kitchens and Call of Duty chat rooms. Brace yourself for an extra-crotchety ride.
Show Notes:
- The Morning Dispatch: “SCOTUS Poised to Rein in the Administrative State”
- Philip Hamburger’s Is Administrative Law Unlawful
- Charles Murray’s By the People
- Jonah: “Is the GOP Becoming a Dysfunctional Chatroom?”
- Michelle Cottle: “Georgia’s Hot Mess Is Headed Your Way”
- A crime-ridden Dispatch Podcast
- The Remnant with criminologist Shawn Bushway
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On today’s very special Remnant, recorded before a live audience of Dispatch devotees in the hallowed halls of the American Enterprise Institute, Jonah is joined by Steve Hayes and Chris Stirewalt for an in-depth discussion of their time at Fox News. For the first time, they explore what it was like to work at Fox before 2015, how things changed when the Trump era began, and why they resonated with the network’s original approach. They also touch on Tucker Carlson’s firing and how we can improve cable news in this fraught political moment. But only the first half of their conversation is presented here. To hear the whole thing, you’ll need to become a member of the Dispatch community (sign up here!). Members will be able to access the entire discussion in both audio and video form on the Dispatch website, in the Dispatch Live feed. We’re grateful to all of you for your support, and we can’t wait to organize some similar live tapings in the future. Stay tuned…
Show Notes:
- Become a Dispatch member to get the full episode
- Steve and Jonah: “Why We Are Leaving Fox News”
- National Review’s “Against Trump” issue
- The Wall Street Journal on Tucker’s foul language
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If you feel like making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got, then take a break from all your worries with today’s Remnant, which features the overdue return of esteemed screenwriter and satirist Rob Long. Unrestrained by the ramblings of John Podhoretz, Rob and Jonah discuss the Hollywood writers’ strike, and what it means for the future of TV. They also touch on how AI could change creative professions, the qualities that define great shows, and whether Tucker Carlson’s departure from Fox is more gripping than any serialized drama. Oh, and tune in to hear Rob challenge Jonah’s polygamous approach to podcasting.
Show Notes:
-WATCH: Jonah Goldberg interviews Rob Long
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A week filled with enough stunningly incorrect predictions to conclusively prove he isn’t psychic has left Jonah in an especially pensive mood. Consequently, today’s Ruminant quickly transforms into a rundown of the greatest hits from a string of misses. Jonah kicks things off with a discussion of Tucker’s firing—has Fox really changed?—before moving into a mea culpa surrounding the debt ceiling bill that passed in the House. Afterward, he addresses a veritable feast of populist asinities on subjects ranging from the boneheaded response to a new Barbie to the cult of the Uniparty. Let the great beclowning commence.
Show Notes:
-Talking Fox on the Dispatch Podcast
-Michael Brendan Dougherty and Noah Rothman on Megyn Kelley’s podcast
-MTG makes the Randi Weingarten hearing about herself
-Burke’s “Birds of Prey” speech
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Braving the sweltering heat and practical limitations of the AEI podcasting studio, Jack Butler, the original Smithers to Jonah’s Monty Burns, makes his return to the Remnant to discuss the state of conservatism among young people. He and Jonah journey deep into the psyche of the hyper-online right, answering just about every question you could possibly have about the alt-right’s favorite thinkers and the appeal of pre-modern LARPing. What do national conservatives and integralists really want? Do any of them actually believe what they’re saying? And most importantly, can you argue with a Buick?
Show Notes:
- Jack’s author page at National Review
- Jack explains Bronze Age Pervert
- Jack: “9/11: An Atrocity Misused”
- Michael Anton’s review of Bronze Age Mindset
- Burke’s “Birds of Prey” Speech
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In spite of enough technical difficulties to make a grown man weep, today’s Remnant—featuring AEI senior fellow Tony Mills—delivers a thorough, punchy exploration of the COVID crisis and the cult of expertise in American politics. He and Jonah discuss increased specialization in liberal societies, the dreaded Dr. Fauci criticism, and how the idea of certainty colors our political discourse. How intertwined is the crisis of liberalism with our understanding of scientific authority?
Show Notes
- Tony’s last Remnant appearance
- Mike Duncan’s Revolutions podcast
- Tony: “Saving Liberalism from Itself”
- Tony: “Unmasking Scientific Expertise”
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Animated by a week’s worth of pent-up rage—inspired by the nonsensical prattling of would-be authoritarians and the dupes who love them—Jonah brings a cantankerous energy to today’s Ruminant, which quickly devolves into a rant of titanic proportions. He begins with some brief thoughts on Joe Biden’s rumored plans to announce his re-election campaign, before diving into an obscure Edmund Burke speech and its implications for the modern conservative movement. Then, an exceedingly curmudgeonly rant ensues against the totalitarian instinct driving factions of the Republican Party. When will the grownups return to American politics?
Show Notes:
- Christine Rosen’s Remnant appearance
- Edmund Burke’s “Speech in Commons on India, 1783”
- Jonah: “The Ties That Blind”
- Jonah rants about the New York Young Republican Club
- Learning from Vlad the Impaler?
- Noah Rothman’s piece on JD Vance
- The Bull Moose Project’s director being a jackanape
- Win a free Dispatch subscription!
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Christine Rosen, senior fellow at AEI and—alleged—cohost of the Commentary podcast, makes an overdue Remnant return today. In this obstinate exercise in counter-programming, Christine and Jonah discuss just about every topic you could imagine besides Fox News’ settlement with Dominion. From the growing influence of the transgender debate on American politics to Ron DeSantis’ chances in the coming primaries, the two bounce between topics so controversial and toxic that poor David French might just get canceled by association.
Show Notes:
-Christine: “How Trauma Became a Political Tool”
-Christine: “The Mainstream Media Damaged Our Children”
-The Remnant with A.B. Stoddard
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Yahoo News’ Jon Ward makes his Remnant debut to discuss his new book, Testimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Failed a Generation. The resulting conversation—which fuses highfalutin theology with just a dollop of rank punditry—touches on just about everything you could want to know about America’s crisis of Christianity. Topics range from spiritual abuse, to the history of American Christianity, to Trump’s effect on the integrity of evangelicalism, all of which are covered with the utmost nerdery.
Show Notes:
-Watch: Jonah interview Jon Ward
- Testimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Failed a Generation
- Jon: “Lead Us Not Into Temptation”
- The Long Game, Jon’s podcast
- Julien Benda’s The Treason of the Intellectuals
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Jonah’s off like a herd of turtles in today’s rambling, self-indulgent behemoth of a Ruminant. After opening with a positively riveting description of The Dispatch’s approach to media training, he deftly transitions into a discussion of the Pentagon leak and the subsequent fecal festival that has consumed MAGA media. From there, listen—with all appropriate deference and awe—as Jonah delicately dances through such light-hearted topics as Russian war crimes, Nazis marching in Skokie (yes, again), and the controversy surrounding Harlan Crow and Clarence Thomas.
This episode is sponsored by our friends at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Head to thefire.org/update and subscribe to The FIRE Update today.
Show Notes:
- The Dispatch Podcast covers the leak
- MTG beclowns herself once again
- Jonah’s Remnant free speech debate with Sarah
- Jonah’s previous defense of Harlan Crow
- Clarence Thomas failed to disclose the purchase of his old home
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Fred Kagan, senior fellow at AEI and director of the Critical Threats Project, makes his long awaited Remnant debut in today’s delectably nerdish discussion of Ukraine and Taiwan. After kicking things off with a deep dive into the state of the war in Ukraine, Jonah and Fred explore Russia’s military disorder, the influence of Soviet history on Russia’s modern military, and the origins of Putin’s ideology (no, he doesn’t just hear voices in his head). Stay until the end to hear some thoughts on Taiwan’s importance to American interests and our position on the world stage. Hint: It’s a pretty big deal.
Show Notes:
- AEI’s Critical Threats Project
- AEI’s Coalition Defense of Taiwan
- The Telegraph should really be sponsoring us at this point…
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Brace yourselves, it’s a long one. Due to popular demand, Jonah has—graciously—pulled Sarah out of the world of obscure legal nerdery and onto The Dispatch’s flagship podcast to discuss the famous Nazis-marching-in-Skokie case. After a period of extended throat clearing—featuring a list of proposed baby names from Sarah that may inspire calls to CPS—the two set the stage for their debate. Sarah believes that this case was one of the proudest moments in American history; Jonah is unconvinced.
This episode is sponsored by our friends at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Head to thefire.org/update and subscribe to The FIRE Update today.
Show Notes
-WATCH: Jonah and Sarah debate free speech
- Sarah (and only Sarah’s) niche legal podcast
- John Mulaney at the Salt and Pepper Diner
- Sarah brings David French onto Advisory Opinions to discuss Clarence Thomas
- George Will: “Nazis: Outside the Constitution” (found on page 13)
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Jonah’s back from New York and ready to participate in his weekly therapy session, otherwise known as the Ruminant. After beginning with a look under the hood of the G-File, he moves on to the week’s various annoyances, kvetching about everything from the expulsions in Tennessee’s House of Representatives to the fallout from Biden’s brainless Afghanistan withdrawal. Stick around until the end to hear Jonah’s thoughts on the recent controversy surrounding Harlan Crow and Clarence Thomas.
Show Notes:
- Rebekah Jones claims her son is a political prisoner
- The depressing reality behind his arrest
- The White House’s report on the Afghanistan withdrawal
- The Editors on Trump’s arraignment
- The Remnant with A.B. Stoddard
- ProPublica on Clarence Thomas and Harlan Crow
- Wednesday’s G-File, featuring an invitation to a special live Remnant taping
- Ufology on the Remnant with Jazz Shaw
- One, two, three, four, five…
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Unable to resist the allure of rank punditry any longer, Jonah brings his trusted election sherpa, A.B. Stoddard, back to the Remnant for a journey through the depths of human depravity (or, more specifically, the burgeoning 2024 election). They kick things off with a discussion of Trump’s arraignment—and what it means for the primaries—before delving into the logistics of a Biden reelection campaign. Afterward, they touch on a variety of subjects, including the prospect of a Kamala Harris presidency, the Wisconsin Supreme Court election result, and Trump’s deadly habit of juggling chainsaws.
Show Notes:
- Trump’s speech at Mar-a-Lago
- A.B.: “Why (and How) Biden Should Decline to Run Again”
- A.B.: “Will DeSantis Rescue Republicans or Let Them Down?”
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Trump’s indictment has left serious journalists everywhere scrambling to cover the developing story, so of course, Jonah’s response is to arrange some radical counter-programming. He’s joined today by Jazz Shaw, a Navy veteran and Hot Air’s weekend editor, for an out-of-this-world discussion of UFOs. In this eagerly anticipated follow-up to last week’s episode with Avi Loeb, Jonah and Jazz tackle all of the most pressing questions facing the ufology community. Why do pilots keep spotting UFOs? Is the government competent enough to hide big secrets? And what’s so special about cows?
Show Notes:
-Spacing out with the New York Times
-Pentagon receives more than 350 new reports of UFO sightings
-2022 Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena
-The National UFO Reporting Center
- The Roswell Report: Case Closed
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After a week spent navigating enough scheduling problems to make the Fyre Festival look like a masterclass in logistics, Jonah’s ready to relieve his frustrations with a particularly ranty Ruminant. Things get off to a fiery start thanks to a recent post from the New York Young Republican Club—whose members have apparently decided that boot-licking sycophancy is the mark of an “authentic” American. Evidently, they picked a bad week to display their clownishness so publicly, as Jonah spends nearly the entire episode tearing them to shreds. Stick around to the end to hear some brief thoughts on an especially buffoonish Ibram X. Kendi article and the potential for adding a “Corner”-style blog to The Dispatch.
Show Notes:
-Jonah joins Sarah and Kevin on the Dispatch Podcast
-The tomfoolery of the New York Young Republican Club
-Ibram X. Kendi’s self-aggrandizing piece in The Atlantic
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Charles C.W. Cooke, Jonah’s go-to Remnant cheap date, makes an unplanned return to the program today due to a scheduling snafu. (No interns were harmed for their incompetence in the making of this episode.) With another tragic mass shooting in the headlines, Jonah and Charlie take the opportunity to discuss how such incidents can be deterred and whether it’s possible to stop them through legislation. In light of recent controversies, they also offer a few philosophical musings on free speech. And no, Charlie doesn’t have a cough drop lodged in his throat.
Show Notes:
-The Editors on the Nashville shooting
-Is the juice worth the squeeze?
Episode sponsor:
-The Foundation for Civil Rights and Expression... follow FIRE at: thefire.org/update
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The truth is out there, and Jonah may uncover it on today’s Remnant. To boldly go where no pundit has gone before, he’s joined by Avi Loeb—Harvard astrophysicist and author of the recent book, Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars—to discuss UFOs and our place in the universe. Together, they endeavor to answer all of the most pressing questions about alien life: How should we approach the study of interstellar objects? What role does the government play in scientific inquiry? And most importantly, when can we expect the sweet meteor of death to strike?
Show Notes:
-Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars
-Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth
-Paper claiming ‘Oumuamua is a “water iceberg”
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Live from the mean streets of midtown Manhattan, Jonah delivers a fiery and excessive—but mostly peaceful—Ruminant. After opening with a discussion of how—much like the government—Donald Trump will never love you back, he turns to the outrage provoked by the cancelation of a West Texas A&M drag show. From there, he gracefully dances between topics ranging from the ridiculous “cult of youth” to Ron DeSantis’ tepid approach to foreign policy, before finally settling into a deep discussion of what patriotism really means.
Show Notes:
- Our niche legal podcast discusses the Trump indictment…
- …and so does the Dispatch Podcast
- West Texas A&M president cancels a campus drag show
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Unprepared, scatterbrained, and guestless, Jonah returns to the AMA format on today’s program, releasing Guy, his immigrant majordomo, from the grimy basement where he normally resides to field an unusual assortment of listener questions. Things get off to an innocuous start: There’s some shameless plugging of Jonah’s books, a hefty digression into the various strands of conservatism, and a rambly assessment of the recent controversy at Stanford Law. But though the latter half of this episode features no discussion of cruises, it still offers its fair share of bizarre images, one of which may forever change Jonah and John Podhoretz’s friendship.
Show Notes:
- David Oshinsky: “Heil Woodrow”
- Yuval Levin: “Redeeming the Miracle”
- Sarah Isgur interrogates Jonah on Dispatch Live
- The Remnant with Philip K. Howard
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Philip K. Howard, a prolific author and advocate for simplifying American government, joins the Remnant for the first time to discuss his new book, Not Accountable: Rethinking the Constitutionality of Public Employee Unions. The resulting conversation plays out like a Remnant greatest hits, offering insights on subjects as well-trodden as institutions, our dysfunctional parties, and the banging of spoons on high chairs. Come for some fiendishly nerdy ramblings on the nature of public sector unions, but stay for some hopeful thoughts on how America’s legal and legislative systems could be improved.
Show Notes:
- Philip’s new book, Not Accountable: Rethinking the Constitutionality of Public Employee Unions
- Philip previews the book in National Review…
- Rachel Maddow’s “Lean Forward” ad
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Today’s Ruminant has been recorded in video form for your viewing pleasure, which raises a terrifying question: Does this spell the end for “No you won’t, this is a podcast”? In response to having been so rudely dragged into the future, Jonah delivers an outright curmudgeonly diatribe on just about every topic under the sun. From Kamala Harris saying her stage directions out loud, to the dangerous mirage of “new” ideas, no subject is safe from his ire. What’s going on with Silicon Valley Bank? What’s the difference between an explanation and an excuse? And does Jonah wear a toupee? (He does not.)
Show Notes:
- Kamala Harris’ Late Show Appearance
- The (underrated) Tyranny of Clichés
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James Meigs, Manhattan Institute senior fellow and contributing editor at City Journal, makes his Remnant debut in today’s wildly wonky exploration of clean energy, tech policy, and environmentalism. He and Jonah kick things off by talking about the elephant(‘s foot) in the room––nuclear power––before seamlessly transitioning to the terrifying subject of artificial intelligence. Come for the well deserved nuclear boosterism; stay for the existential dread provoked by the idea of malevolent chatbots ruling the meatspace.
Show Notes:
- James’s podcast, How Do We Fix It?
- James’ page at the Manhattan Institute
- David Blackman: “The Death of Manchin’s Permitting Reform Effort Is A Loss For Everyone
- The Remnant with Michael H. Parsons
- James: “Elite Panic vs. the Resilient Populace”
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Paul Bloom—Jonah’s favorite psychologist and author of the new book Psych: The Story of the Human Mind—returns to the Remnant for some intensely eggheady conversation on the workings of the human brain (a three-pound wrinkly mass, as Paul puts it). The two spend the episode leapfrogging between different controversies in the field of psychology, each more complex than the last, with enough speed to make your head spin. From the nature of consciousness, to René Girard’s understanding of identity, to controversial conceptions of the mind, there’s something to delight—and confuse—everyone, least of all our future AI overlords.
Show Notes:
- Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil
- Psych: The Story of the Human Mind
- The Remnant with Joseph Uscinski
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Today’s dyspeptic Ruminant finds Jonah wading through the swampy wreckage of the Republican intellectual movement in an attempt to give new meaning to the phrase “crushing morosity.” From the GOP’s weakness in the face of populism to the loss of objective standards, Jonah tackles all the most important questions facing the right. Why do Fox viewers need safe spaces? What made Trump’s ineffectual trollishness so appealing to so many? And how much screaming of “I told you so” is too much?
Show Notes:
- Jonah: “Donald Trump’s Megaphone”
- Jonah: “In a Slow-Motion Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Media Figures Embrace Trump One by One”
- Jenna Ellis further beclowning herself on Twitter
- Conch shells and the Fibonacci sequence or something
- Jonah: “How Fox News Created a ‘Safe Space’ for Its Audience”
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After therapy and court ordered anger management training, Jonah is finally prepared to have David French—newly minted New York Times columnist and noted treacherous misanthrope—back on the Remnant. What follows is an especially freewheeling conversation that begins with a deep dive into the Dominion case against Fox News, then bounces back and forth between a range of topics so controversial you’d swear Jonah wants David to get canceled. From student loans to drag queens, he could be back at The Dispatch before you know it…
Show Notes:
-Watch Jonah interview NYT columnist David French
- David’s page at the New York Times
- David’s page at the superior Dispatch
- Christianity Today exposes its own scandal
- David: “Why Fox Lied to the Viewers It ‘Respects’”
- The Economist: “Russia’s Vaunted Second Offensive Is a Damp Squib”
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Remnant regular Tevi Troy returns for some of the rankest punditry you’ll find this side of the Mississippi. It’s a freewheeling kind of episode that begins with a shameless plug for Tevi’s new leadership program, transitions into a discussion of the GOP presidential primary, and ends with a few musings on how AI could change the world of writing. Tune in also for ruminations on how politics became so childish, whether CPAC can be redeemed, and why Trump can’t find a good nickname for Ron DeSantis.
Show Notes:
- Tevi’s course: “1600 Lessons: Leadership Lessons from Our Nation’s Chief Executives”
- Tevi: “How Writers Make It Work Now”
-Matthew Hennessey’s Visible Hand
-America is Sick of Presidents
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Jonah’s rank wonkishness reaches a new extreme on today’s rantin’, ravin’, ramblin’ Ruminant. After beginning with a diatribe on the Dominion voting lawsuit, he redirects his ire toward cancel culture and the irritating endurance of both-sidesism. Without regard for time (or the suffering of his RA), he closes with some nerdtastic thoughts on the nature of liberalism, the irresponsibility of student loan relief, and the terrifying world of estate law.
Show Notes:
- Jonah: “Donald Trump’s Megaphone”
- Jonah’s Goucher reunion on CNN
- The “truth” about Trump’s support for cancel culture
- Justice Thomas’ dissent in Hudson v. McMillian
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Live from Tel Aviv, author Oren Kessler joins the Remnant to discuss his new book, Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict. The result is a deep dish slice of eggheady conversation, which mixes rank punditry with historical nerdery and a negligible amount of technical glitches. Things kick off with a history of the Arab-Israeli conflict from the 1930s to the present. Afterward, Jonah and Oren explore some pressing questions surrounding the conflict today. How should we regard the ongoing judicial reforms in Israel? Where does nationalism fit into Arab and Israeli intellectual history? And does Israel need to develop a written constitution?
Show Notes:
-Oren’s new book, Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict
-Oren's book preview on Military History Now
-George Antonius’ The Arab Awakening
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Back from the Caribbean with a radiant glow, Jonah is joined by Stephen Eide—senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute—for an outrageously wonky discussion of homelessness in America. The two kick things off by exploring the history of transient labor and the categorical distinctions between hobos, tramps, and bums, before turning to the root causes of the growing homeless populations in big cities. They also explore the relationship between homelessness and changes to psychiatric health care, the loss of affordable housing in big cities, and the idea that homelessness is a natural outgrowth of late-stage capitalism.
Show Notes:
-Stephen’s page at the Manhattan Institute
-Stephen: “Housing First’s Imperial Overreach”
-Stephen: “The Adams Homeless Deluge”
-Madness in the Streets: How Psychiatry and the Law Abandoned the Mentally Ill
-Sebastian Junger’s Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging
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As Jonah continues his search for Spanish gold, Sarah Isgur assumes control of the Remnant once again for some predictably eclectic conversation. She’s joined by former Texas Rep. Will Hurd, who’s also a security expert and national park enthusiast. After briefly discussing the ravages of age, they turn to America’s immense beauty, the terrors of AI, the challenges of immigration reform, and everything in between. Are we in a new Cold War? Could Will be preparing for a shocking announcement? And most importantly, where in San Antonio should you get your taco fix?
Show Notes:
- Will: “Would China & Russia Attack Hawaii?”
- Will’s questionable national park tier list…
- The nēnē
- Eric S. Raymond’s The Cathedral and the Bazaar
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While Jonah shirks his podcasting duties to star in a one-man production of Pirates of the Caribbean, Chris Stirewalt takes his place at the helm of the Remnant for a characteristically wonky discussion of the coming presidential primary. He’s joined by Harry Enten, senior data reporter at CNN and host of the Margins of Error podcast, for a conversation that touches on all of the most pressing questions of the day. Is the GOP unifying behind Ron DeSantis? When is the best time for a candidate to jump into the race? And should we declare Harry the chief diet soft drink expert in the United States?
Show Notes:
- CNN’s Margins of Error Podcast
- Harry: “Why it’s better to start a presidential campaign early”
- Harry: “Why Biden shouldn't dismiss his negative poll numbers”
- Harry: “Why a historically small presidential primary field is possible in 2024”
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As Jonah prepares to drop off the grid for a week, he brings Guy, his immigrant majordomo, back on the Remnant to ask an eclectic selection of listener questions. Predictably, things start innocently enough with some hyper-rank punditry on 2024 and a brief canine update, but afterward, they quickly get weird. From talk of ChatGPT and zombies overthrowing the established world order to musings on scotch, wrestling, and pretentious foreign movies, the second half of this episode is a unique ride. By the end, Jonah’s perception of Guy may have been permanently altered.
Show Notes:
- David Drucker breaks down Nikki Haley’s announcement
- The Dispatch Podcast on Haley, Harris, and helium
- Kurt Schlichter: “No to Nikki Harris”
- The Bing chatbot’s freakouts
- The Remnant with Jim Pethokoukis
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Back from his sojourn in the Land of Lincoln, Jonah invites Coleman Hughes–host of the Conversations with Coleman podcast–onto the Remnant for a lively discussion of race and religion (everyone’s favorite topics). What’s the relationship between authenticity and identity? Is it possible to completely root out racism in American society? And what danger does audience capture pose to responsible journalism?
Show Notes:
- Coleman: “Actually, Color-Blindness Isn’t Racist”
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Stranded without a guest in beautiful Springfield, Illinois, Jonah is forced to record another Ruminant, and the result finds his mind drifting from place to place like a wayward spy balloon. After a brief foray into dirigible-based punditry, he quickly turns to protectionism and Biden’s “Buy American” mantra, providing some extended thoughts on why both are so annoying. From there, his ramblings fall into an uncontrolled tailspin, covering everything from NIMBianism to René Girard and, finally, the incomparable Cronut.
Show Notes:
- Dominic Pino: “Biden Promises to Spend Your Money Poorly”
- Phil Klein: “The Story Construction Tells About America’s Economy Is Disturbing”
- George McGovern: “A Politician's Dream Is a Businessman's Nightmare”
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On today’s Ruminant, Jonah once again finds himself agitated by a veritable cornucopia of asininities. From the idea that every problem in San Francisco can be blamed on COVID to our embarrassing balloon response, no topic is safe from his ire. Can every problem be blamed on late-stage capitalism? What is the difference between good politics and good policy? And how should the Remnant advertise itself to the outside world?
Show Notes:
- The Daily’s episode on San Francisco
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In the wake of 2023’s raucous State of the Union address, Jonah invites Noah Rothman back to the Remnant for some obscenely rank punditry on a host of hot topics. They begin by exploring what we should make of Biden’s speech, and whether the rowdy atmosphere that accompanied it was actually a good thing, before turning to issues foreign and domestic. How does Biden look as a 2024 candidate given his age? Does the GOP have anything to offer the electorate? Why did it take so long to pop China’s pesky balloon? And could that floating middle finger be the Sputnik moment America needs?
Show Notes:
- Noah’s latest book, The Rise of the New Puritans
- Noah’s previous book, Unjust
- Noah’s previous Remnant appearance
- Kevin Williamson: “Joe Biden as Priest-King”
- Jonah: “Advice for Biden: Be Like Ike”
- A deflated Commentary Podcast
- The Remnant with Dalibor Rohac
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AEI Senior Fellow Dalibor Rohac makes his Remnant debut in today’s outrageously wonky discussion of Eastern Europe. In light of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the conversation covers America’s foreign policy debate, Germany’s continued weirdness, and the European Union’s role in modern geopolitics. Will peace require a resounding Russian defeat? Can more can be done to support Ukraine’s defense? And what will a postwar Europe look like?
Show Notes:
- AEI’s The Eastern Front podcast
- Dr. Rohac: “Dnipro Slaughter Shows Depths of Putin’s Depravity Against Ukraine”
- Dr. Rohac: “How We Get Europe to Ensure Ukraine’s Post-War Success”
-The Telegraph’s Ukraine: The Latest podcast
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On today’s Ruminant, unencumbered by any pretension to organization, Jonah waxes eloquent on everything from the spy balloon over Montana to the breakdown of organized religion. After beginning with a dive into the rhetoric surrounding the war in Ukraine, he directs his ire towards the cult of victimhood that seems to dominate public life. Stick around for a particularly eggheadish discussion on the nature of policing, American racial progress, and why individual choice matters.
Show Notes:
-Telegraph’s Ukraine: The Latest podcast
-The Guardian: Burning of Qur’an in Stockholm funded by journalist with Kremlin ties
-Jonah’s 1995 Public Interest article
-James Burnham’s Suicide of the West
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John Podhoretz makes his triumphant return to the Remnant for a characteristically freewheeling discussion covering everything from Israeli politics to the classified document scandals. Who isn’t hoarding a classified document or two nowadays? What’s going on with Israel’s judiciary? How is the GOP doing? Will Joe Biden run in 2024? And is it ever appropriate to sing the Felix the Cat theme song? Be prepared to have it lodged in your brain.
Show Notes:
- GLoP, the pop culture podcast America deserves
- John’s author page at Commentary
- FBI search of Biden’s beach house
- The Felix the Cat theme song
- The Remnant with A.B. Stoddard
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In an attempt to overcome the trauma that developed after his recent visit to Portland, Jonah invites the prolific author and journalist Nancy Rommelmann onto the Remnant for the first time to explore how the city descended into something resembling Escape from New York. They discuss when Portland’s decline began, whether it can fairly be compared to the New York of the 1970s and ‘80s, and whether these problems will be fixed anytime soon. And shockingly enough, no references to The Warriors are included.
Show Notes:
- Nancy’s Substack, Make More Pie
- Nancy’s podcast, Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em
- Jonah: “A Pox Upon Portland”
- Nancy: “The Dream of the ‘90s Died in Portland”
- Nancy: “Is Portland the new Neverland?”
- Nancy: “A Murder in Portland”
- Nancy: “You’re Not Allowed to Film”
- Tom Wolfe: “The Great Relearning”
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Jonah’s eggheadery reaches a new extreme on today’s rambly Ruminant, which may leave you dreaming of the end times. After beginning with some brief thoughts on Biden’s document escapade and when it’s appropriate for the government to declassify information, he turns to a melange of nerdishly complicated questions. Is it the end of the world as we know it? How did the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists blind us with science? Do Irving Kristol’s objections to capitalism have merit? And are Cheez-Its the ultimate snack food?
Show Notes:
- Jonah “moderates” the Dispatch Podcast
- The Economist’s The Intelligence podcast
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s Secrecy
- The Remnant with Bruce Caldwell
- Irving Kristol: “When Virtue Loses All Her Loveliness”
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Jonah makes an unexpected return to the AEI studio for another in-person Remnant, this time featuring Keith Whittington, beloved egghead and Princeton political scientist. A deep dive ensues into America’s unique preoccupation with free speech and the nature of academic freedom, which raises a number of pertinent questions. How concerned should we be about the state of free speech on college campuses? What are some common misconceptions about academic freedom? And what should we make of Ron DeSantis’ approach to these issues? Those feeling free and expressive are particularly encouraged to tune in.
Show Notes:
- Keith: “Hamline Takes Quashing Academic Freedom to a Whole New Level”
- Keith: “Academic Freedom for Whom?”
- Nathan Glazer: “What Happened at Berkeley”
- From the New College of Florida to DeSantis U?
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In what may be one of the most brazenly nerdy Remnant episodes ever recorded (which is really saying a lot) Duke University’s Bruce Caldwell joins the program to discuss the life and work of Friedrich Hayek. Dr. Caldwell, the pope of Hayekian geekdom, recently published the first installment of a two volume biography of the famed economist. Guided by Jonah’s gleeful prompting, he explores how Hayek rose to international prominence, what he was like as a man, and how we should view his great works today. If you woke up feeling all Austrian this morning, it’s a must listen.
Show Notes:
- Dr. Caldwell’s new book, Hayek: A Life, 1899–1950
- Dr. Caldwell’s intellectual biography of Hayek, Hayek’s Challenge
- Hayek: “The Intellectuals and Socialism”
- Hayek: “The Use of Knowledge in Society”
-Political Economy with Jim Pethokoukis
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Today’s annoyingly whispered Ruminant comes to you live from Portland, where Jonah’s on a clandestine mission with his wife. Unfortunately, the city doesn’t seem to be doing so well, which prompts him to begin with a lengthy diatribe on urban decay, the crisis of homelessness in America’s cities, and what’s specifically wrong with Portland. Stick around afterward for some thoughts on Davos and the economic elite, and a rambling digression about the enduring relevance of Liberal Fascism.
Show Notes:
- Jonah: “One, Maybe Two, Cheers for Partisanship”
- The LA Times on Portland’s homeless problem
- The Remnant with Jim Pethokoukis
- Philip Coupland: “H.G. Wells's 'Liberal Fascism'”
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Brian Riedl, also known as the “balanced budget good government guy,” is back on the Remnant to answer a pertinent question: Should we believe that the GOP suddenly cares about fiscal responsibility? He and Jonah also provide some wonkified commentary on a whole host of other economic issues. What’s to be done about the national debt? How should conservatives approach the IRS? And is it possible to reform the tax system?
Show Notes:
- Jonah: “The GOP’s Spending Fight Is More About Fighting Than Spending”
- Brian Riedl: “How Republicans Can Get Serious on Spending”
- The Remnant with A.B. Stoddard
- Byron Donalds spars with Joy Reid
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The Remnant gets back to basics today, as A.B. Stoddard returns to the show for some deeply rank punditry on (what else?) the dysfunctional state of our parties and the prospect of a second term for Biden. With insurgents rising among both Republicans and Democrats, how long will it take for the parties to get healthy again? For that matter, how concerned should Democrats be about the loss of black and Hispanic voters? Will the GOP actually raise the debt limit? And is there any way of excusing Biden’s document blunder?
Show Notes:
- A.B.’s page at RealClearPolitics
- Jonah: “GOP’s deficit reduction is a cynical performative gesture”
- A.B.: “Kevin McCarthy Is Already a Gift to Democrats”
- A.B.: “Yes, He Will Burn It All Down”
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Today’s Ruminant, a self-described “rambling, weird, incoherent hot mess,” can perhaps be taken as a reflection of Jonah’s addled brain. With his wife and daughter on a road trip, his mind has regressed into bachelor mode, and he’s begun to subsist on chicken eaten over the kitchen sink. Thankfully, he still has opinions on the biggest stories of the day, including the Biden administration’s potential ban of gas stoves, how Biden’s classified document scandal compares with Trump’s, and technological developments that could counteract climate change. Come for the punditry, but stay for the strange digression about the mating habits of deer.
Show Notes:
- The Dispatch breaks down the battle over gas stoves
- NPR: “We need to talk about your gas stove, your health and climate change”
- Jonah: “The Hypocritic Oath”
- The Dispatch Podcast on Biden’s classified document scandal
- Wall Street Journal: “Climate Startup Removes Carbon From Open Air in Industry First”
- The Remnant with Jim Pethokoukis
- Jonah: “Two Cheers for Techno-Marxism”
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Cass Sunstein, the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard and Jonah’s fellow disciple of the dingo, makes an overdue return to the Remnant to discuss his recent book, Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment. Noise, the book argues, is a deadly flaw in human judgment that clouds many of our decisions and produces errors in fields such as medicine, law, and public health. Dr. Sunstein and Jonah examine how noise should be defined, what separates it from bias, and what we can do to fight it. They also explore whether the phenomenon varies across the world, and how terrifying changes in AI and algorithms may affect it.
Show Notes:
- Dr. Sunstein’s recent book, Noise
- Dr. Sunstein’s other recent book, Sludge
- Dr. Sunstein: “Governing by Algorithm? No Noise and (Potentially) Less Bias”
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For no particular reason, the Remnant returns to an in-person format today, as Jonah drops by the AEI offices to chat about what the future holds for humans and technology with James “Jimmy P” Pethokoukis. Together, they explore why we still haven’t achieved some of the major advancements that wonks were predicting in the ‘70s, occasionally stopping to ponder the merits of popular sci-fi television shows. AI, fusion power, and space elevators are all discussed, but by the end of it all, an important question still hasn’t received enough attention: Will highly intelligent, taxi-driving super-apes eventually overthrow mankind?
Show Notes:
- Jim’s Substack, Faster, Please!
- Ezra Klein: “The Dystopia We Fear Is Keeping Us From the Utopia We Deserve”
- Jim: “Who taught us to fear Dystopia? Who taught us we didn't deserve Utopia?”
- Jonah’s review of The Reactionary Mind
- Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock
- Arthur C. Clarke’s Profiles of the Future
- Scientific American: “Space Elevators Are Less Sci-Fi Than You Think”
- Jonah: “Two Cheers for Techno-Marxism”
- Jim: “Billionaires, space, and the Blade Runner Fallacy”
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Jonah’s in especially ranty form on today’s Ruminant as he explores the continuing war over the House speakership and where most commentators are going wrong in their analysis of it. He also examines the broader prevalence of annoying misconceptions about Congress, what media bias really looks like, and how conservatism should be measured. Plus, tune in for discussion of a controversial Daily Beast story, the Damar Hamlin incident, and the political proclivities of big corporations.
Show Notes:
- Wednesday’s (members only) “news”letter
- The Daily Beast's Matt Schlapp story
- Joshua Green: “Can Ron DeSantis replace Donald Trump as the Face of the GOP?”
- Philip Bump: “Can Ron DeSantis Ride an Anti-Business Message to the White House?”
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In what is sure to be the first of many appearances in 2023, Chris Stirewalt joins the Remnant to discuss the ongoing debacle that is Kevin McCarthy’s bid for House speaker. He and Jonah explore what McCarthy’s opponents hope to gain, whether it’s true that opposing him makes you more conservative, and why all of this actually may not matter very much. They also touch on whether wokeism has passed its peak, why scripted comedy is in such a strange position, and what’s irritating about generational generalizations. Plus, tune in for a few obligatory shots at the New York Times’ newest columnist.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Megan McCardle
- Chris: “The Agonizingly Low Stakes of Today’s Vote for House Speaker”
- Josh Kraushaar: “The Return of the Moral Majority”
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The Remnant kicks off 2023 in appropriately rank fashion today, as Megan McArdle returns to the program for some eggheady musings on what the new year could bring for our legislative branch, parties, and broader political culture. She and Jonah begin by examining the state of Congress and what we can do to fix it, before turning to some pressing questions. Will cryptocurrency conquer the world? How does transparency harm institutions? And will the Republican Party start inching back toward sanity anytime soon?
Show Notes:
- Megan’s page at the Washington Post
- Jonah: “So Congress is a mess. It’s supposed to be messy”
- The Economist: “How Is Ukraine Using Crypto to Fund the War?”
- Matt Levine: “The Crypto Story”
- The Remnant with Russ Roberts
- Jonah: “The Worst Fang Club”
- The Remnant with Yuval Levin
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Jonah brings 2022 to a close in typically freewheeling fashion on today’s Ruminant, which aims to provide a minimal amount of crushing morosity. He kicks things off by exploring the Southwest Airlines meltdown and why airline disasters are uniquely infuriating, before turning to the inefficiency of big government, how pandemics and other crises can affect economies, and what can go wrong when we mix up our gemeinschafts. Plus, stick around for a discussion of how fusion power could solve our environmental problems, some obligatory Marx bashing, and a few words about the state of The Dispatch. Happy New Year!
Show Notes:
- Ezekiel Emanuel: “Covid Isn’t the Only Reason Children’s Vaccination Rates Are Falling”
- The Remnant with Scott Lincicome
- The Economist: “The great inflation of the 1500s is echoing eerily today”
- Jerry Muller’s The Mind and the Market
- David Bahnsen: “Put Not Your Trust in Princes”
- Jim Pethokoukis on the state of nuclear fusion
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As 2022 winds down, Kevin Williamson returns to the Remnant for some wide-ranging sociopolitical nerdery. He and Jonah explore what characterizes effective social policy, why it pays to be skeptical of new ideas, and what makes no sense about the American tax system. They also provide a modicum of more lighthearted punditry on the George Santos debacle and indulge in a lengthy discussion of the gun debate. Tune in for explanation, but stick around for obfuscation.
Show Notes:
- Kevin’s page at The Dispatch
- Nick Catoggio: “The Talented Mr. Santos”
- Jonah: “Something Short of Tragic”
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It’s Christmas Eve, and what’s more germane to the holiday season than some lengthy rambling about authoritarianism? Of course, today’s Ruminant is a little more nuanced than that. It also digs into how political states emerge in the first place, why Russia is becoming a “really crappy” country, and how to distinguish between valid criticism of American foreign policy toward Ukraine and toadying to Vladimir Putin. On the lighter side, Jonah also answers a few questions that arose after the week’s earlier episode with the Fair Jessica. We wish you all a wonderful holiday!
Show Notes:
- The Fair Jessica’s Remnant return
- Zelensky’s speech to Congress
- Julia Davis’ Russian Media Monitor
- Jonah: “Authoritarianism’s Bad Year”
- Francis Fukuyama’s The Origins of Political Order
- How Putin’s war became a catastrophe for Russia
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On today’s Remnant, Jonah’s esteemed wife and bear skeptic, Jessica Gavora (aka the Fair Jessica), makes her highly anticipated return. The two JGs explore some more nerdish topics than last time, including what it takes to be a successful ghostwriter, how the right changed during the Trump years, and what it’s like writing speeches for prominent politicians. They also touch on a few personal subjects, including memories of Jonah’s mom, the recent trip to Istanbul, and Jessica’s current book project (she needs your help!). Plus, stick around until the end to hear Jessica make her best case against human-bear interaction.
Show Notes:
- The Fair Jessica’s first Remnant appearance
- Betsy DeVos’ Hostages No More
- Hugh Hewitt: “The ‘Agnew Option’ could be a way out for Trump — and America”
- The Fair Jessica’s Tilting the Playing Field: Schools, Sports, Sex and Title IX
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During his wild European vacation last week, Jonah didn’t follow the news too closely. To catch himself up, he invites The Dispatch’s own Andrew Egger back to the Remnant for some intensely rank punditry. Together, they explore the biggest and strangest stories currently unfolding in politics, including Kevin McCarthy’s bid for House speaker, Ron DeSantis’ attack on vaccines, and Donald Trump’s criminal referral. Plus, they offer some musings on the 2024 election and the horrors of Trump trading cards.
Show Notes:
- Andrew: “Trump 2024’s Terrible Start”
- Andrew: “Ron DeSantis Gambles on Vaccine Grievance”
- The Morning Dispatch: “The January 6th Committee’s Last Hurrah”
- Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene go to war
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With Jonah off on a clandestine mission to Turkey, Chris Stirewalt takes his place in the Remnant captain’s chair for a wonktastic dive into American demography. His guest is Dr. Richard Alba, a sociologist and the author of The Great Demographic Illusion: Majority, Minority, and the Expanding American Mainstream, which explores America’s changing racial makeup and the increasing prevalence of Americans born from mixed families. Their discussion touches on a number of pressing questions. Can we rely on Census data? What does assimilation mean in America today? And how can we create more opportunities for young Americans to move into?
Show Notes:
- Dr. Alba’s The Great Demographic Illusion
- Chris: “America’s No-Majority Future Is Going to be Delicious”
- Dr. Alba: “The Truth About White America”
- Dr. Alba: “The Myth of a Majority-Minority America”
- The Remnant with Ruy Teixeira
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Dedicated Remnant listeners may recall that in 2019, Jonah stopped by the headquarters of the Illinois Policy Institute to record a special, Chicago-centric episode. On his recent voyage to the Windy City, Jonah returned to the institute to record a follow-up with its president, Matt Paprocki. Together, they discuss the challenges facing Chicago, how conservatives can win Illinois, and what policies should be pursued to lift people out of poverty. Tune in for the wonkery, but stick around to find out how many obscure nicknames for Chicago are lodged in Jonah’s brain.
Show Notes:
- The Illinois Policy Institute
- The Remnant with Arthur Brooks
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Today’s Ruminant, recorded live from an undisclosed hotel in the depths of Chicago, finds Jonah even more scatterbrained than usual. Although he begins by discussing the nature of the First Amendment and why Twitter isn’t at the heart and soul of American democracy, he quickly abandons rank punditry and veers in a radically different direction. With a vacation in Istanbul coming up, Jonah tells the long, strange tale of his first visit to the city, which may or may not evoke comparisons to Midnight Express. It’s an unconventional episode, but don’t say you weren’t warned.
Show Notes:
- David French: “Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson Don’t Understand the First Amendment”
- Christian Schneider: “Does Nobody Understand How the First Amendment Works?”
- The Remnant with Scott Lincicome
- The Remnant with Jonathan Rauch
- Charlie Cooke and Michael Brendan Dougherty debate Republican electability
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Jonathan Rauch, beloved scholar at the otherwise hated Brookings Institution, returns to the Remnant for some spirited kvetching about primaries, polarization, and the state of democracy. He and Jonah also mix in some ruminations on the Republican Party’s dysfunction, the nature of racism in contemporary American society, and how identity politics radicalizes people. Be ready with your bingo cards.
Show Notes:
- Jonathan’s page at Brookings
- Jonathan’s previous Remnant appearance
- Jonathan’s latest book, The Constitution of Knowledge
- Jonathan and Ray La Raja: “Too Much Democracy Is Bad for Democracy”
- “Toward a More Responsible Two Party System”
- Elaine Kamarck: “Is democracy failing and putting our economic system at risk?”
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Heroic wonksplainer Scott Lincicome is back on the Remnant to discuss his new book, Empowering the American Worker: Market‐Based Solutions for Today’s Workforce, which examines what effective pro-worker policies should look like in today’s political climate. Predictably, things get nerdy, as the conversation explores education policy, the demands of urban living, and the great vampire-werewolf debate (tune in for clarification). Where is the government going wrong in its approach to the workforce? Can relying on the free market ever create problems? And how bullish should we be about remote work?
Show Notes:
- Scott’s newsletter, Capitolism
- Scott’s new book, Empowering the American Worker
- Scott previews the book in The Dispatch
- The Remnant with Russ Roberts
- Ryan Streeter: “Place and the Pursuit of Happiness, Upward Mobility and the American Dream”
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Finally on the verge of overcoming his lingering COVID symptoms, Jonah approaches today’s rambly Ruminant with renewed verve. After tackling the strangeness of Elon Musk’s Twitter reign and the freakishness of Kanye West, he explores how Trumpification has changed the right and what sane Republicans can do to move forward. From there, things get philosophical, as Jonah examines the nature of ethical universals and what specifically is immoral about authoritarian regimes. Finally, things conclude with some sweet, nourishing dog content.
Show Notes:
- Election denial in Cochise County
- Newt Gingrich: “Quit Underestimating President Biden”
- The Economist’s Drum Tower podcast
- The Remnant with Alexandra Horowitz
- Jonah: “Mau-Mauing the Dogcatcher”
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It’s been a while since the Remnant featured a dog expert, but today, Dr. Alexandra Horowitz—a professor at Barnard College of Columbia University—joins the program to fill that void. Some seriously rank cynology ensues, as Jonah and Alexandra explore everything you could ever want to know about canine cognition. Do dogs have a unique friendship with humans, or are they just social parasites? Why do dogs react in different ways to different people? And are dog shows a stain on mankind?
Show Notes:
- Alexandra’s new book, The Year of the Puppy
- Alexandra’s previous books: Inside of a Dog
- Alexandra: “What Does it Feel Like to Be a Dog?”
- The Remnant with Michael H. Parsons (rat guy)
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Revitalized after his latest struggle with COVID, Jonah invites AEI senior fellow and foreign policy expert Michael Rubin back to the Remnant to discuss how America should respond to challenges posed by China, Russia, and the Middle East. Should the U.S. government embrace regime change? What’s at stake for the West in Taiwan and Ukraine? And should we be optimistic about liberalism in China and Iran?
Show Notes:
- Michael: “Why Is the US Never Prepared for Regime Change?”
- Paul Kennedy’s The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
- Lin Wells’ memo to Donald Rumsfeld
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Last year, Remnant regular Matt Ridley published Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19, which explored the theory that the virus leaked from a laboratory. Today, he’s back on the program to discuss how things have changed since the book’s publication with a suitably COVID-addled Jonah. Has the lab-leak theory become more persuasive? Did the pandemic fuel a backslide in vaccinations? And can Britons and Americans ever resolve their linguistic differences?
Show Notes:
- Matt’s previous Remnant appearance
- Matt: “COVID origin case reopened: A lab leak is a legitimate question”
- John Barry’s The Great Influenza
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After a long and draining week of speeches, fancy dinners, and finally acknowledging the existence of his intern, Jonah phones in the beginning of today’s Ruminant by simply reading through the stories in Friday’s Morning Dispatch. Luckily, things quickly pick up speed when Jonah turns to a wacky article by the mother of the recently disgraced CEO of FTX on why we should abandon the concept of personal responsibility. A lengthy philosophical discussion follows on the problems inherent in critical analysis, the necessity of pricing signals, and why bad ideas must be taken seriously. Following some thoughts on judicial activism and the future of the Federalist Society, Jonah wraps things up by discussing hope, optimism, and the nature of despair.
Show Notes:
- Barbara H. Fried: “Beyond Blame”
- “A Moment of Truth for the Federalist Society”
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In recovery mode from a hectic period of midterm punditry, Jonah invites his immigrant amanuensis Guy back to the Remnant to spend some time answering listener questions. A strange and broad conversation ensues, as Jonah provides some rank predictions for the 2024 election cycle, reflects on his career in blogging, and indulges in a few fiendishly nerdy asides about Marvel and Star Trek. And of course, he can’t resist interrogating Guy about his recent voyage on a Kiss-themed cruise.
Show Notes:
- Jonah and Guy’s previous AMA extravaganza
- Haley Byrd Wilt: “The Freedom Caucus’ Reform Opportunity”
- “Florida man makes announcement”
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With demand for rank election punditry at historically high levels, Chris Stirewalt captains today’s Remnant voyage through the convoluted current of midterm results. He’s joined by trusted wonk Ruy Teixeira to discuss the 2022 turnout numbers, the nature of “normie” voters, and the inevitable overinterpreting of Democrats’ success in grasping only a small defeat out of the jaws of a much larger one. Demography-galore abounds in the second half of the show, as Chris and Ruy analyze future trends, crackpot electoral theories, and how Democrats should approach the Lovecraftian maw of the 2024 election.
Show Notes:
-Ruy: “Democrats Can’t Count on Trump in 2024”
-Chris: “The Wave Against Weirdness”
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Trapped in the urban prison popularly referred to as Manhattan, Jonah surrenders to the call of rank punditry and discusses the midterm results on today’s Ruminant. How did the Republicans squander such an obviously winnable election, and what role did Trump play in the disaster? Furthermore, could Biden really win again in 2024? Have Jonah’s views on Ron DeSantis shifted? And should these results inspire hope that conservatism can right itself?
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Ken Pollack
- The Dispatch Podcast provides a midterm postmortem
- Jonah on 2016’s slow-motion Invasion of the Body Snatchers
- George Orwell: “Second Thoughts on James Burnham”
- Charlie Cooke: “Did Republicans Pick the Right Time to Lose?”
- The Remnant with Yuval Levin
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AEI Senior Fellow Ken Pollack returns to the Remnant for a wonktastic discussion of the Middle East. With continued Iranian protests dominating international headlines, the conversation centers on the stability of the Iranian regime, the goals of the Iranian people, and how the United States should respond. Why do continued mass demonstrations in Iran seem to be an intellectual afterthought in the West? What will happen to Iran’s nuclear program if its government collapses? And what are the best things the Biden administration could do to help the Iranian people?
Show Notes:
- Ken: “A Stronger But Less Ambitious NATO”
-
Ken: “The Middle East Abhors a Vacuum”
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Shadi Hamid of the hated Brookings Institution returns to the Remnant to discuss his new book, The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea. He and Jonah engage in a nerdtastic exploration of democracy—its strengths, its weaknesses, and how it should be understood in the American context. What is “democratic minimalism,” and should we embrace it? Why is democracy particularly well suited to a society as large and diverse as the United States? And what should primary elections be replaced with?
Show Notes:
- Shadi’s page at The Atlantic
- Shadi’s new book, The Problem of Democracy
- Shadi: “Can Democracy Exist Without Liberalism?”
- Jonah: “The Cult of Unity Is a Poison”
- Jonah on the “Life of Julia”
- Jonah on Making Sense with Sam Harris
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Jonah finds himself unable to resist the allure of rank punditry on today’s Ruminant. He begins by describing how little he cares about the upcoming midterms before diving into a lengthy rant on that very matter. Next, he tackles the state of Trump’s continued influence on the Republican Party, the ills of the modern legislative process, and the undermining of confidence in elections by both parties. After a brief foray into John Dewey’s “screwed up” view of democracy, Jonah finishes the show with commentary on Putin’s rejection of liberal democratic capitalism, the hypocrisy of his attacks on America, and why Francis Fukuyama was right all along (again).
Show Notes:
- Richard Rorty’s Achieving Our Country
- Jonah: “Putin’s Dangerous Blend of Propaganda and Hypocrisy”
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Addicted to the sensation of power that the Remnant command chair provides, Sarah Isgur takes control of the program once again. She’s joined by famed pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson to discuss the reliability of polls and the future of the polling industry, as well as the midterms and the 2024 presidential election. Tune in also to learn about Sarah’s spindrift habit, Kristen’s exceptional canine companion, and what really appeals to young voters.
Show Notes:
-Kristen: “Democrats Just Can’t Seal the Deal with Young Americans”
-
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The Remnant returns to normalcy today as Chris Stirewalt joins Jonah to provide a preview of the midterms. With only a week remaining until election day, what level of turnout should we expect? For that matter, will the Republicans enjoy a red tsunami? How will Dobbs influence the results? And what does the attack on Paul Pelosi reveal about our political climate?
Show Notes:
-Wall Street Journal: “Republican Election Prospects Rise as Inflation Overshadows Abortion”
-Kari Lake mocks the Paul Pelosi attack
-The Paul Lynde Halloween Special
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Join Jonah on today’s solo episode as he remembers his mother, Lucianne Goldberg, who died peacefully this week surrounded by her people –– and pets! –– who loved her.
Links:
-John Podhoretz’s moving tribute
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On today’s eclectic episode of The Remnant, Sarah is joined by Mo Elleithee, executive director of the Institute of Politics and Public Service at Georgetown University, to discus elections, tribalism, and Halloween. The two explore the shrinking acceptability of bipartisan friendships, the effects of campaign finance reform on polarization, and the importance of understanding the arguments of the other side. Stick around until the end for a heart-wrenching tale of unrequited avian love and to hear Sarah publicly debut her much anticipated screech owl call.
Show Notes:
-The New York Times on the new campaign press aides
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David takes the reins on today's recording where he hosts GQ correspondent and New York Times Magazine contributor Robert Draper to discuss his new book Weapons of Mass Delusion: When the Republican Party Lost its Mind. Why has the Republican party gone crazy? What’s up with Marjorie Taylor Greene? And what might a Republican House majority look like after the midterms? Stay tuned as David and Robert explore all of this and more on today’s action-packed episode of The Remnant.
Show Notes:
-Robert: “The Problem of Marjorie Taylor Greene”
-Robert’s new book, Weapons of Mass Delusion
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On today’s gripping Ruminant, Jonah waxes philosophical about topics far and wide. Things kick off with further thoughts on Wednesday’s episode with Yuval Levin, where Jonah explores an additional aspect of Burke’s philosophy and its applicability to todays’ insular political factions. Next, he delves into Oakeshott’s theory of civil and enterprise associations and the tendency of despotic regimes to view the structure of society through the wrong lens. Finally, Jonah discusses the origins of modern American Conservatism, Progressivism’s roots in the New Deal, and William James’ conception of the moral equivalent of war.
Show Notes:
-Wednesday’s The Remnant with Yuval Levin
-We Need to Stop Calling Ourselves Conservatives
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Snowbound in the depths of Pennsylvania, Jonah invites the inimitable Yuval Levin back to the Remnant for a philosophical yet accessible conversation on the responsibilities we face as members of a free society. What’s the best way to approach political and civic life in the United States, and how should we treat our institutions? For that matter, why is cynicism harmful? Can higher education be fixed? And is the internet damaging democracy?
Show Notes:
- A Time to Build, still available from all good booksellers
- Yuval: “The Constitution and National Unity”
- Yuval’s ideas for repairing democracy
- Robert Nisbet’s The Quest for Community
- Arnold Kling: “How the Internet Turned Bad”
- Yuval: “Politics After the Internet”
- Megan McArdle: “It’s time for major institutions to make their employees get off of Twitter”
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It’s that time again: We’ve reached The Dispatch’s third birthday, and to celebrate, Jonah invites Steve Hayes back to the Remnant to discuss the state of the institution. With water in hand rather than alcohol, they reflect on The Dispatch’s internal growth, its departure from Substack, and some of the most memorable events of the past year. Then, they preview some exciting plans for the future while addressing a few important questions: What sets The Dispatch apart? Will the fabled Dispatch app ever be invented? And how optimistic should we be about American political life?
Show Notes:
- The Morning Dispatch walks you through the new Dispatch website
- Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death
- James Stewart’s Follow the Story
- David Freedlander: “Why Republicans Stopped Talking to the Press”
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In yet another self-indulgent extravaganza, Jonah tackles political topics both old and new in today's Ruminant. Leading off with current events, Jonah gives his thoughts on the final January 6th hearings and inflation’s tendency to make all other ills hurt worse. Next, in a fit of righteous indignation, Jonah dives deeply into his seemingly bottomless pit of Woodrow Wilson hatred to discuss the historic memory-holing of Wilson’s transgressions and their growing appreciation among the mainstream. Things are finally capped off with a lengthy discussion of tribalism, urban politics, and the failures of universities.
Producer’s note: This episode contains an abundance of Woodrow Wilson references. Out of concern for listeners’ sanity, the musical cue was reserved for only the most poignant of mentions.
Show Notes:
- Rick Perlstein: “When America Had a Moral Panic Over Inflation”
- The New York Times reviews American Midnight
- Jonah: “Of Memory Holes and Memory Buriers”
- The New York Times reviews Liberal Fascism
- This week’s Dispatch Podcast
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To mark the arrival of The Dispatch’s new website, Jonah invites Kevin Williamson back to the Remnant for another nerdishly random conversation. They begin by discussing the oppression of the QWERTY keyboard, strange quirks of the free market, and the benefits of democracy, before turning to the legacy of the New Deal and pressing matters of rank punditry. Will the Remnant ever become the majority? Have Kevin’s anarchic instincts mellowed? And what does the future hold for The Dispatch?
Show Notes:
- Kevin’s page at The Dispatch
- The horseshoe crab: same as it ever was?
- Jonah: “Slouching Towards the Old World”
- Robert Higgs’ Crisis and Leviathan
- Amity Shlaes' The Forgotten Man
- Kevin’s The End Is Near and It’s Going to Be Awesome
- Kevin: “‘A Normal Politician’”
-
The Remnant (hosted by Sarah Isgur) with Jonathan Swan
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While Jonah flees the oppressive heat of Texas, Sarah Isgur takes control of the Remnant with weird and wonderful results. She’s joined by Jonathan Swan of Axios, and her uncomfortably personal lines of questioning—which cover kangaroo meat, childhood crushes, and the pains of immigration—may discourage him from ever returning. Serious conversation is also mixed in on the midterm elections, which raises a number of questions: How are Trump’s picks likely to perform in November? What will our parties look like in 10 years? And are campaign staffers dragging Democratic politicians to the cultural left?
Show Notes:
- Sarah’s page at The Dispatch
- The Herschel Walker situation
- Jonathan: “Trumpier Than Trump”
- Jonathan: “Team Trump Sees Special Masters as Deep FBI Skeptic”
- The Remnant with Ruy Teixeira
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In a defiant act against the forces that seek to make his recordings shorter, Jonah delivers an especially self-indulgent Ruminant that covers an eclectic range of topics. Following a lengthy period of proverbial throat-clearing, Jonah begins by discussing news of Ben Sasse’s departure from the Senate and tensions within the “Never Trump” wing of conservative politics. Things then take a philosophical turn as Jonah explores the narcissism of small differences, arrogance of intellect, and why Republicans and Democrats irrationally undermine electoral institutions at their own peril. Stick around until the end for some thoughts on Mitch McConnell and a touch of much needed housekeeping.
Show Notes:
-Jonah’s Breaking Bad cover story for National Review
-American Greatness on Jonah and Covfefe
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Klon Kitchen, The Dispatch’s resident foreign policy maestro, takes control of the Remnant today with predictably wonky results. His guest is Luke Coffey, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute who shares his expertise on national security. Together, they take a deep dive into the ongoing Ukraine conflict, exploring how things have changed since it began and what we can expect in the coming months. What tactics have the Ukrainians been employing? At this point, what is Putin’s goal? And could Russia use a nuclear weapon?
Show Notes:
- Luke’s Hudson Institute webpage
- Luke: “Prepare Ukraine for Victory in a Long War”
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On the mend from a hectic book tour, the ever-reliable Chris Stirewalt returns to the Remnant for some old fashioned rank punditry on partisanship, the midterms, and America’s changing demographics. After discussing the Herschel Walker situation, MAGA’s hatred of Mitch McConnell, and the allure of strange aspects of Japanese culture, Chris and Jonah answer some of the most pressing questions of the moment. Will the Dobbs decision have much influence on the midterms? Is there anything good about primaries? And why can’t politicians talk about how great it is to be alive right now?
Show Notes:
- Chris’ new book, Broken News
- Nick Catoggio: “Forget the Polls. Let’s Talk About Vibes.”
- Sean Trende: “Setting Expectations for the House in 2022 Midterms”
- The Remnant with Ruy Teixeira
- The Remnant with Elaine Kamarck
- David Frum: “If Liberals Won’t Enforce Borders, Fascists Will”
- Dexter Filkins profiles Ron DeSantis
- David Foster Wallace’s Kenyon College commencement speech
- Join The Dispatch’s What’s Next conference in Naples, Florida
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On today’s characteristically rambly Ruminant, Jonah seeks to weave a web between current events, history, and philosophy. After briefly theorizing about the identity of the Nord Stream pipeline’s saboteur, Jonah returns to his Liberal Fascism roots to explore the differences between German and Italian fascism and their shared reliance on hyper-nationalism. Next, he addresses the conservative movement’s roots in American exceptionalism and the new right’s embrace of European-style populism. Then, in a contemplative end to the episode, Jonah reflects on his newfound knowledge of rodentology by considering the potential consequences of incestuous rat relationships.
Show Notes:
- The Dispatch Podcast on the Nord Stream sabotage
- Wednesday’s G-File: “Slouching Towards the Old World”
- The Remnant with rat expert Michael H. Parsons
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Richard Reeves of the hated Brookings Institution joins the Remnant for the first time to discuss his new book, Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It. In a moment where the family unit is collapsing, gender differences in education are becoming more pronounced, and large numbers of men are withdrawing entirely from the workforce, it’s vital to explore what’s driving these trends and whether they can be reversed. Why is fatherhood important? What defines true masculinity? And how have young men changed psychologically in recent years?
Show Notes:
- The Remnant (on rats!) with Dr. Michael Parsons
- Richard’s new book, Of Boys and Men
- Richard: “No, the Boys Are Not Doing Just Fine”
- Richard: “Why Boys Should Start School a Year Later Than Girls”
- The Remnant with Nick Eberstadt
- Jonathan Haidt: “Facebook’s Dangerous Experiment on Teen Girls”
- Richard joins Coleman Hughes’ podcast
- Richard and Jonathan Haidt’s illustrated guide to John Stuart Mill
- The Remnant with Brent Orrell
- “The Tenuous Attachments of Working-Class Men”
- Daniel Cox: “American Men Suffer a Friendship Recession”
-
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For years, Jonah roamed the moors of the internet in search of a particular kind of expert to host on the Remnant, but his efforts seemed in vain. At last, however, his sacrifices to Baal have been answered. Today, Dr. Michael H. Parsons, an expert on rodentology at Fordham University, joins the program to discuss everything you could possibly want to know about rats, their behavior, and why controlling them in urban areas is so difficult. What does rat culture look like? How do rats really feel about people? Why are certain cities plagued by them while others seem untainted? And should you be concerned by Jonah’s exceptionally good mood?
Show Notes:
- Dr. Parsons: “Better rat control in cities starts by changing human behavior”
- Dr. Parsons: “Revealing the secret lives of urban rats”
- Dr. Kelly Lambert’s rat research
- Does New York have more rats than people?
-
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Coming to you from a thunderous Sioux Falls, today’s Ruminant features a distinctly Goldbergian potpourri of rank punditry and eggheadery. Jonah begins by discussing the merits of the Letitia James lawsuit, his general distaste for enthusiasm, and Trump’s cavalier treatment of classified materials. After a not-so-brief foray into the consequences of the left’s pro-truth hypocrisy, things end on an esoteric note as Jonah contemplates pragmatism and the philosophical differences between the New Deal and the Great Society.
Show Notes:
- Eli Lake: “Framed and Guilty”
- The Atlantic: “Separating Sports by Sex Doesn’t Make Sense”
- The Fair Jessica’s review of The Frailty Myth
- Chelsea Conaboy: “Maternal Instinct Is a Myth That Men Created”
- Jonah: “Both Parties Are to Blame for the Immigration Crisis”
- The Remnant with Nick Eberstadt
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Nicholas Eberstadt, AEI’s Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy, makes an overdue Remnant return to discuss his new book, Men Without Work: Post-Pandemic Edition, an expanded version of his 2016 release which examined the collapse of work for men in modern America. Why are increasingly large numbers of men abandoning the workforce? Is something similar going on with women? And what will be the social, cultural, and economic effects of this trend? Tune in to hear these questions answered, and to hear some reflections on why work is valuable in the first place.
Show Notes:
- Men Without Work: Post-Pandemic Edition
- Dr. Eberstadt: “What’s Behind the Flight from Work in Post-Pandemic America”
- The Remnant with Michael Strain
- Charles Murray’s Coming Apart
- The Remnant with Marian Tupy
- Keynes: “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren”
- Dispatch Live introduces Kevin D. Williamson
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Michael Strain, Remnant regular and beloved economic policy wonk at AEI, returns to the program to explore the state of inflation and kvetch about the Federal Reserve. He and Jonah also provide some unwashed commentary on House of the Dragon, discuss whether economics really is a dismal science, and mix in some thoughts on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Can inflation be fought at the state level? When should economics and politics mix? And is it possible for a Remnant episode to be too long and nerdy?
Show Notes:
- Jonah: “Not Everything Is a Morality Tale”
- Celebrate Kevin D. Williamson’s arrival at The Dispatch with a 30-day free trial
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Live and under-caffeinated from a mysterious compound buried deep in the Adirondacks, Jonah focuses today’s Ruminant on nationalism, liberalism, and the American tradition. After providing an update on the state of The Dispatch and a few thoughts on integrity in politics, he launches into an epic rant on the recent National Conservatism Conference in Miami and the movement behind it. Throughout, he’s keen to stress a particular point: Our constitutional order still works.
Show Notes:
- National conservatism: a primer
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Determined to reclaim his Remnant throne from Chris Stirewalt, Jim Geraghty returns to the program to discuss his new thriller, Gathering Five Storms. The novel also provides a launch pad for some exceedingly rank punditry on Russia, the midterms, and the state of the Republican Party. Earlier in the year, it seemed certain that the GOP would make significant gains in November, but is that still the case? For that matter, why does the foreign policy establishment seem to get so many things wrong? How does writing fiction compare to writing about politics? And can any pundit match Jim’s Trump impression?
Show Notes:
- Jim’s page at National Review
- Jim’s new novel, Gathering Five Storms
- Jonah and Yuval Levin’s first Remnant encounter
- Jim: “Control of the Senate Is Still a Jump Ball”
- Jim: “Does AOC Want to Be Anything More Than a Celebrity?”
- Jonah: “Principles vs. Partisanship”
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On today’s Ruminant, Jonah provides a distinctly Goldbergian fusion of punditry and nerdery. After evaluating Joe Biden’s use of the phrase “MAGA Republicans” and offering a few further thoughts on the Philadelphia speech, he discusses Steve Bannon’s arrest, the ongoing fallout from the Mar-a-Lago raid, and Gov. Greg Abbott’s migrant busing policy. It all ends on a philosophical note, as Jonah reflects on the distinction between conservatism and radicalism.
Show Notes:
- Muriel Bowser declares a public emergency
- Andy McCarthy on Bannon’s indictment
- The Dispatch Podcast on the Mar-a-Lago investigation
- The pandemic erased two years of progress in math and reading
- The Remnant with Matt Continetti
- Leo Ribuffo’s The Old Christian Right
- Ukraine lures Russian missiles with fake HIMARs
- Attend The Dispatch’s What’s Next summit in Naples
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It’s been a while since the Remnant featured an expert on crime, but today, Manhattan Institute fellow Rafael Mangual joins the program to fill that void. Recently, Rafael published Criminal (In)Justice, in which he argues against decarceration and depolicing. Using that book as a launch pad, he and Jonah discuss the sociological factors behind criminality, how crime can be deterred, and why the U.S. is an outlier in its incarceration rate. Plenty of policy wonkery is also mixed in.
Show Notes:
- Rafael’s Manhattan Institute webpage
- Rafael’s new book, Criminal (In)Justice
- Rafael: “The Cost of Decarceration”
- Jonah: “Abolishing Police Departments Is Insane”
- Stanton Samenow’s Inside the Criminal Mind
- Rafael: “Are Democrats Serious About Gun Crime?”
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Cato Institute uberwonk Marian Tupy returns to the Remnant to discuss his new book, Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet. For some time, the idea that overpopulation will deplete the world of its resources has been popular in sociology. In this extra-long, extra-nerdy outing, Marian explains why its proponents are mistaken. He and Jonah also explore how nations become prosperous, the problem of collapsing fertility rates, and the appeal of apocalyptic predictions.
Show Notes:
- Marian’s page at the Cato Institute
- Marian and Gale L. Pooley’s new book, Superabundance
- Jane Goodall and Prince Harry on sustainability
- Nick Eberstadt: “The Americans Who Never Went Back to Work After the Pandemic”
- Jonah’s review of The Reactionary Mind
- The Morning Dispatch breaks big news
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With no preparation and last minute coordination, the drive-time Remnant format returns. Today’s pointlessly random audio adventure covers Biden’s polarizing speech in Philadelphia, Jonah’s unique theory of what happened at Mar-a-Lago, and the dark connection between fast food magnates and conservative think tanks. Musings on TV, movies, and the strange nature of the solo Ruminant are also mixed in. Plus, stick around until the end for some breaking news about The Dispatch.
Show Notes:
- Marc Thiessen: “Biden is disgracing the institution of the prime-time presidential address”
- Jimmy Carter’s malaise speech
- The gap between Trump and his lawyers
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Katherine Mangu-Ward is back on the Remnant, and although Jonah had planned on hosting her for an episode of rank punditry, their conversation takes a more philosophical turn instead. After digging into the weeds of libertarian philosophy, the nature of the social good, and the relationship between libertarianism and feminism, they explore a potpourri of topics ranging from drug liberalization to the transgender debate. Be prepared for unfettered nerdery.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Sarah Isgur
- David Friedman on medieval Iceland
- The Remnant with Megan McArdle
- Nate Cohn: “How Educational Differences Are Widening America’s Political Rift”
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It’s a Dispatch crossover on today’s Remnant, as Sarah Isgur returns to the program to explore the aftermath of the Mar-a-Lago raid, the meaning of executive privilege, and whether this situation can be compared with the Hillary Clinton email controversy. There’s also an extended discussion of child-rearing and the neuroscience of motherhood prompted by a recent New York Times op-ed. Oh, and a look at Sarah’s strange relationship with spiders.
Show Notes:
- Who gets to classify (and declassify) government secrets?
- Chelsea Conaboy: “Maternal Instinct Is a Myth That Men Created”
- Caroline Criado-Perez’ Invisible Women
- Radiolab’s “The Unsilencing”
- James Q. Wilson’s The Moral Sense
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Poised to return from Maine, Jonah’s in especially scatterbrained form on today’s eclectic Ruminant. He begins the program by expanding on Wednesday’s “news”letter and offering some further thoughts on the problematic relationship between data and audiences in today’s media space. Afterward, he addresses Biden’s “morally and politically indefensible” student loan forgiveness plan, the foolishness of politicians who don’t know what they believe, and the nature of a life well lived. Stick around until the end for ruminations on nationalism and fulfillment.
Show Notes:
- James C. Scott’s Seeing Like a State
- The Remnant with Klon Kitchen
- The Remnant with Chris Stirewalt
- Jason Furman’s critique of Biden’s student loan plan
- The Washington Post editorial page blasts Biden
- Blake Masters backtracks on abortion
- The Remnant with Russ Roberts
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The Remnant offers two guests in one today, as AEI scholars Hal Brands and Michael Beckley join the program to discuss their new book, Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China. With the United States and China running a “superpower marathon,” how can we expect the competition to resolve, and is there an appropriate historical analogy for China’s current state? Furthermore, what foreign policy should we pursue toward China? Can China make a stable transition to democracy? And will Michael go down in Remnant history as the only guest to join from the back of an Uber?
Show Notes:
- Hal and Michael’s new book, Danger Zone
- Hal and Michael: “What Does China Want?”
- Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson’s Why Nations Fail
- Hal: “The Dangers of China’s Decline”
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Chris Stirewalt makes his long-awaited twentieth Remnant appearance today to discuss his new book, Broken News: Why the Media Rage Machine Divides America and How to Fight Back. It’s a giant-sized extravaganza of an episode, which covers the evolution of America’s major news networks, the need for journalism to be vocational rather than professional, and the nature of “fair and balanced” media coverage. Ultimately, Chris is keen to stress a particular point: Americanism is central to American journalism.
Show Notes:
- Chris’ new book, Broken News
- Chris previews Broken News in The Dispatch
- Yuval Levin’s The Fractured Republic
- Andrey Mir: “How the Media Polarized Us”
- William Raspberry: “In Praise of Hypocrisy”
- The New York Times on Chris’ book
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Entering the final week of his sojourn in Maine, Jonah begins today’s Ruminant with an account of a drive he recently took to Chautauqua, New York and a reflection on the joys of travel. He also offers a few thoughts on free speech and the stabbing of Salman Rushdie, as well as the nature of patriotism and the importance of gratitude for the things we’ve inherited. The episode concludes with some especially ranty punditry on Liz Cheney’s defeat and ludicrous explanations for why Trump took classified documents to Mar-a-Lago. Plus, there’s an appeal for you, our listeners, to suggest future guests for the program, provided they meet certain strange criteria.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Russ Roberts
- Yuval Levin: “Conservatism is Gratitude”
- Jonah on “fundamentally transforming” America
- Duke’s bipartisanship leaderboard
- The Remnant with Carlos Lozada
- The Dispatch Podcast on Liz Cheney’s defeat
- Jonah: “The Only Adult in the Room”
- Advisory Opinions on the history of English
- Advisory Opinions on orc battle tactics
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What constitutes a life well lived, and what does it mean to truly flourish? Noted economist Russ Roberts provides answers to these pressing questions on today’s Remnant, which concerns his new book, Wild Problems: A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us. In life, we’re faced with many big decisions that can’t be solved by calculation, like when to marry, what career to choose, and whether to have children. Russ is here to explain how we should approach these problems, and to reassure us that it’s okay to make mistakes. Plus, he explores how it feels to be a “recovering economist.”
Show Notes:
- Russ’ new book, Wild Problems
- Russ: “How to Make a Decision When There’s No ‘Right’ One”
- Sebastian Junger’s Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging
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Jonah continues to swelter in Maine on today’s Ruminant, as he examines the aftermath of the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago and how we should interpret Merrick Garland’s response. There’s also an extended discussion of Trump’s psychology, the allure of conspiracy theories, and the nature of American exceptionalism, as Jonah explains how he made peace with being part of the Remnant.
Show Notes:
- Jonah: “Did the GOP Peak Too Soon?”
- Wednesday’s bananified G-File
- The Remnant with Kevin Williamson
- First Things: “Abortion and a Nation at War”
- Andrew McCarthy: “Thoughts on AG Garland’s Remarks”
- Kevin Williamson: “Big Lies Matter”
- Advisory Opinions on the Mar-a-Lago raid
- Greatest country in the world?
- Trump’s “a nation in decline” video
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With his faithful canine in tow, Kevin Williamson saddles up for another Remnant escapade. This time, he and Jonah explore the Mar-a-Lago raid, the problem with new ideas in politics, and the Texas midterm elections. Plus, there’s plenty of dingo discussion mixed in for your edification. Is the president above the law? Should dog shows be banned? And can Kevin’s neighbors convince him to vote for Beto O’Rourke?
Show Notes:
- Kevin’s page at National Review
- Jonah: “Westminster Eugenics Show”
- Kevin: “Do We Believe Our Own Dogma?”
- An emergency Advisory Opinions on the Mar-a-Lago raid
- Mike Huckabee’s crazy argument
- Jonah: “Bonfire of the Asininities”
- Kevin: “Thanks For the ‘Memory’”
- Jonah: “All Quiet on the Black-Ops Front”
- The Remnant with David Bernstein
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Jonah’s aversion to preparation catches up with him on today’s sweaty Remnant. Stuck without a guest, he’s forced to spend an hour answering listener questions selected by Guy, his AEI research assistant. The result is an eclectic throwback to the Remnant AMAs of old, which covers everything from the disappearance of “The Couch” in the G-File to the prospect of a Ron DeSantis presidential bid. How do Liberal Fascism and The Tyranny of Cliches hold up? Did Jonah enjoy his time at Goucher College? And can Jonah and Guy discuss episode 11 without turning to ash?
Show Notes:
- Guy and Jonah’s first encounter
- Jonah: “What I Got Wrong About Fascism”
- Jonah’s recent G-File adapted from The Tyranny of Cliches
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Live from an undisclosed location in heat-struck Maine, Jonah gets ranty on today’s vigorous yet thoughtful Ruminant. In light of his surroundings, he begins with a few reflections on Ted Kennedy’s incident at Chappaquiddick before launching into a passionate tirade against the foolishness of the new right. In distinctly nerdy fashion, Jonah leaves no room for interpretation: There is no place on the right for racist politics, and white supremacist and anti-semitic ideas must necessarily be treated with moral outrage.
Show Notes:
-The Cover-Up podcast on Chappaquiddick
-Leo Damore’s Senatorial Privilege
-Jonah’s column on the Inflation Reduction Act
-The Dispatch: The New Right Finds a Home at the Intersection of Populism and Elitism
-The Economist on the new right
-Kevin WIlliamson on Trump the manly man
-Last Friday’s G-File on the descent of men
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Back in the Remnant driver’s seat, Jonah invites newly minted AEI fellow Joshua Katz onto the program for a nerdtastic discussion of language and how free we are to use it. Inevitably, their conversation touches on Joshua’s departure from Princeton, cancel culture, and broader illiberalism in American life. But it also explores current issues in linguistics, how much we can really know about classical civilizations, and what “literally” actually means. Tune in to find out whether Socrates had it coming.
Show Notes:
- Joshua: “Status and ‘Virtue’ at the Dalton School”
- Joshua on his departure from Princeton
- Joshua’s Declaration of Independence
- College essay prompts get absurd
- Adrian Goldsworthy’s Caesar: Life of a Colossus
- Barry Strauss’ The Spartacus War
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Filling in for an absentee Jonah, Chris Stirewalt is joined by A.B. Stoddard to provide some overpoweringly rank punditry on the state of the midterms. They begin by analyzing how current trends may affect the election results, before turning to the prospect of a political realignment in 2024 and the fear that the Inflation Reduction Act might fail to reduce inflation. Could a third party candidate win the next presidential election? Is Nancy Pelosi ready to step down? And is August an appropriate time to eat roast pork?
Show Notes:
- A.B.’s page at RealClearPolitics
- NewsNation’s recent election poll
- A.B.: “Biden Should Announce in 2023 That He Will Not Run Again”
- Hakeem Jeffries: The next face of the Democratic Party?
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It’s a man’s, man’s world—or so Josh Hawley would have you believe. On today’s Ruminant, Jonah takes a deep dive into the new right’s obsession with masculinity and what it really means to be manly. He also assesses the pros and cons of codifying gay marriage into law, rants about Joe Manchin’s deal with Chuck Schumer, and gives some further thoughts on whether it’s right to launch criminal prosecution against a former president. It’s a radioactive episode.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Charles C.W. Cooke
- Chuck Schumer and Joe Manchin make a deal
- Josh Hawley’s book announcement
- Tom Klingenstein: “Trump is a manly man”
- Kevin Williamson: “The Virile Style”
- Madeline Kearns: “Marital Clash”
- The Editors on Congress’ gay marriage bill
- Andrew Sullivan’s case for gay marriage
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With inflation increasing and the prospect of recession making headlines, David Bahnsen returns to the Remnant to answer a pressing question: How should conservatives approach economic policy? It’s an ultra-wonky conversation that also touches on common errors made by media outlets in their economic coverage and the relationship between moral and economic well being. Plus, tune in to find out which nefarious supervillain organization David secretly funds.
Show Notes:
- David’s Capital Record podcast
- The New York Times headline that ruined Jonah’s morning
- Bastiat’s parable of the broken window
- The Remnant with Robert Sirico
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Klon Kitchen returns to the Remnant for another round of vigorous wonkery on all things national security. This time, he’s primarily concerned with the threat of Chinese espionage and the prospect of a geopolitical confrontation between China and the U.S. But he also has thoughts on the Ukraine conflict, the morality of Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, and the nature of quantum computing. Plus, tune in to hear his case for why you should delete TikTok.
Show Notes:
- The Current, Klon’s Dispatch newsletter
- China’s “thousand grains of sand” approach to intelligence collection
- Klon: “When the Chips Are Down”
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Refreshed from his Adirondack vacation, Jonah begins today’s Ruminant with an update on the January 6 hearings and a rant on the strange phenomenon of “capture the flag” media coverage. He also explores the merits of the MAGA republicans testifying in Congress, the silliness of the idea that there’s a “right side of history,” and the general awfulness of Steve Bannon. Stick around until the end to hear why you should subscribe to The Dispatch if you haven’t already.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with David Bernstein
- The Remnant with Brent Orrell
- Adam Davidson’s podcast advice
- Jan 6 and Secret Service agents
- Cassidy Hutchinson stands by her testimony
- The Holy War over Hunter Biden’s laptop
- Jonah on Honestly with Bari Weiss
- What a second Trump administration would mean
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AEI Senior Fellow Brent Orrell joins the Remnant for a cheerfully wonky exploration of the modern workplace. With institutions and communities collapsing, Americans are increasingly looking to work as their main source of fulfillment, but is this a healthy development? For that matter, how does immigration alter the workforce? Will artificial intelligence have a positive or negative effect on the American economy? And what should we make of the “Great Resignation?”
Show Notes:
- Brent’s podcast, Hardly Working
- Arthur Brooks on earned success
- Brent: “The Great Resignation Shows It’s Time to Rethink Worker Dignity”
- Brent’s “Dignity at Work” report
- Brent: “How AI Is Being Transformed by ‘Foundation Models’”
- The Remnant with Jim Pethokoukis
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The Remnant’s wonky streak continues as David Bernstein, professor at Antonin Scalia Law School, joins the program to discuss his new book, Classified: The Untold Story of Racial Classification in America. Racial classifications are ubiquitous in American life, but David believes they are becoming increasingly arbitrary and incoherent. His solution is to abolish official racial classification altogether and replace it with a separation of race and state. But what would this look like in practice, and how did terms of racial classification originate in the first place?
Show Notes:
- David’s new book, Classified
- David: “How Well Do You Know America's Racial Classification System?”
- Sean Trende’s The Lost Majority
- The Remnant with Noah Phillips
- The Remnant with Ruy Teixeira
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July’s drive-time Remnant extravaganza is here, and it’s as deprived of substance as you’d expect. Wedding proposals, cruises, road trips, and other offbeat subjects are all discussed at unnecessary length, but a modicum of serious punditry is also mixed in on the upcoming midterms and the potential for a Trump re-election campaign announcement. Plus, tune in to hear Jonah detail his bygone days as an opera supernumerary and the rebranding of Bloggingheads.tv.
Show Notes:
- The Daily on the James Webb Space Telescope
- Nonzero, formerly Bloggingheads.tv
- The Dispatch Podcast on the James Webb Space Telescope
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Paul Miller, Georgetown professor and regular contributor to The Dispatch, returns to The Remnant to discuss his new book, The Religion of American Greatness: What’s Wrong with Christian Nationalism. In formidably highfalutin fashion, he and Jonah explore what drives mankind’s nationalistic impulse, why Christianity and nationalism have historically been intertwined in America, and what should hold our country together beyond the creed outlined in the Declaration of Independence. Stick around to hear Paul turn the tables on Jonah and ask him a few questions about the legacy of Suicide of the West.
Show Notes:
- Paul’s new book, The Religion of American Greatness
- Paul’s appearance on Dispatch Live
- Jonah: “The Dangers of Unchecked Nationalism”
- Chris Hedges’ American Fascists
- Arlie Russell Hochschild’s Strangers in Their Own Land
- Rich Lowry’s The Case for Nationalism
- Michael Burleigh’s The Third Reich
- Yuval Levin’s The Great Debate
- The Remnant with Charles C.W. Cooke
- David Bell’s The Cult of the Nation in France
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An unwashed Charles C.W. Cooke returns to the Remnant for a predictably rank exploration of gun rights, criminal law, and electoral politics. There’s also a deep dive into linguistics prompted by Jill Biden’s taco gaffe, an discussion of America’s fondness for elderly political figures, and an examination of whether stop and frisk policies are constitutional. How is the 2024 presidential race shaping up? Should Trump be prosecuted for his actions on January 6? And what can we do about mass shootings?
Show Notes:
- Charlie: “Jill Biden’s ‘LatinX IncluXion Luncheon’ FiaXco”
- Jonah: “Where Did Biden Go Wrong?”
- Charlie: “Democrats Prepare to Throw Biden Overboard”
- Charlie on dismal polling for Trump and Biden
- The Editors on prosecuting Trump
- James Q. Wilson: “What To Do About Crime”
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After kicking off today’s Ruminant with a few reflections on his pesky first name, Jonah soon embarks on a thorough analysis of Joe Biden’s rise to the presidency and the intellectual insecurities that often come packaged with the Oval Office. An eclectic potpourri follows as Jonah explores the distinction between assassination and murder, his relationship with a top British cabinet official, and the hypocrisy of European nations regarding the abortion debate. It all ends with a more lighthearted assessment of the differences between Hollywood movies and real life.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Noah Phillips
- The Remnant with Noah Rothman
- David Bernstein’s work for Reason
- Dana Milbank: “Give Biden a Break”
- Mitt Romney: “America is in Denial”
- Vice presidents who became presidents themselves
- The Shinzo Abe assassination
- The Remnant with Megan McArdle
- Jonah’s twitter thread on political movies
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Commentary ‘s Noah Rothman makes an overdue return to the Remnant to discuss his new book, The Rise of the New Puritans, which compares today’s woke progressives with their pious ancestors. Alternating between vigorous agreement and spirited debate, Noah and Jonah explore the morality of wokeism, the state of sex and comedy, and what’s behind mankind’s puritanical impulse. They also touch on the importance of staying in your lane, the future of safetyism in American life, and whether Mike Pence should be disqualified from pursuing another presidential bid.
Show Notes:
- Noah’s new book, The Rise of the New Puritans
- Noah: “Joyless on the Fourth”
- George McKenna’s The Puritan Origins of American Patriotism
- Noah: “The January 6 Commission’s Biggest Reveal”
- The Remnant with FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips
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Noah Phillips of the Federal Trade Commission brings his expertise to the Remnant today for an exceedingly wonky discussion of American law and bureaucracy. The debate over Big Tech has whipped up plenty of discussion about antitrust reforms recently, but how effective could such reforms actually be? For that matter, how problematic are monopolies? Is the FTC in good shape? And how can the harmful effects of social media be mitigated?
Show Notes:
- Sen. John Cornyn booed at Texas GOP convention
- Amy Klobuchar’s self-preferencing bill
- Scott Lincicome on the Jones Act
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If you’re hitting the road this weekend, today’s extra-long, extra-patriotic Ruminant should be a perfect accompaniment for your travels. Jonah begins by looking at the Dobbs decision, the relationship between the judiciary and the legislature, and why conservatives believe in originalism. Then, after offering some additional thoughts on consequentialism and a generous helping of rank punditry, he turns to the Fourth of July. In a moment where pride in America is particularly low, Jonah believes we should still be bullish about this country, and he has enough philosophical insights on hand to explain why.
Show Notes:
- Joshua Zeitz: “The Supreme Court’s Faux ‘Originalism’”
- David French: “Roe Is Reversed, and the Right Isn’t Ready”
- The Remnant with Megan McArdle
- Only 38% say they’re extremely proud to be American
- Calvin Coolidge on patriotism
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Megan McArdle is back on the Remnant to explore the Dobbs decision, the culture war over sex and gender, and America’s rising crime. Dingos and the innocence of childhood are also discussed, though you’ll have to tune in to see whether Jonah is willing to divulge more information about his youthful exploits as a supernumerary actor. How should the legislative and judicial branches balance their responsibilities? What does the future hold for the transgender movement? And what would Megan’s criminal justice reform agenda look like?
Show Notes:
- Megan’s page at the Washington Post
- The Remnant with Jay Nordlinger
- Jonah: “How Dobbs Might Shape the Future of Conservatism in Unexpected Ways”
- GLoP: “Occasionally Masculine”
- Megan: “The Left is Counting on an Abortion Backlash That May Never Come”
- Megan: “Don’t Forget the Other Women in the Pool”
- Megan: “A Better Way for Democrats to Talk About Rising Crime”
- Jon Ronson’s So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed
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Jay Nordlinger, Jonah’s conservative colleague and a senior editor at National Review, joins the Remnant for the first time to provide his uniquely measured blend of rank punditry and linguistic insight. Brace yourself for an eclectic potpourri of topics, including an exploration of the Dobbs decision and the future of abortion in America, a thorough discussion of what it means to be a conservative, and a few etymological asides. Also, tune in to find out whether conservatism’s three-legged stool is still standing.
Show Notes:
- Jay’s page at National Review
- Jay: “The Saudi Golf Tour Is Blatant ‘Sportswashing’”
- Jay: “What is Conservatism?”
- Frank Meyer’s What is Conservatism?
- The Remnant with John McWhorter
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Today’s jet-lagged Ruminant finds Jonah haunted by uncomfortable memories of John Dean as he tries to make sense of what the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision means for gun laws in America. Afterward, he offers philosophical musings on an array of topics, including consequentialist ethics, stoplights, and religious edicts. It all ends with a brief reflection on why Jonah is a conservative in the first place. Also, please note that this episode was recorded before the Supreme Court released its decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Jonah will have plenty to say on the subject very soon.
Show Notes:
- John Dean’s Worse than Watergate
- The Fairbanks Midnight Sun Run
- Trump: “I whine until I win”
- The Remnant (guest hosted by Chris Stirewalt) with Josh Kraushaar
- The Remnant with Christine Rosen
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With Jonah back from the harsh wilds of Alaska, Commentary’s Christine Rosen makes her long-awaited Remnant return. The duo explores the harmful effects of social media on young people, how pornography should be regulated, and what’s led to the rapid spread of transgender ideology. Why has trauma become a political tool? How can epigenetics explain political problems? And will this episode officially bring an end to Jonah’s friendship with John Podhoretz?
Show Notes:
- Christine’s page at Commentary
- The Remnant (hosted by Jonah’s vocal doppelganger) with Josh Kraushaar
- Christine: “Ban Kids From Social Media”
- Christine: “The Mainstream Media Damaged our Children”
- Jonah and Nick Schulz: “Gated or X-Rated?”
- Christine: “How Trauma Became a Political Tool”
- Jonah: “Who’s Oppressing Whom?”
- The Remnant with Jonathan Rauch
- The Fair Jessica: “Ms. Myths”
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While Jonah scrambles to escape the wilds of Alaska, Chris Stirewalt takes control of the Remnant to provide some exceedingly rank punditry. His guest is Josh Kraushaar, who joins to explore whether the Democrats really are doomed in the upcoming midterms and what we can expect from Republicans in the remaining primaries. Josh and Chris also consider some of the most pressing questions about the 2024 presidential election: Will Joe Biden run again? How will Trump affect the race? And have the January 6 hearings been helpful to Republicans?
Show Notes:
- Josh’s page at National Journal
- Josh’s podcast, Against the Grain
- Democrats attack Mehmet Oz and David McCormick
- Josh on the building Republican wave
- How Brian Kemp crushed Trump in Georgia
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How does The Godfather relate to the January 6 hearings? Jonah has the answer on today’s early-morning Ruminant, which also features disquisitions on the Democrats’ economic malpractice, the asinine argument that those who didn’t vote for Trump are responsible for Biden’s failures, and the future of American democracy. Did January 6 create a constitutional crisis? Will the hearings embolden sane Republicans to speak honestly about Trump? And is it time to say buona sera to American life as we know it?
Show Notes:
- How Jonah learned to stop worrying and love the January 6 committee
- The Remnant with Chris Stirewalt
- The Editors on the January 6 hearings
- A criminal referral of Trump?
- Andy McCarthy on how Trump should have been impeached
- Noah Rothman: “The January 6 Commission’s Biggest Reveal”
- Newt Gingrich: “Pelosi’s Stalinist Show Trial”
- Jonah: “What I Got Wrong About Fascism”
- The Remnant with Fr. Robert Sirico
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Rev. Robert Sirico, co-founder and president of the Acton Institute, joins the Remnant to discuss his new book, The Economics of the Parables, which uses Biblical stories to offer economic advice. With many on the right now embracing theocracy, it’s tempting to argue that the Catholic intellectual tradition is inherently at odds with capitalism. But Rev. Sirico disagrees, and he also isn’t convinced by the common left-wing argument that Jesus was a socialist. How can we heal the American heart? Should religion influence politics? And which of Rev. Sirico’s relatives might have Jonah whacked for the end of this podcast?
Show Notes:
- The Economics of the Parables, Rev. Sirico’s new book
- Jonah on the microcosm and the macrocosm
- Arthur Brooks’ Who Really Cares?
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Chris Stirewalt, America’s favorite rodeo expert, is back on the Remnant to provide an inside view of the January 6 hearings. He and Jonah explore how the hearings have played out so far and what we can expect the outcome to be, occasionally stopping for a few strange existential digressions. Will the hearings influence the midterms? What happened on election night when Fox decided to call Arizona? And how well does Chris know his Hume from his Haidt?
Show Notes:
- Chris: “The January 6 Committee and Me”
- Chris: “Trump’s Faction of One”
- The Hangover with Steve Kornacki
- Jonah: “This Was Always the Plan”
- Charles Krauthammer: “Bungled Collusion is Still Collusion”
- The Remnant 500th episode extravaganza
- Jonah: “The Parliamentary-Election Problem”
- Jonah: “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Jan. 6 Committee”
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Weird, overlong, and predictably devoid of substance, the drive-time Remnant format returns for another broadcast. Although today’s program begins with analysis of the January 6 hearings, it swiftly takes a turn for the eclectically surreal, as Jonah describes his obsession with pharmaceutical fine print, Ryan ponders the greatness of American dining halls, and Guy provides an account of his visit to a Kiss convention (yes, really). Oh, and to prevent things from becoming too pointless and indulgent (yeah, right) a few thoughts are also sprinkled in on the weakening of institutions and our fragile culture.
Show Notes:
- The Dispatch breaks down the Jan 6 hearing
- Jonah: “What I Got Wrong About Fascism”
- The New York Times’ Jan 6 reconstruction
- Stanford’s problematic dining halls
- Jonathan Haidt on our uniquely stupid decade
- Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park
- The Remnant with Mike Gallagher
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It’s been a while since a recovering Marxist joined the Remnant, but Ruy Teixeira, political demographer and senior fellow at American Progress, is here to fill that void. In predictably wonky fashion, he and Jonah examine the future of the Democratic Party and how the progressive movement has changed in recent years. They also explore racism in American life, wokeism in universities, and Jonah’s renowned distaste for primaries. Whatever happened to the FDR coalition? Is Maoism back in style? And should we still be optimistic about America?
Show Notes:
- Ruy’s newsletter, The Liberal Patriot
- Ruy and John B. Judis’ The Emerging Democratic Majority
- Ruy’s The Optimistic Leftist
- Ruy: “How to Fix the Democratic Brand”
- The Remnant with Francis Fukuyama
- David Shor and the Democrats
- Jonah: “That Shor Sounds Good”
- Tyler Cowen on the Turing test
- The Remnant with Elaine Kamarck
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Armed with a smorgasbord of booze, Jonah reunites with Rep. Mike Gallagher for another half-baked extravaganza, in which the duo’s efforts to annex Greenland may finally come to fruition. Trap doors beneath escalators, dad-centric dating apps, and various bovine innovations are among the undercooked ideas proposed for your listening enjoyment, as well as a few novel solutions for the domestic crises sweeping our nation. Tune in also for excessive pop culture discussion, ruminations on the existence of extraterrestrials, and a possible new name for the Remnant.
Show Notes:
- Jonah and Rep. Mike’s previous career-ruining encounter
- Leonard E. Read’s “I, Pencil”
- Jonathan Haidt: “Facebook’s Dangerous Experiment on Teen Girls”
- Yuval Levin on why we’re still governed by baby boomers
- Don’t F- with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer
- Yuval Levin: “The Changing Face of Social Breakdown”
- Jonah: “I Think We’re Turning Japanese”
- Geoffrey Household’s Rogue Male
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Jonah plunges into the danger zone on today’s Ruminant, covering topics ranging from the somber to the downright bizarre. After offering a few thoughts on Wednesday’s indulgent “news”letter and the nature of writer’s block, he turns to television, republicanism, and superstition, providing exceptionally nerdy disquisitions on each. Does the djinn genie live on his back? How does Jonah really feel about the Second Amendment? And after the success of the 500th Remnant-palooza, could further live events be coming soon?
Show Notes:
- Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special
- Justin Fenton’s We Own This City
- The Remnant with Yuval Levin
- The Remnant with Francis Fukuyama
- When market failure is government failure
- The Remnant with Stephen Gutowski
- David French on red flag laws
- The Ayn Rand poster saga continues
- Have a minute to share The Dispatch?
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Tony Mills, a senior fellow at AEI whose work focuses on science policy and political theory, joins the Remnant for an ultra-nerdy exploration of the American political tradition. He and Jonah examine whether liberalism alone can sustain the United States and why our experts have fallen into such low repute. Is free market capitalism corrosive? Why is civic republicanism important? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of bureaucracy?
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Yuval Levin
- Tony: “Liberalism is Not Enough”
- Tony: “Illiberalism’s True Colors”
- Russell Kirk and Lionel Trilling
- The Remnant with Daniel Hannan
- Daniel Burns: “Liberal Practice vs. Liberal Theory”
- Schumpeter’s Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy
- Daniel Bell’s The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism
- James Burnham’s The Managerial Revolution
- Orwell: “Second Thoughts on James Burnham”
- Jonah on beastly bureaucracy
- Tony: “Unmasking Scientific Expertise”
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At long last, the Remnant-palooza celebrating Jonah’s 500th episode is here for your listening pleasure. Recorded live at the American Enterprise Institute before a crowd of Dispatch devotees, the episode features two panel discussions featuring three of the program’s most cherished guests. To begin, Sen. Ben Sasse joins Jonah for an hour of high-minded eggheadery, covering the merits of Bigfoot erotica, the loss of a common American culture, and how we can heal the political wounds caused by populism and negative polarization. Then, Chris Stirewalt and A.B. Stoddard take the stage for rank punditry on the midterm elections and what we can expect from the next presidential election. Finally, Jonah fields questions from the audience, greets a special guest, and offers a few words of appreciation for those who’ve made The Remnant so successful. It’s been a weird and wonderful journey to 500 episodes, and we’re grateful to you all for sharing it with us.
Show Notes:
- A.B.: “Trump - Maker of Clusters, Not Kings”
- Chris on the prospect of Trump 2024
- Yuval Levin: “Trump Party or Trump Faction?”
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It’s another very, very early morning Ruminant today, yet somehow Jonah is annoyingly bombarded with texts at the start of the podcast. After figuring out how to stop the interruptions, he delves into what he thinks are the essential books for all conservatives to read. Then, sadly, he shares his thoughts on shootings, guns, body armor, and more. Stick around to hear Jonah’s thoughts on the latest iterations of Star Trek. Finally, a potpourri of topics: Is Jonah actually optimistic about the future of the GOP? Why are we obsessed with “having an honest conversation?”
Show Notes:
- Road to Serfdom by F. A. Hayek
- The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism by F. A. Hayek
- The Use of Knowledge in Society by F.A. Hayek
- Why I Am Not a Conservative by F. A. Hayek
- The Portable Conservative Reader by Russell Kirk
- The Remnant with Stephen Gutowski
- Sen. Ted Cruz's “American exceptionalism” interaction with reporter
- Klon Kitchen on the Heritage Foundation
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Jonah is both excited and sad for today’s Remnant guest because Stephen Gutowski might just be the smartest person in the media today to talk about guns and mass shootings, but that means there was another mass shooting to talk about. Gutowski, founder of The Reload, comes on to talk about guns, gun laws, and the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. What even is an AR-15? Should they be banned? What does the “media” get wrong every time something like this happens? What is a “mass shooting?” What, if anything, can be done to help prevent these events?
Show Notes:
- The Reload: Sober, Serious Firearms Reporting and Analysis
- Sign up for The Reload’s free newsletter
- The Reload Podcast with David French
- National Institue of Justice study
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James “Jimmy P” Pethokoukis makes his long-awaited Remnant return to assure us that life really is better than it used to be. Alternating between gratuitous sci-fi references and shameless wonkery, he and Jonah explore dynamism in American life, the potential for a new Roaring ‘20s, and the future of technology. Is there a case for universal basic income? Will Elon Musk become the next Howard Hughes? And what can we expect from the new space age?
Show Notes:
- Jim’s Substack, Faster, Please!
- Jonah reviews The Reactionary Mind
- Jim’s idea of a “post-modern” U.S. economy
- Jim on Musk’s Twitter takeover
- Kevin Williamson on the strange case of billionaires
- Jim explores Americans’ views on trade
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Jonah’s in especially ranty form on today’s Ruminant, which finds him once again deprived of sleep thanks to the wailings of a local fox. He begins by offering a few further thoughts on the relationship between religion and politics following Tim Alberta’s Remnant appearance. Afterward, rank punditry ensues, as Jonah explores how both parties are harming the United States through their concern for short-term power above all else. Stick around for lengthy disquisitions on the Great Replacement theory, immigration, and pluralism.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Tim Alberta
- Tim: “How Politics Poisoned the Evangelical Church”
- National Review’s “Editors” podcast on the Pennsylvania race
- Jonah: “Never Trump Nevermore”
- The Remnant with Yascha Mounk
- The Dispatch Podcast on the Buffalo tragedy
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Tim Alberta of The Atlantic joins Jonah to talk about his latest piece How Politics Poisoned the Evangelical Church. The story and the evangelical church is personal to Alberta, as he grew up a “pastor’s kid” in Brighton, Michigan, and has witnessed a changing of the church from the frontlines. What surprised him about writing this piece? Why is he “angry”? Plus, stick around to the end for some rank, 2024 GOP presidential punditry.
Show Notes:
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Yascha Mounk makes his second appearance on The Remnant, this time to discuss his new book, The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure. In a conversation tailor-made for holders of the Remnant bingo card, Yascha and Jonah discuss the dangers of tribalism and populism, America’s crisis of community, and what patriotism should look like. They also examine America’s shifting demographics and take a deep dive into the nuances of liberal philosophy.
Show Notes:
- Yascha’s previous Remnant appearance
- The Remnant with Yuval Levin
- The Remnant with Francis Fukuyama
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Haunted by the wailings of a local fox, Jonah brings an elevated degree of curmudgeonliness to today’s wide-ranging Ruminant. After offering some further thoughts on the hyper-politicization of American society and the erosion of institutions, Jonah turns to abortion, dispelling a few common myths and outlining what post-Roe law should look like. He also explores inflation, the ongoing Ukraine conflict, and what separates a eulogy from a resume. Plus, tune in for more details on the Remnant’s upcoming 500th episode extravaganza.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Yuval Levin
- Washington Post journalists prove Yuval and Jonah’s point
- Jonah explains his abortion views
- The New Republic blasts Justice Alito
- Biden’s recent inflation speech
- The Wall Street Journal on the looming battle in eastern Ukraine
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Yuval Levin returns to the Remnant to provide his signature brand of edifying eggheadery. Institutions, the culture war, and the necessity of staying in your lane are all covered in this high minded conversation. Jonah and Yuval also discuss America’s unique fusion of liberalism and republicanism and what we can expect from abortion law if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Plus, tune in for an update on the Remnant’s special 500th episode live event.
Show Notes:
- Yuval: “How to Curb the Culture War”
- Francis Fukuyama’s Liberalism and its Discontents
- The Remnant with Francis Fukuyama
- Daniel E. Burns: “Liberal Practice v. Liberal Theory”
- Carl Eric Scott: “The Five Conceptions of Liberty”
- Yuval on Obama’s second inaugural
- Yuval: “Family Policy After Roe”
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Beth Akers, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins The Remnant for extreme wonkery on student debt and the economics of higher education. Why have the Democrats become so fixated on the issue of forgiving student loan debt, and can a moral argument be made for forgiveness? Furthermore, are most graduate programs pointless? How can we fix America’s universities? And can anyone match Jonah’s raw disdain for journalism schools?
Show Notes:
- Beth’s first book, Game of Loans
- Beth’s latest book, Making College Pay
- Beth on why student loan cancellation will backfire
- Jonah ruminates on student debt
- The Remnant with Alex Tabarrok
- Bryan Caplan’s The Case Against Education
- Bryan on Beth’s podcast, “An Economist Goes to College”
- WSJ: “The Elite Master’s Degrees That Don’t Pay Off”
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The drive-time Remnant format returns for another eclectic broadcast that, initially at least, comes dangerously close to providing actual substance. In predictably freewheeling fashion, Jonah, Guy, and Ryan explore the abortion debate and how the culture war manifests in various cultures, evaluate the merits of The Batman, and ponder when China’s influence on Hollywood will decrease. They also make an exciting announcement: On May 24th, the Remnant’s 500th episode will be recorded live at the American Enterprise Institute, and Dispatch subscribers are invited to attend. Tune in to hear all the juicy details, and keep a close eye on the site over the coming days for more information.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Chris Stirewalt
- Yascha Mounk’s The Great Experiment
- Jonah: “A Slow Kowtow to China”
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Fairy tales can come true, and it may happen to you on today’s Remnant, which sees Jonah reunite with Chris Stirewalt for more rank punditry, dated pop culture references, and gratuitous Clinton bashing. They begin by exploring the Roe leak, digging into what it means for abortion law and how Biden should handle the situation, before turning to J.D. Vance’s victory in Ohio and what we can expect from the Pennsylvania Senate primary. Tune in for political insight, but stick around to see whether Jonah and Chris can resist discussing testicle tanning.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Francis Fukuyama
- The Remnant with H.R. McMaster
- The Remnant with Thomas Chatterton Williams
- The Dispatch breaks down J.D. Vance’s win
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Retired Gen. H.R. McMaster—Hoover Institution senior fellow, former national security adviser, and foreign policy expert—makes his first appearance on the Remnant to discuss China, Russia, and Afghanistan. He and Jonah examine what led to the war in Ukraine, the likelihood of Xi Jinping invading Taiwan, and whether institutional failures were to blame for the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal. They also dig into America’s shifting role on the world stage and what our defense budget should look like. By the end, one question remains unanswered: What’s the best war movie ever made?
Show Notes:
- McMaster’s page at the Hoover Institution
- “GoodFellows,” McMaster’s group video show at Hoover
- “Battlegrounds,” McMaster’s interview program
- Battlegrounds, McMaster’s latest book
- Dereliction of Duty, McMaster’s first book
- Putin’s case for invading Ukraine
- The Remnant with Klon Kitchen
- Sergei Lavrov compares Zelensky to Hitler
- The Remnant with Hal Brands on Cold War history
- The Economist on countries faking their COVID numbers
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On the mend from his sudden bout of illness, Jonah approaches today’s Ruminant with his standard level of nerdy panache. After offering a few thoughts on how The Tyranny of Clichés holds up today, he commences a lengthy rant on why canceling student debt would be a serious moral and political blunder, before turning to Francis Fukuyama’s work on liberalism. What does the relationship between virtue and responsibility look like? When is grad school worthwhile? And is John Rawls one of history’s greatest monsters?
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with David French
- The Remnant with Francis Fukuyama
- Wednesday’s totally uncontroversial G-File
- Game of Loans, by Beth Akers and Matthew M. Chingos
- Shoshana Weissman on occupational licensing
- WSJ: “The Elite Master’s Degrees That Don’t Pay Off”
- Charles A. Reich’s The Greening of America
- Jonah’s notes on nationalism
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On today’s Remnant, Francis Fukuyama finally stops by to discuss his new book, Liberalism and its Discontents, and Jonah can barely contain his enthusiasm. The resulting conversation is a feast of philosophical nerdery, which explores the origins of the liberal tradition, the state of liberalism in contemporary America, and the future of the free world. How did “neoliberal” become such a popular pejorative? What are the limits of federalism? And should we be optimistic about the political trajectory of the United States?
Show Notes:
- Liberalism and its Discontents
- The End of History and the Last Man
- The Origins of Political Order
- Dr. Fukuyama previews Liberalism and its Discontents in American Purpose
- Justice Scalia’s commencement speech
- Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff’s The Coddling of the American Mind
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Sick with a nasty fever, Jonah approaches today’s Remnant not as an emergency podcast, but a podcast imbued with a sense of emergency. His guest is David French, who returns for a lengthy discussion of Ron DeSantis’ feud with Disney and what it reveals about American polarization. Also on the docket is what we can expect from Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter and how Jonah and David would change the site if they were given control. Stick around until the end for obligatory discussion of TV, movies, and other items of nerdy miscellanea.
Show Notes:
- David’s page at The Dispatch
- The Morning Dispatch breaks down Florida’s plan to annex Disney World
- Charlie Cooke: “Ron DeSantis’s Misguided Attack on Disney’s Legal Status”
- An extra-feisty Charlie Cooke on National Review’s “Editors” podcast
- Jonah’s latest column on the Disney saga
- David: “How Twitter Beclowns the American Elite”
- Nate Cohn and Kevin Quealy on the Democratic electorate
- Francis Fukuyama’s Liberalism and its Discontents
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On today’s Ruminant, Jonah serves up a typically eclectic potpourri of rank punditry and historical nerdery. After exploring how, in almost literary fashion, Kevin McCarthy’s hidden normalcy has proved to be his undoing, Jonah turns to the origins of socialism, and what the Soviet approach to collectivism can tell us about Putin’s ambitions for Russia today. He also shares his thoughts on Florida’s Disney kerfuffle, modern architecture, and what we can expect from the upcoming midterms.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Thomas Chatterton Williams
- Kevin McCarthy’s political malpractice
- Jonah: “Karl Marx’s Jew-Hating Conspiracy Theory”
- The Remnant on Marx and antisemitism
- The Remnant with Klon Kitchen
- Elizabeth Warren’s midterm proposal
- Jonah: “More Sandwiches, Less Kale Foam”
- Ruy Texiera: “Eyes Wide Shut”
- Charlie Cooke: “Ron DeSantis’s Misguided Attack on Disney’s Legal Status”
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Thomas Chatterton Williams, nonresident AEI fellow and writer at The Atlantic, joins the Remnant for the first time to discuss race and ethnicity in America. Thomas, who describes himself as “ex-black,” believes we need to “unlearn race” to fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence. But what would that entail in practice, and how can we move away from racial categories while preserving a diverse culture? Moreover, why is it beneficial to spend time residing in a foreign country? What are “American values?” And will France soon annex the United States?
Show Notes:
- Thomas’ latest book, Self-Portrait in Black and White
- Thomas: “My Family’s Life Inside and Outside America’s Racial Categories”
- Thomas: “Saving Classics From Identity Politics”
- Albert Murray’s The Omni-Americans
- The Remnant with John McWhorter
- Emmanuel Macron rejects wokeism
- Jonah: “What if we Ran Our Elections Like France?”
- James Baldwin: “The Discovery of What it Means to be an American”
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Jonah and Matt Continetti continue their tremendously nerdy adventure through the history of American conservatism today, taking us from the 1970s to the present. In a conversation tailor-made for holders of the Remnant bingo card, they discuss the Reagan Revolution, the Clinton years, the future of the conservative movement, and much more. Can the contemporary right hold off resurgent anti-Americanism? Could fascism happen here? And how many more times will Matt need to appear for Jonah to ask everything that’s on his mind?
Show Notes:
- Part 1 of Jonah and Matt’s shameless nerdfest
- Buckley’s The Unmaking of a Mayor
- Barry Goldwater’s The Conscience of a Conservative
- Milton and Rose Friedman’s Two Lucky People
- Kevin Phillips’ The Emerging Republican Majority
- John Patrick Diggins’ Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History
- Stephen F. Hayward’s The Age of Reagan
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After providing an update on his absence this week, Jonah begins today’s Ruminant on a note of uncertainty: He hasn’t decided whether an Elon Musk Twitter takeover is something we should welcome or fear. His mind is also occupied by the idea raised by Megan McArdle that Americans are increasingly “sidestepping institutions” in their daily lives, as well as Matt Continetti’s perspective on the term “right-winger.” Plus, tune in for a predictably nerdy disquisition on populism and why an old-fashioned liberal ethos is what separates conservatism from statism.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Megan McCardle
- Martin Kramer’s The War on Error
- The Remnant with Michael Brendan Dougherty
- Part 1 of the Remnant’s Matt Continetti nerdapalooza
- Father Coughlin: Man of the left
- Louis Hartz’s The Liberal Tradition in America
- Seymour Martin Lipsett’s American Exceptionalism
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The Remnant ascends to a higher plane of nerdom today, as Matthew Continetti returns to discuss his new book, The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism. This episode presents the first half of a two-hour conversation between Jonah and Matt, which takes us on a freewheeling journey from the ‘20s to the ‘70s. They begin by exploring whether it’s possible to provide a simple definition of conservatism before digging deeply into the evolution of the movement. What did conservatism look like before the New Deal? How did William F. Buckley Jr. shape modern politics? Is fusionism still relevant? And how should we remember figures like Richard Nixon, Calvin Coolidge, and George Wallace? All of these questions and more are addressed within. But to learn about the Reagan era onward, and to hear some of Jonah’s quibbles with the book, you’ll have to tune in next week.
Show Notes:
- George Nash’s The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945
- George Weaver’s Ideas Have Consequences
- Russell Kirk’s The Conservative Mind
- Matthew previews The Right in the Wall Street Journal
- Frank Meyer’s reluctant and apologetic essay collection, What Is Conservatism?
- Lionel Trilling’s The Liberal Imagination
- The Remnant with Stephanie Slade
- How William F. Buckley changed his mind on civil rights
- Buckley’s The Unmaking of a Mayor
- Barry Goldwater’s The Conscience of a Conservative
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The Remnant gets wonky today as Klon Kitchen, AEI senior fellow and author of The Current newsletter for The Dispatch, returns to discuss Russia’s information war in Ukraine. With no end in sight for the conflict, Jonah and Klon explore what America’s intelligence support for Ukraine looks like and what other measures we could take to assist the country. They also touch on the veracity of Russia and China’s COVID statistics, what Putin’s war will mean for Taiwan, and how Klon would advise Joe Biden if he were summoned to the White House. Stick around until the end for obligatory dog discourse.
Show Notes:
- Klon: “Why Russia’s Cyber Warriors Haven't Crippled Ukraine”
- Daniel Hannan: “Vladimir Putin's kleptocracy will be his own undoing”
- Mike Duncan on the Russian Revolution
- The Remnant with Mike Duncan
- Klon on semiconductors and the “splinternet”
- The Remnant with Lyman Stone
- Jonah: “Vladimir Putin, Brittle Oak”
- The Remnant with Edward Carr
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Jonah’s still in Chicago for today’s Ruminant, and he isn’t terribly comfortable with the pre-summer weather. Still, severe cold in spring is less frustrating than our political dysfunction, and Jonah has plenty to discuss on that front. After exploring the distinction between disinformation and misinformation and the state of American media bias, he turns to the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, Florida’s controversial education bill, and why misusing the term “groomer” is both immoral and tactically foolish for Republicans. Ready your bingo cards for a predictably freewheeling ride.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Megan McCardle
- Jonah on disinformation at the UChicago Institute of Politics
- Jonah on the Kavanaugh allegations
- Anne Applebaum’s UChicago panel
- Anne Applebaum on Hunter Biden’s laptop
- David French: “Against the ‘Groomer’ Smear”
- How Title IX became a political weapon
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Live from the Windy City, Jonah returns to the Remnant driver’s seat. He’s joined by Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle, who has plenty of thoughts on America’s strange plague of mobocratic thinking and workplace safetyism. The pair also explore Jonah’s distaste for public sector unions, Megan’s opposition to student loan forgiveness, and the circumstances in which populism can be put to good use. Plus, for all you bingo cardholders, there’s plenty of dingo discussion and kvetching about primaries mixed in.
Show Notes:
- Megan’s page at the Washington Post
- Megan: “It’s time for major institutions to make their employees get off of Twitter”
- Grace Metalious’ Peyton Place
- The New Yorker “flyover country” cover
- Jonah and Elaine Kamarck talk primaries
- The Remnant with David French and Jonathan Rauch
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While Jonah traverses the Virginia woodlands, David French assumes control of the Remnant. His guest is Jonathan Rauch, who returns to provide a refreshingly calm perspective on our debates over gender and inclusion. After breaking down the history of the LGBTQ movement, Jonathan and David evaluate the Lia Thomas situation, Florida’s controversial education bill, and how conservatives should approach radical gender ideology. They also discuss a potential academic pushback against cancel culture, and the dangers of misusing the term “groomer” for political gain.
Show Notes:
- Jonathan’s previous Remnant appearance
- Jonathan’s latest book, The Constitution of Knowledge
- Jonathan: “Walking the Transgender Movement Away from the Extremists”
- Jonathan: “What’s Happening on the Left Is No Excuse for What’s Happening on the Right”
- David reviews Andrew Sullivan’s Out on a Limb
- David and Nancy’s Kanakuk Kamps exposé
- Does the anti-woke right pose a threat?
- Scott Alexander on liberalism
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The drive-time Remnant format returns for another predictably eclectic broadcast. Today’s episode finds Jonah, Guy, and Ryan perplexed by Madison Cawthorn’s claims about D.C. debauchery, amused by conspiracy theories about Will Smith’s Oscar's slap, and fascinated by the lowest moments of otherwise great TV shows. They also touch on Jonah’s latent arachnophobia, Guy’s animated obsessions, and Ryan’s fondness for Lucky Charms. By the end of it all, the Remnant may have conclusively jumped the shark.
Show Notes:
- The Dispatch’s guide to Oscar nominees
- The Remnant with Chris Stirewalt
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Chris Stirewalt, the Remnant’s official “break glass in case of emergency” guest, returns to explain why there actually is such a thing as a free lunch. Over a sumptuous breakfast of granola and omelettes, he and Jonah discuss Joe Biden’s dismal approval numbers and the state of the Democratic Party heading into the midterms. They also examine Madison Cawthorn’s wild claims about the GOP establishment, Ginni Thomas’ unfortunate texts, and the decline and fall of great TV shows. Stick around until the end to decide if “key bump” should be added to the Remnant bingo card.
Show Notes:
- Jonah: “When Gaffes Become Policy”
- Could Trump blow the midterms for the GOP?
- The Remnant with John Podhoretz
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Adam White, AEI senior fellow and Jonah’s trusted law-talkin’ guy, makes his long-awaited Remnant return. The pair take a deep dive into the Ketanji Brown Jackson hearings and assess what we can expect from her jurisprudence before turning to the state of legal conservatism. With originalism under attack, will common good constitutionalism soon consume legal academia? Is “insurrection” an appropriate term for January 6? And can Jonah suppress his disdain for Adam’s profession and all it represents?
Show Notes:
- Adam on the Ketanji Brown Jackson hearings
- Ketanji Brown Jackson, closet originalist?
- AEI’s nerdtastic event on Justice Alito
- The Remnant with Cass Sunstein
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On today’s Ruminant, Jonah, now recovered from Monday’s birthday revelry, has thoughts on everything from hamburger conspiracies to the history of great societies. After beginning with another deep dive into the evolution of media bias, he turns to the Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation hearings, which have turned out to be surprisingly boring despite a few moments of painful stupidity. Stick around to hear Jonah evaluate Nikole Hannah-Jones’ argument that tipping is a product of slavery, and to find out why truth is currently winning the day in American politics.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Brian Riedl
- Michael Barone’s Our Country
- The Cornell “guns on campus” crisis
- The Remnant with Kevin Williamson
- Noah Rothman on “credible accusation”
- The Economist on the siege of Mariupol
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Kevin Williamson, the Remnant’s cheeriest regular, is back for another voyage through the strange realm of contemporary America. A free society is messy, and life is all about contradictions, inconsistencies, and trade-offs. But this can be an uncomfortable truth for many to face. In a conversation that will send you scrambling for your bingo cards, Kevin and Jonah explore the problem with social homogeneity. They also touch on the weaknesses of autocratic regimes, realistic climate change solutions, and Kevin’s hatred of Ohio. Plus, tune in to hear Kevin give a rousing reading of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”
Show Notes:
- Kevin’s page at National Review
- Kevin: “Autocracy’s Fatal Flaws”
- Hayek: “Why the Worst Get on Top”
- Christopher Caldwell’s The Age of Entitlement
- Yuval Levin’s The Great Debate
- Kevin’s The Smallest Minority
- The Remnant with Brian Rield
- Jonah and Deirdre McCloskey at the Cato Institute
- The Books of Jacob, by Olga Tokarczuk
- The Remnant with Shadi Hamid
- Jonah: “Rise of the Underminers”
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Brian Riedl, the Remnant’s “unofficial budget guy,” returns to discuss our economic woes. After kvetching about inflation, the deficit, and supply chains, he and Jonah dig into the mistaken idea that the president can control every needle of the economy. Brian has noticed an interesting trend: Since Reagan, we’ve consistently elected Republican presidents during booms and Democratic presidents during recessions. But what are the implications of that for the economy? Furthermore, did the New Deal make the Great Depression worse? Is Build Back Better dead? And should anyone take Rick Scott seriously?
Show Notes:
- Brian: “Presidents as Economic Managers”
- The forgotten depression of 1920
- Scott Lincicome on fixing our supply chains
- Rick Scott’s “Rescue America” plan
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After plotting world domination at AEI’s World Forum, Jonah is back in the D.C. swampland for today’s Ruminant. He begins by elaborating on the strange metaphysical ideas discussed in last week’s episode before turning to the war in Ukraine, and the baffling idea peddled by some on the right that Zelensky is trying to incite a global thermonuclear war. From there, things get nerdy, as Jonah explores whether populism may be falling out of style and indulges in a lengthy rant on Woodrow Wilson. Tune in for the cherished sound effects, but stick around to hear a few ideas for the Remnant’s 500th episode.
Show Notes:
- Last weekend’s bizarre Ruminant
- Metaxy
- The Remnant with Shadi Hamid
- Ross Douthat: “Will the Ukraine War End the Age of Populism?”
- Michael Brendan Dougherty: “Wartime’s Macabre Predictions of a Populist Defeat”
- The Remnant with Vin Cannato
- The hater’s guide to Woodrow Wilson
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Vincent Cannato, noted historian and Jonah’s fellow deracinated New Yorker, returns to the Remnant for a nerdily random discussion of cops, neoliberalism, and latent Russophobia. With tensions rising between East and West, Vin believes we are in the midst of an “ideological Cold War,” but Jonah (whose pronunciation of “Pokémon” may distract from any serious points he raises) is less convinced. How will America’s conflict with Russia and China unfold, and what strategy should the United States pursue? For that matter, is New York heading back to the ‘70s? What’s fueling America’s crime wave? And will safetyism soon destroy Vin’s university from within?
Show Notes:
- “The Editors” podcast on Russophobia
- Jonah: “A Tale of Two Cold Wars”
- Elliott Abrams: “The New Cold War”
- Biden’s New York crime speech
- Jonah: “The Problem With Claiming That Policing Evolved From Slave Patrols”
- Jeff Jacoby: “Pushing Back Against Indoctrination at UMass Boston”
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Shadi Hamid returns to the Remnant to discuss America’s role in maintaining a safe global order. For years, many on the far left and isolationist right alike have argued that the United States should withdraw from the world stage and take a self-limiting approach to foreign policy. But Shadi believes Russia’s aggression has proved that Western power is essential. Will we soon see renewed support for Pax Americana? Should a no-fly zone be imposed over Ukraine? And how many bingo card items can Jonah insert into such an inappropriate conversation?
Show Notes:
- Shadi’s page at The Atlantic
- Shadi: “There Are Many Things Worse Than American Power”
- Jeane Kirkpatrick: “Dictatorships and Double Standards”
- Jonah on the idea of a new Cold War
- Lindsey Graham calls for Putin’s assassination
- Is the Muslim world ignoring the plight of the Uyghurs?
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Jonah gets metaphysical on today’s mumbly Ruminant, recorded live in a chaotic hotel room not far from Stonecutter world headquarters. Unsurprisingly, his under-caffeinated mind is awash with thoughts on conservative intellectual history. Be prepared for an exceedingly nerdy disquisition on the philosophical differences between left and right and the importance of understanding that life is about trade offs. Plus, tune in to permanently change your perception of the theme from Jeopardy!
Show Notes:
- The Right, Matt Continetti’s upcoming book
- Jonah on the complexities of life and conservatism
- Alan Wolfe’s The Future of Liberalism
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John Podhoretz, the Remnant’s self-professed Paul Lynde, returns to the program to play a game of “Name that Crank.” Throughout history, many brilliant people have also been extremely bizarre. Murray Rothbard hated elevators, Arthur Conan Doyle believed in fairies, and Gandhi was obsessed with bowel movements. John and Jonah dedicate today’s episode to exploring the harmless and not-so-harmless quirks of such figures, before turning to rank punditry on American power, Biden’s floundering presidency, and the awfulness of the ‘70s. Tune in for shameless GLoP-plugging, but stick around to find out which Academy Award nominees are actually worth watching.
Show Notes:
- GLoP, America’s favorite pop culture podcast
- The Commentary Podcast: Live in Palm Beach
- Shakespeare conspiracy theories
- Jonah: “Karl Marx’s Jew-Hating Conspiracy”
- Thomas Edison’s spirit phone
- Chris Stirewalt on misplaced ‘90s nostalgia
- Only Yesterday, by Frederick Lewis Allen
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Kori Schake, director of foreign and defense policy at the American Enterprise Institute, joins the Remnant for the first time to discuss the state of the liberal international order. As Putin’s invasion of Ukraine continues, what will the next year hold in store for the conflict and his leadership? For that matter, should Ukraine join NATO? What have been the Biden administration’s biggest foreign policy mistakes? And is America’s role in the world in doubt? Tune in to hear these questions answered, and to find out what most people get wrong about Francis Fukuyama.
Show Notes:
- Kori: “Putin Accidentally Revitalized the West’s Liberal Order”
- Kori’s latest book, America vs the West
- Mike Duncan on the Russian Revolution
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The drive-time Remnant format returns for another freewheeling broadcast, one that finds Jonah, Guy, and Ryan preoccupied with questions of loneliness and fulfillment following Arthur Brooks’ recent appearance on the program. Together, they explore the malign effects of social media, whether internet access should be regulated, and how the “Japanification” of America’s youth can be reversed. Plenty of nerdish tomfoolery is also mixed in on the nightmares of American bureaucracy, the threat of World War III, and a recent congressional embarrassment. But at the end of it all, one question remains: What movie should win Best Picture at the upcoming Academy Awards?
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Charles C.W. Cooke
- The Remnant with Arthur Brooks
- The Federalist on bagel-snarfing warmongers
- The Remnant with Paul Miller
- Bari Weiss on America’s sex recession
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True happiness can feel elusive, especially in our chaotic age. Thankfully, former AEI president and current Harvard professor Arthur Brooks seems to have cracked the code for achieving it. On today’s Remnant, he joins Jonah to explore common mistakes people make in the pursuit of fulfillment, lies the world tells us about satisfaction, the “fear-based cultural polarity” consuming Western society, and what we can do to address America’s alarming loneliness problem. Be prepared to revise your bucket list.
Show Notes:
- Arthur’s new book, From Strength to Strength
- Family formation in post-COVID America
- Yuval Levin: “The Changing Face of Social Breakdown”
- Jonah: “I Think We’re Turning Japanese … I Really Think So”
- Arthur: “The Kind of Love That Makes People Happiest”
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Paul Miller, regular Dispatch contributor and professor of international affairs at Georgetown, joins the Remnant to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the difference between patriotism and nationalism. With a new Cold War looking increasingly likely, how should America prepare itself for what may be a major global conflict? For that matter, what does it mean to be a “foreign policy realist?” Has Putin always been this crazy? And what should unify all Americans?
Show Notes:
- Paul’s upcoming book, The Religion of American Greatness
- Paul: “How to fight the new Cold War”
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No babies were harmed in the making of today’s Ruminant, which features puppy parades, obscure German philosophers, and an appropriately large supply of bagels. Putin’s use of Nazi rhetoric to demonize the Ukrainian government has reminded Jonah that we don’t talk enough about the importance of language in public life. The invasion has also prompted him to think about the relationship between language and nationalism, and how national interests should influence foreign policy. Are babies born as blank slates? How would isolationism change America? And will the end of this episode cost Jonah most of his long-term friendships?
Show Notes:
- Johann Fichte’s “Addresses to the German Nation”
- The Remnant with John McWhorter
- Jonah’s Twitter thread on nationalism
- Jonah debates Rich Lowry on nationalism
- The Morning Dispatch breaks down the Ukraine invasion
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Katherine Mangu-Ward, editor in chief of Reason magazine, joins the Remnant for the first time today to explore whether America’s libertarian spirit is still intact. In a moment where Americans are losing faith in authority, the right is succumbing to power worship, and pluralism is becoming increasingly unpopular, how can we avoid a “squishy apocalypse?” Moreover, is hypocrisy really a problem? Why can’t the government love you? And would the United States be a better place if dog catchers were defunded?
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Peter Suderman
- Katherine on why you almost certainly shouldn’t vote
- The Declaration of Independents, by Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch
- The Libertarian Mind, by David Boaz
- Obama’s second inaugural address
- The Remnant with Mike Gallagher
- Leon Aron: “The Invasion of Ukraine, and Regime Change”
- Dispatch Live on the Ukraine situation
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While Jonah traverses the sunny wilds of California, Chris Stirewalt steps in to host today’s Remnant. He’s joined by Amy Walter, publisher and editor in chief of the Cook Political Report, for exceptionally rank punditry on what we can expect from this year’s midterms and the 2024 presidential race. Would the American people accept a second Trump presidency? Why do certain states stay purple while others become firmly partisan? And could peace and goodwill soon be restored in Congress?
Show Notes:
- Amy’s previous Remnant appearance
- Amy on Biden’s empathy problem
- The Democratic Party’s “new politics of evasion”
- What do the midterms hold in store for the Senate?
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Sleep-deprived and bracing for a lengthy flight, Jonah begins today’s Ruminant with an insatiable thirst for coffee. Conveniently, he has plenty of topics to ramble about while enjoying his morning brew. First on the docket is the San Francisco school board recall, which prompts Jonah to ponder why Democrats keep getting the culture war so wrong. From there, a potpourri of nerdery begins, as Jonah explores the origins of rights and freedoms, Russia’s potential invasion of Ukraine, and the importance of distinguishing between “liberal” and “progressive.” Plus, stick around for a tribute to the late, great P.J. O’Rourke.
Show Notes:
- Try a free 30-day Dispatch membership
- Peggy Noonan: “Republicans, Stand Against Excess”
- Jonah: “It Takes Two Sides to Fight a War”
- The San Francisco school board recall
- Jonah on the Ottawa freedom convoy
- The “Revolutions” podcast covers the English Civil War
- The Remnant with Mike Duncan
- Jonah on the passing of P.J. O’Rourke
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New developments in John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe are electrifying conservative media and dominating the headlines. But for those who haven’t kept up with the story, it may be difficult to fully understand what’s going on. Thankfully, Dispatch associate editor Andrew Egger is on The Remnant to break things down. Together, he and Jonah discuss everything you could ever want to know about the Durham probe. Plus, they indulge in some obligatory kvetching about media bias and share a few tears over the joys of fatherhood. The whole thing may leave you feeling just a little verklempt.
Show Notes:
- Andrew’s page at The Dispatch
- Andrew breaks down the Durham probe
- Jonah’s fondness for Sidney Blumenthal
- Philip Bump on Durham and Trump
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Tevi Troy is back on The Remnant to explore the strange state of the American presidency. In recent years, presidents have used the power of the executive branch to profoundly alter our system of government—indeed, the presidency Joe Biden inhabits is far removed from that which Bill Clinton left behind. But could the increased importance of the presidency to American life actually be a good thing? Furthermore, why have our recent presidents failed to become figures of national unity? What went wrong with the government’s COVID response? And will the American Egg Board soon seize control of The Dispatch?
Show Notes:
-Tevi’s previous Remnant appearance
-Tevi’s conference on the 21st century presidency
-Jonathan Rauch on how Trump changed government
-Kevin D. Williamson: “Against Presidential Idolatry”
-Jim Geraghty: “The Omicron Wave Subsides”
-Jonah on Canada’s trucker protests
-Try a free Dispatch membership for 30 days
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Haunted by a certain infectious Swedish pop song, Jonah begins today’s Ruminant by expanding substantially on a recent point from the G-File: Americans are addicted to despair even though life has never been better. In a moment where anger merchants dominate the media and environmental pessimism is spreading rapidly, how can the optimistic spirit on which our country was founded be restored? And what responsibilities do prominent figures in journalism and politics have in this regard? Also, stick around until the end to hear Jonah elaborate on his departure from Fox and his new contributor agreement with CNN.
Show Notes:
- Climate change enters the therapy room
- The Remnant with Lyman Stone
- The Progress Paradox, by Gregg Easterbrook
- Jonah: “It Takes Two Sides to Fight a War”
- Yuval Levin: “The Changing Face of Social Breakdown”
- The Remnant with Shawn Bushway
- Stacey Abrams’ mask hypocrisy
- Hugh Hewitt interview Chris Christie
- Guy Benson debates Mike Gallagher
- Edmund Burke's speech to the Electors of Bristol
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Demographer and Institute for Family Studies research fellow Lyman Stone returns to The Remnant to make the case for having more babies. With America’s birth rate in decline and increasingly large numbers of people living lives devoid of real connections, Lyman believes that we urgently need more pro-family policies. But though Jonah agrees completely that babies are good, he’s less sure about Lyman’s proposal of lowering the voting age to zero. Tune in for distinctly nerdy debate, but stick around to learn about the many varieties of natalist philosophy.
Show Notes:
- Lyman’s previous Remnant appearance
- Lyman: “The Minimum Voting Age Should Be Zero”
- Ben Sasse’s The Vanishing American Adult
- Marriage and childbearing in the time of COVID
- Jonah on how we’re turning Japanese
- The Remnant with Edward Carr
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Remnant regular A.B. Stoddard is back for more exceedingly rank punditry on our dysfunctional state of affairs. In light of the RNC’s decision to censure Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, is the GOP now committed to normalizing January 6? For that matter, why are major Republican figures continuing to suggest that the election was stolen? Does anyone want Mike Pence to be president besides his wife? And why can’t President Biden celebrate America’s recovering economy? Also, be sure to stick around for discussion of A.B.’s two favorite topics: canine companions and Nancy Pelosi’s reelection bid.
Show Notes:
- A.B.’s page at RealClearPolitics
- Jonah on the RNC’s impeccable statecraft
- Marc Short’s Meet the Press appearance
- Marc Short can’t make up his mind
- Commentary: “What Democrats Can’t Say About the Jobs Numbers”
- Jonah on “Sway” with Kara Swisher
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Donald Trump, Whoopi Goldberg, Young Frankenstein, and dentistry - all unrelated in ordinary circumstances, but strangely intertwined on the latest drive-time Remnant. Today’s episode begins with Jonah, Guy, and Ryan exploring the juvenile group chats of esteemed scholars and reacting insensitively to a tragic news story. Afterward, the gang turns to rank punditry, rambling nerdily about current events while stopping occasionally to discuss Yiddish slang, extreme skiing, and whether all animals really do taste like chicken. When should you give up on a political party? What would a film adaptation of Trump’s attempted election theft look like? And should Mel Brooks do us all a favor and run for president in 2024?
Show Notes:
- China’s continued respect for human rights
- The New York Post’s unapologetically craven news item
- The Wednesday G-File, released to the masses
- John Podhoretz blasts Whoopi Goldberg
- Trump doubles down on January 6
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Are we living through a new Cold War? Possibly. But we’re certainly in a new era of great-power competition between China and Russia and the United States. In a Remnant surprisingly lacking in ‘80s references, historian and American Enterprise Institute scholar Hal Brands joins Jonah to explore what America’s victory over the Soviet Union can teach us about how it should prosecute today’s global conflicts. Hal and Jonah also take a deep, extra-nerdy dive into Cold War history and the nature of American foreign policy during that strange era. Was the Cold War just about economics? Should Joe Biden pursue a modern version of Harry Truman’s containment strategy? And was China’s authoritarian turn inevitable?
Show Notes:
- Hal’s new book, The Twilight Struggle
- Hal Brands and John Lewis Gaddis: “The New Cold War”
- Charles Krauthammer: “The Greatest Cold War Myth of All”
- Henry Wallace’s divided mind
- Jonah on the perils of our virtual reality
- The Remnant with Edward Carr
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In a brief respite from the horrors of book writing, Chris Stirewalt returns to The Remnant for another round of overpoweringly rank punditry. Mixing shameless self-promotion with nicotine-fueled insight, he and Jonah explore some pertinent political questions. Why do Americans frequently change their party alignment? Are hardcore progressives crazier than members of the House Freedom Caucus? And what is Joe Biden’s biggest weakness? There’s also a lengthy aside about what life in America was like when Jonah and Chris were young and horse drawn carriages had yet to be replaced by cars, but you’ll need to stick around until the end.
Show Notes:
- Chris’ newsletter, Stirewaltisms
- Michael Moore on the “SmartLess” podcast
- Could the GOP expel Cheney and Kinzinger?
- The latest Gallup poll on shifting political party preferences
- The poll discussed on the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast
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Jonah’s in a professorial mood on today’s nerdtastic Ruminant, which features disquisitions on censorship, pragmatism, and vestigial partisanship (be sure you tune in to find out what the latter actually means). Also included in this weekend’s potpourri is a lengthy discussion of Stephen Breyer’s retirement and Joe Biden’s pledge to appoint an African American woman to the Supreme Court. Plus, for those still confused by Jonah and Charlie Cooke’s argument about Congress during the Anglo-Floridian’s appearance on the program this week, there’s a detailed explanation of how the two disagree.
Show Notes:
- Adam J. White on the Commentary podcast
- Jonathan Chait on affirmative action for the Supreme Court
- John Podhoretz still likes Ike
- The Remnant with Charles C.W. Cooke
- The Remnant with Yuval Levin
- Richard Rorty and William James
- Bertrand Russell’s critique of pragmatism
- Jonah: “Banned Books Week is Just Hype”
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Charles C.W. Cooke, senior writer at National Review and Anglo-Floridian golf cart enthusiast, returns to The Remnant for another round of exceptionally rank punditry on Joe Biden’s dismal first year in office. Before assuming the presidency, Biden made some big promises that he hasn’t been able to keep. But is his problem that he refuses to adjust to political circumstances, or that he’s simply a hack who was never qualified for the job in the first place? Mixing hearty debate with vigorous agreement, Jonah and Charlie discuss this question at length, while also touching on mandatory voting, the perils of public opinion, and how thrilled we should be to live in a moment where journalists and politicians can regularly insult each other. Oh, and Charlie also can’t resist rambling about firearms.
Show Notes:
- Charlie’s page at National Review
- Charlie on Biden’s year of failure
- Jonah’s uncontroversial third-party proposal
- Biden’s first-year report card in Politico
- “You guys were almost separated at birth”
- Michael Tomasky’s attempted mic drop
- The Remnant with Josh Kraushaar
- Jonah contemplates mandatory voting
- Mad Dogs and Englishmen on the bumbling Mr. Biden
- Charlie’s upcoming course on the history of the Second Amendment
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As Sting once sang, “in Europe and America, there’s a growing feeling of hysteria.” With war in Ukraine looking increasingly likely and tensions mounting between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, it feels an awful lot like we’re back in 1987. To explore how Russia’s bellicosity might affect the global stage, Jonah is joined by Leon Aron, director of Russian studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Together, they address heady questions on Russia and narrowly resist performing a duet of “99 Red Balloons.” Would the Russian people support an invasion of Ukraine? How is Russia influencing European politics? And is there any chance of Russia becoming a quasi-democratic country in the near future?
Show Notes:
- Leon’s contributions to The Dispatch
- Leon on what lies ahead for Putin
- The Morning Dispatch gives the latest on Ukraine
- Alexei Navalny profiled in Time
- Jonah on the dangers of conceding to Putin
- The Gerard Schröder controversy
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Jonah returns to the solo Ruminant format to end the week, reflecting on Joe Biden’s dismal first year in office and contemplating what the next three years might hold in store for the country. After what John Podhoretz labeled the “worst press conference in presidential history,” can Biden recover, or will his poll numbers continue to sink to increasingly humiliating lows? For that matter, is unity its own virtue? How would the Russian people and the global community react if Vladimir Putin conquered Ukraine? And do negative comments on his writing hurt Jonah’s feelings?
Show Notes:
- GLoP’s latest grand aventure
- Chris Stirewalt’s latest newsletter on Biden’s political flailing
- The Morning Dispatch on the threat of war in Ukraine
- Jonah on Biden’s Georgia speech
- The Dispatch Podcast reflects on Biden’s first year
- Bob Driscoll on the Voting R ights Act
- The Remnant with Michael Shellenberger
- The Remnant with Edward Carr
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The Remnant’s British invasion continues as Economist deputy editor Edward Carr joins to provide a perspective on how the pandemic has affected nations beyond the United States. Together, he and Jonah examine how issues such as vaccine skepticism, excess deaths, and pandemic-related insanity vary between countries, all while kvetching vigorously about teachers’ unions and the politics of marmite. Can we trust China’s COVID statistics? Are things as weird in Russia and the U.K. as they are in America? And are we in the early stages of a new Roaring ‘20s?
Show Notes:
- England prepares to drop COVID restrictions
- Boris Johnson’s latest scandal
- “There’s no such thing as learning loss”
- Steven Brill: “The Rubber Room”
- Jonah: “Fear and Loathing in the Time of COVID”
- Apollo’s Arrow, Nicholas Christakis’ book on pandemic madness
- The Remnant with Matt Ridley
- The Remnant with Michael Shellenberger
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As a young man, Jonah left his heart in San Francisco. But after today’s conversation with Remnant first-timer Michael Shellenberger, he probably won’t be going back for it any time soon. Michael joins the show for an exceedingly wonky discussion of his new book, San Fransicko, which explores how progressive policies are enabling an addiction and mental health crisis in America’s cities. Together, they explore the causes of urban decay and what conservatives can do to reverse the trend in places like New York and San Francisco. Tune in for ruminations on nuclear power, Nietzschean philosophy, and criminology, but stick around to hear Jonah and Michael compare notes on what it’s really like to be mugged by reality.
Show Notes:
- Michael’s Substack on cities, energy, and the environment
- Michael’s new book, San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities
- Michael’s previous book, Apocalypse Never
- Tom Wolfe’s “The Great Relearning”
- San Fransicko reviewed in the New York Times
- Madness in the Streets, by Rael Isaac and Virginia Armat
- The Homeless, by Christopher Jencks
- The Remnant with Shawn Bushway
- Michael: “Why Wokeism is a Religion”
- Woke Racism, by John McWhorter
- John Dewey’s “universe with the lid off”
- Paul Tillich’s definition of religion
- Jonah on the case for nuclear power
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We’ll do it live! 2022’s first drive-time Remnant is here, and it’s predictably lacking in substance. With Guy and Ryan currently starring in their own production of The Odd Couple, Jonah invites them both into The Dispatch studio for a freewheeling discussion of vocabulary, D.C. geography, and movies ranging from The French Dispatch to Howard the Duck. There’s also plenty of serious punditry mixed in on America’s nightmarish immigration process, the awfulness of Biden’s Georgia speech, and the difficulty of finding purpose in modern society. Tune in and be led to glory!
Show Notes:
- Bill Buckley on the art of big words
- Advisory Opinions on the Supreme Court’s vaccine mandate dismissal
- Bill Oakley’s fast food reviews
- The Remnant with Ross Douthat, featuring generous Don’t Look Up criticism
- The Remnant with Ryan Bourne
- Spider-Man: No Way Home reviewed in The Dispatch
- Howard the Duck and the evil of George Lucas
- The Wednesday G-File, released to the masses
- What’s the deal with fascism?
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Ross Douthat takes his place in the Remnant five-timers club today, joining Jonah for a discussion of (what else?) the dysfunctional state of American politics. Unlike last time, however, the nudity is tasteful, the Exorcist references are sparse, and the tone is (slightly) more optimistic. Is the United States on the cusp of a new civil war, and what would that look like in practice? For that matter, why is Biden a less effective president than Bill Clinton? Can a case be made for mandatory voting? And is there anything worthwhile about Don’t Look Up?
Show Notes:
- Ross’ previous Remnant appearance
- Ross: “Let’s Not Invent a Civil War”
- Ross on the Remnant discussing The Decadent Society
- Jonah’s latest G-File on Biden’s Georgia speech
- David Brooks: “How the Bobos Broke America”
- Jason Stanley, How Fascism Works
- The Remnant with Yuval Levin
- Jonah’s distaste for Don’t Look Up
- Ross on why the movie needs a second cut
- Eric Levitz dissects Don’t Look Up
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Cato Institute economist Ryan Bourne joins The Remnant for the first time to discuss his new book, Economics in One Virus, which offers a crash course in economics using the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study. Over the last two years, many questions have been raised about America’s preparedness (or lack thereof) for the pandemic, and Ryan has answers. Did any country get COVID right? Why is testing still a mess? And is the libertarian movement as divided as the conservative movement?
Show Notes:
- Ryan’s new book, Economics in One Virus
- Ryan: “A Cure Worse Than the Disease?”
- Scott Gottlieb: “A Second Major Seasonal Virus Won’t Leave Us Any Choice”
- Strife in the fast lane with John Nestor
- Biden’s Pandemic Preparedness Plan
- Peter Nicholas: “There Are No Libertarians in an Epidemic”
- Jonah: “When Narrative Trumps the Facts”
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A still Covid-brained Jonah does his first Ruminant of the new year today. Assuming most listeners are over the January 6th coverage, a brief point on the politics of that day leads the pod. Then, let’s talk about Fascism, baby. Then a potpourri of topics for you to enjoy this weekend. Why is the GOP so uncomfortable with January 6? What’s the deal with Fascism? How accurate was Ted Cruz’s impression from John Belushi in The Blues Brothers? What do pizza and sushi have to do with the role of the federal government?
Show Notes:
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Liquor connoisseur and noted Wisconsinite Christian Schneider joins The Remnant for the first time to discuss America’s strange plague of misinformation. In an age where politicians are incentivized to embrace ludicrous positions and all facts are negotiable, how can sanity be restored? For that matter, what’s wrong with modern political campaigns? Did God create Listerine? And what does the future hold for college education?
Show Notes:
- Christian's page at The Dispatch
- Christian’s page at The College Fix
- Christian’s new book, Anti-Knowledge
- Christian: “Our Elected Officials Are a Threat to Civic Knowledge”
- The (ostensible) madness of Ron Johnson
- Critical Path, by Buckminster Fuller
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On 2022’s first Remnant, a COVID-addled Jonah is joined by fan-favorite guest Yuval Levin for a discussion of voting rights in America. Voting, Yuval argues, has never been easier, despite claims to the contrary made by progressive and conservative commentators alike. The real problem is that both parties are fueling a loss of public confidence in elections, and trust must be restored for American democracy to continue to function. Jonah also quizzes Yuval on his case for expanding the House of Representatives and what it means to be a “recovering political scientist.” Grab your bingo cards for a thoroughly wonky beginning to the year.
Show Notes:
- Yuval: “Democrats, Voting Rights Are Not the Problem”
- Does high voter turnout help one party?
- The Policy State, by Karen Orren and Stephen Skowronek
- Ben Sasse’s Schoolhouse Rock moment
- Yuval: “One way to reform the House of Representatives? Expand it.”
- Jonah, Yuval, and an expert panel discuss expanding Congress
- The Remnant with Michael Strain
- The Remnant with Sally Satel
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With 2021 drawing to a close, Jonah invites his vocal doppelganger, Chris Stirewalt, back to The Remnant for a recap of this bizarre year. The show begins with a small but satisfying amount of rank punditry on the fate of Build Back Better and the state of voting rights in America. After that, Jonah and Chris look back at the last 12 months by conducting a mock award ceremony, naming winners in various categories. Who was 2021’s biggest loser? What was the year’s most delightful pop culture surprise? And in which category will Chris select “America” as a surprise answer? Tune in for all of this and more, and remember: There’s no harm in revisiting and sharing some of your favorite Remnant episodes from earlier this year over the holiday season. See you in 2022!
Show Notes:
-Give someone a Dispatch subscription this Christmas
-Jonah on Joe Manchin and Build Back Better
-The nerdiest Remnant ever on the new Dune movie
-Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death
-The year’s final, holly jolly GLoP
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Today’s Ruminant is all about privilege, and Jonah has many nerdy thoughts on the subject. He also offers plenty of anecdotes about day drinking, a few meditations on Build Back Better hitting a brick wall, and a disquisition on the nature of consumerism. How many varieties of privilege are there in America today? Why do certain people tend toward conservatism? And why has Jonah finally decided to open up about Fox News? Brace your bingo cards, too, because Jonah still can’t stop complaining about Theodor Adorno and his mythical authoritarian personality.
Show Notes:
- The Morning Dispatch breaks down the Build Back Better stalemate
- The Remnant with Sally Satel
- Huntington’s “Conservatism as an Ideology”
- Sally Satel: “The Experts Somehow Overlooked Authoritarians on the Left”
- Politics and Prose lawyers up
- Harvard stops requiring SAT scores
- Matthew Mehan’s new children’s book
- Give someone a Dispatch subscription this Christmas
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Sally Satel, a psychiatrist and lecturer at Yale, makes a long-awaited return to the Remnant to discuss the influence of woke culture on medical science. In our woke moment, Sally argues, doctors are at the mercy of “indoctrinologists” who want them to become more concerned with social activism than healing the sick. What’s driving this trend, and should we fear for the future of science? Furthermore, how has psychotherapy changed over the years? What can be done to address the opioid epidemic? And will people only get crazier as the COVID-19 pandemic refuses to end?
Show Notes:
- Sally’s previous Remnant appearance
- Sally: “What is Happening to My Profession?”
- Sally: “Taking on the Scourge of Opioids”
-Sally: "Keep Social-Justice Indoctrination Out of the Therapist’s Office"
- Critical race theory and medicine
- The cardiologist suing the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
- Barry Goldwater’s mental fitness
- Jonah: “Fear and Loathing in the Time of COVID”
- John Tooby on coalitional instincts
- How the Mind Works, by Steven Pinker
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Brush up on your legalese, because Keith Whittington is back on the Remnant to poke plenty of fun at Advisory Opinions. Over the course of an exceptionally nerdy hour, he and Jonah explore the pros and cons of court packing and judicial term limits, occasionally stopping to discuss what would happen if the world were taken over by giant, hyper-intelligent ants. Are Supreme Court justices all partisan hacks? Why did Joe Biden establish the Supreme Court reform commission? And is there any real difference between lawyers and vampires?
Show Notes:
-Keith’s scholar page on Princeton’s website
-Keith’s previous Remnant appearance
-The Supreme Court commission’s final report
-Inside the Supreme Court commission
-Keith: “Court Packing is Discreditable as Ever”
-The Soldier and the State, by Samuel P. Huntington
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Broadcasting live from Fargo (the movie is still better than the TV series), Jonah can’t help but spend most of today’s Ruminant gloating about how he’s been correct on recent issues ranging from the silliness of “Latinx” to the craziness of Tucker Carlson. Political demographics, the Omicron variant, and the future of conservatism are also discussed, but at the end of it all, one question remains: Is “I informed you thusly” a more satisfying phrase than “I told you so?”
Show Notes:
- Are Hispanics evenly split between the parties?
- The Commentary podcast on Democrats and Hispanics
- Sean Trende on what motivates Hispanic voters
- Jim Geraghty on good news regarding Omicron
- Well-known progressive Mitch McConnell
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Jonah reopens the emergency punditry supply on today’s Remnant, recorded live from the Bozeman Public Library. His guest is A.B. Stoddard, who believes the Democratic Party is poised to implode thanks to poor governance and the strange influence of wokeism. Together, they explore why both parties have alienated ordinary voters, why Nancy Pelosi stepping down could send the legislative branch into further disarray, and why Trump could win re-election in 2024 if Biden’s poll numbers don’t improve. Optimism, who needs it!
Show Notes:
-A.B.’s page at RealClearPolitics
-A.B.’s previous Remnant appearance
-A.B. on congressional decline
-A coming Democratic crack up?
-Tom Wolfe: “The Intelligent Co-ed’s Guide to America”
-The Remnant with Chris Stirewalt
-Jonah on superspreaders of asininity
-Kamala Harris’ disastrous vice presidency
-Bill Clinton and Ricky Ray Rector
-The Morning Dispatch on reforming the Electoral Count Act
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Michael Strain, economist at the American Enterprise Institute, returns to the Remnant today to explore the strange state of the American economy. Consumer demand for goods has skyrocketed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and supply chain chaos is dominating the headlines. In these unusual times, should conservatives embrace common good capitalism, or does zombie Reaganism still have plenty to offer? For that matter, which industries have been permanently changed by the pandemic? Have our lives actually improved since March 2020? And can even the most devoted Remnant listener tolerate more than 30 minutes of Jonah and Michael rambling about Battlestar Galactica?
Show Notes:
- Michael’s previous Remnant appearance
- Jonah and Scott Lincicome kvetch about the supply chain
- Michael on the need for an economic cooldown
- Michael: “Republicans Battle Over ‘Socialism-Lite’”
- Jonah on how politics destroyed Battlestar Galactica
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The Remnant returns to the drive-time format to end the week, and the results are predictably unusual. Feast your ears on the eighth installment of this curio, in which Guy discusses the end of America’s “Remain in England” policy, Jonah ponders the appeal of cow brains and potted meat, and Ryan recounts his time as a Celtic warrior in the Irish mountains. Plenty of serious punditry is also included on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic, the appeal of right-wing grifters, and the rise of victimhood culture on college campuses. Tune in for a celebration of the legendary Tom Wolfe, but stick around to learn about some of the most depressing movies ever made.
Show Notes:
- George Costanza’s prison girlfriend
- Apu Nahasapeemapetilon’s citizenship test
- The Commentary podcast on COVID panic
- Tom Wolfe’s “The Great Relearning”
- Oakland reverses its plan to defund the police
- Thursday’s shameful solo Remnant
- Wednesday’s weird G-File of weirdness
- Tom Wolfe’s brilliant Brown speech
- Jonah’s first eggheady publication
- Guy’s history of Uncommon Knowledge, featuring plenty of Wolfian goodness
- Milo Minderbinder, statue salesman
- Jonah and Steve on their departure from Fox
- The New York Times report that broke the Fox story
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Isolated and sleep-deprived in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest, Jonah once again attempts to fuse the classic Ruminant format with that of a supplemental episode. With the possibility that Supreme Court could overturn Roe v. Wade, a sea change could soon occur in American politics. Using an extract from The Tyranny of Clichés (still available wherever books are sold!), Jonah explores some of the most challenging questions surrounding the jurisprudence of abortion. When does life truly begin? Why are taboos so important? And are dogmas, religious and otherwise, fundamental to the health of a civilized society?
Show Notes:
- The Morning Dispatch breaks down Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
- Jonah’s previous ruminations on abortion
- The Remnant with Will Saletan
- The (eternally underrated) Tyranny of Clichés
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After a Thanksgiving hiatus, Jonah is back and ready to break open the strategic rank punditry reserve. His guest today is Chris Stirewalt, who’s concerned with only the most important questions of the political moment: Why are Americans terrified of clowns? Is there a better parent than television? And was Pete Buttigieg raised in a refrigerator box? Serious discussion is also mixed in on what we can expect in 2024 and why Build Back Better is the “kitchen junk drawer” of policy proposals. Recent events surrounding a certain cable news network might even be mentioned.
Show Notes:
-Profit, the most important show you’ve never seen
-Build Back Better’s hypocritical tax cut
-Chris on subsidizing local news
-Woke Racism, by John McWhorter
-The Remnant with Josh Kraushaar
-The most interesting man in politics
-Chris on digital depredations
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David Bahnsen, managing partner and chief investment officer at the Bahnsen Group, is back on The Remnant to explain why there really is no such thing as a free lunch, and to explore why some on the right now think we’d all be better off as serfs. With shameless book-plugging, David and Jonah also discuss the moral case for capitalism, the differences between cost-push and demand-pull inflation, and why the Japanification of the American economy won’t bode well for anyone. Zombie Reagan urges you to tune in!
Show Notes:
- David’s new book, There’s No Free Lunch
- David’s previous Remnant appearance
- David: “Sound Economics Enables Human Flourishing”
- The (still underrated) Tyranny of Clichés
- Hayek’s “The Use of Knowledge in Society”
- Yuval Levin’s case for capitalism
- J.D. Vance’s serious nonsense
- Tucker Carlson debates Ben Shapiro on free markets
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Today’s Ruminant finds Jonah preparing for an epic journey to the Pacific Northwest, and he’d appreciate podcast recommendations for the long and lonely trip. With Thanksgiving approaching, he’s feeling grateful, but he’s also concerned about the conservative movement’s gradual shift away from the classical liberalism embedded in American culture. How do societies emerge? Will mankind ever learn not to immanentize the eschaton? And has American life officially become crazier than a late night Japanese game show?
Show Notes:
- Wednesday’s regrettable G-File, released to the masses
- The Remnant with Will Saletan
- Nine Days and the making of an existential crisis
- Fukuyama’s The Origins of Political Order
- That time Bernie Sanders got kicked out of a commune
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In preparation for Thanksgiving, Jonah invites the latest gold jacket-wearer Will Saletan back on The Remnant to consider what, if anything, is so uniquely great about America. Their conversation quickly develops into a discussion of nationalism, universal principles, and whether America is simply an idea, with a generous amount of rank punditry mixed in for good measure. Is the COVID-19 pandemic over? What does the Virginia result mean for both parties? And can Biden’s presidency recover after a disastrous few months?
Show Notes:
- Will’s previous Remnant appearance
- Will on critical race theory and the Virginia result
- Jonah: “What Inflation and CRT Have in Common”
- Rich Lowry: “Don’t Rewrite Mark Twain”
- Seymour Martin Lipset on American exceptionalism
- Jonah’s fondness for Thanksgiving
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Remnant regular Matt Ridley is back to discuss the origins of COVID-19. Did the virus emerge from a lab? What would that mean for virological research? And how can we prepare ourselves for future pandemic? Broader scientific discussion is also mixed in on subjects ranging from climate change to mask-wearing. Lukewarm listeners are in for a treat.
Show Notes:
- Matt’s previous Remnant appearance
- Matt previews the book in the Wall Street Journal
- Jonah on getting past the pandemic
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On today’s Ruminant, Jonah is back in good health and high spirits, so much so that he can’t resist boasting about a meeting he enjoyed this week with former President Bush. He’s also concerned about the prospect of a second Trump presidency, intrigued by the debate over whether America was right to bomb Hiroshima, and fixated on George Will’s idea that history is shaped by “small, compact, idea-driven minorities.” Members of the ambivalent right will find much to appreciate.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with George Will
- Jonah on elites and Pareto distribution
- The Remnant with Steve Teles
- The Remnant with Brian Riedl
- American prohibition, colorized
- Pew’s political typology test
- Nikole Hannah-Jones on Hiroshima
- Dan McLaughlin on the Meuse-Argonne Offensive
- The Remnant with David Drucker
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Historian and AEI fellow Jay Cost is back on The Remnant to discuss his new biography of James Madison, which focuses on the political theory of Jonah’s favorite Founding Father. Jay and Jonah fuse rank punditry with historical nerdery to explore how a little Madisonian wisdom could go a long way toward solving our most pressing institutional challenges. What are the greatest misconceptions about Madison and the founding? How should the Declaration of Independence be understood? And could American politics use more smoke-filled rooms?
Show Notes:
-Jay’s previous Remnant appearance
-Jonah and Jay on AEI’s Viewpoint
-James Madison: America’s First Politician
-Jay previews the book in the Wall Street Journal
-Jay’s previous book, The Price of Greatness
-Polybius (the historian, not the mythical video game)
-Jefferson and Madison on Malthus
-Inventing Freedom, by Daniel Hannan
-Jonah: “That Shor Sounds Good”
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David French takes control of The Remnant once again while Jonah is off to the long prairies of Texas. His guest is Curtis Chang, a theologian at Duke Divinity School and former Evangelical pastor. Together, David and Curtis explore the nature of vaccine skepticism among Evangelicals and the compatibility of Christianity and classical liberalism. They also preview a new podcast focused on the challenges facing American Christianity, Good Faith, which will premiere on The Dispatch later this month. Despite Jonah’s absence, make sure you tune in with bingo cards at the ready!
Show Notes:
-Curtis: “Our Fellow Evangelicals Need to Get Vaccinated”
-David on Evangelical vaccine rejection
-Curtis and David’s previous vaccine discussion
-David Leonhardt on COVID’s partisan death toll
-Classical liberalism and Christianity
-David’s recent book, Divided We Fall
-The conflict between Evangelical elites
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The drive-time Remnant format returns today for a deep dive into the horrors of social media and book promotion. Though Jonah is on the mend after yesterday’s brush with an unfortunate stomach ailment, he still isn’t back to 100 percent. Thankfully, Guy and Ryan have been prepared to provide him with medical assistance and ensure his rants remain coherent. Will the Lincoln Project ever cease to irritate? Is Blade still the best comic book movie? And will Jonah soon follow his secret dream of becoming a bestselling sci-fi author? Tune in to hear these vital questions answered, and to learn why Spider-Man was the world’s first neoconservative.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Matt Continetti
- The Lincoln Project’s tiki torch hoax
- Jonah on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
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Glenn Youngkin’s victory in Virginia has raised plenty of questions: Will Republican candidates in 2022 emulate his style? Has Trump’s grip on the GOP loosened? And where exactly did Terry McAuliffe go wrong? Remnant stalwart Matt Continetti returns today to provide answers and engage in punditry so rank your head may spin. Tune in also for discussion of critical race theory, the future of the conservative movement, and Biden’s faltering presidency. And make sure you have your bingo cards on hand.
Show Notes:
- Matt’s page at the Washington Free Beacon
- Matt’s previous Remnant appearance
- Matt’s upcoming book, The Right
- The Morning Dispatch breaks down Youngkin’s win
- Frederick Hess: “The Right Way to Reject Critical Race Theory”
- The Wall Street Journal’s editorial on Youngkin’s victory
- The Remnant with George Will
- Jonah on the right’s Hungary obsession
- “Nobody elected him to be FDR”
- Democrats want another candidate on the ballot in 2024
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Ross Douthat is back on The Remnant to discuss his new book, The Deep Places, a memoir of his six-year struggle with chronic illness. With numerous references to The Exorcist, Jonah and Ross take a deep dive into his ordeal, and even manage to mix in a generous amount of rank punditry on political tribalism and the conservative movement in the COVID era. Did Ross’ sickness cause him to reconsider his views on health care policy? How did he cope while enduring a period of prolonged suffering and isolation? And how has Donald Trump changed Republican politics?
Show Notes:
- Ross’ new book, The Deep Places
- Ross’ page at National Review
- Ross’ page at the New York Times
- Ross is profiled in The Dispatch
- Ross: “How I became a sick person”
- The Invisible Kingdom, by Meghan O’Rourke
- Mom Genes, by Abigail Tucker
- John Tooby on coalitional instincts
- R.R. Reno: “Say ‘No’ to Death’s Dominion”
- Jonah: “The Treason of Epidemiologists”
- The Capitol rioters running for office
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On today’s special Ruminant, Jonah assembles a Mount Rushmore of geekdom (David French, Haley Byrd Wilt, and Jack “Butlerian jihad” Butler) to review Denis Vileneuve’s movie adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune. Be prepared for perhaps the nerdiest episode ever, as the quartet explores why it took so long for a Dune movie to be produced (David Lynch’s doesn’t count), what the film got right, and whether any elements of the book were unjustly left out. There’s also broader discussion mixed in on the awfulness of the Star Wars prequels, the best movie adaptations of great sci-fi novels, and why sci-fi as a genre is inherently conservative. Muad’dib!
Show Notes:
- Frank Herbert’s Dune novels, for the uninitiated
- David Lynch’s Dune adaptation, best left forgotten?
- Haley’s Dune-filled Twitter feed
- National Review now has a Dune tag
- The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu
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Steve Teles joins The Remnant for a second time to explore what can be done to fix our dysfunctional parties. Like many of Jonah’s closest friends, Steve disagrees with his idea that a third party could cure what ails the GOP, and instead argues that we should build moderate factions within it. Brace yourself for an exceptionally wonky discussion, which covers Jonah’s distaste for primaries, why we need a better class of political moderate, and whether Joe Biden should be considered a centrist. There’s also plenty of gratuitous complaining about Congress and the Clintons, so prepare your bingo cards.
Show Notes:
- Steve’s page at the Niskanen Center
- Never Trump, Steve and Rob Saldin’s latest book
- The Captured Economy, Steve’s previous book with Brink Lindsey
- Steve’s previous Remnant appearance
- Jonah: “A Third Party Could Cure What Ails the GOP”
- Steve and Rob: “The Future is Faction”
- Matt Yglesias: “Congressional Moderates Could Make a Party of Their Own”
- Mitt Romney’s child benefit plan
- David Shor: “How Democrats Can Save Themselves”
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If you thought Jonah turned into an excited fanboy when he interviewed Mike Duncan, just wait until you hear today’s Remnant, in which acclaimed psychologist Dr. Paul Bloom joins the program for the first time to discuss man’s search for meaning. Human beings are strange creatures: We often deliberately seek out things that cause us pain or discomfort, like horror movies and spicy foods. What is the cause of this “benign masochism,” and what does it really mean to be happy? Additionally, how should human nature be defined? Could video games and virtual reality destroy the world as we know it? And how can Jonah tie all of this in with neoconservatism?
Show Notes:
-The Sweet Spot, Dr. Bloom’s new book
-Jonah: “Democracy in the Tobacconist’s”
-Dr. Bloom’s Google Scholar archive
-Conservatives are more easily disgusted than liberals
-Arthur Brooks on earned success
-Jonah: “Fear and Loathing in the Time of COVID”
-Ezra Klein interviews Noam Chomsky
-“We actually compete with sleep”
-Dr. Bloom: “Is God an Accident?”
-How You Say It, by Katherine Kinzler
-A Time to Build, by Yuval Levin
-Orwell’s review of Mein Kampf
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Today’s Ruminant finds Jonah irritated by back pain, enamored with California roller coasters, and concerned for the health of his loyal spaniel (send her your love!). It also features a lengthy exploration of whether China can still be politically liberalized, why the terms and conditions of Trump’s new social media network are so funny, and how executive privilege actually functions. Stick around until the end for updates about new features on The Dispatch, and a preview of upcoming guests.
Show Notes:
- The House votes to hold Steve Bannon in contempt
- Advisory Opinions explores January 6
- Jonah’s brief history of executive privilege
- Fresh craziness from J.D. Vance
- Klon Kitchen on the dangers of China’s missile tests
- Lipset’s modernization theory
- Mike Pompeo on Special Report
- “We welcome stiff competition”
- Visions of China on The Dispatch Podcast
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Presidential historian and Remnant fan-favorite Tevi Troy returns today for more seriously rank punditry. As you may have noticed, we’re living through a strange moment in which it’s becoming shocking to suggest that saying things people want to hear is an effective political strategy. How did we get here, and how can we prevent our institutions from succumbing to the cult of wokeness? For that matter, how can ordinary Americans resist cancel culture? Should conservatives build alternative institutions? And has Joe Biden replaced Jimmy Carter as history’s greatest monster?
Show Notes:
- Tevi’s page at National Affairs
- Tevi’s previous Remnant appearance
- Tevi on the Commentary podcast
- The GLoP podcast, for all your pop culture needs
- Tevi: “How to Defend Free Speech”
- Bob Woodward pays tribute to Colin Powell
- Michael Powell on Dorian Abbot’s cancelation
- The Morning Dispatch breaks down the Netflix protests
- Bari Weiss on cancel culture
- Jonah on policing and slave patrols
- The Remnant with Scott Gottlieb
- Tevi: “Biden’s Legacy is on the Line”
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David Drucker, senior political correspondent at the Washington Examiner, joins The Remnant for the first time to discuss the state of the Republican Party post-Trump and what the 2024 election cycle will bring. Why do so many Republicans choose to minimize Trump’s destructive tendencies? What can we expect from Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, and other major players going forward? And will the next presidential candidate redefine the GOP’s image?
Show Notes:
-David’s new book, In Trump’s Shadow
-David’s page at the Washington Examiner
-David previews his new book in Vanity Fair
-Nikki Haley and the confederate flag
-John Eastman’s plan for Pence to overturn the election
-Peril, by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa
-David: “Mike Pence’s Moment of Truth”
-Steve Bannon’s war on Mitch McConnell
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On today’s Ruminant, a predictably sleep-deprived Jonah is haunted by distant memories of his time in Prague and the alluring restaurants that refused his custom. Thankfully, he’s able to process the pain by embarking on a lengthy rant about democracy, capitalism, and the charming brilliance of Irving Kristol. There’s also a disquisition on the philosophy of hit TV shows and the legacy of The Wire, which will delight Breaking Bad partisans. Tune in to find out if Jonah has adjusted to life as an empty nester, but stick around to see if he can get through the whole episode without mentioning third parties.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Michael Brendan Dougherty
- Jonah and Steve Hayes on The Dispatch’s two-year anniversary
- Jonah’s love of Breaking Bad
- Scott Lincicome on America’s ports problem
- James Q. Wilson: “Capitalism and Morality”
- The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism
- The Remnant with Graeme Wood
- Irving Kristol: “When Virtue Loses All Her Loveliness”
- The Remnant with George Will
- The Remnant with Megan McCardle
- The Remnant with Charles Murray
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In light of the reaction to his call for anti-Trump conservatives to form a third party, Jonah invites Michael Brendan Dougherty onto The Remnant to discuss the potential benefits and drawbacks of such an approach. Things don’t entirely go as planned, as their conversation swiftly moves beyond that into the broader strangeness of contemporary politics and the conservative movement. With the American people increasingly defecting from the norms of constitutional government, what can be done to prevent our institutions from collapsing?
Show Notes:
- Michael’s author page at National Review
- My Father Left Me Ireland, Michael’s recent book
- Jonah’s uncontroversial column
- Trump urges Republicans not to vote
- Bill Kristol: “What About Joe?”
- The Remnant with George Will
- Yuval Levin on nationalism and exceptionalism
- Stalin’s War, by Sean McMeekin
- Macron’s plan to reindustrialize France
- Ross Douthat: “How Conservatives Can Reshape Education”
- Joe Rogan debates Sanjay Gupta
- The National School Boards Association letter
- The Daily Signal’s bathroom story
- David Harsanyi debates Sohrab Ahmari
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Dust off your calculators, because beloved economic policy wonk Brian Riedl is back on The Remnant to discuss everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the federal budget, spending, taxes, and deficits. He also touches on the right’s curious lurch toward industrial policy and common good capitalism, and why conservatives and progressives alike can’t resist the prospect of a free lunch. Is the Laffer Curve a force for evil? How progressive is the U.S. tax code? And why is Joe Biden so determined to outspend Mack the Knife?
Show Notes:
-Brian’s page at the Manhattan Institute
-Brian’s previous Remnant appearance
-Simpson-Bowles and the art of budget negotiations
-Brian in The Dispatch on taxing the rich
-How does the U.S. tax code compare with other countries?
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On today’s Ruminant, Jonah aims to set the record straight on a matter of international significance: Despite what the producers of American Crime Story would have you believe, he has never owned an oversized poster of Atlas Shrugged. Thankfully, this misunderstanding gives him an excuse to indulge in a nerdtastic exploration of the differences between objectivism and conservatism, the significance of religion to conservative belief, and the differences between conservatives and “men of the right.” There’s also a disquisition on social anxiety and Theodor Adorno’s idea of the “authoritarian personality,” as well as a rant on those who continue to minimize January 6. Plus, as a special treat for The Dispatch’s two-year anniversary, tune in to learn the intimate details of Jonah and Steve Hayes’ late night telephone conversations.
Show Notes:
-The Dispatch manifesto from two years ago
-Today’s underwhelming job numbers
-Whittaker Chambers’ review of Atlas Shrugged
-George criticizes Whittaker Chambers
-Al Felzenberg on George’s opposition to Spiro Agnew
-Jonah ruminates on Richard Hofstadter
-The Age of Reform, Hofstatder’s book on status anxiety
-Hofstadter’s Social Darwinism in American Thought
-The (underrated) Tyranny of Clichés
-Theodor Adorno’s The Authoritarian Personality
-Sally Satel: “The Experts Have Overlooked Authoritarians on the Left”
-Karen Stenner’s The Authoritarian Dynamic
-The Remnant with Joe Uscinski
-Jonah’s latest Special Report appearance
-Jonah and Hugh Hewitt debate the alt-right in 2016
-Jonah: “This Was Always the Plan”
-Revelations from Peril, by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa
-The Remnant with Scott Gottlieb
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Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb joins The Remnant for the first time to explore the state of the COVID-19 pandemic and what went wrong with America’s response last year. With cases falling nationally, Scott believes that the “pandemic phase” of the virus is drawing to a close. But we’re still remarkably unprepared for whatever the next pandemic might be. What were the successes and failures of Operation Warp Speed? How do natural immunity and vaccine immunity compare? And is Scott too deep in the pocket of Big Dairy to be trusted on the validity of yogurt expiration dates?
Show Notes:
-Scott’s new book, Uncontrolled Spread
-Alex Tabarrok (also known as Jack McKee) reviews Uncontrolled Spread
-Scott on our failed pandemic prep
-GOP officials and natural immunity
-Jonah on the great pandemic freakout
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The incomparable George Will makes his long-awaited return to The Remnant to discuss his latest book, American Happiness and Discontents. As George writes in its introduction, “happiness has been elusive for this dyspeptic nation” in recent years. Together, he and Jonah examine why Americans have become so restless and what can be done to address the causes of their disaffection. They also discuss how populism should be understood, what it means to be a “faint-hearted originalist,” and how the degradation of America’s elite institutions can be reversed. Happy warriors and scowling primitives alike are encouraged to tune in.
Show Notes:
-The Dispatch manifesto from two years ago
-George’s previous Remnant appearance
-George’s new book, American Happiness and Discontents
-George’s previous book, The Conservative Sensibility
-George debates Oren Cass on creative destruction
-Charles Murray’s Coming Apart
-Graeme Wood on our elite surplus
-Schumpeter’s Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy
-Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morals
-George on public choice theory
-“Conservatism is soiled by scowling primitives”
-Hayek: “Why I’m Not a Conservative”
-George reflects on his career and philosophical evolution
-Jonah and George discuss conservatism on C-SPAN
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If there’s one group Jonah has less patience for than post-liberal Catholic integralists, it’s progressives who want to replace Madisonian democracy with a parliamentary system. On today’s ranty Ruminant, he explores why America’s system of government is exceptional, why the Electoral College should stand, and why the Germans don’t always do it better. There’s also a disquisition on historicism and relativism, obligatory kvetching about Democrats spending money they don’t have, and an aside about conservative intellectuals turning their backs on light. Tune in for nerdy references to Leo Strauss, but stick around to see if Jonah can actually make it to the end without mentioning Woodrow Wilson.
Show Notes:
- Ben Sasse’s rant at the Kavanaugh hearing
- George W. Plunkitt, no relation to Harry S. Plinkett
- Jonah defends the Electoral College
- The Morning Dispatch breaks down Germany’s election
- The Remnant with Mike Duncan
- The Remnant with Scott Lincicome
- Leo Strauss’ critique of historicism
- “Hello lamppost, whatcha knowin’?”
- Robert Kagan: “Our Constitutional Crisis is Already Here”
- Actually, it’s the common good
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Scott Lincicome, The Dispatch’s resident expert on all things free and economic, returns to The Remnant for a distinctly wonky discussion of tariffs, taxes, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Jonah and Scott tackle our most pressing regulatory questions. Is corporate personhood a legitimate concept? Has Biden undone any of Trump’s protectionist measures? And will supply chain shortages deprive us all of Tickle Me Elmos this Christmas? There’s also a bit about boar-cobra hybrids enslaving humanity, but you’ll have to listen to fully understand.
Show Notes:
-Scott’s Capitolism newsletter
-Scott on the exciting world of corporate tax rates
-Britain braces for the end times
-Scott on America’s ports problem
-Scott’s love affair with the Jones Act
-We need to talk about tariffs
-Wild boars reclaim the Roman Empire
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The revolution won’t be televised, but it will be broadcast to the world on today’s long-awaited Remnant, in which Jonah is joined by Revolutions podcast host and fellow history obsessive Mike Duncan. Over an exceptionally nerdy hour, they explore how Mike prepares for his podcast, whether America’s ghastly political situation really does resemble the decline of the Roman Republic, and why even Hamilton can’t convince the French to love the Marquis de Lafayette. They also dig as deeply into revolutionary history as you’d expect, comparing the French and American revolutions and discussing how studying the Haitian revolution transformed Mike’s outlook. Stay tuned for the references to Burke, Marx, and Yuval Levin sprinkled throughout.
Show Notes:
-Mike’s new book on Lafayette, Hero of Two Worlds
-Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments
-Samuel Rawson Gardner’s history of the English Civil War
-Christopher Hill on the English Revolution
-The great man theory of history
-The March of Folly, by Barbara Tuchman
-A Time to Build, for all of you bingo card holders
-Reflections on the Revolution in France
-Irving Kristol: “The American Revolution as a Successful Revolution”
-Mike breaks down the Haitian Revolution
-Pauline Maier on the Declaration of Independence
-Jonah: “This Was Always the Plan”
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As if experiencing the Monica Lewinsky saga first-hand wasn’t strange enough, Impeachment: American Crime Story is now subjecting Jonah to it all over again. How did we get here? And when exactly did American politics stop making sense? Unable to answer those questions alone and with David Byrne ignoring his calls, Jonah summons Guy and Ryan for a journey into the world of book royalties, internet comment sections, and broadcasting secrets best left in the green room. Their ramblings also address the passing of Norm Macdonald, dark behind the scenes secrets of The Dispatch, and why political provocateurs usually don’t enjoy more than 15 minutes of fame. Plus, tune in to hear Jonah tell an epic story of identity theft.
Show Notes:
- Wednesday’s G-File, released to the masses
- The Remnant’s super-spectacular 400th episode
- Conan’s tribute to Norm Macdonald
- Guy’s Bret Stephens profile, shamelessly plugged
- Jonah’s return to National Review
- The Remnant with Will Saletan
- “Schindler es bueno, señor Burns es el diablo”
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To distinguish The Remnant’s 400th episode, Jonah thought it would be refreshing to bring on a guest renowned among fans for his cheerfulness: Kevin Williamson, National Review’s roving correspondent. Together, they take an extra long, extra nerdy voyage through the morass that is modern American politics to determine whether the end times will really be as awesome as Kevin predicted several years ago. Why are young men so dispossessed? Is there any harm in grifting to earn a living? And will January 6 be remembered for presaging the death of American democracy? It’s a conversation that covers everything from cattle trading to Satan’s balls, and we’re grateful to you all for listening.
Show Notes:
- Kevin’s previous Remnant appearance
- Kevin on the never-ending coup
- John Eastman’s plan to overturn the election
- Jonah: “This Was Always the Plan”
- Jim Glassman on Hillary’s cows
- Make bureaucracy great again
- Sidney Powell’s latest insanity
- Kevin’s time among the flat-earthers
- The decline in male college enrollment
- Twilight of Democracy, by Anne Applebaum
- The Smallest Minority, Kevin’s defense of the individual
- Charles C.W. Cooke: “Roe is the Problem”
- Kevin on Texas’ “heartbeat bill”
- Mad Dogs and Englishmen on the Met gala
- Kevin’s spat with Dan Bongino
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Chris Stirewalt returns to The Remnant for punditry so intense it could rival the summer heat of New Orleans. Religious definitions are first on the docket, as Jonah and Chris explore the voting habits of Catholics, whether “Evangelical” is an outdated term, and the relationship between political beliefs and church attendance. Afterward, a deep dive into party politics commences, covering the GOP’s embrace of working-class men, the right’s broader commitment to bogus election fraud narratives, and how the return of radical chic could spark a new class war. Ultimately, only German words are sufficient to express Chris’ horror at our current situation.
Show Notes:
- Chris on dumping “Evangelical”
- Making the church great again
- The New York Times on Harvard’s atheist chaplain
- Jim Banks’ push for a working-class GOP
- Jerry Seib on the California recall
- The Emerging Democratic Majority
- An excuse for whenever you break the law
- Tucker Carlson outcrazies himself
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On today’s Ruminant, an addled and isolated Jonah is haunted by Muppets and their irresistibly catchy songs. He’s also fascinated by the Mark Milley affair, irritated by political figures who disregard the importance of rules, and amused by elites who’ve clearly never read “Radical Chic.” Why are politicians more interested in trolling the opposition than actually doing their jobs? Was the Cigarette Smoking Man really behind the Kennedy assassination? And how many people had to sample poison berries before mankind perfected the art of cooking?
Show Notes:
- Wednesday’s Dispatch Podcast
- Musings of a cigarette smoking man
- Inside Tom Wolfe’s apartment, and more…
- The Remnant with Will Saletan on elite overproduction
- Do CEOs make less than doctors?
- Politico annoys Jennifer Rubin
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Remnant fan favorite and National Review stalwart Ramesh Ponnuru returns today for a thorough discussion of the jurisprudence of abortion and state of the pro-life movement. Although it’s easy to talk about overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in the abstract, the real-world consequences can be difficult to envision. Jonah and Ramesh explore what a post-Roe United States could look like, touching on laws, the two parties, and public opinion. Along the way, they also examine the horrors of inflation and rise of common good originalism. Plus, all of this happens to remind Jonah of a certain Star Trek episode.
Show Notes:
- Ramesh’s author page at National Review
- Ramesh on overturning Roe v. Wade
- Barack Obama’s record on abortion
- The Remnant with David French
- Return of the eco-Wilsonians
- Rick Perlstein’s “moral panic”
- Why Ramesh isn’t worried about inflation
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Accomplished attorney and longtime Jonah associate Shannen Coffin joins The Remnant for a deep dive into the constitutionality of Biden’s vaccine mandate and the dysfunctional state of our federal government. Together, they explore the role each branch of government should play in enforcing such a mandate, Biden’s failure to diminish the COVID culture war, and whether the conservative legal movement could fall victim to the ideology of owning the libs. Obligatory references to Robert Bork are also included. To paraphrase Lionel Hutz, can you imagine a podcast without lawyers?
Show Notes:
-Shannen on partial-birth abortion
-Andy McCarthy on Biden’s vaccine mandate
-Charlie Cooke responds to Jonah
-Jonah responds to Charlie and Andy
-An Act Relative to Quarantine
-The Remnant with Kevin Kosar on congressional dysfunction
-David French on partisanship and the Supreme Court
-Never Trump, by Robert Saldin and Steve Tenis
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Jonah begins today’s Ruminant on a reflective note, recalling where he was on 9/11 and how the tragedy affected him personally and professionally. Afterward, things get ranty, as Jonah digs into the constitutionality of federal vaccine mandates, the pervasive myth that he doesn’t criticize Joe Biden, and the question of whether America should export democracy to illiberal countries. Why is neoconservatism still so misunderstood? Is Biden really a Clinton in disguise? And how have we reached the point where the classic “Sideshow Bob Roberts” episode of The Simpsons seems more like real life than a cartoon satire?
Show Notes:
- The Dispatch Podcast on 9/11 and Biden’s grim summer
- John Podhoretz blasts Biden’s vaccine mandate speech
- Biden flip flops on vaccine mandates
- Ben Domenech arguing for vaccine mandates in 2015
- The Remnant with Graeme Wood
- “Dictatorships and Double Standards”
- Jonah breaks down neoconservatism
- The Remnant with Will Saletan
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Slate’s Will Saletan returns to The Remnant to discuss the anniversary of 9/11, the ongoing challenges of COVID-19, and oligarchs who can’t resist the sweet taste of candy. With America’s vaccine rollout gaining steam once again, Jonah and Will explore how calamity-ending miracle drugs became the subject of partisan debate, and whether any side truly got the pandemic right. They also touch on the deliciousness of GMOs and how political life may only get crazier in the coming decade. Tune in for violent agreement, but stick around for vigorous debate.
Show Notes:
- Will: “Why the Party of 9/11 Couldn’t Handle COVID-19”
- Jonah: “The Treason of Epidemiologists”
- The pandemic freakout and the psychology of disgust
- Will on paranoia around GMOs
- The Dispatch Podcast reflects on 9/11
- The Remnant with Peter Suderman
- The Remnant with Graeme Wood
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Get your black robes, white wigs, and legal dictionaries ready, because David French is back on The Remnant to evaluate Texas’ controversial new abortion ruling. He and Jonah also explore the Supreme Court’s history of inventing doctrines that can’t be found in written law, before turning to the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and what America’s response to such a tragedy would look like in today’s hyperpolarized moment. Does the Second Amendment protect ownership of surface-to-air missiles? What changes have occured in the pro-life movement? And will Spider-Man: No Way Home destroy the Marvel Universe as we know it?
Show Notes:
-Advisory Opinions, for all Remnant listeners fluent in legalese
-David breaks down the Texas abortion ruling
-David and Sarah on abortion in America
-David on the state of the pro-life movement
-David’s love of qualified immunity
-Would reversing Roe have a destabilizing effect?
-Jonah on the anniversary of 9/11
-David’s latest book, Divided We Fall
-David’s previous Remnant appearance
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Jonah’s sailed the seas and seen the world over, but everything always draws him back to good ol’ New York, New York. Still, although today’s Ruminant ends with a discussion of the Big Apple’s terrifying floods (which may or may not have dealt a blow to the local rodent population), it also covers the Supreme Court’s controversial abortion ruling, the pervasive myth that big corporations are right-wing, and “closet normals” in the GOP who pretend to hold crazy views. With shameless book-plugging, Jonah also digs into how the definitions of left and right in politics have changed over time. If you’re a loyal listener, stick around until the end for a proposition you won’t be able to refuse.
Show Notes:
- David French breaks down the Texas abortion ruling
- Jonah’s previous ruminations on abortion
- Virginia’s late-term abortion bill
- Advisory Opinions takes a deep dive into abortion law
- Matt Continetti on the politics of abortion
- A disappointing August jobs report
- Richard Holbrooke’s damning diary
- The latest Dispatch Podcast on Afghanistan
- The Dispatch’s Afghanistan editorial
- The Remnant with Graeme Wood
- The Big Ripoff, by Tim Carney
- The pandemic’s effect on women in the workforce
- Ron Johnson says the quiet part loud
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Graeme Wood, staff writer for The Atlantic, joins The Remnant for the first time to discuss the future of the Taliban, the psychology of extremists, and why, depressingly, America’s political situation may only get crazier. For the sake of levity, Jonah is also sure to ask about Graeme’s experiences hitchhiking across Afghanistan and bootlegging liquor in Iraq, as well as the quirks of being bilingual. Tune in additionally for an update on Jonah’s book collection, but stick around for your periodical reminder not to immanentize the eschaton.
Show Notes:
- Graeme’s author page at The Atlantic
- Graeme on the future of ISIS
- Graeme on understanding the Taliban
- The overrepresentation of converts among jihadists
- Evangelicals who don’t go to church
- Eric Voegelin’s New Science of Politics
- Is the Muslim world ignoring the plight of the Uyghurs?
- Graeme’s profile of Peter Turchin
- The great man theory of history
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Peter Suderman, Reason magazine’s features editor and cocktail connoisseur, makes his first appearance on The Remnant today to preach the gospel of Kanye West. He also gives his thoughts on the Afghanistan withdrawal, the potential of Bitcoin to replace currency as we know it, and the government’s propensity to, as Jonah puts it, “spend like a pimp with a week to live.” Is it finally time to buy gold? Does anyone still believe that Spider-Man: No Way Home won’t be a crossover movie? And will Jonah’s rendition of “Rapper’s Delight” become the new Remnant theme song?
Show Notes:
-Peter’s author page at Reason
-Macheath spends like a sailor
-Money Mischief, by Milton Friedman
-Peter on the GOP’s lack of a clear economic policy
-The Parents Music Resource Center
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In the last few years, the conservative movement has gone through a number of obvious changes. But Jonah believes he’s stayed consistent in his views, and uses today’s Ruminant to explain why. He also touches on the end of Biden’s eviction moratorium, the legacy of the “intellectual dark web,” and how hyperpolarization is rotting peoples’ brains. Tune in to hear Jonah’s final thoughts on the Afghanistan tragedy, but stick around to see if he can refrain from giggling at Sidney Powell’s potential disbarment.
Show Notes:
- The Dispatch’s Afghanistan editorial
- The Dispatch Podcast on the Afghanistan evacuation
- The Economist on Afghanistan’s consequences
- Supreme Court ends Biden’s eviction moratorium
- Penetrating analysis from Bret Weinstein
- Jonah on the “intellectual dark web”
- Last week’s ranty-yet-sentimental Ruminant
- “Our people hate the right people”
- The Remnant with Charlie Cooke
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On today’s episode, Jonah, now back in his empty nest in D.C., desperately requires a distraction from the oppressive August heat. Fortunately, RealClearPolitics associate editor and fan-favorite guest A.B. Stoddard has just the topic: infrastructure. Exceedingly rank punditry ensues, as they explore divisions within the Democratic Party, racial progress in America, and why moderate Democrats find it difficult to be loud about their moderation. Along the way, they also discuss whether COVID or the Afghanistan tragedy can be blamed for President Biden’s declining approval ratings. Brace your bingo cards.
Show Notes:
- A.B.’s author page at RealClearPolitics
- Uphill breaks down the latest infrastructure developments
- Hakeem Jefferies and Josh Gottheimer launch a PAC to defend incumbents
- Drive-thru voting in Houston
- Biden’s plummeting approval ratings
- Jonah on invisible but deadly entities
- Republican anger at the unvaccinated
- A.B. on Ron DeSantis and COVID in Florida
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David French guest-hosts The Remnant today while Jonah returns home from his western voyage. He’s joined by Klon Kitchen, expert on national security and defense technology at the American Enterprise Institute. Together, they explore the state of the Afghanistan withdrawal, deficiencies in American cybersecurity, and social media censorship at the hands of Big Tech. Should the Taliban be understood as a unified or factional entity? Can we expect meaningful Big Tech legislation to be implemented anytime soon? And will David’s DC Comics bias preclude any discussion of Tobey Maguire’s inevitable appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home?
Show Notes:
-David reflects on the War in Afghanistan
-The state of the Afghanistan evacuation
-2034: A Novel of the Next World War
-Klon on rethinking government access to consumer data
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On today’s Ruminant, recorded live from the pungent parking lot of a California West Marine, Yiddish terms are required to describe Jonah’s emotional state. With his daughter Lucy leaving home, he processes his grief by exploring John Rawls’ original position, existentialist movie-making, and why American popular culture is much more conservative than most people realize. Afterward, all sentimentality fades away as an epic rant on the situation in Afghanistan and the dismal state of American politics commences. Animated by unprecedented annoyance, Jonah argues that President Biden has revealed himself to be plainly unfit for office. But that doesn’t make Trump look any more appealing.
Show Notes:
-Nine Days, which plunged Jonah into an existential crisis
-The Dispatch Podcast on Afghanistan
-Jonah’s uncontroversial tweet which provoked nothing but love and praise
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Bloomberg Opinion columnist Eli Lake joins Jonah for a thorough discussion of the tragic situation in Afghanistan. Is President Biden’s leadership to blame for the catastrophe? Did Biden ignore warnings that withdrawal would result in a Taliban takeover? And how did the Afghanistan war go from being celebrated on Saturday Night Live to such a tragic conclusion? Things aren’t all doom and gloom, however, as Eli is sure to end on a note of optimism. The American experiment has endured challenges on the global stage in the past, but rejuvenation has also been accomplished. Besides, America’s adversaries have plenty of their own problems to contend with.
Show Notes:
-Eli’s page at Bloomberg Opinion
-Eli’s review of Jonathan Rauch’s The Constitution of Knowledge
-David Sanger: “For Biden, Images of Defeat He Wanted to Avoid”
-Jonah: “Dishonor in Afghanistan”
-Eli joins Bari Weiss’ symposium
-Biden’s latest remarks, which may or may not date this episode
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Today’s Ruminant finds Jonah deprived of air conditioning in the middle of brutal D.C. heat, baffled by inexplicable decisions made by figures across the political spectrum. With the Taliban advancing in Afghanistan, progressives arguing that ACTUALLY, kids don’t need to master math and reading, and President Biden considering vaccine mandates for interstate travel, there’s plenty to be annoyed about. Tune in also to hear Jonah’s thoughts on liberal nostalgia, socioeconomic divisions, and the propensity of the politically-obsessed to freak out about minor things. Oh, and bring a squeegee.
Show Notes:
- The Morning Dispatch breaks down the Afghanistan situation
- An emergency Dispatch Podcast on Afghanistan
- The Ethics and Public Policy Center’s Honor Among Nations
- International community, eh?
- Frederick M. Hess on Oregon’s “soft bigotry of low expectations”
- David Brooks reflects on Bobos in Paradise
- Jonah on royalty, real and imagined
- The Remnant with Jonathan Adler
- Biden contemplates vaccine mandates for interstate travel
- Amy Coney Barrett upholds Indiana University’s vaccine mandate
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Charles C.W. Cooke, National Review’s Anglo-American purveyor of liberty and golf carts, returns to The Remnant for a spirited discussion of accents, constitutionalism, and all things Floridian. Although Ron DeSantis has faced persistent criticism, Charlie believes he got COVID right, and explains why. With many references to James Madison. Meanwhile, Jonah remains puzzled by the right’s fondness for Hungary, the increasingly imperialistic nature of the presidency, and Charles’ blissful ignorance of foreign policy. At the end of it all, a fundamental question remains that only listeners can answer: What’s the best theme song in TV history?
Show Notes:
- Bill Maher defends Ron DeSantis
- Charlie’s takedown of Rebekah Jones
- Achieving our Country, by Richard Rorty
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Case Western University professor Jonathan Adler brings his fluency in legalese to The Remnant today for a conversation that would make Milton Hershey proud. In freewheeling fashion, he and Jonah explore the constitutional implications of the eviction moratorium, whether The Suicide Squad is worth watching, and how mitigating the threat of climate change through nuclear power won’t produce an abundance of three-eyed fish. Stick around for a thorough discussion of the principles on which the conservative movement should be based, which causes Jonah and Jonathan to rapidly age into a pair of ornery octogenarians.
Show Notes:
-Jonathan’s first Remnant appearance
-Jonathan’s unique take on the peanut butter cup
-Laurence Tribe defends the eviction moratorium
-“A rare act of presidential civil disobedience”
-Is the Supreme Court the Guardian of the Constitution? by Robert A. Licht
-The Constitution in Congress, by David P. Currie
-“I didn’t get rich by writing a lot of checks”
-Kevin Williamson on what’s rotten in Denmark
-Jonathan and Henry Olsen debate fusionism
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The drive-time Remnant format returns today to prelude a new era for The Dispatch. With Nick Pompella now off to the wilds of Indiana, Jonah, Ryan, and Guy are left to explore the mad world of D.C. living and marmite advertising as a trio. Brace your bingo cards for a wild ride, as Jonah reflects on his conversation with Steak-umm social media guru Nathan Allebach, Ryan ponders the origin of “Republicans pounce,” and Guy previews an epic oral history of The Simpsons. Was Marbury v. Madison wrongly decided? What’s so funny about the sweet taste of candy? And who will succeed Nick as the Alfred to Jonah’s Batman?
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Nathan Allebach
- Advertising reaches its peak
- Guy and Ryan on The Comments Section podcast
- “These Superbowl commercials are weird”
- The Dispatch Podcast on the eviction moratorium extension
- Republicans pounce on Cori Bush
- Vindication for Jonah on “Latinx”
- Jonah’s hatred of the Brookings Institution, colorized
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In the past, The Remnant has hosted prominent politicians, scholars, and media personalities. But none of them have made Jonah as excited as today’s guest: Nathan Allebach, manager of the Steak-umm Twitter account. In a conversation laden with meat-related puns, Jonah and Nathan take a deep dive into the bizarre world of social media, where fast food brands often offer greater intellectual nuance than most political commentators. Neil deGrasse Tyson, online abuse, and the origins of Nathan’s glorious enterprise are all discussed, as Jonah examines whether we’d be better off without the internet. At the end of it all, one vital hot-button question remains unanswered: Are hot dogs sandwiches?
Show Notes:
- The Joe Rogan episode that changed everything
- The Twitter verification saga
- Major beef with Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Vindication for the Baconator
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Chris Stirewalt is back on The Remnant to discuss how we can make politics boring again. As Chris observes, we’ve entered a “wilderness of grifts,” where opportunistic nationalism and Lincoln Project-style chicanery are all the rage. Meanwhile, a new group is trying to turn Joe Biden into FDR, factions on the right are embracing the progressive vision of government, and rage clicks are poisoning the political well. What can we learn from Lincoln in this bizarre moment? How do Americans really feel about abortion? And will Chris finally make a pious man out of Jonah?
Show Notes:
-The Morning Dispatch breaks down the infrastructure negotiations
-The Jane Mayer piece that made Jonah’s morning
-Jonah explores Trump’s grip on the GOP
-Trump’s endorsement goes awry in Texas
-The Remnant with Dan McLaughlin
-The Great Debate, by Yuval Levin
-Jonah on the implications of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health
-Chris’ Instagram, where the magic happens
-Kevin Williamson on the big white ghetto
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Today’s ranty Ruminant finds Jonah alternately perplexed and irritated by the state of the COVID-19 pandemic, illiberalism in politics, and folks who think Twitter is real life. He begins by digging into the CDC’s revised guidance on masks and the possible implications of America’s stalling vaccine campaign. From there, things get nerdy, as Jonah explores the state of conservative institutions and weirdness of internet culture. Any cartoonists listening should stick around until the end for some striking inspiration.
Show Notes:
- Christian Schneider on anti-racism
- Jonah on the new mask mandates
- Last year’s kooky Washington Times piece on masks
- Crisis and Leviathan, by Robert Higgs
- The Dispatch Podcast on the CDC and January 6
- Marty Makary on the push to vaccinate children
- Laura K. Field’s essay on the Claremont Institute
- The Remnant with Dan McLaughlin
- Scarlett Johansson sues Disney
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American Enterprise Institute scholar and fan-favorite Remnant guest Tim Carney joins Jonah for a wide-ranging discussion of obscure political philosophy, the state of the COVID-19 pandemic, and why babies are good. In these strange, often distressing times, it can be easy to take a pessimistic view of the conservative movement and America more broadly. Tim, however, believes we should be hopeful on both of these fronts. What does it mean to be an old individualist? Will new mask mandates presage a return to lockdowns? And does it really take a village to raise a child?
Show Notes:
- Tim’s page at the Washington Examiner
- Khaya Himmelman’s profile of Mike Lindell
- The Remnant with Dan McLaughlin
- The CDC revises its mask guidance
- Washington Examiner: “Vaccinate India”
- Making the U.S. more family-friendly
- David Brooks: “The Nuclear Family was a Mistake”
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Unlike Ozzie Smith on his visit to Springfield, Jonah didn’t fall off the face of the Earth during his northeastern excursion last week. Today, he’s back in control of The Remnant, and invites National Review’s Dan McLaughlin onto the show for a discussion of what the future holds for the Republican Party. Together, they explore the creation of the January 6 select committee, how the role of a political commentator differs from that of a political operative, and whether fusionism will survive the challenges currently facing the right. It’s an episode dedicated to the common good.
Show Notes:
-Dan’s page at National Review
-Dan’s call for Trump’s impeachment
-The Morning Dispatch breaks down the January 6 committee
-Trump profits from false election fraud claims
-Ali Alexander and the Capitol riot
-Liz Cheney and Kevin McCarthy’s ongoing feud
-Dan’s views on fusionism and Republican history
-Dan responds to Adrian Vermeule
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Chris Stirewalt is back in the driver’s seat on today’s Remnant in place of Jonah. This time, his guest is Robert Pondiscio, a newly minted fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and expert on education policy. Together, they explore how various deficiencies in American schooling can be overcome. Can patriotic civics and history be taught without indoctrinating pupils? How significant of a threat is critical race theory? And will discussing their own high school experiences force Chris and Robert to confront painful repressed memories?
Show Notes:
- The National Assessment of Educational Progress
- Robert: “How U.S. Schools Became Obsessed with Race”
- The influence of Horace Mann
- Robert on what the critical race theory debate overlooks
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Jonah’s vocal double Chris Stirewalt seizes control of The Remnant today in Dostoyevskian fashion. His guest? CNN’s Harry Enten, who shares Chris’ obsession with polling data. The two explore why polling in 2020 was so inaccurate, the quirks of online polling, and why Republicans who answer polls tend not to represent Republicans at large. They also dig into demographic divisions over vaccine uptake and how vaccine skeptics can be swayed. Tune in for incisive political analysis, but stick around for a considered discussion of which diet cola is America’s finest.
Show Notes:
- Jeff Bezos casually visits outer space
- 2020’s major polling blunders
- Inaccurate polling in 1980 and 2012
- Max Boot complains about vaccination rates in Republican states
- Demographic trends in the vaccine rollout
- The vaccine rollout’s partisan divide
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Get your bingo cards ready, because Yuval Levin is back on The Remnant today to counteract Alex Tabarrok’s libertarian influence. Which side is the aggressor in the culture war? How will history remember the Trump era? And why is the left substituting relativism for absolutism? Tune in for answers to these vital questions (which include plenty of ostentatious references to Leo Strauss), but stick around to hear Yuval deliver a heartening affirmation of American exceptionalism. The United States is facing challenges, and we have much to fix, but we have even more to be proud of. As any immigrant would tell you, there really is no greater country than America today.
Show Notes:
- The week’s first Remnant with Alex Tabarrok
- Kevin Drum: “If You Hate the Culture Wars, Blame Liberals”
- Tim Miller: “Who’s Actually Responsible for the ‘Culture War?’”
- Jonah’s G-File responding to both Drum and Miller
- Yuval’s third book, The Great Debate
- CPAC attendees applaud Biden’s missed vaccine goal
- Jonah’s Twitter debate with Nikole Hannah-Jones
- The New York Times’ tragic January 6 video
- Leo Strauss on liberal education
- Gen. Mark Milley feared a Trump “Reichstag moment”
- Fame and the Founding Fathers, by Douglass Adair
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Alex Tabarrok, perhaps the world’s sole Canadian libertarian, joins The Remnant today for the first time. Inflation is on the rise, the vaccine rollout is stalling, and illiberalism is resurgent. In other words, there are plenty of demanding issues for Americans to be concerned about. Thankfully, Tabarrok has a range of considered policy solutions for Jonah to explore. How can we revitalize democracy? Would open borders work? And should we abandon advanced civilization now before the machines destroy us all?
Show Notes:
-Jonah on the wackiness of vaccine paranoia
-The Mayor Quimby of anti-vaxxers
-Jonah on the importance of character
-Ezra Klein on the good old days
-“Born American, but in the Wrong Place”
-Home Economics, by Nick Shulz
-The elite master’s degrees that don’t pay off
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On today’s Ruminant, Jonah discusses everything from obscure existentialist philosophy to the realism of zombie TV. Rank punditry is first on the docket, as Jonah examines Biden’s poor handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal and Republican efforts to whitewash the events of January 6. Afterward, Jonah defends his recent comments about Tucker Carlson and explores the world’s progress on vaccinations. Is Western civilization buckling under the weight of liberal guilt? Should America be the world’s policeman? And will Ramesh Ponnuru ever persuade Jonah to change his mind about the death penalty?
Show Notes:
- Biden brings the Afghanistan withdrawal date forward
- The New York Times’ devastating January 6 video
- Jonah’s debate with Joshua Tait
- Jonah’s final word on critical race theory
- The week’s second Remnant with Will Saletan
- Jonah’s Tucker tweet, which caused no controversy
- Republican craziness over Biden’s push to “knock on doors”
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Slate’s Will Saletan joins The Remnant once again to discuss Trump’s lunatic lawsuit against big tech, Biden’s first six months, and the endless debate over critical race theory in education. Plus, in a shocking turn of events, Will challenges Jonah on his oft-repeated line that America has two minority parties, instead arguing that both Democrats and Republicans are engaging in a war on reality fueled by the strangeness of the internet. Be ready with your bingo cards, because Jonah’s references to defunding the police, the term “Latinx,” and the annoyingness of teachers’ unions arrive at an unprecedented rate.
Show Notes:
- Will on Trump’s crusade against democracy
- Trump’s insane press conference
- Jonah: “Yes, progressives. You really do need Joe Manchin”
- “The American Mythology of Racial Progress”
- Trigger warnings are triggering
- Facebook’s astonishing list of genders
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Only Remnant listeners fluent in legalese should subject themselves to today’s discussion of Supreme Court jurisprudence, in which fan-favorite classical liberal Ilya Shapiro returns to claim his coveted gold jacket. Jonah and Ilya explore what the court’s conservative majority will mean for future cases and whether the conservative legal movement should adapt its philosophy in the wake of Bostock v. Clayton County. They also touch on some of the most controversial issues raised by recent Supreme Court decisions, including Arizona’s voting laws and free speech in public schools. David and Sarah, eat your heart out!
Show Notes:
- Ilya’s latest book, Supreme Disorder
- The mysterious shadow docket
- Fulton v. City of Philadelphia
- “After Bostock, We’re All Textualists Now”
- Walter Olson in The Dispatch on HIPAA
- The Supreme Court upholds Arizona voting restrictions
- Ilya: “The Voter Suppression Lie”
- Advisory Opinions on the Supreme Court’s cheerleader case
- Ilya’s campaign for the Falls Church Schoolboard, shamelessly plugged
- Ilya explains why he’s running
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Today’s ranty Ruminant features killer whales, hunter-gatherers, and a special appearance by Jonah’s importunate dingo. It also includes as much kvetching about partisan craziness and misunderstood aspects of intellectual history as you’d expect. Jonah begins by discussing the latest Trump tax scandal, the root cause of Tucker Carlson’s apparent insanity, and the GOP brouhaha over the January 6 commission. He then reflects on Donald Rumsfeld’s time in the White House. The show concludes with a mini-commercial for Suicide of the West, gratuitous shots at Rousseau and Marx, and reflections on the Fourth of July. It’s a veritable Goldbergian greatest hits.
Show Notes:
- Andy McCarthy on Manhattan’s Ahab
- Scott Gottleib’s new book, Uncontrolled Spread
- Kevin McCarthy’s response to the January 6 commission
- Paul Gosar and Nick Fuentes, BFFs
- Thursday’s Twitter-bashing Remnant with Mo Elleithee
- Somebody’s (still) watching me…
- Tucker blames the FBI for the Capitol riot
- Donald Rumsfeld and (gasp!) Leo Strauss
- Ezra Klein’s recent podcast on how good we used to have it
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The Hangover has now concluded, and Chris Stirewalt thought it appropriate to provide an epilogue to the series. If the last four years have taught us anything, Chris observes, it’s that “people are terrible at predicting the future.” After the GOP’s victory in 2016, nobody could have guessed that the party would be swept out of power four years later, or that our lives would be upended by a pandemic. Going forward, there’s no way of knowing whether the GOP will overcome its current craziness or completely self-destruct, but the rot within the party reveals as much about America itself as it does Republican politicians. Making our republic healthier and stronger is a job for all of us, and we can accomplish it by engaging with our institutions and communities. This series has been a pleasure to put together, and we at The Dispatch send our thanks not only to all of Chris’ guests, but to all of you for listening.
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Fan-favorite political strategist Mo Elleithee returns to The Remnant today for a discussion of Joe Biden’s first six months in office, America’s deepening polarization, and how we should understand the results of the 2020 election. With debates over issues like critical race theory and police reform continuing to intensify, has the Democratic Party really shifted as far to the left as conservatives believe? For that matter, what can Mo’s latest Battleground Poll tell us about the challenges America faces, and why is the political side of Twitter so inexpressibly hideous? It’s a dream come true for lovers of statistics and infrastructure.
Show Notes:
- Mo’s work at the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service
- Mo’s recent appearance on The Dispatch Podcast
- Nate Cohn on the statistics behind the 2020 election
- Chris Wallace accuses Republicans of defunding the police
- The Bill Clinton/Lani Guinier episode
- Abigail Spanberger blasts progressive sloganeering
- Sean Trende on Conversations with Bill Kristol
- The June 2021 Battleground Poll
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The Hangover concludes on a unique note, as David Glade, rector of Virginia’s Christ the King Anglican Church, joins Chris Stirewalt to discuss what the future holds for religion in a divided America. Politics, the pair note, can be an especially alluring idol. Today, even shopping at Home Depot is seen as a political act, and the forces of populism and wokery have supplanted real faiths in the lives of many Americans. Committed Christians, meanwhile, increasingly focus on relatively trivial political issues rather than deeper ethical matters. With politics, David observes, “a little more disinterestedness may not be a bad thing” when true religion can offer so much more to human beings. He and Chris also reflect on the evolution of American Christianity and how the relationship between evangelicals and the GOP changed in the age of Trump.
Show Notes:
-David’s work at Christ the King
-The Great Awakening and the American Revolution
-Mircea Eliade on what draws humans to the sacred
-Timothy Keller: “Can Evangelicalism Survive Donald Trump and Roy Moore?”
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Start spreading the news: Esteemed historian Vincent Cannato is back on The Remnant to discuss all things New York City. After digging into the ongoing mayoral election, Curtis Sliwa’s rescue cats, and Rudy Giuliani’s descent into madness, Jonah and Vin explore what the Big Apple’s partisan divisions reveal about America’s broader political shenanigans. From there, they consider how the paranoid style in American politics can explain the right’s embrace of post-liberal Catholic integralism. At the end of it all, one question remains: Who will be the third man in Jonah and Vin’s upcoming production of On the Town?
Show Notes:
-The New York Post backs Eric Adams
-Brad Lander’s comptroller campaign
-Curtis Sliwa’s colorful discussion with Eric Shawn
-Vincent: “Same Old, Same Old, Same Old”
-Did Fred Trump attend a KKK rally?
-Jonah on the latest infrastructure fracas
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Sleep-deprived following his return from Oklahoma and haunted by visions of Nick, Jonah begins today’s Ruminant with the mother of all rants. Why, when there are so many urgent issues for Americans to be concerned with, is the New York Times more interested in denying objective reality and attacking the concept of motherhood? For that matter, why is the fight over critical race theory only getting crazier, and why is Sheldon Whitehouse seemingly sowing the seeds for a new Tyler Perry script? Tune in to hear these bizarre questions answered, and to learn of Jonah’s vehicular writing habits.
Show Notes:
-The New York Times piece that ruined Jonah’s morning
-Facebook’s list of many genders
-Insane people who think “covfefe” was Arabic code
-Birthing people in Biden’s budget
-Trigger warnings are now triggering
-Gen. Mark Milley defends teaching CRT at West Point
-Tucker Carlson’s charming response to Milley’s comments
-Today’s TMD on Biden’s infrastructure deal
-Ban the word “cockpit.” Yes, really
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On today’s Remnant, recorded in the wilds of Oklahoma, Jonah once again attempts to fuse the weekend Ruminant format with that of a supplemental episode. He begins by elaborating on his pro-life views and what abortion law would look like if he were made czar for a day. Afterward, a nerdtastic dive into the morass of intellectual history begins, as Jonah uses an extract from The Tyranny of Clichés (which is still available from all good book sellers, hint-hint) to explore what separation of church and state really means in American life. Tune in not just to hear Jonah’s patented progressive-bashing, but to either commend or correct his pronunciation of a certain troublesome name.
Show Notes:
-Moynihan on partial-birth abortion
-Locke’s “A Letter Concerning Toleration”
-JFK (or possibly Mayor Quimby) and Catholicism
-Mario Cuomo’s Notre Dame speech
-Jonah’s deep affection for Richard Ely
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Conservative journalism has changed markedly since John Podhoretz began his career at the Washington Times in the early 1980s. When Matt Drudge broke the Monica Lewinsky story in 1998, it was clear that things would never be the same. On today’s episode of The Hangover, John joins Chris Stirewalt to explore how the changing media ecosystem contributed to Donald Trump’s election in 2016. The pair reflect on the creation of The Weekly Standard, electoral politics in the Clinton and Obama years, and how Trump’s victory affected the conservative movement. Even though Trump is no longer president, will his presence in conservative media continue to be felt for the foreseeable future?
Show Notes:
-John on the history of The Weekly Standard
-Bill Clinton’s 1996 State of the Union address
-Matt Drudge breaks the Lewinsky scandal
-Josh Marshall: “The Digital News Industry Was Built on Lies”
-Obama’s birth certificate coffee mugs
-National Review’s “Against Trump” issue
-Chris Christie’s takedown of Marco Rubio
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Scott Winship, director of poverty studies at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Jonah to discuss the history of poverty in the United States. The pair begin by digging into a new report from Scott and four of his peers that explores issues of black vs. white inequality, before they turn to examining potential solutions to these disparities. Is the success sequence outdated? Should America be based on bourgeois morality? And will Jonah ever forgive Scott for collaborating with scholars at the hated Brookings Institution?
Show Notes:
-“Long Shadows,” Scott’s report on the black-white gap in multigenerational poverty
-Scott joins the candy eaters on the Brookings Cafeteria Podcast
-LBJ (Jonah’s second favorite president) on affirmative action
-Nigerians have the highest level of education in the U.S.
-Black Identities, by Mary Waters
-Scott: “Is it Really too Expensive to Raise a Family?”
-Scott’s case against child allowances
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Fair warning: Eating styrofoam may prove more constructive than listening to today’s drive-time Remnant, which contains even less substance than your average Seinfeld episode. Jonah (scourge of baggage agents across America), Ryan (softball hero of the think-tank league and true retainer to The Remnant’s legacy), Guy (who contributed nothing to this episode because “Talkin’ Softball” was stuck in his head), and Nick (full-time Renfield to Jonah’s Dracula) reunite to explore the pointlessness of various government departments, kooky conservative reactions to making Juneteenth a federal holiday, and political blogging in the dark ages of the internet. The quartet also has sad news to impart: Beginning next week, Nick will no longer be serving as Jonah’s research assistant. To mark his departure and celebrate his legacy, the guys talk about absolute guff for about an hour, and then retroactively stick some newsy things onto the front of the show.
Show Notes:
- The enduring strangeness of Jackie Butts (sorry, Jack)
- The 2001 shoe bombing attempt
- Tucker Carlson outcrazies himself
- Andrew Egger on the latest January 6 conspiracy
- Charlie Kirk confirms his genius
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After several years worth of appearances, David Bahnsen (managing partner and chief investment officer at the Bahnsen Group) finally comes on to talk about his main gig: how money works. It only took five whole shows for Jonah to stop asking him about the postmillenial view about how the world’s going to end. But what better time to start asking about the economy than now, as the national conversation turns to taxing the rich, reopening the economy after a year and a half, and whether or not we’re entering an inflationary spiral? Oh, and David’s in the Five-Timer’s Club now.
Show Notes:
- That time that David Bahnsen started COVID
- David sub-hosts for Jonah, talks to David (the other one)
- Remember “flattening” the curve?
- David recognized a COVID/obesity connection in May 2020
- Jonah on the ProPublica story
- David’s somewhat mistimed book on Elizabeth Warren’s campaign
- David in Commentary on wealth tax proposals
- Larry Summers doesn’t like wealth taxes
- Lacey Hunt thinks inflation ends with a whimper, not a bang
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While it’s true that Chris Stirewalt came to perform an autopsy on the GOP’s 2020 election strategy and results, it’s worth pointing out that “the GOP” as a rule didn’t do all that badly in 2020 – the real problem was Donald Trump. Given this state of affairs, Chris decided to reverse course momentarily by speaking to Parker Poling, the 2019-2020 executive director of the National Republican Congressional Committee and one of the primary architects of the GOP strategy for congressional elections in 2020. Parker helps to give us a better sense of why Republicans entering the party without Trumpian baggage were able to outperform the president in their own state and local elections and what it was like to make such strides in diversifying the GOP cohort to include more women and racial minorities at a time of revanchist populism. Parker even gives us her advice for freshman members of Congress (Hint: Most of them don’t follow it, even though they should).
Show Notes:
-Patrick McHenry’s unexpected congressional career
-Congressional Republicans outperformed Trump
-Florida’s 27th Congressional District had an unpredictable election
-Iowa’s 2nd District, and the election with a six-vote margin
-A hint of what the NRCC could’ve run on before January 6
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Recorded in anticipation of the change of government that Israel has undergone, Jonah brought back one of his oldest friends Tevi Troy, now a fresh face at the Bipartisan Policy Center. The pair discusses the differences between our chaos-filled presidential system and Israel’s chaos-filled parliamentary system, Bibi Netanyahu’s legacy, and why, in a world filled with limitless technological delights, Hollywood’s blockbuster movies are just so bad.
Show Notes:
-How do different democracies pick their head of state/government?
-Tevi describes what to expect from a Democratic White House’s relationship with Israel
-New coalition government ousts Netanyahu
-Recent antisemitic attacks look like images from Europe, not America
-Bari Weiss’ book, How to Fight Anti-Semitism
-Jonah on structural antisemitism
-Tevi’s book, Shall We Wake the President?
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Jonah returns to the classic Ruminant format for the end of the week, which turned out to be a rather newsy, strange sequence of days. From Jeffrey Toobin’s seminal moment (not the one you’re thinking of), to Kamala Harris’ Skeletor-like tactic for dodging questions, all the way to a story about taxation that Jonah thinks has more going on in it than most people think (it may even break “one of the most sacred compacts of government”), this episode brings us reeling back through the mists of time all the way to… last summer, when Jonah was doing this every Friday.
Show notes:
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The Remnant gets rank today as Josh Kraushaar, one of Jonah’s favorite party-obsessive pundits, returns to discuss everything electoral. As Jonah has mentioned more than a few times in recent months, America now has two minority parties, both of which seem to be trying to out-crazy the other. In distinctly wonky fashion, Josh explores why this is the case, and what the future holds for a country with two moons and no sun. Will the GOP ever be rid of Trump’s influence? Why do Democrats keep using “Latinx”? And will Jonah finally learn to stop worrying and love primaries?
Show Notes:
- Josh’s page at National Journal
- Josh’s podcast, Against the Grain
- North Carolina’s Senate race gets Trumped
- Josh Mandel burns a face mask
- Trump’s gun control flip-flopping
- Josh: “Trump is Sabotaging the GOP’s Senate Prospects”
- April’s career-ruining Remnant with Mike Gallagher
- Jonah: “Abolishing Police Departments is Insane”
- New York’s impeccable vote-counting
- March’s primary-bashing Remnant with Elaine Kamarck
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NBC’s Steve Kornacki saw his star shine a little brighter on November 3rd, 2020 and the succeeding weeks as he walked Americans through the results of a long, arduous, and oftentimes confusing election. But Kornacki has been providing that kind of astute analysis for a long time, and he’s bringing it to this episode of The Hangover to discuss how our changing electorate has contributed to the sense of political chaos from the 90s until now. In a political culture where polling seems less and less accurate, and where the weak parties contribute to strong partisanship, how can the GOP claw its way back to a sensible-but-popular agenda?
Show Notes:
-Steve Kornacki’s The Red and the Blue: The 1990s and the Birth of Political Tribalism
-Republicans were not enthusiastic for Romney
-“The Growth and Opportunity Project,” or, the 2012 GOP autopsy
-Ohio is much more Republican now than it was four years ago
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In a world increasingly subjected to discussions of Jewish space lasers, fake birth certificates, and luciferian pedophile cabals, the truth could use a spirited defense. Jonathan Rauch, whose work Jonah has cited on countless occasions, finally appears on The Remnant today to offer exactly that. The two discuss Jonathan’s new book, The Constitution of Knowledge, which explores how all Americans can defend free inquiry and objective reality. Are trolling and propaganda as American as apple pie? Do Marxists run a monopoly on disinformation? And should loyal listeners abandon all hope of Jonah ever publishing that “Liberal Fascism Reconsidered” essay?
Show Notes:
- Jonathan’s page at Brookings, where they’re always eating candy
- The Constitution of Knowledge, Jonathan’s new book
- Kindly Inquisitors, Jonathan’s second book and a Jonah favorite
- Jonathan in defense of free speech
- That other time Trump ran for president
- Michael Flynn’s call for a Myanmar-style coup
- Trump thinks he’ll be “reinstated” as president in August
- David French debates Christopher Rufo on critical race theory in public schools
- Jonathan on Trump’s firehose of falsehood (not a euphemism)
- “The Constitution of Knowledge” - Jonathan’s 2018 essay
- Facebook’s new oversight board
- Jonah, Saul Alinsky, and the contemporary right
- Alice Lloyd’s lengthy profile of Dinesh D’Souza
- Woodrow Wilson’s propaganda machine
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You wanted the best and you got the best: the hottest FM radio imitation in the world, Friday’s drive-time Ruminant. Feast your ears on the third installment of this curio, as Jonah (unquestioned ruler of the fun side of The Dispatch), Ryan (cicada sous chef and alien aficionado), Guy (unofficial American and classic Simpsons obsessive), and Nick (as good a Straussian as Michael Jordan was a baseball player) join forces to save America from Michael Moore’s invasive telescope. Some serious punditry is mixed in, too, as the quartet explores Donald Trump’s latest antics, memories of Bush-era conservatism, and the possible existence of little green men. As always, please share your feedback on this format, positive, negative, and otherwise. If enough people don’t like these episodes, we can say they were also released during the Chinese lab-leak.
Show Notes:
- Ryan and Alec’s early summer feast
- Charlie Cooke’s report on Trump’s delusions of reinstatement
- Of populism and conspiracies
- “He’s history’s greatest monster!”
- “...with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln”
- The New York Times is in on the alien cover-up
- Bush talks immigration on The Dispatch Podcast
- The psychology of the immigration debate
- The Hangover with Matt Continetti
- The Remnant with Shawn Bushway
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In his younger and more vulnerable years, Jonah had a minor obsession with criminology (for no reason in particular, he says). Today, he rekindles that old passion by talking to Shawn Bushway, a scholar at the University at Albany and the RAND Corporation, about the history of crime in America. The pair begins by exploring whether crime is currently on the rise, before launching into a supremely wonky discussion of cities, statistics, and the root causes of criminal behavior. Is the broken windows theory on its way out? Has America made any real progress on race? And why are Democrats still talking about defunding the police?
Show Notes:
- Racial disparities in criminal justice
- Trends and patterns in interracial marriage
- “The Racist Roots of Campus Policing”
- Only 25 percent of Americans favor decreased police spending
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Chris Stirewalt’s third guest is AEI Fellow and Washington Free Beacon founder Matthew Continetti, who gives voice to the story of the GOP’s ascendant populism from the historical perspective of the American right and the conservative movement. As Matt says, while Trump may have proved the usefulness of populism as a last-ditch electoral strategy, the long-form history of right-wing populism shows that “apocalypticism is a feature, or even the dark side, of populist movements.” By Matt’s lights, conservative politicians in Washington had a vastly different understanding of what “constitutional conservatism” meant compared to the grassroots, but they kept in lockstep regardless. These contradictions simmered under the surface for years, only to explode into the Trump campaign. “For the Tea Partiers, [it meant] that the current government in Washington D.C. was something of an alien, invasive presence. And radical measures were necessary to beat it back.” Additionally, tune in for an analysis of Trump’s “mental jiu-jitsu” and a unique critique of the 2012 GOP autopsy.
Show Notes:
-Joe Wurzelbacher becomes ‘Joe the Plumber’
-Rick Santelli starts the Tea Party on live television
-“The Two Faces of the Tea Party”
-Matt discusses Bush’s immigration reform proposal
-Buchanan’s 1992 “Culture War” speech
-David Shor speaks to the importance of “ideological positioning”
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Has conservatism always been a grift? Not according to Jonah and today’s guest, the illustrious David French. The pair ascend through various levels of wonkery, beginning with an assessment of critical race theory’s philosophical origins and ending with an exploration of superhero morality. Along the way, they discuss First Amendment jurisprudence, crippling video game addictions, and the ongoing debate over whether Army of the Dead is actually worth watching. To learn if David is secretly a supreme being, however, you’ll have to tune in again next Tuesday …
Show Notes:
- Advisory Opinions, for all of you who speak legalese
- David debates Christopher Rufo on critical race theory in public schools
- Jonah still disagrees with Joshua Tait
- Michael Flynn calls for a Myanmar-style coup in the U.S. Yes, really
- Jonah on bridge-and-tunnel populism
- Jonah’s ancient disagreement with David on the zombie apocalypse
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Only those who own ties imprinted with portraits of Burke and Hayek should tune in for today’s Ruminant, which sees Jonah’s philosophical rumination reach dangerous instability. After assessing the increasingly credible COVID-19 lab-leak theory (and remembering the time Trump suggested using “the heat and the light” to cure the virus), Jonah examines what the debate over woke corporations reveals about the state of the conservative movement. He then dives headfirst into the morass of intellectual history, to explore how conservatives really feel about democracy. It’s an episode Albert Jay Nock couldn’t resist.
Show Notes:
- Young Guns, the greatest book ever written
- Jonah: “How the Media Botched the Lab-Leak Story”
- Vindication for Mr. Geraghty
- Matt Gaetz delivers a fresh dose of crazy
- Phil Klein: “Woke Capitalism and its Threat to Fusionism”
- Jonah: “Pro-Business or Pro-Market”
- John T. Flynn hated FDR before it was cool
- Hillary defines progressivism
- Rubio goes full unionization
- David Marcus irritates Jonah
- Joshua Tate: “Anit-Democratic Conservatism Isn’t New”
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With a country split practically down the middle when it comes to politics, it’s a truism that the GOP needs to broaden its base if it wants to win elections. But it’s hard to make progress when the party’s leadership is struggling to make heads or tails of its own voters, let alone outsiders. Republicans could stand to take a few lessons from former Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, who was the House Majority Leader for the 112th Congress. Cantor tells The Dispatch’s Chris Stirewalt that he developed a necessary trait for a Republican coming to political consciousness in a deeply suburbanizing, ever-more purple Virginia: It was “a vision [to] add more people to the armies and champions of liberty,” and he makes the case that this should still be the priority for elected Republicans.
Show Notes:
-Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders
-Boehner’s “Dollar-for-dollar” plans
-Eric Cantor talks about a refusal to tell the truth in our politics
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The Hangover begins with Richard Brookhiser (American historian and longtime editor at National Review) making a statement that is both clear and simple and yet seems like a revolutionary point to be made among Republicans: “Trump had his day, but it passed.” The question remains, why aren’t they acting like it? Furthermore, how did the Republican grassroots go from Tea Partiers tidying up after themselves on the National Mall to rioters breaking into the Capitol in the space of just over a decade? Brookhiser explains this populist overthrow within the tradition of political factionalism stretching all the way back to Madison.
Show Notes:
-Founder’s Son by Richard Brookhiser
-I Love You, but I Hate Your Politics, by Jeanne Safer
-The Tea Party was notoriously clean
-Some U.S. cities are semi-permanently wrecked from 20th-century rioting
-Democrats have become the party of the rich
-The “anti-elitist” Democratic-Republican Party was made up of rich guys
-A giant list of Israeli political parties
-Brookhiser argues that liberty is the core of American politics
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The GOP went from total control of the White House and Congress to being swept out of power in just four years—the shortest time span in almost 70 years. What the heck happened to the GOP? We can think of a few things. No matter where you land on policy issues, or what your personal feelings about the Republican Party are, it would be a great benefit to the GOP to have a post-election autopsy to understand what went wrong in the party’s last four punch-drunk years. But in their current hangover, Republicans don’t seem so capable of doing that kind of analysis. The Dispatch’s Chris Stirewalt will just have to do it for them.
Show Notes:
-Weak parties, strong partisanship
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Fan-favorite Jonah soundalike Chris Stirewalt is back for a Remnant so nerdtastic that even Joe Biden could mock its lack of coolness. With antisemitic attacks on the rise, the GOP resisting a January 6 commission, and primaries continuing to exist, there’s plenty for Dr. Stirewalt to kvetch about, and Jonah has enough Hayek references on hand to join him. Yet Chris has more to reveal than his disdain for the common good. Starting this week, he’ll be hosting a new podcast focused on the history of modern conservatism that will (briefly!) replace the Thursday Remnant. Have no fear, however, because the change comes with Jonah’s sacred blessing. Stick around until the end of the episode to hear all the boozy details. (it’s called The Hangover, and don’t worry: It will also have its own podcast feed.)
Show Notes:
- Last Thursday’s Remnant on Jonah’s Old Testament heritage
- Michelle Goldberg: “Attacks on Jews Over Israel are a Gift to the Right”
- Hivemind, by Sarah Rose Cavanagh
- NYT: “Why Stacey Abrams is Still Saying She Won”
- Chris and Sarah: “The Kenosha Effect”
- Chris: “Republicans Should First Ask How, Not Who”
- Bret Stephens on Krauthammering
- Biden’s allergies and asthma
- Alexander William Salter: “‘Common Good’ Conservatism’s Catholic Roots”
- Jonah: “Why the GOP is Terrified of a Jan. 6 Commission”
- McConnell’s commission stance influences GOP senators
- Do 53 percent of Republicans still think Trump is the president?
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This weekend’s Ruminant sees Jonah “feeling particularly Remnant-y,” which means he’s leaned out of the punditry and into the historical eggheadery. That includes the history of the term “Jewish,” (why don’t we just say that someone is “a Jew,” and if you do, why does it sound like a slur?) the history of The Remnant’s title, and more. But at the end of it all, one question remains: Is Jonah a superfluous man?
Show notes:
- Joe Scarborough was very angry
- DarkSide is at least somewhat honest
- Fredo and The Don play footsy
- Jonah on Guy Benson’s show, about the January 6th commission
- Jonah talks Marx and antisemitism
- Wilhelm Marr was yucky (the technical term)
- Did Hillary Clinton use a Jewish slur? Who even knows?
- “Isaiah’s Job” by Albert Jay Nock, the origin of The Remnant
- Father Coughlin: anti-Semite, leftist
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Today’s Remnant combines features of both a weekend Ruminant and a “supplemental” episode, like the program’s recent incursion into social Darwinism. Jonah begins with further ruminations from his Wednesday “news”letter, replete with the observations that certain opponents of Israel veer into weirdly anti-Semitic territory when given the opportunity. Speaking of anti-Semites: Marx! After the rumination, Jonah reads from a great Commentary piece on the anti-capitalist tendencies of medieval antisemitism, and how such sentiments then transition into a more modern communistic ideology that nonetheless retained the suspicion of Jews, usury, and labor economics.
Show notes:
- The Wednesday “news”letter on antisemitism
- Hamas’ Iron Dome: “Don’t Fire Rockets at Israel”
- Baseball, fatherhood, and racial disparity
- AOC seeks to block arms sales to Israel
- Jonah in Commentary on Marx, Jews, and capital
- Jerry Muller’s response to Jonah
- Martin Luther’s “yikes”-inducing treatise
- Game of Thrones and the labor theory of value
- “The Political Economy of the Dead” by Mark Neocleous
- Again, “frazzledrip.” *sigh*
- Jerry Muller’s The Mind and the Market
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Jim Geraghty, National Review’s esteemed purveyor of punditry and “Morning Jolt” mastermind, joins Jonah today to become the Remnant’s first 11-time visitor (his very own Episode 11, if you will…). The pair explore the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic, including recent rumblings that the virus might have originated in a Wuhan lab after all, before examining the Republican Party post-Cheney and ongoing confusion over masks. Should bats be anally swabbed? Are beets toxic? And will the Irish and English ever get along? Listen closely to hear these vital questions answered.
Show Notes:
-Jim’s page at National Review
-An eerily prescient pandemic piece from 2017
-Jim: “The Taboo on the COVID Lab-Leak Theory Lifts”
-That time a fire at a Russian lab released smallpox
-Jim: “The Wuhan Lab-Leak Hypothesis Goes Mainstream”
-Last week’s first Remnant with Klon Kitchen
-Last week’s second Remnant with Niall Ferguson
-Jim: “No, Really, Why Is Joe Biden Wearing His Mask Around Other Vaccinated People?”
-Bush declares “Mission Accomplished”
-Biden’s private, ego-boosting meeting with historians
-The National Review editors discuss Liz Cheney
-Jim clarifies his Liz Cheney position
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Watch out, Howard Stern, because the FM radio Remnant format is back for another nerdtastic broadcast. Jonah is joined once again by Ryan, a covert NBC operative working to undermine The Dispatch from within, Guy, resident Anglophobe and Mark Steyn impersonator who will soon be releasing his own album of old standards, and Nick, Jonah’s long-suffering research assistant who might be America’s only involuntary Hoosier. The quartet explores pertinent topics of the moment, including Israel, mask mandates, all-American conspiracy theories, and the travails of Liz Cheney. But they also indulge in some less substantial discussion, and read some of their favorite listener reviews from recent months. How do you feel about the drive-time format? Enthusiastic, antipathetic, or indifferent? Whatever the case, let us know, because as this episode demonstrates, we pay attention to all of your feedback.
Show Notes:
- Liz Cheney clashes with Bret Baier
- The National Review editors discuss Cheney
- “The Paranoid Style in American Politics”
- February’s Remnant with Joe Uscinski on conspiracy theories
- Jonah on connecting police to slave patrols
- Guy’s Sinatra piece, shamelessly plugged
- George P. Bush battles the English language
- Today’s Morning Joe, to be viewed at your own risk
- The week’s first Remnant with Klon Kitchen
- The week’s second Remnant with Niall Ferguson
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Historian Niall Ferguson returns to talk about his new book (with a glorious, darkly comic cover), Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe. As Sven from SNL might say, this episode has it all: monkey’s paw swag-bags, the phrase “Hunnish data,” and the frighteningly named “three-body problem.” Allow Niall to explain the human tendency to prepare for one disaster scenario while another hits us square in the jaw, the reason why “we may be forced by companies to do Zoom” even after the pandemic ends, and why book tours are still delirium-inducing even when done from the comfort of one’s home. Oh, and stick around for a particularly fantastic celebrity impression in the show’s final moments.
Show notes:
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Newly minted AEI fellow Klon Kitchen joins Jonah today for an uber-wonky discussion of foreign policy and cybersecurity. The pair explore how the U.S. should respond to recent cyber attacks, the merits of Section 230, and the distinction between dumb and smart hawkishness in national security. Should we revive letters of marque? Can Jonah ever discuss China without cursing Tom Friedman? And will Klon’s love of all things canine lead him to join the fabled pantheon of Remnant regulars?
Show Notes:
-Letters of marque and the Constitution
-Jonah: “We’re not ‘competing’ with China. But politicians love to make that claim.”
-Jonah’s dear friend Tom Friedman on overpopulation
-Klon explains quantum computing
-Hillary Clinton defines progressivism
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The Ruminant returns to its usual format today after last week’s drive-time diversion, as Jonah is once again placed under the unsettling eyes of several silent spectators. After exploring the history of American censorship and the current state of free speech, Jonah dives headfirst into the ongoing Liz Cheney controversy and lingering nuttiness of Donald Trump within the GOP. Will Josh Hawley ever cease to irritate? Is morality hardwired into babies? And why do the women in Jonah’s life all have awkwardly positioned birthdays?
Show Notes:
- Jonah on political religions
- Ross Douthat: “When Wokeness Becomes Weakness”
- “The movie's over, it's four o'clock, and we're in trouble deep”
- Charlie Kirk, political genius
- Josh Hawley rants about free speech
- National Review: “Liz Cheney is Not the Problem”
- The Paul Wolfowitz/Sam Tanenhaus controversy
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The Remnant returns to normalcy today with one of Jonah’s favorite guests: the illustrious Chris Stirewalt. The pair engage in pop culture-infused punditry, focusing on the GOP’s internal war between MAGA advocates and Liz Cheney supporters and America’s supposed entry into a new Progressive Era under President Biden. Prepare to be bedazzled by Chris’ peerless Sebastian Gorka impression, the raw craziness of Donald Trump, and Jonah’s secret history as an adolescent ice cream vendor.
Show Notes:
- Mike Pence trudges toward 2024
- What the heck is going on in Maricopa County?
- The members-only Wednesday G-File
- Chris: “The era of big government is here”
- The Election Integrity Alliance, yeesh
- Jonah’s cordial, not-at-all controversial disagreement with Bill Kristol
- “If the paper turns clear, it’s your window to weight gain!”
- “Welcome to the new progressive era”
- When Trump and the Clintons were BFFs
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Jonah flies solo on the week’s first Remnant, as he tries out a format that seeks to provide the footnotes to some of the most commonly landed-on items from the program’s bingo card. On this first explainer, Jonah tackles the straw man and frequent leftist punching bag called social Darwinism, and whether or not such an ideology ever even existed in the first place. Do any conservatives actually believe this stuff? And how did the tables turn on libertarians to such a degree that the most laissez-faire political ideology possible ended up facing accusations of eugenic sympathies? (You can also tune in to learn why you should never trust Wisconsinites.)
Show Notes:
-The (underrated) Tyranny of Clichés
-Obama calls the GOP budget “social Darwinism”
-Schoenwald has some strange opinions on Herbert Spencer
-The University of Wisconsin and progressivism
-Hofstadter’s book on social Darwinism
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In the words of a great album, “How are we feeling out there? How’s your drive-time commute? I need a saga - what’s the saga?” This weekend’s Remnant is less Ruminant-y than usual, as the Greek chorus that has silently watched Jonah during these recordings for the last few episodes finally speaks up. That group includes Ryan, the newest addition to The Dispatch; Guy, noted Mark Steyn impersonator; and Nick, Jonah’s long-suffering research assistant. In this imitation of a kinda-crude FM radio show, the four talk about the latest Gaetzian nonsense, Biden’s joint congressional address, and Chez Goldberg’s interesting history with Newt Gingrich—in addition to Jonah telling some jokes which will get his three companions canceled before they even exit their 20s.
Show Notes:
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Jonah and a brand new guest, Robert Draper of the New York Times, engage in punditry ranker than even the most devoted Remnant listener could imagine before gushing over Draper’s adorable canine companion. If that sounds like a retread of the week’s previous episode with A.B. Stoddard, fear not! Today’s dog talk is entirely spontaneous. The pair have Biden’s joint congressional address to dissect, and Draper has a fascinating new piece on Republican turmoil that stimulates plenty of conversation on internecine party warfare. Will partisanship destroy us all? Can the GOP be saved from insanity? And why do Jonah and Robert both recall Watergate with fondness?
Show Notes:
- Robert’s page at the New York Times
- Robert’s latest piece, “Liz Cheney vs. MAGA”
- “I’m a conservative, but I’m not angry about it”
- Dispatch Live reacts to Biden’s first joint congressional address
- Ross Douthat: “Biden Should Go Big, and Then Brag About It”
- Ross Douthat: “What Bidenism Owes to Trumpism”
- The Jason Miller tweet that stole Jonah’s heart
- Trump discovers “America First”
- The week’s first Remnant with A.B. Stoddard
- Mark Leibovich on Kevin McCarthy
- David Brooks: “The GOP is Getting Worse”
- Jonah: “Unity Can Be Worse Than Partisanship”
- Karl Rove’s “100-year majority”
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Remnant favorite A.B. Stoddard joins Jonah today for an episode of exceedingly rank punditry. The pair discuss how President Biden has fared in his first 100 days, Donald Trump’s lingering presence within the GOP, and why both parties can’t help but be nutty. Tune in for political eggheadery, but stick around for uplifting dog discussion. A.B. has just taken in a new puppy (Chief!), and Jonah is as excited as he can be.
Show Notes:
-A.B.’s page at RealClearPolitics
-Dispatch Live gears up for Biden’s first joint address to Congress
-A.B.’s last Remnant appearance
-Ramesh Ponnuru: “Biden’s Stalled Revolution”
-Joe Biden talks to Hunter “at least every night”
-Biden: GOP used “defund the police” to “beat the living hell out of Democrats”
-Robert Draper: “Liz Cheney vs. MAGA”
-Mark Leibovich: “Kevin McCarthy Still on Defensive Over Trump”
-The McCarthy-Cheney Trump divide deepens
-Mick Mulvaney on The Dispatch Podcast
-Lindsey Graham gave up on Trump, then embraced him again
-Don’t call John Boehner a squish
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In distinctly Goldbergian fashion, Jonah manages to combine musings on Home Depot, climate change, the Chauvin trial, and the classic “Deep Space Homer” episode of The Simpsons into a single, coherent Ruminant, which includes as many references to infrastructure as you’d expect at this point. Tune in not just for Jonah’s eggheadery, but to hear him face his greatest challenge yet: pronouncing the name “Greta Thunberg.”
Show Notes:
- “It’s an inanimate carbon rod!”
- Cornel West: “Howard University’s Removal of Classics is a Spiritual Catastrophe”
- Rep. Karen Bass: “It’s open season on black folks”
- David Brooks: “The GOP is Getting Even Worse”
- Rep. Katie Porter’s daughter thinks we’re all going to die
- GOP senators release their infrastructure plan
- Greg Gutfeld on the Chauvin verdict
- The week’s first, ultra-nerdy Remnant with Brian Riedl
- The week’s second, Kissinger-loving Remnant with Thomas Joscelyn
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On today’s episode, Vital Interests author and national security extraordinaire Thomas Joscelyn makes his first Remnant appearance. With a healthy supply of Hayek references on hand, Jonah seems determined to outdo the wonkiness of Brian Riedl’s visit earlier this week. Al-Qaeda, Afghanistan, China, and the meaning of necrocracy are all discussed peacefully by the pair, until a certain name is mentioned; If you thought Jonah’s contempt for Woodrow Wilson was unparalleled, just wait until you hear the disdain that overtakes Tom at the mere mention of Henry Kissinger.
Show Notes:
- Vital Interests at The Dispatch
- Just in case you happen to know Siraj Haqqani
- The history of the institutionalized form of al-Qaeda, the AQAP
- Tom: “The Flawed Reasoning Behind Biden’s Afghanistan Withdrawal”
- Jonah: “Biden Citing the Wrong Reasons for Afghanistan Withdrawal”
- Kissinger makes WWI metaphors in regards to China
- The Remnant with Oriana Skylar Mastro
- “The Longer Telegram,” by an anonymous official
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Senior Manhattan Institute fellow Brian Riedl joins Jonah on The Remnant for an uber-wonky discussion of economic policy. Fresh from testifying before the House Committee on Financial Services on President Biden’s madcap “infrastructure” plan, Brian provides insight on all manner of economic fallacies peddled by Republicans and Democrats alike. What’s to be done about infrastructure? Are inflation and debt really a big deal? And why is everyone turning on free markets? Also, take a shot of your favorite alcoholic beverage every time the words “infrastructure” and “buy gold” are uttered. You’ll soon realize how Jonah felt at the end of last week’s Mike Gallagher episode.
Show Notes:
-Brian Riedl - The Manhattan Institute
-Brian’s recent House testimony
-Last week’s astonishing Remnant with Rep. Mike Gallagher
-Jonah shakes his fist in the direction of infrastructure
-The good old days of complaining about Obama’s stimulus
-The GOP is more concerned with Green Eggs and Ham than spending
-Brian: “The Entitlement Crisis Ignored”
-David Beckworth and Ramesh Ponnuru: “Stop Worrying About Inflation”
-Brian: “Liberal Economists Say Debt Doesn’t Matter. They’re Wrong.”
-Brian: “Who Will Fund $24 Trillion in New Government Debt?”
-Brian: “Taxing the ‘Rich’ Won’t Pay for Politicians’ Promises”
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Today’s refreshingly (or regrettably, depending on your perspective) sober Ruminant finds Jonah surrounded by boxes of books so nerdy that even Goodwill won’t take them. Preoccupied with thoughts on the strange state of the right, and the equally strange state of Joe Biden, he swiftly reaches levels of wonkiness so high that they could cure sleep deprivation. What’s the matter with the Claremont Institute? Will the oft-discussed “Liberal Fascism Revisited” piece ever be completed? And what new euphemism for a mild hangover will soon be sweeping the nation?
Show Notes:
- Jonah’s pre-coffee reproval of Ryan Williams
- J.D. Vance’s Democrat-esque response to David French
- The decline of the Lincoln Fellowship
- The week’s first Remnant with Andy Smarick
- The week’s second Remnant with Mike Gallagher, which must be heard to be believed
- Jerry Nadler: “We are not packing the Supreme Court, we are unpacking it.”
- The Decadent Society, by Ross Douthat
- Biden wears a mask alone in Arlington National Cemetery
- Jonah: “Biden Puts Feelings Over Facts in Afghanistan Withdrawal”
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On today’s career-ruining episode, recorded deep within the headquarters of Half-Baked DARPA, Jonah is joined by frequent guest Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Packers) for a jaunt through the land of new and creative ideas that still need some more time in the oven. The show sees the guys return to the idea of annexing Greenland while also bringing new life to half-baked concepts such as spray-painted meteors, an $800 quadrillion infrastructure plan for salvaging the experience of the midpriced American hotel, and the joys of director commentaries when combined with drinking games. Emphasis on the drinking part. Also, find out what masterful modern novel Gallagher thought “sucked.”
Show Notes:
-Rep. Gallagher’s appearance on the Remnant’s super-spectacular 200th episode
-Trump’s hand on the Ohio Senate primary
-Jonah shakes his fist in the direction of infrastructure
-Jonah: “Greenland Should Be Ours”
-Obi-Wan v. Darth Vader, gloriously re-imagined
-The Jewish space lazer conspiracy
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Only those in the wonky 1 percent should subject themselves to today’s nerdtastic Remnant, in which Jonah is joined for a third time by the Manhattan Institute’s Andy Smarick. The pair use Andy’s recent Dispatch piece on the folly of never-ending school closures to launch a wide-ranging discussion of the pandemic culture war and divisions among conservatives. Should you be friends with politicians? Why are some Americans desperate for normalcy to never return? And is it wise for so many right-wing whippersnappers to reject the so-called “dead consensus”? Unsurprisingly, Jonah thinks Hayek has the answer to at least one of those questions.
Show Notes:
-Andy Smarick - the Manhattan Institute
-Jim Geraghty on opening with the 10th step of a 10-step argument
-Last week’s Remnant with Dan Crenshaw
-Jonah: “Giuliani's Sorry Path from Law-and-Order Mayor to Villainous Clown”
-Giuliani: “My attitude to my legacy is …”
-Andy: “What the Narrative on School Reopenings Has Missed”
-Randi Weingarten calls American Jews “part of the ownership class”
-The View of the World from 9th Avenue
-Joy Reid is too scared to enjoy life after she’s vaccinated
-Steven Petrow: “I’m Vaccinated, but I’m Not Really Ready to Leave My Pandemic Cocoon”
-Hadley Arkes and peers argue for a “better” originalism
-Catholics v. libertarians in the 1960s
-Marco Rubio: “Amazon Should Face Unionization Drive Without Republican Support”
-Mitt Romney’s child allowance proposal
-Jonah is flattered by R.R. Reno’s gushing review of Suicide of the West
-YouGov’s recent survey of 2020 Trump voters
-Hayek’s “The Use of Knowledge in Society”
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On this freewheeling Ruminant, Jonah is accompanied by a smaller cast of off-putting onlookers than last time. Still on a high after the week’s earlier discussion of Bigfoot’s messianic powers, he approaches the questions of the day with extra verve. Is recycling a load of garbage? Is President Biden’s rhetoric on race any better? And, of course, has politics supplanted religion? Tune in to find out and, in case you missed it, to learn of the Sasquatch’s alien origins.
Show Notes:
- The great plastic recycling lie
- ”Do you kids want to be like the real UN? Or do you just want to squabble and waste time?”
- John Tierny: “Recycling is Garbage”
- The week’s second Remnant with Dan Crenshaw
- “She just dislikes me so much… it’s irresistible!”
- The Suicidal Corporation, by Paul Weaver
- Jonah: “No, Georgia’s Election Law is Not ‘Jim Crow 2.0’"
- The week’s first Dispatch Podcast
- Minneapolis newspaper owner thinks we haven’t had racial progress in three generations
- Biden: “They’re going to put ya’ll back in chains”
- Last week’s Remnant with Shadi Hamid
- The week’s first Remnant with Denver Riggleman
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Jonah collaborates with Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw on their second Remnant together in an attempt to hash out their differences of opinion regarding why Congress doesn’t work. (Or does it?) Come listen, and discover why members of Congress feel the need to have such robust media teams on staff all the time, why Marjorie Taylor Greene is actually a swamp creature nowadays, and walk through Dan’s “favorite moment of 2021,” which features a shockingly bad instance of Spanglish.
Show Notes:
-Dan’s podcast, Hold These Truths
-Dan’s article on fighting, not performing
-Jonathan Rauch: Is Congress broken?
-Jonathan Haidt’s political Turing test
-Jonah’s article on Antony Blinken and China
-Dan’s Conservative Guide to the Culture Wars
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Denver Riggleman, former congressman for Virginia’s 5th District and noted Bigfoot enthusiast, joins Jonah on today’s episode for a colorful discussion of Americans’ freedom to believe anything they want. Sometimes, the consequences can be tragic, as in the case of January 6. But they can also be truly spectacular, and for proof, look no further than those who believe Bigfoot is an interdimensional traveler, psychedelic prophet, and alien scout. Before diving headfirst into Sasquatch lore, the pair also explore fine liquor, what it’s really like inside the House Freedom Caucus, and Denver’s experiences running for office. It’s a Remnant André the Giant wouldn’t want you to miss.
Show Notes:
-Denver, QAnon, and Bigfoot erotica
-Denver’s new book, Bigfoot… It’s Complicated
-The Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film
-NYT: “One Republican’s Lonely Fight Against a Flood of Misinformation”
-Mick Mulvaney on The Dispatch Podcast
-Denver and the church parking lot
-Is Bigfoot an interdimensional traveler?
-The Nashville bomber believed in lizard people
-Giuliani’s insane voter fraud claims
-Judean People’s Front vs. People’s Front of Judea
-The Six Million Dollar Man vs. Bigfoot
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Today’s Ruminant features Jonah amid a group of silent watchers, staring at him while on mute in a Zoom meeting as he speaks to himself for an hour in the basement of an undisclosed location. On the docket today: Jonah returns to one of the most interesting political conundrums of our moment. Was our class of political nutjobs always crazy, or did they only get crazy in the last few years? On a completely unrelated note, why is Matt Gaetz the way he is? And, of course, Jonah speaks to the dangers of “thinking about politics like you’re watching a movie.”
Show Notes:
- The ongoing Matt Gaetz scandal
- Politico’s summary of John Boehner’s new book, On the House: A Washington Memoir
- Boehner unloads on the GOP’s “crazy caucus”
- Jonah: “I’m Not Going to Say I Told You So… But”
- Last month’s Remnant with Elaine Kamarck
- Steve Bannon and the “Island of Misfit Toys”
- Kevin Williamson: “Peter Navarro: Trump’s Nutty Economics Professor”
- Peter Navarro believes Fauci created COVID
- This week’s second Remnant with Shadi Hamid
- Chelsea Handler on due process for Derek Chauvin
- Jonah: “Why Bipartisanship is a Weapon to Use Against Your Political Foes”
- Romney pushes Biden on bipartisanship
- The week’s first Remnant with Chris Stirewalt
- Triangulation: the dirtiest word in politics
- Bill Maher steals Jonah’s joke
- Kevin McCarthy reads Green Eggs and Ham
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On today’s episode, first-time guest of The Remnant, Shadi Hamid joins Jonah for a comprehensive discussion on religion, identity, and the bizarre wokespeak favored by Twitter’s blue checkmark crowd. Have wokeism and ethno-nationalism superseded religion on the left and right respectively? Are Islam and classical liberalism compatible? And, crucially, can Jonah contain the annoyance that consumes him at the mere mention of Adrian Vermeule?
Show Notes:
- Shadi Hamid - Brookings Institution
- Shadi: “America Without God”
- Shadi’s podcast, Wisdom of Crowds
- They’re always eating candy at Brookings…
- Jonathan Haidt on moral psychology and religion
- Shadi on the “Church of Woke”
- Jonah: “The Definition of Dogma”
- Trump’s improved Muslim support in 2020
- Just 3% of Hispanics use Latinx
- 25% of black Democrats identify as conservative
- Shadi’s latest book, Islamic Exceptionalism
- Catholics vs. Libertarians in the 1960s
- Reopening Muslim Minds, by Mustafa Akyol
- Why Liberalism Failed, by Patrick Deneen
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On this episode, it’s déjà vu all over again as Chris Stirewalt returns - this time in the guest seat. What do Georgia’s new voter laws, Arlen Specter, mandatory voting, The World According to Garp’s infamous “tongue scene,” Henry VIII, and Robin Williams’ illustrious career in drag have to do with one another? Well, the guys talk about all of it and more in this edition, and hopefully it puts you in a mood to believe that the living will not, in fact, envy the dead - “at least at the margins.”
Show Notes:
-Chris’ recent Remnant with Daron Shaw
-Jonah: “Voter Apathy Isn’t a Crime”
-Obama: the filibuster is a “Jim Crow relic”
-Jonah’s love of Arlen Specter
-Was the 1960 election stolen?
-Jonah “The Center is a Lonely Place to Be”
-Jonah: “We Have Two Moon Parties, No Sun Party”
-Patriotic Grace, by Peggy Noonan
-Boehner and Obama’s bad bromance
-Jonah: Congress is a “parliament of pundits”
-Revolutions Podcast - The English Civil War
-Divided We Fall, by David French
-James Kirchichick: “Why White-Nationalist Thugs Thrill to Trump”
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For this weekend’s Ruminant, hop into Jonah’s somewhat underwhelming time machine that goes only to the past – because, after all, “the future doesn’t exist.” Why is Jonah driving through the setting of a Mark Twain story? Why do conservatives look to the past for better times (even when the past is largely worse), and why do liberals look to a nonexistent future? Why are both left- and right-wing kids trying to make the entire world like a college campus? And who is Gabriel Kolko, and why does Jonah find him “useful”?
Show notes:
- The week’s first Remnant with Tevi Troy
- The week’s second Remnant, with David French and Greg Lukianoff
- Jonah reviews Wendy Shalit’s book
- Gabriel Kolko’s bibliography
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David French graciously guest-hosts in Jonah’s place on today’s program, wherein he has a long-ranging conversation with a longtime friend , Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. David and Greg discuss some of the silliest and most sinister examples of censorship regimes on college campuses from recent history, the history of the campus free speech movement stretching back to the 1950s, David’s memories of being a conservative at Harvard Law School, and the moment that Greg realized that “the students themselves had become the main proponents of censorship.” By coincidence, it’s our second Remnant in a row that is largely about modern cancel culture and censorship, rounded out by a conversation about the Snyder Cut. The only difference, really, is that David and Greg seriously dig it.
Show Notes:
- The Coddling of the American Mind, by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt
- Herbert Marcuse and campus free speech
- Greg: “Speech Codes: The Biggest Scandal on College Campuses Today”
- “Inappropriately directed laughter”
- Greg’s first book, Unlearning Liberty
- Indian River Community College bans The Passion of the Christ
- The Ronald Zaccari Memorial Parking Garage
- Greg debates Ken White on cancel culture
- Greg talks about social justice graduate requirements in the Chronicle of Higher Education
- Alexi McCammond fired from Teen Vogue over old tweets
- Jonathan Rauch on how to tell if you’re being canceled
- The Revolt of the Public, by Martin Gurri
- Amazon pulls Ryan T. Anderson’s book on transgender issues
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Tevi Troy—presidential historian and all-around smart person—joins the program to talk about the mechanics of cancel culture, and what might be done to prevent it from taking hold in the future. Key to Tevi’s point is that “cancel culture is actually a distinct phenomenon from political correctness, which everyone largely disliked in the ‘90s.” They also talk about the larger culture of censorship in America before moving into the most vitally important topics of our time: Marvel vs. DC, in both their cinematic and comic book forms (Reminder: Sonny Bunch is always right), and the Snyder Cut—including methods for getting through the whole thing without falling asleep.
Show Notes:
-Tevi’s page at National Affairs
-Jonah: “The Treason of the Epidemiologists”
-Tevi: “Presidents and Public Health Crises”
-Jake Sullivan and Anthony Blinken’s China summit
-Tevi: “How to Defend Free Speech”
-David Brooks: “Freakish Thinking”
-Kindly Inquisitors, by Jonathan Rausch
-Barbara Jordan’s 1992 DNC speech
-Irving Kristol: “Pornography, Obscenity and the Case for Censorship”
-Tevi: “The Fanny Hill Phenomenon”
-The Coddling of the American Mind, by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff
-Bari Weiss interviews Jonathan Haidt
-Jonah and Bing West laugh at Tevi
-Fight House: Rivalries in the White House from Truman to Trump, by Tevi
-Sonny Bunch reviews Zack Snyder’s Justice League
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In the midst of carving a path to Yosemite, Jonah has graced us with a Ruminant that provides a weekly roundup of his writing – from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to an example from his past that indicates why our radicals should Czech their privilege. He moves into a rumination on subconscious conservative messages embedded within Hollywood entertainment before discussing the unintended consequences of the Senate re-embrace of earmarks as well as the perks of sleeping in Walmart parking lots. It suffices to say that this Ruminant has a positively buckshot-like spread in terms of topics, so have fun with it.
Show notes:
- The Remnant with Professional Jonah Impersonator Chris Stirewalt
- The member’s only Wednesday “news”letter from The Cleve
- One of rock’s wildest singers has a permanent Vegas residency
- Jonah’s Czech-cellent Adventure
- The virtues of The Walking Dead
- The weird Remnant with Nick and Guy
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Live (well, at the time of recording) from Park City, Utah, Jonah is joined by his AEI handlers, Nick and Guy, for a pop culture-filled conversation with the help of listener-provided questions. Why does Jonah go on trips fit only for Survivorman? Why is Pam Grier so fascinating? Was Angel actually better than Buffy? And, the most important question of all, which one of Jonah’s former coworkers in conservative news media does Guy sound exactly like?
Show Notes
- Onion: “Markle seen holding Prince Harry’s cadaverous hand for support”
- Jonah’s G-File from a snow-wracked Texas
- Jack’s defense of Weird Wendy’s
- Scott Lincicome asking Jonah the hard questions
- The members-only midweek “news”letter
- The Remnant with Cass Sunstein, potential future dog-book co-author
- Jasmine, true name unpronounceable by human tongue
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Pinch-hitting for Jonah today is his vocal double Chris Stirewalt, who talks with his old friend from their shared years at Fox News’ Decision Desk, Daron Shaw. Chris and Daron go on a “mythbusting” expedition, explaining why the conventional wisdom that high-turnout elections benefit Democrats isn’t true (and has never been) as well as why campaign finance efforts have historically failed to attack corruption in favor of simply dismantling the “appearance of corruption.” It’s a punched-up episode that’s sure to complete a few of your Remnant Bingo cards.
Show Notes:
-Daron Shaw at the University of Texas
-Daron and John Petrocik’s book, The Turnout Myth
-2020 was largest turnout since 1900
-Was Edgar Allan Poe “cooped”?
-McConnell speaks about McCain-Feingold
-Daron’s book on Buckley v. Valeo, The Appearance of Corruption
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In this weekend’s Ruminant, Jonah has a lot rattling around in his mind, and now you're gonna hear about it. Why are elites inevitable? What explains the transformation of the Democratic Party into an ideological party? Stay for Jonah's thoughts on Covid relief, and President Biden's first prime-time White House address.
Show Notes:
-The members-only midweek “news”letter
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Steven Hayward enters the ranks of the three-timers on today’s Remnant, as he and Jonah engage in a discussion of the American right that manages to be both wide and deep. Jonah and Steve get the “dark clouds out of the way” (such as a pervasive illiberal cancel culture and the reappearance of especially nasty tribalism) first to make room for Steve’s heartening optimism. Such greener pastures involve an investigation into what remains of the old fusionist mindset among conservatives, why the right should not adopt basically left wing policies simply to conform with the “motivated reasoning” of certain activist conservatives, and how the right can do its part to stop the exporting of campus values into the general culture.
Show Notes:
-Steven F. Hayward - The Claremont Institute
-Steven’s first book, Churchill on Leadership
-Steven’s second book, The Age of Reagan: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order, 1964-1980
-Amazon removes Clarence Thomas documentary
-Macron more American than an American now
-Rich Lowry: “Don’t Rewrite Mark Twain”
-Ebay removes listings for canceled Dr. Seuss books
-Jonah: “America Has Two Minority Parties”
-James Clyburn: “Defund the police” cost Democrats seats
-The Great Debate, by Yuval Levin
-Steven’s latest book, M. Stanton Evans: Conservative Wit, Apostle of Freedom
-Oren Cass: “America Should Adopt an Industrial Policy”
-Oren Cass on The Dispatch Podcast
-Jonah: “Does Anyone Really Believe Free Market Fundamentalists Are ‘Running the Show’?”
-Christopher J. Walker: “The Federalist Society’s Chevron Deference Dilemma”
-Stephanie Slade: “Is There a Future for Fusionism?”
-Stephanie Slade’s latest Remnant appearance
-Daniel E. Burns: “Liberal Practice v. Liberal Theory”
-Blacklisted by History, by M. Stanton Evans
-Robert J. Zimmer stands up for free speech at UChicago
-Charles Murray attacked at Middlebury
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On today’s show, Jonah speaks to Manhattan Institute fellow and CCNY professor Daniel DiSalvo (an expert on public-sector unions and their history) to find out how the sausage really gets made in the intra-organizational politics of these public-sector unions, and how their influence is often the result of “the breakdown of machine politics – especially within the Democratic Party – in big cities.”
Show Notes:
- Dan’s page at the Manhattan Institute
- “The Trouble with Police Unions”
- Dan’s latest book, Government Against Itself
- The first work on the “New Class,” by Milovan Djilas
- Maya Wiley back by the SEIU in NYC
- DeBlasio was also endorsed by SEIU
- Terry Moe’s book on teachers unions
- New York teachers’ all-expenses-paid “rubber rooms”
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This weekend’s edition of the Ruminant is a little bit like Christopher Hitchens’ D.C. apartment: a little bit of one thing right next to a little bit of the complete opposite thing. There’s a lot of ground covered in this, a practically record-breaking long episode of the podcast in which Jonah discusses his dad’s work for the wonderfully-acronymed NANA (North American Newspaper Alliance), dynamic scoring (a system in which this episode gets an A+), the necessity of telling the truth at a time in which even committed conservatives have a legitimate temptation to abandon their principles, the request from a listener for Goldberg Story Time, and much, much more.
Show Notes:
- Tim Russert interviews Bob Kerrey
- John Edwards’ bizarre stem cell comments
- CDC director “speaking in her personal capacity”
- TX Gov. Abbott lifts mask mandate
- Thomas Kuhn: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
- Voir dire, or, as Advisory Opinions likes to say, “Vwahr Dahr”
- The Remnant with Steve Hayward and Charles Murray
- Kathryn Jean Lopez’ page at National Review
- Matt Lewis speaks to Bill Kristol
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Elaine Kamarck of the Brookings Institution joins us for the first time. She and Jonah stray from pure rank punditry to instead discuss intra-party politics of primaries, the Democratic Party, and Elaine’s innate skepticism of the Electoral College. Jonah pushes back by saying that “When you start to dig under the surface, most people who oppose the Electoral College are really just saying that they don’t like the Senate,” to which Elaine has a great, balanced response (probably the best answer we’ve heard on this program from someone that dislikes the Electoral College). Join the program to see more light than heat on this episode.
Show Notes:
-Elaine Kamarck, the Brookings Institution
-Elaine: “The urgent need for peer review in the presidential nominating process”
-The McGovern-Fraser Commission Report
-"I opened up the doors of the Democratic Party, and 20 million people walked out."
-81 percent of black Americans don't want less police presence
-NYT: “Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police”
-Lessons from Mike Bloomberg’s attempt to buy the 2020 election
-Why Presidents Fail and How They Can Succeed Again
-The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
-Elaine and John Hudak: “How to get rid of the Electoral College”
-Elaine with Jon Ward on The Long Game podcast
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In an effort to explain the current state of the economy as well as the political ramifications of some parts of the Biden agenda coming down the pipeline, Jonah invited Michael Strain, his colleague at the American Enterprise Institute, for a return appearance. Strain explains complicated issues without confusing the plebeians among us who can’t look at numbers for very long before developing a headache. Speaking of headaches, near the end of the podcast the guys get into a relitigation of the ending of Lost, in addition to a brief discussion of WandaVision, Peaky Blinders, and Deep Impact, of all things.
Show Notes:
-Michael R. Strain, American Enterprise Institute
-Michael’s latest book, The American Dream is Not Dead (But Populism Could Kill It)
-Larry Summers: “The Biden stimulus is admirably ambitious. But it brings some big risks, too”
-Michael in National Review: “When Will the Pandemic End?”
-Consumers to unleash trillions of dollars in excess savings when pandemic ends
-Paul Volcker’s war on inflation
-Michael in Bloomberg Opinion: “How to Make a (Modest) Minimum Wage Hike Work”
-Josh Hawley’s minimum wage proposal
-Jonah’s love of public sector unions
-Lost as a metaphor for lack of payoff
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Jonah joins us on a feature-length Relaxed Fit™ episode of the Ruminant in which he discusses his innate wish to continue speaking as a conservative without the sacrifice of genuinely-held principles. An important trait for a moment where that simply doesn’t happen often. In the first half, Jonah also addresses the “autoimmune problem” (both literal and figurative) of American youth as they continuously fail to prove themselves in tests of emotional fragility, and he makes a shocking claim about the Jaws sequels that must only be heard to be believed.
Show Notes:
-Lady Gaga’s French bulldogs, Koji and Gustav, stolen
-Kevin Williamson and Jonah talk “doubling down on yeehaw”
-BIG IF TRUE: Jaws 2 is good???
-Michael Powell on the insanity at Smith College
-Oberlin student mistakes person in blanket for Klansman
-A landmine-filled G-File on language
-The intentionally meandering G-File from two Fridays ago
-What might a “red meat hat” even look like?
-Bill Kristol’s “trial balloon”
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Fellow Dispatcher Declan Garvey joins Jonah on today’s program, wherein they discuss the parallels between the GOP’s current identity crisis and the last time that Americans witnessed a similar party realignment (the Whigs vs. Jacksonian Democrats). The guys discuss the prospects for a theoretically ascendant third party - “The people I spoke to said, ‘Yeah, I’d be happy to belong to a party that addressed my concerns even if I knew it might lose in the short term,’” says Declan - as well as early 2024 contenders and the validity of the “Red Dog Democrat” theory.
Show Notes:
-Declan’s page at The Dispatch
-“Hey, egghead, sing ‘Fair Harvard!’”
-Declan: “Is it Time for the Republican Party to Split Apart?”
-Steve Scalise won’t say the election wasn’t stolen
-Trump’s attack on Mitch McConnell
-Mitt Romney says Trump is already a 2024 frontrunner
-Maine and Alaska should watch out for unintended consequences
-Bill Kristol: “What About Joe?”
-Tim Miller: “The Trade: Meet the New Red Dog Democrats”
-Mitt Romney and Tom Cotton propose a minimum wage hike
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Today, we confirm that Dispatch contributing editor Chris Stirewalt has indeed surpassed our gold jacket threshold while engaging in the rankest of punditry. Chris and Jonah discuss how Biden’s “poison pills” (Neera Tanden’s potential confirmation, a dogmatic insistence on a $15 minimum wage policy, et al) are quickly becoming … well, pills, simply put. While the administration continues to add progressive boxes to their checklist, Israel continues to speed ahead with vaccinations and, in the domestic realm, the lingering shadow of Trump still presents obstacles for the GOP. As a bonus, this episode should hopefully make up for the lack of a Ruminant last weekend, as the vocal similarities between Chris and Jonah make the whole thing sound like a gigantic monologue.
Show Notes:
-The status of the U.S. vaccination rollout
-Israel’s vaccination strategy
-Fauci on normality and masking into 2022
-Jonah argued Biden should run a “return to normalcy” campaign before anyone else
-Brad Pascale: Trump would have won with a different approach to COVID
-Obama calling Bush “unpatriotic” for adding to the debt
-NYT: Biden should appoint a “reality czar”
-Will Chamberlain: “Platform Access is a Civil Right”
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Jonah welcomes Kevin Williamson to discuss their shared status as Americans trapped within the final layer of Dante’s Hell (aka, Texas in the midst of a large-scale winter weather disaster). From the corporatism on display to the “stunning lack of entrepreneurialism” in response to the issues the state is currently facing, to every issue in between - such as the pointless populism being proffered as an explanation for Texas’ woes - this situation is proving to be a microcosm of everything that is dysfunctional in American politics. Who better to walk us through the sociopolitical ramifications of this situation, than two men who are known for their unadulterated joviality?
Show Notes:
-Kevin’s page at National Review
-Jonah v. David on the zombie apocalypse
-NYT: “No, Wind Turbines Aren’t the Main Cause of the Texas Blackouts”
-“Solar power, when will people learn?”
-Rick Perry doubles down on yee-haw
-Alex Jones’ lawyers admit he’s an actor
-Texas GOP chair Allen West suggests secession
-“They’re always eating candy in Shelbyville.”
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This week, Jonah brings The Remnant to you from the ice-wracked void of Austin, Texas. His guest is Stephanie Slade, the managing editor of Reason magazine. Stephanie and Jonah provide some helpful explanations of what the oldest coalition of modern conservatism (i.e. “fusionism”) really is, who its members were, and what its political motivations were. Then, in an instance of “violent agreement,” our two intrepid intellectual explorers refute the idea that this fusionist project is a “dead consensus” or that it necessarily precludes membership from libertarians. Interestingly, Jonah thinks that the tensions within fusionism are strong enough that “it doesn’t make sense as a purely philosophical project,” but Stephanie is confident that American political history indicates that the tension between virtue and freedom is resolved within the fusion of these different branches of conservatism.
Show Notes:
-Stephanie Slade’s Reason archive
-Stephanie: “Is There a Future for Fusionism?”
-M. Stanton Evans: The Theme is Freedom
-Ramesh Ponnuru: “Fusionists and Fissionists”
-Murray Rothbard: “Frank S. Meyer: The Fusionist as Libertarian”
-Frank Meyer v. L. Brent Bozell Jr.
-Daniel E. Burns: “Liberal Practice v. Liberal Theory”
-Donald Devine’s The Enduring Tension: Capitalism and the Moral Order
-William James’ “blooming, buzzing confusion”
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In this weekend’s Ruminant, Jonah figures that it is his duty to do what he can to clean the gigantic metaphorical Augean Stable that is Washington D.C. as recompense for missing a G-File. Thus, this is an episode filled with only the rankest of punditry: Grifters abound, both within Congress and in the fundraising and activism apparatchiks of both the right and the left. Not only is it the case that the grift was getting more intense on its own, but impeachment has just made it all the more self-aggrandizing. Listen as Jonah takes aim at the nepotistic relationship between conservative boosters and lobbyists, The Lincoln Project, and Congress itself for consistently living down to Americans’ expectations.
Show Notes:
-The inklings of an Ivanka Trump campaign in Florida against Rubio
-Demosclerosis by Jonathan Rauch
-The online Roget’s Thesaurus… just in case you are curious
-Matt Schlapp and pardon foolishness
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This podcast is for those of us who feel like the state of our political parties makes us want a drink, or at least some reliable recommendations about what we should be drinking. Jonah is joined by AEI colleague Kevin Kosar, who writes on how Congress is failing to do its job - not simply because of populism and polarization, but also because “its smaller numbers of staffers mean that Congress is literally shrinking while the institution is being asked to do more than ever.” They discuss how to fix the backwardness of this system, before moving on to a discussion of Kevin’s true passion (proven by his pedigree as one of the earliest bloggers on the subject): whiskey and other fine spirits.
Show Notes:
-Kevin Kosar - American Enterprise Institute
-Moving Congress into the 21st Century
-Kevin on the true use of earmarks
-A Time to Build, by Yuval Levin
-Jonah’s love of the term “co-equal”
-Sen. Lamar Alexander’s farewell speech
-Bill Barr’s civilized hearing
-Floor Charts, doing important work
-Alcoholreviews.com, continually operating since 1998
-Connemara peated Irish Whiskey
-White whiskey, or, uhm, moonshine
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Astute listeners may remember Europe’s immigration crisis circa 2015, in which more than 1 million people, many of them refugees, made their way to the continent. Today, Jonah is joined by one of the most informed public intellectuals on the matter, Ayaan Hirsi Ali. In addition to her first-hand account of leaving Somalia for the West, she also comes loded with information from her new book, Prey, which recounts many of the ways in which affected European nations have either struggled or outright failed to assimilate this largely Muslim population. Ayaan admires Jonah’s “chivalry” on these issues, but makes it clear that one of the direct effects of this failure is a continual erosion of women’s rights in countries that are otherwise considered beacons of social progress.
Show Notes:
-Ayaan Hirsi Ali - The Hoover Institution
-Modernization of Turkey under Kemal Ataturk
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Go down the rabbit hole of conservative eggheadiness on this weekend’s Ruminant, where Jonah discusses both the validity of “Trumpism” as an ideological construct as well as how that plays with the idea of conservatism as the “negation of an ideology.” Jonah also explains how we are seeing the ratcheting effect of increased government authority take place in real time, why Chris Stirewalt is the greatest, why right wing populism is the worst, and much more.
Show Notes:
-The Dispatch Podcast with Chris Stirewalt and Jonah
-“Expressio Unius Exclusio Alterius”
-Crisis and Leviathan by Robert Higgs
-Milton Friedman and income tax withholding
-Giuliani: My legacy? F*** it!
-Area man loses mind on live television
-Kirk: “Conservatism is the negation of ideology”
-Jordan Peterson: Reject ideology
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Given the state of… things (imagine us gesturing wildly as we say this) as they currently are, Jonah figured that this might be an apropos time to bring back a popular guest for his second showing: Joseph Uscinski, a political scientist and professor at the University of Miami specializing in how conspiracy theories spread. Buckle up for the discussion of Jewish space lasers, QAnon, Frazzledrip, and much more. They also discuss why the conspiratorial tendency never seems to go away, thanks to its basis in personality type, as well as the fact that “politicians … use [them] as a cudgel to go around accusing their opponents of the worst things possible.” We’re sure you can imagine just what Joe is talking about with that one.
Show Notes:
-Joseph E Uscinski - University of Miami
-Our previous episode with Joseph
-Every conspiracy theory promoted by Trump
-Conspiracy theories are for losers
-70 percent of Republicans don’t think the election was free and fair
-Eric Voegelin and the roots of conspiracy theories
-Conspiracy theories and evolutionary psychology
-The Koch brothers control everything
-Bernie and the rigged economy
-Alienated America by Tim Carney
-6 percent of Republicans and Democrats believe in QAnon
-NYT: Biden should appoint a “reality czar”
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Thanks to international supply chains, Scott Lincicome’s Five Timer gold jacket is in the mail today as he joins Jonah to discuss a whole panoply of economic trends. Scott and Jonah talk about some of his observations from his posts as a fellow Dispatch-er with his Capitolism newsletter, as well as through his role at Cato where he has just put out a ton of research refuting the too-clever-by-half idea that the government can seize the manufacturing industry for national security reasons. The guys also discuss how COVID has essentially reversed the consumer side of the American economy. (“The pandemic has temporarily converted us into a country that buys goods instead of services”), and they even manage to get in some Hayek (peace be upon him).
Show Notes:
-Scott’s newsletter, Capitolism
-Democrats trying to push through $15 minimum wage
-Tom Sowell on the minimum wage
-More from Less by Andrew McAfee
-Scott’s take on the ‘deindustrialization’ myth
-A rundown on the National Technology Industrial Base
-U.S. ventilator overproduction
-Sherrod Brown’s “Buy American” push to the Biden administration
-Jonah: Thank globalism for COVID response, not nationalism
-Jonah, microcosms, and macrocosms
-Invisible Wealth by Nick Schulz and Arnold Kling
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On this Ruminant, Jonah explicates the sadly prominent “antisemitism in the gaps” theory of political history on both the left and right, his proud status as an ideologue of the lukewarmist school, and the GOP’s inability to take “yes” for an answer on winning cultural issues against the American left. He also touches on how the GameStop kerfuffle is really just a case where “the market should be left to sort it out,” and how it isn’t some kind of refutation of libertarian economics, in addition to pondering the ways that the virtual world has started to rewire our brains.
Show Notes:
-Iranian conspiracies about the British
-David French: “An ocean of possibility for a reasonable GOP”
-Madison Cawthorn’s staff is built around comms, not legislation
-A Remnant starter on impeachment
-The members-only midweek “news”letter
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Will Saletan of Slate returns to discuss the looming possibility of a political conflict between the Biden administration and the public sector teachers’ unions who nominally support him, the ways in which the pandemic has shifted labor back into the private sphere of the American household, why both parties should be aiming to present themselves as “the ‘not crazy’ party” (and why they both seem to be doing the opposite), and much more. Will also provides a useful thought experiment as to whether or not one is engaging in hypocrisy in political discussions: “Always try to ask, ‘Am I doing the same thing I’m accusing others of?’”
Show Notes:
-Will: “The Enemy isn’t Republicans. It’s Liars.”
-Biden now wants 1.5 million vaccinations a day
-Student suicides in Las Vegas
-Will with Charlie Sykes on The Bulwark podcast
-Jonah: “The Center is a Lonely Place to Be”
-Will: “Trump is the GOP’s warlord”
-Lucifer: “The very first radical”
-Tucker Carlson goes to bat for QAnon
-Newsweek edits 2015 story to conform to new attack on Tom Cotton
-Burke and the impeachment of Warren Hastings
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A.B. Stoddard rejoins the show for the three-timer award, as well as to talk, well, politics of all things. What can we expect from Senate Republicans at the start of the new Biden administration. Especially with a vote on whether to convict Donald Trump in the pipeline? We also get some more chronicles in the saga of Mitch McConnell: Machiavellian, principled, or both? And what about the recent flurry of (largely) socially progressive executive orders from the Resolute Desk? Stoddard helps determine what of this recent political news is a signal, and what’s simply noise.
Show Notes:
-The Hawaii GOP expresses its support for QAnon
-Is Jim Jordan about to get more influential?
-“The One Where Jonah Calls Matt Gaetz a Steroidal Playmobil Figurine”
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The days of the 2012 GOP “autopsy” are long behind us. Listen as Jonah ruminates on the struggles of protecting serious conservatism at a time of supreme unreflectiveness among many adherents of the movement as to how it has been led astray. Jonah also expresses his optimism at the revitalized raison d’être of The Dispatch in a post-Trump America. Additionally, Jonah even previews a forthcoming idea that could be of supreme interest to The Remnant’s nerdier factions: “I owe it to readers to do a deep dive… into what Liberal Fascism has to say” about the revanchist populism of the Trumpian right.
Show Notes:
- The minimum wage and eugenics
- Why are they calling all of Antifa “Biden voters”?
- Newt Gingrich, with another asinine thing
- The Remnant with Mo Elleithee
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Join Jonah and special guest Jack Butler, his former research assistant for the tricentennial episode. It’s the best of both worlds as the program recalls its greatest hits (conspiracies about the Soviets, Bigfoot Erotica, The Episode that Shall Not be Named, and, of course, Jokes at Jack’s expense) while also breaking into new territory. The guys talk about the conflict between college Republicans who got into politics just to be edgy versus the more thoughtful millenials and Zoomers who actually hold convictions, and about how “for the first time in more than four years, conservative politics do not have to flow through the person of Donald Trump.”
Show Notes:
- Werner Herzog being vaguely horrified by Grizzly Man audio
- Bigfoot Erotica: Origin Stories
- “The Swamp: An affectionate farewell”
- The “Uncomfortable Learning” program at Williams College has a strange history
- Jack’s profound disappointment with Madison Cawthorn
- Jack ponders the possibilities of Amazon’s show in Middle-Earth
- Dan McLaughlin on what comes after Trump
- Zhou Enlai on the French Revolution: “Toon soon to tell”
- Community: Nick Cage, good or bad?
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In an exercise of “dealing with liberalism’s best arguments,” Jonah plays host to returning guest Mo Elleithee, a Democratic political strategist. They talk about the first day of the Biden administration and many of the coming political realignments. Would Democrats relish the thought of a “Patriot Party” rising up in opposition to the GOP, or would they reel in horror? Are Americans cautiously optimistic about the incoming administration’s “unity” message, and if so, are they right to be? And in a shocking turn of events, every House Democrat must now bow before the Lord Regent of West Virginia, Joe Manchin.
Show Notes:
-Mo Elleithee - Georgetown University
-George W. Bush’s first inaugural address
-Chip Roy’s House speech on impeachment
-NYT: “Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police”
-The January 2021 Civility Poll
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On this weekend’s Ruminant, Jonah discusses how the essence of conservatism in all its variety has been distilled down to a single oversimplistic metric: The more one likes Trump, and the more libs one owns, the more conservative one is assumed to be. “If you agree with Donald Trump, you’re a conservative, and if you defend Trump at all costs, you’re a good conservative.” Jonah then talks about how the larger panoply of conservative ideas is not only more interesting, but more practical for achieving realistic goals in our politics. There’s also a healthy smattering of theology, dog-talk, and Buckley stories throughout.
Show Notes:
- This week’s Remnant with Yuval
- DeSantis puts his kid in a MAGA onesie
- Varieties of Conservatism in America
- Varieties of Progressivism in America
- Advisory Opinions talks about incitement standards
- Pew polls attitudes about election results
- This week’s Remnant with Keith Whittington
- Jonah combat’s J. V. Last’s dog-suspicion
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Today, AEI’s Yuval Levin returns, and Jonah asks him something more important than “What happens next?” Rather, they try to think about “What should we do next?” They talk about what Congress’ institutional responsibility is in regards to impeachment. They also discuss the 10 Republican representatives who voted for impeachment (“Look, I’m Jewish: 10 is better than zero.”), and their hopes to move past the historically anomalous character of right wing discourse throughout the Trump years. “This period has just been devoid of policy conversations. … Keeping the left from crushing you is an important goal, but it’s not what matters most.”
Show Notes:
- Yuval’s most recent book, A Time to Build
- Yuval’s quarterly publication, National Affairs
- Rich Lowry: “The Crash of the Flight 93 Presidency”
- The Good Fight with Yascha Mounk
- William James and Charles Peirce’s “Cash value of an idea”
- “’Coequal’ is my trigger word”
- Federalist No. 10, where Madison discusses democracy vs. republicanism
- “A Nation of Cowards,” by Jeffrey Snyder
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What is to be made of the concerns – practical or philosophical – about a second impeachment of Donald Trump? Keith Whittington of Princeton returns to The Remnant to encourage us not to take such concerns too rigidly. Since, as we got used to hearing, impeachment is a political process and not a legal remedy, the ability to get through an impeachment quickly – say, before January 20 – is “purely a matter of political will.” In addition to digging into some founding-period legal nerdiness (the original Constitution of Virginia says what?), Jonah also asks Whittington about the standards of impeachment, what the process might look like given the specifics of what happened at the Capitol on the January 6, and also asks him to address concerns, such as the idea that an impeachment would be an infringement on Trump’s free speech rights: “There’s a difference between what a private citizen can say and what someone like the president of the United States should say.”
Show Notes:
- Jonah’s Los Angeles Times column
- “Look at him, he’s wearing a belt!”
- Listen to Advisory Opinions, home of latches
- David French: The conservative legal movement is actually looking pretty good
- Byron York interviews Michael Luttig
- Einstein’s friend finding a dictatorship loophole
- John Turturro as Bernie Bernbaum
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On today’s Ruminant, Jonah takes care to push through the natural inclination to simply, well, be appalled at this past Wednesday’s “events” on Capitol Hill, and manages to talk about both the lead-up to them and their ramifications. He talks about how the rioters display all of the soul-sickness that conservatives normally only talk about in regard to far-left activists, and that while conservatives are quick to point out the failures to establish genuine communities with positive outcomes in peoples’ lives within progressive politics, “we very rarely say that these are problems for conservatives too.” This week, Jonah also closes with a personal rumination on the most important little platoon of all: the family.
Show Notes:
- Jonah and Brit’s disagreement
-Josh Blackman: Can Trump be impeached for incitement?
-Tucker provides a useless panacea to listeners
-Tim Carney: “Trump was something to believe in”
-“When God is invisible behind the world, the contents of the world will become new gods”
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As The Remnant kicks back into gear, we figured it would be best to let Jonah make his trek back to D.C. and instead treat you to a secret artifact from a few days after the election. This is a conversation between Jonah and AEI emeritus scholar Charles Murray on the state of libertarianism and liberalism (both of the “small-l” variants) in the aftermath of November 2020. Murray explains why he’s pessimistic, while he and Jonah also extol the virtues of a Madisonian system, and upon reflection, they both relish in being on the right side of the debate that character is indeed destiny in the political realm: “The idea that the United States can continue to be … exceptional without character being a leading principle is ridiculous—it can’t happen.”
Show Notes:
-Eric Voegelin on how lapses into fanaticism occur
-Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010
-Miracle At Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention
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What does Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse think about the results of the 2020 election? The answer might come as a surprise: Even though the Democrats took the White House, on balance, Ben thinks the election proves that “We are a center-right nation, and even if people don’t have a philosophical embrace of limited government, [that idea] has a broad, functional embrace.” During this talk—originally part of The Dispatch’s post-election program What’s Next: Election 2020 and Beyond – Jonah asks Ben about how responsible Americans might stop our national politics from being run by political addicts, as well as asking him what he thinks about the assertion that he went through a “quiet period” in his Trump criticism, and addressing his controversial connections to Big Runza (Nebraska’s finest delicacy™).
Show Notes:
-“Straight-shooter” Ben Sasse wins re-election
-Many Republicans are sure that the election was stolen
-Kate McKinnon’s bizarrely accurate Rudy Giuliani
-Jonah’s column on Trump loyalism
-There’s a horse in the hospital
-I Love Lucy’s ratings domination
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As we close in on the end of the year, Jonah’s rumination proves to be a pretty sizable roundup of all the news that has been fit to print throughout the week. In addition to discussing attempts to relitigate the series of unfortunate events surrounding Jeffrey Toobin, the inaccuracy of our current Cold War metaphors in regards to China, and the ongoing conflict over wealth inequality, Jonah also finds the time to dip into several classically nerdy topics. Such subjects include the accidental genius of bad Kung Fu movies, how They Live isn’t nearly as Marxist as the academy would have you believe (and the fact that they try to prove that it is “just helps to prove how dumb Marxism is”), and how David French’s taste in films has made Jonah a nihilist.
Show Notes:
-The origin of the “alien visitor” thought experiment
-A chin-stroking (so to speak) piece on Jeffrey Toobin
-This week’s Remnant with Matt Continetti
-Jonah’s “New Cold War” column
-This week’s Remnant with Scott Winship
-Remnant Episode 100 with Thomas Sowell
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AEI Fellow, author, and Washington Free Beacon founder Matt Continetti comes back to the program, and Jonah gets to pick his brain about… well, a ton of different things. From his expectations for the Biden presidency, to the shockingly progressive staff of the incoming administration, to the Georgia runoffs and a critical reappraisal of the neoconservatives’ role in deradicalizing the left, Matt provides deep and nuanced answers to the biggest stories of the day as well as the issues of bigger philosophical significance to conservatives. He and Jonah also dial in on some of the upcoming decisions that those on the right will have to make in the near future – decisions that may define basic points of conservative doctrine for a long time to come: What should be counted as a conservative “win,” either in politics or culture? Is conservatism going to be big-tent or selective in its coalition-building? And what should the conservative position on China be, as it becomes clearer that the nation may have grown into a superpower that shares very few of our values?
Show Notes:
- Biden’s campaign manager being… unkind to Republicans
-The Remnant with Andy Smarick
-The Polish Beer-Lovers’ Party
-The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium by Martin Gurri
-The Roots of Modern Conservatism by Michael Bowen
-The Remnant with Carlos Lozada
-What Biden can learn from Nat Glazer
-Conservatism has conserved a lot, actually
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Jonah is joined by Scott Winship – the director of Poverty Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and fresh off the heels of his position within Senator Mike Lee’s Social Capital Project. Jonah asks Scott about the persistence of poverty in American society, and what progress has been made both recently and over the long term. Then, they get into why some of the obstacles that have to be removed in order to lift poor people up are more intractable than others. In part, Scott thinks that these difficulties “show how we’re hardwired to think about these problems in economic terms rather than in terms of social bonds,” and that certain data may blind us when searching for the real issues.
Show Notes:
-Richard Burkhauser on poverty in the 60s versus now
-Raj Chetty on people doing better than their parents
-Mr. Piketty’s big book of Marxiness
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After describing the inner workings of a longstanding lunch among his friends that has become an institution unto itself and envisioning what his ideal “no rules” podcast might be like, Jonah asks the fundamental political question of our moment: What’s the matter with Texas? Jonah talks about how the state’s election lawsuit has released another swathe of intellectual dishonesty among right-wing tastemakers, as well as the “Kraken Caucus'' (or is it the Kraken Kaukus?) more generally, and how the Constitution endorses trial by combat for picking elector slates (well, kind of). This is followed by a rumination on “corruption” in both its classical and modern sense, the updated Hunter Biden story (and the reaction to it), and how imprecise language mars our debates about censorship: “We use ‘censorship’ to mean both a government action as well as the exercise of editorial judgment that we don’t like.”
Show Notes:
-This week’s Remnant with Reihan Salam
-Burke’s “Speech to the Electors of Bristol”
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Conservative commentary has managed to find at least one point of withering criticism when it comes to America’s cities. This critique points out that, while cities are the places where unique innovation and exciting things are happening all the time, the local Democratic political machines (and, strangely, their voter base within the city) are constantly trying to zone, regulate, and tax that innovation and excitement out of existence. But here he comes—a knight in shining armor, making a glorious return to The Remnant: Reihan Salam, president of the Manhattan Institute. Reihan talks to Jonah about how conservatives might be able to envision a way out of obstinacy in America’s metropolitan centers, as well as addressing concerns about the GOP’s electoral future in cities, and explaining why politics often take a more radical left-wing form in cities compared to everywhere else in the country. (“Democrats are living in places that are immensely unequal, so arguments around redistribution carry a lot more purchase.”)
Show Notes:
-Reihan at the Manhattan Institute
-Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream
-Most—not some—people are low information voters
-Jonah: It’s a mistake for the GOP to shun big cities
-College-educated Democrats are often more wrong than their co-partisans
-Jill Biden wants community college to be free
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On this edition of The Remnant, Jonah went around the (metaphorical) corner of the (also metaphorical) office and got colleague Sarah Isgur to come on the program for all sorts of legal-beagle nerdery. Sarah explains the constitutional provisions kicking into effect that are helping to slow down the chaos surrounding the November election results, what on earth is going on in Texas, and much more. Classic Remnant wonkery is then balanced out in the latter half of the show, as Jonah and Sarah both share their spiciest takes on The Queen’s Gambit and why it may not live up to the hype.
Show Notes:
-Sarah’s podcast with David French, Advisory Opinions
-Sarah’s newsletter, The Sweep
-Texas’ original jurisdiction suits against other states
-Centennial Crisis: The Disputed Election of 1876 by William Rehnquist
-The “witchcraft” of signature matching
-The Bailey Cranberry Separator
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Jonah flies solo once more in a podcast filled with the hottest of takes: Biden’s foot-breaking story is not only totally true – it’s also just kind of lame, weed saved George H.W. Bush’s life, and, most controversially of all, The Walking Dead still has some redeeming qualities. He also discusses why you should take John Bolton’s advice in The Dispatch seriously, and “Eurosclerosis,” the fanciest word of the day.
Show Notes:
-The origins of Biden-Foot-Trutherism
-The week’s first Dispatch Podcast
-The Remnant with Jonathan Adler
-BREAKING: George H.W. Bush owes his life to hemp! Big If True!
-This week’s Remnant with Virginia Postrel; that’s the good nerd stuff, right there
-John Bolton’s piece for The Dispatch on the future of conservatism
-Jonah: “Too many Republicans just use conservatism as a tool”
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We have another Remnant first-timer on the show this week, as Jonah is joined by old friend, well-traveled military writer, and Marine veteran Bing West. With a discipline that only a Marine could muster, Bing joins the program to talk about his upcoming novel, The Last Platoon: A Novel of the Afghanistan War, which uses Afghanistan as a backdrop to tell the story of men in combat who “do their duty, even when it becomes clear that there will be no reward.” Jonah also probes Bing’s brain about the overall strategic value of the Afghanistan war, the abiding faith of American soldiers in an era of secularism, how to break up the perverse friendship between the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and most important, how a small, tri-fold shovel is sometimes the most valuable piece of equipment a soldier can have.
Show Notes:
-Afghani tribal groups and opium production
-Bing’s book embedded with Marines in Fallujah
-Bing in WSJ: “How to save Kabul from Saigon’s fate”
-How counterinsurgency (or COIN) really works
-The Dispatch addresses Pompeo’s thoughts on the Taliban turning on al-Qaeda
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Today, Jonah is joined by Virginia Postrel – former editor-in-chief of Reason magazine and author of many of the latter-day holy tomes of libertarianism, such as The Future and Its Enemies – to talk about her new book, The Fabric of Civilization. Virginia and Jonah do a deep dive into several moments in which the changes in textile manufacturing created giant, revolutionary, consciousness-shifting ripple effects regarding how civilizations viewed their relationship to markets and the economy. In particular, Virginia addresses how the un-guilded spinners of Europe were like the Luddites before it was cool, why textile-making would be one of the most laborious processes in the world without advanced technologies, and what made cotton fabric from India so special that “the French treated it much the same as the American government treats cocaine.” At least that kind of wild protectionism confirms a long-held American instinct: Never trust the French.
Show Notes:
-Virginia’s book, The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World
-Our first episode with Matt Ridley (on technical innovation)
-Our second episode with Matt Ridley (on more technical innovation)
-Virginia at Volokh Conspiracy: The textile industry’s relationship to literacy
-The salaries of spinners may be higher than one thinks
-The High Sparrow and the Labor Theory of Value
-Some bits from “The Bad Polanyi” on ancient Assyria
-Virginia talks about Indian cotton prints
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On this episode, Jonah is joined by Charles C.W. Cooke of National Review. It’s an eclectic mix today, as the duo gets into a good deal of punditry surrounding the Trump campaign’s election challenges and then move onto the future of conservatism (or “conservatarianism” in Charlie’s case) as a whole before tying the whole thing up around the Thanksgiving theme of gratitude. As a freshly minted American living through a relatively chaotic period in our politics, what is Cooke grateful for when it comes to the U.S.? During this holiday season, Jonah thinks we might all do well to be grateful for the fact that “we still live in a country where following politics is essentially a hobby … and isn’t a matter of survival.”
Show Notes:
-Charlie’s main podcasting gig
-Charlie’s, uh, other main podcasting gig
-Florida man saves puppy from alligator
-National Review and the John Birchers
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After filing a more-spirited-than-average G-File, Jonah joins us for the weekend Ruminant. Today, he talks about how certain individuals associated with Trump seem determined to end their careers in ignominy, as well as discussing many other phenomena, such as America’s oversaturation of elites, the necessity of reading people with whom you disagree, the inadequacy of applying the left-right spectrum to American politics, what the possible consolidation of fringe-right news stations might look like, and how genuine post-Trump conservatism “is almost, in certain way, the same as [if it was] pre-Trump.” And, of course, the most exciting news in Jonah’s world right now? How a calmer political environment means that he can write about more interesting stuff.
Show Notes:
-Tucker Carlson almost closes the circle, but doesn’t make it quite there
-The entire Dispatch team descends on the Cuomo Emmy news
-A legendary piece of Goldbergian hagiography – Gargoyles: Guardians of the Gate
-The quotable Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn
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Jonah’s return to The Remnant features a guest with “The most important hair in public policy,” Ryan Streeter from AEI. While Ryan’s magnificent mane isn't captured in the final product, his spot-on analysis of the causes of American stagnation (and what we can do to get out of it) certainly are. Why is fulfilling work so hard to find for a great many Americans? Which of the structures meant to stand between the individual and the government do our current policy regimes totally fail to support? Are all politicians really just heartless hacks? And what factors are the advocates of working-class Republicanism forgetting when they envision the future of the party? Lucky for us, Ryan thinks about this kind of thing for a living, and therefore has more revealing answers than you may find anywhere else.
Show Notes:
-Imagine Blue Steel from Zoolander, but it’s Ryan’s hair
-Longstanding anti-“poaching” measures within fast food companies
-AEI’s research into civil society and volunteerism
-To Empower People: The Role of Mediating Structures in Public Policy
-Rubio and the supposed face-heel turn of “market fundamentalism”
-Ryan called some of America’s restlessness back in 2011
-Ben Carson, doing actual interesting things while no one pays attention
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Jonah the Globetrotter has once again scattered to the four winds, temporarily leaving The Remnant once more in the capable hands of David French. Today, David speaks with his good friend Yascha Mounk, contributor to The Atlantic and founder of Persuasion. Mounk talks us through the current conditions within mainstream media outlets and how those institutions have the opportunity to lower the temperature of American discourse now that Trump is leaving office. David also talks about how a Biden administration might be expected to behave, and Yascha mentions that much of the conventional wisdom about the presidential election results are not only misguided, but that they often “underestimate the intelligence of the American people.”
Show Notes:
-David’s newsletter, The French Press
-Yascha’s new publication, Persuasion
-The earliest mention of “nutpicking” that the Remnant crew could find
-Jonathan Haidt’s Heterodox Academy
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This week’s Ruminant sees Jonah reach his final form, as he begins with post-election punditry before seamlessly transitioning into a brand of deep-cut, Grade A political-nerd eggheadery the likes of which are rarely seen even on this vaunted podcast. Listen as Jonah effortlessly bounces in a positively pinball-esque manner between Whittaker Chambers, Orwell, AOC, Joe Manchin, James Burham, Cicero, and obscure Italian Communist Party intellectuals, in a display that will both amaze and delight.
Show Notes:
-This week’s Wednesday “news”letter
-The genuine Friday G-File for this week
-“Second Thoughts on James Burnham”
-This week’s Remnant with Kevin Williamson
-Jonah’s column on Joe Manchin
-Jim Geraghty: “Trump was not stabbed in the back”
-The Bureaucratisation of the World by Bruno Rizzi
-Charles Murray’s By the People: Rebuilding Liberty Without Permission
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On today’s program, Jonah chats with an old friend who will definitely NOT polarize the Remnant audience whatsoever (If we wish hard enough then it has to come true, right?): National Review’s Kevin Williamson. Williamson is out with a new book, Big White Ghetto. Jonah sets up Kevin for a heaping helping of rank punditry to start things off before moving into some book-talk and some eggheadery. In addition to Jonah’s efforts to make Kevin explicate his self-described political ideology (“anarcho-capitalist Eisenhower libertarian”), the two also discuss the ways in which America’s titular big white ghetto actually, well, became a ghetto, and what the solutions might be for the people who feel trapped in struggling communities. In Kevin’s mind, part of the issue is that no one in politics is comfortable saying something that is obviously true: “Cities and towns disaggregate and disincorporate over time, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. But this is also why I’m not running for office.”
Show Notes:
-Karl Rove: This election won’t be overturned
-Gangsters don’t have a retirement plan
-Dee Dee Myers appearing generally confused
-Jonah’s piece on Republicans and cities
-Kevin, reporting from Eastern Kentucky
-The most recent Dispatch Podcast
-Eisenhower’s response to the prospect of dropping nukes on Dien Bien Phu
-The Remnant with John McWhorter
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In the Before Times, when we’d all walk around bookstores putting our dangerously diseased digits on various tomes without a care in the world, did you notice a recurring phenomenon? It’s been the case for the past few years that the nonfiction sections of any major bookstore are filled with a glut of “Trump era” books – either memoirs from officials, books attempting to psychologize the man himself, or vaguely rant-y polemics that are big on rhetoric but light on substance. What if, hypothetically, you wanted to torture yourself by entering a purgatory-like state in which you read around 150 of those things? That’s what Carlos Lozada – book critic for the Washington Post – did so that you don’t have to.
Today, Jonah speaks with Lozada about how he was able to synthesize the “Trump canon” into a set of identifiable narratives about this moment in American politics, eventually resulting in his own new book, What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era.
Show Notes:
-Carlos’ book, What Were We Thinking
-Jonah on The Greening of America: “Stupendously awful”
-Miles Taylor, “senior administration official”?
-The largely unread followup to Fire and Fury
-Don McGahn’s crazy 2 years in the administration
-Carlos reviews Michael Cohen’s bizarre book
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On this weekend’s Ruminant, Jonah asks why we have to make American politics even more difficult than they already are. Why is it that, in an election that reveals Americans’ contested preferences so obviously, that we have to continue to turn up the heat by piling on additional conspiracy theories about the rigging of the election? Maybe, as Jonah thinks, this simply reveals a series of “deeply unpatriotic commitments” among our political and commentariat classes. He makes his way to greener pastures by talking about our glorious canine companions, and by addressing some of the supposedly highfalutin concerns of those on the right looking to out-think the market in our populist moment.
Show Notes:
-Get tickets to The Dispatch’s event, “What’s Next: Election 2020 and Beyond”
-Chris Stirewalt, rightfully serene as always
-Gingrich: "You Are Watching An Effort To Steal The Presidency Of The United States"
-The Remnant with Jim Geraghty
-Hayek’s “The Use of Knowledge in Society”
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At a moment where punditry can feel relatively grim – mostly due to the feeling of instability resulting from this endless election – Jonah wanted to have on someone who was capable of a different variety of punditry. Who fits the bill better for a political commentary of “pluckish optimism” than National Review’s Jim Geraghty, who displayed his infinite humility by choosing not to wear his brand new “Remnant 10-Timer” Championship Belt on the Zoom call? Jim gives his analysis regarding many of the questions that will remain for conservatives after the election is decided: Whither goes the GOP? (A “multi-ethnic, working class, populist party?) What is the correct story to tell about Latino voters and Trump? (And why is the mainstream media adopting the most racist interpretation of this situation rather than the most accurate?) And, most importantly, is Mar-a-Lago Trump’s Elba, or his St. Helena?
Show Notes:
-Josh Hawley’s retweet of Adrian Vermeule
-Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row AmericaChris Arnade’s
-William Rusher, who often said that politicians will always disappoint you
-McConnell and Biden are, like, basically friends, guys
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On this momentous day, in which the very nature of American politics may be defined anew for the foreseeable future, Jonah wanted to have on Razib Khan, director of science at Insitome, to talk about the most relevant, up-to-the-minute, topical subject so that, in this consciousness-shifting moment, we may be able to hold on for dear life and come up with a coherent worldview amidst the chaos. That subject, you ask? Dog genetics. How did Man’s Best Friend become such a highly variegated species – some big, some small, some smart, others dumb, and on and on with countless other variables? Razib fills us in on the state of research into canine development over the last 10,000 years, why the regional variations between lineages of dog are so distinct, and how the new frontiers of this genetic research seek to address “how these animals became what they are, and how they evolved alongside humans in response to environmental pressures.” We also get to hear Razib voice what may be the most controversial statement of our political era: “Wolves are smarter than dogs.” Tune in to hear Razib defend this heretical stance.
Show Notes:
-Razib’s freshly-minted newsletter
-Get tickets for The Dispatch’s event, “What’s Next: Election 2020 and Beyond”
-Razib in Quillette: “The Evolutionary History of Man’s Best Friend”
-The Remnant with Cass Sunstein
-The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove the Neanderthals to Extinction
-Origins and genetic legacy of prehistoric dogs
-NYT Science writeup of the magazine article
-Ancestry’s German-turned-Irish guy
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Seeing that there’s literally one story in the news right now (AN ELECTION IS HAPPENING SOON), Jonah decided to use his time on this weekend’s Ruminant to touch on some topics adjacent to the election, but also to incorporate some more evergreen topics into the mix. For example, there’s a discussion of the eternal return of the “get money out of politics” argument – and why Jonah thinks the argument is pointless in a world where the biggest benefit a candidate can get is a hysterical cycle of earned media – an unpopular defense of the slow, ungraceful politics of Mitch McConnell, equally unpopular opinions (at least in some quarters of the right) on the Biden scandal, and most importantly, why “your meatloaf is, like, 5,000 years old.”
Show Notes:
-Get tickets to The Dispatch’s post-election event, “What’s Next: Election 2020 and Beyond”
-The Chronicles of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg
-Charles Cook: Don’t expect a contested election
-The Wednesday “news”letter from this week
-McConnell’s 1998 opinion on campaign finance reform
-How Innovation Works, by Matt Ridley
-It’s a mistake for Republicans to leave cities out of their coalition
-A forum of Europeans talking about how their ghettos are in the suburbs
-Ten Global TrendsJonah’s column, inspired by
-ExpressVPN.com/Remnant to get 3 months free off a year-long plan
-Bradleyfdn.org/Liberty to listen to Andrew McCarthy on the latest episode of We the People
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Today two-thirds of the GLoP Culture podcast are together (a veritable biumvirate, one could say) to keep you up to date with some pre-election punditry while also distracting you just enough with pop culture news to prevent a sense of total crushing morosity. John Podhoretz of Commentary magazine joins Jonah to discuss the realities of Jewish political life in America, and to level with us about how realistic the chances of an upset are in the coming election. Then, John – with his It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia-style cork board at hand, interconnected strings and all – walks a perplexed Jonah through the evermore-confusing details of the Hunter Biden scandal, who seems to have done what, and what parts of the whole mess you should even care about. Then, in addition to a lightning round of pop culture questions, the guys also discuss their NYC-nostalgia, and their oddly specific memories for local television commercials from their childhood. While all of those lines seem cheesy now, John points out that “Maybe there’s something to be said for them, as it’s been nearly 60 years and I remember every word.”
Show Notes:
- Get your tickets to The Dispatch’s post-election event, “What’s Next: Election 2020 and Beyond”
- John on the possibility of Jewish conservatism
- The surge of American anti-Semitic violence
- “Don’t cross the street in the middle of the block”
-The oddly sensual Carvel ice cream commercial
-New Yorker The giant excerpt of Obama’s memoir
- CommentaryIrving Kristol on McCarthyism in
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Could Bigfoot Erotica influence the election? Fan-favorite Chris Stirewalt of Fox News says, “It’s a possibility.” (BIG IF TRUE) No, but really, Jonah wanted to have Chris back on The Remnant to cut through the vast amount of statistical noise being generated in the run-up to the election. With some polls suggesting a Biden landslide, other polls predicting a closer-than-expected outcome, and yet still more organizations suggesting a legion of silent-assassin-Republicans, waiting in the wings to shock the pollsters once again, Stirewalt clarifies these contradictory auguries with a brevity and hilarity rarely found in the mucky world of punditry. While the haruspicy might make for a very unhygienic office space, Stirewalt gets the job done, and that’s why we trust his expertise.
Show Notes:
-Get tickets to The Dispatch’s post-election event, “What’s Next: Election 2020 and Beyond”
-Follow Chris’s work at Fox News
-Muhlenberg College’s state polling for PA
-Paul, proud octopus and FIFA Diviner
-Ron Johnson’s business background
-Perino & Stirewalt: I’ll Tell You What
-Harrys.com/DINGO to receive a Harry’s Trial Set
-TommyJohn.com/REMNANT to save 15% on your first order
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At the end of an especially busy week in pundit-world, Jonah sits down with us all to ruminate on some of the more noteworthy topics that may have flown by too quickly to actually wrap one’s brain around them. On the docket: The final debate, some useful counter-programming on the Biden email hullabaloo, getting (erm…) a “grip” on Jeffrey Toobin, and much more. Plus, Jonah has some more evergreen thoughts on the gradual defining down of conservatism, and what the G-File has meant to him after all these years.
Show Notes:
-Get tickets to The Dispatch’s post-election event – What’s Next: Election 2020 and Beyond
-The Dispatch’s final debate wrap-up
-Star Trek: “Patterns of Force”
-The Editors podcast talking about the Biden email scandal
-The members-only (so to speak) Midweek Epistle
-Lucy.co, use promo code DINGO to get 20% off of all products
-ExpressVPN.com/Remnant for 3 months free with a 1-year plan
-Bradleyfdn.org/Liberty to subscribe to We the People
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Last time Tim Alberta, Politico’s chief political correspondent, was on the program, life in America was crazy, but in a typical, everyday, post-2016 kind of way. We figured that it was time to have him back now that we’re in the process of rushing towards a new form of crazy at Spaceballs-levels of ludicrous speed (“They’ve gone plaid!”). Tim takes us through some of the issues that voters in purple states actually seem to care about (Hint: The Hunter Biden drama isn’t one of them) while also touching on the confusing lack of a substantive foreign policy debate in this election cycle, the simpler times of the Christmas Tree tax and the Dubai ports deal, and the shocking value-add provided to one’s life by the purchase of an Arby’s gyro.
Show Notes:
-Get tickets for The Dispatch’s “What’s Next” event
-American CarnageTim’s most recent book,
-Matt Glassman talks about the lack of a foreign policy discussion
-Jonah on the 2006 Dubai ports deal
-Congress slowly spending more time on memes
-KittyPooClub.com, enter promo code DINGO for 20% off your first order
-Bradleyfdn.org/Liberty to watch the latest episode of We The People with Justin Danhof
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Co-founder of Echelon Insights, Golden Retriever companion, and professional Tea Leaf-Reader Kristen Soltis Anderson breaks a long hiatus from Remnant appearances by returning to the show today. As conventional wisdom on the right settles into the idea that “the polls were wrong in 2016,” Kristen gives us a bit of a reality check on why the conditions in 2020 aren’t that simple. She also talks about her newest research on the attitudes of young voters, with some surprising results. For one, young people aren’t nearly as pessimistic as you may have been led to believe: “Two-thirds of Gen Z and Millenials believe that they can achieve the American Dream … through their own actions.”
Show Notes:
-Sign up for The Dispatch’s “What’s Next” event
-Kristen’s latest research for the Walton Family Foundation
- KSA’s Twitter thread on how emotion continues to infiltrate election analysis
-FiveThirtyEight’s politics podcast
-Grand New Party, by Reihan Salam and Ross Douthat
-Try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com/Dingo
-DonorsTrust.org/Dingo to receive a free copy of “6 Reasons to Use a Donor-Advised Fund”
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This weekend’s Ruminant sees Jonah starting off in some classic Remnant Bingo™, but peppered in with a healthy dose of interesting new information on those topics – in this case, anti-Enlightenment nationalism, and the establishment of fair rules under classically liberal societies. This comes along in addition to a rundown of the ham-fisted efforts by many outlets to pretend that “originalism” is actually something much more radical and antediluvian than it really is. Then, Jonah moves on to a topic that our culture could desperately use some clarification on: “Justice” and “social justice” are two different things – and “bending the will of every institution towards social justice … is how you end up with a kind of soft totalitarianism.” And, in this particularly relaxed-fit episode, we even get some rank punditry on the tail end on subjects like the censored New York Post story and much more.
Show Notes:
-The Dispatch’s “What’s Next”Get your tickets now to event
-Against Empathy by Paul Bloom
-Making fun of originalism to own the cons
-Live Not by LiesRod Dreher’s new book,
-Morning Joe Rod responds to his appearance
-ExpressVPN.com/Remnant to get three months free off of a year-long plan
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Here we are, in the wreckage of another simply wonderful Supreme Court confirmation hearing; who better to discuss the aftermath, next steps, and what these hearings do to the court than Ilya Shapiro? As Jonah says, Ilya is likely “the guest most consistently asked to make a comeback - mostly by the guest himself,” but it’s easy to see why. In addition to giving the 411 on why these hearings have transformed into so much “senatorial bloviation,” he also can talk about the bigger picture as a result of the research he did for his incredibly timely new book on the politicization of SCOTUS. It has been a long time coming for this return - and much like Ulysses’ journey back from Troy, it was worth the wait.
Show Notes:
-Supreme Disorder: Judicial Nominations and the Politics of America's Highest CourtIlya’s book,
- Ilya in USA Today: End confirmation hearings
-Barrett: Roe is not a super-precedent
-Barrett’s article on precedent
-The history of an internecine fight on the right about judicial activism
-Ilya Shapiro on “Team Liberty”
-Lucy.co, promo code DINGO for 20% off all products
-Bradleyfdn.org/Liberty to hear Trent England on the Electoral College
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Today, we bring you Will Saletan of Slate – after having struggled mightily against the malevolent whims of technology in order to get it ready. Not since Episode 11 has an installment of The Remnant so risked the sanity – nay, the very essence – of all participants involved. Luckily, the conversation more than makes up for these struggles. Jonah asks Will what it’s like to be a genuinely liberal guy in an industry space that has moved largely past actual liberalism, and then Will turns the tables on Jonah and asks him what it’s like to be genuinely conservative in an era of dwindling conservatism. Afterwards, stick around for SCOTUS punditry and what could be described as a worrying amount of Hegel-talk (for awareness: a worrying amount of Hegel-talk is any Hegel-talk).
Show Notes:
-Candidate Trump reacts to the crowd while announcing travel ban
-“What I Learned From Amy Coney Barrett,” by Laura Wolk
-Fukuyama’s piece on social capital
-LiquidIV.com, use promo code DINGO at checkout for 25% off anything you order
-Keeps.com/Dingo to receive your first month of treatment for free
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TO OUR FAVORITE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD! Not seniors this time around, but Remnant listeners, that is. Jonah returns to ruminate with some fire in his belly this week – on the wasting of energy on Twitter, the bizarre phenomenon of the mainstream-media respectable conservative, court packing, The Worst President in History™, a revisiting of the weed conversation from the last Remnant, and more. Also, the quote of the day – or maybe the month, or the year – might be this: “The very essence of serious thinking … is the ability to make distinctions between superficially similar things.”
Show Notes:
-Steve Schmidt picks a pointless fight with Matt Lewis and Noah Rothman
-Brian Morgenstern invokes HIPAA rights when talking about Trump’s negative COVID test
-“A switch in time saves nine”
-“Heil Woodrow,” something of a self-own in review form
-Remnant This week’s with Jonathan Adler
-Star TrekIn case you also wanted to get addicted to a
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Remnant first-timer Jonathan Adler joins Jonah today, not to watch Cheech and Chong over a bag of Doritos, but to talk about the politics of marijuana. Earlier in the year (right around the time that the world was ending, actually), Adler edited a volume entitled Marijuana Federalism, which explored the legal contradictions within the laws regarding cannabis in the U.S.; the situation is somewhat unprecedented, in that we now have a substance that is a federal crime to possess, while many states have had such an overwhelming turn in public opinion that this same substance has now become perfectly legal within their own jurisdiction. How do individual states get away with this without the feds swooping in? The amusing answer is something like: Eh, turns out that the feds are pretty understaffed.
Jonah then moves on to his role - well-known among the Remnant fan base - as Inquisitor of Libertarians, figuring out how Adler feels about total drug legalization. He gives one of the most grounded and logical responses to this inquisition we’ve ever heard on the program, continually emphasizing the fundamental fact of American federalism: “The freedom to live how you want to live also includes the freedom to live conservatively.” This brings the two gents down the avenues of nationalism, post-liberalism, and the hope for a return to localism, all wrapped up with a bow of “420” puns that Jonah just can’t help but put to good use.
Show Notes:
-Marijuana Federalism: Uncle Sam and Mary Jane
-The origin of “laboratories of democracy”
-Vitamin E Acetate as the root cause of many vaping illnesses
-The Office, a dinosaur in internet years, is Netflix’s most popular show
-For the uninitiated, the fusionist’s Bible
-Acton.org/Dingo to subscribe to the Acton Line podcast
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Since the first six days of October 2020 have felt like 87 years, who’s better to sift through everything that has happened than one of The Dispatch’s own quadrumvirate of podcasters, Steve Hayes? Here to give Jonah the inside scoop on some of the background reporting he’s done for The Morning Dispatch, Steve has some ideas about how Trump’s overly-cinematic return to the White House could’ve been handled better, why there was a communication breakdown between Trump’s medical staff and his PR people, and, most mysteriously, what on God’s green earth Mark Meadows has been trying to do for the past few days.
Beyond these more Machiavellian machinations, they also delve into some of the downright silliness that’s gone on – such as the new pessimism that anything can even be done to stop COVID, since it’s a contagious disease (the stamping out of which has characterized (“Uh… literally the entire history of human civilization,” in Jonah’s words). They also give an update on the State of The Dispatch, and ponder what their place in the conservative media landscape may look like in a post-Trump era – whether that’s sooner or later.
Show Notes:
-The Dispatch30-day trial at , ends Thursday Oct. 8th at midnight
-Watch as Sean Conley awkwardly flails
-A history of the administration’s bipolar relationship with Fauci
-Mike Pence’s confessional piece on his negative campaign in Indiana
-The Dispatch’s opening manifesto
-DonorsTrust.org/Dingo to receive “6 Reasons to Use a Donor-Advised Fund”
-Go to CaucusRoom.com to experience a social network by and for conservatives
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This weekend’s Ruminant features Jonah running through a set of possible scenarios that might play out given President Trump’s COVID diagnosis – if we do say so ourselves, it’s a positively David French-like methodology given the approach to David’s new book (Out now!). Will Trump be able to do a Zoom debate? Will Mike Pence have the opportunity to do more than he currently does (which, as of now, seems to be standing completely still in a pensive silence like a sculpture of a Roman general)?
Then, Jonah discusses the current partisan tendency for “both the right and the left [to] weaponized norms,” chastising opponents for hypocrisy while refusing to adopt responsibility for their own flubs that damage the constitutional order. He explores the ways in which this manifests in both the nationalism debates as well as the current SCOTUS mess, and how the more intellectually serious proponents of nationalism can’t seem to decide whether they actually like to play by the rules or make things up as they go. All of this is followed up by a veritable potpourri of quick hits: Inside baseball on how syndicated column publishing works, how dumb the tax code is, steaks, dogma, and more.
Show Notes:
-Trump’s battleground state polls are… not great
-Dispatch Podcast The on the debate
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In true Remnant fashion, Jonah speaks to Seth Masket – a political scientist at the University of Denver – in an attempt to understand why so few people in American life actually get what they want out of their vote. In Seth’s new book, Learning from Loss, he traces the Democratic Party’s inability to come up with a coherent “autopsy” post-2016 as Republicans did post-2012 (which is not to say that the GOP actually followed its own advice; we wouldn’t have Trump if it did). There’s some debate punditry at the beginning, before Seth and Jonah swiftly move into the explanations that Democratic organizers and activists have developed for why Clinton lost to Trump. The primary explanations often focus on a contentious topic: identity politics. As Seth says, “Doing this research helped to remind me that all identity claims are essentially a construction,” but for something so artificial, they have a very outsized effect on our politics. While Seth and Jonah effectively take opposite sides on this issue, they generate much more light than heat, while also arriving at an answer to the fundamentally important question in 2020: For a party so concerned with diversity, how is it that the Dems ended up nominating a septuagenarian white guy?
Show Notes:
-Learning from Loss: The Democrats, 2016-2020Seth’s new book,
-White liberals have moved farther to the left
-Weather’s effect on elections
-White Identity PoliticsAshley Jardina’s
-Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop
-DrinkHydrant.com/Dingo for 25% off your first order
-Acton.org/Dingo to subscribe to the Acton Line podcast
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Join Jonah on today’s episode of The Remnant with our first-time guest: CBS’s John Dickerson. The subjects included in John’s latest book, The Hardest Job in the World, will allow you to get a fix of incredible nerdiness about presidential history in equal proportion to your daily recommended dosage of rank punditry. Why is it that we’ve made the presidency, in John’s words “essentially an impossible job”? Another shock: Many of the parts of presidential decorum that we consider par for the course are actually pretty ahistorical, and John makes the case that this weird, patristic view of the presidency in which the Executive has to appear in person at every important going-on throughout the country actually erodes some of the prudential, quiet, considered principles meant to undergird the job. Oh, and there’s some mutual Wilson-bashing in store as well, which is always a bonus.
Show Notes:
-The Hardest Job in the World: The American PresidencyJohn’s book,
-Franklin’s final speech at the Constitutional Convention
-Theodore Roosevelt and “scientific management”
-FDR flying into Chicago to accept the nomination in person
-Book of VirtuesBill Bennett’s
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Jonah’s longtime friend Tevi Troy makes his second appearance on the program, this time to discuss not only the history of presidential debates, but also to share some info on how the sausage gets made from his time doing debate prep for George W. Bush. Beyond simply recounting some of the best zingers in the history of these debates (“The youth and inexperience of my opponent…” “You’re no Jack Kennedy.”), they discuss the degree to which these moments are actually staged, and how the pretzel-like overcomplicated logic of certain debate preppers actually contribute to their candidate looking pretty silly on national TV. Keeping this history in mind, Tevi also talks about what he’ll be looking for in the upcoming debates (both campaigns should be taking notes, honestly), and happily discovers that he has reached “Vin Cannato Equilibrium” in the canon of the REU (Remnant Extended Universe).
Show Notes:
-The Dispatch30-day free trial at
-Fight HouseTevi’s latest book,
-George H. W. Bush looks at his watch
-“Conservatism as a Second Language”
-Intra-American migration due to COVID
-Biden decides to be, uh, pugilistic towards Paul Ryan
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Fellow Dispatcher David French returns to the program on the publishing date of his new book, Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation. If you’ve looked around at American politics over the last few years, and you’ve started to view the coastal states and the middle of the country as a bickering couple – wondering, “Why don’t they just break up already? – David’s book is for you. Jonah asks David to outline some of the scenarios by which a fracturing of the republic could happen, and works through the ways that America’s spirit could be successfully restored – all while avoiding an Articles of Confederation-style mess in which the country’s regions become too individually weak to do anything. Join for this enlightening discussion, and stick around until the end for characteristic rankness on Tenet, Amazon’s The Boys, and the mighty Dune.
Show Notes:
-Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our NationDavid’s book,
-Don’t forget to take advantage of our 30 day free trial of The Dispatch
-Jonah’s piece on Supreme Court deal-making
-David’s piece on the same topic
-Cass Sunstein: “The Law of Group Polarization”
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Just as there are different Enlightenments, there are different nationalisms, too. In both cases, it’s important to see what points they all converge on. On this edition of the Ruminant, Jonah walks through the ways in which we’ve seen this all before – even in spite of how strange this moment feels. Confucius says: “Enjoy your weekend!”
Show Notes:
-The Dispatch30-day free trial at
-Divided We FallDavid’s soon-to-be-out book,
-Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know: And Many Others You Will Find Interesting
-Address to the German NationFichte’s
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“We need to agree that the Senate doesn’t work,” Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse tells Jonah on today’s episode of The Remnant. “The Founders had this great idea that you separate power vertically and horizontally if you believe in universal human dignity, and the Senate is kind of the most unique single institution that the Founders created in the Constitution.” Sasse’s appearance comes on the heels of his Wall Street Journal op-ed, in which he calls for modified Senate term limits, repealing the 17th Amendment, and cutting the C-SPAN cameras to improve debate on the Senate floor. “The cameras change the dynamic in the room because people don’t ask real questions if they’re instead trolling for a sound bite that they can hope goes viral,” Sasse explains. What’s worse, senators use the C-SPAN camera rules to trick their constituents into thinking they’re debating their colleagues when they’re not. “They regularly do this, hand gesturing to the senator right next to them that they’re supposedly rebutting, but the rules in the Senate require the C-SPAN cameras to be cropped right around their head and shoulders, so you don’t know as a viewer that there’s no one there in the Senate.” After railing against the senatorial political posturing that’s poisoning our parliamentary system, Sasse and Jonah discuss the filibuster, clickbait journalism, and the dangers of perceiving politics as religion. Learn alongside Jonah, and stick around to the end to hear Sasse school his colleagues in real time.
Show Notes:
-The Dispatch30-day trial at , Sasse’s article: “Make the Senate Great Again,” In celebration of Brian Lamb, what Sasse means by “agglomeration economy,” and Sasse’s opening remarks at the Kavanaugh hearing.
-LiquidIV.com, use promo code “DINGO” at checkout for 25% off and ExpressVPN.com/Remnant for three months off a year-long subscription.
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Let the waves of optimism wash over you as return-guests Ron Bailey (Reason) and Marian Tupy (Cato Institute) join forces as Jonah’s tour guides through the last several centuries of human progress. Listen to the first half to hear why there is actual good news about the human condition – even during a pandemic – and stick around in the second half for a satisfying helping of philosophical eggheadery on education, personal liberty, and the logic of nonviolent protest.
Show Notes:
-The DispatchTry a 30-day trial membership for
-Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know: And Many Others You Will Find Interesting
-Marian’s project, HumanProgress.org
-Jason Hickel refutes the World Bank’s measurement of extreme poverty
-Julian Simon’s bet with Paul Ehrlich
-Famines rarely happen in democratic countries with a free press
-University of Edinburgh set to remove David Hume’s name from building
-DonorsTrust.org/Dingo to get a free copy of “6 Reasons to Use a Donor-Advised Fund”
-ExpressVPN.com/Remnant for an extra 3 months free with 12-month plan
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What happens when you make a pundit talk about Antifa, the Dune trailer, the Republic of Venice, and 60s Iron Man cartoons all in one go? Tune in to the weekend Ruminant to find out!
Show Notes:
-The DispatchStart a 30-day free trial of
-Jonah’s Wednesday G-File, un-paywalled due to popular demand
-RemnantThis week’s second , with Andy Ferguson
-Basically what Jonah means by “A Shoshana point.”
-Dune The little-known miniseries
-Iron Man The bizarre theme song to the 60s cartoon
-Federalist no. 39, the one that talks about Venice
-Denis Dutton’s bad writing contest
-Keeps.com/Dingo to get your first month of treatment for free
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Andrew Ferguson’s follow-up appearance on The Remnant has been a long time coming, and you can tell; he and Jonah are filled with plenty of wisdom on the state of modern journalism, what the conservative media landscape used to be like, and how to not go completely hollow while keeping up with the news cycle.
Show Notes:
-30-day free trial of The Dispatch
-Jonah: The center is a lonely place to be
-All Too HumanGeorge Stephanopoulos’
-Donald Rumsfeld releases transcript of Woodward interview
-“Springtime for Introverts”: Andy’s piece that was true… for a while
-ExpressVPN.com/Remnant for an extra 3 months on a year-long plan
-Gabi.com/Remnant to stop overpaying on your insurance now
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Fresh off the heels of his new manifesto (not of the communist variety, though), Iain Murray, CEI senior fellow, joins Jonah on The Remnant to discuss The Socialist Temptation: what it is, who it hits hardest, why socialism isn’t really even an economic theory, and what to do about it.
Show Notes:
-The Socialist TemptationIain’s new book,
-BBC’s generously donated show sets, to spruce up your Zoom background
-Josh Muravchik’s “Theories of the New Class”
-“Socialism is the name of our desire”
-Corporatism and Comparative Politics: The Other Great “Ism”
-Ten Thousand Commandments 2020
-Violence and Social OrdersNorth’s
-Reagan’s speech at Hillsdale in the 70s
-“Socialism is so hot right now”
-DonorsTrust.org/Dingo for access to “6 Reasons to Use a Donor-Advised Fund”
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Who actually believes the media anymore? Can you really call yourself a liberal if you’re also a socialist? And what dog species does Zoë hate with a burning passion? It’s the weekend, and you know what that means: These questions and many more will be answered on this edition of Jonah’s Ruminant.
Show Notes:
-The Socialist TemptationIain Murray’s
-is What… Debbie Wasserman Schultz doing with her life nowadays?
-NYT The always-lovely Op-ed page: “Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police.”
-DrinkHydrant.com/Dingo for 25% off your first order
-Ancestry.com/Remnant to discover your family’s story
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In the words of a famed conservative activist, “When they go low, we go high.” That’s what we’re doing today on The Remnant by getting out of the muck of American domestic politics and having a conversation with veteran guest Kenneth Pollack on the intricacies of the Israel-UAE deal instead. What does this mean for the region, and what are the historical corollaries (Hint: It might be on your Remnant Bingo card)?
Show Notes:
-Foreign PolicyKen’s piece for
-Iran’s weapon facilities keep exploding
-The 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention
-1979’s mosque seizure in Mecca
-LiquidIV.com promo code DINGO for 25% off
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A solo Jonah returns, surrounded by cold beverages, to finish up his thoughts from last time about the final day of the RNC. He then moves on to the tactics of political grandstanding, the autocephalous (uh, Google it) nature of the activist left, and the importance of identifying the correct microclimate of the Loch Ness Monster.
Show Notes:
-Yuval’s latest Remnant appearance
-Tom Cotton, sending mixed messages about America First
-Harassing diners in Adams Morgan
-“Vegetable rights and peace!”
-Is the Loch Ness Monster a swamp-dweller?
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While it may be the middle of the week, there’s no law against Jonah recording Ruminant-style (i.e. alone) – at least not yet. He discusses the RNC – and invents the fun tongue-twister, “Ceaușescu-esque,” while doing so – the “Biden is a vessel for radicals” theory, and the economically confused obsession with Jeff Bezos.
Show Notes:
-Kimberly Guilfoyle’s speech is pretty meme-y
-Jonah’s spat with Erielle Davidson
-Remnant veteran Jim Pethokoukis talking about why Jeff Bezos is unironically great
-China’s post-Soviet “Princelings”
-Milton Friedman explains why you shouldn’t get to take inherited money away from children
-Bradleyfdn.org/Liberty for weekly new episodes
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Jonah makes a triumphant return to the Remnant on this episode, where he finally has a stable enough connection to record after a saga of perambulations around America’s western half. Jonah and Nick - his fearful amanuensis - discuss Alaska, the awkwardness of America’s largest political party holding a Zoom convention, and the potential for two actual crazy people to become elected officials within the GOP.
Show Notes:
-“The Green Room,” within Hell’s Canyon
-Row Adventures, for the brave vacationers among the audience
-CarShield.com, use promo code Dingo to save 10%
-Bradleyfdn.org/Liberty to watch Conceived in Liberty with Mitch Daniels
-ExpressVPN.com/Remnant for an extra 3 months
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Remnant Hall-of-Famer Jim Geraghty joins the show with the continually-put-upon David French, who is heroically guest-hosting as Jonah continues to galavant around in the land of [REDACTED]. On COVID, Jim gets to reminisce a little about the early weeks of reporting on the pandemic while also updating us. The guys then move on to the election, the “convention” (if you can call it that), and Best Spanish Language Heist Show of 2020 - a category with shockingly little competition.
Show Notes:
-California vs. New York in the pandemic times
-Alan Grayson is a strange man
-Why are so many people dying of COVID in Belgium?
-The treason of epidemiologists
-The Postmaster General’s statement
-ExpressVPN.com/Remnant for 3 months free off a year plan
-Keeps.com/Dingo to receive your first month of treatment for free
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Have no fear, dear listener: while Jonah is still radio silent as he swan-dives in slow-mo off of waterfalls (or something), The Remnant hasn’t forgotten you. David French returns to guest host this episode with return favorite Ramesh Ponnuru from National Review and AEI. There’s the requisite Kamala Harris talk, but also deeper questions about ideology and the “Burn It Down” debates.
Show Notes:
-Henry Olsen: Kamala changes nothing
-Kevin Williamson summarizes the “Burn It Down” debates
-The inside baseball of Trump’s teleprompter troubles
-Ramesh on why the Republicans need to keep working-class voters
-“Always twirling towards freedom”
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Throwing recent rank punditry onto the back burner, Jonah speaks with his AEI colleague and UVA Professor Brad Wilcox, whose memory for statistics crashed over us in a refreshing wave of sheer competency. Tune in for a discussion of marriage, the concept of “family diversity,” and the three things Brad would do if he suddenly became Czar of America.
Show Notes:
-Nicholas Christakis’ most recent book
-Kevin E. Stuart on his baseball studies
-Most NBA players grew up in a two-parent household
-Brad Wilcox on elites not preaching what they practice
-Some of Brad’s work on marriage vs. cohabitation
-The Disparate Effects of Family Structure
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Jonah stops to ruminate on the pathway between two menacingly-named locales—Snake River and Death Canyon (no Cliffs of Insanity, though). The topics today: why the mainstreaming of “white” identity is a genuinely awful idea, why being pro-Israel might cause you to get punched at synagogue, how progressives have adopted some of the worst parts of the European right, and much more.
Show Notes:
-Virginia Dare, and the disappearance of the Roanoke colonists
-The Omni-Americans by Albert Murray
-Joseph de Maistre’s feelings on “man”
-Jerry Falwell Jr.’s, uh, “Fall”
-Jonah’s heresiarchal opinion on chicken thighs
-Buckley’s line, “Cancel your own [G-D-] subscription”
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Today, we present the second part of Jonah’s conversation with Washington Post opinion columnist Megan McArdle. The punditry was just too rank, so their conversation became a two-episode-long saga. In addition to some COVID punditry, some women’s issues, and some libertoid-speak, they also reminisce on their shared old stomping ground, New York City, and how it has changed.
Show Notes:
-Susan Hennessey calling out people who say Kamala Harris is too ambitious
-Megan on Stephanie Cutter for the Daily Beast
-Vin Cannato’s book, which Megan loves
-Gabi.com/Remnant to see how much you can save on your insurance
-Bradleyfdn.org/Liberty to watch Conceived in Liberty weekly
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In a world where people run amok on the internet screaming their heads off, Megan McArdle stands (or in this case, sits by a microphone) as a model for the cool and collected. After a pre-game round of dog talk, Megan and Jonah settle in for some candid words on bread, being nice, and feminism — commentary so well-informed, we’re posting Megan twice in one week.
Show Notes:
-The Big Tech Four vs. Congress
-Maxine Waters asks a particularly garbled question to Bank of America
-“The Great Relearning,” by Tom Wolfe
-Megan’s book, not actually titled Permission to Suck.
-Charlie Kirk’s mask terribleness, as featured in Jonah’s Wednesday G-File
-Louie Gohmert blames the mask for his COVID-19
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Jonah’s had a long week, so grab an Irish whiskey (so long as it’s not Bushmills) and join him for some ruminating punditry on the tactical errors being made by conservative advocacy groups, “Cancel Rent” insanity, “Plandemic” insanity, and additional flavors of insanity. Also, Jameson, if you’re reading this, call us.
Show Notes:
-The glories of Jameson Caskmates
-The (underrated) Tyranny of Cliches
-Plandemic movie picking up speed
-Our episode on conspiracy theories, with Joe Uscinski
-Obama floats a falsehood about Rutherford B. Hayes
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A.B. Stoddard is a refreshing presence on today’s podcast as she and Jonah delve into starkly rank punditry and a discussion of the eerie intentionality behind Trump’s coronavirus response. In fact, A.B.’s wise words—on Fauci, on Trump’s fantasies, on panicked Texans—leave only a singular major question remaining: will Jonah end up rocking a man bun?
Show Notes:
-Steve’s piece on the canceling of Liz Cheney
-Jonah’s recent appearance on the Chuck Toddcast
-Trump’s weirdly made-up invitation to throw the first pitch for the Yankees?
-Jonah on NPR at the crack of dawn on July 28
-A.B.’s Bulwark piece on how the Republican Party can’t be reformed from within
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A clean-shaven Michael Strain joins the perennially bearded Jonah to talk about the topic that always brings encouraging news: the economy. Lowering the national debt and the closing of movie theaters are two bullets in this chin-stroking chamber, complemented by banter about barbecue sauce and how to retrieve small children from the sewers.
Show Notes:
-Michael Strain’s new book, The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It)
-Jonathan Chait’s book on Obama’s legacy (got awkward when Trump won)
-The Montreal Cognitive Assessment
-Ayanna Pressley’s wise words to cancel everything
-G-File in which Jonah talks about how the House Freedom Caucus is a bunch of hacks
-DonorsTrust.com/Dingo for your free resource, “6 Reasons to Use a Donor Advised Fund”
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What do canned meats and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment have in common? Are there any real rebels in American culture? Why shouldn’t gerbils be allowed to eat beets? Join Jonah in the passenger seat of his car to have all of these pressing questions and more answered on this weekend’s Ruminant.
Show Notes:
-The most horrifying term: Forcemeat
-The test Trump took, in case you want to test yourself
-Silliness in our law enforcement conversations
-The longstanding Marxist focus on heightening contradictions
-David’s controversy-causing newsletter
-David Brooks on nonconformity
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The punditry is strong today as Jonah and Luke Thompson meet at the intersection of conservatism and the Constitution. Stopping briefly for some quick jabs at Rep. Mike Gallagher and some comments that will definitely be taken out of context, we hear deep insights about big-kid words like “impoundment” and “rescission.”
Show Notes:
-Constitutionally Speaking, a podcast with Luke and Jay Cost
-The Wisdom of Conservatism by Peter Witonski
-Luke’s article in the Spectator about the veepstakes
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Rank punditry and eggheadery dominate the docket today as Matt Continetti joins Jonah on a mournfully swampy day in D.C. From Biden huddling in his basement to William F. Buckley Jr. naming his boat “Splendid Isolation,” the guys go backward from politics today to politics yesterday in a convention of nerd-dom, spiced up by mentions of Klingon weddings and Dungeons and Dragons.
Show Notes:
-Andy Kessler’s WSJ piece on June 1 being Trump’s official downfall date
-Nate Cohn on a tiny but influential portion of American voters
-A squirrel with bubonic plague in Colorado
-Chris Wallace interviews Trump (transcript)
-In which Jonah references Albert Jay Nock’s preference to living in Belgium over the United States
-Conservatism as an Ideology, by Samuel P. Huntington
-Bob Novak’s The Prince of Darkness
-Gabi.com/Remnant to stop overpaying for your insurance
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A rental-car bound Jonah invites his research assistant Nick Pompella onto the show from the reclusive Zoom cave in which Nick usually resides — or in this case, the dankness of Jonah’s basement as Nick housesits. Topping the docket today is a discussion of “whiteness,” along with verbal distress over how to pronounce “Parler” and the chilling acknowledgment that the government is the only entity that can legally kill you.
Show Notes:
-Page about “Whiteness” from the NMAAHC
-Pew data on church attendance by race/ethnicity
-Michael Burleigh’s The Third Reich
-Fukuyama’s Origins of Political Order
-The article Nick found about Slack channels as the new water coolers
-David French’s hosting of the Remnant earlier this week
-Wednesday’s G-File, written from Alaska
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With Jonah traipsing about somewhere in the Alaskan wilderness, David French takes over the hosting duties to welcome David Bahnsen back on. David and David talk COVID, policy, and faith. After a jab at Jonah — will he really write a book on bigfoot erotica? — the Davids discuss team good vs. team lesser evil, noting that while Scripture anticipated the Assyrians, it didn’t predict Hillary Clinton. All hail King Dave!
Show Notes:
-Jonah, off the grid in Alaska
-Crisis of Responsibility (with a foreword by your host!)
-The abandonment of Reagan’s 3-legged stool
-God’s warning for the people of Judah not to seek help from Egypt against the Assyrians
-Advisory Opinions, with Official Jonah Impersonator David French
-ExpressVPN.com/Remnant for an extra 3 months free on a 12 month plan
-Gabi.com/Remnant to get free quotes and to stop overpaying on your insurance
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On this episode, Jonah ruminates from his igloo (we hope - wouldn’t that be cool?) on some Alaska stories, the American founding, relativism in language, and why good manners are more important (and more complicated) than you might think.
Show Notes:
-The members-only Wednesday “news”letter
-Tony Montana … asserts his dominance? … by eating the lemon in the washing bowl
-Jonah’s dueling essay with Patrick Deneen
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Andy Smarick, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, joins a sleep-deprived Jonah in a discussion of schools in the time of COVID — all 14,000 districts’ worth. After nerding out over Supreme Court cases, civics, and badly misremembering an episode of M*A*S*H, Andy ends on a note of optimism while Jonah (hopefully) goes to get some sleep somewhere in Alaska.
Show Notes:
-Adrian Vermeule’s common-good constitutionalism
-Sohrab Ahmari vs. David French debates, because why not
-What is Conservatism? With a foreword by Jonah
-Bostock v. Clayton County, court opinion delivered by Gorsuch
-AEI survey about parents’ feelings with the approaching school year
-Smarick’s piece on how pundits ought to have governing experience
-Thomas Sowell’s recent book on charter schools
-Andy: What the Espinoza Decision Means for Other Aspects of Religious Freedom
-Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer
-CarShield.com, promo code “dingo” to save 10%
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Jonah has long awaited the chance to have Columbia University linguist John McWhorter on the show, and now he’s finally here. In a particularly un-rank episode of The Remnant, Jonah asks John about the shifting nature of language, and if it’s really a good thing that usage shifts so rapidly (e.g. “literally”). Also, what grammar police campaigns have been successful in preserving grammatical order, and where have they failed?
Show Notes:
-John’s podcast, Lexicon Valley
-Jonah’s piece on Biden’s use of “literally”
-Once more, Paul Bloom’s Just Babies
-DrinkHydrant.com, use promo code “dingo” for 25% off your first order
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Jonah gratefully drags a harried Niall Ferguson onto the show, which begins with Angela Merkel and ends with “copious quantities of claret.” Listen to Jonah and Niall — mostly Niall, of the Mellifluous Voice — speak in tongues, lament the destruction of critical thinking in universities, and sneak in a jab at Woodrow Wilson [dun dun dun].
Show Notes:
-Angela Merkel on “the toughest situation” in Europe’s history
-Communities of fate, coined by our grave German friends
-The New Republic’s contest for the most boring headline
-Rescuing the nation-state, commentary by Alan S. Milward
-Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire by Niall Ferguson
-The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations, by Paul Kennedy
-Too many educated men, by Boyle
-NBER paper on how more people actually stayed home during the protests
-Schumpeter’s Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy
-Civilization: The West and the Rest, by Niall Ferguson
-Piece by Niall and Eyck Freymann
-Faces At The Bottom Of The Well: The Permanence Of Racism, by Derrick Bell
-For fun, the Yale Course Catalog, which Jonah perused a few years ago
-ExpressVPN.com/Remnant for 3 months free off a year-long plan
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On his second Remnant appearance, National Review’s Kevin Williamson travels down a series of tangent-friendly avenues with Jonah. What are statue-defacers actually accomplishing? Why are Americans “a bunch of maniacs” compared to our continental comrades? And what is Kevin’s obsession with Switzerland all about, anyway?
Show Notes:
-Kevin’s upcoming book, Big White Ghetto
-Kevin’s smash-hit, The Smallest Minority
-Kevin’s aptly-titled Tuesday newsletter, “The Tuesday”
-Houston Rockets manager tweets in support of Hong Kong protests
-China is now sterilizing Uyghurs
-The genuine wackiness of Richard Delgado
-DrinkHydrant.com/dingo for 25% off your first order
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It’s the weekend, therefore it’s time for another Ruminant. This time, it’s a monologue in which Jonah truly realizes how Remnant-y he’s really become. In his own words, “the point of conservatism is not to get the Republican Party elected.” In short, this is a “down with majoritarianism, up with principles” kind of episode.
Show Notes:
-Suicide of the West (now out in paperback!)
-The non-scandal of Tina Fey and Jimmy Kimmel
-Steve Teles (Robert Saldin): Never Trump: The Revolt of the Conservative Elites
-Patrick Deneen’s piece for American Compass
-Hofstadter’s book on social Darwinism
-Herbert Spencer and his infamous phrase
-“The Fourteenth Amendment does not enact Mr. Herbert Spencer’s Social Statics.”
-Leonard’s “Origins of the myths of social Darwinism”
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Chris Wallace, host of Fox News Sunday, stops by to discuss his new book Countdown 1945, the state of American politics, and the intersection of technology and journalism.
Show Notes:
-Chris' new book Countdown 1945
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Remnant regular and Fox News politics editor Chris Stirewalt joins to discuss the newsiest events of the day: sausage varietals, Teddy Roosevelt’s legacy, and 1800s newspapers. In addition to nerding out on these rather specific topics, they do get around to some more modern rank punditry on everything from early voting to the future of cable news.
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Why are politicians so reluctant to take responsibility for the history of their own ideas? Everything from the minimum wage to community policing has a sordid past if you just look back far enough, and Jonah thinks that putting on your partisan blinders only for the specific policies you happen to dislike leads to bad outcomes. In this particularly chaotic era of American politics, Jonah points out evidence of this sort of thing happening everywhere.
Show Notes:
-The Problem With Claiming That Policing Evolved From Slave Patrols
-The New Republic’s… interesting piece… on canceling conservative books
-The Bolton book, preorder before the DOJ gets to it
-An early Remnant with Matt Continetti, with talk about neoconservatism
-ScoutandZoes.com, promo code DINGO at checkout
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In the microcosm of right-of-center news, we have been blessed with two great writers by the name of Robert George. This podcast sees Jonah talking to one of them. No, not that one, the other one! They talk about what it’s like to work for two of the most spirited publications in New York (the Post and the Daily News), and take a trip down memory lane to their time as pundits in the last dominant years of live TV.
Show Notes:
-Robert’s author page at New York Daily News
-The long history of Jonah and Julianne Malveaux’s swipes at each other (with a cameo by Robert)
-Robert on BLM’s echoes to the Tea Party
-Keeps.com/dingo for your first month free
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Escaping household chaos, a car-bound Jonah talks prisons with Brown University’s David Skarbek. Bolivian jails and Soviet gulags are just two choices in this long game of Where’d-You-Rather: Incarceration Edition. Skarbek takes us through the highlights of his upcoming book and touches on the delicate subject of policing.
Show Notes:
-Skarbeck’s upcoming book: The Puzzle of Prison Order: Why Life Behind Bars Varies Around the World
-Pirates, Prisoners, and Lepers: Lessons from Life Outside the Law, by Paul and Sarah Robinson
-Caged Heat (There’s more than one of these???)
-German phrase for “Attaining freedom once you reach a city”
-Alex Tabarrok on street safety policy
-Andersonville prisoner of war camp
-Peter Leeson, The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates
-ExpressVPN.com/remnant for 3 months free with a year plan
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What to make of the many news stories of the week - the resignation of James Bennet at The New York Times, the establishment of an autarkic city-state in Seattle, and more? On the Ruminant, Jonah sees some connecting threads between them all, such as the shrinking of large, trustworthy media institutions.
Show Notes:
-"Firing Line with William F. Buckley, Jr." collection, hosted for free by the Hoover Institution
-Robin Williams caricatures Buckley twice in "Aladdin"
-Jonah writing on the problem of liberal media bias and the “objectivity” issue
-Ross Douthat’s op-ed about the Tom Cotton piece
-Jonah and Hugh Hewitt’s disagreement about the Alt-Right from back in 2016
-Jonah: How the nationalists blew their chance
-The members-only Midweek G-File
-Ed Koch: “Now they must be punished.”
-"Pirates, Prisoners, and Lepers: Lessons from Life Outside the Law"
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AEI scholar and China expert Oriana Skylar Mastro joins The Remnant to help us all understand the "Middle Kingdom" and its moves on the world stage. At a time like this, where the U.S. is retreating from its global responsibilities, how is China going to try to spin this into a positive outcome for themselves? Oriana has some ideas.
Show Notes:
-Oriana’s latest insights on China
-Oriana’s book, on the problems with peace talks
-Oriana's piece on Taiwan's future
-The sheer amount of effort that goes into Chinese censorship
-The controversial and confusing Russia/China joint air patrol
-The current state of China’s Belt and Road Initiative
-Weirdness on China’s border with India
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Tim Carney joins The Remnant, where he talks about some of the great shoe-leather reporting he’s been doing on the protests in the D.C. area. How many of the protesters are seriously out to cause trouble, and how many are there for good reasons? Also, what can be made of the “defund the police” movement, and where have our “little platoons” gone during the pandemic?
Show Notes:
-Tim’s work at the Washington Examiner
-Tim’s latest book, Alienated America
-Cyclist in Montgomery County gets falsely accused
-The Treason of Epidemiologists
-Justin Amash’s tweet about epidemiologists
-DrinkHydrant.com promo code dingo for 25% off
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Jonah returns for the weekend Ruminant to address the growing unease he gets from the national protest movements. What’s going to be more damaging: the protests, or the massive overcorrection from the critics of the protests? With a little bit of perspective, it should be easy to see that everyone is manipulating data for their own ends - the epidemiologists, the protesters, and, of course, the Executive (to put it politely).
Show Notes:
-Epidemiologists shift from social distance to social justice
-The Remnant Twitter AI asking for audience suggestions
-Epidemiologists insisting that you can’t go to church
-The heartening history of American racial attitudes over time
-Part of Jonah's review of The Defining Moment
-The St. John’s Church photo op - already adorned with a Wikipedia page
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In this crazy time we’re living in, what’s the most accurate historical parallel? 1968? The 1420s? UMass Boston historian and all-around smart dude Vincent Cannato returns to the show for the second time to remind us of the scary-but-true reality: we are actually living in an unprecedented era. As the ancient faux-Chinese curse says, “May you live in interesting times.”
Show Notes:
-Just in case you’d like to get admitted to the Vatican archives
-Blue check-mark Twitter in an uproar over a Tom Cotton op-ed
-Jonah’s review of A Return to Modesty
-The Power Broker by Robert Caro
-The Confucius Institute, quite literally on the dole of their Chinese paymasters
-If you have a subscription, read the wonderfully-named Francois Furstenburg in the Chronicle
-Is Bill Barr right that history is written by the winners?
-Ronald Radosh’s Prophets on the Right
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How does liberty die? According to Padmé, with thunderous applause. According to The New York Times, with an ill-timed op-ed ghostwritten by Putin. And according to John Pitney, professor of American politics at Claremont McKenna, maybe with Trump? John joins the show to play Remnant bingo, but also to make the case that Trump’s oft-praised abrasiveness isn’t actually very American — and that his behavior usually stifles liberty instead of promoting it.
Show Notes:
-Pitney’s book, Un-American: The Fake Patriotism of Donald J. Trump
-Pitney's piece on Obama and Trump
-Richard Weaver, Ideas have Consequences
-The Federalist Papers, free and online
-P.J. O’Rourke talks about Hillary
-Trump wants to protect Article XII
-Claremont’s 10 years in review
-Pitney’s book After Reagan: Bush, Dukakis, and the 1988 Election
-'We're dying at the box office,' Schwarzenegger tells GOP
-East/West coast Straussians feuds
-Pitney being interviewed about expanding the House
-Elaine Kamarck talking about her role as a superdelegate
-Vladimir Putin’s uh, op-ed in the Times?
-Jonah’s appearance with Andrew Klavan
-TommyJohn.com/remnant for 25% off site wide
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Jonah ruminates on why we can't have nice things, darling. A journey that takes us from Julien Benda’s Treason of the Intellectuals to John Courtney Murray's The Return to Tribalism. From the cigar shop to the primitive Greek usage of the word "idiot."
Show Notes:
-Jonah's piece Cigars: A Love Story or Two
-Jonah's piece Democracy in the Tobacconist’s
-Sen. Ben Sasse's civics lesson
-How to educate an American webinar
-John Courtney Murray's The Return to Tribalism
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Has the 1 percent really rigged the economy? Why do Argentinians believe the Vatican is hiding aliens? And finally, what’s the deal with Bigfoot (and the associated erotica therein)? University of Miami political scientist and conspiracy theory expert Joseph Uscinski joins Jonah to answer these questions, explain who believes such things, and why. We suggest you listen to this truly bizarre episode before the Lizard People take it off the air.
Show Notes:
-FiveThirtyEight podcast with Joe
-The 1 percent rigs the economy, according to Bernie
-Princess Diana conspiracy theories
-8 out of 10 French people believe a conspiracy theory
-How not to write about the Koch brothers
-Rothschilds (Rothschildren?) control everything
-Yuval’s book, A Time to Build
-Secret oil billionaires are out to get Obama
-SaneBox.com/dingo for a $25 credit on your subscription
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Last time Matt Ridley was on, Jonah was left with so many questions that he knew he had to get him on again in short order. So he’s here again to answer more questions on the themes of his new book, How Innovation Works. Matt talks about how bureaucracy gets in the way of innovation, not by saying no to innovators, but “by saying yes too slowly,” and presents the one bit of scientific wisdom he would pass on to a future civilization. Come for the enlightenment, stay for the LED lightbulb.
Show Notes:
-Matt’s new book, How Innovation Works; tell us on social media if you buy it!
-Matt Ridley: speed up bureaucratic decision making
-Thomas Young, The Last Man Who Knew Everything
-Britain’s proud history of… water abstraction reform?
-Innocentive: an innovation crowdsourcing platform
-Jonah’s piece on the RadioLab debacle
-Steven Pinker: what scientific concept ought to be more widely known?
-The 1890 Russian Flu pandemic
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Everything has a price - except The Remnant, of course. That’s free. But regardless, Jonah flies solo once more and shares some advice he learned from his father about how to appraise the worth of any activity in life. On that theme, it turns out that he puts little worth in political eschatology, partisan psychological research, and the dichotomy implied by the terms ‘left-” and “right-wing.”
Show Notes:
-Pastor Douglas Wilson’s show, coming soon with a Jonah Goldberg episode
-David French’s recent Remnant appearance
-The worst example of left-wing political-psychological drek
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David French joins the Five-Timer’s Club on this edition of The Remnant. The conversation has just about the widest scope possible, including everything from end times prophecy, to Protestantism versus Restorationism, to methods for surviving the zombie apocalypse, to the blessed Snyder cut.
Show Notes:
-David’s newsletter, The French Press
-David's podcast with Sarah Isgur
-David, supposedly “breathing on the embers” of #BelieveAllWomen
-The (very involved) eschatology of Assemblies of God
-The timelines of pre-and-post-millennialism
-Albrecht Durer’s fascinating series of Revelation woodcuts, Apocalypse
-Best places to be in a zombie apocalypse
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Amy Walter, national editor of The Cook Political Report, joins the show to talk about which polling numbers actually convey useful information during an election season. How can Trump’s job approval ratings remain relatively high, while lots of people still say they won’t vote for him? What do the parties actually need to do to keep their coalitions intact? And how strongly does Jonah feel about quality underwear? Tune in to find out.
Show Notes:
-Amy’s work at The Cook Political Report
-A more holistic approach to Trump’s numbers
-“Taking the parties out of politics”
-TommyJohn.com get up to 30% off sitewide with code: remnant
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Jonah’s back for another roundup of the week, where he takes on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, R. R. Reno, Napoleon - that’s right, Napoleon - and many more. In addition to addressing current events, he also discusses the necessity of the right to police its own side, and how old-school leftists ruined the word “ideology” for the rest of us.
Show Notes:
-Suicide of the West (now out in paperback!)
-Jonathan V. Last, one of the early-on disparagers of R. R. Reno, on an old Remnant
-A Man for All Seasons: “Would you give the devil the benefit of the law?”
-The (underrated) Tyranny of Cliches
-The edition of What is Conservatism? Foreword by Jonah
-The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America
-DrinkHydrant.com/dingo for 25% off your first order
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Paul Matzko - a historian who has charted the legacy of talk radio and the conservative movement - joins The Remnant pantheon. While conservatives may be familiar with the lasting legacy of figures like Rush Limbaugh and Michael Medved, Paul shows that they follow a path established by religious conservatives stretching back to the 60s. Learn about the Kennedy administration’s checkered history with AM radio, and about the differing impacts of the radio populists versus the print-magazine intellectuals, such as Buckley at National Review.
Show Notes:
-Paul’s book, The Radio Right - out now via ebook, out in hardcover… whenever the pandemic stops
-Paul’s futurism podcast, Building Tomorrow
-Paul’s podcast with an old socialist friend, Impolitic
-George Nash’s history of the conservative intellectual movement
-Jonah’s longstanding beef with Father Coughlin
-Victor Lasky’s book, It Didn’t Start with Watergate
-Paul and John Samples’ research on ineffective social media regulation
-The history of “Revolutionary Defeatism”
-Paul on the Polish ham boycott
-Pacifica Radio’s left-wing radicalism
-Robert Darnton’s Censors at Work
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Why do international institutions have scary-sounding names? Why do we fall for dolphin propaganda, every time? What form does the true Platonic Nacho take? Return guest Scott Lincicome joins The Remnant to answer these pressing questions. This episode explains more of this international man of mystery’s backstory, revealing not only what irks him about modern China-hawkishness, but also the cherished memory that reliably brings a tear to his eye.
Show Notes:
-Scott’s Twitter poll about animal PR
-American Mind wants to cancel Chinese debt
-How does a country become a WTO member?
-Doordash.com, use promo code REMNANT at checkout for zero delivery fees for a month
-ExpressVPN.com/REMNANT for an extra 3 months free
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It’s that time again: on this weekend Ruminant, Jonah finds himself dealing with more 2016 déjà vu, as once again the public conversation turns towards the “binary choice” between two men who have been accused of sexual assault. How did we get to a point where our standards stooped so low? Jonah has a few ideas about that, and they have to do with the cop-outs of the intellectual class and the erosion of social capital.
Show Notes:
-Julien Benda’s The Treason of the Intellectuals
-Background on the formerly pseudonymous author of “The Flight 93 Election”
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Libertarian guru, wisdom-dispenser, and Jonah’s good friend Ron Bailey, science correspondent for Reason magazine, joins us on The Remnant. Ron guides us through the myriad reasons that the coronavirus pandemic doesn’t justify expanding the government and federal bureaucracies to unprecedented levels, before spending the second half of the podcast enticing Jonah to join him in the strange exotic land of the libertarians. If anyone can pull that off, it’s Ron.
Show Notes:
-Ron’s book with Marian Tupy - preorder now
-The CDC wasting time on COVID-19 tests
-Naomi Klein’s wacky This Changes Everything documentary
-Murder Hornets: I’m sure it’s fine
-ExpressVPN.com/REMNANT for 3 extra months free
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Steve Kornacki, national political correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC, joins Jonah to breakdown the state of the 2020 election, and take a trip through the history of political tribalism. It helps that Steve wrote a whole book, The Red and the Blue, on the subject. Come for Steve's keen knowledge of all things politics, stay for the discussion on weak parties.
Show Notes:
-Steve’s book, The Red and the Blue
-Tip O’Neill’s words getting taken down
-Clinton’s Sister Souljah moment
-WaPo’s Washington Redskins poll
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On this Ruminant, Jonah finds himself hearing the “binary choice” argument all over again, but this time about Trump vs. Biden. In his response, he also deals with the ways in which people are failing to take the Reade allegation seriously, how we have a political class of perpetual underdogs, and how dishonest arguments have snuck into our partisan debates.
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Jonah and National Review’s Charles Cooke podcast with one another from the sunny paradise of Florida on this episode of The Remnant. Why is Florida so weird, really? What is to be made of GOP governors riding the Trump Train before promptly hopping back off? And what are people actually angry about regarding the Reade/Biden allegation? Tune in to witness a disagreement that sheds more light than heat.
Show Notes:
-Charlie’s author page at National Review
-Take a wild guess: just how many alligators does Florida have?
-What’s history’s biggest mistake?
-Why did the FBI need to pin Capone on taxes?
-Stealth-edits in NYT’s reporting on Tara Reade
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Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin makes a return appearance on this, the 200th episode of The Remnant. To celebrate, Jonah and Mike bring back the ever-popular theme of half-baked ideas, mixing many of their own ideas (that still need a bit more time in the oven) with some of our very own listener-submitted thoughts. They revisit their plan to (peacefully!) annex Greenland, Mike prolongs his beef with Rep. Dan Crenshaw, and our intrepid podcasters discover how to implement mortal combat into parliamentary procedure.
Show Notes:
-Mike at Heritage Hill Park, which closed shortly after
-The highly influential Justinian Code
-William Manchester’s bio of Douglas MacArthur
-The Federal Thrift Savings Plan
-Episode 151: Jawing with Crenshaw
-Shameless plug (now out in paperback!)
-Xi Jinping looks like Winnie the Pooh
-“Annoying” woman denied Swiss citizenship
-The Svalbard Global Seed Vault
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Jonah returns to ruminate on a smorgasbord of things this week: injecting bleach to cure COVID-19 (big if true!), an extended meditation on John Rawls’ "veil of ignorance," how the veil is nonsensical from the pro-life position, and the difference between “social justice” and a “just society.”
Show Notes:
-Ross’ book on social decadence
-Suicide of the West (now out in paperback!)
-Pope Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors
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How does technological innovation actually happen? We were able to speak to Matt Ridley, who has literally written the (upcoming) book on this subject, How Innovation Works. Matt brings up fascinating points, such as whether or not innovation really relies on “great men” miraculously coming up with brilliant ideas, why we are often resistant to new technology, and how we can get out of our current innovation slump, a product of our cultural risk-aversion. And tune in to see where he places on the ranking of Most British People Ever (™).
Show Notes:
Members of The Dispatch are invited to join the GLoP live broadcast on
Sunday, April 26th at 6PM ET/5PM CT/3PM PT
-How Innovation Works - preorder now
-Kelly’s What Technology Wants
-Harris’ novel, The Second Sleep
-ExpressVPN.com/REMNANT for 3 free months
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This episode goes in The Remnant Hall of Fame for a few reasons: it’s both one of the longest episodes we’ve ever done, with one of the New Yorkiest guests we’ve ever had. Vincent Cannato, professor of history at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, proves his New York credentials not just with stories of mayors from years past, but with the most authentic pronunciation of “Giuliani” you’ll ever hear. Stick around for Jonah and Vin reminiscing about AEI, Irving Kristol, and the least impressive Honda Civic in human history.
Show Notes:
-Live GLoP 2: Daydrinking Boogaloo - stay tuned for updates
-Vin’s book on Mayor John Lindsay, The Ungovernable City
-Lindsay’s, uh, “relations” with Florence Henderson
-An archive of Lifebuoy Soap’s 1918 ads
-Dunn and Shields’ book about conservative professors
-More Kyle Harper on Gnosticism
-John Miller’s article on the slow death of military history
-Ben Wattenberg’s book on who the average American really was in the 70s
-SaneBox.com/DINGO for a $25 credit
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Another weekend, another Ruminant - this time with Jonah talking about the intellectual backdrop of conservatism, and what early conservative (and progressive) ideologies might have to say about today’s coronavirus response. Join Jonah in a cloud of cigar smoke inside his own car to talk about the New Deal, Trump’s call to LIBERATE [INSERT STATE HERE], and more.
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The vox populi has been heard, so we went with a listener-suggested guest on this episode of The Remnant. Kyle Harper is an incredibly knowledgeable historian of the Roman Empire who specializes in the origins of Christianity, but that doesn’t quite do him justice. As Jonah (or, Jonas Magnus) discovers, he’s effectively a polymath who knows about everything from the gnostics to the history of infectious disease - which is, uh, convenient? Watch out for his Oklahoma nationalism, though; he might be trying to annex the rest of the country.
Show Notes:
-The deep human history of respiratory viruses
-Kyle’s latest book, The Fate of Rome
-Hunter-gatherers as the “original affluent society”
-Tacitus: “they make a desert and call it peace.”
-Michael Munger on EconTalk, speaking to the ideological history of slavery
-Jamelle Bouie’s argument about the Enlightenment and racism
-“Climate essentialism” in Hippocrates
-DoorDash, promo code REMNANT for $5 off, and zero delivery fees for the first month
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On the new Remnant, Jonah talks with James Pethokoukis, a fellow at AEI, about how markets are reacting to coronavirus and what the recovery might look like. (V-shaped? U-shaped? Nike swoosh-shaped?) As a result of their isolation-based hallucinations, they also get particularly animated in the rank punditry and pop culture portions - so don’t miss out on their hottest Star Trek takes, or Jim’s shocking defense of the finales of Lost and Battlestar Galactica.
Show Notes:
-Jim’s podcast, Political Economy
-Suicide of the West (now out in paperback!)
-AOC’s late-stage capitalism tweet
-Trump’s “Opening Our Country Council”
-Bill Bennett saying that coronavirus isn’t a pandemic
-Some craziness from Claremont
-James’ column: is this really a black swan?
-Pale Rider, about the 1918 flu
-Star Trek’s transporter is a copy-kill-paste machine
-Bound by Oath, a podcast by the Institute for Justice
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Welcome back to Jonah’s Fortress of Solitude on this latest solo episode of The Remnant. On the docket today are topics like subsidiarity in a crisis, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (which Jonah struggles to pronounce), and listener feedback from The Dispatch comments section.
Show Notes:
-A $1,500 chicken sandwich that was “just fine.”
-Wordsworth and Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads
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Steven Teles, a professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, joins us on the heels of his newly released book, Never Trump. Stop sharpening your pitchforks, everyone! It’s an objective treatment of the Never Trump movement that doesn’t come down one way or the other on it. It also leads into some classic Remnant wonkery, with tangents into the problems with party strength, mediating institutions, and political history, and how these things relate to the tensions within modern conservatism.
Show Notes:
-Steve and Rob Saldin’s book, “Never Trump”
-Milan Svolik: “Polarization versus Democracy”
-The DNC commission that created changes in 1972
-Eddie Izzard: “Cake or Death?”
-Gorillas in the Mist Conservatism
-Buckley’s function as conservative purgemaster
-George Nash’s book on conservative intellectual history
-Invasion of the Body Snatchers
-Remnant 186, with Shoshana Weissmann
-Bound by Oath, a podcast by the Institute for Justice
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Through the magic of the internet, AEI's Lyman Stone joins The Remnant all the way from Hong Kong to talk all things coronavirus: how we got here, the numbers, China's role in the outbreak, and where we go from here.
Show Notes:
-Hong Kong’s relative laxity during the pandemic
-Problems with getting an accurate coronavirus death count
-Siddhartha Sanghi retracts his claim about reduced deaths from social distancing
-Jim Geraghty’s reporting on the Wuhan virology lab
-NY churches being “converted,” if you will, to field hospitals
-Taiwan’s coronavirus travel ban policy
-John Barry’s book on the 1918 flu
-DrinkHydrant.com, promo code “dingo” at checkout
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Back by popular demand, Jonah flies solo as he expands on his thoughts from the week: the necessity of earned success, Adrian Vermeule's essay on originalism, and dogs.
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The Remnant returns to its quarantine schedule with long-awaited guest and (possibly) the most-ever cited legal scholar, Cass Sunstein. Cass and Jonah have a longstanding camaraderie that began with a shared love of dogs - a subject they may write a book about - but they also have an uncanny ability to discuss flaws and weaknesses in one another’s political priors that’s rare in modern debate. There’s dog talk, bonobo talk, and some rank nudgery on this episode, so it’s a great pick-me-up episode with a little bit of something for everyone.
Show Notes:
-Cass talking about the Russian Fox Experiment
-For Kant nerds: Christine Korsgaard’s deontological argument for animal rights
-Cass’ book on “The Cost-Benefit Revolution”
-Cass and Thaler’s “Nudge” theory
-Bound By Oath, the Institute for Justice’s 14th Amendment history podcast
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In this episode, Jonah continues the great Remnant tradition of allowing senior National Review political correspondent Jim Geraghty to dispense genuinely unique and fascinating observations about current global issues. And what better time could there be for that than right now? During a moment in which even Americans’ feelings about a global health crisis break down along partisan lines rather than facts on the ground, Geraghty’s brand of succinct investigative reporting is a breath of fresh air.
Show Notes:
-Jim’s newsletter, The Morning Jolt
-Latest updates on the lies that China has told
-Tom Cotton talks about China re-closing movie theaters
-Shortage of chemical reagents required to make COVID tests
-Jonah’s column about Booker’s “moral imagination”
-Yamiche Alcindor/Trump weirdness
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In the words of Gene Wilder, “There’s no earthly way of knowing … in which direction we are going.” That’s the mood on the latest Remnant, which sees Jonah flying solo in a second - and more streamlined - attempt at an audio G-File. Some of this is an expansion on the topics in this week's G-File, but most of it consists of unique, free-flowing observations from Jonah’s mind. Huzzah for keeping sanity during quarantine! Let us know what you think of this format on the @JonahRemnant Twitter, through Jonah at @JonahDispatch, or by email at [email protected] - we want to know!
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Shoshana Weissmann is a Renaissance woman, and only at age 27: she’s the head of digital media at R Street Institute, a policy fellow specializing in occupational licensing, and an institution unto herself on social media. She brings a blessed breath of brevity to this episode of The Remnant, on which there is no coronavirus talk! She and Jonah touch on some hilarious job licensing restrictions (fortune tellers?), talk a little memes, a little charismatic megafauna, a little Judaism, and even a little online dating. It’s a reminder of how life was before “The Event,” so it’s really a can’t-miss.
Show Notes:
-Professor Randy Barnett, Shoshana’s inspiration
-The wild world of florist licenses in Louisiana
-The city of Annapolis’ occupational license for fortune-telling
-Shoshana stans Arizona Governor Doug Ducey
-Oklahoma’s trying to regulate your Qi
-The legendary Snapchat hotdog
-The uniquely interesting history of Ethiopian Jews
-Michael Novak: “A neoconservative is a progressive with three teenage children.”
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Kevin Williamson is a man of mystery: he’s an “Eisenhower libertarian,” he’s been accused of being a D.C. insider (he lives in Texas), and (most famously) he’s a former staff writer for The Atlantic even though they only gave him one byline before firing him. Life in Kevin’s Fortress of Solitude has stayed mostly the same - even in the midst of a pandemic. Lucky for us, that means he had time to talk to Jonah about his unique political perspective, the role of government in a crisis, and how his “libertoid” opinions help him solve those mysteries of his.
Show Notes:
-Kevin’s latest book, The Smallest Minority
-Kevin’s upcoming essay collection, Big White Ghetto
-The (massively underrated) Tyranny of Cliches
-Suicide of the West (now out in paperback!)
-Adhocracy, a favorite term of Jonah and Kevin’s
-Kevin’s claim to being an “Eisenhower libertarian”
-Douglass North’s impenetrably brilliant Violence and Social Orders
-The unfortunately-named philosophical paradox, “Buridan’s Ass”
-Cleta Mitchell, releasing works for consumption by the populist masses
-Kevin’s The Case Against Trump
-$25 credit from SaneBox
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In order to give you all a break from the talk about the end of the world, this episode has Jonah speaking with psychologist Dr. Michele Gelfand about one of his pet-obsessions: “tight” and “loose” theories of culture. Why do places like Japan and Singapore seem to be in lockstep while the U.S. is so freewheeling? How should we tighten up, culturally, as a response to COVID? And why are Mexican teachers unions so weird? We ask the hard questions here on The Remnant, so don’t miss it.
Show Notes:
-Michele’s book, Rule Makers, Rule Breakers
-The complexity of fractals, for those who actually understand math
-Mexican teaching jobs are given to… teachers’ kids?
-The gum-free land of Singapore
-D.E. Brown’s list of universal traits across all human cultures
-Jonathan Haidt’s article, which then spawned a book, which then spawned a Remnant episode
-Robert Wright, The Moral Animal
-John Tooby’s “coalition instinct”
-Jonah’s Wednesday “news”letter
-Michele’s piece on COVID in the Boston Globe
-The fascinating concept of “pluralistic ignorance”
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Fox News politics editor Chris Stirewalt joins The Remnant to discuss coronavirus and its impact on the 2020 election. Where does Bernie Sanders go from here? Should Joe Biden run a front porch campaign? How do Obama/Trump voters vote this time?
Show Notes:
-Stirewalt's politics newsletter
-Stirewalt and Dana Perino's podcast
-UnTuckIt.com code DINGO
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New York Times columnist and resident French expert Ross Douthat returns once more to talk about his new book, The Decadent Society. He makes the case that decadence is more than just high-calorie desserts and rich Corinthian leather; the phenomenon is more about the space race, the birth dearth, our dumb Hollywood blockbusters, and our painful politics. Oh, and the coronavirus has turned him into a doomsday prepper. But Ross is a Bonhomme if you will, so we’re betting he survives his book tour unscathed.
Show Notes:
-Ross’ book, The Decadent Society
-Daniel Kahneman on thinking fast and slow
-The evils of the coronavirus distributors in public bathrooms
-The process of recording an audiobook
-Peter Thiel and his “almost lifelike” enunciation
-Jacques Barzun’s From Dawn to Decadence
-Suicide of the West, now out in paperback!
-F.J. Turner’s Frontier thesis
-Where UN peacekeepers have succeeded, and where they’ve failed
-Robert Nisbet’s recounting of the WWI horse problem
-Tina Fey on Conan O’Brien’s podcast
-DoorDash, promo code REMNANT
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Elizabeth Warren might be out of the running for the Democratic nomination, but that doesn’t mean that the most harmful parts of her agenda haven’t been assimilated into other Democrats’ platforms. David Bahnsen literally wrote the book on that bad agenda and asserts that the worst parts of it (i.e. an outright unconstitutional wealth tax) might still be coming down through a different nominee. David and Jonah also engage in some rank punditry, and they even ask the question that all the cool kids are asking: what’s the deal with Postmillennial Protestant eschatology?
Show Notes:
-David’s (somewhat ill-timed) book
-John Podhoretz’s (equally ill-timed) book
-Monday’s 2,000-point Dow drop
-Saudi Arabia and Russia’s oil price shenanigans
-Mohammed bin Salman behaving completely normally, for sure
-The role of smoking in COVID-19 vulnerability
-Charles Cooke’s great take on MSNBC’s math
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Does our culture need to become more nationalistic? What about reorienting our society towards “the highest Good,” as defined by your religion of choice? Stephanie Slade, managing editor at Reason, doesn’t think so, but she brings a unique perspective that many other libertarians don’t: she’s also a practicing Catholic. In this episode, Stephanie explains how she balances these two commitments that, on the surface, seem at odds with one another. Jonah also picks a fight with her about drug ads on primetime television.
Show Notes:
-Stephanie’s piece for Reason on nationalism
-Stephanie’s piece on balancing her Catholicism and libertarianism
-Stephanie on the Roman Circus podcast
-The peak of the French-Ahmari Wars
-Randolph Bourne on the “Health of the State”
-Jonah on Nick Gillespie’s Reason Interview
-Daniel Burns on liberal practice versus liberal theory
-Yoram Hazony’s beef with classical liberalism
-Trump calling himself a nationalist
-Beer: just as important as the Epic of Gilgamesh
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Is the American Dream dead? How are most Americans actually doing? Will the coronavirus kill us all? And most importantly, is Star Trek: Picard actually good? Repeat guest Michael Strain, author of The American Dream Is Not Dead, has all of these answers and more.
Show Notes:
-Michael’s book, The American Dream Is Not Dead
-Marco Rubio’s father as an American success story
-Irving Kristol on the power of ideas
-The New York Times on the power of lawns
-Josh Hawley at King’s College
-Brink Lindsey on U.S. culture after the 50s
-Oren Cass’ Cost-of-Thriving Index
-Elaine on stuffed crust pizza
-Jeri Ryan is why we live in this timeline
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Princeton Professor Keith Whittington is so sharp that he gives you paper cuts when you shake his hand. That’s why we had him on - to walk all of us mere mortals through the complex history of judicial review as outlined in his book, Repugnant Laws. Keith brought a mix of history, current events, rank punditry and more to this podcast!
Show Notes:
-The history of the “8 glasses of water a day” myth
-Keith’s last book, Speak Freely
-Oliver Wendell Holmes’ opinion for Buck V. Bell
-The scary reality of self-censorship at universities
-Temperance-era protests at Berkeley over family serving beer to firefighters, God forbid
-Keith’s WaPo piece on Dershowitz’s impeachment argument
-Remnant 174 with Josh Kraushaar
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Delicate ears beware - Lachlan Markay and Asawin Suebsaeng got explicit with us to talk about the inner workings of the Trump administration staff, which is the topic of their new book called Sinking in the Swamp. How much favor do Trump-positive talking heads really get from the White House? Are Trump’s numerous ex-staffers now effectively lobbyists? And can we pronounce Asawin’s name correctly?
Show Notes:
-Bannon’s use of the “Island of Misfit Toys” phrase
-Stephen Miller’s strange history
-The “Singularity of Asininity”
-James Adomian’s Gorka impression
-Lachlan’s article on Gorka’s park-job
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In a return to normal Remnant-y quirkiness, we have on “the oldest young person” that Jonah knows, Andrew Egger. There’s rank punditry, far-afield movie references, and an unnerving amount of Midwest-bashing; it has everything!
Show Notes:
-Huey Long: “Enough money to burn a wet mule”
-Suicide of the West, now in paperback
-Bernie supporting Castro, Sandinistas in 1985
-UnTuckIt.com promo code dingo
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Tevi Troy stops by The Remnant to break the first rule of Fight House and talk about Fight House his new book about rivalries in the White House. Jonah and Tevi then take a trip down memory lane at their time together at AEI in the early 1990s.
Show Notes:
-Fight House: Rivalries in the White House from Truman to Trump
-Camelot created the modern presidency
-DrinkHydrant.com promo code dingo
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National Journal politics editor Josh Kraushaar stops by for a special Valentine's Day edition of The Remnant full of rank punditry on all things 2020.
Show Notes:
-Josh’s podcast, Against the Grain
-Josh’s column, also called Against the Grain
-The unwokeness of most Democrats - precisely in point #6
-Steve Inskeep asking Warren what states she thinks she can win
-Jonah explaining Seth Masket’s argument at length
-The Party Decides, a book that’s less and less true by the day
-John Rauch’s suggestions re: primaries
-Bernie calling open borders a Koch conspiracy
-Ron DeSantis politicizing his kids
-Romney’s note to Senate colleagues
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AEI resident scholar Derek Scissors joins The Remnant to discuss all things China including the trade agreement with the U.S., Huawei, and coronavirus.
Show Notes:
-China's 2019 economic summary
-DoorDash code: Remnant
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For part one of their crossover podcast event Jonah talks with Bridget Phetasy about meeting on Twitter, culture wars, drug legalization, writing for Playboy, and #MeToo.
Show Notes:
-Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy
-Dumpster Fire with Bridget Phetasy
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Steve Hayes, editor of The Dispatch, walks over from his desk to talk with Jonah about the best steak in Iowa, the end of the impeachment trial, and an update on their new media company The Dispatch.
Show Notes:
-The Atlantic profile of The Dispatch
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AEI's Charles Murray is back on the podcast to discuss his new book, "Human Diversity: The Biology of Gender, Race, and Class."
Show Notes:
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For podcast sidekick Jack Butler's last appearance on the Remnant as such, he turns the tables by asking Jonah the questions that he's been meaning to ask for a long time: about drugs and alcohol, punching homeless people, getting punched by Irishmen, and more.
Shownotes
-The (second) Mike Gallagher episode
-Buy Suicide of the West (now out in paperback!)
-The first Megan McArdle episode
-Jack's podcast, Young Americans
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AEI's Yuval Levin drops by The Remnant to discuss his new book "A Time to Build" and lays out his argument for why America's real problems stem from the failure of our institutions and why they need to be rebuilt or built anew.
Show Notes:
-Yuval Levin (AEI, National Affairs)
-Inside Trump's stunning tirade against generals
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Jonah visits with Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier to discuss how Special Report comes together, Twitter and the news cycle, the Democratic primary, and going to college with Steve Hayes.
Show Notes:
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New York Times Op-Ed columnist David Brooks stops by The Remnant to discuss tribalism v. community, nationalism, whether the word conservative is salvageable, and the story of the "Kosher Killer."
Show Notes:
-Goldberg: Americans are more partisan than ever
-George Will v. Josh Hawley part one
-George Will v. Josh Hawley part two
-Capitalism v. socialism debate with Arthur Brooks
-Marco Rubio's common-good capitalism
-Michael Oakeshott's Rationalism in Politics
-DoorDash promo code: Remnant
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New York Times columnist Ross Douthat joins the Remnant to discuss religion: new religions, religions fighting among themselves, hokey religions that are no match for a good blaster at your side, etc. Shownotes –The Dispatch -Ross Douthat: NYT (The Argument), NRO, AEI –The Gary Schmitt episode –The Ross Douthat religion panel –Social Creature – Tara Isabella … Continue reading Episode 165: Ross, Do That →
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Jonah visits fellow Gen Xer Jake Tapper’s shrine to political losers to talk about the 1990s, The Six Million Dollar Man, Joe McCarthy, and Donald Trump. Show Notes: –Jake Tapper –Rep. Dick Swett –Jake Tapper’s office of presidential losers –The Hellfire Club
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Jonah lets the team at The Dispatch hijack The Remnant to debut their new podcast “The Dispatch Podcast.” Today Sarah, Steve, Jonah, and David take a look at the situation between the U.S. and Iran, the latest with impeachment, and the president’s proposed tariffs on European wine.
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Through the magic of Skype, Jonah talks from Spain with Jack about life in Spain (and Iberian pork), the killing of Soleimani, Star Wars, and more. Shownotes –The Dispatch –The most recent Morning Dispatch –Graeme Wood on Soleimani –Randolph Bourne –The EU’s fatal flaw –The most recent GLoP –The Nick Gillespie Remnant –Reason’s Star Wars … Continue reading Episode 163: Iberian Pork Overdose →
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Washington Examiner Executive Editor and author of Fear Your Future Phil Klein joins the Remnant to discuss his new book on how Baby Boomers have screwed over the Millennials. Shownotes –The Dispatch –nas.org/DINGO –Phil Klein of the Washington Examiner –Fear Your Future – Phil Klein –Paul Krugman against Monetary Monetary Theory –Calvinball –Lyman Stone’s AEI work on … Continue reading Episode 162: Millennials Are Screwed →
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Jonah invites AEI scholar and impeachment expert Gary Schmitt to discuss what impeachment actually is, what it’s for, and how to use it properly. Shownotes –Gary Schmitt –The Dispatch –“How the Framers thought about impeachment” – Gary Schmitt –“What does ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ mean?” – Joseph Bessette and Gary Schmitt –Federalist No. 65 –National … Continue reading Episode 161: The Gary Schmitt Impeachment Primer →
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National Review senior political correspondent Jim Geraghty makes yet another return to the Remnant to discuss the Democratic primary, impeachment, Star Wars, and more. Shownotes –MeetCircle.com/DINGO, enter DINGO at checkout –Mrs.Fields.com, PROMO code DINGO –NAS.org/DINGO –The Dispatch –National Review Jim Geraghty –National Review Editors’ Podcast –The Democrats’ diversity panic –Jim Geraghty on why Booker et al … Continue reading Episode 160: Pre-Christmas Geraghty →
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Jonah is joined by The Dispatch reporter Declan Garvey to discuss his trip to President Trump’s rally in Hershey, Pennsylvania, reporting on Capitol Hill, the state of the Democratic primary, and their mutual love of The Mandalorian. Show Notes –The Dispatch –Declan Garvey –Battleground state polls –ZipRecruiter.com/dingo
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Dispatch staffers David French and Sarah Isgur hijack the Remnant feed to debut their new podcast, Advisory Opinions, today focusing on the release of the Department of Justice Inspector General report.
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Jonah’s former National Review colleague and current AEI colleague Ramesh Ponnuru joins the Remnant to suss out what in the impeachment morass and the conservative internecine wars he does and doesn’t find highly illogical. Plus, the accent contest gets a surprise late entry. Shownotes –The Dispatch –How you can now subscribe to The Dispatch -Door … Continue reading Episode 158: Blessed By Ramesh →
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Jonah turns the tables on Reason magazine’s Nick Gillespie, interviewing him about the states of conservatism, libertarianism, and the Republican Party. Shownotes –The Dispatch –mrsfields.com/DINGO –Part one of this podcast –“Rocket Man” as interpreted by William Shatner –“Star Trekkin'” – The Firm –Nick Gillespie on the freedom of cities –“Stuck” – Ron Bailey –Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy – … Continue reading Episode 157: Making Gillespie Dizzy →
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Dispatch staff writer Sarah Isgur joins the Remnant to discuss cookies, the Deep State, Peloton, and more. Shownotes –The Dispatch –mrsfields.com/DINGO –Sarah Isgur –Molly Jong-Fast in the Daily Beast –The Jessica Gavora episode –The Dan Crenshaw episode –Destiny of the Republic – Candice Millard –Is Administrative Law Unlawful – Charles Murray –By The People – Charles Murray
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AEI scholar and National Affairs editor Yuval Levin joins Jonah for an extended, Thanksgiving-appropriate discussion of gratitude and community. Shownotes –Donorstrust.org/DINGO –The Dispatch –Yuval Levin –The first Yuval Levin episode, and second-ever episode –Chesterton on gratitude –Suicide of the West – Jonah Goldberg –On Thanksgiving –National Affairs – Daniel Burns –The Daniel Burns episode –The End … Continue reading Episode 155: A Very Yuval Thanksgiving →
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Jonah brings national security guru Eli Lake onto the Remnant to spit hot fire on the rise of China, the Ukraine mess, Russian meddling, the “Deep State,” and more. Plus, the winner of the accent contest is revealed. Shownotes –The Dispatch –Sleepnumber.com/DINGO –Eli Lake –On NPR Monday morning –Wired on Crowdstrike –Liberal Fascism – Jonah Goldberg … Continue reading Episode 154: Eli Lake of Fire →
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R Street Institute scholar Andy Smarick joins the Remnant to discuss Hayek, subsidiarity, post-liberalism, and more. And in the post-interview show, the Remnant Anglosphere accent contest enters a new stage. Shownotes –The Dispatch –meetcircle.com/DINGO, enter promo code DINGO –OTATrade.com/DINGO –Andy Smarick –Jean Yarbough’s review of the strikingly Teddy Rooseveltian book by a young Josh Hawley … Continue reading Episode 153: The Wild, the Innocent & the R Street Shuffle →
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With the help of Daniel Burns of the University of Dallas, Jonah takes a break from punditry and tries to understand the ins and outs of the post-liberalism debate. Shownotes –The Dispatch –Ziprecruiter.org/DINGO –Earnest.com/DINGO -Door Dash app, promo code REMNANT –Daniel Burns –Daniel Burns in National Affairs –G-File on Daniel Burns –Suicide of the West – … Continue reading Episode 152: Among the Post-Liberals →
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Rep. Dan Crenshaw, once a Navy Seal, joins the Remnant for a discussion of conservatism, persuasion, and how to move forward in this political moment. (This is a recording of a live event at Texas A&M.) Shownotes –The Dispatch –MrsFields.com/DINGO –Dan Crenshaw –The most recent Continetti episode –Suicide of the West – Jonah Goldberg –Dan Crenshaw … Continue reading Episode 151: Jawing with Crenshaw →
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Now-AEI Fellow Matt Continetti returns to The Remnant for some high-minded philosophical discussion of conservatism and some low-minded chatting of the rank-punditry variety. Shownotes –The Dispatch –EthosLife.com/DINGO –OTATrade.com/DINGO –Matt Continetti’s first Remnant appearance –Sean Trende on the 2010s and the 1870s (and Niall Ferguson and Matt Continetti) –The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945 – … Continue reading Episode 150: The Continetti Continuum →
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Fox News Politics Editor Chris Stirewalt joins the show as our emergency salami for punditry about the 2019 off-year elections and the impeachment debacle. Shownotes –The Dispatch -Download the Door Dash app, use promo code REMNANT –OTATrade.com/DINGO –Chris Stirewalt –Jonah’s books
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National Review editor Rich Lowry rejoins the Remnant to discuss–and debate–the virtues of nationalism, the subject of his new book, The Case for Nationalism: How It Made Us Powerful, United, and Free. Shownotes –DonorsTrust.org/DINGO –The Case for Nationalism – Rich Lowry –National Review: Editors podcast –The last time Rich and Jonah debated nationalism –The Yoram Hazony … Continue reading Episode 148: Rich Lowry’s Case for Nationalism →
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On a special Halloween episode, Jonah speculates on the deepest fears of some of the most prominent people in public life. Shownotes –The Dispatch –Ziprecruiter.com/DINGO –On Albert Jay Nock –Nock on himself –LA Times column from earlier this week –Washington Post fact-check on Joe Biden’s military history –The most recent David French episode –The gender-swapped … Continue reading Episode 147: Fear Is the Mind Killer →
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AEI law-talker guy Adam White returns to the Remnant to try to make sense of Democrats’ attempt to impeach President Trump. Shownotes –The Dispatch –Adam White –Adam White’s last episode –Adam White and Stuart Taylor on presidential oversight –Adam White on House oversight at the beginning of the year –Adam White on the collision of … Continue reading Episode 146: Impeachy Keen Democrats →
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Cato Institute ‘prosperity expert’ Marian Tupy joins the Remnant for a much-needed dose of economic optimism, enumerating the ways in which we are indisputably better off materially nowadays. He and Jonah also attempt to figure out why a sort of social malaise persists in the world despite this. Shownotes –The Dispatch –OTATrade.com/DINGO –Marian Tupy of … Continue reading Episode 145: Don’t Worry, Be Happy →
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Now Senior Editor for The Dispatch, the (in)famous David French joins the Remnant to discuss the French-Ahmari wars, Trump’s impeachment, the Deep State, the flaws of Elizabeth Warren, Joker, and more. Shownotes –The Dispatch –Earnest.com/DINGO –David French responds to Sohrab Ahmari –The melee at CUA –Charles Kesler, David French, Sohrab Ahmari –What Is Conservatism? –Federalist … Continue reading Episode 144: The David French Experience →
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AEI Middle East expert Ken Pollack rejoins the Remnant to attempt to make sense of Trump’s decision with the Kurds and other aspects of U.S. policy of late. Shownotes –Go to The Dispatch –The last Ken Pollack episode –Ken Pollack –LA Times column on Trump winging it –On the Trump cult of personality –Unthinkable – Ken … Continue reading Episode 143: How Trump Demurred on the Kurds →
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A discursive Remnant sees Jonah muse on both the serious (Syria, impeachment), the whimsical (threats from aliens and kaiju, the inadequacy of Conan’s workout on the Wheel of Pain), and much in between, with the help of sidekick Jack. Shownotes – LA Times column on Syria –John Quincy Adams on (not) going abroad in search … Continue reading Episode 142: Searching For Monsters →
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Jonah brings Mo Eleithee, the founding Executive Director of Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service and a former high-ranking employee for the Democratic National Committee, for a productive (!) and civil (!!) conversation between two reasonably disagreeing adults about politics (!!!). They discuss the 2020 Democratic primary, Trump’s re-election prospects, and how the … Continue reading Episode 141: The Big Mo →
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Jonah invites Steve Hayes back onto the Remnant to unveil The Dispatch, their long-teased new venture, of which Jonah is the editor-in-chief and Steve is the CEO. They also discuss the unfolding Ukraine drama and the recent news about the Kurds. Shownotes –Behold, The Dispatch! –More about The Dispatch in Axios –The Simpsons on brunch –More … Continue reading Episode 140: Dispatched! →
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Recovering from a cold and a madcap schedule, Jonah does a little punditry and a lot of storytelling. Shownotes –Untuckit.com, promo code DINGO –Earnest.com/DINGO –Winston Churchill has nothing to hide –Jonah’s Ukraine rant –The Silurian Hypothesis –How Biden’s connection to the Trump-Ukraine scandal could help him –The most recent Ben Sasse episode –The Mike Gallagher … Continue reading Episode 139: Story Time with Jonah →
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Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Green Bay Packers) returns to The Remnant for its longest ever one-part episode (we think), dedicated (almost) entirely to “half-baked” ideas, such as buying Greenland (which Gallagher proposed to Jonah last year, making him a Greenland hipster), nuking non-threatening asteroids for practice and deterrence, instituting congressional barracks, and more. Shownotes –Ziprecruiter.com/DINGO –The … Continue reading Episode 138: Greenland Hipsters →
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Jonah attempts to outrace the news cycle by getting in his thoughts about the Ukraine-Trump-Biden-Whistleblower brouhaha, even as developments later in the day outpace a podcast recorded in the morning. Shownotes LA Times column on Trump and Ukraine Mocking Joe Biden, as early as 20011 Trump pressures Ukraine eight times – WSJ Ethoslife.com/DINGO The Ben … Continue reading Episode 137: Ukraine! →
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Long-absent, and now foul-mouthed, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) returns to the Remnant to explain why Trump endorsed him, why he voted how he did on the wall, and why our media habits are destroying us. With a little bit of Corn Pop thrown in for good measure. Shownotes –Ben Sasse’s last appearance on the Remnant … Continue reading Episode 136: Censor the Senator →
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Woman of many talents Mary Eberstadt joins the Remnant to discuss Primal Screams, her latest book, which advances a theory about the connection between family breakdown and the rise of modern identity politics. Shownotes -Download the Door Dash app, use promo code “REMNANT” –Suicide of the West – Jonah Goldberg –Primal Screams – Mary Eberstadt –Mary Eberstadt previews … Continue reading Episode 135: Primal Screams →
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AEI adjunct fellow Lyman Stone returns to the Remnant, and to America, to discuss family formation, fertility, climate change, and more. Shownotes –The first Lyman Stone episode –The first Ilya Shapiro episode, followed by another appearance three weeks later –Lyman Stone at AEI -Lyman Stone’s congressional testimony –The Birth Dearth – Ben Wattenberg -Giving the game … Continue reading Episode 134: Like a Lyman Stone →
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Commentary magazine senior writer Christine Rosen rejoins the Remnant to discuss Varsity Blues (the scandal), Big Tech, and more. Shownotes -Commentary podcast -Christine Rosen -Christine Rosen on the Meritocracy Blues -Christine Rosen on Felicity Huffman –The Noah Rothman episode –Preaching Eugenics – Christine Rosen -The first Bahnsen episode -The changing mores of the young -Biden should … Continue reading Episode 133: Christine Rosen Revival →
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Ben Howe, author of The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values (and himself an Evangelical Christian), joins the Remnant to discuss his book, the Evangelical reaction to Trump, the past, present, and future of conservatism, and more. Shownotes –Ben Howe -And on Twitter, @BenHowe –The Immoral Majority – Ben Howe -Lance Wallnau on … Continue reading Episode 132: Trump and the Evangelicals →
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National Review Online editor Charles Cooke rejoins the Remnant to discuss The Beatles, roller coasters, Brexit, the Second Amendment, and more. Shownotes -Charles Cooke -The previous Charles Cooke episodes (here, here, and here) –Florida man throws alligator through drive-through window -Charles Cooke on roller coasters -Charles Cooke on the Beatles (here and here) -The Niall … Continue reading Episode 131: A Political Roller Coaster →
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Back in D.C., Jonah invites Iowan, AEI Fellow, and constitutional law expert Adam White to the Remnant to discuss originalism, separation of powers, and the Constitution (and to break a certain other constitutional law expert’s legal monopoly on the show). Shownotes -The Niall Ferguson episode -Adam White -Ilya Shapiro’s Remnant appearances: here, here, and here … Continue reading Episode 130: Iowa Law →
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From sunny California, Jonah brings Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Niall Ferguson onto the Remnant to discuss how the West grew rich, the problems with contemporary historical scholarship, and other weighty issues. Shownotes -Sign up for the G-File -Niall Ferguson, Hoover Institution –A Farewell to Alms – Greg Clarke –Empire – Niall Ferguson –Suicide of the West – Jonah … Continue reading Episode 129: Basement History →
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With Jonah off the grid, Jack takes over the show, with an assist from National Review senior political correspondent Jim Geraghty (or is it?), to discuss Trump primary challengers, the Democratic primary, the old people dominating our politics, the problem of mass shootings, and more. Shownotes Sign up for the G-File Follow us on Twitter … Continue reading Episode 128: Punditry with Geraghty →
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In a special Remnant/GLoP almost crossover, Commentary magazine editor John Podhoretz rejoins the Remnant to discuss the Fredo controversy, Epstein’s suicide*, and more. Shownotes -John Podhoretz, today’s guest -This week’s first Remnant -What is a schmendrick? -Gilbert Gottfried’s podcast -Beware Lashon hara! -Conan O’Brien’s podcast -Bill Hader/Tom Cruise Deepfake -Radiolab on deepfakes -Download the DoorDash … Continue reading Episode 127: Who’s Fredo? →
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With Jonah on the road, he and Jack discuss the Fredo contretemps, Epstein’s suicide* and the age of conspiracy theories, defend the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and more. -Download the DoorDash app, promo code REMNANT (not DINGO) -Ziprecruiter.com/Dingo –Government by Gunplay – Sidney Blumenthal -LA Times column about Jeffrey Epstein -Follow @jonahremnant on Twitter -Jonah and Rich Lowry’s … Continue reading Episode 126: Jeffrey Epstein and the Era of Conspiracy Theories →
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AEI and Institute for Family Studies fellow Lyman Stone joins the Remnant to help make the case for expanding the House of Representatives, to discuss the self-identification of population groups, and to ponder Hong Kong’s future. Shownotes Get the G-File Lyman Stone Lyman Stone on Twitter On expanding the House Sean Trende on expanding the … Continue reading Episode 125: Expand the House of Representatives! →
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Vox Senior Politics Reporter Jane Coaston joins the Remnant for a discussion of racism, conservatism, liberalism, and America. Shownotes Sign up for the G-File The G-File on “Racism and the Right” “A question for conservatives: what if the left was right about race?” – Jane Coaston “What if there really is no such thing as … Continue reading Episode 124: How To Think About Racism →
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Steve Hayes, now officially Jonah’s business partner, returns from a yearlong residence in Spain to discuss what he’s been up to, what he and Jonah are working on, and why, exactly, the Democratic presidential candidates have (mostly) gone so far to the left. Shownotes Sign up for the G-File at Reagan35X.com Cheney – Steve Hayes The … Continue reading Episode 123: The Return of Steve Hayes →
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Remnant regular and Cato Institute trade expert Scott Lincicome returns to the show for his periodic trade update, and to discuss whether the “national conservatism” assessment of trade is correct. Sign up for the G-File Remnant Episode 10: Afraid of Trade? – Scott Lincicome Remnant Episode 33: The Nacho Situation – Scott Lincicome Remnant Episode … Continue reading Episode 122: The Lincicome Ultimatum →
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Manhattan Institute budget wonk Brian Riedl joins the Remnant for a long, wonky discussion of debt, deficits, taxation, and spending…all while trying to keep the amount of truly intimidating math at a minimum. Shownotes Sign up for the G-File “New Budget Deal Puts Final Nail in the Tea-Party Coffin” by Brian Riedl The Remnant episode … Continue reading Episode 121: Math! →
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Politico chief political correspondent Tim Alberta joins the Remnant to discuss the behind-the-scenes machinations and the long-term implications of Trump’s securing the Republican presidential nomination–and then the presidency itself–in 2016, the subjects of his new book: American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump. Shownotes American … Continue reading Episode 120: American Carnage →
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In the thrilling conclusion to the epic two-parter with historian David Pietrusza, Jonah and David confront the legacy of Woodrow Wilson, and engage in some Wilson-bashing. Shownotes Illiberal Reformers by Thomas Leonard Davis-Bacon Act Wilson’s 1911 sterilization law The Conservative Sensibility by George Will Leaders of Men by Woodrow Wilson “The New Freedom,” Woodrow Wilson … Continue reading Episode 119: Pietrusza Potpourri, Part Two: Wilson-Bashing →
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Historian David Pietrusza, author of 1920: The Year of Six Presidents, joins the Remnant for part one of an epic tour through 20th century American history. This first episode focuses on the six(!?) presidents of 1920, and on related contemporary national and international history. All the while, a sinister figure lurks in the background, to be … Continue reading Episode 118: Pietrusza Potpourri, Part One: The Podcast of Six Presidents →
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A.B. Stoddard, Real Clear Politics associate editor and columnist (and fellow Fox News panelist), joins the Remnant for an episode that manages to discuss the ins and outs of Congress and politics (without mentioning Paul Ryan because his return to the news cycle came after this podcast’s recording). Shownotes The Long Game podcast featuring A.B. … Continue reading Episode 117: The ABCs of Politics with A.B. →
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Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle returns to the Remnant to discuss the controversy over women’s soccer, the stupidities of the modern Internet, and the virtues of owning a dog. Shownotes “Why the debate about equal pay for U.S. women’s soccer isn’t that clear cut” – Megan McArdle Forbes: The richest people in the world 2019 … Continue reading Episode 116: Megan McArdle vs. the Argle-Bargle →
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Bahnsen Group founder and Crisis of Responsibility author David Bahnsen returns to the Remnant for a wide-ranging conversation on religion, finance, politics, and more. Shownotes The Bahnsen Group Crisis of Responsibility – David Bahnsen The last David Bahnsen episode Sign up for the new G-File Theonomy in Christian Ethics – Greg Bahnsen The 50th anniversary edition of … Continue reading Episode 115: The Bahnsen Barnburner →
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The Remnant tries a new experiment that may be the beginning of a new era or a quickly-forgotten one-off: an audio recording of this week’s Goldberg File, the (in)famous weekly newsletter (in case you didn’t know). Shownotes -My latest column -Cultural appropriation is great –Kapotasana -America is getting less racist -A terrible person -Sign up … Continue reading Episode 114: The G-File? →
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Cato Institute Constitutional Studies Director Ilya Shapiro–and dual U.S.-Canadian citizen–joins the Remnant for the second year of what we are hoping will become his annual Supreme Court end-of-term roundup. And he gets in some celebrations of Canada for an episode recorded on Canada Day. Shownotes Remnant Episode 44 with Ilya Shapiro Remnant Episode 47 with … Continue reading Episode 113: Straddling the 49th Parallel →
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Thriller author Brad Thor joins the Remnant to discuss Backlash, his latest nailbiter, and to examine his creative process and engage in some trademark Remnant rank punditry. Shownotes Backlash by Brad Thor Congressman Riggleman and Bigfoot erotica Brad Thor’s inspiration for his first book James Foley and Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell The original cliffhanger Lone Survivor … Continue reading Episode 112: Thor’s Wrath →
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Unstuck in time, Jonah and Jack resort to that most desperate measure of a beleaguered podcast: an AMA Q&A. Shownotes Jonah Goldberg C-SPAN interview with George Will BringFido.com Milton Himmelfarb Quote Kirsten Gillibrand on Abortion Deadwood Spoiler alert: not the dogs! “Revelations” –er, “Revelation” Tweet Papal Ninjas? Jonathan Last on “Frenchism” The Simpsons: Marge’s “Monkees” … Continue reading Episode 111: Unstuck in Time →
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National Review senior writer Jim Geraghty earns the honor of being Jonah’s first former National Review colleague to join the Remnant, coming onto the show to discuss Between Two Scorpions, his new thriller, and for some slightly-less-rank punditry. Shownotes: Between Two Scorpions: A Dangerous Clique Novel, by Jim Geraghty The Weed Agency by Jim Geraghty … Continue reading Episode 110: Between Two Podcasts →
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Jonah invites George Will, author of The Conservative Sensibility, onto the Remnant to discuss the book and how George Will helped make him into a pundit in the first place. Shownotes: On Albert Jay Nock Memoirs of a Superfluous Man – Albert Jay Nock Our Enemy, the State – Albert Jay Nock “Isaiah’s Job” – Albert … Continue reading Episode 109: Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way →
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Bears Want To Kill You author Ethan Nicolle joins The Remnant to counter incessant bear propaganda. Show Notes: On bear propaganda Inspiring: Painter Creates Moving Art Pieces Showing Jesus’s Influence On The Trump Presidency Seinfeld: “No, it offends me as a comedian!” How to escape a prayer circle Axe Cop – Ethan Nicolle Bearmageddon – … Continue reading Episode 108: Bears! →
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Is America going to war with Iran? What is John Bolton up to? What does Cyrus the Great have to do with it? AEI scholar Ken Pollack joins The Remnant to answer these and other questions. Show Notes: AEI page for Ken Pollack Ken Pollack on war with Iran Get NR Plus to listen to … Continue reading Episode 107: It All Goes Back To Cyrus the Great →
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Is everything the Boomers’ fault? Are Millennials actually the victims? Is Gen X the best generation? Jonah brings Wall Street Journal editorial board member and author of Theft of a Decade: How the Baby Boomers Stole the Millennials’ Economic Future Joe Sternberg onto The Remnant to answer these and other questions. Show Notes: Untuckit.com, use … Continue reading Episode 106: Blame the Boomers →
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AEI scholar and (AEI president-to-be) Robert Doar joins The Remnant to talk New York politics, how capitalism isn’t failing, Seinfeld, and more. Show Notes: Ziprecruiter.com/Dingo The most recent Remnant, with John Tillman Who is Robert Doar? Who was John Doar? Losing Ground – Charles Murray Who was Ben Wattenberg? The Ungovernable City – Vincent J. … Continue reading Episode 105: Open Doar Policy →
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What happened to Illinois? Why is Chicago so corrupt? Who is Michael Madigan, and why do the answers to both questions involve him? Live from Chicago itself, Jonah attempts to answer these questions with the help of John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute. Show Notes: The Illinois Policy Institute John Tillman, Illinois Policy … Continue reading Episode 104: Chicago! →
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Jonah and his majordomo go guestless for the first time in a while for some rank punditry on Bill Barr and the Democratic field, and for some pop culture punditry on Avengers: Endgame and Game of Thrones. Show Notes: The Sowell episode The JG Prime episode The MBD episode My Father Left Me Ireland – … Continue reading Episode 103: Violent Nuance →
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National Review senior writer Michael Brendan Dougherty returns to The Remnant to discuss nationalism, patriotism, and identity, the themes of his new book, My Father Left Me Ireland. Show Notes: Michael Brendan Dougherty’s National Review page My Father Left Me Ireland – Michael Brendan Dougherty An Atlantic article sampling the book Nietzsche’s last men Nationalism … Continue reading Episode 102: My Podcast Left Me Ireland →
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Do politicians write their own books? What was it like to play basketball against Sarah Palin? How much of a slob is Jonah Goldberg? Jessica Gavora, noted D.C.-area writer (and wife of Jonah Goldberg) appears on the 101st (?) episode of The Remnant to answer these and other pressing questions. Show Notes: DonorsTrust.org/Dingo The Thomas … Continue reading Episode 101: JG Squared →
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For the 100th (?) episode of The Remnant, Thomas Sowell, who needs no introduction, joins Jonah for a long conversation on discrimination, inequality, the uses and misuses of economics (all subjects covered in the new edition of Discrimination and Disparities, out now), and more. Show Notes: DonorsTrust.org/Dingo Thomas Sowell’s Hoover Institution page Conflict of Visions … Continue reading Episode 100: The Sowell of Economics →
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What is “nationalism”? Does it need to be benign? Is there a conservative case for the Austro-Hungarian Empire? The latest episode of The Remnant is actually audio of a conversation between Jonah, Rich Lowry, and Jim Geraghty at the 2019 National Review Ideas Summit. Show Notes: Rich and Ramesh’s nationalism cover essay Tennyson on the “Parliament … Continue reading Episode 99: Debat—er—“Discussing” Nationalism →
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George Mason University economics professor Tyler Cowen rejoins The Remnant for a wide-ranging conversation on big business, liberty, capitalism, and more, inspired by his new book, Big Business: A Love Letter To An American Anti-Hero. Show Notes: The Barry Strauss episode, with Jack Butler hosting Get NR Plus to listen to the last Remnant episode … Continue reading Episode 98: Dr. Cowen; Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Big Business →
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Remnant sidekick Jack Butler executes a coup, taking over the show from Jonah to host an episode interviewing Cornell University classical historian Barry Strauss about ancient Rome, which he covers in his new book, Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine. Show Notes: Get NRPlus at NationalReview.com/Plus Barry Strauss at Cornell University Ten Caesars: … Continue reading Episode 97: What Have the Romans Ever Done For Us? →
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Should we worry about income inequality? Is life better for most people today or 100 years ago? Is Bruce Springsteen’s music any good? AEI economics scholar Michael Strain returns to The Remnant to answer these and other questions. Show Notes: Beto’s tweet Michael Strain’s AEI page Michael Strain’s Bloomberg page Michael Strain’s take on Thanos … Continue reading Episode 96: Strain Explains →
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National Review senior writer David French returns to The Remnant to discuss nationalism, Mueller, Marvel, and more. Show Notes: National Review Institute nationalism panel Get NR Plus to listen to the Yoram Hazony Remnant David French on God, Israel, and nationalism Michael Brendan Dougherty on modern nationalism as irritation David French on being dunked on … Continue reading Episode 95: French New .WAV →
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Back from his trip abroad, Jonah returns to D.C. for some rank Mueller punditry and some aimless Jack-assisted potpourri. Show Notes: Ziprecruiter.com/Dingo Untuckit.com, use promo code Dingo On loving curses On hard collusion skepticism Will Saletan on Barr’s weasel words The second David French Remnant Dissolve the people and elect another Charlotte Allen (not Charlotte … Continue reading Episode 94: International Podcast of Mystery →
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The Remnant performs one of its trademark deep-dives on policy, this time about opioids and with the help of AEI scholar and practicing psychiatrist Dr. Sally Satel. Show Notes: sbalist.org/remnant Sally Satel’s AEI scholar page House Energy and Commerce Oversight Committee Report on opioid distribution failures “Taking On the Scourge of Opioids” – Sally Satel … Continue reading Episode 93: Confronting the Opioid Crisis →
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Outgoing AEI president Arthur Brooks steps out of legend and into The Remnant to discuss how to heal our politically divided nation, the subject of his new book, Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt. Show Notes: Arthur Brooks’ book, Love Your Enemies The new adventure with Steve … Continue reading Episode 92: Loving Your Enemies →
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What’s this? A piece of Remnant apocrypha, long thought lost, has been recovered! Indeed: A conversation last November between Jonah and Rob Long on the last National Review cruise now sees the light of day.
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In this episode of The Remnant, National Review senior editor David French joins Jonah for a wide-ranging discussion of politics and pop culture and Jonah’s new media venture. Show Notes: Get NR Plus to listen to episode five, with guests Ben Sasse and David French Tennessee testicle dipper David French’s National Review page David’s article … Continue reading Episode 90: French Connections →
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What do Chevy Chase, Maryland and Oostburg, Wisconsin have in common? Why should you start a T-Ball team? Can dying towns come back to life? Washington Examiner commentary editor Tim Carney rejoins The Remnant to answer these and other questions raised by his new book: Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse. Show … Continue reading Episode 89: Alien Nation →
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Miffed by losing his British accent monopoly on The Remnant, NationalReview.com editor Charles C.W. Cooke returns to the show to discuss Trump’s declaration of emergency, our decaying constitutional framework, accents, and more. Show Notes: Charles Cooke’s National Review page Get NR Plus to listen to the last Charles Cooke episode Ace of Spades on MacGuffins … Continue reading Episode 88: A Faux-Declaration of Non-Emergency →
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Was Karl Marx an anti-Semite? Are Jews money-worshippers? Does anyone even remember that Marx wrote an essay “On The Jewish Question”? Jonah is interviewed by Jonathan Silver of the Tikvah Fund for an episode of the Tikvah Podcast that we have cross-posted here. Show Notes: The Tikvah Fund The Tikvah Podcast Jonah on The Tikvah … Continue reading Episode 87: Marxist Table Turning →
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Will Venezuela collapse? Will Maduro be overthrown? Is God Emperor of Dune the key to understanding American politics in 2019? Venezuela expert and AEI scholar Roger Noriega comes onto The Remnant to answer the first two questions, leaving Jonah and his Sancho Paza to attempt to answer the third by themselves. Show Notes: Roger Noriega … Continue reading Episode 86: Venezwailin’ →
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Will Brexit actually happen? Why is England so weird? Why does America rock? Member of European Parliament (for now) and leading Brexiteer Daniel Hannan joins The Remnant to break Charles Cooke’s British accent monopoly on the show and to answer these and other questions. Show Notes: Inventing Freedom: How the English-Speaking Peoples Invented the Modern World – … Continue reading Episode 85: Weird English, Awesome Americans →
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Noah Rothman, associate editor of Commentary, joins The Remnant for some light punditry and some heavy nerdery on the misuses of social justice, apropos his new book, Unjust: Social Justice and the Unmaking of America. Show Notes: Trade Builds America The National Review Institute The National Review Institute Ideas Summit – register today Noah Rothman’s … Continue reading Episode 84: Social Justice: It’s a Put-On →
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Will Howard Schultz be president? Is Gen Z worse than Millennials? Who will win the 2020 Democratic nomination? Noted augur Kristen Soltis Anderson returns to The Remnant to answer these and other questions. Show Notes: Trade Builds America Ziprecruiter.com/Dingo Follow Kristen Soltis Anderson on Twitter Subscribe to NR Plus to listen to the last episode … Continue reading Episode 83: The Haruspex Returns →
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Can we stop nukes from hitting us? Should we worry about North Korea? Where are all the lasers? Missile defense expert Tom Karako joins The Remnant to answer these and other important questions. Show Notes: Buy shirts at Untuckit with promo code DINGO for 20 percent off Trade Builds America Thomas Karako’s CSIS biography Tarako on the … Continue reading Episode 82: Dr. Karako; Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Missile Defense →
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Jonah invites Washington Post editorial writer Charles Lane onto The Remnant to discuss how he defeated Darth Vader, why journalism is so terrible right now, what the 2020 Democratic field looks like, and more. Show Notes: Charles Lane’s Washington Post column Shattered Glass Steve Glass’ CPAC story Buy shirts at Untuckit with promo code DINGO … Continue reading Episode 81: Stay In Your Lane →
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Jonathan Last, executive editor of The Bulwark and the last of the Sub-Beacon trio to appear on The Remnant, joins Jonah for a rollicking round of repartee about Trump, the Democrats, and Star Wars. Show Notes: Behold: The Bulwark The Bulwark podcast that mentions me Albert Jay Nock on “Isaiah’s Job” The Weekly Sub-Beacon “The … Continue reading Episode 80: The Last Podcast →
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Is the working class made of candy glass? Is Oren Cass wrong? Is the universe probabilistic? AEI economics scholar Michael Strain joins The Remnant to answer these and other questions. Show Notes: The Oren Cass Remnant The Once and Future Worker – Oren Cass Yuval Levin’s take on Tucker National Review’s Editors debate on their podcast … Continue reading Episode 79: Economic Strain →
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Can the working class be saved? Should we fight China’s trade war depredations? Will Jonah survive jet lag? Oren Cass, Manhattan Institute scholar and author of The Once and Future Worker, joins 2019’s first Remnant to answer these and other questions. Show Notes: The Once and Future Worker – Oren Cass Oren’s argument, summarized by … Continue reading Episode 78: Make Work Great Again →
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For the last Remnant of the year, Jonah makes a special trip to the offices of the Rosslyn Free Beacon for a little light rank punditry with Free Beacon editor-in-chief Matt Continetti, and some heavier pop culture discussion with Free Beacon executive editor Sonny Bunch. Show Notes: Me on how the Democrats could still blow … Continue reading Episode 77: The Rosslyn Free Beacon Remnant →
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Why is Jurassic Park unrealistic? Why was Woodrow Wilson so bad? Does it help Trump to appease his base and alienate everyone else? Jonah answers these questions, or at least attempts to, on the penultimate episode of The Remnant this year. Show Notes: Get NRPlus to listen to the Andy Ferguson Remnant episode The Biology … Continue reading Episode 76: Pet Peeve Festival →
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What is a Crusonia plant? Where did prosperity come from? Can Jonah get a laconic libertarian to digress? Tyler Cowen, George Mason University economics professor and author of Stubborn Attachments, joins the Remnant to answer these and other questions. Show Notes: Stamps.com, enter DINGO. Conversations with Kristol The Complacent Class – Tyler Cowen The Great Stagnation – … Continue reading Episode 75: Stubbornly Attached →
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Why is Florida so weird? Can government unite us? Is Charles Cooke still a British citizen? The editor of NationalReview.com himself returns to The Remnant to answer these and other questions. Show Notes: DonorsTrust.org/Dingo National Review Editors’ podcast NationalReview.com Jonah on the Cylons Charles Cooke’s review of Daniel Hannan’s Inventing Liberty Charles Cooke against George … Continue reading Episode 74: Charles Cooke II: Cruise Ship Boogaloo →
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Can Congress be fixed? Is Breaking Bad the greatest TV show of all time? Can we fix this nation’s problems by installing pull-up bars in every airport? Representative Mike Gallagher (R., Cheese) joins The Remnant to answer these and other pressing questions. Show Notes: There can be only one… Mike Gallagher – “How To Fix … Continue reading Episode 73: Curdish Freedom Fighter →
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Is George Soros pure evil? Is nationalism? Why can’t Yale students use the term “master” anymore? Brookings Institution scholar and author of The End of Europe James Kirchick stops by The Remnant just before Thanksgiving to answer these and other pressing questions. Shownotes: Podium.com/Dingo Conversations with Kristol The End of Europe – James Kirchick “The Truth About … Continue reading Episode 72: A Riot of Nuance →
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Fox News politics editor Chris Stirewalt rejoins The Remnant for a conversation on the midterms, the parties, and America’s political future. Show Notes: Audible.com/dingo Stamps.com, type in Dingo I’ll Tell You What – this week’s episode Sean Trende – “Was it a wave?” Intelligence Squared debate on the future of the Democratic party Special “I’ll … Continue reading Episode 71: Dire Chris Stirewalt →
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In a bit of a change of pace for The Remnant, Jonah invites Manhattan Institute senior fellow and homelessness policy expert Stephen Eide onto the show to discuss what to do about the plight of the homeless. Show Notes: “How to think about homelessness” – Stephen Eide Madness in the Streets Larry Hogue, the mad … Continue reading Episode 70: Fighting Homelessness →
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Did Beto blow it? Will the Republican party survive Trump? Is Jonah dyspeptic? The 69th Remnant, with National Review senior political correspondent Jim Geraghty, attempts to answer these and other pressing questions. Show Notes: Ziprecruiter.com/Dingo Donorstrust.org/Dingo Sign up for NR Plus to listen to the previous Jim Geragthy Remnant episode Butlerian Jihad Geraghty on Trump … Continue reading Episode 69: Midterminal →
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For the last Remnant before the midterms, Jonah invites Senator Ben Sasse (R-Corn) back to the Remnant to discuss Them, his new book about giant ants. Jonah also does some particularly pungent rank punditry. Show Notes: Them – Ben Sasse The Vanishing American Adult – Ben Sasse Suicide of the West – Jonah Goldberg Coming Apart – Charles Murray … Continue reading Episode 68: Revenge of the Corn →
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Jonah invites National Review executive editor and author of the newly-released Melting Pot or Civil War onto The Remnant to discuss immigration, nationalism, solidarity, and his latent Bismarckian tendencies Show Notes: Podium.com/dingo National Review Editors podcast Melting Pot or Civil War – Reihan Salam National Review’s cover story/excerpt of Melting Pot or Civil War Me supporting the … Continue reading Episode 67: Immigration Reform for Fox and Vox →
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Is Jonah vexed? What were the Saudis thinking? Is a blue wave imminent? Jonah answers all these questions and more on the latest Remnant. Or tries to, anyway. Show Notes: Conversations with Kristol, this episode’s sponsor. The Hazony Remnant . The Virtue of Nationalism – Yoram Hazony . Trump says he’s a nationalist . Robert Costa … Continue reading Episode 66: Post-Orb Potpourri →
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Is nationalism good? Are nations better than empires? Is John Locke bad? In conversation with Yoram Hazony, author of The Virtue of Nationalism, Jonah attempts to answer these and other questions on the latest Remnant. Show Notes: Them: Why We Hate Each Other–and How to Heal by Ben Sasse (R-Corn) Casper.com/Dingo Buy Suicide of the West My Notre … Continue reading Episode 65: Too Much Pluribus, Not Enough Unum →
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Fresh off another road trip, but not in fresh clothing, Jonah makes time for some rank punditry on Nikki Haley, Kavanaugh, and tribal escalation. Show Notes: Yellow Springs, Ohio – Wikipedia page Jonah’s Yellow Springs hotel The Onion on the JFK assassination National Review Editors podcast The McCarthy Report The Commentary podcast Max Boots on … Continue reading Episode 64: Manbrosia Rank Punditry →
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To celebrate the one-year anniversary of The Remnant, Jonah invites Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff on to discuss The Coddling of the American Mind. And, in a Remnant first, there is a flashback to an earlier episode. Show Notes: The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff The Atlantic article that started it … Continue reading Episode 63: Snowflake Jacobins →
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With Jonah still on the road, he has time only for some brief commentary on the Kavanaugh debacle. This episode is otherwise a recording of a conversation between Jonah and Charles Murray, author of Coming Apart, on their respective oeuvres. Show Notes: My controversial NPR hit Conversations with Bill Kristol The Bahnsen Group Buy a … Continue reading Episode 62: In Case of Emergency, Talk To Charles Murray →
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Recording a podcast from atop the Gateway Arch (if only in spirit), Jonah answers listener questions and discourses on socialism with the help of his Sancho Panza in the latest episode of The Remnant. Show Notes: Come to the NRI dinner Get investment advice from the Bahnsen group National Review’s Kavanaugh content: -Editorial board -David … Continue reading Episode 61: Meet Me In St. Louis →
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Jonah invites Senator Ben Sasse (R-Corn) back to The Remnant for a wide-ranging conversation on the Republican Party, the state of our government, and…cats. Show Notes: DonorsTrust, this week’s sponsor Ben Sasse’s new cat Kill all cats? Sasse on leaving the Republican Party Sasse on congressional self-neutering Ramesh’s response to Sasse A Conflict of Visions by … Continue reading Episode 60: Stray Cats and Screaming Chyrons →
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Someone must have touched the orb, because not only do we get two Remnants this week, but also Jonah travels through time for some rank punditry on the present and the future. Show Notes: DonorsTrust, this week’s sponsor The Peter Boettke podcast The Game of Shadows fight Me on the hand gesture fracas The Rob Long Remnant … Continue reading Episode 59: Post-Orb Punditry →
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Returned from his vacation and already seeking refuge from D.C. craziness, Jonah invites Hayek expert and George Mason University professor Peter Boettke to discuss the ins and outs of F.A. Hayek. Show Notes: Peter Boettke’s GMU bio Peter Boettke’s new book on Hayek Hayek on “The Use of Knowledge in Society” Hayek’s Road to Serfdom … Continue reading Episode 58: Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Not A Monetarist →
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This week, Jonah Goldberg and Rob Long cross the streams between their co-hosted GLoP podcast (John Podhoretz is off this week) and The Remnant. They talk about Rob’s career in Hollywood, WhatAbout-ism, cross country traveling, and sure, a bit of monkeying around.
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Does Trump have good character? Are digital assistants evil? Will Pippa ever get tired? In the midst of a journey across the country, Jonah takes time to answer these and other questions on the latest Remnant. Show Notes: You have died of dysentery My MAGA-Twitter-triggering question Paul Rahe on The Godfather Charles Kesler on norm-breaking The … Continue reading Episode 56: Tales From the Road →
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If you’ve ever wanted to publish a book, this Remnant is for you. If not, well . . . please still listen. This episode’s guest is Jonah’s literary agent Jay Mandel, of WME Entertainment, who divulges as many of the secrets of book publishing success as the podcast length and format allows. Show Notes: Buy … Continue reading Episode 55: So You Want to Write a Book →
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With the dog days of summer emptying D.C., Jonah drags Matt Continetti, editor-in-chief of the Washington Free Beacon, back onto the Remnant for some rank punditry, some Trumpsplaining, and some conservative nerdery. Show Notes: Buy Suicide of the West! My Special Report hit Trump thinks losing the House will be good for him The latest … Continue reading Episode 54: Bonfire of the Norms →
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Is Saruman a Randian superman? Should Alex Jones be banned? Has Jonah ever made love in the back of a Model-T? New York Times columnist and National Review film critic Ross Douthat returns to The Remnant to answer (or ask!) these and other pressing questions (yes, really). Show Notes: The National Review editors’ podcast Grand New … Continue reading Episode 53: Douthat II: Electric Boogaloo →
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This week’s episode avoids rank punditry and unapologetic eggheadery in pursuit of unadulterated nerdiness and pop culture thumbsuckery. For such a task, there’s no better guest than the co-host of the Weekly Substandard podcast and executive editor of the Washington Free Beacon, Sonny Bunch. It’s the crossover to end all crossovers. He and Jonah discuss Star Wars revisionism, the “Golden … Continue reading Episode 52: Sonny Bunches of Takes →
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Are Millenarians the worst? Is China poised to dominate the world? Was the 2008 financial crisis only the fault of Wall Street? David Bahnsen, author of Crisis of Responsibility and National Review Institute trustee, joins The Remnant to answer these and other questions. Show Notes: The Bahnsen Group. Grab a copy of Things That Matter. Learn more … Continue reading Episode 51: Millenarians Are The Worst →
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England-born newly-minted American citizen Charlie Cooke, editor of NationalReview.com, joins Jonah for the 50th episode of the Remnant. They have a merry time discussing why Charlie loves America, why he’s a conservatarian, what he thinks of Brexit, and whether it’s necessary to pledge fealty to President Trump. Jonah also forces him to read some words … Continue reading Episode 50: The British American Conservatarian Florida Man →
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Jonah invites Jay Cost, AEI Visiting Fellow and author of The Price of Greatness, onto The Remnant for a very nerdy discussion of republicanism, the Founding, and the state of our government. Show Notes: Check out this episode’s sponsor, Conversations with Kristol. Jay Cost’s new book, The Price of Greatness. And one of his previous books, A … Continue reading Episode 49: Identity Politics Yahtzee →
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No one joins Jonah for the latest Remnant, which he compensates for by being extra discursive and dyspeptic about the news (Supreme Court, Democrat overreaction) and pop culture (Ocean’s 8, Incredibles 2) of the day. Show Notes: Here’s the latest episode of Jack’s new podcast Young Americans. “The Organization Kid,” by David Brooks. 72 virgins … Continue reading Episode 48: Slipshod Edition →
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Jonah invites Cato Institute legal scholar Ilya Shapiro back on to The Remnant for some rank legal punditry: a rundown of the cases the Supreme Court decided this term and speculation about what happens to the Court now that Justice Anthony Kennedy is retiring. Show Notes: Ilya’s last appearance on the Remnant. The opening of … Continue reading Episode 47: The Sweet Mystery of Anthony Kennedy →
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Political strategist, erstwhile academic, and friend of NR Luke Thompson joins The Remnant for a discursive discussion of the fine art of campaign consulting, the ins and outs of U.S. history, and the future of the Republican Party. Show Notes: Luke’s podcast, Constitutionally Speaking. A commercial for the TRS-80 computer. My article on the problems … Continue reading Episode 46: Comfortable, Smug, But Not Comfortably Smug →
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This week’s Remnant reunites Jonah with his fellow goatee-sporting journalist Steve Hayes, the editor-in-chief of the Weekly Standard. Jonah tries to keep the chicken wings and cheese curds away from Steve long enough for them to talk about the state of the Republican Party, Charles Krauthammer, and . . . fraternity pledging? Show Notes: Steve … Continue reading Episode 45: Purple Hayes →
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Can the president pardon himself? Are cakes free speech? What is the tonnage clause? Jonah invites Ilya Shapiro, Cato Institute senior fellow in constitutional studies, onto the Remnant to answer these and other legal questions. Show Notes: Matthew Franck’s piece on the issues with a presidential self-pardon. Salena Zito’s new book on the Great Revolt. … Continue reading Episode 44: Get Me Another Shapiro! →
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National Review senior political correspondent Jim Geraghty rejoins the Remnant for a wide-ranging discussion about Roseanne and Samantha Bee, double standards, the pardon power, and Solo. Show Notes: The article I wrote on my father-in-law and immigration. Paul Gavora’s obituary. Subscribe to National Review. And The Weekly Standard. And Commentary. And while you’re at it, buy a copy of Suicide … Continue reading Episode 43: The Age of Double Standards →
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Enjoying a brief respite from his book tour, Jonah takes time to memorialize his larger-than-life father-in-law, address critics of Suicide of the West (buy now!), and engage in some rank punditry on Mueller, China, and North Korea. Show Notes: The GLoP episode in which I discussed my father-in-law’s journey to America. Turns out a Nixon … Continue reading Episode 42: Numb As a Podcast →
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Are media outlets dishonest? How should conservatives treat Trump? Is DC better than Marvel? Live from Ben Shapiro’s L.A. lair, Jonah attempts to answer these and other pressing questions. Show Notes: Check out my interview on Ben Shapiro’s “Sunday Special” podcast. Seth Stevenson’s piece on Shapiro. Shapiro’s Weekly Standard piece on young conservatives. …And my piece on … Continue reading Episode 41: Fear and Loathing in Los Angeles →
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In this special episode of the Remnant, Jonah fights travel exhaustion and fields reader questions on subjects from Bigfoot erotica to Suicide of the West and everything in between. Show Notes: The part in Tyranny of Cliches in which I explain why the “I may not like what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the … Continue reading Episode 40: Jet Lag Q&A →
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The second half of Jonah’s conversation with Hoover Institution Fellow and Econtalk podcast host Russ Roberts moves away from the abstract and the philosophical and more into the contemporary and the political. Jonah and Russ also search for something on which they might disagree. Show Notes: Remnant episodes with Matt Continetti and Megan McArdle. F.A. Hayek’s Nobel Prize … Continue reading Episode 39: Econtalked: Part II →
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When is a podcast too long? Should we hate pragmatism? Are economists a guild? Jonah invites Russ Roberts, Hoover Institution fellow and host of the Econtalk podcast, to attempt to answer these and other questions, in the first part of their conversation. Show Notes: My appearance on Econtalk. Jerry Muller’s appearance on Econtalk. Jerry Muller … Continue reading Episode 38: Econtalked →
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Can liberals understand conservatives? Is civil society decaying? Is staging a fake assassination attempt on yourself a good way to win reelection? Washington Examiner commentary editor Tim Carney rejoins the Remnant to answer these and other questions. Show Notes: The Weekly Standard podcast, live from the Midwest. Noah Rothman on liberalism’s current fatalist conceit. Vanity … Continue reading Episode 37: Effulgent Punditry →
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With a lot of drama unfolding these days in the Korea peninsula, Jonah invites AEI scholar and North Korea expert Nicholas Eberstadt to help make sense of North Korea, the Kim family, President Trump’s new approach to the problem, and more. Show Notes: My conversation with Kristol. Nick Eberstadt’s conversation with Kristol. Buy my book. … Continue reading Episode 36: The Flimflam Kim Fam →
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Jonah finds time in the midst of his whirlwind book tour for a special New York episode of the Remnant with National Review senior contributor Michael Brendan Dougherty. They have a wide-ranging discussion on ethnic pride, nationalism and patriotism, Ireland, and more. Show Notes: Proud To Be Right, an anthology of young conservative voices published … Continue reading Episode 35: Enchanting Creeds and the Enchanted Isle →
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Is the golden age of globalism about to come to an end? Jonah invites Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer, author of Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism, onto the Remnant to find out. Show Notes: Scott Lincicome’s nacho recipe. More on Ian Bremmer’s Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism. Robert Putnam on diversity and … Continue reading Episode 34: The Cleanest Dirty Shirt →
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Trade lawyer and Cato Institute scholar Scott Lincicome returns to the Remnant as we await the US-China trade war that may or may not happen to tell us what we should or should not do. Show Notes: My website list of upcoming public appearances. My website landing page for buying Suicide of the West. My National Review magazine excerpt … Continue reading Episode 33: The Nacho Situation →
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In the latest Remnant, Washington Examiner commentary editor Tim Carney joins Jonah to discuss the headlines of the day (the Cohen raid, Syria, the 2018 midterms) and to do a deeper dive on the nature of crony capitalism. Show Notes: The column Tim Carney was working on before and after he recorded this episode. More information about … Continue reading Episode 32: Blarney Tim Carney →
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The latest Remnant invites New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, author of the newly-released To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism, to discuss Pope Francis and state of the Catholic Church. Show Notes: Official book page for To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism by Ross Douthat. Ross Douthat’s essay-length … Continue reading Episode 31: Is the Pope Catholic? →
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Returning from exile, and just back from a trip abroad, Senator Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) rejoins The Remnant for a wildly discursive episode on cybersecurity, congressional dysfunction, populism, and cryptozoology. Show Notes: The Hundred-Year Marathon by Michael Pillsbury, which Ben Sasse recommended as a must-read on China’s strategic vision. “Navigating Conflicts in Cyberspace: Legal Lessons from the … Continue reading Episode 30: The Nebraska Shuffle →
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Jonah takes a break from his vacation for another podcast potpourri Remnant. Joined by Michael Pratt and Jack Butler, he answers listener questions and settles some scores. Show Notes: The Washington Post’s surprising coverage of the March For Our Lives. My daughter doing trapeze stunts. My column on John Paul Stevens and the Second Amendment, … Continue reading Episode 29: Podcast Potpourri III: Podcast with a Vengeance →
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Because the Rothschilds prevented a high-minded podcast with Ross Douthat (rescheduled) Jonah ventures back into rankest of rank punditry with National Review senior political correspondent Jim Geraghty. The tastefully dressed Geraghty helps navigate the tricky terrain of Cambridge Analytica, Stormy Daniels, the 2018 midterms, and more. Show Notes: The D.C. city councilman who accused the … Continue reading Episode 28: So Much Rank Punditry, They Should Have Sent a Poet →
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Past Remnant guests Charles Murray and Steve Hayward join Jonah for an unprecedented recording of the Remnant with a live studio audience. They discuss their own lives and take questions from an audience of young people seeking direction about their futures. Show Notes: The Charles Murray Remnant episode. The Steve Hayward Remnant episode. The Curmudgeon’s … Continue reading Episode 27: Get Off Our Lawn →
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In another trial run at a special All Rank Punditry edition of the Remnant, Jonah and his Sancho Panza tackle the Windmills in the news this week, from Hillary’s gaffe, Tillerson’s defenestration and the augurs of PA-18. Show Notes: Childhood’s End, the book mentioned as describing a child’s psychic exploration of the universe. An explanation … Continue reading Episode 26: Hillary’s Pillory, Lamb’s Slaughter →
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In the latest Remnant, Weekly Standard managing editor Christine Rosen lends her varied expertise to a far-ranging discussion on eugenics, Hollywood, the “Me Too” movement, the future of capitalism, and more. Show Notes: Christine’s bio page at The Weekly Standard, including more information about her books, such as Preaching Eugenics: Religious Leaders and the American Eugenics Movement, … Continue reading Episode 25: The Chosen Rosen →
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Can a president break the law? Is intelligence from the Steele Dossier actionable for FISA warrant? Should we let lawyers make all of our decisions for us? Former federal prosecutor and senior National Review Institute fellow Andrew McCarthy joins The Remnant to answer these and other pressing legal questions of the day. Show Notes: Andrew … Continue reading Episode 24: Lawyer, Guns & Money (Minus the Money) →
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Pressed for time and fighting technical glitches, Jonah takes the Remnant into the perilous field of podcast rank punditry, opining at moderate length about this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the Parkland shooting, and the Russia investigation. Show Notes: Richard Brookhiser on the state of the conservative movement 10 years after William F. Buckley … Continue reading Episode 23: CPAC, Guns, and Russians: Oh My! →
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George Mason University economics professor Bryan Caplan joins The Remnant to discuss his latest book, The Case Against Education. While agreeing with much of Caplan’s case, Jonah spends a good portion of the podcast in the difficult task of trying to prove a smart libertarian wrong. Show Notes: Bryan Caplan’s website, including sale links to … Continue reading Episode 22: We Don’t Need No Education →
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In an homage to the star-stuffed 70s disaster movies they both know and love so well, Jonah invites Commentary magazine editor and GLoP Culture co-host John Podhoretz on for a wide-ranging discussion on movies, TV, New York, neoconservatism, and much more. In fitting ’70s disaster movie fashion, a special guest star makes a surprise cameo. When … Continue reading Episode 21: When Worlds Collide! →
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Bloomberg View columnist Megan McArdle joins Jonah in the latest Remnant to offer a sensible libertarian’s perspective on whether dogs are Marxist, whether drugs should be legalized, whether libertarians should be classified by their preferred subway stop, and whether you should go to that party or not.
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In this guest-free free-for-all Jonah and Co attempt to answer listener questions, but end up mostly talking about alcohol, Star Trek, and (caution to listeners with kids in the car) telling slightly bawdy jokes.
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In the latest Remnant, Jonah surveys the public opinion landscape with pollster extraordinaire Kristen Soltis Anderson. They talk fecal craters and 2018 midterms, with a bonus aside about the #MeToo movement. Meanwhile, Jonah may have found his signoff phrase.
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Charles Murray comes to the Remnant with the wisdom of a decades-long career and now 75 years of life for a fascinating conversation with Jonah. They cover the bases . . . if your bases are social science, the future of America, and whether there can be such a thing as a “vodka martini.” The … Continue reading Episode 17: Genes, Gin, and Government →
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Jonah rocks the casbah in the latest Remnant, with Middle East scholar Michael Rubin, who helps him assess the condition of the regimes of Iran and Turkey and the status of the Middle East and Islam generally.
Podcast intro and closing music is “March of the Elephants” by Remnant listener Craig Robison.
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Fox News’s Chris Stirewalt joins Jonah for the latest Remnant to discuss the decrepit state of our media and politics. Also, Jonah and co wrap up the show with a highly self-indulgent year in review. New podcast music by Rob Alley. Show Notes: Give a listen to Chris’ political trivia showdown with Peter McMahon. Your … Continue reading Episode 15: Our Mediocre Media →
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Jonah climbs high into the (metaphorical) Himalayas in this week’s Remnant, in search of advice from Arthur Brooks, the guru-like president of the American Enterprise Institute. They meditate upon various topics, including but not limited to finding meaning in life, what’s next for American politics, and what’s so special about the French horn. New podcast … Continue reading Episode 14: Arthur Brooks’s The Meaning of Life →
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Jonah goes guest-free in this week’s Remnant, allowing him to engage in some rank punditry about Roy Moore’s defeat in Alabama and answer listener questions. The show runs the gamut from veganism, best conservative books, and best Twitter accounts, to trade deficits, Al Gore’s inhuman presence, advice for motivating bright but lazy teenage boys, and … Continue reading Episode 13: Podcast Potpourri →
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In the latest Remnant, Jonah talks with Steve Hayward, currently a visiting professor at University of California, Berkeley — and a conservative. They discuss how what conservatives can do to make more inroads into higher education, and why elite schools should welcome the effort. Other topics include Who was Leo Strauss? Are the East Coast-West … Continue reading Episode 12: Episode Behind Enemy Lines →
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As The Remnant enters double digits, Jonah journeys into the international marketplace, with Cato Institute trade scholar and trade lawyer Scott Lincicome as his guide. Jonah and Scott defend free trade, and try to answer its critics. Show Notes: Be sure to check out Donors Trust. Slideshow…boring…losing…consciousness… To give you some idea what Howard Hughes … Continue reading Episode 11: Afraid of Trade? →
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Jonah invites fellow conservative history geek Matt Continetti of the Washington Free Beacon to explore the past, present, and future of conservatism as an ideology and as a movement. They pick up heaping helpings of neoconservatism, paleoconservatism, libertarianism, and Reaganism en route to a dessert of denouncing Sonny Bunch. Show Notes: Subscribe to The Remnant … Continue reading Episode 9: Arguing at the Right-Wing Thanksgiving Dinner Table →
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Breaking away from the shackles of the guest-interview format, our host discourses on the sexual misconduct wave moving through Washington, and explains how it’s all Bill Clinton’s fault. If that doesn’t hook you, then stick around for the Bigfoot erotica at the end. Show Notes: Obama’s shellacking. Trump’s schlong moment. The Seinfeld episode where Jerry tried to return … Continue reading Episode 8: Predators, Real And Imagined →
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Joined this time by Vulcan extraordinaire (and National Review senior editor) Ramesh Ponnuru, our hangover-defying host travels to such far-flung worlds as the Virginia gubernatorial elections, the prospects for tax reform, and the history of neoconservatism. Show Notes: My debut appearance on The Editors podcast at NR. People willing themselves to live longer with the promise … Continue reading Episode 7: Micro-aggressed by the Dalai Lama →
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In this slightly profanity-laden episode of The Remnant, Andrew Ferguson fanboy Jonah Goldberg asks the vital questions of the day. What is human nature? Will the conservative movement endure? What is a martini? How horrible a boss is Steve Hayes? Show Notes: My badge of honor. Andrew Ferguson on Steven Pinker’s “auditory cheesecake” theory of … Continue reading Episode 6: Important Questions →
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Everything old is new again on the fifth episode of The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg. Our intrepid host brings back recurring guest star Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) to talk sports, current events, and survivalism, and invites National Review staff writer David French to discuss the return of The Walking Dead and what do in the … Continue reading Episode 5: Surviving the Apocalypse →
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On the fourth episode of The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, our intrepid host talks chicken wings, cheese, and politics with thoroughgoing Wisconsinite Steve Hayes, editor of the Weekly Standard. Stick around for the end as well, when Jonah responds to uh . . . ah . . . listener criticism. Show Notes: “Shut up,” he explained. … Continue reading Episode 4: Chicken Wings, Cheese, and Politics →
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Remnant host Jonah Goldberg continues his quest to get comfortable with this strange medium. Back by popular demand is Senator Ben Sasse (R-Cornhuskers) to explain why we can’t have nice things. Jonah responds to listener feedback and also tells us what he thinks about “whatabout-ism.” He also spends maybe a little too much time talking … Continue reading Episode 3: Whatabout-ism →
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In the second episode of The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, the host begins to gain his podcast sea legs with the help of the least famous famous person in D.C.: egghead extraordinaire Yuval Levin, of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and National Affairs. Topics include: the role of institutions, what’s wrong with our politics, nationalism … Continue reading Episode 2: Why Can’t We Have Nice Things? →
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En liten tjänst av I'm With Friends. Finns även på engelska.