3 Whisky Happy Hour - podcast cover

3 Whisky Happy Hour

Ricochetricochet.com
Steven Hayward, John Yoo, and "Lucretia" bring you a whisky-sodden perspective on the week's big headlines, and occasional deep dives into law and philosophy.

Listen to the Three-Whisky Happy hour, along with more than 40 other original podcasts, at Ricochet.com. No paid subscription required.
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Episodes

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Gonzo Hybrid-Reboot Edition

[CORRECTED AUDIO] We've had some gonzo episodes before, and a couple of trainwrecks, but this is the first-ever episode that is actually two episodes edited together, with sequence changes, new sound effects, canned insults from John, etc. I explained in a Substack post our technical difficulties that arose in the livestream, and here is the fix. Let us know what you think! In fits and starts we do cover some breaking legal developments, whether Israel has any hope of a libal action against the ...

May 18, 202657 minSeason 2Ep. 20

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Gonzo Hybrid-Reboot Edition

We've had some gonzo episodes before, and a couple of trainwreck, but this is the first-ever episode that is actually two episodes edited together, with sequence changes, new sound effects, canned insults from John, etc. I explained in a Substack post our technical difficulties that arose in the livestream, and here is the fix. Let us know what you think! In fits and starts we do cover some breaking legal developments, whether Israel has any hope of a libal action against the New York Times (whi...

May 17, 202657 minSeason 2Ep. 20

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: From Plato to NATO

Another hectic week for your 3WHH bartenders, and John Yoo wasn't able to join us at all, so this week's episode includes a special guest Steve has long wanted to bring on, Alex Priou of the University of Austin, the bold, brash start-up that has generated lot of headlines and controversies in its early years of operation. He's also the co-proprietor of a rival podcast, The New Thinkery , which is on hiatus at the moment as the team is in motion to new assignments, but it can be thought of as an...

May 09, 202659 minSeason 2Ep. 19

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The Left Blows a Gasket

The left was already hysterical ever since Trump won a second term, but this week the left had a total meltdown after the Supreme Court scaled back racial gerrymandering under the Voting Rights Act. And the Three Whisky Happy Hour was totally there for it! The big question for us was, what took them so long? The gang also discusses some of the most recent revelations of perfidy over COVID and other matters during the Biden Administration, and whether another assasination attempt against Presiden...

May 02, 202653 minSeason 2Ep. 18

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Thomas Derangement Syndrome?

Move over Trump Derangement Syndrome! The left is clearly afflicted now with a full-blown case of Thomas Derangement Syndrome—after Justice Clarence Thomas's speech last week about the Declaration of Independence, which, let's face it, gives leftists the heebie-jeevies with all that talk about how we are "endowed by our Creator" with certain inalienable rights. With the band back together again this week, we dissect the left's hysterical reaction which indicate to us that Thomas hit a raw nerve ...

Apr 25, 20261 hrSeason 2Ep. 17

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Almost Live from Tampa

For the second week in a row, the 3WHH gang (minus one) were on the road, this time recording live in the corner of a hotel lobby before the annual meeting of the Philadelphia Society. The sound quality of this episode is . . . authentic. Yes, I'll go with that. John Yoo couldn't make the meeting, so we have a special guest, our old pal Glenn Ellmers. With John absent, we get our freak on about the Clean Air Act . . . actually we didn't do that. We did worse: We get down in the weeds of metaphys...

Apr 18, 202650 minSeason 2Ep. 16

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Live from Tulsa!

This week the 3WHH podcast "went mobile people!", venturing to the University of Tulsa's College of Law for a live-taping before an enthusiastic audience of law students, faculty, and some loyal listeners. We departed slightly from our usual format, and focused on a single subject: the Declaration of Independence at 250. John Yoo decided to be more obstreperous than usual with his utilitarian-positivist-pragmatism, but it made for a highly entertaining episode. We had a wonderful time visiting T...

Apr 11, 20261 hr 5 minSeason 2Ep. 15

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: From Birthright Religion to "Lockistotle"

Notre Dame's Tocqueville professor of political science, Vincent Phillip Munoz (Phil to his freinds and colleagues), joins this special episode which finds all three of your regular bartenders in the same room for once while on the road in Austin, Texas. Phil is one of the leading scholars of religious liberty in the U.S., and after a progress report on the Iran War (we're still winning), and a prolonged look at the Supreme Court oral arguments in Trump v. Barbara , the birthright citizenship ca...

Apr 03, 20261 hr 2 minSeason 2Ep. 14

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Send the TSA to Iran?

Be afraid, be very afraid, as this livestreamed edition of the 3WHH featured special effects for the first time. Steve has a new toy—a soundboard that comes with the classic sound effects. These turn out to be quite useful when pondering where the Iran War stands, why the deal to end the DHS shutdown was so confusing and ulimately collapsed, what the "pursuit of happiness" means in the Declaration of Independence (one clue: happiness is contending with John's never-ending intransigence about all...

Mar 28, 20261 hr 4 minSeason 2Ep. 13

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Shots Fired—Winning Here, Losing There

This week we raise the Jolly Roger against an imitator podcast that is intruding on the 3WHH's exclusive right of commentary on all things McDonald's, but then we move on to our own balance sheet about the Iran War (verdict—we're winning big, and Trump is killing it), and the saga of the SAVE Act in the Senate, where opinion divides more sharply among the three of us. Here we land the blame squarely on GOP Senate leader John Thune, and did you know that "thune" is a slang French expression for f...

Mar 21, 202655 minSeason 2Ep. 12

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Int'l Law and Lawlessness at Home

To paraphrase—awkwardly—that 70s-era lyric, "International Law! What Is It Good For? Absolutely. Nothing! Good God!" Lucretia host's this week's episode, which combines her skepticism of international law, especially as it relates to our current military operations against Iran, along with her impatience with our willful refusal to take radical Islam seriously, now that Islam-inspired violence in the U.S. is now a daily occurence. The first topic was inspired by John Yoo's latest article on the ...

Mar 14, 202652 minSeason 2Ep. 11

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: War! What Is It Good For? (Absolutely. . . Something!)

This special "Give War a Chance" episode, the second under our joint sponsorship of the Civitas Institute and Ricochet, had some peculiar technical glitches that make it quite odd and somewhat disjointed. Steve cut out halfway through, and getting him back was a great bollix. In any case, we reviewed some key points of the Great Iran War of 2026, along with observations on the Supreme Court's intervention on the side of California parents (we can't believe this was even an issue, but it is), and...

Mar 07, 20261 hr 9 minSeason 2Ep. 10

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Newsom, Clinton, Tigers and Bears Oh My!

This week we went round-robin format—or the podcast equivalent of potluck—with each bartender bringing a subject on their mind. John wonders whether the Clinton deposition about Epstein is really sensible, Steve wonders how Gaffen-Gavin Newsom can possible survive this week's "George Romney Moment" (you need to be a certain age, or have read some political history from the 1960s, to get this reference), and Lucretia wonders why universities have allowed themselves to be swallowed whole by useles...

Feb 28, 202656 minSeason 2Ep. 9

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Can You Tariff a Vibe Shift?

Was the Supreme Court's tariff case Friday a no-lose case for conservatives, as Steve argues in this fast-paced episode, or a serious setback for President Trump? We were just surprised John Yoo had any voice left at all to break it down for us after being on call throughout the day for Fox News, but he saved his best for us. Hint: The fact that the three liberals on the Court wrote concurring opinions disagreeing with Chief Justice Roberts's reasoning behind the decision suggests some useful mi...

Feb 21, 20261 hrSeason 2Ep. 8

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Saving Elections, Saving Energy, and Recalling Scalia

Whether free and fair elections can be saved with the SAVE Act is the first topic of debate this week, along with a celebration of the Trump Administration rolling back the EPA's power to make our energy scarce and expensive. Steve describes this bold step as the "Inchon Landing" in the war against the administrative state. Forget Nixon-to-China cliches: only Trump could take such a bold step that no other conventional Republican would dare take. We also spend a good deal of time recalling the p...

Feb 14, 20261 hr 6 minSeason 2Ep. 7

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Heart of Texas Episode

This week all three of your whisky-swilling disputationists found themselves together in Austin, Texas, for a Civitas Institute conference, and we managed to sneak away to record this week's episode in -person. Though you wish earnestly for us to return to Substack or Zoom, since we had some technical challenges with our sound mix (one microphone wouldn't work at all, and we weren't able to fix it much in post-production). In any case, after noting how John's beloved McRibb is going to rescue Bi...

Feb 07, 202659 minSeason 2Ep. 6

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Zoned Out on Protests?

This may sound like a very esoteric subject for our weekly podcast, but did you know this year is the 100th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court case of Euclid v. Ambler Realty ? No, really—it is! We're not making this up. Okay, we know what you're thinking: what is Euclid v. Ambler Realty and why should I care, especially a hindred years later? The Euclid decision, written by one of the most conservative and principled Justices of the Supreme Court (George Sutherland) declared that land us...

Jan 30, 20261 hr 6 minSeason 2Ep. 5

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Forget Greenland—Invade Virginia!

A lot of interesting legal questions this week for rotating host John Yoo, and we don't even get through all of them (can you believe Lucretia actually passed up the chance to dunk on her "favorite" Justice KBJ for this week's embarrassment at the Court), because we move directly to the question of whether Gov. Spanberger and Virginia are a canary in a coal mine of a Progressive mine-shaft explosion. Holy-moly! And Steve thinks it isn't too soon to begin thinking about what "New Right 5.0" after...

Jan 24, 20261 hr 2 minSeason 2Ep. 4

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The Best (Podcast) Regime?

Is it just us, or did this week seem even crazier than usual? We didn't have time to cover all the crazy in the news, and had to settle for trying to select the most stupid crazy thing said this week, though even that was a hard selection to make. But we gave a group award to everyone involved in trying to persuade the Supreme Court that boys should be allowed in girls sports. So much to work with. We considered whether and how the Insurrection Act might work in the case of insurrectiony Minneso...

Jan 17, 20261 hrSeason 2Ep. 3

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Battle Zones in Iran, Venezuela, and . . . Minnesota?

Our second livestream on our Political Questions Substack was a lively tour through frivolous lawsuits against the McRib, to wondering what is happening in Iran. Could it really be the end of the line for the mullahocracy? If so we agree the likely deciding factor is Trump. Who also, you may have heard, knocked over Venezuela last weekend. Finally, what to make of events in Minneapolis. Well, a lot, as you might imagine.

Jan 10, 20261 hr 5 minSeason 2Ep. 2

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Happy New Year on Substack Edition

We tried an experiment this week—livestreaming the taping of this week's episode on Steve's ' Political Questions" Substack . We think is was a success even though Steve's camera froze up several times along the way. John Yoo hosts this first episode of the year, which is devoted entirely to understanding and critiquing "post-liberalism," currently one of the hottest new things going on the right today. (John makes reference to one of our live clashes with a leading post-liberal, which Steve wro...

Jan 02, 20261 hr 3 minSeason 2Ep. 1

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Year in Review and the Year Ahead

To close out the year the 3WHH barflies recorded a special Boxing Day edition, in which, following the obligatory McDonald's news for John and a breaking story that indicates President Trump really does mean it about defending Western Christendom, we review our predictions for 2025 from a year ago (which, unlike the old McLaughlin Group predictions, turned out to be fairly good in most cases); then discuss what each of think is the most significant story of 2025, and offer predictions for 2026. ...

Dec 27, 202556 minSeason 1Ep. 53

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Special Christmas Day Edition

Just how are you going to pass the time on Christmas Day after you've got the roast in the oven (at low temp, of course) and you've finished your obligatory annual screening of Die Hard ? How about a special Christmas Day edition of the Three Whisky Happy Hour! Lucretia took time out from the kitchen to host this ad-free episode which features a discussion of the law governing religious symbols on public property, and why they are NOT violations of the Estasblishment Clause of the First Amendmen...

Dec 25, 202554 minSeason 1Ep. 52

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Santa's Tin Foil Hat Week

It's conspiracy theory week at the 3WHH, as host John Yoo guides us through the mysteries of the shootings at Brown University and MIT, the mystery of why an article about the corruption of the DEI world should suddenly go viral just now, what conspiracy theory could explain why White House chief of staff Susie Wiles would call VP Vance a "conspiracy theorist" (among other things), and last but not least, how Candace Owens stole Lucretia's tin foil hat right out from under her nose! After all th...

Dec 19, 20251 hr 5 minSeason 1Ep. 51

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The Prog Mask Slips!

It's the usual brawl at the bar with the three barflies of the Three Whisky Happy Hour, where we take note of Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson sayiing the quiet (progressive) part out loud, likely flattered by the New York Review of Books recently saying of her: "Ketanji Brown Jackson is proving to be the sharpest justice on the Supreme Court." (No, seriously—they really printed that sentence.) But did she really just give away the whole anti-democratic impulse of progressives? It looks like she d...

Dec 13, 20251 hr 1 minSeason 1Ep. 50

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The No Pearl-Clutching Zone

Lucretia hosts this week's episode with the running theme that there's too much pearl clutching going on among the hand-wringers in Washington and the media. We flop our pearls of wisdom on the Tennessee special election, the J6 bomber arrest, the double-tap bombings on Venezuelan "fishing boats," the Minnesota welfare scandal, and the related immigration control issues it raises. We have some diversions into the latest Trumpian nomenclature, including his rehabilitation of "third world countrie...

Dec 05, 20251 hrSeason 1Ep. 49

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Why John Adams Would Get Sydney Sweeney

Now we know what you're thinking: if we have on as a special guest historian Richard Samuelson , one of the pre-eminent experts on John Adams, you'd think we find out what Adams thought about the Clean Air Act, but no! Instead, the show reaches its zenith with Samuelson drawing our attention to some of Adams's handwritten marginalia that demonstrates why Adams would have completely understood the Sweeney Sensation. Richard joined us for our intermittent series between now and next July 4 about t...

Nov 29, 20251 hr 8 minSeason 1Ep. 48

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Special Thanksgiving Day Edition

Naturally the 3WHH bartenders can't agree on the best way to cook a Thanksgiving turkey as well as the side dishes at the outset of this special Thanksgiving Day edition, but after that we get down to discussing what to make of prosecutions being dropped left and right—literally left and right in the case of the misbegotten Big Fani Willis case against Trump being dismissed in Georgia, and the Trump DoJ case against James Comey and Letitia James being dismissed in federal court. At least we stil...

Nov 27, 202557 minSeason 1Ep. 47

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Bringing the Wood to Wood

Another week of last minute schedule changes, flight delays, lost iPads, misplaced laptops, and other mishaps delayed the recording of this week's episode, but finally on Saturday night we were able to sit down for an especially fast-paced episode to close out the week that comes with competing Star Trek metaphors, reflectioning and debating briefly about which was the weirdest news story of the week—the latest Epstein file revelations, MTG departing the House, the Mamdani-Trump Oval Office Summ...

Nov 23, 202555 minSeason 1Ep. 46

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Getting a Grip on Groypers

While it was sorely tempting to devote the entire show to celebrating the return of Sydney Sweeney to the public eye last week, we decided to turn our attention to the serious matter of antisemitism on the right, and just what the heck "groypers" (groyperism??) is all about. Rod Dreher passed along estimates that up to 40 percent of young conservatives in Washington are closet Nick Fuentes fans or groyper-adjacent, though this estimate has received strong challenges. We review a few of the count...

Nov 14, 202543 minSeason 1Ep. 45
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