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 —Revolutions podcast —The Remnant with ...
May 09, 2024•1 hr 31 min
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" —Civil War (2024) —"The Collapse of the News Indust...
May 08, 2024•1 hr 31 min
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: —Jonah’s Wednesday G-File —"Metabolic rift" wiki page —King-Slutzky answers...
May 04, 2024•1 hr 42 min
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 —Robert’s new book —Why the South Must Prevail —Miles Taylor’s book, Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump Learn more about your ad c...
May 02, 2024•1 hr 24 min
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: —Sarah's solo AO episode —David's return to AO —Korematsu v. United States —Nick Catoggio's Boiling Frogs newsletter on Kristi Noem —Centennial Crisis: The Disputed Election of 1876 —Join The Dispatch for acces...
May 01, 2024•1 hr 24 min
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: —Word of South festival —Advisory Opinions on the oral arguments —The Collision on the oral argument ...
Apr 27, 2024•1 hr 5 min
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 ...
Apr 25, 2024•1 hr 20 min
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 —Galileo's Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and One Scholar's Search for Justice Middle finger to Galileo —Tics and TikTo...
Apr 24, 2024•1 hr 7 min
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 Nevill...
Apr 20, 2024•1 hr 21 min
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 —Eli's piece on the FBI —The Remnant with Nancy French Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 18, 2024•1 hr 24 min
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: —Ghosted: An American Story —Bristol Palin’s book, Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far —Nancy’s investiga...
Apr 17, 2024•1 hr 23 min
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: —Jonah's Wednesday G-File —Friday's Dispatch Podcast roundtable —Top Chef Wisco...
Apr 13, 2024•1 hr 29 min
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’s website —Dr. Wilf on the history of Zionism and UNRWA —Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake o...
Apr 11, 2024•1 hr 11 min
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 ru...
Apr 10, 2024•57 min
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 Syndrom...
Apr 06, 2024•1 hr 11 min
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 issu...
Apr 04, 2024•1 hr 10 min
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...
Apr 03, 2024•1 hr 21 min
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 —Protests at Vanderbilt —Jonah’s LA Times article on October...
Mar 30, 2024•1 hr 32 min
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 —Protests at Vanderbilt —Jonah's LA Times article on October ...
Mar 30, 2024•1 hr 32 min
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 Frenc...
Mar 28, 2024•1 hr 20 min
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: —Rob's news...
Mar 27, 2024•1 hr 29 min
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 —Jonah: Days of Future Past —Suicide of the West —Orwell's Notes on...
Mar 23, 2024•1 hr 28 min
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 Deci...
Mar 21, 2024•1 hr 22 min
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: ...
Mar 20, 2024•1 hr 43 min
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: —The Dispatch editor...
Mar 16, 2024•59 min
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: —T...
Mar 14, 2024•1 hr 32 min
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: —The Hill Sunday —Jonah's LA ...
Mar 13, 2024•1 hr 7 min
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: —G-File: Apocalypse Not —The Dispatch editorial: The American People Should Demand Better —Advisor...
Mar 09, 2024•1 hr 6 min
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...
Mar 07, 2024•1 hr 20 min
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’ new b...
Mar 06, 2024•1 hr 24 min
