Today we cover breaking news and the hardly recognizable past. Toby Young joins at the top to to tell us about his personal experience with PayPal’s shot at free speech. Later, our old pal Troy Senik returns to give Grover Cleveland the reassessment he deserves. (Get a copy of Troy’s book here!) Peter, James and Charlie (Rob’s sub for the day) chew over the FBI given whistleblower Kyle Seraphin’s... Source
As promised our old friend David Limbaugh returns to the podcast to rant a bit and maybe pitch a few books on the side. We talk open borders and Martha’s Vineyard and then cover his latest volume, The Resurrected Jesus: The Church in the New Testament, which he wrote with his daughter, Christen Limbaugh Bloom. We also welcome in American Enterprise Institute scholar Nicholas Eberstadt (fresh from... Source
It’s hard to call it unbelievable when a 96-year-old mortal shuffles off, but Queen Elizabeth II’s final departure has had a peculiar effect. Hoping to have the feeling articulated without sentimentality, we asked on a couple English friends ( Charlie Cooke filling in for Peter and London Calling’s Toby Young) to discuss her importance, and what her death means for the Commonwealth. Source
You saw the pictures! The walls are finally closing in; or maybe it’s the floor that’ll finally move in on Trump! Or maybe everyone should cool their jets, as our guest Bill Barr might recommend. The former Attorney General joins us again to discuss what we know (and don’t know) about the latest legal troubles for the former president. Without getting ahead of the facts, Barr thinks through the... Source
It’s hard to put words to the audaciousness of President Biden’s latest charade. Good thing we have an Englishman! Our friend Charlie Cooke is filling in for Peter and James to talk about Joe’s promise to liquidate the American social contract. He and Rob also get into midterms and search in vain for a Republican national agenda. And since we can’t help but cling to a bit of good news, Dr. Source...
Since our plans to hide away forever at a remote Minnesotan lake house were dashed – on account of James not having one for us – we decided instead to jump on into the mucky swamp that’s swallowed up our institutions. At least we have Eli Lake (who, as you’ll hear, knows everybody) to tour us through the law enforcement agencies who’ve undermined their standing with the public in order to get the... Source
We’re not short on takes about the search (or whatever you wanna call it) at Mar-a-Lago this week; but one can’t ever get enough of people who know what they’re talking about when it comes to something as big as this! Ricochet’s old friend Andy McCarthy joins to provide just that kinda commentary. He gives some essential vocab clarifications; lays out the charges he believes the Justice Department... Source
With all the sound and fury surrounding Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan, we think it’s timely to hear from an expert on the Indo-Pacific to see if it signifies much. Misha Auslin, host of The Pacific Century, joins to do just that. He identifies the silver lining in the whole affair; elucidates how China’s strategy has frozen us from stating our interests; points to the return of the engagement... Source
It’s a free-for-all on the Ricochet Podcast this week! Rob and Peter are off enjoying the last gasp of Summer, so filling in are the effervescent John Yoo and the mysterious “Lucretia”. Our official guest is Rafael Mangual, the newly minted author of Criminal (In)justice, which compiles his years of studying criminality in the U.S. and the progressive inaction of those charged with fighting it. Source
With heat waves, and the inevitable extinction of humanity practically around the corner, why not talk about what’s happening in the cool, comfortable theaters that we’re told are also doomed? To help us keep things light and pleasant, we’ve recruited film critic Sonny Bunch to chat about the elegiac Top Gun: Maverick, the rockin’ biopic Elvis, and the not-so-buzzy Lightyear. The trio also get... Source
This week, it’s another round of Question Time, this week with actual (OK, former) British person Charles C.W. Cooke sitting in for Peter Robinson, We cover Florida, guns, newspapers, — an entire smorgasbord of topics (what’s British for smorgasbord?). Music from this week’s episode: I Know There’s An Answer by The Beach Boys... Source
We’ve made it to 600, and in spite of the seemingly never-ending buffet of bad news that got our hosts talking in the first place, we manage to have a good time. Our first guest is Noah Rothman, whose latest book, The Rise of the New Puritans: Fighting Back Against Progressives’ War on Fun, takes a deep dive into the fanatics out to break up our good time. Then Toby Young (host of Ricochet’s very... Source
Whoa. Wow. Golly. And Hooray! Big news from SCOTUS today. A fifty year judicial error is finally corrected, and Ricochet’s Supreme Court expert John Yoo joins us at the top of the hour to explain. He talks about the unofficial Thomas/Alito court, discusses what this could mean for other landmark cases, along with a few other fresh decisions that, on any other day, would’ve merited a visit from our... Source
There are too few refuges for free speech. But on Ricochet our cup overfloweth! To keep things going full speed, we asked our friend Ann Coulter on to dish out an abundant full scoop. She’s just launched her new Substack and podcast to push back on… well, just about everyone who she believes is getting in the way of freedom, America and the families who make it great. As is her wont... Source
There are few on planet Earth who’ve spilled as much ink over concerns on Western Civilization’s decline as today’s guest Douglas Murray. Nevertheless, he’s betting long on America even though he’s well aware of the onslaught recounted in his latest bestseller, The War on the West. (Order your copy today!) Murray takes us through the complications of finding things to agree on when the past is... Source
This week we move from the pits of a senseless war to the mount of the royal jubilee, and cover quite a bit of terrain in between. Our first guest is exiled Soviet dissident Yuri Yarim-Agaev, whose extensive knowledge of Vladimir Putin is tough to match. We get his take on the man and his motivation; how the supposed mastermind of intelligence operations became the victim of Russian disinformation... Source
With a catastrophic tragedy in the news, the Ricochet mood is a bit more serious; but that doesn’t mean bad policy or sentimental grandstanding are appropriate courses of action. That’s why this week, we’ve invited a Second Amendment expert and parent on to the show. The one and only Charles C.W. Cooke. He fields questions on the horror in Uvalde, the reaction from politicians and the press... Source
Rob’s off on vacation, but Peter’s back from the Promised Land! Thankfully you won’t have to wait until his next episode of Uncommon Knowledge is released to hear from Yoram Hazony, author of Conservatism: A Rediscovery. Yoram has revisited the past in the hopes of finding something new that conservatives will desperately need in order to offer something other than a another variant of liberalism. Source...
While Peter’s venturing about the real America, James is vacationing between the Hudson and East rivers so he can meet up with his pal Rob–and, more importantly!–fellow Ricochet members for our first pub crawl! We hope you won’t miss it; but don’t worry, we’ve got more events to come. (There’s even a surprise announcement for our next one herein!) First up is a man who needs no introduction. Source
Big, big news this week! And even if we’re a few days behind, fashionable lateness is sort of our style. To ensure thoughtful novelty, we’re joined by legal scholar Adam White, who is able to channel his Iowa everyman to take us through intricate legalese and manages to put it in plain English. He evaluates precedents, the new political questions, and the litigation to come. The gang (including... Source
We still can’t help but wonder what happened to California; and today’s guest has not only been writing about it for years, but is running for governor in hopes of administering a cure. Michael Shellenberger is confident he can take on Gavin Newsom and restore the Golden State to health. (Visit here to donate to his campaign!) He talks about his vision, the growing support he’s receiving... Source
The title says it all, yes? Not quite. It doesn’t tell you that everybody’s favorite Peter Robinson is off to Israel, and will therefore be filled in by everybody’s favorite Steve Hayward. And it also fails to tell you that the indefatigably cheery John Yoo is our guest! The hosts pick John’s brain on everything from the trouble in the Mouse House, to slipping mandates, and on to a sure-to-be... Source
Don’t matter what you call it. Ricochetti are a passionate bunch, and sometimes the fighting spirit takes over. Our first guests are Andrew Gutmann (hosts of the essential Take Back Our Schools podcast) and Ricochet member Michele Kerr who’s had some strong criticisms of the fellas’ takes on public education over the years. For those of you who like a little scrappiness on the flagship podcast... Source
Even if it doesn’t normally win popularity contests, we like to keep things candid (but fun!) on the Ricochet podcast. And even if it cost US attorney general Bill Barr some popularity points, we still want to hang out with him! He’s just published his memoir One Damn Thing After Another, and the gang do what they can to get at all the damn things. Barr proves still-adept at handling himself when... Source...
Good News! James is back! The whole crew is reunited. Even our guest Matthew Hennessey – a self-professed Ricochet nerd – was missing him. Matt’s got a new book heading our way. It’s called Visible Hand: A Wealth of Notions on the Miracle of the Market. Matthew proves to the hosts that Economics doesn’t have to be mind-numbingly boring. (And our host who’s had the pleasure of reading it goes so... Source
Whenever James roams for the week, a dilemma emerges. How do we make up for his erudition and charm? This time we reached out for a northerner from across the pond. Our guest is Niall Ferguson, one of the few men alive truly qualified to explain the subtleties of consensus misinterpretations of history–and the consequences. Are western leaders making foolhardy wagers in Ukraine? And if so... Source
What’s the Ricochet Podcast to do when the world insists on calamity? We invite one of the leading historians in the English speaking world and a former National Security Advisor, that’s what. Joining the fellas in our opening chat is Andrew Roberts. He reports from Eastern Europe to tell us about his recent trip to Ukraine, and, as the Churchill expert, to give his take on the comparisons between... Source
Though James-less once more, the founders are back with yet another fascinating discussion about the dizzying crisis in Eastern Europe. With us from his home in Budapest is John O’Sullivan, former advisor to Margaret Thatcher, to discuss the reignited Cold War. He gives us the mood in Hungary, considers the longevity of the West’s newfound resolve, and elaborates on the NATO debate. Source
We jet eastward and then into the ether this week, unfortunately without our pal James Lileks who’s vacationing somewhere on planet Earth. Our first guide is Elbridge Colby, who explains why we better not sleep on the Pacific theater. Then we’ve got Rich Goldberg, host of our new podcast: Cryptonite. He’s here to tell us that even a smart person like you can wrap your head around cryptocurrency. Source
Is anybody else wondering why we’re seeing more coverage about politicians chattering or journalists ducking from skirmishes than, you know, military movements, logistics and strategy? Our hosts sure do, and that’s why they’re eager to hear from Eli Lake, Bloomberg’s foreign policy columnist. Eli gives his take on the Russian pipe dream, Europe’s need for a wakeup call, and how Biden can get... Source
