The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg

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 -The Washington Post’s reporting of the Trump clan retweeting misleading doctor videos, that have since been deleted -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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -2001 anthrax attacks -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” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 latest G-File -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 -Hegel’s Dialectics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -Anti-impoundment act -Luke’s article in the Spectator about the veepstakes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -Conor Friedersdorf’s list of conservatives to follow on Twitter, scroll for associated bashing and criticism -Conservatism as an Ideology, by Samuel P. Huntington -What is Conservatism? -George Nash: -Bob Novak’s The Prince of Darkness -Gabi.com/Remnant to stop overpaying for your insurance -ExpressVPN.com/Remnant for 3 months free off a 12-month plan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: -Barton Fink -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 -Slavoj Žižek -David Skarbek on the Remnant -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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -Bahnsen’s daily missal -Tennessee COVID-19 response -Francis Schaeffer -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 -“Jonah’s first book.” -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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: -Alaskans plug in their cars -The mighty Gavora Mall -The members-only Wednesday “news”letter -Remnant with John McWhorter -Tony Montana … asserts his dominance? … by eating the lemon in the washing bowl -Orwell’s Orphans -Jonah’s dueling essay with Patrick Deneen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -Lyman Stone on The Remnant -Thomas Sowell’s recent book on charter schools -Andy: What the Espinoza Decision Means for Other Aspects of Religious Freedom -Blaine Amendment -Pierce v. Society of Sisters -Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer -CarShield.com, promo code “dingo” to save 10% Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 many, many books -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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -That whom Niall is not -The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations, by Paul Kennedy -Cornell, guns-on-campus -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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -U. Topia -The genuine wackiness of Richard Delgado -The Helvetica Type -Stein’s Law -DrinkHydrant.com/dingo for 25% off your first order Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: -This week's G-File -Wednesday's "news"letter -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” -The Pilgrim’s Progress Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -This week's G-File -The Blue Eagle program -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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -R.I.P. Denny O’Neil -Keeps.com/dingo for your first month free Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -Skarbek on EconTalk -Pirates, Prisoners, and Lepers: Lessons from Life Outside the Law, by Paul and Sarah Robinson -Chained Heat -Caged Heat (There’s more than one of these???) -Jonah on the CHAZ -Rule of clans -German phrase for “Attaining freedom once you reach a city” -Alex Tabarrok on street safety policy -1982 “Broken Windows” essay -Vin Cannato on The Remnant -Andersonville prisoner of war camp -Peter Leeson, The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates -Emma Goldman, anarchist -Elinor Ostrom, economist -Gabi.com/remnant -ExpressVPN.com/remnant for 3 months free with a year plan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: -This Friday’s G-File -"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 -“SAY IT! SAY IT!” -Jonah’s column about Romney -Ross Douthat’s op-ed about the Tom Cotton piece -Monopsony -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.” -The “stationary bandit” -"Pirates, Prisoners, and Lepers: Lessons from Life Outside the Law" -The Hop Bird -TommyJohn.com/remnant Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -Subsidiarity -Tim’s Occupy reporting -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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: -This week's G-File -Wednesday's "news"letter -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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: -Vin’s books -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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -So this is how liberty dies -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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -This week's G-File -Wednesday's "news"letter -How to educate an American webinar -John Courtney Murray's The Return to Tribalism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -QAnon -Yuval’s book, A Time to Build -Secret oil billionaires are out to get Obama -Oliver Stone's JFK -SaneBox.com/dingo for a $25 credit on your subscription Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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! -John Nestor’s wild ride -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 -Pill cameras -Anton Howes’ blog -Jonah’s piece on the RadioLab debacle -Lucretius: De Rerum Natura -Steven Pinker: what scientific concept ought to be more widely known? -Jevons Paradox -The 1890 Russian Flu pandemic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -Marxist eschatology -David French’s recent Remnant appearance -This week’s G-File -The worst example of left-wing political-psychological drek -Conservatism as an Ideology Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Left Behind novel series -The Restoration Movement -The timelines of pre-and-post-millennialism -The Late, Great Planet Earth -Albrecht Durer’s fascinating series of Revelation woodcuts, Apocalypse -Best places to be in a zombie apocalypse -ExpressVPN.com/remnant for 3 extra months free Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -Amy’s podcast -A more holistic approach to Trump’s numbers -Negative polarization -“Taking the parties out of politics” -TommyJohn.com get up to 30% off sitewide with code: remnant Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: -Jonah’s spat with AOC -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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -DonorsTrust.org/dingo -ExpressVPN.com/remnant Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -Evil dolphins -China hawkishness -American Mind wants to cancel Chinese debt -The Jones Act -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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: -Linda Hirshman’s NYT op-ed -Julien Benda’s The Treason of the Intellectuals -Background on the formerly pseudonymous author of “The Flight 93 Election” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 page at Reason -Ron’s book with Marian Tupy - preorder now -The CDC wasting time on COVID-19 tests -Morgue trucks in NYC -#PrivatizetheSeas2020 -Naomi Klein’s wacky This Changes Everything documentary -Murder Hornets: I’m sure it’s fine -ExpressVPN.com/REMNANT for 3 extra months free Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -Ross Perot’s unique populism -Tip O’Neill’s words getting taken down -Greenwich piece -Clinton’s Sister Souljah moment -The unpopularity of “Latinx” -WaPo’s Washington Redskins poll -ExpressVPN.com/Remnant for 3 extra months free Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -ExpressVPN.com/remnant for an extra three months free Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -Taleb’s book, Antifragile -The Svalbard Global Seed Vault Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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!) -The veil of ignorance -Pope Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors -A shrubbery! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: -GLoP Live 2: God save us all 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 -I, Pencil, yet again -Kelly’s What Technology Wants -Harris’ novel, The Second Sleep -Matt’s bat facts -Remnant with Vin Cannato -ExpressVPN.com/REMNANT for 3 free months Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -Cuomo’s story about “wop” -Dunn and Shields’ book about conservative professors -More Kyle Harper on Gnosticism -Idea-laundering in academia -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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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” -Romans were short -Calvin Coolidge’s son -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 -Let’s all move to Oklahoma -DoorDash, promo code REMNANT for $5 off, and zero delivery fees for the first month Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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” -“Assume a can opener” -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 -DonorsTrust.org/dingo -Bound by Oath, a podcast by the Institute for Justice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: -The Quart of Blood Technique -I, Pencil -A $1,500 chicken sandwich that was “just fine.” -Wordsworth and Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 -Knightian uncertainty -Invasion of the Body Snatchers -Aldrich’s “Why Parties?” -Remnant 186, with Shoshana Weissmann -Bound by Oath, a podcast by the Institute for Justice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: -Lyman’s work at AEI -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 -Chinese doctors disappearing -Jim Geraghty’s reporting on the Wuhan virology lab -Fauci Truthers -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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: -Self-domestication of dogs -Cass talking about the Russian Fox Experiment -The Tame Bonobo Theory -For Kant nerds: Christine Korsgaard’s deontological argument for animal rights -Cass’ book on “The Cost-Benefit Revolution” -Cass and Thaler’s “Nudge” theory -“Trusting Nudges” -Bound By Oath, the Institute for Justice’s 14th Amendment history podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices