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
-Tim Alberta on The Remnant
-Danielle Pletka on The Remnant
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Not Personal – It's Just Realpolitik

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

The Gospel Truth

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 page at AEI

- 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”

- Fred Kagan: “If the West Cuts Aid to Ukraine, Russia Will Win. If the West Leans In, Ukraine Can Win.”

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

What’s Going On?

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

A Tribe of Liberalism

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’ page at The Dispatch

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

Power to the Pundits

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 page at AEI
-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
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Crashing the Party

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

Natural Born Grifters

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 webpage

- Alexandra’s new book, The Soul of Civility

- Defining the World: The Extraordinary History of Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary

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

Sense and Civility

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”
-The Rothschilds and Waterloo

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

Rothschild Abuse

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

Close to the Edge

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

To Senor, with Love

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 page at The Atlantic
-David’s new book, How to Know a Person
-Richard Weaver’s Ideas Have Consequences
-The Remnant with Jean Twenge
-Enter to win a lunch with Jonah in D.C.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why Can't We Be Friends?

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

The Kids Aren’t Alright

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

Let Me Be Frank

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 webpage

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

Cancel This!

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:

- Eli Lake on Frantz Fanon

- Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth

- Edmund Burke on the East India Company 

- Orwell on Gandhi
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You Say You Want a Revolution

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

I Got You Dave

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 page at NPR
- Steve’s new book, Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My Fair Lincoln

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

The Italian Job

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

Get Started

Download the App