Q & A, Hosted by Jay Nordlinger Ricochet
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- News
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Jay Nordlinger is a senior editor of National Review and the music critic of The New Criterion. His guests are from the worlds of politics and culture, talking about the most important issues of the day, and some pleasant trivialities as well.
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Economist of Freedom
Vernon L. Smith is one of the leading economists of our time. He was born in Wichita, on January 1, 1927. In 2002, he shared the Nobel Memorial Prize with Daniel Kahneman. Professor Smith has taught at many universities. He is a classical liberal, in the mold of a Smith of yore: Adam. With Jay, he talks about his life, his findings, and freedom—glorious, precious freedom.
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A Distinguished American Couple from Europe
Robert Mundheim is a leading professor of law, who has also worked in the private sector and in government. (He worked on the Iran hostage crisis, in particular.) He started out in Germany in 1933. His wife, Guna Mundheim, is an artist, who started out in Riga in 1936. They have much to impart, in this wide-ranging conversation.
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A Righteous, Patriotic Lightning Rod in Arizona
Stephen Richer has been at the center of election controversies in Arizona. He is the recorder of Maricopa County. Donald Trump defamed him. So did Kari Lake. So have many others. Lake, he actually sued. She capitulated. Richer is a conservative Republican who has had a fascinating journey in our democracy—too fascinating for comfort. With Jay, he has a frank, engrossing conversation.
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Propaganda: Its Art and Its Artists
Peter Pomerantsev is an authority on propaganda—and counter-propaganda. He is a Soviet-born British writer and teacher. His latest book is “How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler.” That propagandist was Sefton Delmer, a fascinating personality. World War II offers parallels to our own day, of course. Pomerantsev is a master of a slippery and critical subject.
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Howard Buffett, Ukraine, and the World
Howard G. Buffett is, among other things, the head of the foundation that bears his name. He has been “many, many things in life,” as Jay says: “businessman, farmer, politician, lawman, conservationist, anti-poverty activist, author, philanthropist,” and more. To date, Buffett has donated more than $500 million to Ukraine. He and Jay discuss that, plus a range of other issues: law enforcement, drug policy, poverty alleviation, conservation—and growing up as Warren’s son. A superb conversationalist, Howard Buffett is.
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An American-Russian Film Director and His Sensational Movie
Michael Lockshin is a film director, who grew up in both the United States and Russia. (Actually, he grew up in the Soviet Union, too.) He has made a magnificent movie: “The Master and Margarita,” based on Bulgakov’s classic novel. It is a sensation in Russia. It has been denounced by the authorities, for hitting too close to home: for depicting the struggle of artists against dictatorship. With Jay, Lockshin talks about literature, movies, identity, and Russia today.
Customer Reviews
A Voice For Human Rights
Jay Nordlinger is a soft-spoken champion for those who would see an end to regimes who rule their citizens through heavy-handed oppression. Russia, China, and Iran all provide ready interview subjects who have endured the cruelty those governments inflict upon those who resist their authoritarian control, but victims of other countries’ predations make appearances, as well: Venezuela, Sudan, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Saudi Arabia, to name a few.
However, not all of the episodes feature such grim, but valuable, content. Jay also is a music critic, and so brings the listener interviews with notable artists from symphonies and opera. Sports and commentary from thoughtful sources - the occasional interviews with George Will, for example - provide an eclectic selection from which the well-rounded intellect may indulge.
Consistent production problem in otherwise outstanding podcast
I like, but PLEASE stop overlaying the closing music over the end of the guest's remarks. Jay continues to thank his producer, but this is an AWFUL production issue.
New Party
Jay nailed it with his last question. We need leaders who put the country’s interests first NOT their own or their party’s (as was on full display Jan 6). Love the podcasts!