The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg The Dispatch

Watch out, Howard Stern, because the FM radio Remnant format is back for another nerdtastic broadcast. Jonah is joined once again by Ryan, a covert NBC operative working to undermine The Dispatch from within, Guy, resident Anglophobe and Mark Steyn impersonator who will soon be releasing his own album of old standards, and Nick, Jonah’s long-suffering research assistant who might be America’s only involuntary Hoosier. The quartet explores pertinent topics of the moment, including Israel, mask mandates, all-American conspiracy theories, and the travails of Liz Cheney. But they also indulge in some less substantial discussion, and read some of their favorite listener reviews from recent months. How do you feel about the drive-time format? Enthusiastic, antipathetic, or indifferent? Whatever the case, let us know, because as this episode demonstrates, we pay attention to all of your feedback.

Show Notes:

- Liz Cheney clashes with Bret Baier

- The National Review editors discuss Cheney

- “The Paranoid Style in American Politics”

- February’s Remnant with Joe Uscinski on conspiracy theories

- Jonah on connecting police to slave patrols

- The kraken sleeps 

- The great bamboo conspiracy

- The Wednesday G-File

- Guy’s Sinatra piece, shamelessly plugged

- George P. Bush battles the English language

- Today’s Morning Joe, to be viewed at your own risk

- The week’s first Remnant with Klon Kitchen

- The week’s second Remnant with Niall Ferguson

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Historian Niall Ferguson returns to talk about his new book (with a glorious, darkly comic cover), Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe. As Sven from SNL might say, this episode has it all: monkey’s paw swag-bags, the phrase “Hunnish data,” and the frighteningly named “three-body problem.” Allow Niall to explain the human tendency to prepare for one disaster scenario while another hits us square in the jaw, the reason why “we may be forced by companies to do Zoom” even after the pandemic ends, and why book tours are still delirium-inducing even when done from the comfort of one’s home. Oh, and stick around for a particularly fantastic celebrity impression in the show’s final moments. 

Show notes:
Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe
Some incredible science fiction that has crossed over from China, The Three-Body Problem
Neal Stephenson’s Snowcrash, which is life-changingly good
Nick Bloom, “Why working from home will stick”

Feynman and the Challenger disaster
One of Niall’s previous books, The Great Degeneration
“Crazy ideas in Thucydides’ time”
Flagellant orders
Keith Thomas’ Religion and the Decline of Magic
The World Economic Forum’s interestingly-timed 2020 Global Risks Report

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Newly minted AEI fellow Klon Kitchen joins Jonah today for an uber-wonky discussion of foreign policy and cybersecurity. The pair explore how the U.S. should respond to recent cyber attacks, the merits of Section 230, and the distinction between dumb and smart hawkishness in national security. Should we revive letters of marque? Can Jonah ever discuss China without cursing Tom Friedman? And will Klon’s love of all things canine lead him to join the fabled pantheon of Remnant regulars?

 

Show Notes:

-The Kitchen Sync

-The colonial pipeline hack

-Letters of marque and the Constitution

-Defending forward

-Jonah: “We’re not ‘competing’ with China. But politicians love to make that claim.”

-Jonah’s dear friend Tom Friedman on overpopulation

-The SolarWinds hack

-Section 230 explained

-Klon explains quantum computing

-Hillary Clinton defines progressivism

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Ruminant returns to its usual format today after last week’s drive-time diversion, as Jonah is once again placed under the unsettling eyes of several silent spectators. After exploring the history of American censorship and the current state of free speech, Jonah dives headfirst into the ongoing Liz Cheney controversy and lingering nuttiness of Donald Trump within the GOP. Will Josh Hawley ever cease to irritate? Is morality hardwired into babies? And why do the women in Jonah’s life all have awkwardly positioned birthdays?

Show Notes:

- Jonah’s latest column

- Jonah on political religions

- Ross Douthat: “When Wokeness Becomes Weakness”

- Banned in Boston

- “The movie's over, it's four o'clock, and we're in trouble deep”

- Charlie Kirk, political genius

- Josh Hawley rants about free speech

- Just Babies, by Paul Bloom

- National Review: “Liz Cheney is Not the Problem”

- The Wednesday G-File

- The Paul Wolfowitz/Sam Tanenhaus controversy

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Remnant returns to normalcy today with one of Jonah’s favorite guests: the illustrious Chris Stirewalt. The pair engage in pop culture-infused punditry, focusing on the GOP’s internal war between MAGA advocates and Liz Cheney supporters and America’s supposed entry into a new Progressive Era under President Biden. Prepare to be bedazzled by Chris’ peerless Sebastian Gorka impression, the raw craziness of Donald Trump, and Jonah’s secret history as an adolescent ice cream vendor.

 

Show Notes:

-     Chris’ page at The Dispatch

-     Cheneypalooza

-     Trump backs Elise Stefanik

-     Mike Pence trudges toward 2024

-     What the heck is going on in Maricopa County?

-    The members-only Wednesday G-File

-    The road to Kenya

-    Chris: “The era of big government is here”

-    The Election Integrity Alliance, yeesh

-   Dr. Gorka

-   Jonah’s cordial, not-at-all controversial disagreement with Bill Kristol

-   “If the paper turns clear, it’s your window to weight gain!”

-   “Welcome to the new progressive era”

-   When Trump and the Clintons were BFFs

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jonah flies solo on the week’s first Remnant, as he tries out a format that seeks to provide the footnotes to some of the most commonly landed-on items from the program’s bingo card. On this first explainer, Jonah tackles the straw man and frequent leftist punching bag called social Darwinism, and whether or not such an ideology ever even existed in the first place. Do any conservatives actually believe this stuff? And how did the tables turn on libertarians to such a degree that the most laissez-faire political ideology possible ended up facing accusations of eugenic sympathies? (You can also tune in to learn why you should never trust Wisconsinites.)

 

Show Notes:

-The (underrated) Tyranny of Clichés

-Obama calls the GOP budget “social Darwinism”

-Schoenwald has some strange opinions on Herbert Spencer

-The University of Wisconsin and progressivism

-Hofstadter’s book on social Darwinism

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.