The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg The Dispatch

Armed with a provocative assortment of inappropriate puns, Jonah invites AEI Senior Fellow Philip Wallach onto the Remnant for the first time to discuss the importance of Congress and what we can do to fix the legislative branch. As holders of the Remnant bingo card are well aware, reforming Congress by expanding its size and discouraging performative behavior within its ranks has been one of Jonah’s primary obsessions since the launch of this program. Today, he’s sure to indulge in as many nerdish lines of inquiry on the subject as possible, waxing Yuvalian from start to finish. What core functions is Congress failing to perform? When did the institution begin to decline? And are its deficiencies fueling broader cultural partisanship?
Show Notes:
- Phil’s page at AEI
- Phil’s new book, Why Congress
- Phil: “Time for Congress to Choose Deliberation Over Dysfunction”
- Phil: “If We Give Up on Congress, What Will We Lose?”
- Ben Sasse’s Kavanaugh hearing speech
- Lyman Stone on expanding Congress
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Today’s predictably overlong Ruminant finds Jonah haunted by foreign language commercials, which seem to be infiltrating all of his favorite podcasts and TV shows. Fortunately, his terror provides a useful launching pad for a rant on the nature of language and its role in shaping (or, in most cases, degrading) public thought on nuanced political issues. Tune in also for some obscenely rank punditry on Donald Trump’s dishonesty, Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid, and monetary policy, a subject that Jonah can’t help but have thoughts on despite professing to know nothing about it.
Show Notes:
- The Remnant with Hal Brands
- The Remnant with David Bahnsen
- The Trump document saga continues
- The Remnant with Matt Continetti
- Rich Lowry: “How We Help People Like Megan Fox”
- The Economist: “What America has got wrong about gender medicine”
- The Wednesday G-File
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After a spate of episodes crammed with mercilessly rank punditry and self-indulgent eggheadery, it’s time for the Remnant to get wonky once again. Jonah’s guest today is AEI’s Hal Brands, who’s back to discuss all things foreign policy. With the Ukraine conflict raging, tensions continuing to mount between the U.S. and China, and debates about America’s role in the world consuming the right, there’s no shortage of topics up for grabs. Does the United States actually have a strategic vision anymore? What’s the relationship between history and public policy? And will Chinese or American robots overthrow mankind first?

Show Notes:
- Hal’s page at AEI
- Hal’s new book, The New Makers of Modern Strategy
- Hal: “Biden Will Find That Breaking Up With China Is Hard to Do”
- Hal: “How the American War Machine Ran Out of Gas”
- Rank punditry and notes from Ukraine on Dispatch Live
- Kevin Williamson: “The Burial of the Dead”
- Orlando Figes’ The Story of Russia
- Jonathan Kirshner’s An Unwritten Future
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David Bahnsen, Jonah’s trusted economics guru, is back on the Remnant to provide some raw, unfiltered wonkery on the latest in financial disasters. From the debt ceiling deal to the persistence of inflation, no policy matter, however terrifying, can escape his wonky gaze. Tune in also for a few musings on the Japanification of America, the appeal of conspiracy theories, and the nuttiness of the new right (yes, again).

Show Notes:
- David’s webpage
- David’s Capital Record podcast
- The Morning Dispatch breaks down the end of the debt limit saga
- Kevin Williamson: “The Burial of the Dead”
- David: “How to Fight the Politicization of Business”
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On the verge of a full recovery from his schnozzle surgery (more ominously referred to as “the operation”), Jonah’s prepared to indulge in another needlessly long Ruminant that blends a generous helping of conservative dorkery with a smidgen of rank punditry. He gets things started with a few thoughts on Ron DeSantis’ glitch-ridden campaign announcement, but afterward, it’s time for a highfalutin geekout as he examines the failure of the new right to appeal to people who aren’t chronically online. Stick around until the end for a defense of a recent G-File.

Show Notes:
- The Morning Dispatch on DeSantis’ campaign launch
- Answering listener questions with Guy on the Remnant
- The Dispatch Podcast dispenses rank punditry
- Wednesday’s G-File
- Antonio Gramsci
- Vanity Fair: “The American Conservative May Be on Its Last Legs”
- Charlie Cooke: “Why Can’t Progressive Writers Defend the Law”
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On today’s Remnant, Jonah’s brain is uniquely scrambled. He’s still disoriented after slipping into a near comatose state last week, and his nose hasn’t quite readjusted to the feeling of fresh air. Rather than forcing a guest to deal with his mental malaise, he brings Guy, his immigrant manservant, back onto the program to field another round of carefully cultivated listener questions. The resulting conversation—which touches on the 2024 election, the purpose of American conservatism, the shame of closeted Kiss fans, and Jonah’s deranged fondness for a blowtorch—is as peculiarly nerdish as you’d expect

Show Notes:
- The Remnant, hosted by Chris Stirewalt, with David Drucker
- Jonah: “Does the GOP Deserve Tim Scott?”
- Albert Jay Nock’s Memoirs of a Superfluous Man
- David Pietrusza’s 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents
- Jonah: “Goldberg’s Conservative Canon”
- Keeping the Tablets: Modern American Conservative Thought
- Death of a Beatle
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