Podcasts

Today’s Ruminant, recorded live from an undisclosed hotel in the depths of Chicago, finds Jonah even more scatterbrained than usual. Although he begins by discussing the nature of the First Amendment and why Twitter isn’t at the heart and soul of American democracy, he quickly abandons rank punditry and veers in a radically different direction. With a vacation in Istanbul coming up, Jonah tells the long, strange tale of his first visit to the city, which may or may not evoke comparisons to Midnight Express. It’s an unconventional episode, but don’t say you weren’t warned. 

Show Notes:

– Bari Weiss’ “Twitter Files”

– David French: “Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson Don’t Understand the First Amendment”

– Christian Schneider: “Does Nobody Understand How the First Amendment Works?”

– The Remnant with Scott Lincicome

– The Remnant with Jonathan Rauch

– Charlie Cooke and Michael Brendan Dougherty debate Republican electability

Jonathan Rauch, beloved scholar at the otherwise hated Brookings Institution, returns to the Remnant for some spirited kvetching about primaries, polarization, and the state of democracy. He and Jonah also mix in some ruminations on the Republican Party’s dysfunction, the nature of racism in contemporary American society, and how identity politics radicalizes people. Be ready with your bingo cards.

Show Notes:

– Jonathan’s page at Brookings

– Jonathan’s previous Remnant appearance

– Jonathan’s latest book, The Constitution of Knowledge

– Jonathan and Ray La Raja: “Too Much Democracy Is Bad for Democracy”

– “Toward a More Responsible Two Party System”

– Elaine Kamarck: “Is democracy failing and putting our economic system at risk?”

Heroic wonksplainer Scott Lincicome is back on the Remnant to discuss his new book, Empowering the American Worker: Market‐​Based Solutions for Today’s Workforce, which examines what effective pro-worker policies should look like in today’s political climate. Predictably, things get nerdy, as the conversation explores education policy, the demands of urban living, and the great vampire-werewolf debate (tune in for clarification). Where is the government going wrong in its approach to the workforce? Can relying on the free market ever create problems? And how bullish should we be about remote work?

Show Notes:

– Scott’s newsletter, Capitolism

– Scott’s new book, Empowering the American Worker

– Scott previews the book in The Dispatch

– The Remnant with Russ Roberts 

– Ryan Streeter: “Place and the Pursuit of Happiness, Upward Mobility and the American Dream”

Finally on the verge of overcoming his lingering COVID symptoms, Jonah approaches today’s rambly Ruminant with renewed verve. After tackling the strangeness of Elon Musk’s Twitter reign and the freakishness of Kanye West, he explores how Trumpification has changed the right and what sane Republicans can do to move forward. From there, things get philosophical, as Jonah examines the nature of ethical universals and what specifically is immoral about authoritarian regimes. Finally, things conclude with some sweet, nourishing dog content.

Show Notes:

– The Wednesday G-File

– Election denial in Cochise County

– Newt Gingrich: “Quit Underestimating President Biden”

– The Economist’s Drum Tower podcast

– The Remnant with Alexandra Horowitz

– Jonah: “Mau-Mauing the Dogcatcher”

It’s been a while since the Remnant featured a dog expert, but today, Dr. Alexandra Horowitz—a professor at Barnard College of Columbia University—joins the program to fill that void. Some seriously rank cynology ensues, as Jonah and Alexandra explore everything you could ever want to know about canine cognition. Do dogs have a unique friendship with humans, or are they just social parasites? Why do dogs react in different ways to different people? And are dog shows a stain on mankind?

Show Notes:

– Alexandra’s webpage

– Alexandra’s new book, The Year of the Puppy

– Alexandra’s previous books: Inside of a Dog

– Being a Dog

– And Our Dogs, Ourselves

– Alexandra: “What Does it Feel Like to Be a Dog?”

– The Remnant with Michael H. Parsons (rat guy)

– The world’s smartest dog

Revitalized after his latest struggle with COVID, Jonah invites AEI senior fellow and foreign policy expert Michael Rubin back to the Remnant to discuss how America should respond to challenges posed by China, Russia, and the Middle East. Should the U.S. government embrace regime change? What’s at stake for the West in Taiwan and Ukraine? And should we be optimistic about liberalism in China and Iran?

Show Notes:

– Michael’s page at AEI

– Michael: “Why Is the US Never Prepared for Regime Change?”

– The Chicken Kiev speech

– Paul Kennedy’s The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers

– Lin Wells’ memo to Donald Rumsfeld

Last year, Remnant regular Matt Ridley published Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19, which explored the theory that the virus leaked from a laboratory. Today, he’s back on the program to discuss how things have changed since the book’s publication with a suitably COVID-addled Jonah. Has the lab-leak theory become more persuasive? Did the pandemic fuel a backslide in vaccinations? And can Britons and Americans ever resolve their linguistic differences?

Show Notes:

– Matt’s latest book, Viral

– Matt’s previous Remnant appearance

– Matt: “COVID origin case reopened: A lab leak is a legitimate question”

– John Barry’s The Great Influenza