Podcasts

Get your bingo cards ready, because Remnant stalwart Mo Elleithee makes an overdue return to the program  to kvetch about some familiar topics.  Mo believes that we’re heading for a terrifying 2020 rematch. But could one of Donald Trump’s opponents still make a comeback, and will Joe Biden manage to make it through a full campaign? For that matter, what’s wrong with American elites? How can we reverse declining trust in institutions? And how did Jonah come to have more hatred for primaries than life itself?

Show notes:

– Watch this episode on YouTube

Hungover from a night of CNN debate wonkery and inadequately caffeinated, Jonah provides an especially nerdy Ruminant covering yesterday’s town hall with Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, the strange desire to have a beer with presidential candidates, and the Biden administration’s lacking response to the Houthis, the latter inevitably leading to a lengthy defense of having a Navy. He discusses all of this while leaving enough (probably too much) time for the reification of diversity and some lousy defenses on behalf of Claudine Gay.

Show notes:
– Yesterday’s Dispatch Podcast
– Jonah’s piece on Haley’s civil war answer
– Jonah’s most recent G-File on Claudine Gay

Jonah completes his American Enterprise Institute hat trick on today’s Remnant with Yuval Levin, AEI’s director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies. The two start with some hesitant media criticism of the reaction to Harvard President Claudine Gay’s resignation before turning to the novelty, or lack thereof, of the oppressor-oppressed paradigm, the usefulness of horseshoe theory, and the need for strong institutions. Prepare your bingo cards.

Show notes:
– Yuval’s AEI page

– Conservatism as an Ideology by Samuel Huntington

– Jonah’s LA Times column on horseshoe theory

– AEI Summer Honors Program

– Watch this episode on YouTube

It’s finally 2024, but instead of looking ahead with optimism, Jonah would rather use The Remnant to kvetch about the many lows of last year. Today, he’s joined by Matthew Continetti—still adjusting to his new role as the American Enterprise Institute’s leading corporate suit—to decide whether 2023 should be considered the worst year in modern political history. But given the unfolding presidential race, is 2024 shaping up to be any better? Is a Trump renomination guaranteed? And will Biden even make it to the finish line?

Show Notes:

– Matt’s AEI webpage

– Jonah: “Nikki Haley’s Slavery Gaffe Is a Rare Misstep From a Good Politician”

– Robert Kagan on a Trump dictatorship

– Matthew Schmitz: “The Secret of Trump’s Appeal Isn’t Authoritarianism”

– Video version

Of all the (many) things Jonah hates, he has a unique resentment for the concept of New Year’s Eve. If you share his disdain for the holiday, then try ringing in 2024 with the bitter grumblings of today’s discombobulated, needlessly lengthy Ruminant rather than a trip to Times Square or an overpriced prix-fixe dinner. As usual, a number of urgent questions are addressed: Could Nikki Haley’s recent slavery gaffe tank her campaign? Why is partisanship problematic? What’s the latest on the war in Israel? And how did Jonah learn to stop worrying and (sort of) love horseshoe theory?

Show Notes:

– Jeff Blehar: “Nikki Haley’s Sin Isn’t Racism”

– Jonah: “The Left’s Whackjob Problem—and Ours”

– Michael Lind: “The New National American Elite”

– Jonah: “New Year’s Kiss-Off”

– Jonah: “The Year of the Horseshoe Theory”

Jonah’s in full fanboy mode on today’s long-anticipated Remnant. His guest is Paul Bloom—respected psychologist, prolific author, and noted body double for Al Gore and soundalike for Donald Sutherland—who’s back on the program at last to answer all of Jonah’s burning questions about human behavior and the mind. How should we feel about Freud? Who should decide what issues are taboo? And are people born with an innate political orientation? Viking babies and sci-fi aficionados alike will find much to appreciate.

Show Notes:

– Paul’s website

– Paul’s previous Remnant appearance

– Paul’s latest book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind (now available in paperback)

– Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil

– The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning

– Jonah: “Speaking Freely About Free Speech”

Jonah indulges in one of his favorite traditions in today’s Remnant: kvetching about economics with Michael Strain, the American Enterprise Institute’s director of economic policy studies. Their conversation offers a crash course in the history of economics as a social science, a guide to the myths of income inequality, and a few musings on what really caused the Great Depression. Plus, they explore perhaps the most important topic of all: TV shows you should watch instead of paying attention to your children this holiday season.

Show Notes:

– Dr. Strain’s page at AEI

– Dr. Strain: “The Myth of the 1%”

–Jonah: “Mr. Piketty’s Big Book of Marxiness”

The holidays are nearly here, and there’s nothing more likely to encourage festive cheer than a wide-ranging, ultra-rambly Ruminant. Today’s episode offers musings on Trump’s removal from Colorado ballots, the complicated politics of abortion, and the enduring dumbness of populism. But those also looking for an uplifting seasonal message will find it in Jonah’s thoughts on why gratitude is so important this time of year. Merry Christmas!

Show Notes:

–The Remnant with Frederick Kagan

–Advisory Opinions on the Colorado Supreme Court decision

–Advisory Opinions with Will Baude on Trump’s presidential eligibility 

–Yuval Levin on the anti-Trump 14th Amendment strategy

–Jonah on Trump’s dictatorial flirtations

–The Dispatch Podcast on abortion law

–Ramesh Ponnuru’s The Party of Death

–Jonah on Claudine Gay and diversity