Drive-Time Ruminant 11: Virtual Insanity

The drive-time Remnant format returns for another freewheeling broadcast, one that finds Jonah, Guy, and ...

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The drive-time Remnant format returns for another freewheeling broadcast, one that finds Jonah, Guy, and Ryan preoccupied with questions of loneliness and fulfillment following Arthur Brooks’ recent appearance on the program. Together, they explore the malign effects of social media, whether internet access should be regulated, and how the “Japanification” of America’s youth can be reversed. Plenty of nerdish tomfoolery is also mixed in on the nightmares of American bureaucracy, the threat of World War III, and a recent congressional embarrassment. But at the end of it all, one question remains: What movie should win Best Picture at the upcoming Academy Awards?

Show Notes:

– The Remnant with Charles C.W. Cooke

– Social media goes to war

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Comments (59)
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  1. Avatar photo
    Mary

    No! Don’t get rid of the solo Ruminant! Where I do enjoy the difference between the drive time vs solo, solo is my favorite.

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  2. Ted Sisson

    Please keep the drive time episodes coming!

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    Jason Gibson

    I don't get it

    I find Citizen Kane to be endlessly entertaining

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    Alexander Culpepper

    I’m a few days late here, but please don’t get rid of the solo remnant. Testimonial: I like the French guy, he’s what got me over to the dispatch, but then I started listening to the Goldberg guy and it was the solo Remnants that made me realize that I had to become a part of the dispatch community. Jonah’s stream of consciousness podcasts are really interesting and are the thing that convinced me that I had to become a member to see what else the dispatch had to offer. The personality and processing behind the punditry are INCREDIBLY valuable. This most recent drive time was so much fun to listen to and once again made me feel at home with others in my political philosophy which can’t be said about most other contexts. Please keep solo remnants and drive times and stream of consciousness/unscripted stuff :)

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    Joe B

    Please do not discontinue the solo remnant “ruminant”

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  6. Melissa Perkins

    Kids and cell phones...ugh. We were dead set against it. Then I tried running errands while the kids stayed home and realized we don't have a landline. Okay... here's phone but only for use at home to call us if we are out. Then they both had activities at night and we needed to be able to communicate if they got done early or we were delayed. Okay... you can take it with you but it stays on silent and in your bag. We give them our old phones and lock them up so it is only useful as a phone. Then we relocated to a new state and Messenger for kids is the easiest way for them to talk to their friends they left behind. Okay... but we have to approve each online connection. My oldest is in junior high now and this is how her peer group communicates. The struggle is real people.

    Also, all of you need to watch Belfast as soon as possible. This is a movie from another era.

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  7. Will

    If memory serves, when Facebook was expanded out of Harvard, it was restricted to only college students, enforced by requiring you to register with a .edu email address. A few people who were in dual enrollment classes at the local university could get around that Junior and Senior year, but for the most part, getting an account was an exciting part of graduating. So a point for Jonah's .kids idea.

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    Tuckermail2

    Guy should give us one number a week. (this week it’s the number 3!). We would have to guess if the number was in his Social Security #, Passport #, or bank account.

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  9. Kmsinatra

    If Jonah didn't hate compliments so much I would have thought he teased out that line about getting rid of the Ruminant just gin up praise. Regardless, I am glad so many others share my fondness for the drive-times and the solos (although I am particularly partial to the drive-times)

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    Ben Connelly

    Don’t get rid of the rambling Solo Ruminant! Also, this was a really good Drive Time episode. I think discussing the sex recession, social media atomization, and other “youth issues” for want of a better word, is a good use of the format.

    Also, since you were discussing Yuval Levin and his piece in the Dispatch last fall about young people, I have to say this: Yuval has argued well that at many levels of our society we have performance artists who use/abuse institutions instead of serving them. Jonah has talked about this phenomenon in journalism. He’s right, BUT one institution that it doesn’t apply to is the Dispatch! I’d like to give a huge shoutout to Ryan and Guy and all of the Dispatch staff members, for bucking that trend. You do good work and I’ve been impressed that everyone on the team seems to be a good example to your journalistic peers of how to do it right.

    Also, Facebook’s rule was 13, not 16. No idea what it is now but I was in high school at the same time as Ryan. And I waited until 14 and only got Facebook with my parents’ consent.

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