Me and My Monkey

An AMA with a recovering Jonah.

By

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?”

Create a free account
Access additional articles and newsletters for no cost, no credit card information needed. Continue ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT? SIGN IN
By
Comments (50)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.
 
  1. James

    Late with this post. But Jonah mentions John Prine as a "current" singer he listens to and loves to get on Guy for his Kiss cruises. He should know the same Company and same ship that does the Kiss cruises has done an Americana music theme cruise with John Prine as the headliner for several years:)

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      CynthiaW

      John Prine is dead.

      Collapse
      1. James

        I’m well aware of that.

        Collapse
        1. Avatar photo
          CynthiaW

          Okay.

          Collapse
  2. Avatar photo
    Jeff Walden

    Woo, my perennial question finally got answered!

    I still think I'm right that FDR was worse. :-P But it's just because we're coming from somewhat different places in terms of determining who's worst: me from a practical-effects point of view, you from a sort of intellectual-heritage point of view.

    Wilson was a worse person, and maybe he didn't do as much, but he laid the foundations for FDR to do much much more -- so you credit him with some of that much-much-more. Me? I think what FDR himself accomplished was much, much worse and bigger, and we shouldn't just back-attribute any of it to FDR -- and also that while Wilson may have been a worse person, we generally pretty much all agree on this now (whereas the things FDR "accomplished" remain with us today, distorting the constitutional text to often widespread appreciation).

    Anyway, thanks for the answer finally! I no longer have to keep asking this every time I see a pending AMA about to happen. :-)

    Collapse
  3. Jason Jewell

    Science Fiction from this century… Jonah mentioned Diamond Age. You could do worse than reading more Stephenson. Anathem or Seveneves

    Collapse
  4. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    This was really good. I’d want to know whether Jonah would include George Will’s The Conservative Sensibility in the reading list for that course (maybe not, it’s long) and/or Thomas Sowell’s A Conflict of Visions (more likely).

    Also, I’ll point out that the Claremonsters were not original in their antipathy for Wilson and his departure from the Founding. I learned the “Woodrow Wilson was bad” lesson from my father, a scholar of the Founding, who studied with East Coast Straussians but who would probably say “I studied with Straussians.” I’m pretty certain Harvey Mansfield, Thomas Pangle, and James Caeser all share this view of Wilson, as would many lovers of the American founding who aren’t Straussians. Interestingly, my father was asked to write an introduction to an edition of Wilson’s Congressional Government, and he agreed to do it despite telling the publishers that he had strong and deep philosophical disagreements with Wilson about congressional government (which they knew - I think they wanted an opposition viewpoint for the intro).

    Collapse
  5. Mjwalter14

    J Pod is the reason the tree doesn't make a sound. He interrupted it

    Collapse
  6. Pohl

    M*A*S*H is the best TV show ever. Potter is better than Blake. BJ is tied with Trapper, who wasn’t great. Charles was at least as good as Frank. Radar and the padre can get on your nerves a bit, and the show did settle down after the first few seasons, but it was still funny. It’s not the movie, true, which wasn’t great, though. I dislike Sutherland. On a related note, WWJD is something I endorse. What Would Jack Bauer Do?

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      CynthiaW

      I agree, especially about Colonel Potter.

      Collapse
      1. Avatar photo
        C C Writer

        he reminded me a lot of my grandfather

        Collapse
        1. Avatar photo
          CynthiaW

          Same. My grandfather was a doctor from northeast Missouri, just like Colonel Potter. Not a war veteran though.

          Collapse
          1. Avatar photo
            C C Writer

            Mine was not a doctor and he was from Chicago. He died when I was in my teens so I didn't know him that many years. But he was nice, smart, and had a sense of humor. (He and Granny raised their 3 kids to be the same.) He served in France in WWI. My mom said he never talked about the war.

            (Excuse the typing from my podcast-listening tablet. Now I'm on the computer.)

            Collapse
  7. Avatar photo
    Michael Garrett

    Where can we get some side bets going on the identity of the mystery Kiss fan?
    As an adolescent in the late 1970’s, I attended one concert with someone whose name would would command recognition (and I dare say respect) from those of us among the remnant.
    Now I am wondering if that might be my nexus to Jonah.

    Collapse
  8. Avatar photo
    Brian O'Neil

    Lost should’ve been canceled after one season? Truly one of your worst takes. You were definitely Team Jack.

    Collapse
  9. Avatar photo
    Tele

    Your mention of Chris Elliot’s show reminds me that a frequent guest host of Advisory Opinions, soon to be canceled by some local New York paper, could be his doppelgänger, at least on Zoom.

    Collapse
  10. Avatar photo
    Bryan W

    My Bernese Mountain dog Samson appreciated the shout out from Jonah. He is also quite confident that he is the most attractive dog.

    Collapse
Load More