The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg

Latest Episodes:

Pope Fiction Oct 02, 2024

Show notes

Have you ever wondered what podcasting pundits would have discussed during the Great Schism? Today’s Remnant episode might give you a good idea.Jonah is joined by George Weigel, distinguished senior fellow at the Ethics and Policy Center, to talk all things Vatican City. George and Jonah evaluate Pope Francis, dig into the historical relationship between the Catholic Church and state actors, and discuss just war theory as it relates to ongoing conflict in the Middle East and criticism of Israel. Setting their sights on the United States, they then turn to the wacky world of Catholic integralism and the anxiety reflected by the online ‘trad-cath’ movement. Further lines of inquiry include: How do we remedy contemporary cultural decay? How does one strike a balance between free expression and harmful hedonism? And what on God’s green earth is going to happen with the Catholic voting bloc?

Show Notes:

—George’s biography of Pope John Paul II

—Tom Holland, Dominion

—Irving Kristol: “Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case For Censorship”

—The Dispatch crew on Pope Francis

—Peggy Noonan on the choice between awful and empty

—George on the new Great Awakening

The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.

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The Idolatry of the Mandate Sep 28, 2024

Show notes

It’s been a great week for The Remnant. Jon Rauch gave us a rundown on the formation of Goldbergism while Sam Harris broke runtime records, so consider today’s Ruminant the cherry on top. Jonah runs through some of his greatest hits, reminding listeners that Trump plays a much bigger part in the proliferation of wokeness than his grifter army cares to admit, negating the idea of stochastic terrorism once again, and bemoaning the culture wars’ capture of the presidency. No Ruminant would be complete without disdain for Woodrow Wilson and instances of volksgemeinschaft, allowing Jonah to blame to current state of American politics on pesky play-pretend revolutionary predecessors. Plus: the case for the return of bourgeois values and the firm re-assertion that there is no such thing as a presidential mandate.

Show Notes:

—Jonah’s column on presidential mandates

—The Economist, “America is becoming less woke”

—Fun facts about Dear Leader

—Woodrow Wilson, “Leaders of Men”

—Dispatch Summit Tickets (Code: SIGNMEUP for discounted prices)

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Sam Harris and the Lemming Dilemma Sep 26, 2024

Show notes

Are you there, God? It’s Sam Harris and Jonah. At long last, the neuroscientist-philosopher and father of the new atheism movement has come to The Remnant for a Horatian salon that is poised to discuss the really big questions—questions so big we had to double the length of the episode. Jonah and Sam debate dogma, epistemological free-for-alls, the emancipation of C-3PO, and truth as its own defense. Questions abound: Would society be free from all ill if every man and institution was fully secularized? When do we defer to the experts? How do we grapple with the cognitive dissonance of human nature and our modern ethical sensibilities?But the party doesn’t end there. In the second hour of their conversation, Jonah and Sam dig into the root causes of the rise of antisemitism in elite institutions, ranging from cultural addiction to transgression to the feelings economy. They cover the rise and future of artificial intelligence, speak to the camaraderie that comes with being a classical liberal, and discuss what has been gnawing at the back of everyone’s brain: What happens after Trump? Fair warning, if you make it to the end, you may have some newfound fears about an impending dogpocalypse.

Show Notes:

—Sam’s podcast: “Making Sense”

—Sam’s Substack

—Yuval Harari: Nexus

— Chestertonian ideas

The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.

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The Goldberg Variations Sep 25, 2024

Show notes

Twenty-one years after Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan revolutionized the chick-flick with Freaky Friday, the powers that be have finally greenlit a remake. Fans were surprised to discover that the studio has taken a different approach to the reboot; this iteration of the film will feature two of the foremost voices in American political punditry, and will concern the intellectual history of one Jonah Goldberg.

Jonathan Rauch of the Brookings Institution has taken over Jonah’s role as host extraordinaire to flip the script and provide you, dear listener, with an understanding of Jonah’s intellectual journey throughout his career, ultimately hoping to understand how Jonah prevented himself from turning into a grifting, red-hatted pod person. Jon forces Jonah to revisit his first book, leading to an epic dive into the history of the American conservative movement, along with some hypothesizing behind its disappointing pivot to populism. Further lines of questioning from Mr. Rauch cast a wide net: Did Jonah pioneer horseshoe theory? Can we blame all of this on Sarah Palin? How did Jonah process the rise of Trump and prepare his defensive strategy? Was Jonah ever tempted to join the ranks of the sellouts? The host with the most who is no longer the host reveals all, including The Dispatch’s origin story, the final word on Hillary Clinton, and the hope that rests in the moral minority.

Show Notes:

—Liberal Fascism

—Jonah and Jon on the weakness of parties

—Steve Hayes, Donald Trump, and John McCain

—National Review: Against Trump

—Jonah on the body snatchers

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Hoisted By Their Own Canard Sep 21, 2024

Show notes

Jonah is coming off an electric evening with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, where he danced with fire eaters and geeked out with fellow think tank nationals. As a result, he is well prepared to dig into the Hezbollah-pager plot, Trump’s Freudian slip in his attempt to combat antisemitism, the Rich Lowry non-controversy, and the continued bad behavior of J.D. Vance. To close it out, Jonah scolds the media for playing morality police and reminds those still inhabiting the world of the sane of the unbelievable idiocy of Donald Trump’s defenders.

Show Notes:

—The Heart of a Cheetah by Magatte Wade

—Trump on antisemitism

—The RFK Jr./Olivia Nuzzi affair—err, “situationship”

—Wednesday G-File

—A pretty long story about a thing that didn’t happen

—A pretty long podcast about a thing that didn’t happen

—Human Progress reviews “An Edible History of Humanity”

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Human Nature and Potato Salad Sep 19, 2024

Show notes

Many have sung songs of change, from Charles Bradley to David Bowie to Tupac Shakur. The pace of social and economic changes—and the way they make us feel—is the subject of constant debate. Jonah is joined on today’s episode by Tom Standage, a historian and the deputy editor of The Economist, to make the case that rapid change caused by innovation is nothing new in the annals of history. Jonah and Tom consider why man always jumps to doomsday when new technologies emerge, debate the merits of an organic diet, and discuss the storied history of brews and lager. Plus: the mythologization of the Medieval Age, a soliloquy to honor the historical lynchpin that is the potato, and the supernatural powers of a good cocktail.

Show Notes:

—Human Progress reviews “An Edible History of Humanity”

—“Nexus,” Yuval Noah Harari

—“A History of the World in 6 Glasses”

—“An Edible History of Humanity”

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Ohio’s Cat Eaters Who Weren’t Sep 18, 2024

Show notes

On today’s episode, Jonah is joined by Dispatchheavy-hitter Kevin D. Williamson to discuss his latest piece, “The Exotic Cat-Eaters of Springfield, Ohio.” Unlike many of those sharing unsubstantiated rumors of Haitian migrants eating pets, Kevin actually took a trip to Springfield and spoke with members of the community. This is not a tale of dystopian fur-baby slaughter, but instead a reckoning on the character of J.D. Vance, whom Kevin believes has scapegoated impoverished, hard-working people for his own political purposes.

Jonah considers the legitimacy of Kevin’s claim that Vance is the “most despicable human being in public life,” why so many people are chasing the lie of the pet-hungry immigrants, and the plague of cleverness that is damaging the right. As a treat, if you make it all the way to the end, you’ll catch Jonah and Kevin circumvent the question of the hour: Who are they voting for?

Show Notes:

—“The Exotic Cat-Eaters of Springfield, Ohio”

—Move on, guys

—Jonah on lying for justice

—Kevin on the church of climate change

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Cry About It Sep 14, 2024

Show notes

Much like the crackpots that have descended upon his inbox, Jonah is disgruntled, paranoid, and cranky. This week’s Ruminant concerns the fallout of the Harris/Trump debate, bullies and Jew-haters, and Tenet Media’s insensible goons. Jonah later reminds us of the principle of “they hate us ‘cause they ain’t us,” the distinctions between the anti-left and the anti-state camps of the Right, and misplaced power worship of authoritarianism and revisionism. Finally, Jonah goes full-circle to revisit Trump’s incessant debate stage blathering; and no, nobody is eating cats.

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How D.C. Fails the World Sep 12, 2024

Show notes

In a continued effort to provide you, dear listener, with a break from the incessant debate coverage, Jonah invites American Enterprise Institute foreign policy superstar Danielle Pletka on the show to find out what the hell is going on in the rest of the world.

The tour begins with the Ukraine-Russia war, with Danielle and Jonah setting their sights on Kursk to discuss how the incursion will affect the course of the conflict and the Russian psyche. They then turn their sights to Israel, making the case for moral clarity on the left, highlighting the nefarious forces behind pro-terrorist activity in the U.S., and calling out the useful idiots in the isolationist camp.

Show Notes:

—Danielle’s Substack: “What the Hell is Going On?”

—Danielle’s Podcast: Again, “What the Hell is Going On?”

—Gen. Jack Keane on Kursk

—The Reagan Foundation’s foreign policy survey

— “The Anti-Semitism Money and Power Network—and How to Smash It”

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Serfs of the Web Sep 11, 2024

Show notes

When Jonah isn’t wrangling spaniels into his sprinter van or running to and from the CNN studio, he moonlights as the assistant treasurer of the International Christine Rosen Fan Club. To thank him for his loyal service, Christine drops by the studio to discuss her new book, The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World. Jonah and Christine dive into the downsides of the digital world, the end of boredom (and what we lose when we eliminate it), the disconnect between the evolution of technology and the evolution of man, and where we draw the line with our relationship to technology. Should we engineer our way out of the problems of human nature? How do we navigate a world where man no longer shares one reality? Does Christine want us to go back to the Dark Ages? This Remnant installment has the answers … as long as you don’t listen to it in the waiting room.

Show Notes:

—Get your hands on The Extinction of Experience

—Jean Twenge on generations

The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content— click here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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