The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg

Latest Episodes:

The Name Game Feb 14, 2024

Show notes

Is there really such a thing as left and right? Scholars Hyrum and Verlan Lewis don’t think so. In their book, The Myth of Left and Right, the brothers argue that this generalization is undermining sophisticated political discourse. And on today’s episode of The Remnant, they join Jonah to explain why, when two tribes go to war, a point really is all you can score. Do terms like conservative and liberal really have any use? Why are we having an election between two wretched candidates? How do industrialized democracies around the world think about the political spectrum? And will Jonah ever get sick of talking about Liberal Fascism?

Show Notes:

- Hyrum’s blog

- Verlan on the myth of ideological polarization

- Hyrum and Verlan’s book, The Myth of Left and Right

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Jonah Bahama Feb 10, 2024

Show notes

Tired and sunburnt, Jonah chimes in from somewhere in the Virgin Islands to share his thoughts (ramblings?) on the little he knows from the news of the past week. But stay tuned for a crossover of his appearance on Kevin Williamson’s podcast, How The World Works.

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Making Plans for Edward Feb 08, 2024

Show notes

If you’ve never been a resident of the Washington egghead-osphere, you’re probably not familiar with the 20th-century political scientist Edward Banfield. But Kevin Kosar—a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and noted KISS fanatic—thinks that you should be. In 1951, Banfield published Government Project, an account of the U.S. government’s attempt to remake the lives of some of its citizens by establishing a cooperative farm in Arizona during the Great Depression. The project didn’t go so well, and Kevin believes it holds vital lessons about the limits of government planning that Americans across the political spectrum would be wise to recall today. Tune in for neocon nerdery, but stick around for some more contemporary wonkery on what’s gone wrong with Congress.

Show Notes:

- Kevin’s page at AEI

- Kevin’s podcast, Understanding Congress

- Edward Banfield’s Government Project, reissued with a new introduction by Kevin

- Kevin on Banfield’s The Unheavenly City

- Banfield’s The Moral Basis of a Backward Society

- Kevin and Phil Wallach: “The Case for a Congressional Regulation Office”

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Works for Me Feb 07, 2024

Show notes

What’s the meaning of life? 42? Pizza? The Remnant? David Bahnsen may or may not have the answer, but he’s at least certain of what makes life satisfying: honest, productive work. In his new book, Full-Time, he explores how work can allow us to find purpose and fulfillment. But is all work equally meaningful? Is the market best placed to determine its value? And does David have a higher net worth than Scrooge McDuck?

Show Notes:

– David’s webpage

– David’s new book, Full-Time: Work and the Meaning of Life

– David: “The Problem with a ‘Work–Life Balance’”

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The Eternally Recurring Grift Feb 03, 2024

Show notes

Jonah starts on a cheerful note with lessons from Groundhog Day, but quickly the grim realities of our fallen world drag him back to punditry. If you manage to get past the brooding about Taylor/Kelce, philosophical pragmatism, and the American propensity for conspiracies, then you'll be subjected to passages from Liberal Fascism and, worst of all, notes about anti-NATO Twitter. Good luck.

Show Notes:

–Jonah: “It’s Nietzsche’s World, You’re Just Living In It”

-Jonah: "A Movie for All Time"

-The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory

-Jonah: "Look What You Made Me Do"

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Thus Spoke Berkowitz Feb 01, 2024

Show notes

Jonah serves up a jumbo slice of rank eggheadery on today’s Remnant to compensate for yesterday’s shockingly (or perhaps mercifully) brief episode. He’s joined for the first time by Peter Berkowitz, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and prolific writer on politics and America’s liberal tradition, to wax Yiddish on topics of both broad and minimal interest. What do academics and philosophers have against the English language? Do ideas actually matter? And what does the nationalist right get wrong about freedom?

Show Notes:

-Peter’s webpage

-Jonah: “It’s Nietzsche’s World, You’re Just Living In It”

-Peter’s first book, Nietzsche: The Ethics of an Immoralist

-Samuel Moyn’s Liberalism Against Itself

-Peter’s Constitutional Conservatism: Liberty, Self-Government, and Political Moderation

-Peter responds to Robert Kagan

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Burkes of Prey Jan 31, 2024

Show notes

Has America lost its sense of humor? In Jonah’s view, only a Brit with a distinctly stiff upper lip can answer that question. He’s joined on today’s Remnant by journalist and politician Daniel Hannan, who’s back on the show to explore when and why America began to take a turn for the crazy. Why do recessions lead to populism? Is political apathy actually a good thing? And has the United Kingdom become besotted by its own post-liberal movement?

Show Notes:

– Daniel’s webpage

– Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature

– Matt Ridley’s The Rational Optimist

– The Remnant with Yuval Levin

- Watch this episode on YouTube

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When Jonah Met Ezra Jan 27, 2024

Show notes

Jonah is well-rested which means an extra long and digressive Ruminant in which he recounts his experience debating Ezra Klein at an event in Ohio. He then ruminates on conservative intellectual history (the free spot on your bingo cards), the left-wingification of the right wing, and the benefit of “invisible hand” systems. Ignore the sounds of the asylum staff trying to break through the door.

Show Notes:

— Jonah: Does Reality Change Ideas or Vice Versa?

— Adrian Vermeule: Liberalism and the Invisible Hand

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The Devil's in the Deficit Jan 25, 2024

Show notes

Finally back from his escapades in the Midwest, Jonah invites Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and resident "debts and deficits" wonk, back on The Remnant. They discuss the necessity of raising taxes on the middle class, how much weed it would take to balance the budget, and the extinction of fiscally conservative Republicans. What can be done about the debt? What would happen if the IRS is abolished? Why is Jonah so afraid of monetary policy?

Show Notes:

— Brian's page at the Manhattan Institute

— Brian: The Rich Aren’t Rich Enough to Balance the Federal Budget

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The Dixville Nudge Jan 23, 2024

Show notes

On today’s special and prematurely released episode of The Remnant, Jonah is joined by Sarah Isgur, the host of the niche legal pseudo-podcast, Advisory Opinions, to explain Chevron deference and its prognosis at the Supreme Court. They explore the potential implications of overturning it—the good, the bad, and the ugly—and the likelihood of Congress getting its act together. However, the main event is the debate over whether our lizard brains truly care about policy. Did the abolition of slavery affect the 1860 election? Did Lincoln win because he was tall? Is Sarah a vulgar Marxist? (Plus, Sarah provides an update on Mailboxgate.)

Show Notes:

—Jonah’s LA Times column on Chevron

—Advisory Opinions on Chevron

—Ben Sasse on the third episode of The Remnant

—Last week’s episode of The Dispatch Podcast

—Kim Strassel: The Them-vs.-Us Election

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