The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg

Latest Episodes:

Mistaken Identity Oct 19, 2023

Show notes

It’s been a while since the Remnant featured some spirited kvetching about identity politics and wokeness in American life, but those issues haven’t exactly faded away. Today’s guest is Yascha Mounk, a prolific author and academic whose new book, The Identity Trap, examines where exactly woke ideology emerged from and how it became so influential. Yascha’s thesis is that an obsession with group identity is leading many progressives astray despite their good intentions, and that this is ultimately hindering progress toward true equality in American life. But why are so many people from across the political spectrum falling into the identity trap? What’s the appeal of populism and nationalism? And will Jonah’s growing crotchetiness soon cause him to completely give up on intellectual history?

Show Notes:

-Watch this interview on YouTube

-Yascha’s webpage

-Yascha’s new book, The Identity Trap

-Yascha’s previous book, The Great Experiment

-Yascha’s previous Remnant appearance

-Calvin Coolidge’s speech on America’s 150th birthday

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Four Years of The Dispatch Oct 18, 2023

Show notes

Unable to secure an interesting guest or topic of conversation for today’s Remnant, Jonah is forced to invite Steve Hayes—his benevolent business partner and world-renowned cheese curd enthusiast—back to the program for their annual reflection on the state of The Dispatch. All of the obvious topics are addressed, including how The Dispatch is doing, what goals have been achieved, and what’s coming next as things continue to grow. But loyal listeners will also want to tune in for answers to some common questions. How has election coverage changed over time, and what will The Dispatch do in 2024 to set itself apart? What will it take for The Dispatch to attract new readers and continue to expand? And will a Corner-style blog ever surface on the site, or will Steve remain blinded to its usefulness by a haze of beer and Buffalo sauce?

Show Notes:

- The Dispatch’s manifesto

- The Skiff, a new podcast feed exclusively for Dispatch members

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Making Excuses for Atrocity Oct 14, 2023

Show notes

It’s not everyday that people show you who they are, but the terrorist attack in Israel gave us a glimpse into the soul of America's overeducated elite - and it wasn't a pretty sight. In a contempt-fueled rant, Jonah blasts the left for its wishy-washy response to the massacre and the right for losing the plot on America's foreign interests. Stay tuned for some rank punditry before Jonah takes a break from this darkening world and absconds to the Italian coast.

Show Notes:

-Jonah’s Remnant with Jay Cost

-Law firm rescinds offer to Summer Associate for Palestine support

-The incredibly tragic CNN report

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High Cost Punditry Oct 11, 2023

Show notes

Is America a republic or a democracy? Jonah has forced many recent Remnant guests to answer this question, but only Jay Cost—a historian and senior fellow at AEI—has written a whole book on the subject. It’s called (creatively enough) Democracy or Republic? The People and the Constitution, and Jay joins the show today to flesh out its thesis. In an era of declining civic virtue and institutional trust, are the tools of government that the Founders developed strong enough to deal with today’s challenges? What are the pros and cons of the democratic process? And how can we help restore an understanding of the Constitution among America’s youth?

Show Notes:

- Jay’s page at AEI

- Jay’s new book, Democracy or Republic? The People and the Constitution

- Jay’s previous Remnantappearance

- The Remnant with Jim Pethokoukis

- Irving Kristol: “The American Revolution as a Successful Revolution”

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Israel Goes to War Oct 09, 2023

Show notes

On Saturday Hamas militants invaded Israel, gunning down and abducting civilians, firing rockets on city centers, and holding entire villages hostage. In response, Israel has declared war on Gaza and things are only about to get uglier from here. A sleep-deprived Adaam James Levin-Areddy, senior multimedia producer at The Dispatch and host of Uncertain Things, joined Jonah to discuss the past 24 hours in Israel, Hamas' brutal reign in Gaza, Adaam's theory of peace privilege, Bibi's legacy, and what's coming next.

By the way: This was also the inauguration of The Dispatch's members-only feed The Skiff, which will include all future impromptu chats and bone-picking arguments between Jonah and friends, as well as AMAs, emergency pods, and other random audio goodies. In his magnanimity, Jonah decided to share this debut episode with the freeloading masses. But if you want more Remnant, along with the moral ebullience of supporting The Dispatch, please join us.

And to all our members who've already come aboard our Skiff –– thank you, from the bottom of our tired, shriveled hearts. You are the reason the lights are still on. And we have lots in store for you. Stay tuned.

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The Show About Nothing Oct 07, 2023

Show notes

The end of another week brings another unfocused, ultra-rambling Ruminant, which finds Jonah aggravated by a fresh potpourri of political asininity. Featured topics today include the crisis at the border and Biden’s declining credibility, similarities between the radicalism of the young right and left, and the incoherence of arguments for student loan debt forgiveness. There’s even some brief criticism of the Clintons mixed in for anyone feeling nostalgic.

Show Notes:

- The Remnant, hosted by Brother Stirewalt, with toga community ambassador Mike Duncan

- The Remnant with James Pethokoukis

- NBC lists the “terrifying trade-offs” of student loan repayment

-The Remnant with Beth Akers

- The great climate conspiracy

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Don’t Fear the Future Oct 05, 2023

Show notes

The future has a lot of enemies these days, and most of them seem to agree that progress is behind us while nothing but disaster lies ahead. Today, AEI’s Jim Pethokoukis is back on the Remnant to challenge that idea. His new book, The Conservative Futurist, makes the case for a risk-taking, future-oriented American society driven by technological change. But what would such a society look like in practice? How could it come into being? And what makes futurism and conservatism compatible?

Show Notes:

- Jim’s page at AEI

- Jim’s book, The Conservative Futurist: How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised

- Jim’s Substack, Faster, Please!

- Jim’s Political Economy podcast

- Jim’s previous Remnant appearance

- Virginia Postrel’s The Future and Its Enemies

- Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future

- Half-Earth Socialism

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There’s No Place Like Rome Oct 04, 2023

Show notes

Why do men really think about the Roman Empire? If that question has been keeping you up at night in recent weeks, you’ll want to tune in to the latest Remnant for some conclusive answers. Jonah’s away again on a wild expedition through the commonwealth, which means it’s up to Chris Stirewalt to host today’s crash course in Ancient Roman politics and history. His guest—making an eagerly anticipated return to the program—is Mike Duncan, host of the oft-plugged Revolutions podcast, bestselling historical author, and noted influencer for the toga community. If you don’t know your Caesar from your Caligula, their conversation will get you up to speed. And it’ll also help you appreciate what relevance Rome has to the contemporary United States.

Show Notes:

- Mike’s Revolutions podcast

- The Storm Before the Storm, Mike’s history of the Roman Republic

- Hero of Two Worlds, Mike’s biography of the Marquis de Lafayette

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Not Great, Bob Sep 30, 2023

Show notes

Though his wife and RA continue to plead for him to stop, Jonah can’t be deterred from following the self-destructive path of the weekly Ruminant, especially with a legion of overly eager wedding guests on his side. Today’s episode features a predictably peculiar melange of topics, among them the hideous second GOP debate, the misguided fondness for autocrats present on parts of the right, and the validity of the Biden impeachment inquiry. Remnant devotees should stick around until the end for further details on The Skiff, an exciting new podcast feature coming to The Dispatch that’s sure to consume far too much of your life.

Show Notes:

- The Dispatch Podcast on the second GOP debate

- Philip Bump: “The Rise of ‘Chinese Communist Party’ as a Pejorative”

- Jonah: “When the Stupid Futility Is the Point”

- Do the facts speak for themselves?

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The Brink of Morosity Sep 28, 2023

Show notes

Get your bingo cards ready once again, because today’s Remnant offers a greatest hits of Goldbergian geekdom. Jonah’s joined today by libertarian writer Brink Lindsey, a senior vice president at the Niskanen Center and the author of The Permanent Problem on Substack. Together, they dig into urgent matters of social policy—institutional decay and the challenges of modern capitalism among them—libertarian philosophy, and Thailand’s problematic geography. Did the libertarian project fail? Do intellectuals really shape the world? And how can we make the mass affluence provided by capitalism sustainable?

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