The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg

Latest Episodes:

Dinosaurs Might Be Fake, But They’re Definitely Not Gay | Ask Me Anything Jul 18, 2026

Show notes

It’s summer, and in honor of the backyard cookouts and pool parties that make our country great, Jonah Goldberg and Dispatch multimedia producer Victoria Holmes have served up a smorgasbord of listener questions to help people get through the heat (and smog … thanks, Canada). Listen in to hear about how Jonah changed his mind about writing another book, the life of a pundit, reading habits, camper vans, jobs Jonah could’ve had, public speaking, Ares vs. Mars, what voting says about you, annexing Canada, Israel’s nukes, despair as a sin, writer’s block, and much, much more.

Show Notes:

—Proud to Be Right: Voices of the Next Conservative Generation

—What is Conservatism?: A New Edition of the Classic by 12 Leading Conservatives

—George Nash: The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945

—Jonah’s book: Suicide of the West

—The Monthly Mailbag with Jonah Goldberg

The Remnant is a production of ⁠The Dispatch⁠, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a nonpartisan perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including the Saturday Ruminant, audio versions of all our articles and newsletters, and Jonah’s twice-weekly G-File—⁠click here⁠. Instructions on how to set up your members-only feed can be found here, and if you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member ⁠by clicking here⁠.

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Birthright Primary Participation | Interview: Seth Masket Jul 15, 2026

Show notes

Longtime listeners of The Remnant know well Jonah Goldberg’s hatred of the extremist, oligarchic, necromantic political conclaves holding our nation hostage, otherwise known as primaries. Nonetheless, listeners are left with many questions unanswered: How did populists seize the GOP in 2016? What should replace primaries for candidate selection? What will go down in 2028? Will Yuval Levin be on the ticket?

Here to put an end to all speculation is political scientist Seth Masket, who joins Jonah to talk about the Tea Party, Donald Trump’s charisma, Bill Clinton as a precursor to Trump, primaries, county-scale politics, party leadership, democratization, conventions, Trump’s influence over 2028, the next GOP presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment.

Show Notes:

—Masket: The Elephants in the Room: How Trump Voters Seized the Party from Republican Leaders

—Masket's Substack

—Masket: Learning from Loss: The Democrats, 2016–2020

—E. E. Schattschneider: Party Government: American Government in Action

—DisPod at the 92nd Street Y

—Remnant on Weberian charisma

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Drunk Frat Boyz and Evil Chess Nerds | Interview: Rebeccah Heinrichs Jul 13, 2026

Show notes

We’ve decided to go on a bit of a foreign policy spree here at The Remnant. And why not? Everyone needs a hobby. Today Rebeccah Heinrichs joins Jonah Goldberg to go deep on Iran, NATO, allies, Operation Epic Fury, realism in Ukraine, MAGA, isolationist failure, J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio, Israel, national conservatism, antisemitism, and America’s posture in the world.

Show Notes:

—Aaron MacLean Remnant

—Francis Dearnley Remnant

—Heinrichs in National Review: “Strengthen NATO, Don’t Wreck It”

—Brendan Simms: The Return of the Great Powers

—Iran: The Latest - Podcast

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Maoists Believe in Leprechauns | Ruminant Jul 11, 2026

Show notes

Jonah Goldberg knows his time is nearly up. In a few days, his body will be baking in the Arizona sun, washed up on the rocks at some bend in the Colorado River, just the next casualty of mandatory fun time. Time to go out with a bang. Join Jonah as he steers the HMS Remnant into position for a ripping, boneshattering broadside into the Red Fleet of the Democratic Socialists of America. Along the way, listen as the doomed Captain Jonah ruminates on new liberal friends, policing one’s own side, Israel, socialists, bravery on the cheap, Graham Platner, institutionalized lying, courts finding the truth, and the importance of American wealth.

Show Notes:

—Friday’s DisPod

—Wednesday G-File

—LA Times column

—Jonah’s commie Twitter thread

—Mamdani Celebrates America's 250 Years With Call for Unity and Democracy

—Eli Lake on DSA

—Nellie Bowles newsletter

—Scott Lincicome in The Dispatch - “GDP Is Good, Actually”

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Pick-and-Choose Isolationism | Interview: Aaron MacLean Jul 08, 2026

Show notes

Here at The Remnant, we strive to cover pressing issues that matter. Not content with copying and pasting other folk’s reporting, we go straight to the sources ourselves to bring their words to your ears. Today, we’re taking a deep dive into one of the topics that matters most to our nation, and to the world: the Annapolis Cup Croquet Match. You think we’re kidding, but we’re not.

But don’t worry—if bombs, bullets, and dead ayatollahs are more your thing, we’ve got you covered too. School of War podcast host Aaron MacLean joins Jonah Goldberg to discuss, in addition to croquet, what happened in Iran, isolationism, sovereigntism, Machiavelli, Chris Donahue, Palantir, Pentagon purges, failures in the Middle East, warrior culture, careerism, and the lessons our adversaries are taking away from Iran.

Show Notes:

—School of War Podcast

—Aaron’s last Remnant appearance

—School of War episode on chimps

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Conspiracy Hypothesis | Interview: Andrew McKenzie-McHarg Jul 06, 2026

Show notes

June was a long month, and Jonah Goldberg is feeling entitled to a little bit of self-indulgence. Instead of turning to the bottle, however, he has opted for a rollicking, frolicsome ramble through the deep history of conspiracy theory. Jonah is joined by Andrew McKenzie-McHarg, author of the definitive volume on the topic, to discuss conspiracy theory (singular), etymology, secularization, 19th-century social science, the paranoid style, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Argentina, magic and science, antisemitism, apocalyptic thinking, Karl Popper, Richard Hofstadter, Karl Marx, World War I, Donald Trump, social media, institutions, and Catholicism.

Show Notes:

—Andrew McKenzie-McHarg - The Hidden History of Conspiracy Theory

—Jesse Walker - The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory

—Richard Hofstadter - “The Paranoid Style in American Politics”

—Jesse Walker review of The Hidden History of Conspiracy Theory in Reason

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What the Court Hath Wrought | Ruminant Jul 04, 2026

Show notes

Having sweat through three shirts and appeared on eight podcasts before noon, Jonah Goldberg is fighting through a mountain of work before the early weekend kicks off. But fear not, gentle listeners: Few men work better under pressure than Jonah. Today’s Ruminant is an absolute throwdown on sexist jabronis on the right, the birthright citizenship case, codes of common decency, unitary executive theory, assimilation, Israel and anti-semitism, and the nation state. Buckle up.

Show Notes:

—Jonah’s underrated second book

—The DisPod

—Jonah in The Dispatch: “The Birthright Citizenship Debate Is About to Get Worse”

—Kevin Williamson in The Dispatch: “The Exotic Cat-Eaters of Springfield, Ohio”

—Douglass North - Violence and Social Orders

—AO Pod on unitary executive theory

—Jerusalem Demsas: “Why the left is wrong about assimilation”

—The Dispatch - The Next 250

—AEI - America at 250

—Michael Auslin Remnant

—Rana Dasgupta Remnant

—The G-File

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The Declaration of Independence | Interview: Michael Auslin Jul 01, 2026

Show notes

The year is 2004. Jonah Goldberg and Steve Hayes, young and clean shaven, stride through the National Archives. Stopping, they gaze down at a yellowed leaf of parchment. “I’m gonna steal it.” Jonah mutters. “What?” Steve asks. Jonah clenches his jaw. “I’m gonna steal the Declaration of Independence.”

Fortunately, Steve talked Jonah out of his hairbrained scheme and both men remained free, unincarcerated citizens. Unfortunately, the many secrets of the Declaration that Jonah hoped to uncover remained lost to history … until now. To mark and celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, Jonah is joined by Michael Auslin, author of National Treasure:How the Declaration of Independence Made America, to dive into the oft-forgotten history of our founding document, including: who didn’t sign the Declaration, Button Gwinnett’s signature, the Confederate view of the Declaration, America’s enlightened consensus, Declaration historiography, George III, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Paine v. Burke, and what it means to be a credal country.

Show Notes:

—Michael Auslin -National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America

—Allen Guelzo Remnant

—Pauline Maier - American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence

—Gordon Wood - The Radicalism of the American Revolution

—Andrew Roberts - The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III

—AEI Archive: Distinguished Lecture Series on the Bicentennial of the United States

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The Rise and Fall of the Nation State | Interview: Rana Dasgupta Jun 29, 2026

Show notes

We love talking about nations here at Chateau de Remnant Today, Rana Dasgupta is dropping by to shake things up and discuss his new book, After Nations. Jonah Goldberg and Rana cover nation-states, liberalism, state-corporation cooperation, the iron law of oligarchy, capitalism, economic determinism, mass human migration, creative solutions for changing environments, and the future of power.

Show Notes:

—After Nations: The Making and Unmaking of a World Order

Instructions on how to set up your members-only feed can be found here, and if you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member ⁠by clicking here⁠.

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A ‘Caricature Made Flesh’ | Ruminant Jun 27, 2026

Show notes

After waking up in a trash pile under the Francis Scott Key Bridge (his favorite haunt), Jonah Goldberg has walked his dogs, stumbled to his American Enterprise Institute office, and is ready to talk shop. Today Jonah gets into the Hinckley Hilton, Washington police, “Kant,” being late, wokery, the art of canine flatulence expression, Darializa Avila Chevalier, weak parties, the evils of primaries, the free beer party, Iran, J.D. Vance beclowning himself, Richard Nixon, “Me Too Republicans,” and his own car.

Show Notes:

—The Enlightenment: The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680-1790

—92nd Street NY Dispod

—Suicide of the West

—Wednesday G-File

—Nixon G-File

—Ben Mankiewicz for The Dispatch’s The Next 250

—Dispatch Juntos