The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg

Latest Episodes:

The Godzilla Effect Mar 16, 2022

Show notes

Shadi Hamid returns to the Remnant to discuss America’s role in maintaining a safe global order. For years, many on the far left and isolationist right alike have argued that the United States should withdraw from the world stage and take a self-limiting approach to foreign policy. But Shadi believes Russia’s aggression has proved that Western power is essential. Will we soon see renewed support for Pax Americana? Should a no-fly zone be imposed over Ukraine? And how many bingo card items can Jonah insert into such an inappropriate conversation?

Show Notes:

- Shadi’s page at The Atlantic

- Wisdom of Crowds

- Shadi: “There Are Many Things Worse Than American Power”

- Jeane Kirkpatrick: “Dictatorships and Double Standards”

- Jonah on the idea of a new Cold War

- Lindsey Graham calls for Putin’s assassination

- Is the Muslim world ignoring the plight of the Uyghurs?

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Cries and Whispers Mar 12, 2022

Show notes

Jonah gets metaphysical on today’s mumbly Ruminant, recorded live in a chaotic hotel room not far from Stonecutter world headquarters. Unsurprisingly, his under-caffeinated mind is awash with thoughts on conservative intellectual history. Be prepared for an exceedingly nerdy disquisition on the philosophical differences between left and right and the importance of understanding that life is about trade offs. Plus, tune in to permanently change your perception of the theme from Jeopardy!

Show Notes:

- The Right, Matt Continetti’s upcoming book

- Jonah on the cult of unity

- Jonah on the complexities of life and conservatism

- Alan Wolfe’s The Future of Liberalism

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Very Stable Geniuses Mar 10, 2022

Show notes

John Podhoretz, the Remnant’s self-professed Paul Lynde, returns to the program to play a game of “Name that Crank.” Throughout history, many brilliant people have also been extremely bizarre. Murray Rothbard hated elevators, Arthur Conan Doyle believed in fairies, and Gandhi was obsessed with bowel movements. John and Jonah dedicate today’s episode to exploring the harmless and not-so-harmless quirks of such figures, before turning to rank punditry on American power, Biden’s floundering presidency, and the awfulness of the ‘70s. Tune in for shameless GLoP-plugging, but stick around to find out which Academy Award nominees are actually worth watching.

Show Notes:

- GLoP, America’s favorite pop culture podcast

- The Commentary Podcast: Live in Palm Beach

- Pythagoreanism

- Shakespeare conspiracy theories

- Jonah: “Karl Marx’s Jew-Hating Conspiracy”

- Pure reason

- Thomas Edison’s spirit phone

- Chris Stirewalt on misplaced ‘90s nostalgia

- Only Yesterday, by Frederick Lewis Allen

- The return of Dispatch Live

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Unfriendly Skies Mar 09, 2022

Show notes

Kori Schake, director of foreign and defense policy at the American Enterprise Institute, joins the Remnant for the first time to discuss the state of the liberal international order. As Putin’s invasion of Ukraine continues, what will the next year hold in store for the conflict and his leadership? For that matter, should Ukraine join NATO? What have been the Biden administration’s biggest foreign policy mistakes? And is America’s role in the world in doubt? Tune in to hear these questions answered, and to find out what most people get wrong about Francis Fukuyama.

Show Notes:

- Kori’s page at AEI

- Kori: “Putin Accidentally Revitalized the West’s Liberal Order”

- Kori’s latest book, America vs the West

- Biden’s oil import ban

- Mike Duncan on the Russian Revolution

- Gradually, then suddenly

- Biden’s new Iran Deal

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Drive-Time Ruminant 11: Virtual Insanity Mar 05, 2022

Show notes

The drive-time Remnant format returns for another freewheeling broadcast, one that finds Jonah, Guy, and Ryan preoccupied with questions of loneliness and fulfillment following Arthur Brooks’ recent appearance on the program. Together, they explore the malign effects of social media, whether internet access should be regulated, and how the “Japanification” of America’s youth can be reversed. Plenty of nerdish tomfoolery is also mixed in on the nightmares of American bureaucracy, the threat of World War III, and a recent congressional embarrassment. But at the end of it all, one question remains: What movie should win Best Picture at the upcoming Academy Awards?

Show Notes:

- The Remnant with Charles C.W. Cooke

- Social media goes to war

- The Remnant with Arthur Brooks

- The Federalist on bagel-snarfing warmongers

- The Remnant with Paul Miller

- Bari Weiss on America’s sex recession

- Caught in the act

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Get Happy Mar 04, 2022

Show notes

True happiness can feel elusive, especially in our chaotic age. Thankfully, former AEI president and current Harvard professor Arthur Brooks seems to have cracked the code for achieving it. On today’s Remnant, he joins Jonah to explore common mistakes people make in the pursuit of fulfillment, lies the world tells us about satisfaction, the “fear-based cultural polarity” consuming Western society, and what we can do to address America’s alarming loneliness problem. Be prepared to revise your bucket list.

Show Notes:

- Arthur’s webpage

- Arthur’s Atlantic column

- Arthur’s new book, From Strength to Strength

- Family formation in post-COVID America

- Yuval Levin: “The Changing Face of Social Breakdown”

- Jonah: “I Think We’re Turning Japanese … I Really Think So”

- Arthur: “The Kind of Love That Makes People Happiest”

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Love’s Liberals Lost Mar 02, 2022

Show notes

Paul Miller, regular Dispatch contributor and professor of international affairs at Georgetown, joins the Remnant to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the difference between patriotism and nationalism. With a new Cold War looking increasingly likely, how should America prepare itself for what may be a major global conflict? For that matter, what does it mean to be a “foreign policy realist?” Has Putin always been this crazy? And what should unify all Americans?

Show Notes:

- Paul’s work at The Dispatch

- Paul’s upcoming book, The Religion of American Greatness

- Paul: “How to fight the new Cold War”

- Jonah on Putin and the West

- Last weekend’s Ruminant

- The return of Dispatch Live

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Lunacy’s Lexicon Feb 26, 2022

Show notes

No babies were harmed in the making of today’s Ruminant, which features puppy parades, obscure German philosophers, and an appropriately large supply of bagels. Putin’s use of Nazi rhetoric to demonize the Ukrainian government has reminded Jonah that we don’t talk enough about the importance of language in public life. The invasion has also prompted him to think about the relationship between language and nationalism, and how national interests should influence foreign policy. Are babies born as blank slates? How would isolationism change America? And will the end of this episode cost Jonah most of his long-term friendships?

Show Notes:

- The return of Dispatch Live

- Johann Fichte’s “Addresses to the German Nation”

- Johann Herder

- The Remnant with Paul Bloom

- Paul Bloom’s Just Babies

- The Remnant with John McWhorter

- Jonah’s Twitter thread on nationalism

- Jonah debates Rich Lowry on nationalism

- The Morning Dispatch breaks down the Ukraine invasion

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Our Paramour, the State Feb 24, 2022

Show notes

Katherine Mangu-Ward, editor in chief of Reason magazine, joins the Remnant for the first time today to explore whether America’s libertarian spirit is still intact. In a moment where Americans are losing faith in authority, the right is succumbing to power worship, and pluralism is becoming increasingly unpopular, how can we avoid a “squishy apocalypse?” Moreover, is hypocrisy really a problem? Why can’t the government love you? And would the United States be a better place if dog catchers were defunded?

Show Notes:

- Katherine’s page at Reason

- The Remnant with Peter Suderman

- The Remnant with Leon Aron

- Katherine on why you almost certainly shouldn’t vote

- The Declaration of Independents, by Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch

- The Libertarian Mind, by David Boaz

- Obama’s second inaugural address

- The Remnant with Mike Gallagher

- Leon Aron: “The Invasion of Ukraine, and Regime Change”

- Dispatch Live on the Ukraine situation

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Zombie Bidenism Feb 22, 2022

Show notes

While Jonah traverses the sunny wilds of California, Chris Stirewalt steps in to host today’s Remnant. He’s joined by Amy Walter, publisher and editor in chief of the Cook Political Report, for exceptionally rank punditry on what we can expect from this year’s midterms and the 2024 presidential race. Would the American people accept a second Trump presidency? Why do certain states stay purple while others become firmly partisan? And could peace and goodwill soon be restored in Congress?

Show Notes:

- The Cook Political Report

- Amy’s previous Remnant appearance

- Amy on Biden’s empathy problem

- The Democratic Party’s “new politics of evasion”

- What do the midterms hold in store for the Senate?

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