Q & A, Hosted by Jay Nordlinger

Earlier this month, Bret Stephens wrote a searching essay on the New York Times’s 1619 Project. Stephens is a columnist for the New York Times himself. The 1619 Project places slavery at the center of the American founding (and thus of America). With Jay, Stephens talks about this, and much else: the presidential campaign, the Middle East, New York City, and more. Bret Stephens won the Pulitzer......

Cameron Hilditch is a writer for National Review, born in 1998, as the Troubles wound down: the Troubles in Northern Ireland. This Northern Irishman is a “child of the peace,” as he says. He went to Magdalen College, Oxford. He has a great love for the United States, and a great knowledge about it (and other things). Jay asks him about Northern Ireland, America, democracy, and a lot more. Source G...

There was once a movie called “Divorce American Style.” David French was going to title his new book “The Great American Divorce.” But the title is “ Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation.” David and Jay are old friends and comrades, and they talk about the issues raised in the book – plus the Afghan War, the NBA, and more. Source Get full access to Onward and U...

Thomas Kent is a veteran, estimable journalist. He held many positions with the Associated Press, including Moscow bureau chief and international editor. He was the president and CEO of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. And he is the author of a new book: “Striking Back: Overt and Covert Options to Combat Russian Disinformation.” Kent knows all about it: the ins and outs, the pros and cons. Sourc...

Without a family at age twelve, Joseph Kim was out on the streets for three years. Homeless. Begging. Stealing. Trying to stay alive. With incredible good fortune – and his own bravery – he managed to escape and get to the United States. He wrote a book called “ Under the Same Sky: From Starvation in North Korea to Salvation in America.” He is now with the Human Freedom Initiative at the George W....

There is almost no one Jay would rather talk with than Natan Sharansky: one of the great heroes of the 20th century (much as he may demur to this) and a force in the 21st. With Gil Troy, Sharansky has written a book called “ Never Alone.” It is a memoir of his years in the Gulag; his years in Israeli politics; and his years at the helm of the Jewish Agency. With Jay, Sharansky discusses the past.....

Previously, Jay did a “Q&A” with Ondrej Kolar, a district mayor of Prague. Kolar has required police protection, after angering the Kremlin and its supporters in his own country. This “Q&A” is with the overall mayor — or the lord mayor — of Prague: Zdenek Hrib. He, too, has angered the Kremlin, requiring police protection. He has angered the Chinese government, too. Hrib is a man who cares...

Jamie Fly is a veteran foreign-policy hand. When he was coming of age, his views were shaped by the Reagan experience. He went on to work in the White House, the Pentagon, and elsewhere. Until recently, he was president of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. He knows a great deal about Russian disinformation, and other disinformation, and how to combat it. With Jay, he talks about this and the... S...

Quin Hillyer is a veteran political writer who has stuck several toes in politics himself. He was a page at the 1980 Republican National Convention. He was around for a very big scoop. He later worked for Louisiana congressman Bob Livingston. He was part of the effort to block the ascension of David Duke. He went to Georgetown University, where one of his teachers was Jeane Kirkpatrick. Source Get...

Susan Eisenhower has written a book about her grandfather: “How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest Decisions.” With Jay, she talks about family, war, politics, and more. A wonderful discussion on all fronts. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Ondrej Kolar is a district mayor in Prague – the mayor of Prague 6. His father, Petr, was a dissident in Communist times; Petr was later a diplomat, serving as ambassador to the United States, for example. As district mayor, Ondrej presided over the removal of a monument to Marshal Ivan Konev, a hero of the Red Army – but not so heroic to many Czechs, and to others who value freedom. Source Get fu...

David Normoyle is a golf historian and an altogether exceptional person. He is also an old friend of Jay’s. Recently, David went on an extraordinary journey: a 40-day car trip through COVID America. He chronicled his trip, daily. In conversation with Jay, David talks about what he saw, and a slew of other subjects as well. Enjoy a conversation between two old friends, on golf and life. Source Get...

In a career of writing extraordinary books, David Pryce-Jones has written a new one: “ Signatures: Literary Encounters of a Lifetime.” DP-J has a collection of about a hundred books inscribed to him by their authors: Aldous Huxley, W. H. Auden, Saul Bellow, Somerset Maugham, Rebecca West, Erich Segal, and so on. He talks about these authors in “Signatures.” The book is a series of brief lives... S...

Mathis Bitton is a summer intern at National Review and a sophomore-to-be at Yale. He has a lot to say – about many subjects, but today’s subject is France, a rich, varied, and inexhaustible subject, to be sure. Jay puts the young monsieur through some paces: about the French language, and English, for that matter; about French poets, novelists, painters, scientists, cars, etc. Source Get full acc...

Radek Sikorski is a man of considerable experience: as a journalist, for National Review, The Spectator, and many other publications; and as a politician. Sikorski was foreign minister and defense minister of his country, Poland. Today, he is a member of the European Parliament. He talks with Jay about a slew of issues: the recent Polish election; the EU; NATO; the United States... Source Get full...

John R. Bolton – who has served in every Republican administration from Reagan on – has kicked up a fuss with his memoir of the Trump White House: “ The Room Where It Happened.” With Jay, he talks about the president, the world, and himself. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Greg Mankiw – N. Gregory Mankiw – is a famous economist. His name is pronounced “Mankyoo,” rhyming with “Thank you.” He is a professor at Harvard (granted tenure on his 29th birthday). Under George W. Bush, he was chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. He is a great admirer of Milton Friedman. As a blogger, he can be found here. With Jay, he discusses life and economics... Sourc...

Orin Kerr is a law professor and legal writer extraordinaire. He teaches at Berkeley. He writes widely, including on Twitter (@OrinKerr). With Jay, he talks about life and the law: judges, presidents, senators, pardons, and more. Also: How’s life on campus? Free and easy or illiberal and hard? Orin Kerr is a natural teacher and interviewee. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynor...

Jay is joined by an old colleague and one of the best political reporters in America: Tim Alberta, of Politico. He is the author of the bestselling book “American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump.” He and Jay talk lockdown politics, the John Bolton book, Campaign 2020, and so on. Whom will Biden pick as his running mate? Will Trump dump Pence?...

The absence of a baseball season has hit many people hard, and it’s hit George Will very hard: The game is a big part of his life, and he is an authority on it. (See “Men at Work.”) Will has two teams, the Cubs and the Nationals. He and Jay talk about baseball this year, or the absence of it. They also talk about the Astros cheating scandal: the meaning of it. Further subjects are police brutality...

Elaina Plott is a national political reporter for the New York Times. Before that, she worked for National Review, Washingtonian magazine, and The Atlantic. She and Jay are old friends. Elaina grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and is currently working on a story about Jeff Sessions, the ex-senator from Alabama (who wants to be a senator again). Elaina went to Yale. With Jay, she talks about reading....

Jim Harbaugh is the coach of the University of Michigan football team. For 14 seasons, he was a quarterback in the NFL. He has coached both at the college level and in the pros. Last month, he and Jay had a leisurely conversation about many things. (They are old friends.) Now they have done Round 2. Today’s subjects include: a recent RV trip; dreaming about playing; the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s....

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit against Betsy DeVos, the secretary of education, for her department’s new Title IX regulations on campus. These have to do with the rights of accusers and accused. Nadine Strossen was president of the ACLU from 1991 to 2008. On this issue, she disagrees with the ACLU and agrees with DeVos. With Jay, she talks about this and much else: including her...

Jeb Bush knows a thing or two about being a governor – including in bad situations. That’s when you really have to “suit up,” as he says. With Jay, he talks about governors in a time of pandemic. The politics of lockdown. And so on. Other subjects include China; Bush 43; the coming campaign (will there be conventions?); balloting (is mailing in okay?); and the beauty of George H. W. Source Get ful...

As regular listeners know, Robert Costa is one of Jay’s favorite journalists and people. Costa is a national political reporter at the Washington Post. He is the moderator of “Washington Week” on PBS. And he is a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. With Jay, he walks about reporting in a time of pandemic. The White House press operation. The nature of Donald Trump. The weirdness of the... So...