Q & A, Hosted by Jay Nordlinger

Jay does not do a traditional “Q&A” this time – and not a “Q&A” at all – but a Christmas show. A show of Christmas music. He plays seven of his favorite tracks, from Bach to “I Saw Three Ships” to gospel. Performers include Leontyne Price, George Shearing, and Chanticleer. A medley for the season. And a shot in the arm, or wherever it is needed. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward...

For many years, David Horowitz was a shake-’em-up figure on the left. For many more years, he has been a shake-’em-up figure on the right. He is now embarked on a big publishing project: The Black Book of the American Left: The Collected Conservative Writings of David Horowitz. With Jay, he is his characteristic blunt self, giving it to Obama, Hillary, and others we could name (and do). Source Get...

In a recent issue of National Review, Jay had a piece called “Underground at Brown: A secret forum in which people can talk.” Later, he did a larger Web version, here. At Brown, there is a secret Facebook group in which students can talk freely. They can talk about whatever they like, including controversial issues. Shouldn’t they be able to do that out in the open, above ground? Source Get full a...

In recognition of Thanksgiving, Jay has gathered four worthies to discuss America, and what to be grateful for, where America is concerned. The worthies are Mona Charen, Scott Immergut (aka Blue Yeti), Kevin Williamson, and Charlie Cooke. Jay has approximately 20 categories: “Name three of your favorite American . . .” movies, foods, novels, comedians, states, accents, singers, athletes... Source...

Ben Sasse was elected senator from Nebraska last year. He has just given his maiden floor speech: detailing what is wrong with the world’s “greatest deliberative body.” He and Jay talk about this. Why is the Senate broken? What is the responsibility of the people themselves? What about entitlements? And the “administrative state”? And the new reality of employment? And cyberwar? With Jay... Source...

Jay’s guest today is David Pryce-Jones, the British journalist, historian, and novelist. He has just written his memoirs, “ Fault Lines” – a book that is about the extraordinary family from which he sprang, as well as about himself. With Jay, he traverses any number of subjects: the war, and his flight through France down into Morocco with his nanny; his encounter with the Arab world... Source Get...

Alan Simpson was a senator from Wyoming from 1979 to 1997. For ten of those years, he was the Republican whip. Since leaving the Senate, he has done many things, including the co-chairmanship of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. He and Jay talk about some big issues, including immigration: Simpson was the co-author of the immigration act of 1986... Source Get full access...

That was the nickname of Tom Seaver, the major-league pitcher. Before that, it was the name of a children’s cartoon. In any case, it certainly applies to Thomas Sowell, the economist, philosopher, and writer. His latest book is Wealth, Poverty and Politics: An International Perspective. With Jay, he talks about some of the key questions of that book, and of life: what makes individuals and peoples...

For almost 20 years, Lincoln Diaz-Balart was a member of Congress (1993 to 2011). He is a Republican from Miami. It was Ronald Reagan and Jeane Kirkpatrick, really, who convinced him to leave the Democratic party for the Republican. And he is one of Jay Nordlinger’s favorite people. They talk about Cuba, mainly. (Land of Lincoln’s birth.) The Pope’s visit. Obama’s normalization. Also... Source Get...

Well, you don’t have to drink tea, or anything else, to enjoy this podcast with Toby Young. He is well familiar to Ricochet readers and listeners: the British journalist who was a judge on Top Chef and who is an important education reformer and whose father, a prominent sociologist and politician, coined the term “meritocracy” (which he did not mean in a positive way – far from it). Source Get ful...

Carly Fiorina was in New Hampshire today, participating in a Labor Day parade. It was about 95 degrees. Afterward, from an air-conditioned vehicle, she did a “Q&A” with Jay. They talked about a range of issues, including economic growth; abortion; Iranian nukes; Donald Trump; immigration; HP; and Afghanistan. If you’re looking for a compact way of knowing “How does Carly think? How does she ta...

What could be more interesting than an hour with Bill Kristol? When it comes to political talk, not much. Jay and he talk politics, sure. That includes 2016. But they talk about a lot more, too. They talk books and history. They talk about words (within politics, true): “neocon,” “establishment,” “socialist.” They talk about growing up, and the Iranian bomb, and abortion. Listen to it once... Sour...

David Horovitz is one of the leading intellectuals and political analysts in all of Israel. That’s what Jay says at the top of this podcast. Later, Horovitz denies the intellectual part, but you can judge for yourself. An Anglo-Israeli, born in London, Horovitz is the founding editor of the Times of Israel. He was the editor of the Jerusalem Post. He is the author of several books. With him... Sou...

Jianli Yang is a Chinese democracy activist. He is also an old friend of Jay’s (and a hero of Jay’s). He is the president of Initiatives for China, in Washington, D.C. He was at Tiananmen Square. He was a prisoner of conscience in China for five years. He holds two Ph. D.s, one in math from Berkeley and the other in political economy from Harvard. In this “Q&A,” Jay talks to Yang about the dec...

Jay’s guest is Alan Dershowitz, the famed lawyer and Harvard Law prof. His latest book is “The Case Against the Iran Deal: How Can We Stop Iran From Getting Nukes?” Naturally, Jay talks with him about Iran – and the deal, and Obama, and Chuck Schumer, and Netanyahu, and so on. They also talk about presidential elections, past and present. Did you know that Ted Cruz was a student of Dershowitz’s? S...

For this episode, Jay has a co-host – not just any co-host, as he says, but THE co-host: Mona Charen, of “Need to Know” fame. Jay asked her to join him, because, as he says, his guest was too large – too capacious of mind and activity – to be questioned by just one person. That guest is Roger Scruton, the British philosopher, novelist, composer, etc. He has written more than 40 books... Source Get...

Dinesh D’Souza has been a public figure since the 1980s, when he was a conservative intellectual and controversialist at Dartmouth College. He has gone on to be an extremely successful author and filmmaker. With him, you can discuss just about anything, and Jay does in this “Q&A” podcast. They talk about politics — Obama, Romney, Trump, et al. They talk about higher ed. They talk about concept...

Elliott Abrams was a State Department official under Reagan and a key White House staffer under George W. Bush. He is now with the Council on Foreign Relations (no doubt improving the place considerably). As Jay says in this podcast, presidents and other powerful people have wanted the benefit of this man’s thinking, and so does he – so does Jay. The two talk chiefly about Iran... Source Get full...

Dana Perino is a star of Fox News — a co-host of “The Five.” She was press secretary to George W. Bush. She is the author of a best-selling new book: “And the Good News Is . . .: Lessons and Advice from the Bright Side.” And she is Jay’s guest on this latest “Q&A.” They talk about a smorgasbord, including Republicans, Democrats, Bushes, Obama, the media, and the current GOP field. Also... Sour...

Jay’s guest today is Brad Thor, the writer of best-selling thrillers. (His latest is Code of Conduct.) More than a thriller-writer, Thor is an expert in defense, national security, and so on. He and Jay talk about Greece, Iran, ISIS, Afghanistan . . . They talk about Edward Snowden. (Thor is not a fan, to put it very mildly.) They talk about the 2016 presidential election. (Thor has a horse. Sourc...

Jay’s guest is Zineb El Rhazoui, a Moroccan journalist. She is a reporter for Charlie Hebdo. This is the Parisian magazine – satirical, left-wing, and atheist – that was attacked last January by Islamists. Two brothers named Kouachi massacred twelve people. Rhazoui was not there that day. She was on vacation. She returned to Charlie Hebdo, for a few reasons. One of them, as she told Jay... Source...

At the beginning of this podcast, Jay says roughly the following: “Norman Podhoretz and Bill Buckley had the greatest influence on me, politically. But I absolve both of them of responsibility for my errors.” In the course of this ’cast, Jay talks with N. Pod. about matters literary, political, and personal. They start with Shakespeare – and go on to Yeats, Dickens, and some other fellows... Sourc...

Today, Jay is joined by an old friend, Tucker Carlson, the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Caller, the co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend.” They talk on the air pretty much as they do in private: about the media, about personalities, about politics, and so on. Jay asks, in effect, “Is global warming a hoax?” And, “What happened to Harry Reid’s face?” And, “Is California over? Source Ge...

Suleiman Bakhit is a guest of the Oslo Freedom Forum. He is a Jordanian entrepreneur – the son of a prime minister – who has created a line of comic books. His aim is to give young people a sense of heroism apart from bin Laden, Zarqawi, and that crowd. He has been slashed in the face for his troubles. He is an interesting man who has led an interesting life who has interesting things to say... So...

Jay has been working at the Oslo Freedom Forum, the annual human-rights conference in Norway. Among the many attendees is Marina Nemat: a onetime political prisoner in Iran, now a human-rights champion. As Jay explains, she was born in 1965 and was 13 when the Khomeinist revolution triumphed. She was sassy at school – wanting to learn such subjects as math rather than Khomeini-style theology – and...