Q & A, Hosted by Jay Nordlinger

Phillips O’Brien is a professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. He has had a British career. He was born and bred in Boston, however. In recent years, he has thought and written a lot about Ukraine—and he has valuable things to say about all the essential questions. For instance, who’s arming whom, and how? He and Jay go over these questions. Get full access to On...

The latest novel by Mark Helprin is “ The Oceans and the Stars .” What’s it about? Helprin gives this summation, in his conversation with Jay: “love and war.” The book is also a hymn to the U.S. Navy. Helprin and Jay talk about the writing life and life at large. Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Jay hosts a sportscast, with his usual gurus, David French and Vivek Dave. How ’bout them Lions? How about Bill Belichick? And Nick Saban? NBA-wise, how about Wemby? And LeBron? And others? A wide-ranging, lively, and sometimes contentious conversation. Good stuff. Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Deborah Lipstadt is a well-known scholar of modern Jewish history, antisemitism, and Holocaust denial. She has written many books. In the 1990s, she was involved in a famous trial against David Irving , the notorious English Holocaust-denier. (She won.) The case was depicted in a 2016 movie, “ Denial ,” in which Prof. Lipstadt was portrayed by Rachel Weisz. Today, Prof. Lipstadt works in the State...

Yaroslav Trofimov is the chief foreign-affairs correspondent of the Wall Street Journal. He was that paper’s bureau chief in Afghanistan and Pakistan. His previous books have been about the Middle East and the broader Muslim world. But he was born in Ukraine—and has been covering that war, intensely. His new book is “ Our Enemies Will Vanish: The Russian Invasion and Ukraine’s War of Independence...

Shai Davidai is a professor at the Columbia business school. Recently, he has been writing about the explosion of antisemitism on his campus—an explosion that is nationwide and nearly worldwide. Davidai has never experienced anything like this before; neither have many. He and Jay talk over some of the crucial issues. Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Simon Kuper is a jack of many journalistic trades. He is a columnist for the Financial Times. He is a prominent soccer writer. He has written a book about George Blake, the British spy for the Soviets. He recently wrote a bracing column titled “ What if Russia wins? ” He has lived in many parts of the world. He has highly interesting things to say about sports and the rest. Spend a bit of time wit...

Since October 7, Aviva Klompas has provided an extraordinary service. She has brought a wealth of information about that day’s attack. And about the people held hostage by Hamas. And about instances of antisemitism around the world. She has done this mainly through Twitter, or X. She has devoted her life to combating antisemitism through education. She does not fear to deal with some of the darkes...

Introducing Natan Sharansky , Jay Nordlinger calls him “the great dissident and refusenik; the Israeli politician; the Jewish leader; the human-rights activist.” In this episode of “Q&A,” Jay has Sharansky discuss October 7; the hostages; the role of Iran; the question of Russia; the position of the United States; the nature of antisemitism; and more. No one is better equipped to discuss these...

Sahar Tartak is an undergraduate at Yale University. She was an intern at National Review magazine last summer. She is a Jewish, pro-Israel student in a largely hostile environment. Jay asks her, “How has it been?” Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

George Weigel is one of America’s leading political writers and social critics. His biography of John Paul II—“ Witness to Hope ”—is one of the great modern biographies. With Jay, Weigel talks about his growing up in Baltimore. The conversation moves to Ukraine, Israel, and some key questions of American politics today. George Weigel is both sagacious and blunt. Get full access to Onward and Upwar...

Eliot A. Cohen , the scholar of international affairs, is a favorite guest of “Q&A.” He has written a new book, a Shakespeare book: “ The Hollow Crown: Shakespeare on How Leaders Rise, Rule, and Fall .” Shakespeare knew . . . everything. Professor Cohen knows a great deal too. At the end of his conversation with Jay, he talks about Ukraine and Israel and the immense challenge facing us all. Ge...

Once more, Jay speaks with Haviv Rettig Gur , the Israeli journalist, about what is going on in Israel and the profound meaning of this moment. Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

A conversation with Brian Riedl , a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, about the economy, politics, and life. Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Haviv Rettig Gur is one of the leading journalists in Israel. He is the senior analyst of the Times of Israel. He is a regular guest on “Q&A.” Listeners want to hear from him, for a deeper understanding of what is going on in Israel and in the Middle East more broadly. With Jay, he has discussed the Hamas attack and the war to come. Most illuminating. Get full access to Onward and Upward at ww...

Adam Fischer is a noted Hungarian conductor (as is his brother, Ivan). He conducted at the Salzburg Festival in August. And, in an event hosted by the Salzburg Festival Society, Jay had a conversation with him. Very interesting man, Maestro Fischer. Bright, experienced, candid. One learns from him. Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Jay’s guest is Scott Lincicome of the Cato Institute. He and Cato have launched a defense of globalization, or the right of people in different nations to trade with one another. He and Jay talk about this and a host of other issues: growing up; going to school; words such as “capitalism” and “neoliberal”; economics and demagogues; the problem of China; the travails of Detroit’s “Big Three”; and m...

Marco Armiliato is a veteran conductor from Italy. He has spent most of his career in opera, and in Italian opera in particular. He is a regular at the Met, the Vienna State Opera, and other important venues. Last month, he conducted at the Salzburg Festival, and he was a guest in the series of conversations hosted by the Salzburg Festival Society . Jay does the questioning. In the course of their...

Sebastien Lai is the son of Jimmy Lai , the great Hong Kong entrepreneur and publisher who is now a political prisoner: a symbol of the general struggle of Hong Kong against the tyranny that has engulfed it. Sebastien is campaigning around the world in his father’s behalf. He has many interesting things to say: about his dad, about Hong Kong, even about some deep things in life. Get full access to...

Michael R. Strain is an economist at the American Enterprise Institute. Jay talks with him about his upbringing, his education, and how he arrived at his views, which favor economic freedom and freedom generally—the “open society.” What about our federal budget deficit and national debt? Is there bound to be a reckoning? Strain says that there are two kinds of reckoning: a horrendous, destructive...

In this conversation, Jay asks George Will about issues that both have been thinking about: the GOP presidential race; Ukraine; our fiscal house (wobbly); abortion; affirmative action; drug legalization. What else? Well, baseball, and Shohei Ohtani in particular. And books—books that left a political mark. And Jim Buckley, who passed away last week at 100. In 1976, he and Pat Moynihan ran against...

Lea Desandre is an Italian-French mezzo-soprano and one of the brightest lights in singing today. She trained, for years, as a dancer. But music proved to be her calling. With Jay, she talks about her voice, her upbringing, Julie Andrews (yes), “The Little Prince,” and “life its ownself.” A visit with this young woman, you will find, is enchanting. Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jayno...

Adriana González is a star of the Salzburg Festival this year. She is a soprano from Guatemala—an unusual place for a classical musician to be from. Sitting on a terrace in Salzburg, Jay talks with her about her life and art. Adriana is a breath of fresh air. Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Issue upon issue: climate; “Barbenheimer”; political labels; conspiracy theories; transgenderism; Ukraine; books . . . Like many other people, Kevin D. Williamson and Jay are thinking about these issues, and jaw about them. A candid and probing discussion. Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Sardar Pashaei is an Iranian-American athlete and democracy activist. He comes from a family of dissidents. Also a family of athletes. He and his brothers were wrestlers. One of them, Saman, is in prison. Sardar was World Youth Champion in 1998. (Also Asian Youth Champion.) His government denied him the right to compete in the Olympic Games. He has been in America since 2009. An extraordinary man....