Q & A, Hosted by Jay Nordlinger

Betsy DeVos has been an education reformer—and philanthropist—for some 35 years. In the Trump administration, she was education secretary. She has written a book that is part personal memoir, part policy book: “Hostages No More: The Fight for Education Freedom and the Future of the American Child.” From Jay, she fields some questions general and specific: “What is ‘education freedom’? Source Get f...

Jamie Fly is the president of RFE/RL, that combination of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. RFE/RL is especially critical these days, when the Kremlin is waging its war on Ukraine, and its usual disinformation war. Questioned by Jay, Jamie Fly goes through some of the basics. A very important arena, we’re talking about. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscr...

Bibi’s back, and so, on “Q&A,” is Haviv Rettig Gur. He is a favorite guest of this program. He is an Israel explainer par excellence. HRG is the senior analyst of the Times of Israel. With Jay, he talks about the return of Benjamin Netanyahu to power. About the nature of politics in Israel: tribal. About Iran, Ukraine, and other things—including Kanye and Kyrie. Source Get full access to Onwar...

As usual, Jay has some questions for George F. Will: What do you think about the midterms? Is Biden all there? What is the importance of Ukraine? How do you deal with the terms “liberal” and “conservative”? What about the F-word, “fascism”? What was Johnny Carson like? How about David Letterman? Have you ever been starstruck? Is Shohei Ohtani like Babe Ruth? There are more questions where those......

The sports world has some hot issues — and Jay calls on David French and Vivek Dave to discuss them. In the NFL, the fate of Tua Tagovailoa. And the fate of Tom Brady. In the NBA, the punch thrown by Draymond Green. Also: Is LeBron finished? In college football, the SEC vs. the Big Ten. Etc. Yes, a wide world of sports, and a cracking conversation. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at ww...

Stephen Gutowski is one of the leading gun journalists in the country. He is the founder of The Reload, a news site. He is an analyst for CNN. If he doesn’t know it—and it concerns guns—it is probably not known. In this podcast, Gutowski teaches Jay a few terms, including “Fudd” and “tacticool.”... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Oleksandra Matviichuk is a Ukrainian human-rights lawyer, the head of the Center for Civil Liberties, in Ukraine. The center has just been announced as a recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Jay spoke with her when she traveled to New York, for a session of the Oslo Freedom Forum. They talk about her life and work. Her work takes a toll, but it is urgently important. Source Get full access...

Berta Valle is the wife of Felix Maradiaga, a Nicaraguan political prisoner. He was a presidential candidate last year, arrested along with other candidates by the country’s dictator, Daniel Ortega. Maradiaga is one of Jay’s favorite people. Jay did a “Q&A” with him in 2019 (here). Berta Valle is an outstanding person herself, doing all she can to help her husband. This conversation with Jay i...

“Columny” was William Safire’s word for the craft of column-writing (he also called it “the column dodge”). Steve Chapman has been an outstanding columnist for more than 40 years—mainly with the Chicago Tribune. He has now retired. Bill Buckley published the first piece that Chapman ever got paid for. Chapman thought about leaving the check uncashed—maybe he should have it framed? Source Get full...

David Pryce-Jones met the King—George VI—when he was six or so. Later, when he was 16, he observed the King’s funeral procession. The crown fell off the coffin, right in front of him. Two years later, he placed a bet on a horse for the Queen—she had handed him a five-pound note and asked him to do it. David Pryce-Jones is a writer: a journalist, a historian, a biographer, a novelist, a memoirist....

Daniel Hannan is a frequent and prized guest on “Q&A.” He is a writer, a politician—a member of the House of Lords. He has just been in Odessa. He talks with Jay about Ukraine. Then they talk about the late Queen, and some British politics. A conversation with Dan Hannan is an education and a pleasure. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Masih Alinejad is a U.S. citizen from Iran. She is a journalist, a democracy activist, and a human-rights activist. Jay wrote about her last year: “A Free Spirit.” In that year, 2021, she was the target of a kidnapping plot by the Iranian dictatorship. In recent weeks, she has been the target of a murder plot. She is unable to live at home, in New York. But she is as outspoken as ever—a free... So...

Recently, John Bolton was the target of a murder plot by Iran. He now has Secret Service protection. He and Jay talk about Iran. Also Ukraine, Taiwan, South Korea, the GOP, and the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago. As usual, Bolton is interesting, informed, and frank. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Harvey Mansfield is one of the most celebrated and valued teachers in America. He is a professor of government at Harvard—and has been so since 1962. This year, some of his students and admirers held a conference called “Harvey Mansfield at 90.” With Jay, Professor Mansfield discusses some of his career-long concerns: Aristotle, Machiavelli, Tocqueville . . . He also answers, “What is democracy? S...

Kim Holmes is a veteran foreign-policy hand. For many years, he was at the Heritage Foundation. He was also an assistant secretary of state. Today, he is, among other things, vice chairman of the Center for International Private Enterprise. With Jay, he talks about the War on Terror (ongoing). And, of course, the Ukraine war. And China and Taiwan. He also talks about American conservatism: Are......

Hillel Neuer is the executive director of UN Watch. Like no one else, he keeps an eye on the United Nations, particularly when it comes to human rights. If you care about what the U.N. does with human rights—and usually they do appalling things—then Neuer is your man: your man in Geneva. He is also a broadly thoughtful and experienced man, and Jay asks him some essential questions about his life.....

A refreshing, interesting, and meaty conversation about sports with Jay’s gurus, David French and Vivek Dave. Several items are on the menu. The expansion of the Big Ten conference. The idea of the student-athlete. The NBA offseason. (What is Kevin Durant thinking?) Shohei Ohtani. The skills of hockey players. Tiger Woods. The Saudi League. More. These gurus are stuffed with knowledge... Source Ge...

David Mastio is a veteran journalist, long associated with USA Today. Until recently, he was deputy editorial-page editor. But then he came up against wokeness—and was eventually hounded out of the paper. He has landed on his feet, however, at StraightArrowNews.com . Dave Mastio’s story is a modern American story. He lays it out matter-of-factly. Listen to him. When USA Today lost him—they lost a....

Jay “nerds out” a bit with Luke Kerr-Dineen, a real authority on golf. LKD is an editor at Golf magazine and Golf.com . With Jay, he talks about the recent U.S. Open. The new Saudi golf tour. The ins and outs of swings. Favorite golfers, favorite courses—the problem of equipment gone wild. A delightful and invigorating discussion, for golfers, of course, but for non-golfers too, who may catch the....

Jacob Mchangama is a Danish lawyer, civil libertarian, human-rights advocate, and writer. He is the founder and director of Justitia, a think tank. He is an old friend of Jay’s, and a favorite of Jay’s. Mchangama’s new book is “Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media.” Of the book, the late P.J. O’Rourke said, “The best history of free speech ever written and the best defense of free....

Paul Massaro is a senior policy advisor to the U.S. Helsinki Commission. With Jay, he discusses the Ukraine war, primarily: what it means for the United States, Russia, Europe, and—not least—Ukraine. The views he expresses are his own and do not represent an official position of the U.S. government. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Michela Wrong is a journalist, and “not just any journalist,” as Jay says in his introduction: She is “a famed, and superb, chronicler of Africa.” Along with her journalism, she has written five books, rightly acclaimed. “In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz” is a fascinating depiction of Mobutu and Zaire. Ms. Wrong’s latest book is “Do Not Disturb,” about Rwanda. You will enjoy this conversation about a...

Abdulrahman al-Sadhan worked for the Red Cross, or Red Crescent, in Saudi Arabia. He jotted some tweets critical of the Saudi dictatorship, anonymously. But his cover was blown—and he was arrested, imprisoned, tortured . . . This is the Saudi way. Working to win his release is his sister, Areej. As Jay says, “she is a brave, determined woman, and, of course, a very loyal sister.” This is a story.....

Jewher Ilham, age 27, is a Uyghur activist, in the United States. She is a spokesman for the Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region. Her father, Ilham Tohti, an economist, is somewhere in the gulag. The U.S. State Department has classified China’s persecution of the Uyghur people as a genocide. Jewher Ilham is the author of “A Uyghur’s Fight to Free Her Father” and “Because I Have To....

Vladimir Kara-Murza is one of the leading Russian democracy campaigners. He is an old friend of “Q&A” and an old friend of Jay’s. Now he is a political prisoner. His wife and partner—his wife and chief ally—is Evgenia Kara-Murza. In this conversation, she talks about her husband, their marriage, their work, the Russian people . . . As Jay points out, she is much like Vladimir: brave, elegant.....