Q & A, Hosted by Jay Nordlinger

Akhil Reed Amar is an outstanding teacher of the Constitution, and American history. He is a professor of law at Yale. He was born in Michigan to immigrant parents from India. The latest of his several books on the Constitution is “The Words That Made Us.” He recently wrote about Roe vs. Wade, explaining why he, a pro-choice Democrat, thinks it is a bad decision. He does a podcast called “Amarica’...

Harvey Sachs is one of the great writers about music. “His biography of Toscanini,” says Jay, “is one of the greatest biographical feats I know.” Sachs’s latest book is “Ten Masterpieces of Music.” With Jay, he talks about this mighty ten. The conversation at large abounds in interesting facts, observations, opinions, and stories. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.co...

As Jay says in his introduction, Matthew Continetti is “a conservative and a conservative-ologist: a student of conservatism, a dissector of it, an expert on it. He has written a new book: ‘The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism.’” Jay and Matt have a meaty hour on conservatism. And they barely get started. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/sub...

Inna Sovsun is a member of the Ukrainian parliament. What she has to say about what is happening in her country right now is very informative and not a little moving. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

“On ‘Q&A,’” says Jay, “I have had people from many walks of life: politicians, novelists, athletes, comedians, scientists, journalists, businessmen, sopranos, human-rights activists—on and on. I don’t think I have ever before had a poet. So, today is the day to have one. She is Danielle Rose.” And a very interesting person is she. A thought-provoking, enriching conversation. Source Get full ac...

Jimmy Crumpacker is a very interesting fellow who is running for Congress in Oregon. He is from an old Oregon family—about as old as such a family can get. Jimmy Crumpacker is seventh generation. He is a Republican, of the old school, which is to say, he believes in limited government, free markets, and economic growth. Also the rule of law. Born and raised in Portland, he discusses with Jay the.....

Eliot A. Cohen is a professor of international relations. As Jay says, he is a leading expert in the field—a man from whom you can learn a great deal. Cohen discusses two of his own professors in this “Q&A”: Richard Pipes and Samuel Huntington. Are we in a Huntingtonian moment? A clash of civilizations? Jay asks Eliot Cohen several specific questions about Ukraine and Russia... Source Get full...

Hanna Liubakova is a journalist whom Jay respects a great deal. She is a Belarusian, in exile, who reports on her own country, of course, but also on the war in Ukraine. Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, the Baltic countries, other countries—all these things are connected. Hanna Liubakova is deeply and widely informed, and she makes the rest of us more informed too. With Jay... Source Get full access to O...

Once more, Radek Sikorski brings his expertise to this program—and at a critical hour. He is a Polish member of the European Parliament. He was foreign minister and defense minister of his country. With Jay, he discusses Putin’s war on Ukraine, from military, political, psychological, and other points of view. A clarifying analysis. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger....

Luba Kolomytseva is the art director at National Review. She is an old friend and colleague of Jay’s. They first met in November 1998, when Jay arrived at NR. Their first conversation was about Ukraine and Russia. They have been talking about the subject, on and off, ever since. Luba began life in Kharkiv, Ukraine. These weeks have been emotional for her—a “torture,” she says. Source Get full acce...

Bill Browder is the financier who is the driving force behind Magnitsky acts—acts that allow governments to sanction individual human-rights abusers, rather than whole peoples. He is one of Vladimir Putin’s chief enemies. He has been in Putin’s crosshairs for years. Browder is the author of “Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice.” With Jay... Source Get...

Casey Michel is an expert on a shadowy world: financial corruption, around the globe. Where do the oligarchs get their dough? How do they hide it? How do they invest it? Where do they park it? Have Americans, and others, aided and abetted them? With Casey Michel, Jay gets into this critically important subject. Mr. Michel is the author of a new book, “American Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Source Get...

Teng Biao is a prominent lawyer, human-rights activist, and democracy leader from China. He comes from a small, poor village and went to the country’s leading university: Peking University. He earned a Ph. D. in legal philosophy. His life took a turn, though: he entered dissidence, wanting to defend people’s rights and speak for the voiceless. He was therefore imprisoned and tortured several times...

Kateryna Yushchenko was born and raised in Chicago. Her parents were Ukrainian refugees, who had been through many storms. Kateryna worked in the Reagan State Department — on issues of democracy and human rights — and then in the White House. She moved to Ukraine and became First Lady of the country. Her husband, Viktor Yushchenko, was president from 2005 to 2010. He survived a poison attack — a.....

Francis Fukuyama is one of the most influential political thinkers of our times. He teaches at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, at Stanford. He is chairman of the editorial board at American Purpose. With Jay, he talks about his upbringing and education. His paternal grandfather came to America from Japan in 1905. His father was born and raised in Los Angeles. Source Get ful...

Myroslava Luzina is a political analyst and consultant in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. She is also a book translator and other things. She is someone, as Jay says, from whom you can learn a great deal. Jay asks her about the situation in Ukraine now: What does it feel like? Are people making preparations (for a further Russian invasion)? Are Ukrainians becoming more nation-minded? Source Get full...

As in 2008, the Chinese government will soon host Olympic Games. Talking about the issues with Jay is Perry Link, the estimable China scholar. Should the U.S. be boycotting? Is a diplomatic boycott enough? How about Peng Shuai, the tennis player? Should Elon Musk be doing business in Xinjiang Province, or East Turkestan, where the Uyghurs are being persecuted? And so on and so forth. At the end......

Vladimir Kara-Murza is a Russian democracy leader, writer, documentary-maker, etc. He has long been admired by Jay and many others. Kara-Murza worked with Boris Nemtsov, the Russian opposition leader murdered in 2015. He himself has been subject to two murder attempts (by poison). In this “Q&A,” Kara-Murza and Jay discuss Russian civil society; the relationship between the current government a...

Togo is a West African country, of about 8 million. Since 1967, it has been ruled by two dictators, father and son. An outstanding—and outstandingly brave—opposition leader is Farida Nabourema. Jay wrote about this young woman in 2018: “Daughter of Togo.” He also did a “Q&A” with her. She is back, now, with the latest: the latest about her country. Although her remarks are specifically about T...

The college-football playoffs are coming up. On hand to discuss them are David French, Vivek Dave, and Rahul Danak. Also, should coaches just up and leave, before bowl games? Should athletic departments fire them mid-season? At the end of this podcast, Vivek and Rahul discuss the Concession Call. When their schools play each other, in football or basketball, the alum of the losing school has to......

Josh Kraushaar, of National Journal, is one of the best political reporters and analysts in America. His handle, on Twitter, is “Hotline Josh,” for reasons he explains in this conversation with Jay. He and Jay jaw over some of today’s politics: Biden—is he all there? Harris—does she have what it takes? Trump—are he and the GOP at one? Josh also provides assessments of the four big leaders on the.....

Vladimir Putin’s Russia is threatening Ukraine as never before. Why does it matter? What is the interest of the United States? John Bolton has long experience with Russia and Ukraine. He answers the vital questions, with candor and clarity. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Walter Wolf has written an unusual book on a very difficult and important topic—a book that meets a screaming need: “The Right Rehab: A Guide to Addiction and Mental Illness Recovery When Crisis Hits Your Family.” He knows from personal experience. He is now trying to help others. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Daniel Asia is a composer and a professor at the University of Arizona. He heads the American Culture and Ideas Initiative. Some of his articles are available in in a collection: “Observations on Music, Culture, and Politics.” Jay wrote the foreword to it. He and Dan Asia are old friends and comrades. In this conversation, they talk about Dan’s life (very interesting); the state of music education...

With two of his gurus, David French and Vivek Dave, Jay talks college football, Major League Baseball, the NFL, and college basketball. The guys hash over the Big Ten, the Houston Astros, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Simmons, and more. Vivek is in a peevish mood; David is freewheeling. An excellent discussion. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe