Q & A, Hosted by Jay Nordlinger

Garry Kasparov is the chess champion and democracy champion. He was Jay’s very first guest on “Q&A,” in 2015. For 255 months, Kasparov was the world’s No. 1 in chess. As Jay points out, Tiger Woods, in his career so far, has been No. 1 in golf for 158 months. Kasparov is chairman of the Human Rights Foundation and also chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative. RDI has a new program called......

Widely known as “BHL,” Bernard-Henri Lévy is a French philosopher and writer. He is one of the leading “public intellectuals” of our time. Not content with his armchair and library, he goes on adventures, including dangerous ones. His latest book is “The Will to See: Dispatches from a World of Misery and Hope.” Jay talks with him about his book, his life, and his thoughts. Source Get full access t...

Mark Haidar is “a tech whiz and entrepreneur,” as Jay says. Mr. Haidar has founded or co-founded several companies and has several patents. He lives in Dallas, but started out in Lebanon. His family was very poor, and his country was beset by war. His rise has been spectacular. Mr. Haidar is featured in George W. Bush’s latest book, “Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants. Source Get...

You will want to meet Masih Alinejad, an extraordinary woman from Iran. She is a journalist, who defied the rulers of her home country. She is now in exile, in the United States. Recently, she was the target of a kidnap plot by the Iranian regime. She soldiers on, undaunted. She is full of courage, full of love. Jay sat down with her at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Miami. Source Get full access to On...

That is the slogan of Leopoldo López: “El que se cansa, pierde.” “He who tires, loses.” López is a face and voice of the Venezuelan opposition. He was imprisoned in February 2014. He made a daring escape from the country in October 2020. This week, at the Oslo Freedom Forum, Jay talked with López about his life in and out of prison. And about his hopes and dreams for his country. Source Get full a...

Robert Costa, the Washington Post reporter, is a frequent guest on “Q&A,” and an old friend and colleague of Jay’s. With Bob Woodward, Costa has written “Peril,” which is the best-selling book in the country at the moment. It is about the last days of the Trump presidency, essentially, and the first days of the Biden presidency. With Jay, Costa discusses a number of issues and personalities. S...

John U. Bacon was Jay’s guest on “Q&A” last summer—talking about some terribly serious issues in college sports. In this new episode, JUB talks about his new book: “Let Them Lead: Unexpected Lessons in Leadership from America’s Worst High-School Hockey Team.” That team was the Huron High School River Rats, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Before coaching at Huron, John went there. So did Jay. Source Ge...

The heading of this episode tells you the necessary: John Bolton discusses Afghanistan with Jay. Bolton has served in the national-security field for many years, including as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and national-security adviser to the president. His memoirs are “Surrender Is Not An Option” and “The Room Where It Happened.” With Jay, Bolton talks about why we went into Afghanistan......

Christopher Meyer has had an action-packed life. For 33 months, he was deployed across three combat zones, in support of special operations. He received a Bronze Star in Afghanistan. He is the artistic director of a new theater: Veterans Repertory Theater. And, like many other vets, he has been involved in the effort to rescue Afghan allies, on the run and facing death. Some people speak of a... S...

Regula Mühlemann is a “bright and rising and wonderful young soprano,” as Jay says in his introduction. She is from Switzerland. And she performed at the Salzburg Festival this summer. Jay interviewed her, in the series of public conversations hosted by the Salzburg Festival Society. Get to know this appealing young artist (Regula, that is—no offense to Jay). Source Get full access to Onward and U...

Maria DeCotis is a comedienne, an actress, a writer, a singer, a dancer—a Renaissance woman in entertainment. She came to broad public attention when she impersonated Andrew Cuomo, during the pandemic. It was hilarious, and creative. She has lost Cuomo as a public figure, but she has many more characters in her repertoire. With Jay, she talks about her life and career. She is a breath of fresh air...

Radek Sikorski is a veteran journalist, writer, politician, and statesman. He has been foreign minister and defense minister of his country, Poland. He is now a member of the European Parliament. He first went to Afghanistan, as a war correspondent, in 1986. With Jay, Sikorski discusses Afghanistan and U.S. foreign policy. They move on to Belarus, Poland itself, Hungary – and last... Source Get fu...

Jay has a leisurely, wide-ranging, enriching hour with Daniel Hannan, the writer, columnist, and member of the House of Lords. What’s that all about, by the way? Is the House of Lords a senate? Do they wear wigs? And how about “House of Cards”? Is Westminster anything like that? Hannan and Jay further talk about Peru, where Hannan was born and grew up. A new president has been elected—a real... So...

Jay convenes a sportscast, with two of his regular gurus: David French and Vivek Dave. They talk some Olympics—Simone and the twisties, plus other issues. Including transgenderism. And: Should PGA stars be in the Olympics? The guys also talk the NFL, the NBA, and the SEC. Initials abound, as do personalities. A lively conversation. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.c...

There are always many things on George F. Will’s mind, and on Jay’s, too. In this episode, they discuss the January 6 committee. Big Tech. Critical race theory. Confederates in the U.S. Capitol (their statues, that is). Taiwan. Hong Kong. The media. And other things—including baseball, which is in serious need of reform, according to GFW. Jay can only assent. If Will says that baseball must change...

José de Córdoba is a Latin America correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. Jay has known him for several years. De Córdoba has reported from all over the region, but he has been reporting a lot lately on Cuba—understandably. The island has seen the biggest protests since the formation of the Communist regime. De Córdoba himself started out in Cuba. He left with his family in 1960... Source Get...

Jay’s guest is Kevin D. Williamson, his friend and National Review colleague. They talk about things on their mind – including crime, inflation, Cuba, Reaganism, “post-liberalism,” abortion, the National Security Agency, Richard Branson, and Johann Sebastian Bach. A rich and stimulating conversation. See what you think. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

In a brisk, bracing, and highly substantive half-hour with Jay, John Bolton covers a lot of topics. The late Donald Rumsfeld, the missile-defense cause, and the Iraq War. The Department of Justice case—now dropped—against Bolton for his latest book. China, the pandemic, and the new superpower competition. Putin and cyberwar. Ukraine and NATO. Central America and immigration. Iran and nukes. Source...

John U. Bacon is a veteran journalist and book-author. He has written on a variety of subjects, especially sports—sports at the University of Michigan, in particular. He and Jay grew up together (though on rival teams) in Ann Arbor. The athletic department at the U of M is now beset by scandal. Problems in Ann Arbor are ones being experienced all across the country. They have to do with racism......

Last month, Jay hosted Haviv Rettig Gur, an analyst and writer with the Times of Israel. HRG explained the Hamas war (the latest one). He is back by popular demand—to explain Israeli politics: Bibi out, a strange coalition in. Moreover, he explains the peculiar, fascinating nature of Israeli democracy. A rich discussion. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscrib...

Nathan Law is a democracy leader from Hong Kong. Born in 1993, he became the youngest person ever elected to the Legislative Council—age 23. He co-founded a political party. He was put in jail. Earlier this month, he spoke at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. Last summer, as a new, Draconian law was being imposed, he went into exile. With Jay, Nathan Law talks about his life, China...

Waad al-Kateab is a Syrian journalist and documentarian. She filmed daily life in Aleppo, during the siege of that city, which lasted four years. Today, she is exiled in London. She made a documentary called “For Sama” (Sama being one of her two daughters). This week, she has participated in the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. With Jay, she talks about a range of issues... Source Get...

Haviv Rettig Gur is a senior analyst with the Times of Israel. In the last few days, he has written a searching article about the latest Hamas war, and the prospects for Israel. With Jay, Mr. Gur expands on important issues. What about intra-Palestinian politics (Hamas vs. Fatah)? What about the role of Iran? What about the United States? What errors has Israel made? Why can’t Israel finish off......

For 30 years, Marvin Kalb was a reporter and commentator for CBS News and NBC News. He was the last of the “Murrow Boys.” In the 1980s, he was the host of “Meet the Press.” Today, he hosts “The Kalb Report.” He was born in 1930 and, as a child, helped his family get through the Depression. Millions of Depression kids did this. He later went to Harvard graduate school, to study Russia and Russian....

Nicholas Christakis is an unusual academic—a physician, a sociologist, and more. He is also a champion of free speech. Christakis is a Greek American, who grew up in both countries. He has a lofty position at Yale: Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science. He has written a book about the pandemic, “Apollo’s Arrow.” He talks about this, both knowledgeably and movingly. He and Jay discuss a....