The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg

The one and only Yuval Levin, director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Jonah to discuss his new book, American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation—And Could Again. Jonah peppers Yuval with a variety of questions: Is the Constitution a cultural document or a document that creates the culture? Why are the principles of the Con...

Jonah has been dog-less and alone in his house for too long. Consequently, today’s Ruminant delves with unrepentant granularity into the history of neoconservatism. From its founders to its detractors, Jonah gives the full sweep, and all to grapple with a single question: Is the current crop of left-skeptic liberals—including Nellie Bowles, Yascha Mounk, John McWhorter, et al.—really just a new ba...

Dispatch senior editor Mike Warren capitulates to Jonah’s pleas for a spontaneous conversation to unpack the various legal woes plaguing the news cycle this week. Plea deals fall apart, guns are found in dumpsters, and hush money is paid. As usual, there are political implications and lots of both sides-isms. Stayed tuned for the down low on Mar-a-Lago, some Supreme Court speculation, and Jonah a...

The wonderful Nellie Bowles joins Jonah to discuss her new book, Morning After the Revolution: Dispatches from the Wrong Side of History. Score some Remnant bingo points for a conversation on topics including (but certainly not limited to) the “Abolish the Police” movement, the hypocrisy of progressivism, the importance of skeptics, and memory-holing. Show Notes: —Morning After the Revolution: Dis...

On this week’s Ruminant, Jonah drinks coffee and remembers things. Topics include his thoughts on the newest installment of the Mad Max franchise, Donald Trump’s karmic retribution, and a Muslim exotic dancer named Lulu. He also touches on the state (or lack thereof) of the alt-right, and responds to the critiques of Wednesday’s G-File. Show Notes —Chris Hemsworth’s Prosthetic Nose —Trump’s Guilty...

Atlantic writer Caitlin Flanagan joins Jonah for an episode that bounces from topic to topic, from the “trans thing” to the COVID-10 lockdowns and the failure of the modern-day lefties. Take out your daubers for a number of bingo card call-outs and stay tuned for a sentence Jonah’s never uttered before. Show Notes: —Alice Walker's issue with the Jews —Tom Wolfe's "The Great Relearning" essay —UCLA...

Jonah hijacks the GLoP Culture podcast, kicks John Podhoretz out of the driver’s seat, and floors it into The Remnant feed with Rob Long sitting shotgun. They discuss Rob’s Come to Jesus moment, Jonah’s crass words to Jon Karl (are there any dues?), and of course, a little bit of pop culture. Stick around to hear hot takes on improv, The Fall Guy, and Frosted. And John, we know you’re listening. S...

Jonah picks a fight with the alts—both left and right—on this episode of TheRuminant, with a healthy dose of both-sides-are-wrong argumentation. Tune in for thoughts on Justice Samuel Alito’s flag-gate, President Joe Biden’s commencement speech at Morehouse College, and America’s proud (?) history of moral panics. Show Notes: —AO episode on Alito flag incident —Biden’s Morehouse College commenceme...

Ken Pollack, a Remnant all-star and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Jonah for an extended discussion on the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the race to be the supreme leader’s successor. The two also get into the various Iran appeasement campaigns, Biden’s approach to Israel, and the necessity of the United Nations. Show Notes: —Reuters reporting on the Ayato...

Jonah invites Alison Gopnik, a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley, to discuss the ideal way to raise little barbarians—also known as human babies. The two weed through the metaphors of garden parenting vs. carpentry parenting and the need of being needed before making a small segue into caregiving policy ideas. (The government can’t love you, Jonah!) Show Notes: —Friedrich von Hayek’s Nobel Pr...

Stranded on a highway, gazing into the smoggy horizon, Jonah contemplates plaintively social media's latest display of statistical illiteracy demonstrated by a proclaimed preference of many women to be stranded alone with a bear, rather than a man. If you were wondering why you all didn't receive a G-File today, ladies and gentlemen, there you have it. Show Notes:  —Nick Catoggio’s “Never Trump” p...

Get your bingo cards at the ready, because Jonah is joined by Ryan Bourne—a policy scholar at the Cato Institute and author of The War on Prices: How Popular Misconceptions about Inflation, Prices, and Value Create Bad Policy—for a decisively wonky Remnant on all things prices. What are prices? Why doesn’t price fixing work? And what's up with the libertarians? Show Notes: —Ryan's new book The War...

Voters weighing actual policy positions? A man can dream. No, it’ll be vibes—not issues—driving voters to the polls in November. Jonah invites Seth Masket, director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver, on today’s episode of The Remnant to commiserate over the sorry status of the current American electorate, Sister Souljah strategies, and the lack of centrist Democrats. S...

What peeves Jonah about the Biden administration’s increasingly hostile stance towards Israel isn’t just the geopolitical recklessness, but also the political incompetence. This Ruminant is a fuming rant about abandoning allies, the Cult of Youth, and the war against all things normal. Jonah also responds to the drama he stirred up among the anti-Trump (and anti-anti-Trump) crowd. Show Notes: —Thi...

Back from his trip to the Commentary offices in New York, Jonah is joined by Kevin Williamson to discuss his review of fatherhood so far, Jonah’s thoughts on the Broadway production of Tommy, and the corrupting influence of populism. The two also get into the state of U.S.-Israel relations and why rooting for your team is easier than reading Hayek. Stick around to learn about Kevin’s sorry footbal...

Jonah drops by Commentary’s New York headquarters and holds John Podhoretz hostage for an hour and a half to discuss the Jews, Suicide of the West, and the allure of fame and TV. Stay tuned for a history of Commentary’s geographical history (who asked?), the decline of American journalism (spoilers!), and optimism about the future (really?). Also, happy birthday to The Fair Jessica. Show Notes: —"...

Spurred by Robert Kagan’s new book, Rebellion: How Antiliberalism Is Tearing America Apart--Again, and by Thursday’s Remnant, Jonah spends the majority of this interminable episode responding to Kagan’s critique of conservatism, from contextualizing William F. Buckley’s role on the right to recounting the left's history of intellectual anti-liberalism. Also, kudos to the frat bros who saved the Am...

Jonah is joined by Robert Kagan—a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of Rebellion: The Antiliberal Tradition That Is Tearing America Apart - Again—to debate Robert’s theory on the anti-liberal history of conservatism and why he thinks Trump is a logical product of the American right. Show Notes: —Robert’s profile at Brookings —Robert’s new book —Why the South Must Prevail —Miles...

Jonah invites Sarah onto The Remnant to grill her on her sociopathic “subtweet,” debate the ethics of killing dogs, and peer into the minds of anti-Israeli student protesters. But for the main course, the two argue about Trump’s immunity case. Listeners’ discretion is advised. Show Notes: —Sarah's solo AO episode —David's return to AO —Korematsu v. United States —Nick Catoggio's Boiling Frogs news...

Jonah begins by ruminating on the Supreme Court oral arguments for Donald Trump’s immunity case and explains why he doesn’t understand how people could be sympathetic towards the former president. He then turns to the Heritage Foundation’s spat with Erick Erickson before getting to the Columbia protests and Elon Musk’s surprisingly apt observation on the oppressor-oppressed paradigm. Show Notes: —...

Audio doppelgänger Chris Stirewalt joins Jonah on today’s episode of The Remnant to venture through the polluted backwaters of media conglomerates and uncover a whole host of “whataboutism” garbage: the rise of antisemitism on campuses, the media bias in covering these protests, and the terrorist chants coming from the mouths of these students. The two also opine on the faces adorning a far-right...

Jesse Singal makes his Remnant debut to discuss his piece for The Dispatch on the Cass Review and the problem with the current consensus about gender transition treatments for children. The two debate the question of social contagion and the difficulties in reporting on "The Science." Show Notes: —Jesse Singal's piece for The Dispatch —Hannah Barnes on Blocked and Reported —Galileo's Middle Finger...

After fending off the voices coming from inside his walls, Jonah begins today’s Ruminant by discussing the latest entry in the House Speakership saga and Marjorie Taylor Greene’s incoherent foreign policy. He then turns to the recent pro-Palestinian protests and how their facing consequences is a sign of nature healing. Stick around for the usual intellectual history nerdery. Show Notes: —Boiling...

Eli Lake, The Remnant’s resident bloodthirsty war hawk, returns to the pod to break down the situation with Israel and Iran. The two get into why America has no strategic vision on Iran, the growing alliance of left- and right-wing isolationists, and how Tucker Carlson has become so unhinged. Show Notes: —Eli’s profile at The Free Press —Eli’s piece on Tucker Carlson and Russia —Eli's piece on the...

Jonah is joined by author, speechwriter, and ghostwriter Nancy French to discuss her new book, Ghosted: An American Story. Nancy tells the tale of how she came to meet the permanent guest host of Advisory Opinions (who is now dead to Jonah), how the Republican Party’s embrace of Donald Trump left her and her family ostracized, and also gives an update on her battle with cancer. Show Notes: —Ghoste...