The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg

Frustrated with never-ending interstate repairs and constant airline delays, Jonah Goldberg looks to the sky and wonders; Why does nothing work? Marc J. Dunkelman, fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, has the answers. Marc and Jonah discuss the origins and transformation of American progressive policy, the spirit of the NIMBYs, and a bold proclamation...

Jonah Goldberg is joined by Luke Coffey, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and Ukraine expert extraordinaire, to discuss his recent visit to the region and the state of the Ukraine-Russia war. Luke and Jonah debate where Ukrainians stand after the infamous Oval Office debacle, the cracks in the Russian army, and the indispensable value of close European alliances—which seem to mean little to M...

Having exhausted his Jeffrey/Jonah Goldberg jokes on The Dispatch Podcast, Jonah Goldberg launches into an epic rant on the tyranny of intellectual mobs, the flaws of morally blind due process, and the emerging artificial intelligence anime art movement. Plus: long-view Signal-gate revelations and the superficial logic of the Trump administration’s tariff strategy. Show Notes: —The Maoist anime AI...

It’s fan-favorite week at Casa de Remnant. Jonah Goldberg is joined by Thomas Chatterton Williams, staff writer at The Atlantic and fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, to discuss illiberalism on the right, dole out some sympathy for the most ardent defenders of wokeness, and dig into Thomas’ upcoming book, Summer of Our Discontent: The Age of Certainty and the Demise of Discourse. Show No...

Not since Thomas Jefferson podcasting alone has a guest been so wise as Yuval Levin, who joins Jonah Goldberg to discuss the recent trend of Lebowskian communication mishaps, the danger of obsessive abstraction in Trumpian times, and the promise of connecting with the median voter. Show Notes: —The Atlantic: "Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans" —Yuval on "The Ezra Klein Show...

Join Jonah Goldberg on a journey up the Northeast Regional line as he ruminates upon the impeachment of federal judges, the enemy within, the world’s laziest Congress, and the chicken and the egg game for oligarchs and plutocrats. Plus: disturbing DOGE casualties and a greatest hits reel of Jonah’s analogies. Show Notes: —Jonah’s LA Times column from this week —The New York Times: Curtis Yarvin Sa...

Yoni Appelbaum, deputy executive editor of The Atlantic, makes his Remnant debut to discuss his new book, Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity. Jonah Goldberg and Yoni discuss America's unique social and geographic mobility, the tricky history of tenements, and the dirty laundry of zoning. Show Notes: —Order Yoni’s book, Stuck: How the Privileged an...

Clifford D. May, founder and director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, enters The Remnant multiverse with Jonah Goldberg to reevaluate the world stage and all its conflicts. Cliff and Jonah debate who’s leading the new Axis of Evil and dig into the growing trend of expansionist politics and the depressing lack of fact-based arguments in contemporary foreign policy. Show Notes: —Listen...

An overserved and hungover Jonah Goldberg gets into arguments with ChatGPT, picks fights with free speech “martyrs,” and offers a unified theory of Trumpism, all in a day’s Ruminant. Show Notes: —Jim Geraghty for National Review: “Why the Ukraine Cease-Fire Deal is No Cause for Celebration” —Jake Meador for The Dispatch: “The Perils of Positive Thinking” —The Wednesday G-File in question The Remna...

Jonah Goldberg has gone AWOL, and Kevin Williamson of Dispatch fame has risen to the task of Remnant hosting duties. Kevin is joined by Devin DeCiantis and Ivan Lansberg to discuss their new book, The Enduring Enterprise: How Family Businesses Thrive in Turbulent Conditions. The trio covers crony capitalism, how businesses can succeed amid political chaos, and how family enterprises can survive th...

There’s a whole lot of red on various stock market indices this week, so Jonah Goldberg has conscripted Michael Strain, director of economic policy at the American Enterprise Institute, to talk money. Topics include: the likelihood of recession, tumultuous trade policy, and Jonah’s crusade against the cryptocurrency reserve. Show Notes: —Cato Institute: “The Problem of the Tariff in American Econo...

After sufficiently kvetching over Weimar-style cigar inflation, Jonah Goldberg ruminates upon Donald Trump tripping over tariffs, the abhorrent actions of the Department of Justice regarding the Eric Adams case, and the insanity of the proposed crypto reserve. Plus: the fallout from last week's Oval Office disaster and a grim prediction for the next three years. Show Notes: —Scott Linsciome in The...

Jonah Goldberg came to the Remnant studio exhausted by his nightshift at the cable news factory, so he enlisted one Brother Chris Stirewalt to save the show once again. Jonah and Chris analyze Trump’s Tuesday night address to Congress from all angles, including but not limited to the Democrat’s shenanigans and the reviled Wilsonian origins of the State of the Union address. Show Notes: —Brother St...

Jonah Goldberg is joined by author and research analyst Ross Benes to discuss his new book, 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times. Jonah and Ross discuss beanie babies as a precursor to crypto, the political triumph of the WWE, and the age of media deregulation. Plus: the phenomenology of moral panics and the bourgeois-ification of transgressive culture. Sh...

From the civilizational lynchpin of gratitude to the misplaced obsession with diplomacy to MAGA’s mafia style of governance, today’s Ruminant will be a one deep cut after another for Suicide of the West readers. There will also be one or two I-told-you-so’s. Show Notes: —Return to the source material and order Suicide of the West —G-File: “The Democrats Dilemma” —Vintage Goldberg in National Revie...

A Ruminant of Homeric length about the distress of the liberal world order will be released tomorrow, but the fallout from the meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump today necessitated a rapid emergency rant. Enjoy your bonus episode and the sunsetting of American honor. The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering po...

Christopher Scalia, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, stops by the show to drop some culture on one Jonah Goldberg. The two discuss all things literature and what great books could give the conservative movement. Plus: George Eliot’s conception of nationalism and Jonah’s thoughts on the new season of Severance. Show Notes: —Pre-order: 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probab...

Jonah Goldberg is joined by American Enterprise Institute fellow and author Michael Rosen to discuss his new book, Silicon and Clay: What Ancient Jewish Wisdom Can Teach Us About AI. Jonah and Michael cover the difference between lunch bucket AI degrowthers vs. Butlerian jihadist doomers before diving into the lore of the mystical figures of the golem and the dybbuk and what they can teach us abou...

Jonah Goldberg has words for the Trump administration signaling its willingness to betray Ukraine and turn allies into vassals all in the name of a faux-realist approach to geopolitics that feels more Corleone than Kissinger. Plus: an apology to Anthony Scaramucci, ruminations on the Eric Adams case, and the MAGA-induced pressure campaign within the conservative movement. Show Notes: —Order Honor...

Pippa and Zoë have chastised Jonah Goldberg for the recent lack of female voices on The Remnant, so Sarah Isgur has staged a Steinem-style takeover of the show alongside Caroline Criado-Perez to discuss one of Sarah’s favorite books, Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men. Sarah and Caroline dig into the glaring gender bias in data science, econometrics, clinical research, and heal...

New York Times columnist Bret Stephens makes his Remnant debut, joining Jonah Goldberg for a discussion of the first month of the second Trump administration, the Chamberlain-esque negotiations for peace in Ukraine, and the infuriating instances of moral ignominy on college campuses. Show Notes: —Bret’s ‘Never Trump” piece in the New York Times —Jonah’s ‘Never Trump’ piece in National Review —“The...

While Jonah Goldberg is usually riding solo on Ruminant episodes, today he is joined by his newly adopted island chicken, Rex. Jonah educates Rex about the relationship between the judicial and the executive branch, what constitutes autocracy, and the grounding of Critical Trump Theory. Plus: further ruminations on American sovereigntists and Pete Hegseth’s early actions as secretary of Defense. S...

Chris Stirewalt remains in control of The Remnant throne whilst Jonah vision quests, and has brought another excellent guest to enlighten ye loyal listeners: William Galston, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and Wall Street Journal columnist. The two discuss the health of the constitutional order, the hardheadedness of the Democratic Party, and how progressives can actually sway public o...

Jonah Goldberg has abandoned SS Remnant for greener pastures. Luckily, the inimitable Chris Stirewalt has taken the helm once again. Chris is joined by Kori Schake, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and foreign policy egghead extraordinaire to cover the artificial intelligence arms race, the China question, and Trump’s proposal for peace (?) in Ukraine. Plus: effective deterrence...

With the help of a Yuval Levin and a Silly Putty support system, Jonah Goldberg opens this Ruminant with a recommendation not to panic about the Trump administration quite yet. He does, however, bemoan the president’s fantasy about a U.S. sovereign wealth fund before wondering about what the next generation of Democratic leaders might look like. Show Notes: —Yuval Levin and Ezra Klein —Nick Catogg...