The Ricochet Podcast

Back this week with the full cast and another full show. We start with a deep dive on the Bari Weiss resignation and free speech in general. Then our favorite Denmark dude, Bjørn Lomborg joins to discuss his new book, How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet. and we give him a chance to rebut a very snarky New York Times review of said book. Source B...

We’re back after our 4th of July break (well, most of us are back — we have Ricochet Editor Bethany Mandel sitting in for the vacationing Peter Robinson) and we’ve got another super-sized episode to make up for our time off. First up, the always great Heather Mac Donald, who speaks truth to protestors like nobody else. Then, meet Shermichael Singleton, former political strategist... Source Become...

About once a year, we get a visit from the master himself, the great Thomas Sowell. This year’s session is on the occasion of the publication of his new book, Charter Schools And Their Enemies and more importantly, his 90th(!) birthday on June 30th. We talk about the success of charter schools despite the teacher’s union and America’s worst mayor doing everything they can to undermine them. Source...

Another action packed show: Is the lockdown over or is this just intermission? Hey, did John Bolton write a book? Did the Supreme Court hand down some decisions? Leading off our guest spots this week is Coleman Hughes who has been on our radar for a while. In this moment, we thought it was high time he was on your’s, too. Be sure and read his essay Stories and Data: Reflections on race, riots... S...

Milestones — they seem so important when they’re far away and then you arrive at them and then it suddenly doesn’t seem such a big deal. At the start of the year, we had some big plans to mark this achievement (if that’s what you can call it), but then the lockdown happened, and well, the rest is…But, don’t fear — we actually put together a great show with a great guest: Roland Fryer... Source Bec...

Now, that was a week. We try to put it all in some perspective — the protests, the riots, the looting, and the politics and we do so with the help of our guests, Andrew C. McCarthy and Victor Davis Hanson. And yes, the Lileks Post of The Week is back to blow the lid off knitting clubs. And, Rob outs himself as a super hero, Peter deals with civil unrest induced anxiety by reading biographies... So...

We don’t tend to do location work on this show, but when a major news event happens in the city where one of our hosts live, we get a up-close and personal view. And when that host is James Lileks and Minneapolis, the amount of detail, insight, and thoughtfulness could fill a dozen podcasts. James describes what the last few days have been like, and where he thinks his city is heading. Source Beco...

What matters? Well, New York City for one. We get to that topic towards the end of this show, but prior to that we visit first with economist Kevin Warsh of the Hoover Institution. He has a lot to say about humongous stimulus packages, Congress, the role of China in this thing, and what the Fed should and shouldn’t be doing. Then, newly minted Ricochet podcaster and chip the old block Spencer... S...

The coverage surrounding COVID-19 is mostly pundits, politicians, and policy wonks yelling at each other. If you want to end the lockdown, they say you want old people to die. If you want to extend the lockdown, they say you want to destroy the economy. This leaves out the rest of us: that vast majority of everyday people who want to protect our physical health along with our economic health. Sour...

We’re about 9 weeks into the Great American Shut Down and maybe, just maybe we’re starting to see a light at the end of this tunnel? To help us parse this, call on an actual scientist, our good friend from Stanford Medicine, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya who helped write the Santa Clara Study and the just released MLB study. We discuss where we are now, where we might be going... Source Become a supporter...

On the most recent edition of the Ricochet Podcast, former Federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy was our guest to discuss the Michael Flynn case. In the course of that conversation, Andy mentioned to Rob that perhaps it might be valuable to have a longer, in depth conversation about the details of the case then was possible in a single guest segment on the Ricochet Podcast. As we are never one to let...

We know, we know — we’re 6 or 7 hours late with this. We had some technical difficulties during the recording of this show (we broke with tradition and training and left a bit of it in) which forced us to record this show in two sessions today, apologies for that. But that does not mean you, our faithful listeners are getting shortchanged. Far from it — this is one of the longest shows we’ve ever....

Dr. George Savage is the Chief Medical Officer / Co-Founder at Proteus Digital Health, Inc (full disclosure: he’s also a member of Ricochet’s Board of Directors) and has been closely watching both government’s management of the Corona crisis, the evolution of the testing protocols, and the search for a treatment and ultimately, a vaccine. In this conversation with Rob Long, Dr. Source Become a sup...

This week on The Big Show, we inch our way back to normal with our first show in weeks without a COVID-19 specific guest. That’s not to say we don’t talk about it — we do, and then some. But the new cycle means that we have to address those icky charges against Joe Biden and to do that we call on the Ricochet Podcast’s Senior Sex and Gender Correspondent, the great Mollie Hemingway (yes... Source...

The Question of the Week, maybe the month, perhaps the year, oh, heck — likely of the century is “when is the economy re-opening?” Sure, we could round up a bunch of egg-head economists to ponder and scratch their chins, but instead we went directly to the West Wing, to the room where it happens (to coin a phrase) and got our old friend and former podcaster Larry Kudlow on the Skype machine. Sourc...

We’re a full month into full lockdown and quite frankly. we’re just about fully filled with aggravation about it. We vent to each other and then we bring in a couple of really smart guys (and coincidentally, Ricochet podcasters): Avik Roy and Lanhee Chen. They (along with Bob Kocher and others) have published A New Strategy for Bringing People Back to Work During COVID-19, a manual for safely re.....

No, we did not book Rand Paul on this supersized edition of The Big Show (90 minutes of clever and civil conversation!), we booked Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) to discuss the stimulus packages (speaking of super-sized), the federal government’s response to the crisis, and a boots-on-ground report from Ohio. And our good friend and go to authority on all things medical, Dr. George Savage checks up on...

This week on The Big Show, we attempt to return to some sense of normalcy (while of course maintaining social distancing by at least 1,000 miles). Yes, we talk about that thing we’re all doing and what our new lives are like now. But then, we shift gears to visit with our good friend Ross Douthat, NYT columnist and podcaster (The Argument, which Ross co-hosts is one of our favorites) on the... Sou...

Strange times call for improvisation and trying new things. So this week The Ricochet Podcast isn’t just a podcast, it’s also a Zoom webinar (sorry, the video is only for Ricochet members — not a member? Join today!). See James Lileks’ secret TV studio designed by a dyslexic! Rob Long owns and prominently displays Communist propaganda! Peter Robinson is wearing a sweater! Wait, that’s not a... Sou...

Settle in, shelter-in-placers, we’ve got another super-sized (and shall we say, impassioned) edition of the Ricochet Podcast. In addition to the robust debaters, we’ve got Deb Saunders (self-quarantined from an undisclosed location) and Arthur Brooks who provides some much needed optimism in these dark days. Music from this week’s show: Life During Wartime by Talking Heads... Source Become a suppo...

With the country on virtual lockdown and many, many unanswered questions about the Corona Virus, we thought it was a good idea to do a stand alone podcast with our good friend and the most knowledgeable medical person we know (and full disclosure: Ricochet Board Member), Dr. George Savage. Rob Long, and later, Peter Robinson ask the questions on this show, but later in the week, we’ll open to the....

This week on the pioneering social distanced produced podcast (we are all at least several hundred miles apart), we of course talk about the virus that went viral. And fair warning: there is some criticism of the President in this show. We also call on our old friend, Purdue University President Mitch Daniels, who in an alternate universe, is probably enjoying his second term as President of the.....

Rob Long is off this week, Law Talk’s John Yoo is sitting in. We’ve got Henry Olsen (he of The Horse Race podcast right here on this network) to chat about Super Duper Tuesday, Joementum!, and whether we’ve seen the last of the Socialist. Then, our friend and advisor Dr. George Savage stops by the tell us all about the Corona Virus — who’s got it, who doesn’t, what we can do about it and what we.....

The main topic? What else? The Coronavirus, which is roiling everything from the markets to the political arena and beyond. The Vice President is the new point man. Then we get down to the nitty gritty of the race for the Democratic nomination with Luke Thompson and talk to a sensible Democrat about the environment as we’re joined by the President of Environmental Progress, Michael Shellenberger.....

Gotta make this brief as we are very, very busy around here: Peter Robinson? Not here this week. Jon Gabriel sits in for him. It’s really cold in NYC today. We break down the dumpster fire Democratic debate. Then, author and New York Times science writer (no that’s not a typo) John Tierny on his book The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It . We’re positive you.....