In the midst of carving a path to Yosemite, Jonah has graced us with a Ruminant that provides a weekly roundup of his writing – from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to an example from his past that indicates why our radicals should Czech their privilege. He moves into a rumination on subconscious conservative messages embedded within Hollywood entertainment before discussing the unintended consequences of the Senate re-embrace of earmarks as well as the perks of sleeping in Walmart parking lots. It suffices to say that this Ruminant has a positively buckshot-like spread in terms of topics, so have fun with it. Show notes: -      The Remnant with Professional Jonah Impersonator Chris Stirewalt -      The member’s only Wednesday “news”letter from The Cleve -      One of rock’s wildest singers has a permanent Vegas residency -      Jonah’s Czech-cellent Adventure -      Chekov’s Gun -      “We made a person!” -      The virtues of The Walking Dead -      The weird Remnant with Nick and Guy -      Jonah’s column on earmarks

Live (well, at the time of recording) from Park City, Utah, Jonah is joined by his AEI handlers, Nick and Guy, for a pop culture-filled conversation with the help of listener-provided questions. Why does Jonah go on trips fit only for Survivorman? Why is Pam Grier so fascinating? Was Angel actually better than Buffy? And, the most important question of all, which one of Jonah’s former coworkers in conservative news media does Guy sound exactly like? Show Notes -      Onion: “Markle seen holding Prince Harry’s cadaverous hand for support” -      Jonah’s G-File from a snow-wracked Texas -      Jack’s defense of Weird Wendy’s -      Scott Lincicome asking Jonah the hard questions -      “Oh, come on, Gallagher!” -      The members-only midweek “news”letter -      The Remnant with Cass Sunstein, potential future dog-book co-author -      Jasmine, true name unpronounceable by human tongue

Pinch-hitting for Jonah today is his vocal double Chris Stirewalt, who talks with his old friend from their shared years at Fox News’ Decision Desk, Daron Shaw. Chris and Daron go on a “mythbusting” expedition, explaining why the conventional wisdom that high-turnout elections benefit Democrats isn’t true (and has never been) as well as why campaign finance efforts have historically failed to attack corruption in favor of simply dismantling the “appearance of corruption.” It’s a punched-up episode that’s sure to complete a few of your Remnant Bingo cards.   Show Notes: -Daron Shaw at the University of Texas -Daron and John Petrocik’s book, The Turnout Myth -Voter files -2020 was largest turnout since 1900 -Was Edgar Allan Poe “cooped”? -McConnell speaks about McCain-Feingold -Daron’s book on Buckley v. Valeo, The Appearance of Corruption -P.J. O’Rourke’s Don’t Vote

In this weekend’s Ruminant, Jonah has a lot rattling around in his mind, and now you're gonna hear about it. Why are elites inevitable? What explains the transformation of the Democratic Party into an ideological party? Stay for Jonah's thoughts on Covid relief, and President Biden's first prime-time White House address.   Show Notes: -The Friday G-File -The members-only midweek “news”letter

Steven Hayward enters the ranks of the three-timers on today’s Remnant, as he and Jonah engage in a discussion of the American right that manages to be both wide and deep. Jonah and Steve get the “dark clouds out of the way” (such as a pervasive illiberal cancel culture and the reappearance of especially nasty tribalism) first to make room for Steve’s heartening optimism. Such greener pastures involve an investigation into what remains of the old fusionist mindset among conservatives, why the right should not adopt basically left wing policies simply to conform with the “motivated reasoning” of certain activist conservatives, and how the right can do its part to stop the exporting of campus values into the general culture.   Show Notes: -Steven F. Hayward - The Claremont Institute -Steven’s first book, Churchill on Leadership -Steven’s second book, The Age of Reagan: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order, 1964-1980 -Amazon removes Clarence Thomas documentary -Cancel Pepe Le Pew -Macron more American than an American now -Rich Lowry: “Don’t Rewrite Mark Twain” -Ebay removes listings for canceled Dr. Seuss books -Jonah: “America Has Two Minority Parties” -James Clyburn: “Defund the police” cost Democrats seats -The Great Debate, by Yuval Levin -Steven’s latest book, M. Stanton Evans: Conservative Wit, Apostle of Freedom -Oren Cass: “America Should Adopt an Industrial Policy” -Oren Cass on The Dispatch Podcast -Jonah: “Does Anyone Really Believe Free Market Fundamentalists Are ‘Running the Show’?” -Christopher J. Walker: “The Federalist Society’s Chevron Deference Dilemma” -Stephanie Slade: “Is There a Future for Fusionism?” -Stephanie Slade’s latest Remnant appearance -Daniel E. Burns: “Liberal Practice v. Liberal Theory” -Blacklisted by History, by M. Stanton Evans -Robert J. Zimmer stands up for free speech at UChicago -Charles Murray attacked at Middlebury -The Port Huron Statement

On today’s show, Jonah speaks to Manhattan Institute fellow and CCNY professor Daniel DiSalvo (an expert on public-sector unions and their history) to find out how the sausage really gets made in the intra-organizational politics of these public-sector unions, and how their influence is often the result of “the breakdown of machine politics – especially within the Democratic Party – in big cities.”   Show Notes: -      Dan’s page at the Manhattan Institute -      “The Trouble with Police Unions” -      Dan’s latest book, Government Against Itself -      The first work on the “New Class,” by Milovan Djilas -      Maya Wiley back by the SEIU in NYC -      DeBlasio was also endorsed by SEIU -      Terry Moe’s book on teachers unions -      New York teachers’ all-expenses-paid “rubber rooms” -      The OG happy warrior

This weekend’s edition of the Ruminant is a little bit like Christopher Hitchens’ D.C. apartment: a little bit of one thing right next to a little bit of the complete opposite thing. There’s a lot of ground covered in this, a practically record-breaking long episode of the podcast in which Jonah discusses his dad’s work for the wonderfully-acronymed NANA (North American Newspaper Alliance), dynamic scoring (a system in which this episode gets an A+), the necessity of telling the truth at a time in which even committed conservatives have a legitimate temptation to abandon their principles, the request from a listener for Goldberg Story Time, and much, much more.   Show Notes: -      Tim Russert interviews Bob Kerrey -      John Edwards’ bizarre stem cell comments -      CDC director “speaking in her personal capacity” -      TX Gov. Abbott lifts mask mandate -      Thomas Kuhn: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions -      “Rationalia” -      Jay Nordlinger’s Q&A -      Memogate/Rathergate -      “Slackjawed troglodytes” -      Voir dire, or, as Advisory Opinions likes to say, “Vwahr Dahr” -      “I don’t like the… stumps” -      Mit-Voche Epistle -      The Remnant with Steve Hayward and Charles Murray -      Kathryn Jean Lopez’ page at National Review -      Matt Lewis speaks to Bill Kristol

Elaine Kamarck of the Brookings Institution joins us for the first time. She and Jonah stray from pure rank punditry to instead discuss intra-party politics of primaries, the Democratic Party, and Elaine’s innate skepticism of the Electoral College. Jonah pushes back by saying that “When you start to dig under the surface, most people who oppose the Electoral College are really just saying that they don’t like the Senate,” to which Elaine has a great, balanced response (probably the best answer we’ve heard on this program from someone that dislikes the Electoral College). Join the program to see more light than heat on this episode.   Show Notes: -Elaine Kamarck, the Brookings Institution -Elaine’s latest book, Primary Politics: Everything You Need to Know about How America Nominates Its Presidential Candidates -Elaine: “The urgent need for peer review in the presidential nominating process” -The McGovern-Fraser Commission Report -"I opened up the doors of the Democratic Party, and 20 million people walked out." -81 percent of black Americans don't want less police presence -NYT: “Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police” -Lessons from Mike Bloomberg’s attempt to buy the 2020 election -Why Presidents Fail and How They Can Succeed Again -The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact -Elaine and John Hudak: “How to get rid of the Electoral College” -Elaine with Jon Ward on The Long Game podcast -The latest GLoP podcast

In an effort to explain the current state of the economy as well as the political ramifications of some parts of the Biden agenda coming down the pipeline, Jonah invited Michael Strain, his colleague at the American Enterprise Institute, for a return appearance. Strain explains complicated issues without confusing the plebeians among us who can’t look at numbers for very long before developing a headache. Speaking of headaches, near the end of the podcast the guys get into a relitigation of the ending of Lost, in addition to a brief discussion of WandaVision, Peaky Blinders, and Deep Impact, of all things.   Show Notes: -Michael R. Strain, American Enterprise Institute -Michael’s latest book, The American Dream is Not Dead (But Populism Could Kill It) -Larry Summers: “The Biden stimulus is admirably ambitious. But it brings some big risks, too” -Michael in National Review: “When Will the Pandemic End?” -Consumers to unleash trillions of dollars in excess savings when pandemic ends -Paul Volcker’s war on inflation -Michael in Bloomberg Opinion: “How to Make a (Modest) Minimum Wage Hike Work” -Josh Hawley’s minimum wage proposal -Jonah’s love of public sector unions -Lost as a metaphor for lack of payoff

Jonah joins us on a feature-length Relaxed Fit™ episode of the Ruminant in which he discusses his innate wish to continue speaking as a conservative without the sacrifice of genuinely-held principles. An important trait for a moment where that simply doesn’t happen often. In the first half, Jonah also addresses the “autoimmune problem” (both literal and figurative) of American youth as they continuously fail to prove themselves in tests of emotional fragility, and he makes a shocking claim about the Jaws sequels that must only be heard to be believed.   Show Notes: -Lady Gaga’s French bulldogs, Koji and Gustav, stolen -The Friday G-File -Kevin Williamson and Jonah talk “doubling down on yeehaw” -BIG IF TRUE: Jaws 2 is good??? -Michael Powell on the insanity at Smith College -Oberlin student mistakes person in blanket for Klansman -A landmine-filled G-File on language -The intentionally meandering G-File from two Fridays ago - “The Murphy Brown thing” -What might a “red meat hat” even look like? -Bill Kristol’s “trial balloon” -“The Irony of Bill Kristol”

Fellow Dispatcher Declan Garvey joins Jonah on today’s program, wherein they discuss the parallels between the GOP’s current identity crisis and the last time that Americans witnessed a similar party realignment (the Whigs vs. Jacksonian Democrats). The guys discuss the prospects for a theoretically ascendant third party - “The people I spoke to said, ‘Yeah, I’d be happy to belong to a party that addressed my concerns even if I knew it might lose in the short term,’” says Declan - as well as early 2024 contenders and the validity of the “Red Dog Democrat” theory.   Show Notes: -Declan’s page at The Dispatch -“Hey, egghead, sing ‘Fair Harvard!’” -Declan: “Is it Time for the Republican Party to Split Apart?” -Steve Scalise won’t say the election wasn’t stolen -Trump’s attack on Mitch McConnell -Republican loyalty to Trump -Mitt Romney says Trump is already a 2024 frontrunner -Maine and Alaska should watch out for unintended consequences -Bill Kristol: “What About Joe?” -Tim Miller: “The Trade: Meet the New Red Dog Democrats” -Mitt Romney and Tom Cotton propose a minimum wage hike

Today, we confirm that Dispatch contributing editor Chris Stirewalt has indeed surpassed our gold jacket threshold while engaging in the rankest of punditry. Chris and Jonah discuss how Biden’s “poison pills” (Neera Tanden’s potential confirmation, a dogmatic insistence on a $15 minimum wage policy, et al) are quickly becoming … well, pills, simply put. While the administration continues to add progressive boxes to their checklist, Israel continues to speed ahead with vaccinations and, in the domestic realm, the lingering shadow of Trump still presents obstacles for the GOP. As a bonus, this episode should hopefully make up for the lack of a Ruminant last weekend, as the vocal similarities between Chris and Jonah make the whole thing sound like a gigantic monologue.   Show Notes: -Chris’ page at The Dispatch -The WKRP in Cincinnati theme -The status of the U.S. vaccination rollout -Israel’s vaccination strategy -Fauci on normality and masking into 2022 -Jonah argued Biden should run a “return to normalcy” campaign before anyone else -Brad Pascale: Trump would have won with a different approach to COVID -Obama calling Bush “unpatriotic” for adding to the debt -“Out, out, brief candle!” -NYT: Biden should appoint a “reality czar” -Will Chamberlain: “Platform Access is a Civil Right” -Jonah’s college newspaper

Jonah welcomes Kevin Williamson to discuss their shared status as Americans trapped within the final layer of Dante’s Hell (aka, Texas in the midst of a large-scale winter weather disaster). From the corporatism on display to the “stunning lack of entrepreneurialism” in response to the issues the state is currently facing, to every issue in between - such as the pointless populism being proffered as an explanation for Texas’ woes - this situation is proving to be a microcosm of everything that is dysfunctional in American politics. Who better to walk us through the sociopolitical ramifications of this situation, than two men who are known for their unadulterated joviality?   Show Notes: -Kevin’s page at National Review -Kevin’s new book, still in the running for “Greatest Subtitle Ever” - Big White Ghetto: Dead Broke, Stone-Cold Stupid, and High on Rage in the Dank Woolly Wilds of the “Real America” -Baksheesh -Jonah v. David on the zombie apocalypse -NYT: “No, Wind Turbines Aren’t the Main Cause of the Texas Blackouts” -“Solar power, when will people learn?” -Rick Perry doubles down on yee-haw -The FairTax movement -Kevin on Satan’s balls -Alex Jones’ lawyers admit he’s an actor -Texas GOP chair Allen West suggests secession -“They’re always eating candy in Shelbyville.”

This week, Jonah brings The Remnant to you from the ice-wracked void of Austin, Texas. His guest is Stephanie Slade, the managing editor of Reason magazine. Stephanie and Jonah provide some helpful explanations of what the oldest coalition of modern conservatism (i.e. “fusionism”) really is, who its members were, and what its political motivations were. Then, in an instance of “violent agreement,” our two intrepid intellectual explorers refute the idea that this fusionist project is a “dead consensus” or that it necessarily precludes membership from libertarians. Interestingly, Jonah thinks that the tensions within fusionism are strong enough that “it doesn’t make sense as a purely philosophical project,” but Stephanie is confident that American political history indicates that the tension between virtue and freedom is resolved within the fusion of these different branches of conservatism.   Show Notes: -Stephanie Slade’s Reason archive -Stephanie: “Is There a Future for Fusionism?” -M. Stanton Evans: The Theme is Freedom -Jonah: “Fusionism Today” -Ramesh Ponnuru: “Fusionists and Fissionists” -Murray Rothbard: “Frank S. Meyer: The Fusionist as Libertarian” -Frank Meyer v. L. Brent Bozell Jr. -Daniel E. Burns: “Liberal Practice v. Liberal Theory” -Donald Devine’s The Enduring Tension: Capitalism and the Moral Order -William James’ “blooming, buzzing confusion” -Post-liberal conservatives

In this weekend’s Ruminant, Jonah figures that it is his duty to do what he can to clean the gigantic metaphorical Augean Stable that is Washington D.C. as recompense for missing a G-File. Thus, this is an episode filled with only the rankest of punditry: Grifters abound, both within Congress and in the fundraising and activism apparatchiks of both the right and the left. Not only is it the case that the grift was getting more intense on its own, but impeachment has just made it all the more self-aggrandizing. Listen as Jonah takes aim at the nepotistic relationship between conservative boosters and lobbyists, The Lincoln Project, and Congress itself for consistently living down to Americans’ expectations.   Show Notes: -Frigid Austin -The inklings of an Ivanka Trump campaign in Florida against Rubio -Demosclerosis by Jonathan Rauch -Lincoln Project awfulness -The online Roget’s Thesaurus… just in case you are curious -Matt Schlapp and pardon foolishness

This podcast is for those of us who feel like the state of our political parties makes us want a drink, or at least some reliable recommendations about what we should be drinking. Jonah is joined by AEI colleague Kevin Kosar, who writes on how Congress is failing to do its job - not simply because of populism and polarization, but also because “its smaller numbers of staffers mean that Congress is literally shrinking while the institution is being asked to do more than ever.” They discuss how to fix the backwardness of this system, before moving on to a discussion of Kevin’s true passion (proven by his pedigree as one of the earliest bloggers on the subject): whiskey and other fine spirits.   Show Notes: -Kevin Kosar - American Enterprise Institute  -Moving Congress into the 21st Century -Congress Overwhelmed  -Show horses vs work horses -Kevin on the true use of earmarks -A Time to Build, by Yuval Levin -Jonah’s love of the term “co-equal” -What’s a pager? -Sen. Lamar Alexander’s farewell speech -Bill Barr’s civilized hearing -Floor Charts, doing important work -Whiskey: A Global History -Alcoholreviews.com, continually operating since 1998 -Connemara peated Irish Whiskey -White whiskey, or, uhm, moonshine

Astute listeners may remember Europe’s immigration crisis circa 2015, in which more than 1 million people, many of them refugees, made their way to the continent. Today, Jonah is joined by one of the most informed public intellectuals on the matter, Ayaan Hirsi Ali. In addition to her first-hand account of leaving Somalia for the West, she also comes loded with information from her new book, Prey, which recounts many of the ways in which affected European nations have either struggled or outright failed to assimilate this largely Muslim population. Ayaan admires Jonah’s “chivalry” on these issues, but makes it clear that one of the direct effects of this failure is a continual erosion of women’s rights in countries that are otherwise considered beacons of social progress.  Show Notes: -Ayaan Hirsi Ali - The Hoover Institution -The Ayaan Hirsi Ali Podcast -Prey, Ayaan’s new book -Infidel, Ayaan’s first book -China’s Uighur atrocities -Modernization of Turkey under Kemal Ataturk

Go down the rabbit hole of conservative eggheadiness on this weekend’s Ruminant, where Jonah discusses both the validity of “Trumpism” as an ideological construct as well as how that plays with the idea of conservatism as the “negation of an ideology.” Jonah also explains how we are seeing the ratcheting effect of increased government authority take place in real time, why Chris Stirewalt is the greatest, why right wing populism is the worst, and much more.   Show Notes: -The Dispatch Podcast with Chris Stirewalt and Jonah -“Expressio Unius Exclusio Alterius” -Crisis and Leviathan by Robert Higgs -Milton Friedman and income tax withholding -This Friday’s G-File -Giuliani: My legacy? F*** it! -Area man loses mind on live television -Kirk: “Conservatism is the negation of ideology” -Jordan Peterson: Reject ideology -Murphy Brown and Dan Quayle -Erewhon

Given the state of… things (imagine us gesturing wildly as we say this) as they currently are, Jonah figured that this might be an apropos time to bring back a popular guest for his second showing:  Joseph Uscinski, a political scientist and professor at the University of Miami specializing in how conspiracy theories spread. Buckle up for the discussion of Jewish space lasers, QAnon, Frazzledrip, and much more. They also discuss why the conspiratorial tendency never seems to go away, thanks to its basis in personality type, as well as the fact that “politicians … use [them] as a cudgel to go around accusing their opponents of the worst things possible.” We’re sure you can imagine just what Joe is talking about with that one.   Show Notes: -Joseph E Uscinski - University of Miami -Our previous episode with Joseph -Birtherism -Every conspiracy theory promoted by Trump -Conspiracy theories are for losers -9/11 truthers -70 percent of Republicans don’t think the election was free and fair -Eric Voegelin and the roots of conspiracy theories -The God of the gaps -Conspiracy theories and evolutionary psychology -The Koch brothers control everything -Bernie and the rigged economy -Alienated America by Tim Carney -“Frazzledrip”??? -6 percent of Republicans and Democrats believe in QAnon -NYT: Biden should appoint a “reality czar”

Thanks to international supply chains, Scott Lincicome’s Five Timer gold jacket is in the mail today as he joins Jonah to discuss a whole panoply of economic trends. Scott and Jonah talk about some of his observations from his posts as a fellow Dispatch-er with his Capitolism newsletter, as well as through his role at Cato where he has just put out a ton of research refuting the too-clever-by-half idea that the government can seize the manufacturing industry for national security reasons. The guys also discuss how COVID has essentially reversed the consumer side of the American economy. (“The pandemic has temporarily converted us into a country that buys goods instead of services”), and they even manage to get in some Hayek (peace be upon him).   Show Notes: -“Five Timers Club” -Scott’s newsletter, Capitolism -Democrats trying to push through $15 minimum wage -Tom Sowell on the minimum wage -More from Less by Andrew McAfee -Scott’s latest for Cato -Scott’s take on the ‘deindustrialization’ myth -A rundown on the National Technology Industrial Base -U.S. ventilator overproduction -Sherrod Brown’s “Buy American” push to the Biden administration -Jonah: Thank globalism for COVID response, not nationalism -Jonah, microcosms, and macrocosms -Invisible Wealth by Nick Schulz and Arnold Kling

On this Ruminant, Jonah explicates the sadly prominent “antisemitism in the gaps” theory of political history on both the left and right, his proud status as an ideologue of the lukewarmist school, and the GOP’s inability to take “yes” for an answer on winning cultural issues against the American left. He also touches on how the GameStop kerfuffle is really just a case where “the market should be left to sort it out,” and how it isn’t some kind of refutation of libertarian economics, in addition to pondering the ways that the virtual world has started to rewire our brains.   Show Notes: -This week’s G-File -Iranian conspiracies about the British -“A lukewarmer” -David French: “An ocean of possibility for a reasonable GOP” -Madison Cawthorn’s staff is built around comms, not legislation -A Remnant starter on impeachment -The members-only midweek “news”letter -“Every kiss begins with Kay” -The LeafFilter commercial -Take our podcast survey

Will Saletan of Slate returns to discuss the looming possibility of a political conflict between the Biden administration and the public sector teachers’ unions who nominally support him, the ways in which the pandemic has shifted labor back into the private sphere of the American household, why both parties should be aiming to present themselves as “the ‘not crazy’ party” (and why they both seem to be doing the opposite), and much more. Will also provides a useful thought experiment as to whether or not one is engaging in hypocrisy in political discussions: “Always try to ask, ‘Am I doing the same thing I’m accusing others of?’”   Show Notes: -Will’s page at Slate -Will: “The Enemy isn’t Republicans. It’s Liars.” -Biden now wants 1.5 million vaccinations a day -Student suicides in Las Vegas  -Will with Charlie Sykes on The Bulwark podcast -Jonah: “The Center is a Lonely Place to Be” -Will: “Trump is the GOP’s warlord” -Lucifer: “The very first radical” -Tucker Carlson goes to bat for QAnon -Newsweek edits 2015 story to conform to new attack on Tom Cotton -Burke and the impeachment of Warren Hastings -Jonah and Tom Friedman: BFFs -Take our podcast survey

A.B. Stoddard rejoins the show for the three-timer award, as well as to talk, well, politics of all things. What can we expect from Senate Republicans at the start of the new Biden administration. Especially with a vote on whether to convict Donald Trump in the pipeline? We also get some more chronicles in the saga of Mitch McConnell: Machiavellian, principled, or both? And what about the recent flurry of (largely) socially progressive executive orders from the Resolute Desk? Stoddard helps determine what of this recent political news is a signal, and what’s simply noise.   Show Notes: -Stoddard at RCP -Stoddard on McConnell -The Hawaii GOP expresses its support for QAnon -Is Jim Jordan about to get more influential? -“The One Where Jonah Calls Matt Gaetz a Steroidal Playmobil Figurine” -Updates on the Patriot Party -Take our podcast survey

The days of the 2012 GOP “autopsy” are long behind us. Listen as Jonah ruminates on the struggles of protecting serious conservatism at a time of supreme unreflectiveness among many adherents of the movement as to how it has been led astray. Jonah also expresses his optimism at the revitalized raison d’être of The Dispatch in a post-Trump America. Additionally, Jonah even previews a forthcoming idea that could be of supreme interest to The Remnant’s nerdier factions: “I owe it to readers to do a deep dive… into what Liberal Fascism has to say” about the revanchist populism of the Trumpian right.   Show Notes: -     Take our podcast survey  -      This week’s G-File -      The minimum wage and eugenics -      Why are they calling all of Antifa “Biden voters”? -      Hunter Baker’s article -      Newt Gingrich, with another asinine thing -      “Not my president?” -      The Wednesday “news”letter -      The Remnant with Mo Elleithee

Join Jonah and special guest Jack Butler, his former research assistant for the tricentennial episode. It’s the best of both worlds as the program recalls its greatest hits (conspiracies about the Soviets, Bigfoot Erotica, The Episode that Shall Not be Named, and, of course, Jokes at Jack’s expense) while also breaking into new territory. The guys talk about the conflict between college Republicans who got into politics just to be edgy versus the more thoughtful millenials and Zoomers who actually hold convictions, and about how “for the first time in more than four years, conservative politics do not have to flow through the person of Donald Trump.”   Show Notes:  -    Take our podcast survey -      Jack’s page at NR -      The Remnant with Joseph Uscinski (or, as Jack said in an interesting instance of spoonerism, “Douglas Urbanski”) -      Lost Cosmonauts -      Werner Herzog being vaguely horrified by Grizzly Man audio -      Bigfoot Erotica: Origin Stories -      “The Swamp: An affectionate farewell” -      The “Uncomfortable Learning” program at Williams College has a strange history -      Jack’s profound disappointment with Madison Cawthorn -      Jack ponders the possibilities of Amazon’s show in Middle-Earth -      Dan McLaughlin on what comes after Trump -      Zhou Enlai on the French Revolution: “Toon soon to tell” -      Community: Nick Cage, good or bad?