Jonah has long awaited the chance to have Columbia University linguist John McWhorter on the show, and now he’s finally here. In a particularly un-rank episode of The Remnant, Jonah asks John about the shifting nature of language, and if it’s really a good thing that usage shifts so rapidly (e.g. “literally”). Also, what grammar police campaigns have been successful in preserving grammatical order, and where have they failed? Show Notes: -John’s many, many books  -John’s podcast, Lexicon Valley  -Jonah’s piece on Biden’s use of “literally”  -Once more, Paul Bloom’s Just Babies  -DrinkHydrant.com, use promo code “dingo” for 25% off your first order 

Jonah gratefully drags a harried Niall Ferguson onto the show, which begins with Angela Merkel and ends with “copious quantities of claret.” Listen to Jonah and Niall — mostly Niall, of the Mellifluous Voice — speak in tongues, lament the destruction of critical thinking in universities, and sneak in a jab at Woodrow Wilson [dun dun dun]. Show Notes: -Angela Merkel on “the toughest situation” in Europe’s history  -Communities of fate, coined by our grave German friends -The New Republic’s contest for the most boring headline  -Rescuing the nation-state, commentary by Alan S. Milward  -Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire by Niall Ferguson  -That whom Niall is not -The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations, by Paul Kennedy  -Cornell, guns-on-campus  -Too many educated men, by Boyle  -NBER paper on how more people actually stayed home during the protests  -Schumpeter’s Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy  -Civilization: The West and the Rest, by Niall Ferguson  -Piece by Niall and Eyck Freymann  -Faces At The Bottom Of The Well: The Permanence Of Racism, by Derrick Bell  -For fun, the Yale Course Catalog, which Jonah perused a few years ago  -ExpressVPN.com/Remnant for 3 months free off a year-long plan 

On his second Remnant appearance, National Review’s Kevin Williamson travels down a series of tangent-friendly avenues with Jonah. What are statue-defacers actually accomplishing? Why are Americans “a bunch of maniacs” compared to our continental comrades? And what is Kevin’s obsession with Switzerland all about, anyway? Show Notes: -Kevin’s upcoming book, Big White Ghetto -Kevin’s smash-hit, The Smallest Minority  -Kevin’s aptly-titled Tuesday newsletter, “The Tuesday”  -Houston Rockets manager tweets in support of Hong Kong protests  -China is now sterilizing Uyghurs  -U. Topia  -The genuine wackiness of Richard Delgado -The Helvetica Type -Stein’s Law  -DrinkHydrant.com/dingo for 25% off your first order 

It’s the weekend, therefore it’s time for another Ruminant. This time, it’s a monologue in which Jonah truly realizes how Remnant-y he’s really become. In his own words, “the point of conservatism is not to get the Republican Party elected.” In short, this is a “down with majoritarianism, up with principles” kind of episode. Show Notes: -This week's G-File -Wednesday's "news"letter  -Suicide of the West (now out in paperback!) -The non-scandal of Tina Fey and Jimmy Kimmel  -Steve Teles (Robert Saldin): Never Trump: The Revolt of the Conservative Elites  -Patrick Deneen’s piece for American Compass -Hofstadter’s book on social Darwinism -Herbert Spencer and his infamous phrase -“The Fourteenth Amendment does not enact Mr. Herbert Spencer’s Social Statics.”  -Leonard’s “Origins of the myths of social Darwinism”  -The Pilgrim’s Progress 

Chris Wallace, host of Fox News Sunday, stops by to discuss his new book Countdown 1945, the state of American politics, and the intersection of technology and journalism. Show Notes: -Chris' new book Countdown 1945 

Remnant regular and Fox News politics editor Chris Stirewalt joins to discuss the newsiest events of the day: sausage varietals, Teddy Roosevelt’s legacy, and 1800s newspapers. In addition to nerding out on these rather specific topics, they do get around to some more modern rank punditry on everything from early voting to the future of cable news.

Why are politicians so reluctant to take responsibility for the history of their own ideas? Everything from the minimum wage to community policing has a sordid past if you just look back far enough, and Jonah thinks that putting on your partisan blinders only for the specific policies you happen to dislike leads to bad outcomes. In this particularly chaotic era of American politics, Jonah points out evidence of this sort of thing happening everywhere. Show Notes: -The Problem With Claiming That Policing Evolved From Slave Patrols -This week's G-File -The Blue Eagle program -The New Republic’s… interesting piece… on canceling conservative books -The Bolton book, preorder before the DOJ gets to it -An early Remnant with Matt Continetti, with talk about neoconservatism -ScoutandZoes.com, promo code DINGO at checkout

In the microcosm of right-of-center news, we have been blessed with two great writers by the name of Robert George. This podcast sees Jonah talking to one of them. No, not that one, the other one! They talk about what it’s like to work for two of the most spirited publications in New York (the Post and the Daily News), and take a trip down memory lane to their time as pundits in the last dominant years of live TV. Show Notes: -Robert’s author page at New York Daily News -The long history of Jonah and Julianne Malveaux’s swipes at each other (with a cameo by Robert) -Robert on BLM’s echoes to the Tea Party -R.I.P. Denny O’Neil -Keeps.com/dingo for your first month free

Escaping household chaos, a car-bound Jonah talks prisons with Brown University’s David Skarbek. Bolivian jails and Soviet gulags are just two choices in this long game of Where’d-You-Rather: Incarceration Edition. Skarbek takes us through the highlights of his upcoming book and touches on the delicate subject of policing. Show Notes: -Skarbeck’s upcoming book: The Puzzle of Prison Order: Why Life Behind Bars Varies Around the World -Skarbek on EconTalk -Pirates, Prisoners, and Lepers: Lessons from Life Outside the Law, by Paul and Sarah Robinson -Chained Heat -Caged Heat (There’s more than one of these???) -Jonah on the CHAZ -Rule of clans  -German phrase for “Attaining freedom once you reach a city” -Alex Tabarrok on street safety policy  -1982 “Broken Windows” essay -Vin Cannato on The Remnant -Andersonville prisoner of war camp -Peter Leeson, The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates -Emma Goldman, anarchist  -Elinor Ostrom, economist -Gabi.com/remnant -ExpressVPN.com/remnant for 3 months free with a year plan

What to make of the many news stories of the week - the resignation of James Bennet at The New York Times, the establishment of an autarkic city-state in Seattle, and more? On the Ruminant, Jonah sees some connecting threads between them all, such as the shrinking of large, trustworthy media institutions. Show Notes: -This Friday’s G-File -"Firing Line with William F. Buckley, Jr." collection, hosted for free by the Hoover Institution -Robin Williams caricatures Buckley twice in "Aladdin" -Jonah writing on the problem of liberal media bias and the “objectivity” issue -“SAY IT! SAY IT!” -Jonah’s column about Romney -Ross Douthat’s op-ed about the Tom Cotton piece -Monopsony -Jonah and Hugh Hewitt’s disagreement about the Alt-Right from back in 2016 -Jonah: How the nationalists blew their chance -The members-only Midweek G-File -Ed Koch: “Now they must be punished.” -The “stationary bandit” -"Pirates, Prisoners, and Lepers: Lessons from Life Outside the Law" -The Hop Bird -TommyJohn.com/remnant

AEI scholar and China expert Oriana Skylar Mastro joins The Remnant to help us all understand the "Middle Kingdom" and its moves on the world stage. At a time like this, where the U.S. is retreating from its global responsibilities, how is China going to try to spin this into a positive outcome for themselves? Oriana has some ideas. Show Notes: -Oriana’s latest insights on China -Oriana’s book, on the problems with peace talks -Oriana's piece on Taiwan's future -The sheer amount of effort that goes into Chinese censorship -The controversial and confusing Russia/China joint air patrol -The current state of China’s Belt and Road Initiative -Weirdness on China’s border with India

Tim Carney joins The Remnant, where he talks about some of the great shoe-leather reporting he’s been doing on the protests in the D.C. area. How many of the protesters are seriously out to cause trouble, and how many are there for good reasons? Also, what can be made of the “defund the police” movement, and where have our “little platoons” gone during the pandemic? Show Notes: -Tim’s work at the Washington Examiner -Tim’s latest book, Alienated America -Subsidiarity -Tim’s Occupy reporting -Cyclist in Montgomery County gets falsely accused -The Treason of Epidemiologists -Justin Amash’s tweet about epidemiologists -DrinkHydrant.com promo code dingo for 25% off

Jonah returns for the weekend Ruminant to address the growing unease he gets from the national protest movements. What’s going to be more damaging: the protests, or the massive overcorrection from the critics of the protests? With a little bit of perspective, it should be easy to see that everyone is manipulating data for their own ends - the epidemiologists, the protesters, and, of course, the Executive (to put it politely). Show Notes: -This week's G-File -Wednesday's "news"letter -Epidemiologists shift from social distance to social justice -The Remnant Twitter AI asking for audience suggestions -Epidemiologists insisting that you can’t go to church -The heartening history of American racial attitudes over time -Part of Jonah's review of The Defining Moment -The St. John’s Church photo op - already adorned with a Wikipedia page

In this crazy time we’re living in, what’s the most accurate historical parallel? 1968? The 1420s? UMass Boston historian and all-around smart dude Vincent Cannato returns to the show for the second time to remind us of the scary-but-true reality: we are actually living in an unprecedented era. As the ancient faux-Chinese curse says, “May you live in interesting times.” Show Notes: -Vin’s books -Just in case you’d like to get admitted to the Vatican archives -Blue check-mark Twitter in an uproar over a Tom Cotton op-ed -Jonah’s review of A Return to Modesty -The Power Broker by Robert Caro -The Confucius Institute, quite literally on the dole of their Chinese paymasters -If you have a subscription, read the wonderfully-named Francois Furstenburg in the Chronicle -Is Bill Barr right that history is written by the winners? -Ronald Radosh’s Prophets on the Right

How does liberty die? According to Padmé, with thunderous applause. According to The New York Times, with an ill-timed op-ed ghostwritten by Putin. And according to John Pitney, professor of American politics at Claremont McKenna, maybe with Trump? John joins the show to play Remnant bingo, but also to make the case that Trump’s oft-praised abrasiveness isn’t actually very American — and that his behavior usually stifles liberty instead of promoting it. Show Notes: -Pitney’s book, Un-American: The Fake Patriotism of Donald J. Trump -Pitney's piece on Obama and Trump -Richard Weaver, Ideas have Consequences -The Federalist Papers, free and online -So this is how liberty dies -P.J. O’Rourke talks about Hillary -Trump wants to protect Article XII -Claremont’s 10 years in review -Pitney’s book After Reagan: Bush, Dukakis, and the 1988 Election -'We're dying at the box office,' Schwarzenegger tells GOP -East/West coast Straussians feuds -Pitney being interviewed about expanding the House -Elaine Kamarck talking about her role as a superdelegate -Vladimir Putin’s uh, op-ed in the Times? -Jonah’s appearance with Andrew Klavan -TommyJohn.com/remnant for 25% off site wide

Jonah ruminates on why we can't have nice things, darling. A journey that takes us from Julien Benda’s Treason of the Intellectuals to John Courtney Murray's The Return to Tribalism. From the cigar shop to the primitive Greek usage of the word "idiot." Show Notes: -Jonah's piece Cigars: A Love Story or Two -Jonah's piece Democracy in the Tobacconist’s -Sen. Ben Sasse's civics lesson -This week's G-File -Wednesday's "news"letter -How to educate an American webinar -John Courtney Murray's The Return to Tribalism

Has the 1 percent really rigged the economy? Why do Argentinians believe the Vatican is hiding aliens? And finally, what’s the deal with Bigfoot (and the associated erotica therein)? University of Miami political scientist and conspiracy theory expert Joseph Uscinski joins Jonah to answer these questions, explain who believes such things, and why. We suggest you listen to this truly bizarre episode before the Lizard People take it off the air. Show Notes: -FiveThirtyEight podcast with Joe -The 1 percent rigs the economy, according to Bernie -Princess Diana conspiracy theories -8 out of 10 French people believe a conspiracy theory -How not to write about the Koch brothers -Rothschilds (Rothschildren?) control everything -QAnon -Yuval’s book, A Time to Build -Secret oil billionaires are out to get Obama -Oliver Stone's JFK -SaneBox.com/dingo for a $25 credit on your subscription

Last time Matt Ridley was on, Jonah was left with so many questions that he knew he had to get him on again in short order. So he’s here again to answer more questions on the themes of his new book, How Innovation Works. Matt talks about how bureaucracy gets in the way of innovation, not by saying no to innovators, but “by saying yes too slowly,” and presents the one bit of scientific wisdom he would pass on to a future civilization. Come for the enlightenment, stay for the LED lightbulb. Show Notes: -Matt’s new book, How Innovation Works; tell us on social media if you buy it! -John Nestor’s wild ride -Matt Ridley: speed up bureaucratic decision making -Thomas Young, The Last Man Who Knew Everything -Britain’s proud history of… water abstraction reform? -Innocentive: an innovation crowdsourcing platform -Pill cameras -Anton Howes’ blog -Jonah’s piece on the RadioLab debacle -Lucretius: De Rerum Natura -Steven Pinker: what scientific concept ought to be more widely known? -Jevons Paradox -The 1890 Russian Flu pandemic

Everything has a price - except The Remnant, of course. That’s free. But regardless, Jonah flies solo once more and shares some advice he learned from his father about how to appraise the worth of any activity in life. On that theme, it turns out that he puts little worth in political eschatology, partisan psychological research, and the dichotomy implied by the terms ‘left-” and “right-wing.” Show Notes: -Pastor Douglas Wilson’s show, coming soon with a Jonah Goldberg episode -Marxist eschatology -David French’s recent Remnant appearance -This week’s G-File -The worst example of left-wing political-psychological drek -Conservatism as an Ideology

David French joins the Five-Timer’s Club on this edition of The Remnant. The conversation has just about the widest scope possible, including everything from end times prophecy, to Protestantism versus Restorationism, to methods for surviving the zombie apocalypse, to the blessed Snyder cut. Show Notes: -David’s newsletter, The French Press -David's podcast with Sarah Isgur -David, supposedly “breathing on the embers” of #BelieveAllWomen -The (very involved) eschatology of Assemblies of God -The Left Behind novel series -The Restoration Movement -The timelines of pre-and-post-millennialism -The Late, Great Planet Earth -Albrecht Durer’s fascinating series of Revelation woodcuts, Apocalypse -Best places to be in a zombie apocalypse -ExpressVPN.com/remnant for 3 extra months free

Amy Walter, national editor of The Cook Political Report, joins the show to talk about which polling numbers actually convey useful information during an election season. How can Trump’s job approval ratings remain relatively high, while lots of people still say they won’t vote for him? What do the parties actually need to do to keep their coalitions intact? And how strongly does Jonah feel about quality underwear? Tune in to find out. Show Notes: -Amy’s work at The Cook Political Report -Amy’s podcast -A more holistic approach to Trump’s numbers -Negative polarization -“Taking the parties out of politics” -TommyJohn.com get up to 30% off sitewide with code: remnant

Jonah’s back for another roundup of the week, where he takes on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, R. R. Reno, Napoleon - that’s right, Napoleon - and many more. In addition to addressing current events, he also discusses the necessity of the right to police its own side, and how old-school leftists ruined the word “ideology” for the rest of us. Show Notes: -Jonah’s spat with AOC -Suicide of the West (now out in paperback!) -Jonathan V. Last, one of the early-on disparagers of R. R. Reno, on an old Remnant -A Man for All Seasons: “Would you give the devil the benefit of the law?” -The (underrated) Tyranny of Cliches -The edition of What is Conservatism? Foreword by Jonah -The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America -DrinkHydrant.com/dingo for 25% off your first order

Paul Matzko - a historian who has charted the legacy of talk radio and the conservative movement - joins The Remnant pantheon. While conservatives may be familiar with the lasting legacy of figures like Rush Limbaugh and Michael Medved, Paul shows that they follow a path established by religious conservatives stretching back to the 60s. Learn about the Kennedy administration’s checkered history with AM radio, and about the differing impacts of the radio populists versus the print-magazine intellectuals, such as Buckley at National Review. Show Notes: -Paul’s book, The Radio Right - out now via ebook, out in hardcover… whenever the pandemic stops -Paul’s futurism podcast, Building Tomorrow -Paul’s podcast with an old socialist friend, Impolitic -George Nash’s history of the conservative intellectual movement -Jonah’s longstanding beef with Father Coughlin -Victor Lasky’s book, It Didn’t Start with Watergate -Paul and John Samples’ research on ineffective social media regulation -The history of “Revolutionary Defeatism” -Paul on the Polish ham boycott -Pacifica Radio’s left-wing radicalism -Robert Darnton’s Censors at Work -DonorsTrust.org/dingo -ExpressVPN.com/remnant

Why do international institutions have scary-sounding names? Why do we fall for dolphin propaganda, every time? What form does the true Platonic Nacho take? Return guest Scott Lincicome joins The Remnant to answer these pressing questions. This episode explains more of this international man of mystery’s backstory, revealing not only what irks him about modern China-hawkishness, but also the cherished memory that reliably brings a tear to his eye. Show Notes: -Scott’s Twitter poll about animal PR -Evil dolphins -China hawkishness -American Mind wants to cancel Chinese debt -The Jones Act -How does a country become a WTO member? -Doordash.com, use promo code REMNANT at checkout for zero delivery fees for a month -ExpressVPN.com/REMNANT for an extra 3 months free

It’s that time again: on this weekend Ruminant, Jonah finds himself dealing with more 2016 déjà vu, as once again the public conversation turns towards the “binary choice” between two men who have been accused of sexual assault. How did we get to a point where our standards stooped so low? Jonah has a few ideas about that, and they have to do with the cop-outs of the intellectual class and the erosion of social capital. Show Notes: -Linda Hirshman’s NYT op-ed -Julien Benda’s The Treason of the Intellectuals -Background on the formerly pseudonymous author of “The Flight 93 Election”