Kevin Williamson On The Perils Of Populism

15 snips

Jan 23, 2026

Kevin Williamson, conservative writer and national correspondent at The Dispatch, reflects on a long career from local newspapers to National Review. He discusses the rise of populism, the Tea Party to Trump arc, media culture shifts, and lessons from economic liberalization. Short, sharp conversations on politics, culture, and moments that reshaped contemporary conservatism.

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ANECDOTE

Atlantic Firing Story

Kevin recounts being declared persona non grata by Jeffrey Goldberg and The Atlantic after a staff town hall.
He treats the episode as career noise, noting Goldberg later fired him abruptly before the meeting.

ANECDOTE

Meeting George W. Bush In Lubbock

Kevin describes growing up in Lubbock and meeting George W. Bush while working at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
He recalls Bush recognizing 'Lubbock High School' years later at a fundraiser.

ANECDOTE

Reporting In India Changed His View

Kevin recounts working for the Indian Express in Delhi and Bombay in his early twenties.
He says the experience showed him the power of liberalization and free markets firsthand.

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.com

Kevin spent 15 years as a writer and reporter for National Review, worked as a theater critic at The New Criterion, and had a long career in local newspapers. He’s currently the national correspondent at The Dispatch and a writer in residence at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. He’s the author of many books, including Big White Ghetto: Dead Broke, Stone-Cold Stupid, and High on Rage in the Dank Woolly Wilds of the “Real America.”

An auto-transcript is available above (just click “Transcript” while logged into Substack). For two clips of our convo — on the arc from the Tea Party to Trump, and now his Greenland travesty — head to our YouTube page.

Other topics: growing up in Lubbock with working-class, adoptive parents; playing football for the worst 5A team in Texas and joking with Dubya about it; starting journalism as a teenager; Bill Buckley a big influence; working for newspapers in India; how neoliberalism lifted untold millions out of poverty; the prosperity of the ‘90s; Karl Rove and “deficits don’t matter”; quitting the GOP over Arlen Specter; joining NR in 2008; TARP and bailouts; covering the Tea Party rallies; the Constitution checking human nature; Pat Buchanan; Ross Perot; Rick Santorum; the demonization of Obama; the pathologies of working-class whites; Christian apologists of Trump; mass migration and multiculturalism; masked ICE agents; Trump and celebrity culture; the Nobel hissy fit over Greenland; the tariff insanity; the bond market; Bessent’s propaganda; right-wingers in Europe turning on Trump; Vance and Cruz bending the knee; Jan 6 and Mike Pence; MTG’s conversion; Musk’s accomplishments; Trump defunding science in higher ed; Rahm Emanuel; when Kevin was cancelled by The Atlantic; when both of us were vilified by Jeff Goldberg in a townhall; and taking Matt Stone to Bear Week in Ptown.

Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy. Coming up: Jeffery Toobin on the pardon power, Jason Willick on trade and conservatism, Vivek Ramaswamy on the right’s future, Derek Thompson on the Dems and abundance, Tiffany Jenkins on privacy, and Michael Pollan on consciousness. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.