

Q & A, Hosted by Jay Nordlinger
Jay Nordlinger
Jay Nordlinger is a journalist who writes about a range of subjects, including politics, foreign affairs, and the arts. He is the music critic of The New Criterion. He is a senior resident fellow at the Renew Democracy Initiative, and a contributor to its publication, The Next Move. His guests are from the worlds of politics and culture, talking about the most important issues of the day, and some pleasant trivialities as well. www.jaynordlinger.com
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 1, 2022 • 45min
A Saudi Sister
Abdulrahman al-Sadhan worked for the Red Cross, or Red Crescent, in Saudi Arabia. He jotted some tweets critical of the Saudi dictatorship, anonymously. But his cover was blown—and he was arrested, imprisoned, tortured . . . This is the Saudi way. Working to win his release is his sister, Areej. As Jay says, “she is a brave, determined woman, and, of course, a very loyal sister.” This is a story... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

May 26, 2022 • 36min
Uyghur Daughter
Jewher Ilham, age 27, is a Uyghur activist, in the United States. She is a spokesman for the Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region. Her father, Ilham Tohti, an economist, is somewhere in the gulag. The U.S. State Department has classified China’s persecution of the Uyghur people as a genocide. Jewher Ilham is the author of “A Uyghur’s Fight to Free Her Father” and “Because I Have To.”... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

May 20, 2022 • 31min
Evgenia Kara-Murza, Speaking for Her Husband, a Political Prisoner
Vladimir Kara-Murza is one of the leading Russian democracy campaigners. He is an old friend of “Q&A” and an old friend of Jay’s. Now he is a political prisoner. His wife and partner—his wife and chief ally—is Evgenia Kara-Murza. In this conversation, she talks about her husband, their marriage, their work, the Russian people . . . As Jay points out, she is much like Vladimir: brave, elegant... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

May 19, 2022 • 1h 19min
A Life in the Law
Akhil Reed Amar is an outstanding teacher of the Constitution, and American history. He is a professor of law at Yale. He was born in Michigan to immigrant parents from India. The latest of his several books on the Constitution is “The Words That Made Us.” He recently wrote about Roe vs. Wade, explaining why he, a pro-choice Democrat, thinks it is a bad decision. He does a podcast called “Amarica’... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

May 6, 2022 • 58min
A Musical Feast
Harvey Sachs is one of the great writers about music. “His biography of Toscanini,” says Jay, “is one of the greatest biographical feats I know.” Sachs’s latest book is “Ten Masterpieces of Music.” With Jay, he talks about this mighty ten. The conversation at large abounds in interesting facts, observations, opinions, and stories. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Apr 28, 2022 • 1h 1min
Reading the Right
As Jay says in his introduction, Matthew Continetti is “a conservative and a conservative-ologist: a student of conservatism, a dissector of it, an expert on it. He has written a new book: ‘The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism.’” Jay and Matt have a meaty hour on conservatism. And they barely get started. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Apr 20, 2022 • 45min
Life and Death in Ukraine, Right Now
Inna Sovsun is a member of the Ukrainian parliament. What she has to say about what is happening in her country right now is very informative and not a little moving. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Apr 18, 2022 • 47min
A Poet in the World: Danielle Rose
“On ‘Q&A,’” says Jay, “I have had people from many walks of life: politicians, novelists, athletes, comedians, scientists, journalists, businessmen, sopranos, human-rights activists—on and on. I don’t think I have ever before had a poet. So, today is the day to have one. She is Danielle Rose.” And a very interesting person is she. A thought-provoking, enriching conversation. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Apr 16, 2022 • 45min
Jimmy Crumpacker of Oregon
Jimmy Crumpacker is a very interesting fellow who is running for Congress in Oregon. He is from an old Oregon family—about as old as such a family can get. Jimmy Crumpacker is seventh generation. He is a Republican, of the old school, which is to say, he believes in limited government, free markets, and economic growth. Also the rule of law. Born and raised in Portland, he discusses with Jay the... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Apr 6, 2022 • 51min
Ukraine, Russia, and the World—an Important Moment
Eliot A. Cohen is a professor of international relations. As Jay says, he is a leading expert in the field—a man from whom you can learn a great deal. Cohen discusses two of his own professors in this “Q&A”: Richard Pipes and Samuel Huntington. Are we in a Huntingtonian moment? A clash of civilizations? Jay asks Eliot Cohen several specific questions about Ukraine and Russia... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe


