The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg
The Dispatch
In “The Remnant," Jonah Goldberg enlists a “Cannonball Run”-style cast of stars, has-beens, and never-weres to address the most pressing issues of the day. Is America doomed? Has liberalism failed? And will mankind ever invent something better than ‘90s-era “Simpsons?” Mixing political history, pop culture, rank punditry, and shameless book-plugging, Goldberg and guests will have the kinds of conversations we wish they featured on TV. And the nudity will (almost) always be tasteful. Brace your bingo cards.
Episodes
Mentioned books
32 snips
Mar 28, 2026 • 1h 22min
Not My Liberalism | Ruminant
Conversations range from how newsrooms favor sensational stories to why unusual crimes dominate coverage. There are riffs on film and TV aesthetics and a warning about fraudulent books on Amazon. Political debates touch on Iran’s military costs, institutional restraints on power, and TSA bottlenecks. A long segment explores John Rawls’ veil of ignorance versus tradition and the limits of pure autonomy.
23 snips
Mar 25, 2026 • 1h 6min
Machiavelli and Rational Control | Interview: Harvey Mansfield
Harvey Mansfield, longtime Harvard government professor and Straussian political philosopher. He unpacks Machiavelli’s effectual truth and contrasts reason with modern rationalism. They trace Christianity’s debt to Greek thought, critique Rawls and modern social science, and debate pragmatism, Marx, Locke, and the prospects for American conservatism.
43 snips
Mar 23, 2026 • 1h 14min
Desecration, Not Disenchantment | Interview: Carl Trueman
Carl Trueman, professor of biblical and religious studies and author of books on religion and modernity, discusses how modernity attacks the sacred. Short, sharp conversations cover Nietzsche and value-creation. They probe technology’s moral perils, reproductive tech and personhood, rising antisemitism and transgression, and the role of local religious life in resisting cultural desecration.
24 snips
Mar 21, 2026 • 1h 19min
Environmentalists Make Great Villains | Ruminant
He argues over the Iran war, debating when criticism helps or harms and whether military action can achieve political goals. He skewers lazy media attacks and explains how tribal pressure shapes public opinion. He critiques campus antisemitism and the rise of inflammatory figures. He revisits Paul Ehrlich, neo‑Malthusian panic, and how environmental doom makes catchy villains in fiction.
35 snips
Mar 18, 2026 • 1h 13min
Edmund Burke Was Not a Romantic | Interview: Yuval Levin
Yuval Levin, political theorist at AEI and author of American Covenant, explores constitutionalism and institutional reform. He discusses presidential war powers, the need to rebuild congressional norms, and how technology shortens political time. Levin contrasts Burke with rationalist and Hayekian views and considers the challenges of forming a durable post-Trump conservative coalition.
42 snips
Mar 16, 2026 • 1h 3min
Join the Counterinsurgency | Interview: David Bahnsen
David Bahnsen, investor, economist, and author known for market and political commentary. He contrasts the two Trump economies and discusses tariffs, energy policy, and oil's shifting geopolitical role. They debate institutional decay on the right, the battle over the word conservative, Christian Zionism, media incentives, and why rebuilding local culture matters.
49 snips
Mar 14, 2026 • 1h 27min
Government Didn’t Build This | Ruminant
A fast-paced tour of energy dangers from the Strait of Hormuz and how shipping, insurance, and refining fragilities ripple into food and fertilizer supplies. A skeptical look at plans for quick regime change and why economic pain can end military campaigns. Cultural critiques on identity-based defenses, class demagoguery, and a spirited defense of Burke’s mix of sentiment and liberal commitments.
33 snips
Mar 11, 2026 • 1h 13min
‘A Zipper to the Gates of Hell’ | Interview: Chris Stirewalt
Chris Stirewalt, a political analyst and former Fox News digital politics editor, shares punditry and anecdotes. They riff on gallows humor, irony in journalism, and covering 9/11. Conversation jumps to Iran and military objectives, Trump’s public demeanor and fashion, Texas Senate politics, voter ID and electoral reform, and profiling Markwayne Mullin.
68 snips
Mar 9, 2026 • 1h 39min
Handed Down Through the Ages | Interview: Allen Guelzo
Allen Guelzo, historian of the Civil War and Western intellectual tradition, joins to tour the lineage of Western ideas. They spar over tradition versus civilization, romanticism and the Enlightenment, Locke and the American founding. Conversations touch on Lincoln, the causes of the Civil War, and how classical learning was transmitted through history.
52 snips
Mar 7, 2026 • 1h 23min
Indiana Jones and the Shield of the Americas | Ruminant
He breaks down recent U.S. strikes on Iran and whether they amount to war. He examines the constitutional question of Congress and war powers and the political logic of seeking buy-in. He dissects Rubio and other political missteps, MAGA-era patronage, and Texas primary dynamics. He also covers Anthropic, AI ethics, and government pressures on tech firms.
