The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg

It’s that time again: Chris “Lil’ Enos” Stirewalt is back on the Remnant to provide his signature blend of square-eyed pop culture nerdery and fiendishly rank punditry. What do the size of Congress, James Comey’s ego, and The Dispatch’s profit margin have to do with one another? Was the Durham report an explosive game-changer or a damp squib? How’s the Republican primary shaping up? And are we really about to endure a Trump-Biden rematch? Only Chris and Jonah possess the knowledge of Smokey and the Bandit necessary to answer these questions with maximum insight.Show Notes:- Chris’ page at The Dispatch- Subscribe to The Dispatch and watch an exclusive live Remnant with Jonah, Chris, and Steve Hayes- The Remnant with Ben Smith- The Remnant with Elizabeth Nolan Brown- Chris: “The Republican Case for Lying Down for Trump Again”- Noah Rothman: “GOP Voters Are Making Impossible Demands of a Trump Alternative”- Jonah: “Our No-Win Scenario” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last year, Remnant regular and AEI scholar Matt Continetti published The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism, a tome so nerdy that he and Jonah needed two full podcast episodes just to discuss the first half of it. Today, Matt returns to the program to continue working through the history of the right from the ‘80s to the present. Or, at least, that was the plan. Instead, the conversation ends up focusing on the nature of the new right, how Pat Buchanan changed conservatism, and what Donald Trump’s devotees actually want. Plus, listeners of the Commentary podcast will be delighted to find that Matt is actually allowed to speak.Show Notes:- Matt’s page at AEI- The Right, now available in paperback- Part one of Matt’s previous Remnant nerdfest…- …and part two- The Commentary podcast- Lionel Trilling’s The Liberal Imagination- Julius Krein: “I Voted for Trump. And I Sorely Regret It.”- Christopher Lasch’s The Revolt of the Elites- Tom Wolfe: “The Great Relearning”- Ezra Klein: “The Problem With Everything-Bagel Liberalism” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In what may be the most indulgent Ruminant ever recorded (which is really saying a lot), Jonah delivers a supremely curmudgeonly rant that encompasses everything from the formative years of Western civilization to the 2024 presidential election. After providing a pointless overview of his taste in political podcasts, he dives into the importance of taboos in society, and why throwing away centuries of inherited wisdom might not be the best idea. (Hint: Suicide of the West is still available from all good booksellers.) Then, it’s rank punditry all the way down, as Jonah offers musings on the Jordan Neely situation, rising crime in cities, the baby bust, and the continuing madness of Donald Trump. It’s as cheery an episode as you’d expect.Show Notes:- The Wednesday G-File- The Remnant with Elizabeth Nolan Brown- Julian Simon was right- The Dispatch Podcast on all things Trump Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a twist on the standard Remnant formula that nobody asked for, Jonah is joined by noted chicken wing connoisseur Steve Hayes to co-host today’s episode. Their guest is Ben Smith, founder of Semafor, former editor in chief of BuzzFeed News, and author of the new book, Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. The book takes us back to the early days of the internet to explore how the rivalry between Jonah Peretti of BuzzFeed and Nick Denton of Gawker paved the way for today's climate of disinformation, and naturally, it raises a number of questions. How has journalism changed since the dawn of the internet? Why does the young right tend to confuse social media with real life? What can we do to fix the media landscape? And will Jonah ever get over the golden age of blogging?Show Notes:- Ben’s new book, Traffic- Ben: “Confessions of a Media Chronicler”- Semafor- The Great Moon Hoax- Benjy Sarlin: “Take Donald Trump seriously, not literally, on ‘fake news’” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a while since the Remnant featured some pro-natal wonkery. To fill that void, Jonah’s joined today by Elizabeth Nolan Brown, a senior editor at Reason, to discuss her cover story for the latest issue of the magazine, “Storks Don't Take Orders From the State.” Together, they discuss the many burning questions surrounding baby-making in modern America: Why are fertility rates falling (spoiler: Elizabeth doesn’t think it’s because there’s a crippling sex recession)? Are pro-natalist policies working in other places? What are the main reasons to have children? And will Jonah ever explain his hatred of old people?Show Notes:-Subscribe to The Dispatch and watch an exclusive live Remnant with Jonah, Steve Hayes, and Chris Stirewalt- Elizabeth’s author page at Reason- Elizabeth’s cover story, “Storks Don't Take Orders From the State”- The vampire problem- Jonah: “The Worst Fang Club”- Yuval Levin: “The Changing Face of Social Breakdown”- Jonah: “I Think We’re Turning Japanese”- Brian Doherty: “Libertarian Party Faces State Rebellions” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonah finds himself alone with the quadrupeds on today’s Ruminant as the Fair Jessica embarks on a grand European adventure. Isolated and caffeine-deprived, he’s in especially indulgent form as he rambles through a handful of interrelated topics. First up on the docket is a Supreme Court case that could scale back American bureaucracy, which prompts an extended discussion of how most of the problems we face in modern society can be attributed to a lack of self-government (whatever that means). Afterward, Jonah touches on the importance of institutions in a hyper-technological world, the dumbness of Republican and Democratic rhetoric around crime, and the improbable link between soup kitchens and Call of Duty chat rooms. Brace yourself for an extra-crotchety ride. Show Notes:- The Morning Dispatch: “SCOTUS Poised to Rein in the Administrative State”- Philip Hamburger’s Is Administrative Law Unlawful- Charles Murray’s By the People- Jonah: “Is the GOP Becoming a Dysfunctional Chatroom?”- The Remnant with Rob Long- Tim Miller’s Why We Did It- Michelle Cottle: “Georgia’s Hot Mess Is Headed Your Way”- A crime-ridden Dispatch Podcast- Wednesday’s “news”letter- The Remnant with criminologist Shawn Bushway- Subscribe to The Dispatch and watch an exclusive live Remnant with Jonah, Steve Hayes, and Chris Stirewalt Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s very special Remnant, recorded before a live audience of Dispatch devotees in the hallowed halls of the American Enterprise Institute, Jonah is joined by Steve Hayes and Chris Stirewalt for an in-depth discussion of their time at Fox News. For the first time, they explore what it was like to work at Fox before 2015, how things changed when the Trump era began, and why they resonated with the network’s original approach. They also touch on Tucker Carlson’s firing and how we can improve cable news in this fraught political moment. But only the first half of their conversation is presented here. To hear the whole thing, you’ll need to become a member of the Dispatch community (sign up here!). Members will be able to access the entire discussion in both audio and video form on the Dispatch website, in the Dispatch Live feed. We’re grateful to all of you for your support, and we can’t wait to organize some similar live tapings in the future. Stay tuned…Show Notes:- Become a Dispatch member to get the full episode- Steve and Jonah: “Why We Are Leaving Fox News”- National Review’s “Against Trump” issue- Jonah: “Tucker’s Matrix”- The Wall Street Journal on Tucker’s foul language Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you feel like making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got, then take a break from all your worries with today’s Remnant, which features the overdue return of esteemed screenwriter and satirist Rob Long. Unrestrained by the ramblings of John Podhoretz, Rob and Jonah discuss the Hollywood writers’ strike, and what it means for the future of TV. They also touch on how AI could change creative professions, the qualities that define great shows, and whether Tucker Carlson’s departure from Fox is more gripping than any serialized drama. Oh, and tune in to hear Rob challenge Jonah’s polygamous approach to podcasting.Show Notes:-WATCH: Jonah Goldberg interviews Rob Long- GLoP, Jonah’s side podcast- Rob’s assorted scribblings- The Daily- Jonah on A Simple Plan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A week filled with enough stunningly incorrect predictions to conclusively prove he isn’t psychic has left Jonah in an especially pensive mood. Consequently, today’s Ruminant quickly transforms into a rundown of the greatest hits from a string of misses. Jonah kicks things off with a discussion of Tucker’s firing—has Fox really changed?—before moving into a mea culpa surrounding the debt ceiling bill that passed in the House. Afterward, he addresses a veritable feast of populist asinities on subjects ranging from the boneheaded response to a new Barbie to the cult of the Uniparty. Let the great beclowning commence.Show Notes:-Talking Fox on the Dispatch Podcast-Michael Brendan Dougherty and Noah Rothman on Megyn Kelley’s podcast-MTG makes the Randi Weingarten hearing about herself-Burke’s “Birds of Prey” speech-Rudyard Kipling’s If-MBD’s defense of Tucker Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Braving the sweltering heat and practical limitations of the AEI podcasting studio, Jack Butler, the original Smithers to Jonah’s Monty Burns, makes his return to the Remnant to discuss the state of conservatism among young people. He and Jonah journey deep into the psyche of the hyper-online right, answering just about every question you could possibly have about the alt-right’s favorite thinkers and the appeal of pre-modern LARPing. What do national conservatives and integralists really want? Do any of them actually believe what they’re saying? And most importantly, can you argue with a Buick?Show Notes:- Jack’s author page at National Review- Jack explains Bronze Age Pervert- Jack: “9/11: An Atrocity Misused”- Lighten up, Francis…- Michael Anton’s review of Bronze Age Mindset- Burke’s “Birds of Prey” Speech Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices