The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg

Only those who own ties imprinted with portraits of Burke and Hayek should tune in for today’s Ruminant, which sees Jonah’s philosophical rumination reach dangerous instability. After assessing the increasingly credible COVID-19 lab-leak theory (and remembering the time Trump suggested using “the heat and the light” to cure the virus), Jonah examines what the debate over woke corporations reveals about the state of the conservative movement. He then dives headfirst into the morass of intellectual history, to explore how conservatives really feel about democracy. It’s an episode Albert Jay Nock couldn’t resist. Show Notes: - Young Guns, the greatest book ever written - Jonah: “How the Media Botched the Lab-Leak Story” - Vindication for Mr. Geraghty - Memories of disinfectant - Matt Gaetz delivers a fresh dose of crazy - Phil Klein: “Woke Capitalism and its Threat to Fusionism” - Dullest headline contest - Jonah: “Pro-Business or Pro-Market” - If Jonah ran the zoo - John T. Flynn hated FDR before it was cool - Hillary defines progressivism - Rubio goes full unionization - David Marcus irritates Jonah - Joshua Tate: “Anit-Democratic Conservatism Isn’t New” - Liz Cheney backs voter ID - The Wednesday G-File Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a country split practically down the middle when it comes to politics, it’s a truism that the GOP needs to broaden its base if it wants to win elections. But it’s hard to make progress when the party’s leadership is struggling to make heads or tails of its own voters, let alone outsiders. Republicans could stand to take a few lessons from former Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, who was the House Majority Leader for the 112th Congress. Cantor tells The Dispatch’s Chris Stirewalt that he developed a necessary trait for a Republican coming to political consciousness in a deeply suburbanizing, ever-more purple Virginia: It was “a vision [to] add more people to the armies and champions of liberty,” and he makes the case that this should still be the priority for elected Republicans. Show Notes: -Richard Obenshain -Virginia’s population boom -Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders -Boehner’s “Dollar-for-dollar” plans -Eric Cantor talks about a refusal to tell the truth in our politics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Hangover begins with Richard Brookhiser (American historian and longtime editor at National Review) making a statement that is both clear and simple and yet seems like a revolutionary point to be made among Republicans: “Trump had his day, but it passed.” The question remains, why aren’t they acting like it? Furthermore, how did the Republican grassroots go from Tea Partiers tidying up after themselves on the National Mall to rioters breaking into the Capitol in the space of just over a decade? Brookhiser explains this populist overthrow within the tradition of political factionalism stretching all the way back to Madison. Show Notes: -Founder’s Son by Richard Brookhiser -I Love You, but I Hate Your Politics, by Jeanne Safer -The Tea Party was notoriously clean -Some U.S. cities are semi-permanently wrecked from 20th-century rioting -Democrats have become the party of the rich -The “anti-elitist” Democratic-Republican Party was made up of rich guys -A giant list of Israeli political parties -Brookhiser argues that liberty is the core of American politics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The GOP went from total control of the White House and Congress to being swept out of power in just four years—the shortest time span in almost 70 years. What the heck happened to the GOP? We can think of a few things. No matter where you land on policy issues, or what your personal feelings about the Republican Party are, it would be a great benefit to the GOP to have a post-election autopsy to understand what went wrong in the party’s last four punch-drunk years. But in their current hangover, Republicans don’t seem so capable of doing that kind of analysis. The Dispatch’s Chris Stirewalt will just have to do it for them. Show Notes: -Trump’s historic loss -The Arizona Bamboo-galoo -Weak parties, strong partisanship Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fan-favorite Jonah soundalike Chris Stirewalt is back for a Remnant so nerdtastic that even Joe Biden could mock its lack of coolness. With antisemitic attacks on the rise, the GOP resisting a January 6 commission, and primaries continuing to exist, there’s plenty for Dr. Stirewalt to kvetch about, and Jonah has enough Hayek references on hand to join him. Yet Chris has more to reveal than his disdain for the common good. Starting this week, he’ll be hosting a new podcast focused on the history of modern conservatism that will (briefly!) replace the Thursday Remnant. Have no fear, however, because the change comes with Jonah’s sacred blessing. Stick around until the end of the episode to hear all the boozy details. (it’s called The Hangover, and don’t worry: It will also have its own podcast feed.) Show Notes: - Chris’ page at The Dispatch - Last Thursday’s Remnant on Jonah’s Old Testament heritage - Michelle Goldberg: “Attacks on Jews Over Israel are a Gift to the Right” - Hivemind, by Sarah Rose Cavanagh - NYT: “Why Stacey Abrams is Still Saying She Won” - Chris and Sarah: “The Kenosha Effect” - Chris: “Republicans Should First Ask How, Not Who” - Bret Stephens on Krauthammering - Biden’s allergies and asthma - Alexander William Salter: “‘Common Good’ Conservatism’s Catholic Roots” - Jonah: “Why the GOP is Terrified of a Jan. 6 Commission” - McConnell’s commission stance influences GOP senators - Do 53 percent of Republicans still think Trump is the president? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This weekend’s Ruminant sees Jonah “feeling particularly Remnant-y,” which means he’s leaned out of the punditry and into the historical eggheadery. That includes the history of the term “Jewish,” (why don’t we just say that someone is “a Jew,” and if you do, why does it sound like a slur?) the history of The Remnant’s title, and more. But at the end of it all, one question remains: Is Jonah a superfluous man? Show notes: - Joe Scarborough was very angry - DarkSide is at least somewhat honest - Fredo and The Don play footsy - Witless ape calls Lou Dobbs - Jonah on Guy Benson’s show, about the January 6th commission - Jonah talks Marx and antisemitism - Wilhelm Marr was yucky (the technical term) - Did Hillary Clinton use a Jewish slur? Who even knows? - “Isaiah’s Job” by Albert Jay Nock, the origin of The Remnant - The “superfluous man” - Father Coughlin: anti-Semite, leftist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s Remnant combines features of both a weekend Ruminant and a “supplemental” episode, like the program’s recent incursion into social Darwinism. Jonah begins with further ruminations from his Wednesday “news”letter, replete with the observations that certain opponents of Israel veer into weirdly anti-Semitic territory when given the opportunity. Speaking of anti-Semites: Marx! After the rumination, Jonah reads from a great Commentary piece on the anti-capitalist tendencies of medieval antisemitism, and how such sentiments then transition into a more modern communistic ideology that nonetheless retained the suspicion of Jews, usury, and labor economics. Show notes: - The Wednesday “news”letter on antisemitism - Hamas’ Iron Dome: “Don’t Fire Rockets at Israel” - Baseball, fatherhood, and racial disparity - AOC seeks to block arms sales to Israel - “If only the Czar knew!” - Jonah in Commentary on Marx, Jews, and capital - Jerry Muller’s response to Jonah - Martin Luther’s “yikes”-inducing treatise - Game of Thrones and the labor theory of value - The “Middleman minority” - Marx’s vampire - “The Political Economy of the Dead” by Mark Neocleous - Again, “frazzledrip.” *sigh* - Jerry Muller’s The Mind and the Market Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jim Geraghty, National Review’s esteemed purveyor of punditry and “Morning Jolt” mastermind, joins Jonah today to become the Remnant’s first 11-time visitor (his very own Episode 11, if you will…). The pair explore the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic, including recent rumblings that the virus might have originated in a Wuhan lab after all, before examining the Republican Party post-Cheney and ongoing confusion over masks. Should bats be anally swabbed? Are beets toxic? And will the Irish and English ever get along? Listen closely to hear these vital questions answered. Show Notes: -Jim’s page at National Review -An eerily prescient pandemic piece from 2017 -Jim: “The Taboo on the COVID Lab-Leak Theory Lifts” -That time a fire at a Russian lab released smallpox -Jim: “The Wuhan Lab-Leak Hypothesis Goes Mainstream” -Last week’s first Remnant with Klon Kitchen -Last week’s second Remnant with Niall Ferguson -Jim: “No, Really, Why Is Joe Biden Wearing His Mask Around Other Vaccinated People?” -Bush declares “Mission Accomplished” -Biden’s private, ego-boosting meeting with historians -The National Review editors discuss Liz Cheney -Jim clarifies his Liz Cheney position Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Watch out, Howard Stern, because the FM radio Remnant format is back for another nerdtastic broadcast. Jonah is joined once again by Ryan, a covert NBC operative working to undermine The Dispatch from within, Guy, resident Anglophobe and Mark Steyn impersonator who will soon be releasing his own album of old standards, and Nick, Jonah’s long-suffering research assistant who might be America’s only involuntary Hoosier. The quartet explores pertinent topics of the moment, including Israel, mask mandates, all-American conspiracy theories, and the travails of Liz Cheney. But they also indulge in some less substantial discussion, and read some of their favorite listener reviews from recent months. How do you feel about the drive-time format? Enthusiastic, antipathetic, or indifferent? Whatever the case, let us know, because as this episode demonstrates, we pay attention to all of your feedback. Show Notes: - Liz Cheney clashes with Bret Baier - The National Review editors discuss Cheney - “The Paranoid Style in American Politics” - February’s Remnant with Joe Uscinski on conspiracy theories - Jonah on connecting police to slave patrols - The kraken sleeps - The great bamboo conspiracy - The Wednesday G-File - Guy’s Sinatra piece, shamelessly plugged - George P. Bush battles the English language - Today’s Morning Joe, to be viewed at your own risk - The week’s first Remnant with Klon Kitchen - The week’s second Remnant with Niall Ferguson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Historian Niall Ferguson returns to talk about his new book (with a glorious, darkly comic cover), Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe. As Sven from SNL might say, this episode has it all: monkey’s paw swag-bags, the phrase “Hunnish data,” and the frighteningly named “three-body problem.” Allow Niall to explain the human tendency to prepare for one disaster scenario while another hits us square in the jaw, the reason why “we may be forced by companies to do Zoom” even after the pandemic ends, and why book tours are still delirium-inducing even when done from the comfort of one’s home. Oh, and stick around for a particularly fantastic celebrity impression in the show’s final moments. Show notes: Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe Some incredible science fiction that has crossed over from China, The Three-Body Problem Neal Stephenson’s Snowcrash, which is life-changingly good Nick Bloom, “Why working from home will stick” Feynman and the Challenger disaster One of Niall’s previous books, The Great Degeneration “Crazy ideas in Thucydides’ time” Flagellant orders Keith Thomas’ Religion and the Decline of Magic The World Economic Forum’s interestingly-timed 2020 Global Risks Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices