The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg

In an effort to explain the current state of the economy as well as the political ramifications of some parts of the Biden agenda coming down the pipeline, Jonah invited Michael Strain, his colleague at the American Enterprise Institute, for a return appearance. Strain explains complicated issues without confusing the plebeians among us who can’t look at numbers for very long before developing a headache. Speaking of headaches, near the end of the podcast the guys get into a relitigation of the ending of Lost, in addition to a brief discussion of WandaVision, Peaky Blinders, and Deep Impact, of all things. Show Notes: -Michael R. Strain, American Enterprise Institute -Michael’s latest book, The American Dream is Not Dead (But Populism Could Kill It) -Larry Summers: “The Biden stimulus is admirably ambitious. But it brings some big risks, too” -Michael in National Review: “When Will the Pandemic End?” -Consumers to unleash trillions of dollars in excess savings when pandemic ends -Paul Volcker’s war on inflation -Michael in Bloomberg Opinion: “How to Make a (Modest) Minimum Wage Hike Work” -Josh Hawley’s minimum wage proposal -Jonah’s love of public sector unions -Lost as a metaphor for lack of payoff Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonah joins us on a feature-length Relaxed Fit™ episode of the Ruminant in which he discusses his innate wish to continue speaking as a conservative without the sacrifice of genuinely-held principles. An important trait for a moment where that simply doesn’t happen often. In the first half, Jonah also addresses the “autoimmune problem” (both literal and figurative) of American youth as they continuously fail to prove themselves in tests of emotional fragility, and he makes a shocking claim about the Jaws sequels that must only be heard to be believed. Show Notes: -Lady Gaga’s French bulldogs, Koji and Gustav, stolen -The Friday G-File -Kevin Williamson and Jonah talk “doubling down on yeehaw” -BIG IF TRUE: Jaws 2 is good??? -Michael Powell on the insanity at Smith College -Oberlin student mistakes person in blanket for Klansman -A landmine-filled G-File on language -The intentionally meandering G-File from two Fridays ago - “The Murphy Brown thing” -What might a “red meat hat” even look like? -Bill Kristol’s “trial balloon” -“The Irony of Bill Kristol” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fellow Dispatcher Declan Garvey joins Jonah on today’s program, wherein they discuss the parallels between the GOP’s current identity crisis and the last time that Americans witnessed a similar party realignment (the Whigs vs. Jacksonian Democrats). The guys discuss the prospects for a theoretically ascendant third party - “The people I spoke to said, ‘Yeah, I’d be happy to belong to a party that addressed my concerns even if I knew it might lose in the short term,’” says Declan - as well as early 2024 contenders and the validity of the “Red Dog Democrat” theory. Show Notes: -Declan’s page at The Dispatch -“Hey, egghead, sing ‘Fair Harvard!’” -Declan: “Is it Time for the Republican Party to Split Apart?” -Steve Scalise won’t say the election wasn’t stolen -Trump’s attack on Mitch McConnell -Republican loyalty to Trump -Mitt Romney says Trump is already a 2024 frontrunner -Maine and Alaska should watch out for unintended consequences -Bill Kristol: “What About Joe?” -Tim Miller: “The Trade: Meet the New Red Dog Democrats” -Mitt Romney and Tom Cotton propose a minimum wage hike Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we confirm that Dispatch contributing editor Chris Stirewalt has indeed surpassed our gold jacket threshold while engaging in the rankest of punditry. Chris and Jonah discuss how Biden’s “poison pills” (Neera Tanden’s potential confirmation, a dogmatic insistence on a $15 minimum wage policy, et al) are quickly becoming … well, pills, simply put. While the administration continues to add progressive boxes to their checklist, Israel continues to speed ahead with vaccinations and, in the domestic realm, the lingering shadow of Trump still presents obstacles for the GOP. As a bonus, this episode should hopefully make up for the lack of a Ruminant last weekend, as the vocal similarities between Chris and Jonah make the whole thing sound like a gigantic monologue. Show Notes: -Chris’ page at The Dispatch -The WKRP in Cincinnati theme -The status of the U.S. vaccination rollout -Israel’s vaccination strategy -Fauci on normality and masking into 2022 -Jonah argued Biden should run a “return to normalcy” campaign before anyone else -Brad Pascale: Trump would have won with a different approach to COVID -Obama calling Bush “unpatriotic” for adding to the debt -“Out, out, brief candle!” -NYT: Biden should appoint a “reality czar” -Will Chamberlain: “Platform Access is a Civil Right” -Jonah’s college newspaper Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonah welcomes Kevin Williamson to discuss their shared status as Americans trapped within the final layer of Dante’s Hell (aka, Texas in the midst of a large-scale winter weather disaster). From the corporatism on display to the “stunning lack of entrepreneurialism” in response to the issues the state is currently facing, to every issue in between - such as the pointless populism being proffered as an explanation for Texas’ woes - this situation is proving to be a microcosm of everything that is dysfunctional in American politics. Who better to walk us through the sociopolitical ramifications of this situation, than two men who are known for their unadulterated joviality? Show Notes: -Kevin’s page at National Review -Kevin’s new book, still in the running for “Greatest Subtitle Ever” - Big White Ghetto: Dead Broke, Stone-Cold Stupid, and High on Rage in the Dank Woolly Wilds of the “Real America” -Baksheesh -Jonah v. David on the zombie apocalypse -NYT: “No, Wind Turbines Aren’t the Main Cause of the Texas Blackouts” -“Solar power, when will people learn?” -Rick Perry doubles down on yee-haw -The FairTax movement -Kevin on Satan’s balls -Alex Jones’ lawyers admit he’s an actor -Texas GOP chair Allen West suggests secession -“They’re always eating candy in Shelbyville.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Jonah brings The Remnant to you from the ice-wracked void of Austin, Texas. His guest is Stephanie Slade, the managing editor of Reason magazine. Stephanie and Jonah provide some helpful explanations of what the oldest coalition of modern conservatism (i.e. “fusionism”) really is, who its members were, and what its political motivations were. Then, in an instance of “violent agreement,” our two intrepid intellectual explorers refute the idea that this fusionist project is a “dead consensus” or that it necessarily precludes membership from libertarians. Interestingly, Jonah thinks that the tensions within fusionism are strong enough that “it doesn’t make sense as a purely philosophical project,” but Stephanie is confident that American political history indicates that the tension between virtue and freedom is resolved within the fusion of these different branches of conservatism. Show Notes: -Stephanie Slade’s Reason archive -Stephanie: “Is There a Future for Fusionism?” -M. Stanton Evans: The Theme is Freedom -Jonah: “Fusionism Today” -Ramesh Ponnuru: “Fusionists and Fissionists” -Murray Rothbard: “Frank S. Meyer: The Fusionist as Libertarian” -Frank Meyer v. L. Brent Bozell Jr. -Daniel E. Burns: “Liberal Practice v. Liberal Theory” -Donald Devine’s The Enduring Tension: Capitalism and the Moral Order -William James’ “blooming, buzzing confusion” -Post-liberal conservatives Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this weekend’s Ruminant, Jonah figures that it is his duty to do what he can to clean the gigantic metaphorical Augean Stable that is Washington D.C. as recompense for missing a G-File. Thus, this is an episode filled with only the rankest of punditry: Grifters abound, both within Congress and in the fundraising and activism apparatchiks of both the right and the left. Not only is it the case that the grift was getting more intense on its own, but impeachment has just made it all the more self-aggrandizing. Listen as Jonah takes aim at the nepotistic relationship between conservative boosters and lobbyists, The Lincoln Project, and Congress itself for consistently living down to Americans’ expectations. Show Notes: -Frigid Austin -The inklings of an Ivanka Trump campaign in Florida against Rubio -Demosclerosis by Jonathan Rauch -Lincoln Project awfulness -The online Roget’s Thesaurus… just in case you are curious -Matt Schlapp and pardon foolishness Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This podcast is for those of us who feel like the state of our political parties makes us want a drink, or at least some reliable recommendations about what we should be drinking. Jonah is joined by AEI colleague Kevin Kosar, who writes on how Congress is failing to do its job - not simply because of populism and polarization, but also because “its smaller numbers of staffers mean that Congress is literally shrinking while the institution is being asked to do more than ever.” They discuss how to fix the backwardness of this system, before moving on to a discussion of Kevin’s true passion (proven by his pedigree as one of the earliest bloggers on the subject): whiskey and other fine spirits. Show Notes: -Kevin Kosar - American Enterprise Institute -Moving Congress into the 21st Century -Congress Overwhelmed -Show horses vs work horses -Kevin on the true use of earmarks -A Time to Build, by Yuval Levin -Jonah’s love of the term “co-equal” -What’s a pager? -Sen. Lamar Alexander’s farewell speech -Bill Barr’s civilized hearing -Floor Charts, doing important work -Whiskey: A Global History -Alcoholreviews.com, continually operating since 1998 -Connemara peated Irish Whiskey -White whiskey, or, uhm, moonshine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Astute listeners may remember Europe’s immigration crisis circa 2015, in which more than 1 million people, many of them refugees, made their way to the continent. Today, Jonah is joined by one of the most informed public intellectuals on the matter, Ayaan Hirsi Ali. In addition to her first-hand account of leaving Somalia for the West, she also comes loded with information from her new book, Prey, which recounts many of the ways in which affected European nations have either struggled or outright failed to assimilate this largely Muslim population. Ayaan admires Jonah’s “chivalry” on these issues, but makes it clear that one of the direct effects of this failure is a continual erosion of women’s rights in countries that are otherwise considered beacons of social progress. Show Notes: -Ayaan Hirsi Ali - The Hoover Institution -The Ayaan Hirsi Ali Podcast -Prey, Ayaan’s new book -Infidel, Ayaan’s first book -China’s Uighur atrocities -Modernization of Turkey under Kemal Ataturk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Go down the rabbit hole of conservative eggheadiness on this weekend’s Ruminant, where Jonah discusses both the validity of “Trumpism” as an ideological construct as well as how that plays with the idea of conservatism as the “negation of an ideology.” Jonah also explains how we are seeing the ratcheting effect of increased government authority take place in real time, why Chris Stirewalt is the greatest, why right wing populism is the worst, and much more. Show Notes: -The Dispatch Podcast with Chris Stirewalt and Jonah -“Expressio Unius Exclusio Alterius” -Crisis and Leviathan by Robert Higgs -Milton Friedman and income tax withholding -This Friday’s G-File -Giuliani: My legacy? F*** it! -Area man loses mind on live television -Kirk: “Conservatism is the negation of ideology” -Jordan Peterson: Reject ideology -Murphy Brown and Dan Quayle -Erewhon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices