Episodes

Let the waves of optimism wash over you as return-guests Ron Bailey (Reason) and Marian Tupy (Cato Institute) join forces as Jonah’s tour guides through the last several centuries of human progress. Listen to the first half to hear why there is actual good news about the human condition – even during a pandemic – and stick around in the second half for a satisfying helping of philosophical eggheadery on education, personal liberty, and the logic of nonviolent protest. Show Notes: -The Dispatch...

What happens when you make a pundit talk about Antifa, the Dune trailer, the Republic of Venice, and 60s Iron Man cartoons all in one go? Tune in to the weekend Ruminant to find out! Show Notes: -The DispatchStart a 30-day free trial of -Jonah’s Wednesday G-File, un-paywalled due to popular demand -RemnantThis week’s second , with Andy Ferguson -Basically what Jonah means by “A Shoshana point.” -Dune The little-known miniseries -Iron Man The bizarre theme song to the 60s cartoon -Neo-barbarism...

Andrew Ferguson’s follow-up appearance on The Remnant has been a long time coming, and you can tell; he and Jonah are filled with plenty of wisdom on the state of modern journalism, what the conservative media landscape used to be like, and how to not go completely hollow while keeping up with the news cycle. Show Notes: -30-day free trial of The Dispatch -The AtlanticAndy’s page at -Bob Dole: “I’m not bound by the platform. I probably agree with most everything in it, but I haven’t read it.” ...

Fresh off the heels of his new manifesto (not of the communist variety, though), Iain Murray, CEI senior fellow, joins Jonah on The Remnant to discuss The Socialist Temptation: what it is, who it hits hardest, why socialism isn’t really even an economic theory, and what to do about it. Show Notes: -The Socialist TemptationIain’s new book, -BBC’s generously donated show sets, to spruce up your Zoom background -Iain refuting Thomas Piketty -Josh Muravchik’s “Theories of the New Class” -“Socialis...

Who actually believes the media anymore? Can you really call yourself a liberal if you’re also a socialist? And what dog species does Zoë hate with a burning passion? It’s the weekend, and you know what that means: These questions and many more will be answered on this edition of Jonah’s Ruminant. Show Notes: -“Fiery, but mostly peaceful” -The New Guinea Singing Dog -The Socialist TemptationIain Murray’s -is What… Debbie Wasserman Schultz doing with her life nowadays? -NYT The always-lovely Op...

In the words of a famed conservative activist, “When they go low, we go high.” That’s what we’re doing today on The Remnant by getting out of the muck of American domestic politics and having a conversation with veteran guest Kenneth Pollack on the intricacies of the Israel-UAE deal instead. What does this mean for the region, and what are the historical corollaries (Hint: It might be on your Remnant Bingo card)? Show Notes: -Foreign PolicyKen’s piece for -Iran’s weapon facilities keep explodi...

A solo Jonah returns, surrounded by cold beverages, to finish up his thoughts from last time about the final day of the RNC. He then moves on to the tactics of political grandstanding, the autocephalous (uh, Google it) nature of the activist left, and the importance of identifying the correct microclimate of the Loch Ness Monster. Show Notes: -Yuval’s latest Remnant appearance -Tom Cotton, sending mixed messages about America First -Harassing diners in Adams Morgan -“Vegetable rights and peace...

While it may be the middle of the week, there’s no law against Jonah recording Ruminant-style (i.e. alone) – at least not yet. He discusses the RNC – and invents the fun tongue-twister, “Ceaușescu-esque,” while doing so – the “Biden is a vessel for radicals” theory, and the economically confused obsession with Jeff Bezos. Show Notes: -Kimberly Guilfoyle’s speech is pretty meme-y -Jonah’s spat with Erielle Davidson -Remnant veteran Jim Pethokoukis talking about why Jeff Bezos is unironically gr...

Jonah makes a triumphant return to the Remnant on this episode, where he finally has a stable enough connection to record after a saga of perambulations around America’s western half. Jonah and Nick - his fearful amanuensis - discuss Alaska, the awkwardness of America’s largest political party holding a Zoom convention, and the potential for two actual crazy people to become elected officials within the GOP. Show Notes: -Jonah’s glacial ice chunk -“The Green Room,” within Hell’s Canyon -Row Ad...

Remnant Hall-of-Famer Jim Geraghty joins the show with the continually-put-upon David French, who is heroically guest-hosting as Jonah continues to galavant around in the land of [REDACTED]. On COVID, Jim gets to reminisce a little about the early weeks of reporting on the pandemic while also updating us. The guys then move on to the election, the “convention” (if you can call it that), and Best Spanish Language Heist Show of 2020 - a category with shockingly little competition. Show Notes: -J...

Have no fear, dear listener: while Jonah is still radio silent as he swan-dives in slow-mo off of waterfalls (or something), The Remnant hasn’t forgotten you. David French returns to guest host this episode with return favorite Ramesh Ponnuru from National Review and AEI. There’s the requisite Kamala Harris talk, but also deeper questions about ideology and the “Burn It Down” debates. Show Notes: -Ramesh’s page at NR -Henry Olsen: Kamala changes nothing -Kevin Williamson summarizes the “Burn I...

Throwing recent rank punditry onto the back burner, Jonah speaks with his AEI colleague and UVA Professor Brad Wilcox, whose memory for statistics crashed over us in a refreshing wave of sheer competency. Tune in for a discussion of marriage, the concept of “family diversity,” and the three things Brad would do if he suddenly became Czar of America. Show Notes: -Brad’s page at AEI -Nicholas Christakis’ most recent book -Kevin E. Stuart on his baseball studies -Most NBA players grew up in a two...

Jonah stops to ruminate on the pathway between two menacingly-named locales—Snake River and Death Canyon (no Cliffs of Insanity, though). The topics today: why the mainstreaming of “white” identity is a genuinely awful idea, why being pro-Israel might cause you to get punched at synagogue, how progressives have adopted some of the worst parts of the European right, and much more. Show Notes: -How to punch a shark -Virginia Dare, and the disappearance of the Roanoke colonists -The Omni-American...

Today, we present the second part of Jonah’s conversation with Washington Post opinion columnist Megan McArdle. The punditry was just too rank, so their conversation became a two-episode-long saga. In addition to some COVID punditry, some women’s issues, and some libertoid-speak, they also reminisce on their shared old stomping ground, New York City, and how it has changed. Show Notes: -Susan Hennessey calling out people who say Kamala Harris is too ambitious -Megan on Stephanie Cutter for the...

In a world where people run amok on the internet screaming their heads off, Megan McArdle stands (or in this case, sits by a microphone) as a model for the cool and collected. After a pre-game round of dog talk, Megan and Jonah settle in for some candid words on bread, being nice, and feminism — commentary so well-informed, we’re posting Megan twice in one week. Show Notes: -The Big Tech Four vs. Congress -Maxine Waters asks a particularly garbled question to Bank of America -“The Great Relear...

Jonah’s had a long week, so grab an Irish whiskey (so long as it’s not Bushmills) and join him for some ruminating punditry on the tactical errors being made by conservative advocacy groups, “Cancel Rent” insanity, “Plandemic” insanity, and additional flavors of insanity. Also, Jameson, if you’re reading this, call us. Show Notes: -The glories of Jameson Caskmates -The most recent G-File -The (underrated) Tyranny of Cliches -Plandemic movie picking up speed -Our episode on conspiracy theories,...

A.B. Stoddard is a refreshing presence on today’s podcast as she and Jonah delve into starkly rank punditry and a discussion of the eerie intentionality behind Trump’s coronavirus response. In fact, A.B.’s wise words—on Fauci, on Trump’s fantasies, on panicked Texans—leave only a singular major question remaining: will Jonah end up rocking a man bun? Show Notes: -Steve’s piece on the canceling of Liz Cheney -Jonah’s recent appearance on the Chuck Toddcast -The Washington Post’s reporting of th...

A clean-shaven Michael Strain joins the perennially bearded Jonah to talk about the topic that always brings encouraging news: the economy. Lowering the national debt and the closing of movie theaters are two bullets in this chin-stroking chamber, complemented by banter about barbecue sauce and how to retrieve small children from the sewers. Show Notes: -Michael Strain’s new book, The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It) -Jonathan Chait’s book on Obama’s legacy (got awkward...

What do canned meats and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment have in common? Are there any real rebels in American culture? Why shouldn’t gerbils be allowed to eat beets? Join Jonah in the passenger seat of his car to have all of these pressing questions and more answered on this weekend’s Ruminant. Show Notes: -The latest G-File -The most horrifying term: Forcemeat -The test Trump took, in case you want to test yourself -Silliness in our law enforcement conversations -The longstanding Marxist f...

The punditry is strong today as Jonah and Luke Thompson meet at the intersection of conservatism and the Constitution. Stopping briefly for some quick jabs at Rep. Mike Gallagher and some comments that will definitely be taken out of context, we hear deep insights about big-kid words like “impoundment” and “rescission.” Show Notes: -Constitutionally Speaking, a podcast with Luke and Jay Cost -The Wisdom of Conservatism by Peter Witonski -Anti-impoundment act -Luke’s article in the Spectator ab...

Rank punditry and eggheadery dominate the docket today as Matt Continetti joins Jonah on a mournfully swampy day in D.C. From Biden huddling in his basement to William F. Buckley Jr. naming his boat “Splendid Isolation,” the guys go backward from politics today to politics yesterday in a convention of nerd-dom, spiced up by mentions of Klingon weddings and Dungeons and Dragons. Show Notes: -Andy Kessler’s WSJ piece on June 1 being Trump’s official downfall date -Nate Cohn on a tiny but influen...

A rental-car bound Jonah invites his research assistant Nick Pompella onto the show from the reclusive Zoom cave in which Nick usually resides — or in this case, the dankness of Jonah’s basement as Nick housesits. Topping the docket today is a discussion of “whiteness,” along with verbal distress over how to pronounce “Parler” and the chilling acknowledgment that the government is the only entity that can legally kill you. Show Notes: -Barton Fink -Page about “Whiteness” from the NMAAHC -Pew d...

With Jonah traipsing about somewhere in the Alaskan wilderness, David French takes over the hosting duties to welcome David Bahnsen back on. David and David talk COVID, policy, and faith. After a jab at Jonah — will he really write a book on bigfoot erotica? — the Davids discuss team good vs. team lesser evil, noting that while Scripture anticipated the Assyrians, it didn’t predict Hillary Clinton. All hail King Dave! Show Notes: -Jonah, off the grid in Alaska -Bahnsen’s daily missal -Tennesse...

On this episode, Jonah ruminates from his igloo (we hope - wouldn’t that be cool?) on some Alaska stories, the American founding, relativism in language, and why good manners are more important (and more complicated) than you might think. Show Notes: -Alaskans plug in their cars -The mighty Gavora Mall -The members-only Wednesday “news”letter -Remnant with John McWhorter -Tony Montana … asserts his dominance? … by eating the lemon in the washing bowl -Orwell’s Orphans -Jonah’s dueling essay wi...