Episodes

Few men have earned their return ticket to The Remnant with more grace and power than economist, polymath, and notorious Kuyperian David Bahnsen. David and Jonah cover the two Trump economies, the strategic significance of oil, institutional damage on the right, the fight for the term “conservative,” Christian Zionism, Megyn Kelly and the groypers, and the economics of Fred Hirsch. Show Notes: —Jonah’s book: Liberal Fascism —Russell Moore on The Remnant — Brian Mattson in The Dispatch: “Is ‘Chr...

To outside observers, it may appear that Jonah Goldberg is living easy and keeping beach time. Be not deceived! Jonah is as full of intellectual vim as ever, jumping straight into energy markets and the strait of Hormuz, the risks of Trump bailing on the war in Iran, “Jewish” synagogues, the excesses of Epstein demagoguery, the stupidity of idealized class conflict, and—finally—an epic defense of Edmund Burke against his romantiphobic detractors. Show Notes: —Jonah’s visit to an oil rig —WSJ: “...

In desperate need of a Remnant guest, Jonah Goldberg puts on his trucker hat, drives out to the sleaziest rural bar you can imagine, and dunks Chris Stirewalt’s head into a horse trough. Listen to Jonah and Chris blow the smoke about irony, gallows humor, Iran, Trump’s fashion failures, ties in restaurants, voter ID, the Ken Paxton-John Cornyn race in Texas, Bill Clinton flirting with Nancy Mace, the stolen 2020 election, and Sen. Markwayne Mullin. Show Notes: —Introduction to Ben Sasse’s podca...

Historian and friend of The Remnant Allen Guelzo has taken a breather from battling for the soul of the West to argue with Jonah Goldberg about the American founding, Edmund Burke, and—horror of horrors—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Join Jonah and Dr. Guelzo as they explore Western civilization, barbarism, tradition, Marxism as romanticism, the Enlightenment, Locke, Lincoln, the great-man theory of history, and the fundamental cause of the Civil War. Show Notes: —The Golden Thread: A History ...

After one heck of a week, Jonah Goldberg has a lot to unpack. Jonah visits the advantages of having Congress on board for war, the case for attacking Iran sooner rather than later, Marco Rubio’s Israel gaffe, Pete Hegseth’s chest thumping, Kristi Noem’s entrance into the dust bin of history, Trump’s corrupt “industrial policy,” the Anthropic/Pentagon dustup, and primary elections in the Lone Star State. Note: If you’re in the Baton Rouge area, Jonah will be speaking at LSU on March 20 as part o...

With bombs falling, missiles flying, and the Ayatollah six feet under, there’s only one man Remnant listeners want on the show. Ken Pollack joins Jonah Goldberg to talk about the feasibility of regime change from the air; the precedents of Kosovo, Operation Desert Fox, and Libya; Iranian social cohesion; the risk of Balkanization; the threat Turkey poses; President Donald Trump’s fear of blowback; the administration’s reason for attacking now; and what happens from here. Show Notes: —Previous R...

With Captain Jonah Goldberg three sheets to the wind and capsized upon the Caribbean sands, inveterate scallywag Kevin Williamson has seized the helm of HMS Remnant and plotted a course for the far east. Kevin is joined in his journey by Andrew Collier, a Senior Fellow at Harvard's Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, wherein they discuss China’s bizarre real-estate situation, Xi Jinping’s economic mindset, Beijing's 2020 crackdown on its tech firms, and what it’s like doing busi...

Rum-brained and sunburned, Jonah Goldberg posts up poolside to ruminate on the Caribbean's cruise economy, Woodrow Wilson, how we think about history, Trump’s condo-salesman vanity, the ongoing war in Ukraine, J.D. Vance as the “fraud czar,” and the journalistic ethics of Polymarket. Show Notes: —Wednesday's G-File —AO pod wherein David French acknowledges his intellectual debt to Jonah —Remnant - The Great Cancellation of Woodrow Wilson —Jonah’s book Liberal Fascism — Dan McLaughlin - “The Hat...

In need of some good ol’ fashioned conservative inside baseball, Jonah Goldberg turns to the only man he can: Richard Reinsch. Jonah and Richard dive deep into GOP history, examining how the Nixon era serves as a prism through which we can view the MAGA moment, before debunking the recent “white-culture” phenomenon and arguing for a conservatism built on the Declaration of Independence’s immortal words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Shownotes: —Reinsc...

On today’s episode, Jonah spoils himself by conversing with historian Sophia Rosenfeld about the history of choice, changes in the meaning of freedom, the significance of the mundane, and the American Revolution’s impact on Europe. Shownotes: —The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life —Jerry Muller: The Mind and the Market: Capitalism in Western Thought —Moscow On The Hudson Coffee Coffee Coffee —FDR: Second Bill of Rights —Milton Friedman: Free to Choose: A Personal Statement —Irv...

Jonah Goldberg, about to escape the icy north for some sun-soaked R&R, is feeling boisterous. After reveling in his new favorite art form—Donald Trump’s “Truths” set to music—Jonah piles on Jesse Jackson, Iran, the Justice Department, Napoleon III, and Notre Dame, crescendoing with his critique of “white culture” and right-wing identity politics. Shownotes: —Jonah on CNN’s The Arena talking smack about sleazy democrats —Financial Times—“Why Iran is betting on war” —Nick Catoggio's Boiling Frogs...

The Remnant is proud to bestow its newly formed, not-really-endowed chair of lexicography upon Scrabble legend and word nerd Stefan Fatsis. For his first act as chair, Stefan joins Jonah Goldberg to talk about the role of professional lexicographers, whether dictionaries should be normative or descriptive, how dictionaries handle controversial words, and the threat that the digital age poses not only to the dictionary, but to knowledge itself. Show Notes: —Unabridged The Thrill of and Threat to...

The sun comes up, a new day dawns, and Cass Sunstein publishes another book. Today he joins Jonah Goldberg on The Remnant to discuss the six separations of power that undergird our republic, along with unitary executive theory, democracy, and electoral mandates. Shownotes: —Separation of Powers: How to Preserve Liberty in Troubled Times —Yuval Levin’s book: The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left —Jonah in National Review: “The Bluto-Burke Connection Reveale...

Fresh off of arguing with Steve Hayes about the different places one can keep a ferret, Jonah Goldberg ruminates on cameras in Congress, choosing between party and principle, Apple News’ First Amendment rights, Kristi Noem’s blanket, the Hayekianism of Burke, Yoram Hazony’s foolishness, and RFK Jr.’s crackpottery. Plus, you should preorder Sarah Isgur’s book. Shownotes: —Friday’s Dispatch Podcast —WSJ piece on Kristi Noem, Corey Lewandowski, and DHS —Cass Sunstein’s book on separation of power...

Hyped up on cold medicine and battling delirium, Jonah Goldberg sets off with Elliott Abrams on a globe-trotting adventure in foreign policy covering Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, India, and more. Along the way they discuss the nature of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, the consequences of American unpredictability, Americans' conceptions of human rights abroad, the utility of the term “neoconservative,” and the lies the U.N. was founded on. Show Notes: —Elliott Abrams profile —"Further Back to...

Back by popular demand, the great jurist-philosopher and godfather of American conservatism Robby George has returned to The Remnant to set Jonah Goldberg straight about truth, natural law, and the common good. Jonah and Robby talk about the Western tradition, the age of feelings, different kinds of rights, the death penalty, new paganism, and Robby’s desire to fight for the soul of conservatism. Shownotes: —Seeking Truth and Speaking Truth: Law and Morality in Our Cultural Moment —George Varou...

The Ruminant is vindicated!!! After years of Steve Hayes and The Fair Jessica griping about Jonah’s peculiar habit of ruminating alone in his basement, new stats have proved their skepticism decidedly misplaced. Tune in to learn all about it, along with Jonah’s thoughts on the terms ‘progressive’ and ‘fascist,’ the Melania movie, Trump’s state-capitalism, The Washington Post, and hypocrisy as a violation of the American creed. But first, some sad news… Shownotes: —Friday’s Dispatch Pod —Megan ...

Every once and a while, The Remnant rewards a faithful listener by bringing him on the show. Well, assuming he’s a national security expert. One such lucky listener is Eli Lake, who joins Jonah Goldberg to talk about the Shah of Iran, the Ayatollah, the current state of play in Islamic Republic, President Trump, and B.S. levels in our politics. Shownotes: —Eli’s piece: “Reza Pahlavi: Iran’s Reluctant Prince” —Eli’s Breaking History podcast —Remnant with Ken Pollack —Iranian Commander's Daughter...

Today on The Remnant, university-reform eggheads Ben and Jenna Storey join Neanderthal-in-remediation Jonah Goldberg to talk about civic education and recent efforts to rejuvenate American higher ed. Jonah and the Storeys cover university governance, the relationship between civics and the liberal arts, the significance of postliberalism, and the reasons for thinking seriously. Show Notes: —Center for the Future of the American University —Ben and Jenna Storey’s book - Why We Are Restless —Robe...

Jonah Goldberg, haggard and weary, returns from his cross-country blizzard travels grateful to sit once again in his misanthrope’s podcasting den and record a Ruminant. Jonah unpacks his recent conversation with Pete Buttigieg, exposes the number of unfortunate careers launched by John Podhoretz, takes down Yoram Hazony and the NatCons, and analyzes the fallout from the Alex Pretti shooting in Minneapolis. Shownotes: —Remnant on Tucker Carlson —Remnant with Matt Franck —Steve Hayes in The Dispa...

Jonah Goldberg was proudly perusing his long list of previous Remnant guests when he discovered a crucial omission! Where is Matt Franck??? In today’s episode, Jonah and Matt have a long overdue sit-down to chew over some important problems, including people’s motivations for going MAGA, unitary executive theory, the pardon power, the Senate’s role in preserving federalism, and what constitutional amendments they would support. Shownotes: —Matt Franck’s Public Discourse page —Remnant with Laura...

When Captain Jonah Goldberg goes missing during his icy search for the Northwest Passage, first mate Steve Hayes commandeers The HMS Remnant and steers her into troubled waters. Joined by The Dispatch's John McCormack, Steve invites aboard journalist Jason Zengerle to discuss his new book on the fascinating and unnerving career of Tucker Carlson. Together, the trio cover the creation of The Daily Caller, Tucker’s Trump-fueled comeback at Fox, and his ultimate embrace of Nick Fuentes and the extr...

As Jonah Goldberg gears up to brave the coming snowpocalypse, he pauses to consider the times, reflecting on President Donald Trump’s waste of political capital over Greenland, the long-term effects of college protest culture, the creepiness of antisemitic thinking, and—most importantly—his takes on Star Trek and America’s great sitcoms. Shownotes: —The most recent Dispatch Pod —Katie Pavlich interviews Trump for NewsNation —Last week’s G-File —NYT post-mortem on Biden immigration policy —“U. To...

Elliot Williams returns to The Remnant in triumph to discuss his new book, Five Bullets. Jonah Goldberg and Elliot brave technical difficulties to discuss the Bernie Goetz case, the blackout of ‘77, Rupert Murdoch, Trump’s political origins, and the echoes of ‘80s New York today. Shownotes: —Five Bullets: The Story of Bernie Goetz, New York's Explosive '80s, and the Subway Vigilante Trial That Divided the Nation —Most recent appearance of Elliot Williams on The Remnant The Remnant is a product...