Elaina Plott is a national political reporter for the New York Times. Before that, she worked for National Review, Washingtonian magazine, and The Atlantic. She and Jay are old friends. Elaina grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and is currently working on a story about Jeff Sessions, the ex-senator from Alabama (who wants to be a senator again). Elaina went to Yale. With Jay, she talks about reading... Source

E286. Elaina Plott: A Young Alabamian at the New York Times

Jay Nordlinger is a senior editor of &lt;a href="http://nationalreview.com"&gt;&lt;em&gt;National Review&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; and the music critic of &lt;a href="http://www.newcriterion.com"&gt;&lt;em&gt;The New Criterion&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. His guests are from the worlds of politics and culture, talking about the most important issues of the day, and some pleasant trivialities as well.

News

Politics

Vernon L. Smith is one of the leading economists of our time. He was born in Wichita, on January 1, 1927. In 2002, he shared the Nobel Memorial Prize with Daniel Kahneman. Professor Smith has taught at many universities. He is a classical liberal, in the mold of a Smith of yore: Adam. With Jay, he talks about his life, his findings, and freedom—glorious, precious freedom.

Economist of Freedom

Robert Mundheim is a leading professor of law, who has also worked in the private sector and in government. (He worked on the Iran hostage crisis, in particular.) He started out in Germany in 1933. His wife, Guna Mundheim, is an artist, who started out in Riga in 1936. They have much to impart, in this wide-ranging conversation.

A Distinguished American Couple from Europe

Stephen Richer has been at the center of election controversies in Arizona. He is the recorder of Maricopa County. Donald Trump defamed him. So did Kari Lake. So have many others. Lake, he actually sued. She capitulated. Richer is a conservative Republican who has had a fascinating journey in our democracy—too fascinating for comfort. With Jay, he has a frank, engrossing conversation.

A Righteous, Patriotic Lightning Rod in Arizona

Peter Pomerantsev is an authority on propaganda—and counter-propaganda. He is a Soviet-born British writer and teacher. His latest book is “How to Win an Information War:  The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler.” That propagandist was Sefton Delmer, a fascinating personality. World War II offers parallels to our own day, of course. Pomerantsev is a master of a slippery and critical subject.

Propaganda: Its Art and Its Artists

Howard G. Buffett is, among other things, the head of the foundation that bears his name. He has been “many, many things in life,” as Jay says: “businessman, farmer, politician, lawman, conservationist, anti-poverty activist, author, philanthropist,” and more. To date, Buffett has donated more than $500 million to Ukraine. He and Jay discuss that, plus a range of other issues: law enforcement, drug policy, poverty alleviation, conservation—and growing up as Warren’s son. A superb conversationalist, Howard Buffett is.

E286. Elaina Plott: A Young Alabamian at the New York Times

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