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Kimberley Motley is an American attorney and human-rights activist. She has been working in Afghanistan. She has been of particular help to girls and women. Last week, she traveled to Cuba, where she hoped to represent Danilo Maldonado.

Maldonado is a dissident and street artist nicknamed "El Sexto" (which means, "The Sixth"). Jay wrote about him here. He has been in and out of prison: and he is in prison again, for not saying and doing the right things after the death of Fidel Castro.

Motley herself was detained by the Cuban regime, for hours. She is now in the United States. In this "Q&A," Jay talks to her about what she experienced. 

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Jay calls Larry Diamond "Mr. Democracy." Professor Diamond has devoted his career to the study and advocacy of democracy — a very important thing to study and advocate. "The worst system of government except for all others."

In this "Q&A," Jay covers some basic questions with his guest: Why is democracy so important? The United States is a republic, not a democracy, right? 

They also talk about Iraq, where people dipped their fingers purple, in those heady, hopeful days. What happened? Africa, too, comes under discussion. On this continent, there are more democratic successes than we may realize.

With Jay, Professor Diamond spends some time on Russia: which is challenging democracies in Europe and elsewhere.

At the end of the podcast, Jay mentions something that a historian mentioned to him: Things can go backward. Fascism, racism, other illiberalism: They can resurface and rise. "Tomorrow belongs to me," sings a young Nazi in "Cabaret."

This is an interesting discussion.

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As regular listeners may know, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the veteran congresswoman from Miami, is one of Jay's favorite politicians: favorite politicians, favorite Americans, favorite people. She is a champion of freedom the world over, not just in her native Cuba.

But it is about Cuba that Jay talks with her in this "Q&A." Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen fled with her family when she was eight. Fidel Castro has at last died - at 90, in bed. He did so much damage. With Jay, Ileana talks about the past, the present, and the future.

Her parents did not live to see this day, but their daughter is sure thinking about them.

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Fazil Say is a famous pianist, and a composer as well. He is particularly associated with the music of Mozart. Years ago, he took Mozart's Rondo alla turca and made a jazzy arrangement of it - an arrangement that has gone all around the world, prized by concert pianists and amateurs alike. Say himself is a Turk. He is the most famous Turkish musician, certainly in the classical world. Yet this has not shielded him from harassment by the regime in Ankara.

On Friday, Say was in New York, preparing to play in a concert at Carnegie Hall: a concert featuring a Mozart concerto and one of his own. Jay Nordlinger talked to him about this, and about a variety of musical issues. You will enjoy getting to know Say's mind, and, even more, his playing: Start with his jazzed-up Ronda alla turca. 

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Jay wanted to turn to Lincoln Diaz-Balart, to get his thoughts on the death of Fidel Castro. Diaz-Balart is a veteran Miami lawyer and politician. He served in Congress for nearly 20 years. His family has been prominent in politics, both in pre-Castro Cuba and in the United States. His father, Rafael, was a friend of Castro’s; his aunt, Rafael’s sister, married Castro. But soon, Rafael and Castro had a sharp parting of the ways.

Lincoln Diaz-Balart’s reflections come from deep experience and knowledge. You will want to cock an ear to them.

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