For conservatives, is the Supreme Court reason enough to vote for Donald Trump? Also, if you’re a conservative and you’re voting for neither Trump nor Hillary, are you really voting for Hillary, as so many allege?

Jay explores these questions with a brilliant colleague of his from National Review, Ian Tuttle. They also talk about his alma mater: St. John’s College. There, young people study the best that has been thought and written. Are they better off for it? Is their society?

Well, those are easy ones. Ian Tuttle is an exceptional thinker, and talker, as you will hear.

The Baltics are little, beautiful countries a long way from the United States – and very close to Russia. They were once ruled – captured and brutalized – by the Kremlin. Today, they are members of NATO. What does this mean? Does it matter? The issue has come up in the current presidential race. And Andrew Stuttaford is an excellent man to address it. He talks with Jay about matters historical and... Source

Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

The Baltics are little, beautiful countries a long way from the United States – and very close to Russia. They were once ruled – captured and brutalized – by the Kremlin. Today, they are members of NATO.

What does this mean? Does it matter? The issue has come up in the current presidential race. And Andrew Stuttaford is an excellent man to address it. He talks with Jay about matters historical and burningly current. They are related.

What follows is a complete list of those who know more about American politics than Michael Barone: . Okay Barone is Jay’s guest, and they talk about conventions, primaries, parties, presidents, and the Fate of America. The guru is in: Michael Barone is in, expounding on the subject he has devoted his life to. Source

Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

What follows is a complete list of those who know more about American politics than Michael Barone: . Okay.

Barone is Jay’s guest, and they talk about conventions, primaries, parties, presidents, and the Fate of America. The guru is in: Michael Barone is in, expounding on the subject he has devoted his life to.

As Jay says at the outset of this episode, there is a lot to follow in the world: ISIS, the American presidential election, and so on. But Venezuela is not to be ignored: It is a fascinating, appalling story. A state is failing before our eyes. And it was once a prosperous, pleasant state. Now hunger, robbery, and murder are routine life. The correspondent of the Associated Press in Venezuela is... Source

Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

As Jay says at the outset of this episode, there is a lot to follow in the world: ISIS, the American presidential election, and so on. But Venezuela is not to be ignored: It is a fascinating, appalling story. A state is failing before our eyes. And it was once a prosperous, pleasant state. Now hunger, robbery, and murder are routine life.

The correspondent of the Associated Press in Venezuela is Hannah Dreier. She is Jay’s guest on this “Q&A.” She has seen a great deal and knows a great deal. She reports the eye-popping facts.

Here is just one: It’s mango season now. So hungry people are climbing trees, to get them. Dreier knows of at least twelve deaths. People who have died from this tree-climbing and mango-seeking.

For an especially arresting dispatch from Dreier, go here. (Jay reads part of it at the beginning of the show.)

At the end of the podcast, Jay says that plenty of us have opinions – but fewer of us have facts. Hannah Dreier is a valuable resource in this important, ghastly story.

Roger Scruton, the English philosopher, political writer, novelist, composer, etc., has just been knighted. So he is Sir Roger (as he long should have been). Jay points out that, within the past year, he has published four books, at least. The most recent is about Wagner’s “Ring” cycle: “The Ring of Truth.” He and Jay end this “Q&A” with a discussion of Wagner. But before that, there is much more... Source

Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Roger Scruton, the English philosopher, political writer, novelist, composer, etc., has just been knighted. So he is Sir Roger (as he long should have been). Jay points out that, within the past year, he has published four books, at least. The most recent is about Wagner’s “Ring” cycle: “The Ring of Truth.”

He and Jay end this “Q&A” with a discussion of Wagner. But before that, there is much more: Brexit; Trump ’n’ Hillary; Islam and Europe; trade and protection; nationalism and patriotism . . .

If you’d like to spend a half-hour with one of the wisest and loveliest men around, Sir Roger is your cup of tea.

The Great Courses Plus is offering our listeners a chance to stream hundreds of their courses, including The Conservative Tradition – a $320 value- for FREE – when you go to TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/QA

Nominally, this is “Q&A,” but it’s really a music program: a program of music in celebration of America and its independence day. Jay plays an assorted concert: You have some Gottschalk, some Dvorak, some Joplin, some Copland, some Ravel. And you have a couple of star-spangled singers at the end. A musical tribute to America. The complete track list for this show is here. Source

Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe