Grant Starrett is a lawyer and politician in Tennessee. Kind of a model, if you’re a conservative Republican – a blue-chipper. He ran for Congress this year, against the Republican incumbent, and lost. Still in his twenties, he will probably run again, with a different result.

Jay is a friend of Starrett’s, and they talk about running for office: the fundraising, the handshaking, the issues, and so on. They also talk about conservatism. How did Starrett become one, by the way?

He was a precocious conservative – a reader of National Review and The Weekly Standard when he was in elementary school yet.

Starrett is a man who is “in the arena,” who has knocked on doors and put his name on the ballot. His views on politics – the practicalities of politics, as well as the philosophy – are highly interesting.

Thomas Sowell has revised and enlarged his important book Wealth, Poverty and Politics. With Jay, he talks about – well, wealth, poverty, and politics. How about Adam Smith and those boys? What about the role of geography? George Washington referred to America’s “blessed location.” What about the Korean Peninsula? The two halves of it are terribly different, aren’t they? Jay is like a guy in a... Source

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Thomas Sowell has revised and enlarged his important book Wealth, Poverty and Politics. With Jay, he talks about – well, wealth, poverty, and politics.

How about Adam Smith and those boys? What about the role of geography? George Washington referred to America’s “blessed location.” What about the Korean Peninsula? The two halves of it are terribly different, aren’t they?

Jay is like a guy in a cocktail lounge, making requests of the pianist. He asks Sowell to comment on trade. And on immigration. And on Indian reservations. And on China. And on environmentalism. And on education.

Also on Booker T. Washington, who has long been paired with W. E. B. Du Bois. Has the former gotten a fair shake? (No.)

Jay limns a Sowellian theme: People will flourish when the government gets out of their way and they get out of their own way. Of course, those are tall orders.

At any rate, a discussion with Tom Sowell is a joy and an education.

Jay has a little therapy session with Noah Rothman of Commentary magazine, one of his favorite analysts and writers. They talk about Trump and Hillary, of course – especially the former. And Russia, NATO, and Saddam. And the alt-Right. And the media. In other words, issues of the hour (and some past hours, and some future ones). After the conversation, Jay said, in so many words, “Thanks... Source

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Jay has a little therapy session with Noah Rothman of Commentary magazine, one of his favorite analysts and writers. They talk about Trump and Hillary, of course – especially the former. And Russia, NATO, and Saddam. And the alt-Right. And the media.

In other words, issues of the hour (and some past hours, and some future ones). After the conversation, Jay said, in so many words, “Thanks, I needed that.” You may like it too.

Jonah Goldberg is a leading conservative critic of Trump and Trumpism. Therefore, there is a big target on his back, and front, and everywhere else. And yet he stands and delivers. With Jay, he talks about Assange. Putin. The American Right. National Review. The National Enquirer. Hillary. The Trump Train. Anti-Semitism. The GOP future. Etc. He and Jay talk it all out, or most of it out... Source

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Jonah Goldberg is a leading conservative critic of Trump and Trumpism. Therefore, there is a big target on his back, and front, and everywhere else. And yet he stands and delivers.

With Jay, he talks about Assange. Putin. The American Right. National Review. The National Enquirer. Hillary. The Trump Train. Anti-Semitism. The GOP future. Etc. He and Jay talk it all out, or most of it out, or a great deal of it out.

At the end of the podcast, Jay says that Jonah’s stance against Trump, and for conservatism, has been a comfort to him, personally. Many others can sing that tune. Listen to Jonah sing on this lengthy, though fast-moving, heart-to-heart podcast.

At the end of the 1980s, Kanan Makiya wrote the book that taught everyone about Saddam Hussein’s Iraq: “ Republic of Fear.” His most recent book is a novel, also about Saddam: “The Rope” (as in the instrument of his death). With Jay, he talks about Iraq past, present, and future. He also talks about the greater Arab and Muslim world, and its relation to the West. Many Americans would like to wash... Source

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At the end of the 1980s, Kanan Makiya wrote the book that taught everyone about Saddam Hussein’s Iraq: “Republic of Fear.” His most recent book is a novel, also about Saddam: “The Rope” (as in the instrument of his death).

With Jay, he talks about Iraq past, present, and future. He also talks about the greater Arab and Muslim world, and its relation to the West. Many Americans would like to wash their hands of the Arab and Muslim world, understandably. But can they? Can we?

If you don’t know Professor Makiya – he teaches at Brandeis – this is an excellent opportunity. He is wise, worldly, humane, and brave.

That was the title of Timothy Crouse’s famed book of 1973: “ The Boys on the Bus.” It was about reporters covering the 1972 presidential campaign. This year, Robert Costa, of the Washington Post, is covering the presidential campaign. He is an old friend and colleague of Jay’s, and they discuss the reporting life: What’s it like to cover Hillary, Bernie, the Donald, and them? What can a person... Source

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