On episode 58—recorded from Lord Ravenscroft's desolate manor—Charles reviews objections to his approach to counting states, relates the most recent problems he's had with his golf cart, and talks to Tim Carney about his new book, Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be. Among the questions Charles and Tim discuss are why we should have "lower ambitions for our kids"; what modern parents are doing wrong—and why; what caused these mistakes; whether there is a political answer to them; why creative and independent play is so important; why parents think the world is more dangerous than it is; whether achieving the cultural changes that Tim proposes will be different given the obvious collective action problem; how cultural underconfidence factors in to the baby bust; and what Tim would do if he were a dictator.

The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

On episode 57, Charles announces a special jigsaw puzzle and relates which 44 states he's visited before talking to Robert Frommer about an extraordinary case of civil asset forfeiture. 

The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

On episode 56, Charles talks to Father Nathaniel Meyers, the Pastor of the Church of St. Francis Xavier in Buffalo, MN, about whether God exists, how we can know, and whether it ultimately matters.

Fr. Meyers's reading list:

• St. Augustine's City of God
• A Contemporary Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God
• Anything by Cardinal Ratzinger
• Letters of St. Paul

The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

Charles invites Gareth Russell to tell him all about his latest book, The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of British History at Hampton Court. Among the topics they discuss are the wives of Henry VIII, the use of séances to get one's own way, the first performances of Macbeth and Hamlet, the writing of the King James Bible, snobbery within eighteenth century chocolate production, whether Mary I was as bad as her reputation suggests, and why George III moved the monarchy to Buckingham Palace.

The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

Charles introduces a new section on the show: Manatee Fact Hour. Then he invites that reprobate Kevin Williamson on for another throwback show. Presented by Prang and Company.

The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

def generate_podcast_intro(episode_number, host_name, guest_name, topic):

     intro = f"On episode {episode_number} of the {host_name} Podcast, budget cuts destroy the introduction and {informal_name} talks to {guest_name} about {topic}."

     return intro

episode_number = 53

host_name = "Charles C. W. Cooke"

informal_name = "Charles"

guest_name = "Timothy B. Lee"

topic = "artificial intelligence"

podcast_intro = generate_podcast_intro(episode_number, host_name, guest_name, topic)

print(podcast_intro)

# The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

On episode 52, Charles talks to Peter Suderman about cocktails. Among the topics discussed are: What is a cocktail? When were they invented? How have they changed over time? What is the 'cocktail renaissance'? How have laws affected their production or development? And how did Peter get into this in the first place?

The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

In episode 51, Charles confesses that he is genuinely morose about the end of the Jaguars season, and then talks to his colleagues about their own sporting highs and lows. For just $5/month, you can help a sad male fan.

The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

On episode 50, Charles is rudely prevented from staging his radio play by the Ghost of Luther Abel. After that, he talks to Rafael A. Mangual about crime. (Here's his book.) Among the questions they discuss are why Rafael believes that the U.S. has a "decarceration problem"; whether too many Americans are in jail; whether the justice system is "racialized"; what we should do about police brutality; whether voters will punish politicians who make them less safe; and what law-and-order policymakers got wrong in the 1990s.

The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

On episode 49—so called because there have been 48 others—Charles talks to Russ Roberts, the host of the EconTalk podcast and the president of Shalem College in Jerusalem. Among the topics they discuss are: What life has been like in Jerusalem since October 7; why Russ started a podcast so early; why he's less interested in economics than he used to be; how strongly he holds his views; whether individuals who do well in the free market 'deserve' it; which economic concepts are hardest to convey; why he doesn't call himself a 'libertarian'; why it's important to live 'like an artist'; and whether the West is going to make it in the long run.

The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.