Editor’s note: Jonah Goldberg has vanished somewhere in the Swiss Alps. While search-and-rescue teams brave the mountains, we’re re-airing a Remnant classic with fan favorite Yuval Levin. This episode first aired March 26, 2025.

Not since Thomas Jefferson podcasting alone has a guest been so wise as Yuval Levin, who joins Jonah Goldberg to discuss the trend of Lebowskian communication mishaps, the danger of obsessive abstraction in Trumpian times, and the promise of connecting with the median voter.

Show Notes:
—The Atlantic: "Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans"
—Yuval on The Ezra Klein Show
—Yoni Appelbaum on The Remnant
—National Review: "Look on My Works, Ye Mighty, and Despair!"
—Yuval for The Free Press

The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File newsletters—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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While Jonah’s travels continue, guest host Kevin Williamson is joined by Dan Wang, author of Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future, for a discussion of China’s approach to engineering in the 21st century, what living in Shanghai during the pandemic was like, and the future of U.S.-China relations.

Show Notes:
—Dan Wang’s website
—Kevin for The Dispatch: “Understanding China’s Engineering Empire”

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Editor’s Note: Jonah is traveling this week, but he pre-recorded this episode with Claire Lehmann on September 8 to make sure you got your Remnant fix.

Claire Lehmann, founder of Quillette and contributing writer for The Dispatch, joins Jonah Goldberg to discuss the radicalization of young women, the new wave of wokeness championed by figures like Zohran Mamdani, and why Australia is a terrifying continent filled with creatures that want you dead.

Show Notes:
—Claire Lehmann for The Dispatch: "The Next Generation of Wokeness"
—Claire Lehmann for The Dispatch: "When Women Are Radicalized"

The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File newsletters—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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Jonah Goldberg dissects the inflammatory ‘war’ rhetoric coming from both the right and left following the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk, the rise of political violence in recent years, and the various forms of killing throughout human history.

But first, Jonah wants you to know he’s not an arsonist.

Show Notes:
—Jonah Goldberg for National Review: Debate Amongst Yourselves
—Charles Fain Lehmann on The Remnant
—Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Advisory Opinions

The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File newsletters—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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Jonah Goldberg sits down with Graeme Wood of The Atlantic to break down Iran’s recovery after its 12-day war with Israel, the chances of regime change, and what’s next for Israel in Gaza. 

Plus: Why honor among nations still matters.

Show Notes:
—The Neighbor From Hell
—For Iranians, War With Israel Still Looms Large

The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File newsletters—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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Chris Stirewalt joins Jonah Goldberg to unpack the Frasier-esque undertones of Donald Trump’s birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ capitulation on vaccine mandates, and the “mean girls” dynamic inside the Trump administration.

Show Notes:
—Seth Masket's Substack on the popularity of the presidency

The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File newsletters—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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Jonah Goldberg ruminates on the recent exchange between Ted Cruz and Tim Kaine on the celestial origins of rights, the idea of “heritage Americans,” and Donald Trump’s dying relationship with Modi.

Show Notes:
—Cass Sunstein on The Remnant
—Michael Warren reporting on the NatCons
—Friday's Dispatch Podcast
—Friday’s G-File

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Vice week continues with Charles Fain Lehman, Manhattan Institute fellow and Dispatch contributing writer, joining Jonah Goldberg for a discussion on drug addiction, legalized gambling, and porn.

Show Notes:
—Charles for The Dispatch: “The Sports Gambling Backlash Is Here”
—Charles for The Dispatch: “It’s Time to Prosecute Pornhub”

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Tim Carney, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Jonah Goldberg to unpack his latest investigative reporting on a local brothel, and they discuss the cronyism lurking behind tariffs as well as misconceptions common on both the left and the right about encouraging Americans to have more children.

Show Notes:
—Read Tim's book: Family Unfriendly: A Critical Examination of Overparenting and Its Consequences
—Read Tim's reporting on the Falls Church brothel

The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File newsletters—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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Jonah Goldberg addresses the ‘thoughts and prayers’ backlash following the tragic school shooting in Minneapolis, examines fractures within the Trump coalition, and continues the Dispatch Roundtable’s discussion of how bad Franklin D. Roosevelt was as a president.

Show Notes:
—In Defense of Thoughts and Prayers
—Michael Brendon Doughtery's article for National Review
—Friday's Dispatch Roundtable
—Daniel McCarthy's response to Jonah

The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File newsletters—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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