The Remnant returns to the drive-time format to end the week, and the results are predictably unusual. Feast your ears on the eighth installment of this curio, in which Guy discusses the end of America’s “Remain in England” policy, Jonah ponders the appeal of cow brains and potted meat, and Ryan recounts his time as a Celtic warrior in the Irish mountains. Plenty of serious punditry is also included on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic, the appeal of right-wing grifters, and the rise of victimhood culture on college campuses. Tune in for a celebration of the legendary Tom Wolfe, but stick around to learn about some of the most depressing movies ever made.

Show Notes:

- George Costanza’s prison girlfriend

- Apu Nahasapeemapetilon’s citizenship test

- The Commentary podcast on COVID panic

- Tom Wolfe’s “The Great Relearning”

- Oakland reverses its plan to defund the police

- Thursday’s shameful solo Remnant

- Wednesday’s weird G-File of weirdness

- Tom Wolfe’s brilliant Brown speech

- Jonah’s first eggheady publication

- Guy’s history of Uncommon Knowledge, featuring plenty of Wolfian goodness

- The battle of Smith College

- Alex Jones, ace reporter

- Milo Minderbinder, statue salesman

- Jonah and Steve on their departure from Fox

- The New York Times report that broke the Fox story

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Isolated and sleep-deprived in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest, Jonah once again attempts to fuse the classic Ruminant format with that of a supplemental episode. With the possibility that Supreme Court could overturn Roe v. Wade, a sea change could soon occur in American politics. Using an extract from The Tyranny of Clichés (still available wherever books are sold!), Jonah explores some of the most challenging questions surrounding the jurisprudence of abortion. When does life truly begin? Why are taboos so important? And are dogmas, religious and otherwise, fundamental to the health of a civilized society?

Show Notes:

- The Morning Dispatch breaks down Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization

- Jonah’s previous ruminations on abortion

- The Remnant with Will Saletan

- The (eternally underrated) Tyranny of Clichés

- Barbara Boxer’s blunder

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After a Thanksgiving hiatus, Jonah is back and ready to break open the strategic rank punditry reserve. His guest today is Chris Stirewalt, who’s concerned with only the most important questions of the political moment: Why are Americans terrified of clowns? Is there a better parent than television? And was Pete Buttigieg raised in a refrigerator box? Serious discussion is also mixed in on what we can expect in 2024 and why Build Back Better is the “kitchen junk drawer” of policy proposals. Recent events surrounding a certain cable news network might even be mentioned.

Show Notes:

-Profit, the most important show you’ve never seen

-Build Back Better’s hypocritical tax cut

-Malapropisms

-Schoolhouse blues

-Chris on subsidizing local news

-Blind and toothless

-Woke Racism, by John McWhorter

-The Remnant with Josh Kraushaar

-The most interesting man in politics

-Why Jonah left Fox News

-Chris on digital depredations

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David Bahnsen, managing partner and chief investment officer at the Bahnsen Group, is back on The Remnant to explain why there really is no such thing as a free lunch, and to explore why some on the right now think we’d all be better off as serfs. With shameless book-plugging, David and Jonah also discuss the moral case for capitalism, the differences between cost-push and demand-pull inflation, and why the Japanification of the American economy won’t bode well for anyone. Zombie Reagan urges you to tune in!

Show Notes:

- David’s new book, There’s No Free Lunch

- David’s previous Remnant appearance

- David: “Sound Economics Enables Human Flourishing”

- The (still underrated) Tyranny of Clichés

- Robert Nisbet’s Prejudices

- Hayek’s “The Use of Knowledge in Society”

- Yuval Levin’s case for capitalism

- J.D. Vance’s serious nonsense

- Tucker Carlson debates Ben Shapiro on free markets

- The algebra of inflation

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Today’s Ruminant finds Jonah preparing for an epic journey to the Pacific Northwest, and he’d appreciate podcast recommendations for the long and lonely trip. With Thanksgiving approaching, he’s feeling grateful, but he’s also concerned about the conservative movement’s gradual shift away from the classical liberalism embedded in American culture. How do societies emerge? Will mankind ever learn not to immanentize the eschaton? And has American life officially become crazier than a late night Japanese game show? 

Show Notes:

- Wednesday’s regrettable G-File, released to the masses

- The Remnant with Will Saletan

- Nockian nerdery

- Nine Days and the making of an existential crisis

- Fukuyama’s The Origins of Political Order

- That time Bernie Sanders got kicked out of a commune

- I, Pencil

- The ultimate throwdown

- Paul Gosar gets censured

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In preparation for Thanksgiving, Jonah invites the latest gold jacket-wearer Will Saletan back on The Remnant to consider what, if anything, is so uniquely great about America. Their conversation quickly develops into a discussion of nationalism, universal principles, and whether America is simply an idea, with a generous amount of rank punditry mixed in for good measure. Is the COVID-19 pandemic over? What does the Virginia result mean for both parties? And can Biden’s presidency recover after a disastrous few months?

Show Notes:

- Will’s page at Slate

- Will’s previous Remnant appearance

- Paxlovid Americana

- Will on critical race theory and the Virginia result

- Jonah: “What Inflation and CRT Have in Common”

- Rich Lowry: “Don’t Rewrite Mark Twain”

- Paul Gosar gets censured

- Jonah: “Mugged By Fallacy”

- Seymour Martin Lipset on American exceptionalism

- Jonah’s fondness for Thanksgiving

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Remnant regular Matt Ridley is back to discuss the origins of COVID-19. Did the virus emerge from a lab? What would that mean for virological research? And how can we prepare ourselves for future pandemic? Broader scientific discussion is also mixed in on subjects ranging from climate change to mask-wearing. Lukewarm listeners are in for a treat.

Show Notes:

- Matt’s previous Remnant appearance

- Matt’s new book, Viral

- Matt previews the book in the Wall Street Journal

- Trapped in Disneyland

- The lab leak and the Lancet

- Gain of function research

- Matt the lukewarmer

- Jonah goes nuclear

- Jonah on getting past the pandemic

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On today’s Ruminant, Jonah is back in good health and high spirits, so much so that he can’t resist boasting about a meeting he enjoyed this week with former President Bush. He’s also concerned about the prospect of a second Trump presidency, intrigued by the debate over whether America was right to bomb Hiroshima, and fixated on George Will’s idea that history is shaped by “small, compact, idea-driven minorities.” Members of the ambivalent right will find much to appreciate.

Show Notes:

- The Remnant with George Will

- Jonah on elites and Pareto distribution

- The Remnant with Steve Teles

- Shor thing

- The Remnant with Jay Cost

- The Remnant with Brian Riedl

- Frankenstein revisited

- American prohibition, colorized

- Pew’s political typology test

- Nikole Hannah-Jones on Hiroshima

- Dan McLaughlin on the Meuse-Argonne Offensive

- Trump sours on DeSantis

- The Remnant with David Drucker

- Cognitive limitations

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Historian and AEI fellow Jay Cost is back on The Remnant to discuss his new biography of James Madison, which focuses on the political theory of Jonah’s favorite Founding Father. Jay and Jonah fuse rank punditry with historical nerdery to explore how a little Madisonian wisdom could go a long way toward solving our most pressing institutional challenges. What are the greatest misconceptions about Madison and the founding? How should the Declaration of Independence be understood? And could American politics use more smoke-filled rooms?

Show Notes:

-Jay’s page at AEI

-Jay’s previous Remnant appearance

-Jonah and Jay on AEI’s Viewpoint

-James Madison: America’s First Politician

-Jay previews the book in the Wall Street Journal

-Jay’s previous book, The Price of Greatness

-Federalist 10

-Polybius (the historian, not the mythical video game)

-Jefferson and Madison on Malthus

-Why Nations Fail

-Inventing Freedom, by Daniel Hannan

-The Remnant with Steve Teles

-Jonah: “That Shor Sounds Good”

-The Remnant with Mike Duncan

-The Webster-Hayne debate

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David French takes control of The Remnant once again while Jonah is off to the long prairies of Texas. His guest is Curtis Chang, a theologian at Duke Divinity School and former Evangelical pastor. Together, David and Curtis explore the nature of vaccine skepticism among Evangelicals and the compatibility of Christianity and classical liberalism. They also preview a new podcast focused on the challenges facing American Christianity, Good Faith, which will premiere on The Dispatch later this month. Despite Jonah’s absence, make sure you tune in with bingo cards at the ready!

Show Notes:

-Christians and the Vaccine

-Curtis: “Our Fellow Evangelicals Need to Get Vaccinated”

-David on Evangelical vaccine rejection

-Curtis and David’s previous vaccine discussion

-David Leonhardt on COVID’s partisan death toll

-Classical liberalism and Christianity

-David’s recent book, Divided We Fall

-The conflict between Evangelical elites

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