Noah Rothman returns ahead of Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin to give a foreign policy progress report of the president's second term. He gets into the fraught history of US-Russia negotiations, applauds the latest maneuvers in the Middle East, and applies a big-picture framing of the geopolitical status quo in response to the charge that collapse is imminent. 

Plus, Charlie, Steve, and James discuss the federalization of law enforcement in D.C. and the administration's announcement of potential weed reform. 

• Sound from this week's open: President Trump and House Minority Leader Jefferies on DC police “scheme.”

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In less than eighty years, the US has slipped from its baby boom heyday to a baby bust. Timothy Carney, author of Alientated America and Family Unfriendly, joins the Ricochet Podcast to discuss the implications and potential consequences of the nation's waning will to procreate.   

Steve, Charles, and James gab about the fuss over gerrymandering, appraise Trump's warning to DC leadership, and consider the predicament before Israel as they plan to occupy Gaza City.




- Sound from this week's opening: Jim Acosta interviews an AI version of deceased Parkland shooting victim.

Another workweek, another outrage, another Casual Friday. Lileks, Hayward, and Cooke remain (reasonably) laid back in the face of madman theory in action, tariff tranches, deadly predators, and pun-heavy advertisements.






- Sound from this week's open: Sydney Sweeny promoting American Apparel jeans and Donald Trump explains how to escape from alligators.

At 750 episodes, the Ricochet Podcast is ready to accept the responsibilities that come with joining the ranks of august institutions and fellow pillars of Western Civilization. To that end, our princely hosts, James, Charles, and Steven, convene with Ellen Fantini of The European Conservative for a digital roundtable on her magazine's unique efforts to restore the rites of the proud cultures on the other side of the Atlantic. 

Plus, the gents discuss the revisited Russiagate scandal, the Colbert affair, and Hunter Biden's...uh...transfixing effort to revive the family name.  

• Sound from this week's open: Tulsi Gabbard answers a question at Wednesday's White House press conference, and Stephen Colbert offers another of his "satirical witticisms."

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Hardly a week passes without an event happening that compels one to wonder what it means for the contemporary right. It just so happens that this week, Matt Continetti, author of the indispensable book about the right, is able to join us to discuss the latest intraparty quarrels over Jeffrey Epstein, the One Big Beautiful Bill, foreign wars, and the domestic cultural kind. 

Plus, John Yoo joins James and Steve in the co-host panel for a chat on the defunding of NPR and PBS, McMahon v. New York, migraine-inducing pop references, and the social uplift of fat-shaming.





- Sound clip from this week's open: President Trump in the Oval Office calling the Epstein Files "a hoax."



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James, Steve, and Charles reconvene after an Independence Day break to catch up over some thoughts on the One Big, Beautiful Bill, Ketanji Brown Jackson's professional disorientation, and the latest dead end on getting to the truth about the twisted villain Jeffrey Epstein. The trio also discusses the newest superhero would-be-blockbuster that's betting on subverting viewer expectations, and James tells us about his own recent crime-fighting adventure...





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Sound clip from this week's open: Trump dismisses question about that Epstein creep. 

Even bunker-busters dropped on a major enemy can't top the news cycle for a whole week these days, but James, Charlie and Steve get to that along with today's Supreme Court decision drop. They're joined by Manhattan Institute president Reihan Salam to discuss New York City voters' decision to let Zorhan Mamdani turn America's largest city into a hipster paradise.

The Iranian regime is receiving an education of sorts this week, and while we await President Trump's decision on the extent of America's role in busting up the nuclear site at Fordow, the Free Press's Eli Lake (and host of the Breaking History podcast) returns to educate us on why surgical involvement in Iran fits with the "America First" agenda that voters signed up for last November.

Plus, the reunited James, Charles, and Steve talk Skrmetti and Mamdani.





- Music from this week's open: The Israeli Air Force has a hit on Iranian State Television

It's been an incendiary week since Charlie and Steve last spoke, but they return to chat the matters over as they wait for the smoke to clear. They share approval of Israel's strike at Iran, discuss the legal and political questions surrounding the unrest in LA with Andy McCarthy, and wish the great Brian Wilson peace in the afterlife. 

• Sound from this week's open: Prime Minister Netanyahu announces operation Rising Lion to the media.

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It's just Steve and Charles this week, taking in another wild one. Don and Elon are on the outs — but is it permanent? The courts are busy, and a handful of great, unanimous decisions get their due cheer; Karine Jean-Pierre goes independent; Ukraine's drones remind us that modern warfare has changed; and Sam Tanenhaus published his long-awaited Buckley bio. Tune in for Hayward's review preview.




- Sound from this week's open: Elon Musk distances himself from the Trump Administration in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning