Happy Inauguration Day! To celebrate, Peter and Steve sit down with speechwriter and presidential advisor Ken Khachigian to discuss his time working with Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, as laid out in his newly published memoir, Behind Closed Doors. Going through his start in politics by landing a job under Pat Buchanan in the '68 campaign to drafting Reagan's first inaugural and serving as an advisor during key moments in the '80s, Ken shares a wealth of knowledge on the finer points of good statecraft. The guys also spend some time on the disaster in their beloved state of California and the prospects for national renewal under the new Trump administration.

The National Endowment for the Arts has been with us for sixty years, coinciding conspicuously with the ascendancy of nihilistic works that pollute our public spaces. Justin Shubow aims to change all of that. He's a top candidate to chair the NEA under the second Trump administration and has a particular interest in the proper design of federal architecture. What have columns and Roman arches to do with the re-moralization of the free citizen? Listen in to find out. 

Plus, James, Steve and Charlie adjust to Biden's just-declared 28th amendment; they work their way through the confirmation hearing highlights; and lose themselves in a David Lynch-like daydream.






- Sound clips from this week's open: David Lynch on movies (KGSM MediaCache) and “Mr. Baseball” on family (MLB Media)

It's finally here: 2025! And your favorite podcast is finally back in order to maintain some continuity in these tempestuous times. James, Charles and Steve cover raging fires in Los Angeles and the jaw-dropping incompetence of the Golden State's leadership. On a cheerier note, they enjoy the changes taking place in Canada and at Meta, Inc.

Plus, Dan MacLaughlin joins today to discuss Jimmy Carter's legacy, and, given Dan's title as the baseball crank, the gang has at a few questions on the great American game. 

New times, end times, and national pastimes. What more can you ask for?





- Soundbite from the open: Embarrassing exchange between anchors and reporter at KTTV Fox 11 in Los Angeles

For the last podcast of the year, Steve, Charles and Rob pull out all the stops to grab the attention of podcast listeners worldwide: some theology here, a little healthcare debate there, a few notes on Congress' gargantuan Christmas list. Plus, there's the WSJ write-up on the efforts to conceal Joe Biden's decline, Kirsten Gillibrand's ERA absurdity, and some insights from Rob on how show-biz will be forced to come to its senses.





Sound clip from today's open: Nancy Mace sifts through the CR bill.

In times such as these, the challenge is packing all the news into a single episode. James, Steve and Charles do their best to move with lightning speed through Biden's shower of clemency, UFOs in New Jersey, then across the Hudson River for the hard left's justifications for last week's coldblooded murder in Manhattan side-by-side with their fury over Daniel Penny's acquittal. All of this before sitting down with Noah Rothman to get an early glimpse at the change of management in Damascus.

... And did we mention Charlie Cooke's restaurant explosion experience?





- Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R - NJ02) tells Fox News that the drones over his state belong to Iran

Ricochet presents a special Yuletide episode featuring Joseph Bottum, author of Frankincense, Gold, and Myrrh: A Christmas Chrestomathy. In under an hour, he and Peter cover crammed cities and the rural expanse, crime and charity, the written word and the reader's mind—all with thoughts on the Christmas spirit in a contemporary setting.

John Yoo returns to discuss a lotta legal stuff this week. He talks presidential pardons, Daniel Penny, United States v. Skrmetti and the murder of UnitedHealth's CEO in Midtown Manhattan. 

Plus, after an extra-long Thanksgiving season hiatus, the boys are back with much to be grateful for. 




Sound from today's open: Chris Wallace predicted Hunter pardon on June 10; Ted Cruz reacts on NewsMax and Joe says Goodbye, Angola

About what President Trump is planning to put in his cabinet... Lileks, Cooke and Hayward have opinions on the digestibility of some of the picks. They're joined by Andy McCarthy to discuss the stunning nomination of Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, and the gang gets into what Trump will need for his cleanup on aisle DC.  





- Soundbite from this week's open: Rep. Max Miller (R - OH 7) ABCNews YouTube Channel

Who better to talk to on our post-election victory lap episode than the man who saw it coming? Henry Olsen joins after proving correct in his daring prediction in the New York Post of a Trump-led red wave. We get into how he called it and his detailed post-op report. We also give him the chance to take off his analyst cap to do a little rooting for the team. And, of course, we get into his 2017 book, The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism, where he posited that the unlikely figure of Donald Trump was returning the Republican Party to the foundations that the Gipper laid out.


Incogni is your personal data defender, safeguarding you from these digital predators. Use code RICOCHET at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: http://incogni.com/ricochet


- Sound clip from the open: Donald Trump "firing" Kamala Harris at his rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

It's the last episode before the election, and given the anxiousness surrounding this cycle, we've recruited Andrew Klavan to bring his good cheer, wit and wisdom to put us at ease. We get his take on the race and field a few predictions, along with his perspective on America's cultural whirlwind—everything from the suffusion of the arts and tech to modern manhood and the search for enduring truth. (Plus, you'll want to pick up the latest copy of his just-published novel, A Woman Under Ground.

Peter, Steve and James also make what they can of the latest moves in the polls, and tack on a couple predictions of their own. 






- Sound clip from today's open: Joe Biden's comments on garbage.