The Ricochet Podcast

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. 





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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. 

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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

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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
 



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Noah Rothman returns to the Ricochet Podcast to discuss the troubles of dealing with an uncooperative world. He, Steve, and James discuss the fall of the New Puritans in the real world as they resist from their barracks on prestigious college campuses. The gang then moves from culture war to the shooting kind as they consider Putin's recalcitrance and negotiations with Iran.

Plus, Hayward and Lileks unpack the Court of International Trade's tariff intervention, the Big, Beautiful Bill that's worked its way out of the House, and Elon Musk's DC departure. 






- Sound from this week's open: CNN’s Jake Tapper on The Prof G Pod defending his 15-year-old son.

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Western elites have run into a recurring predicament over the past decade: In a democracy, you can't abolish the voters. Populist coalitions are on the march in Europe, and while they've yet to take over their respective governments like their American counterparts, they aren't going away. So Henry Olsen returns to the podcast to give us the scoop on everybody from the Romanians, who just had their delayed election, to the Poles and Hungarians who have some coming up, along with Reform UK and AfD. We also dig into Trump's so-far successful 'Dirty Harry' theory of justice and the limitations any politician's gotta know — including the transformational ones. 

Plus, Lileks and Hayward yap about the latest with Harvard, the "stochastic terrorism" that killed two young Jews in DC, and Original Sin...





- Soundbite from this week's open: UK PM Kier Starmer pivots on immigration

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Conservatives love their histories; they lose themselves in great biographies; they have a voracious appetite for news and avidly devour op-eds. But the menu for literature on the right is, regrettably, if understandably, a bit limited. To add a bit of variety, Chris Scalia joins Peter, Steve, and Charles to discuss his soon-to-be-published book, Thirteen Novels Conservatives Will Love (But Probably Haven't Read). The boys quiz Chris on his selections and on the broader premise that the novel deserves greater attention from keepers of the cause. 

Plus, the hosts prattle on about the Pope, nationwide injunctions, Trump's trip to Riyadh, and the blasted SALT caucus.




- Sound from this week's open: the president says his piece about neocons in Saudi Arabia.



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Ben Domenech returns to the Ricochet Podcast to give a progress report on Trump's second go at running things. James, Charles and Steve glean insights about the builder from Queens as Ben divulges about his long sitdown with the president in February. 

Plus, the hosts rap on the pope from Chicago, Germany's lurch toward state censorship, series worth a watch, and pieces worth a read.




- Sound from this week's open: a clip from Ben's interview with Trump.

 

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