The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg

Michael C. Moynihan, fellow podcaster extraordinaire and Lisan al-Gaib of the House Un-American Activities Committee, pays a visit to the Court of TheRemnant to defend Bill Buckley, discuss horseshoe theory as it relates to immigration, and critique cheap radicalism. Plus: the problems with post-liberalism, the slippery slope of foreign policy obsession, and a neocon apologia session. Show Notes: —The Fifth Column Podcast —Michael’s work for The Free Press —Brother Stirewalt on Henry Wallace —Parable of the Broken Window 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonah Goldberg has a bone to pick with John Podhoretz’s exuberance over the second Trump ascension. Once John has been adequately chastised, the pod couple covers Trump’s inauguration speech, discuss the new President’s slew of executive orders and foreign policy plans, and engage in some kvetching over Joe Biden’s final moves. Towards the end of the episode, John airs his grievances on the ceasefire deal in Israel and allows Jonah to play some Gen X pop culture bingo. Show Notes: — “The Anti-Woke King of Hollywood Lets Loose” — Adaam's interview with Nadav Eyal — Nick Cattogio's latest — Sarah Isgur on Biden's blunders 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dialing in from the mystical land of Indiana, Jonah Goldberg ruminates upon Lord Acton’s parable of absolute power and abject corruption, the distinction between good manners and draconian DEI policies, the distinction between market signaling and sound business decisions, and the vice signaling dominating the right in anticipation of Trump’s ascension. Show Notes: —The Arms of Krupp —A 2002 vintage Goldberg from the cellar —Further rumination on Trumpian corruption 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Hal Brands joins Jonah to discuss the future of global alliance blocs, China and Russia’s material interests, and how to cut a nuclear deal with Iran. Stay tuned for a reality check on the Greenland acquisition plan. Brands is a professor of global affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, a senior fellow at AEI, and most recently author of The Eurasian Century: Hot Wars, Cold Wars, and the Making of the Modern Century. Show Notes: —Purchase Brand’s book, The Eurasian Century, here —Brand’s AEI Page 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dispatch in-house California expert James P. Sutton joins Jonah Goldberg to provide a sober, conspiracy-free evaluation of the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles County. James and Jonah weigh the extent of human error versus political error, disastrous insurance policy failures, and how public officials can best ensure that something like this never happens again. Plus: the role of climate change and what makes for a fair accusation of blame. Show Notes: —CalFire Dashboard —Best Friend’s Foundation —LA Times: How To Help 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sir Jonah Goldberg, the earl of The Dispatch, uses his teatime to discuss his preference for the Dutch masters, the Stranger Things play, and Henry VIII’s array of underwear models. Somehow, he ties it all back to personal pluralism, forestry management, the abject failures of democratic city governance, and Donald Trump's new imperial ambitions. Show Notes: —Cross & Country with Jonathan Rauch —The firefighter X discourse —Jonah’s appearance on The Charles C.W. Cooke Podcast —Catoggio on Greenland 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonah Goldberg had an insatiable hankering for beans on toast and has thus opted to abandon ye loyal listeners for an English vacation. To fill the Jonah-shaped vacuum, Sarah Isgur and Michael Warren of Dispatch fame have revived The Collisionto talk all things legal and presidential one last time. They cover the latest developments in Donald Trump’s New York criminal case and classified documents case before turning to the question of January 6 pardons. Say what you will about the president-elect, he sure does give our hosts a plethora of material to work with. Show Notes: —Read The Collision archives 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brookings Institution senior fellow and best-selling author Jonathan Rauch has returned to The Remnant once more to subject his latest book to Jonah Goldberg’s barrage of inquiry. The book in question, Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy, seeks to remind Americans that liberalism cannot function without strong Christian institutions and argues that living the Christian doctrine could help fix our democracy. Jonah and Jonathan discuss new ways to protect American pluralism, spiritual formation in the civic realm, and the admirable strategies of the Church of Latter-day Saints. Show Notes: —Buy Cross Purposes here —G-File: Slog and Sacrifice 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After attending to the various and sundry, Jonah Goldberg explains why you should read George Orwell's Politics and the English Language, why the conflation between "the swamp" and "the deep state" irritates him so much, and the issue with saying "Trump is Hitler." Show Notes: —Jonah's debate with Charles Kesler —Liberal Fascism —Kevin Williamson on the Deep State and Vikings —Kevin Williamson on Jimmy Carter 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the first Remnant episode of 2025, Jonah Goldberg is joined by Chris Stirewalt to discuss the ethical implications of doing something “country style,” debate who made the biggest political mistake of 2024, and dive into the strategic value of “popularism.” Few are more qualified than Chris to kick off another year of punditry, eggheadery, rabbit holes, and rumination. Show Notes: —Jonah’s LA Times Column 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonah Goldberg is joined by Virginia Postrel, the former editor of Reason magazine, best-selling author, and contributing editor for Works In Progress to discuss technocrat schadenfreude, selective dynamism, and Jonah’s Burkean sympathies. Plus: a discussion on the right-wing version of utopia and the myths of American nostalgia. Show Notes: —Virginia’s latest book, Fabric of Civilization —Virginia’s Substack —A Video Introduction to Dynamism 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonah Goldberg jubilantly welcomes the new year with a responsible intake of schadenfreude, as MAGAworld tumbles into disarray over immigration. Will the unprecedented wisdom of tech bros solve all the intractable problems that have plagued our country for years or just most of them? Tune in to this Ruminant for a tour of the race-baiting and loathing on the far right. Warning: Please consult a doctor if your schadenfreude lasts longer than four hours. Show Notes: -Elon's God Complex, per Mr. Goldberg -Nick Catoggio on the Elon/MAGA break up 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once again, Jonah Goldberg has received countless requests from the children of the world for some serious conservative eggheadery for Christmas. Ever benevolent, Jonah has obliged by hosting Richard Reinsch, the Editor in Chief of the Civitas Outlook at the University of Texas to discuss how conservatives can reform existing institutions from the inside out. Jonah and Richard also cover the legitimacy of Trump’s perceived mandate, the merits of competitive federalism, the storied history of conservative doomcasting, and the future of the Republican party. Show Notes: —Tevi’s Commentary piece on the Obama fallout —Learn more about Civitas 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the spirit of the holidays, Remnant-verse Uncle Tevi Troy joins Jonah Goldberg to lament the changing times, discuss the downstream effects of the Obama years, debate the best time travel references, and spitball some solutions to the chaos in the Democratic Party. Later in the show, Tevi and Jonah cover the future of Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s love affair and remind everyone to stay in their own lanes. Show Notes: —Tevi’s Commentary piece —Wall Street Journal report on Grandpa Joe 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the holiday season reaches its zenith, the gods of punditry have forced one Jonah Goldberg to cover a looming government shutdown at the hands of the de facto president. He predicts Elon Musk’s aims in his congressional meddling, expounds upon the difference between being wrong and being evil, and reminds us all that liberal democratic capitalism will not fill the gaping hole in the soul of man. Plus: Jonah makes a list of his favorite historians—check it twice in the show notes. Show Notes: —Jonah’s intellectual history master list —A controversial Remnant —Wednesday G-File 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s high time to start the postmortem of the latest Great Awokening. Jonah is joined by sociologist and author Musa al-Gharbi to discuss his new book, We Have Never Been Woke. Musa makes the casethat many of the maladies of the woke movement stem from a desire to achieve social justice without individual sacrifice and that wealth redistribution is much more complicated than the Macbook Marxists have been led to believe. Jonah and Musa discuss the capitalist soul of a seemingly altruistic elite, the concept of asymmetric multiculturalism, trustafarians, and the formula behind major social progress movements. Show Notes: —Musa’s book: We Have Never Been Woke —The Credential Society: A Historical Sociology of Education and Stratification 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonah Goldberg has been feeling censored by the tyranny of Sarah Isgur lately, so he’s decided to bring in the big guns: Greg Lukianoff, the president and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). Greg and Jonah discuss the current state of free speech writ large, the legal distinction between defamation and free expression as it relates to artificial intelligence and deepfakes, and what it really means to defend morally reprehensible speech. Plus: a closer investigation into the intellectual history of the destruction of free speech and Greg’s evaluation of Elon’s Twitter takeover. Show Notes: —Greg’s recent piece for The Dispatch —Learn more about FIRE —Greg’s Substack —FIRE’s college free speech rankings 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s Friday the 13th, and little rodents are crawling around inside Jonah Goldberg’s brain. What else is new? This week’s Ruminant considers the drones flying over the Garden State, Jonah’s best Tucker impression, a redux of Liberal Fascism featuring Luigi Mangione, and a clapback to those opposed to impeaching Joe Biden. Plus: transport by elephant, a critique of Time magazine, and Trump’s faith in tariffs. Show Notes: —New GLoP —No ifs, ands, or buts about it —Jonah’s G-File: Impeach Joe Biden … Seriously —Trump’s "Person of the Year" interview 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are many pressing questions plaguing the mind of modern man. Where do we go when we die? What is the meaning of life? Was Christopher Columbus Jewish? Razib Khan, the unofficial geneticist of The Remnant, stops by to answer the latter, arguing that cultural identities are very different from genetic identities. Jonah and Razib get into the 23&Me craze, the Dalai Lama’s microaggressions, and genomes from the old world. Plus: what happened to epigenetics, some Nazi myth debunking, and some hard truths for the Hapsburgs and horses. Show Notes: —Razib’s piece in The Dispatch —Razib’s Substack 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amid a flurry of calls for Jonah Goldberg’s resignation as flagship podcaster lead by disgruntled Dispatch employee Sarah Isgur, our intrepid host has decided to dive into the question of impeachment power. Jonah is joined by Yale Law School professor Keith Whittington to discuss why the Founders included impeachment in the Constitution, what actually qualifies as high crimes and misdemeanors, and how presidential pardon power ought to be used. Show Notes: —Jonah calls for impeachment —Keith’s writing for The Dispatch —Keith’s latest book: The Impeachment Power: The Law, Politics, and Purpose of an Extraordinary Constitutional Tool 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 Jonah’s G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices