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Lightening Bolts

Andrew Miller
@AndrewMiller
‘Neck bolts, why does it always come back to neck bolts?’ This is not a statement you like to hear anyone make, not in an ideal world. Muttered by an attractive young lady in a darkened laboratory, it maintains a certain disconcerting quality. Add in the traditional mad scientist’s paraphernalia, up to and including the obligatory man-sized table and lightning rod arrangement, and it becomes almost definitely spooky. A fact of which Doctor “Frankie” Stine was only too well aware. ‘Iggy,’ she called, ‘where is that fluid?’
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Latest podcast episodes

Hillsdale Dialogues
Hillsdale Dialogues

The 2026 Midterms

This week: The 2026 International Churchill Society conference, the rise of democratic socialism, and the 2026 Midterms. Dr. Larry P. Arnn, president of Hillsdale College, joins Hugh Hewitt on the Hillsdale Dialogues.

Hosted by Hugh Hewitt, with guest DLDr. Larry Arnn

Organization:
Hillsdale College
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Hello from Utah!

Shauna Hunt
@ShaunaHunt
I just wanted to say hello to all of you! It's been a long time. I have been writing a Substack newsletter called Sunshine in My Soul for three years. I'd like to thank Ricochet for helping me get over my writing fears. There, I try to write and share interesting and uplifting stories, music, art, etc. My daughter, Rachel, got married in August of 2025. Baby Elizabeth came on June 3, 2026. We are grandparents and love it! She is a wonderful mother.
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France Getting Education From Students

Greg Strange
@GregStrange
After a weekend of nationwide mayhem, life in France has been calmer for a few days. You see, after weeks of so-called protests and unmistakable rioting, the likes of which the country may have never seen before, French authorities suddenly had a eureka moment: Curfew! We can impose curfews where needed, and that could help quell the riots! Sacré bleu! What a revelation. It’s made perfect by the fact that the word “curfew” comes from the medieval Anglo-French coverfeu, meaning “cover the fire.” And beaucoup fires there have been.
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Who Controls Men’s Wardrobes?

Full Size Tabby
@FullSizeTabby
I am increasingly discovering that were it not for wives, many men would be walking fashion disasters. When my son was in high school (early ‘aughts), he would amusingly report on occasion that in homeroom class, the girls (it was always the girls in class - never the boys) would ask the very popular, very young, very male, very conspicuously married teacher, “Your wife didn’t see you before you left the house this morning, did she?” The teacher’s response: “No. Why do you ask?”
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Doing the Right Thing Comes with a Price

Doug Watt
@DougWatt
The Silver Rail School shooting in Bend, Oregon ended after the father of two students shot the shooter. The shooter was 16 years old and a former special needs student who attended the school. The armed civilian responsible for killing the perpetrator and ending the attack was identified as Kaylub Giamanco, originally of Placerville, California, a 36-year-old carpenter and a father of two students at Silver Rail Elementary. Kaylub has a concealed firearms license in Oregon. My prediction is that Kaylub will not undergo a grand jury investigation into his actions on that day. The FBI is looking into the history of the 16-year-old shooter and his ownership and possession of a 12-gauge shotgun.
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Evidence of a Blue Wave? Maybe the opposite.

BastiatJunior
@BastiatJunior
John Hinderaker posted an article on Powerline Blog showing that people trust Democrats on crime more than they trust Republicans. Here's a link. Evidence of a Blue Wave. With an electorate like that, how could Republicans win? Maybe the crazy poll result is revealing something different. Maybe it shows that Republicans really are being undercounted, and not by a small amount. People can't have changed that much.
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3 Whisky Happy Hour
3 Whisky Happy Hour

Knowledge or Not, Here We Come

This week's delayed episode is a throwback to the old days, with just Steve and Lucretia in attendance because travel schedules disrupted all three of the 3WHH bartenders. So the original dynamic duo just kick around some news highlights of the week and offer a couple book recommendations. Is "not to my knowledge" Ilhan Omar's version of Bill Clinton's "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" (IF "Ilhan Omar" is her real name)? This appears to be one of those cases where the media's favorite mistaken cliché about Trump—"the walls are closing in"—appears to apply. And what's up with the polls? Hard to tell, even from the real ones, let alone the fake ones and the media's psyop that is trying to suppress Republican turnout. It's all very weird. Finally, Lucretia and Steve share two books currently on the top of their reading pile. Lucretia is reading Raymond Ibrahim's Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam, while Steve recommends Rupert Darwall's The Age of Error and the West's Undoing, just from our friends at Encounter Books.
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A Day That Will Live in Ignominy

Nanocelt TheContrarian
@NanoceltTheContrarian
October 23 was the 43rd anniversary of the Marine barracks bombing in Lebanon in 1983. Two hundred forty-one American servicemen died in that bombing, carried out by Iranian proxies that would form the nucleus of what became Hezbollah. That was the greatest number of American servicemen to die in a single day since Iwo Jima. I perused the media for comments on this and found none. The Marine Corps posted an homage to the sacrifice of those Marines. There seems to be a general amnesia of that event, though. How soon we forget.
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The Marine in the Maquis

Seawriter
@Seawriter
In early 1944, the Massif du Vercors, isolated by high mountains, offered a refuge to the maquis sabotaging the Germans. Among their boldest leaders was a man who fought in a US Marine Corps uniform. He became known as Le Fantôme – the phantom. “The Phantom: The Untold Story of the American Marine the Nazis Could Not Kill,” by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, tells the story of Pierre “Peter” Ortiz, a Marine and OSS agent who served as a soldier, spy, scout, saboteur and French Resistance leader in the heart of Nazi-occupied France.
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The Observatory: Oh My Stars Edition

Juliana
@Juliana
The One who established the earth for all time, He who dismisses the light, and it departs, calls it, and it obeys Him trembling; before whom the stars at their posts, shine and rejoice; when He calls them they answer "Here we are!" shining with joy for their Master. ~ Baruch 3:32-34 Even though we may be surrounded by evil and stupidity, and we may believe all humanity is lost, there are reasons to rejoice. Humans can take pictures of the universe. Sometimes you just need to remember to be filled with awe. Enjoy. All photos are from nasa.gov.
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Quote of the Day - The Weak and The Strong

Seawriter
@Seawriter
The weak grow strong by effrontery. The strong grow weak through inhibition. - Henry Kissinger This quote sums up what is happening in France in one sentence. The rioters are weak, France's underclass, those who do not fit into French society. Yet they act as though they are the powerful. That they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want. So far, they have proved right. No one is stopping them. That is the flip side of the quote.
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The Ricochet Podcast
The Ricochet Podcast

A Great Deal of Ruin, Indeed

The great Douglas Murray, bestselling author of The Strange Death of Europe and On Democracies and Death Cults, joins James and Steve to discuss the mass immigration problem he's been sounding the alarm on for over a decade. As ever, Murray is unflinching in defense of civilization against the barbarous rioters and the myopic elites enabling them. Plus, James and Steve raise an eyebrow each at Ilhan Omar's uncertainty over an important detail about one of her marriages. The duo also talk about all kinds of food: fast, foreign, and regrettable. Opening sound: A French storekeeper pleads with rioters while Emmanuel Macron claims there’s nothing to see here and Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers have their final debate (WXYZ - Detroit) Closing music: "Say Less," by sviridpavlov via MotionArray
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Late Shift

Andrew Miller
@AndrewMiller
Sometimes you can’t exactly blame people for feeling like we’re living inside a horror movie. When the vampire dropped down from the ceiling was one of those times. She landed like a cat who’s given the game away that the laws of physics are for other people. She wore a dark business suit like it was one of those floor-length dresses that trail in the mist.
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The Back of the Book
The Back of the Book

Does Reality Await, or Is This It? What the Strokes Reveal About the Past – and Future – of Rock

Twenty-five years ago, the New York City band The Strokes released one of the most widely hyped debut albums in rock history. Critics saw them as the saviors of rock n’ roll. But if the cultural influence of modern rock music is any indication, that promise fell short. In his new book Is This It: The Never-Ending Rise and Fall of the Strokes (and Rock ‘n’ Roll), music journalist Steven Hyden considers the fickle fate of rock through the trajectory of the Strokes’ career. He joins the podcast to discuss how the Strokes fit into rock history, why they captured such attention, and what their latest releases indicate about the future of music. He and Chris also discuss cigarettes, the return of Oasis, and Wisconsin sports culture.
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The 2026 Tennessee Meetup: With an Uninvited Visitor

Stad
@Stad
Our uninvited visitor showed up ahead of time, in the form of Hurricane Isaias. The original plan was to visit Oak Ridge on Friday and Chattanooga on Saturday. The threat of rain, however, forced us to swap Friday and Saturday's agenda. This was important for @neutralobserver and me because we went to Oak Ridge first instead of meeting up with the others in Cookeville on Thursday night. No problem! We simply drove down to Chattanooga the next morning, and met everyone for lunch at Puckett's.
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Beyond the Polls
Beyond the Polls

Throwing Cold Water on the Blue Wave

There's no getting around the fact that Republicans are unpopular these days or that they're in for an unpleasant midterm. But should we really believe the flood will reach the Midwest or Rust Belt districts that elevated President Trump to double-digit margins? Patrick Rufini, founding partner of Echelon Insights, doesn't think so. He sits down with Henry to make his case. Plus, Henry draws an important distinction between the lead and the level of predicted vote share to explain why all 2-point edges should not be considered equal. And for today's ad of the week, he examines the viral attack and response in the especially fierce battle for Ohio between Vivek Ramaswamy and Amy Acton. Can't get enough of Henry's election analysis? Subscribe to his free weekly newsletter, "Margin of Victory," for invaluable insights every Wednesday.
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Palestine Inc.

Ekosj
@Ekosj
I recall hearing that, because of all the international aid, Gaza and the West Bank had some of the highest per capita incomes in the non-oil Arab world. I decided to investigate. Finding answers was harder than one would expect. There are per capita GDP numbers published. Those per capita GDP numbers look almost identical to those of Egypt. The two, Egypt (in green) and West Bank/Gaza (in blue), below: In fact, on average, the numbers for Gaza and the West Bank look a bit better than Egypt.
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Mom Wars
Mom Wars

The Due Time

This week, Bethany is joined by Helen Raleigh, a writer, entrepreneur, and speaker, for Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, observed on October 15th. This episode comes with it a trigger warning for those for whom this topic is too difficult to listen to. You can follow Helen's work at theduetime.com.

Hosted by Bethany Mandel

Organization:
Ricochet
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The Happy Anachronism: Coffee, Newsprint, and the Inheritance We Risk Losing

Dave Carter
@DaveCarter
After several years of poking a K-Cup for coffee and reading the news on a digital device, my bride and I decided to enjoy the simple splendor of freshly ground coffee and an honest-to-gawd newspaper. Oh my soul (!) how I’ve missed the rich taste of a dark roast coffee so fresh it whispers “You’re welcome” after each sip. Then I opened the newspaper. Not the electronic variety, mind you, with its blinking advertisements, tacky little pop-ups, and assorted invitations to discover what some celebrity wore to the grocery store.
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Dear JD

GrandpaPublius
@GrandpaPublius
You don’t know me, but I read your books, so maybe I know you a bit. I had an experience once, over 40 years ago, that you might relate to. Something unexpected happened, and it made me stop and assess. I ultimately concluded I was promoted too fast. It wasn’t a Peter Principle thing, I was perfectly competent. It was something else. I was accelerating toward a goal that I never took the time to figure out whether I really wanted. Or when I wanted it. At the time, I had three kids. Like you, my youngest was still in diapers.
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Freedom to Learn
Freedom to Learn

Alan Levine on Jewish Day Schools, EFTC Scholarships, & Informing Donors

The new Education Freedom Tax Credit could make a wide array of educational options available for millions of students next year. Alan Levine, CEO of the Jewish Education Access Fund, joins the podcast to explain how the tax credit offers a once-in-a-generation chance to expand access to schools that reflect families' values. Alan explains what donors and families need to know about pledges, donations, and state opt-ins before the credit takes effect on January 1, 2027. Jewish Education Access Fund: https://www.access-fund.org/ Federal Scholarship Tax Credit temporary rules: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/02/2026-20264/federal-scholarship-tax-credit Federal Scholarship Tax Credit proposed rules: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/02/2026-20277/federal-scholarship-tax-credit 🔗 Links & Resources: Visit our website: DFIPolicy.org 💡 Stay Connected: Follow us on Instagram: @DFIPolicy Follow us on Twitter: @DFIPolicy Follow us on Facebook: /DFIPolicy Subscribe to our YouTube channel (@DFIPolicy) for future episodes! 📩 Contact Us: If you have feedback or suggestions for future podcasts, please reach out to us at Podcast@DFIPolicy.org. 🎧 Thank You for Listening: Freedom to Learn is a production of the Defense of Freedom Institute. You can learn more about DFI at DFIPolicy.org. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a thumbs up, share it, and subscribe for more insights into education law and policy. Thank you for your support!
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The Doctor Will Lecture You Now

Dr. Craniotomy
@Craniotomy
Apparently, my patients have a condition I should be documenting: insufficient political agreement with the treating physician. The treatment will be a bedside lecture. No time to discuss your brain tumor; we must talk politics. Better than a yard sign or a “we are worried about you!” spam text, the white coat is a great vehicle for reaching voters. That is the invitation in Jerry Avorn’s MedPage Today essay on politics in the patient encounter.
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The Entitled Poor: They burn because they cannot build

Henry Castaigne
@HenryCastaigne
They’re better than poor people. [Rich people] They just are. I’ve hung around with plenty of poor people, now I’ve hung out with rich people. They work harder, generally. More focused. The folks I grew up with, the poor people I grew up with, fairly lethargic, did a lot of complaining, smoked a little too much, drank a little too much, blamed everyone but themselves a little too much. -- Adam Carolla in 2014 at his most controversial There are a few ways to judge societies.
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