Jay and Mona muse on the nature of guilt, the human condition, whether old people know anything about sex and violence, believing all women/condemning all men, and much more.
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Legal eagle Ed Whelan joins to talk Kavanaugh and its permutations. Jay and Mona then turn to Democrats beclowning themselves, Trump doing the same, armchair analysis of Lindsay Graham, an act of conscience at Google, and tennis stars losing it.
Music from this week’s show: Prokofiev, Piano Concerto No. 3, played by Martha Argerich and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Abbado
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Casper The Weekly Standard’s Michael Warren shares thoughts on who wrote the NYT op-ed and other topics. Jay and Mona then turn to Alex Jones and Rubio, the Democrats who can’t do civility, our overvaluation of the Supreme Court, and more.
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Mona and Jay talk about the weather, yes. But also a range of other issues, some of them entailing heat. They talk about Ron DeSantis, John McCain, Donald Trump, the Catholic Church, a horrific suicide, and more. The “more” includes two men who lived very useful lives: Neil Simon, the playwright, and Henry Arnhold, a banker. The podcast goes out with a dance by Federico Mompou, played by one of his great champions, the pianist Alicia de Larrocha.
Music from this week’s episode: Frederic Mompou: Canciones y danzas
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Casper Jay and Mona romp through the swamp Trump brought with him, and pay calls on the execrable Jeremy Corbyn, Duncan Hunter, and others. They wonder what conservatives who live in Virginia should do in November, and Jay tries to convince Mona to run for office.
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Wine Access Jay joins from The Sound of Music land to discuss the daily spectacle with Mona: John Brennan’s security clearance, NDAs, “historic” candidates, “zombie Reaganism,” killer sports, misbehaving judges, and of course, music.
Music from this week’s episode: Nessun Dorma by Aretha Franklin (from the 1998 Grammy Awards)
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Wine Access Will Ocasio Cortez meet Ben Shapiro in debate? Does anyone care about issues these days?
Jay and Mona speak of Rubio’s evolution, the Manafort case, how conspiracy theories are like pornography, and raindrops on concert goers.
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Casper Political philosopher Yuval Levin joins Mona to talk about our dysfunctional Congress. Later,
Jay and Mona consider the Koch/Trump war, the press, the mob, the out of touch elites, the Democrats, and an enduring musical theme: Mission Impossible.
Casper Jay and Mona consider the pitfalls of calling balls and strikes. How do you measure harm from lying? They touch on two good Republican congressmen, and one who went tragically bad. They talk about the FBI, and the Mafia, and end with two musicals.
Music from this episode: The Room Where It Happens by Hamilton: An American Musical
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Wine Access President Trump batted his lashes at Vladimir Putin and then faced a backlash. Charen and Nordlinger consider NATO, useful idiots, Bill Browder, our “foe” the EU, and more.
Need to Know listeners have been hearing Mona talk about Wine Access for some weeks now.
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Wine Access Great judges are made not born. Jay and Mona praise the Federalist Society for giving the nation a pool of highly qualified, conservative judges, and President Trump for appointing them. Yale Law students can’t handle it. Is Jim Jordan a victim of the deep state? Should we abolish ICE (er, no), and more.
The podcast is strummed out, over the Blue Yeti’s objections, to John Denver.
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Wine Access This week, Mona’s book, “Sex Matters: How Modern Feminism Lost Touch with Science, Love, and Common Sense,” is published. Jay wants to question her about it. So he does. A conversation on crucially important subjects, ending with a song: “Love and Marriage,” by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn, sung (impeccably) by Dinah Shore.
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Wine Access The world is bursting with issues, and, in a quick-paced ’cast, Mona and Jay discuss a few of them: family separation at the border; Trump and North Korea; and the doings of Emmanuel Macron in France. As you know, “Need to Know” begins with the Sabre Dance, which is from a Khachaturian ballet called “Gayane.” This particular episode goes out with another beloved Khachaturian piece, the Waltz from “Masquerade” (a play). Haunting and stirring bugger.
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Wine Access Two cropped up in the discussion — one unmentionable, the other not. Jay and Mona covered North Korea, Roseanne Barr, Samantha Bee, sarcasm on Twitter, the economy, Trey Gowdy and much more. A meaty meal!
Music from this week’s show: From Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 13 in B flat, Op. 130
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Wine Access Two Megans are featured this week: the great Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle, and the newest member of the Windsor clan, Meghan Markle. The trio of McArdle, Nordlinger, and Charen tackle the welfare state, the NFL, the abortive Korea Summit, and graduation season.
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Casper, Wine Access Jay and Mona catch up on the Gaza attempted invasion, the latest awful school shooting, Mattis and McCain, and the death of 3 giants.
Music from this week’s episode: Largo from Xerxes. George Frideric Handel.
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DonorsTrust Though neither mountain climbers nor heads of state, Mona and Jay got a chance to do a summit – the Ricochet Podcast Summit in Washington, D.C. Before an audience, they ran through a slew of issues, including the Koreas, the Nobel Peace Prize, Rudy Giuliani, movies, and books. And music. Both of them had the temerity to suggest what was the greatest pop song ever written. This podcast ends with one of the selections (a Jackson 5 number).
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Wine Access There being no shortage of news to discuss, Mona and Jay wade in: the Korean Peninsula, Trump, Macron, Mulvaney, Pruitt, Cohen, Cosby, etc. There is also talk about books and movies and TV shows. And music – the podcast goes out with a snippet from one of the mightiest works ever written, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9.
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Casper Eli Lake of Bloomberg View evaluates the Syria situation. Why not just “leave it others”? Jay and Mona then talk Comey, Cohen, Haley, Bush (Barbara), Stone, and Hannity. Plus: a special invitation to a live event.
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Jay and Mona consider Paul Ryan’s career and what it says about where we are. They talk Zuckerberg, Trump, Syria, Putin, Comey, Gingrich, and golf.
Note: Apologies in advance for the occasional audio issues on this show.
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