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In this wide-ranging and richly entertaining conversation, novelist and political satirist Christopher Buckley joins Peter Robinson for a reflection on writing, legacy, friendship, and grace. From their early days as speechwriters for George H. W. Bush to Buckley’s prolific career as an author of more than 20 books—including Thank You for Smoking and Steaming to Bamboola—the two longtime friends revisit the formative moments, literary inspirations, and unforgettable characters that shaped Buckley’s life and work.
Buckley offers sharp, often hilarious insight into the craft of satire, the absurdities of Washington politics, and the cultural shifts in American media and manners. The conversation also turns poignantly to Buckley’s late parents, Patricia and William F. Buckley Jr., his transition from political fiction to historical novels, and the enduring influence of figures like Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. Woven throughout is a deep appreciation for civility, wit, and the lost art of gentlemanly discourse—an ethos embodied by the towering figures of a previous generation, now honored in memory.
With warmth and self-deprecating humor, Buckley closes the interview by discussing his father’s typewriter (which Christopher has donated to the Hoover Institution Archives), on which William Buckley composed the National Review's formative mission statement: to “stand athwart history and yell stop”; and by reading from the epilogue of Steaming to Bamboola, offering a quietly moving meditation on departure and legacy.
Recorded on March 13th, 2025.
Discussion (3)
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this Buckley lost me when he voted for Obama and claimed he had a first rate temperment
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Muffy and I were surprised when Buckley let down the side like that but in fairness, many of the right sort thought that Obama fellow would not be the leftist phony he turned out to be.
There was a Capitol Hill social outcast gathering similar to the one in Thank you for Smoking. Lobbying for pro-life, guns and tobacco was tough. My late brother (rep for Ad Hoc Committee for Right To Life) had a joke letterhead made up with a logo of a baby in diapers smoking a cigar with an AR-15 across his lap. I had always assumed that is where Buckley got the idea for that riotously funny book.
He was correct that Robinson is the best living practitioner of the interviewer's art. Uncommon Knowledge is a masterpiece.
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I remember reading the piece in NR where Christopher Buckley endorsed the Bill Ayers protege of color and laughed, thinking, but what does George Carlin think? Or Chris Rock? Or Chevy Chase? Has Charles Schultz weighed in yet? What points does Robin Williams bring to the matter?
NR should have rejected the piece and told him to stick to overt farce.