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We’re in that post-Thanksgiving tryptophan-induced, pre-Trump inaugural lull, folks. But that doesn’t mean we don’t bring the very best in digital talk. No sloughing off for us. We’ve got Trump inner circle denizen (and Ricochet Podcaster) Larry Kudlow sitting in for the making TV great again Rob Long. With Larry, we get the skinny on all the recent cabinet appointments and some insight into how the Trump administration may operate. Then, a close up look at Cuba with our guest Carlos Eire (his book Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy is a must read). Then, TV’s Rob Long actually does stop by to eat a little crow, talk some TV biz, and mix it up in general. ¡Viva Podcast!
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Music from this week’s podcast: Guantanamará by Compay Segundo
The opening sequence for the Ricochet Podcast was composed and produced by James Lileks.
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¡Ay Caramaba!, @EJHill
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Sadly E.J.’s wonderful Photoshop illustration is too small to really appreciate James Lileks’s buxom figure…or is that Caitlin Jenner? Wait a minute…I see Lileks smooshed in the middle. Is the reclining lady Larry Kudlow?
Your comment looks silly now that I’ve updated the design of the single podcast posts ;-)
Here it is in all its high-res glory. Melania reminds me of Michelle Pfeiffer in The Fabulous Baker Boys. I still get chills listening to her and Dave Grusin performing “Makin’ Whoopee” from the soundtrack album.
Another masterpiece from EJHill!
How so you download podcasts now?
There is a symbol that looks like a downward pointing arrow in the upper right corner of the picture above. It’s in a blue box. Right-click on that and choose Save link as. Then you can choose where to download it to. At least that how it works with my browser.
It’s not showing on my Android phone browser either. In the top-right of your browser, select “Request desktop site”.
Trump did what he had to do to win. Period. But like his building projects, he is taking the Presidency seriously. He is a serious person. Don’t let visions of the The Apprentice throw you.
Please use a podcast catcher on your phone. It’s a much better experience.
Yeah, you need to keep up.
James,
I think you need to have Rob’s interrupting early in the podcast so you get your rhythm.
@peterrobinson, I haven’t done the genealogy research but I assume that the name Mnuchin is from the same source as Yehudi MENUHIN. That does not mean they are related, of course.
What is podcast catcher? Is it like a board stretcher?
He only catches on days the Podcaster pitches. Yeah, it takes up a roster spot. But if your #1 gets hurt he can catch for a couple of days.
“Conservative Podcaster Deems Great Courses Essential Tool for Imperialist Oppression of Indigenous Peoples”
Who is thaton the piano with the big Hair?
That is your future First Lady.
I’ll take two.
She has them.
Yes, it is. The wonders of multilingual transliteration.
Thank you for bringing us the wonderful Carlos Eire. I can never hear his story often enough. I can’t imagine how it must be for Cubans to have to put up with mass ignorance of the reality of the agony of Cuba and the atrocities of Fidel and Raul and the photogenic monster, Che.
It must be like those nightmares in which you scream and scream, but no voice comes out.
@Lileks noted that 1400s European history covers “the original sin” of Western expansion and colonization. Perhaps the defeated Muslim Sultan of the Emirate of Granada would not have handed the keys of the Alhambra palace to Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492 if he had known that not only did it mark the end of 750 years of Muslim expansion and domination in Spain, it also was the beginning of at least 500 years of Christian expansion and domination in the Americas.
I would like to know Eire’s thoughts about the inheritance of Spanish customs vs US and Canada’s heritage of English law. Sure, we are all capable of freedom. But culture matters.
I’ve still got ten minutes to go in the show but I had to stop listening for a minute to come here and thank @jameslileks for reminding me that we haven’t yet entered into an alternate reality in which the Carrier deal is a wise and proper use of federal power and principled conservatives hawk without reservation a vague plan to “destroy” ISIS. That was scary for a bit.
Wow, that’s as close as I’ve ever heard to Peter freaking out and losing his temper after James mentioned the Pentagon having a plan to invade Chad.
Yeah, it was upsetting to hear Larry, Rob, and Peter defend the status quo of things that “just happen” in government.
The fact that we’ve acquiesced to the government doing Mafia-esque dealings with their tax power to the degree that we now expect such things since “they’re not that bad” is exactly the reason why these “minor” sins are ubiquitous.
Until we’re willing to call a spade a spade when our own side is in power how can we expect classical liberal policy to permeate the culture?
Even if Carrier were a stand-alone company and not part of major defense contractor the pressure to intercede would still be great. After all, government buildings need A/C. Even if there were no implied ramifications they would still tread gently thinking of losing that share of the market.
It’s a critical national security technology!
Larry wants the Carrier deal both ways:
It’s Indiana’s deal and Trump gets full credit for it. The unsavoury implications are obvious but, of course, left unspoken by Mr Kudlow.
Oddly: he was somewhat less effusive about this sort of thing back in 2012. I’m sure it’s totally different when Trump does it though.
Mr. Kudlow is aware that the Laffer curve starts to slope downward at some point, right?