The Spirit of Enterprise

This week, the Pope is in town — there’s a lot to say about that and we do, pretty much in real time as it’s happening (shout out to Ricochet member Egg Man for providing updates in the chat room).

Later in the podcast, a very special announcement concerning Ricochet and Jon Gabriel (no, we’re not getting married — but close).

41llHxZtW9LBut first, our good friend and fellow podcaster Jay Nordlinger stops by to discuss his new book Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into the Sons and Daughters of DictatorsIt’s a fascinating book about the children of some of the worst people in history. You should buy it. Of course, we also delve into some politics and music, and even a bit of Rob Long adoration.

Finally, a few words about the great Yogi Berra. Listen in!

Music from this week’s episode:

Yes I’m Changing by Tame Impala

The opening sequence for the Ricochet Podcast was composed and produced by James Lileks.

Thanks to EJHill for the Photoshop.

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Published in: Podcasts

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There are 19 comments.

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  1. Eustace C. Scrubb Member
    Eustace C. Scrubb
    @EustaceCScrubb

    Not to complain, but when the title is what it is, one would expect a photoshop giving someone Spock ears.

    • #1
  2. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    Eustace C. Scrubb:Not to complain, but when the title is what it is, one would expect a photoshop giving someone Spock ears.

    Coming soon…

    • #2
  3. Doug LaBudde Inactive
    Doug LaBudde
    @DougLaBudde

    Umm….
    Mr. Yeti: I believe the song at the end of the podcast may violate the CoC. Has that happened before?

    • #3
  4. Ryan M Inactive
    Ryan M
    @RyanM

    Sowell get bumped?

    • #4
  5. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    Ryan M:Sowell get bumped?

    He couldn’t make it and sent his regrets. Hope to have him on soon.

    • #5
  6. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Blue Yeti:

    Ryan M:Sowell get bumped?

    He couldn’t make it and sent his regrets. Hope to have him on soon.

    Some people get sidetracked snipe hunting. Yeti gets sidetracked Sowell hunting. But some day our prince will come.

    • #6
  7. Tony Martyr Member
    Tony Martyr
    @TonyMartyr

    Yes! Tame Impala! CofC notwithstanding, good Perth lads, with a nice line in sub-Beatles neo-psychodelia. Good call.

    • #7
  8. Tony Martyr Member
    Tony Martyr
    @TonyMartyr

    Star Trek, or the Wiggles?

    • #8
  9. Brayden Smith Member
    Brayden Smith
    @

    The Pope’s address today (which I have yet to read) sounds better in many respects, at least from what I’ve heard on this podcast and on the news. I’m not sure if he’s more conscious of his reputation in America, but his tone seems more anodyne than his previous translations.

    One problem I heard with a quote, not unique to the Pope, is the notion of income “distribution,” as if there’s a pot of wealth that someone metes out to whomever he so chooses. Certainly that’s the way it works in thoroughly Communist countries, and likely so in Venezuela, but someone ought to remind Francis that we lack a central distributive committee, and therefore lack the amount of human misery that plagues wide swaths of the world.

    • #9
  10. Ron Kean Inactive
    Ron Kean
    @RonKean

    NR has become a beacon of filth.

    Good luck finding good things to say about Fiorina’s time at HP. She is going to get the swift boat storm if she wins. People lost money and are so angry at her she will be a target rich environment.

    • #10
  11. Preserved Killick Member
    Preserved Killick
    @PreservedKillick

    Listening to Jay’s discussion of Svetlana Stalin reminds me strongly of John Le Carre’s Smiley’s People. The mental break caused by understanding her father, the death of her mother at a young age more or less at the hands of the father, the name change … all of these are direct parallels to Karla’s daughter in the novel. Anyone ever hear that Le Carre based this character on Stalin?

    • #11
  12. Israel P. Inactive
    Israel P.
    @IsraelP

    Egg Man said that the Pope said “Harness.” Sounds statist to me.

    • #12
  13. Atavist Member
    Atavist
    @Atavist

    Herewith my nomination for best line ever on the Ricochet podcast, from Mr. Long, regarding the eternal complaint of blood-soaked tyrants against their sons: “you didn’t have it as tough as me, you didn’t have to climb over a mountain of skulls..”

    • #13
  14. Chris Campion Coolidge
    Chris Campion
    @ChrisCampion

    Israel P.:Egg Man said that the Pope said “Harness.” Sounds statist to me.

    I caught that piece, too – I wouldn’t start going head-over-heels for the Pope because he said something that can be interpreted as a positive.  “Harnessing” means controlling – meaning that’s a short hop from controlling the means of production.

    I really think the Pope should stick to other matters, or at least celebrate what capitalism and the idea of enterprise has done for hundreds of millions in the last century or two.  We are not in an Ages of Dark anymore.  To ignore the economic impacts of turning a buck by providing something someone else wants at a price they’re willing to pay ignores the reality of how 6 billion or so people on the planet lives their lives, every day.

    • #14
  15. rod Inactive
    rod
    @rod

    Peter has to say over and over again the no one he knows likes Carly. Who cares?

    • #15
  16. Eeyore Member
    Eeyore
    @Eeyore

    The passing of the Ricochet whiskey flask from Tennessee (!) to Phoenix? I think not. The new Editor in Chief will have to make his own regional mark. Jon, I’m hoping your editing will reflect perceptions influenced by your experiences smoking the venom of the Colorado River Toad.

    • #16
  17. Peter Robinson Contributor
    Peter Robinson
    @PeterRobinson

    rod:Peter has to say over and over again the no one he knows likes Carly. Who cares?

    See Ron Kean, above.

    • #17
  18. Skarv Inactive
    Skarv
    @Skarv

    Peter’s comment about HP culture initiatives recently is not correct. At least as late as December 2014, the main employee culture program was “HP way now”. It was explicitly based on going back to “Bill & Dave values”. Booklets, webcasts, surveys, performance evaluation templates, etc. Everything HR was cast in the theme of going back to the original spirit. This was a major part of Meg’s perennial turn around which did not change a lot of the day to day culture on the ground level.

    In my opinion, HP is too big to change. Organizations with close to 300,000 employees can’t change. No matter which leader they have. The coming split may be a step in the right direction but it is still going to be 2 very large companies. We will soon see if it works.

    • #18
  19. Hartmann von Aue Member
    Hartmann von Aue
    @HartmannvonAue

    I would have to agree with Rob about Scott Walker. He should have …campaigned.

    • #19
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