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MW

Michael Walsh

Michael Walsh is a journalist, author, and screenwriter, whose work includes six novels, nine works of nonfiction, and a hit Disney movie. The former classical music critic and foreign correspondent for Time magazine, he is now a regular contributor of political and cultural commentary to PJ Media and American Greatness, as well as a Sunday op-ed columnist for the New York Post.

Series

3 Whisky Happy Hour3 episodes

Recent Episodes

3 Whisky Happy Hour
3 Whisky Happy Hour

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Classic Format Conversation with Michael Walsh

This special episode marks the revival of the classic format edition with one-on-one conversations between Steve and a special guest, with the first in the series being author Michael Walsh, discussing his terrific new book, A Rage to Conquer: Twelve Battles That Changed the Course of Western History. One way to get a feel for the candor and bracing character of Michael's book is this passage from the Afterword, reflecting on the ambivalent reaction to the 9/11 attack: "The imperial Romans would have gone full delenda est on Saudi Arabia, razed its cities, destroyed the Kaaba, leveled the mosques, occupied the oil fields, seized its wealth, executed its leaders, and sold the populace into slavery; they knew an existential struggle when they were in one." Our conversation ranges far beyond the four corners of his book, into music, Ireland (Michael's ancentral home and part-time residence today), the suicidal multiculturalism of Europe, and why the Chinese military threat is overrated. Steve has other guests lined up for future classic format episodes, and from time to time John and/or Lucretia will join in. But you're going to have to stock up on more whisky.
Host:
Steve Hayward
Organization
Ricochet

December 2022

3 Whisky Happy Hour
3 Whisky Happy Hour

Michael Walsh: ‘Against the Great Reset’

We live in a time of "crisis addicts," in which the left cannot shake its addiction to what might be called "crisis porn." Remember Rahm Emanuel proclaiming in 2009, "Never let a good crisis go to waste"? He was merely stating openly what has been obvious for a century now—that governments use a "crisis" to expand its power and reach permanently, never entirely relinquishing new powers and higher spending after the crisis has passed. COVID was the ultimate crisis for progressives, because it was global in scope and allowed an appeal to "science" to bolster the vast new claims of authoritarian power over entire populations. The World Economic Forum called for a "Great Reset," in which our globalist elites would undertake to use the COVID pandemic to effect a wholesale restructuring of the world's economy, always along the dreamy utopian lines of failed socialist experiements everywhere. Michael Walsh assembled a lineup of writers to take on this monstrosity in Against the Great Reset: Eighteen Theses Contra the New World Order. I highly recommend this collection, which includes several of everyone's favorites, including Victor Davis Hanson, Michael Anton, David Goldman, and Angelo Codevilla. In this conversation, Michael and I depart from the merely economic and political questions to explore the deep cultural roots of the Great Reset, and why it is even more insidious than merely bad economic policy.
Host:
Steve Hayward
Organization
Ricochet

June 2018

3 Whisky Happy Hour
3 Whisky Happy Hour

Michael Walsh’s Fiery Angel

Steve Hayward talks this week with author Michael Walsh about his new book, The Fiery Angel: Art, Culture, Sex, Politics, and the Struggle for the Soul of the West. Walsh has encyclopedic knowledge of high culture from Homer to Rocky IV, with detours to opera, novels, fine art, and classical music along the way, revealing deep layers of political and cultural meaning and explaining why the cultural struggles of our time are the key to winning our political battles. He also throws down on the defects of the modern conservative movement.
Host:
Steve Hayward
Organization
Ricochet