For this episode, Jay has a co-host – not just any co-host, as he says, but THE co-host: Mona Charen, of “Need to Know” fame. Jay asked her to join him, because, as he says, his guest was too large – too capacious of mind and activity – to be questioned by just one person.

That guest is Roger Scruton, the British philosopher, novelist, composer, etc. He has written more than 40 books, the latest of which is a novel, “The Disappeared.”

Mona and Jay take advantage of him to run a gamut of questions – about art, beauty, architecture, music, democracy, global warming, gay marriage, Israel, education, drugs, America, and conservatism.

Elliott Abrams was a State Department official under Reagan and a key White House staffer under George W. Bush. He is now with the Council on Foreign Relations (no doubt improving the place considerably).

As Jay says in this podcast, presidents and other powerful people have wanted the benefit of this man’s thinking, and so does he – so does Jay. The two talk chiefly about Iran, and also about Cuba, Russia, China, and the U.S. presidency.

After the taping, Jay remarked, “You know, I want to listen to this podcast myself – to hear it again, in order to absorb Elliott’s analysis and words.” This is a highly valuable half-hour with one of the clearest foreign-policy thinkers in America.

Dana Perino is a star of Fox News — a co-host of “The Five.” She was press secretary to George W. Bush. She is the author of a best-selling new book: “And the Good News Is . . .: Lessons and Advice from the Bright Side.” And she is Jay’s guest on this latest “Q&A.”

They talk about a smorgasbord, including Republicans, Democrats, Bushes, Obama, the media, and the current GOP field. Also, Dana talks a little music — she was once a country-western DJ.

According to Jay, Dana is one of America’s Sweethearts. (The title was first held by Mary Pickford, who was born in Canada. Dana is true-blue — a Wyomingite and Coloradan.)

Jay’s guest today is Brad Thor, the writer of best-selling thrillers. (His latest is Code of Conduct.) More than a thriller-writer, Thor is an expert in defense, national security, and so on. He and Jay talk about Greece, Iran, ISIS, Afghanistan . . .

They talk about Edward Snowden. (Thor is not a fan, to put it very mildly.) They talk about the 2016 presidential election. (Thor has a horse.) And they talk about the thrill of thriller-writing.

As Jay says at the end, it’s a joy to have a conversation with Brad Thor, even when the subjects are dark or apocalyptic.

Jay’s guest is Zineb El Rhazoui, a Moroccan journalist. She is a reporter for Charlie Hebdo. This is the Parisian magazine – satirical, left-wing, and atheist – that was attacked last January by Islamists. Two brothers named Kouachi massacred twelve people. Rhazoui was not there that day. She was on vacation.

She returned to Charlie Hebdo, for a few reasons. One of them, as she told Jay, was solidarity. “I owe something to my colleagues. I can’t abandon them. It’s my duty as a survivor, I think.”

Islamists are furious that they missed killing Rhazoui last January, and they have vowed to hunt her down until she is dead. Rhazoui lives with a permanent security detail. She rarely sleeps in the same place two nights in a row. She is an extraordinary person living an extraordinary and daunting life. She has important things to say to everyone, no matter what one’s political or religious beliefs.

At the beginning of this podcast, Jay says roughly the following: “Norman Podhoretz and Bill Buckley had the greatest influence on me, politically. But I absolve both of them of responsibility for my errors.”

In the course of this ’cast, Jay talks with N. Pod. about matters literary, political, and personal. They start with Shakespeare – and go on to Yeats, Dickens, and some other fellows (including a non-fellow with the name of a fellow: George Eliot).

They then talk about Vietnam, and its terrible meaning. Which leads to Iraq, Iran, etc.

Today, Jay is joined by an old friend, Tucker Carlson, the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Caller, the co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend.” They talk on the air pretty much as they do in private: about the media, about personalities, about politics, and so on.

Jay asks, in effect, “Is global warming a hoax?” And, “What happened to Harry Reid’s face?” And, “Is California over?”

At the end of the ’cast, Jay remarks that talking with Tucker is like popping happy pills or something. See if you agree.

Suleiman Bakhit is a guest of the Oslo Freedom Forum. He is a Jordanian entrepreneur – the son of a prime minister – who has created a line of comic books. His aim is to give young people a sense of heroism apart from bin Laden, Zarqawi, and that crowd. He has been slashed in the face for his troubles. He is an interesting man who has led an interesting life who has interesting things to say – whether one agrees with them or not.

Jay Nordlinger spoke with him in Oslo last week.

Jay has been working at the Oslo Freedom Forum, the annual human-rights conference in Norway. Among the many attendees is Marina Nemat: a onetime political prisoner in Iran, now a human-rights champion. As Jay explains, she was born in 1965 and was 13 when the Khomeinist revolution triumphed. She was sassy at school – wanting to learn such subjects as math rather than Khomeini-style theology – and was arrested at 16. She spent more than two years in Evin Prison, that dungeon, that nightmare of rape, torture, and murder.

Since the early 1990s, she has lived in Canada, and has written “Prisoner of Tehran” and “After Tehran: A Life Reclaimed.” She is an extraordinary and inspiring woman. Ms. Nemat and Jay have known each other for several years, and they talk over some of the key issues, personal, national, and international.

Q and A, hosted by Jay Nordlinger is now on iTunes! Subscribe here. Also, now on Stitcher here! Or get every show we produce courtesy of Ricochet’s Super Feed. Get it here.

Jay’s guest today is Lou Cannon, the veteran political journalist – formerly with the Washington Post. He is renowned as a Reagan biographer. He also wrote what is surely the finest book on the L.A. riots of 1992. With Jay, he talks about Obama, Baltimore, the media, Reagan, 2016, and more. There’s a lot of experience packed into what he says.

Yes, Q and A, hosted by Jay Nordlinger is now on iTunes! Subscribe here. Also, now on Stitcher here! Or get every show we produce courtesy of Ricochet’s Super Feed. Get it here.

Jay’s guest today is Bob Ehrlich, the former governor of Maryland. He is a Baltimore-area kid, a Reagan Republican, and a straight-talker. With Jay, he talks about what ails Baltimore, what ails America, and what we can do to get back to health. A lot of people find Ehrlich a breath of fresh air. Chances are you will too. Check him out.

P.S. He may – just may – run a dark-horse candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination.

Yes, Q and A, hosted by Jay Nordlinger is now on iTunes! Subscribe here. Also, now on Stitcher here! Or get every show we produce courtesy of Ricochet’s Super Feed. Get it here.

Jay’s latest guest is Daniel Hannan, the British politician and writer. There is an election coming up in the U.K. Jay asks about that, and a lot more.

Why are there so many writers — and crack writers, such as Hannan — in British politics? Is Hannan British or English? Or both?

What are conservatives to think of David Cameron, the Conservative leader? How red is “Red Ed” Miliband, the Labour leader?

Jay’s guest today is Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the congresswoman from Miami, born in Cuba. Naturally, she and Jay talk about an issue of the hour: the United States, led by Obama, and Cuba, led by a Castro (as since 1959). But they also talk about the main issue of the hour: Iran and the Bomb. They further talk about Jeb ’n’ Marco. Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen has known them both and represented them both for many years. (They are her constituents.) She also loves them both. But she has endorsed one of them (Jeb).

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is one of the most extraordinary people in Congress: petite and feminine, sparkling and kind — but tough as nails, especially on America’s enemies. Get to know her, if you don’t already, in this half-hour with Jay.

Yes, Q and A, hosted by Jay Nordlinger is now on iTunes! Subscribe here. Also, now on Stitcher here! Or get every show we produce courtesy of Ricochet’s Super Feed. Get it here.

At Jay’s prompting, Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) does a tour d’horizon: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Russia . . . Everywhere, there is danger. Everywhere, the United States has choices to make. The senator also talks about the Bergdahl swap: President Obama’s trade of five Taliban leaders for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, now charged with desertion.

Then there is the question of our defenses: Are they dangerously low, as many claim, or are they adequate to our needs? How about Edward Snowden, Russia’s American guest? Yesterday, some admirers put up a bust of him in a New York park.

Cotton also discusses the Obama presidency, the state of the GOP, and, at the end, a little basketball (for he was a hoopster, “a high-school hero and college zero,” he says). In his range, curiosity, and energy, Senator Tom Cotton is something rare on today’s scene.

Jay’s guest today is Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), the majority leader. The first question borrows phrasing from Hillary Clinton: What difference does it make? What difference does having a majority in the Senate make, given that the other party has the presidency?

Another question is: Are you a right-wing extremist, as the Left charges, or an Establishment marshmallow, as the Right charges? (McConnell says the Left is right.)

Also on the agenda are Iran, immigration, majority leaders past, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Rand Paul, Ronald Reagan, and basketball in the state of Kentucky.

Jay’s guest is Mark Helprin, who is not to be confused with Mark Halperin. This Mark is the novelist, foreign-affairs analyst, and political writer – the author of “Winter’s Tale,” “A Soldier of the Great War,” and many other acclaimed books. He and Jay have known each other for a long time, and discussed the issues with each other for an equally long time. Today’s topics include Iran, Israel, Obama, ISIS, and the state of our culture. As you can see, there’s nothing small on the table, but there are a few nice asides, regardless.

Q and A, hosted by Jay Nordlinger is now on iTunes! Subscribe here. Or get every show we produce courtesy of Ricochet’s Super Feed. Get it here.

Welcome to “Q&A,” a podcast hosted by Jay Nordlinger. Jay will be handling the “Q” part; a variety of guests will be handling the “A” part. On occasion, Jay may be doing some answering himself.

“Q&A” will be weekly, more or less. Some weeks will have more than one episode; some weeks will be without episodes. The show will be fairly regular, regardless.

The guest in this inaugural episode is Garry Kasparov, the great chess champion, Russian democrat, and human-rights defender. (Garry says to Jay, “You mean ‘democrat’ with a small ‘d,’ right?” Right.) The discussion concerns Putin, the Nemtsov murder, Ukraine, and other subjects. Jay asks the old, old question, “Do Russians desire a democracy?” At the end, the conversation turns to Kasparov’s original game, chess.