The Ricochet Podcast #718

Pardon Yoo!

16
Hosted by Charles C.W. Cooke, James Lileks & Peter Robinson
With guest John Yoo

John Yoo returns to discuss a lotta legal stuff this week. He talks presidential pardons, Daniel Penny, United States v. Skrmetti and the murder of UnitedHealth’s CEO in Midtown Manhattan.

Plus, after an extra-long Thanksgiving season hiatus, the boys are back with much to be grateful for.

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #717

Guilty Pleasures

5412
Hosted by Charles C.W. Cooke, James Lileks & Steve Hayward
With guest Andy McCarthy

About what President Trump is planning to put in his cabinet… Lileks, Cooke and Hayward have opinions on the digestibility of some of the picks. They’re joined by Andy McCarthy to discuss the stunning nomination of Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, and the gang gets into what Trump will need for his cleanup on aisle DC.

 

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #716

Return of the Working Class Republican

1011
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson & Steve Hayward
With guest Henry Olsen

Who better to talk to on our post-election victory lap episode than the man who saw it coming? Henry Olsen joins after proving correct in his daring prediction in the New York Post of a Trump-led red wave. We get into how he called it and his detailed post-op report. We also give him the chance to take off his analyst cap to do a little rooting for the team. And, of course, we get into his 2017 book, The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism, where he posited that the unlikely figure of Donald Trump was returning the Republican Party to the foundations that the Gipper laid out.

 

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #715

Higher Ground with Andrew Klavan

58
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson & Steve Hayward
With guest Andrew Klavan

It’s the last episode before the election, and given the anxiousness surrounding this cycle, we’ve recruited Andrew Klavan to bring his good cheer, wit and wisdom to put us at ease. We get his take on the race and field a few predictions, along with his perspective on America’s cultural whirlwind—everything from the suffusion of the arts and tech to modern manhood and the search for enduring truth. (Plus, you’ll want to pick up the latest copy of his just-published novel, A Woman Under Ground.)

Peter, Steve and James also make what they can of the latest moves in the polls, and tack on a couple predictions of their own.

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #714

Alpha, Omega… and all the Letters in Between

711
Hosted by James Lileks, Rob Long & Steve Hayward

Rob’s back!

He takes a break from Biblical Greek to catch up with a few of his favorite laypeople. He gives James and Steve his early impressions of the coursework and classmates at Princeton Theological Seminary. Then the trio moves onto our favorite events since we’ve last seen the future father: the post-Brat Summer letdown for Harris and the left’s resurrection of their favorite f-word for Republicans; the meltdown over Trump’s shift at McDonald’s; and the Daily Wire’s latest hit documentary—candid camera done right!

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #713

A Bad Time To Be At War With Ourselves

957
Hosted by Charles C.W. Cooke, Peter Robinson & Steve Hayward
With guest H.R. McMaster

We can debate all we want about the Doomsday Clock’s latest setting, but one needn’t be a foreign policy expert to know our proximity to midnight is too close for comfort. As it happens, though, we have a foreign policy expert (and soldier) with us today. H.R. McMaster returns to discuss the dangerous moment we’re in, what needs to be done with the precious time available, and why American officials need to stop fighting each other and concentrate on the enemies gathering at the gates. (Be sure to order his excellent new book: At War With Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House.)

Plus, Peter, Steve and Charlie marvel at the multifaceted Musk; pick apart Harris’s performance in her interview with Brett Baier; and rejoice at another small sign that DEI is falling out of favor even among the sophists.

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #712

The Forces & the Fracas

3610
Hosted by Charles C.W. Cooke, James Lileks & Steve Hayward
With guests Charles McElwee & Tevi Troy

This week we cover a handful of great tug-of-war games, past, present, and future. Charles McElwee, founding editor of RealClearPennsylvania, returns to the podcast to give an election season tour of the swingy Keystone State. Next, Tevi Troy joins for a discussion about the epic clashes between America’s masters of the universe and their presidents. (Be sure to get a copy of his new book, The Power and the Money.)

Steve, Charlie and James also chatter about Florida’s latest roaringly windy Wednesday, and end on the neutral note of AI symphonies.

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #711

Screed Adjacent

1810
Hosted by Charles C.W. Cooke, James Lileks & Peter Robinson
With guest Eli Lake

With Israel’s stunning string of victories over its enemies and the approaching anniversary of October 7th, Eli Lake returns to the Ricochet Podcast. He gives his take on the reasons for the administration’s dithering support and rallies for the West to give its ally the greenlight!

Plus, Charlie, Peter and James discuss the Veep debate, the averted longshoremen’s strike and an ineffective Federal Emergency Management Agency… We count three rants out of Charlie Cooke.

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #710

Virtual Extinction

208
Hosted by Charles C.W. Cooke, James Lileks & Peter Robinson
With guest Christine Rosen

The mediating technologies of the new century were welcomed as wonderous life enhancers. A few decades later, we often talk about how the devices we can’t put down poison our culture, politics, and relationships. Christine Rosen joins to discuss her new book, The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World. (Don’t let the title scare you off! Christine brings good cheer and a few ideas for a “human things initiative” that can save our skin.)

Plus, Peter, Charlie and James chat about the distinct experiences one has walking the streets of New York, riding out a hurricane, or road-tripping across the nation in search of America’s best rollercoaster.

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #709

The Return of Robinson

2214
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson & Steve Hayward

Peter’s back!

After a whole summer away, he, James, and Steve have quite a bit to catch up on. What more is there to say?

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #708

Citizens on the Move

2010
Hosted by Charles C.W. Cooke, James Lileks & Steve Hayward
With guest Joel Kotkin

The contemporary social planner seems to favor all sorts of peoples’ movements—except for the kind that involves automobiles, driven by citizens away from dense urban cores into the suburbs that they can afford. Today, Joel Kotkin (author of The Human City and The Coming of Neo-Feudalism) joins the podcast to discuss the new class of urbanists who brim with ideas for a city that won’t work for the people meant to occupy them.

Plus, Steve, James and Charlie quibble over Tuesday’s debate, and they reflect on yet another 9/11 anniversary.

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #707

A Warning Against Nihilism

139
Hosted by Charles C.W. Cooke & James Lileks
With guest Henry Olsen

They say Labor Day marks the ordinary American’s starting point for following a particular election cycle, setting off a scramble for undecides by campaigners and a busy couple of months for pollsters. Henry Olsen returns to discuss where things stand in the presidential race as we head toward the first debate; he offers some potential outcomes that will determine the extent of the Republican majority in the Senate; and he expands on his piece about the populist parties’ successes in eastern Germany, explaining “Ostalgie,” and detailing the adjustments mainstream parties will have to make if they want to maintain stability in the West.

Plus, James and Charlie are emphatically pro-Churchill.

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #706

That IS so B’crat

4715
Hosted by Charles C.W. Cooke, James Lileks & Steve Hayward
With guest Andy McCarthy

It’s a big legal stuff week for Donald Trump. Naturally, we phoned our pal Andy McCarthy. Andy brings breaking news on Judge Merchan’s sentencing schedule, his hot take on Jack Smith’s superseding indictment in the election interference case, and adds a detailed reaction to Mark Zuckerberg’s admission of acquiescing to censorship pressure from government officials.

Plus: Charlie, Steve, and James weigh in on Harris’s airy interview, wonder (again) who’s running the country, and ramble on the many curiosities to be found in Iceland—from cute cuisine and baffling museums to monuments of the anonymous meddlers that make up the amorphous blob.

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #705

An Enema Election

127
Hosted by James Lileks, Rob Long & Steve Hayward

The Democratic National Convention Dance Party has come to a close. Now that they’ve had time to overcome the disappointment that Beyonce didn’t show, Steve, James, and Rob are left wondering: can the left pull off the continuity/new path forward message they’ve settled on?

Plus, with Rob back, we’re treated to a story about his attempt to win the ’92 election with the help of Murphy Brown and Rush Limbaugh; along with a few tips for making it out of the Amazon fully intact.

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #704

Coming Up Empty Explicit

3215
Hosted by Charles C.W. Cooke, James Lileks & Steve Hayward

We’ve heard it said, “Go woke, go broke,” but is it really panning out that way? This week Fox Business’s Charles Gasparino joins James, Steve, and Charlie Cooke to say exactly that in his fittingly titled book Go Woke, Go Broke: The Inside Story of the Radicalization of Corporate America. 

Plus, our hosts break down the absurdity of Kamala Harris’s economic proposals and joyful gaslighting; they enjoy basking in the warm summer sun, and challenge Ricochet members—and extend an open invitation to prospective members—to a friendly game of Fantasy Football.

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #703

Minnesota Not-So-Nice

7713
Hosted by "Lucretia", James Lileks & Steve Hayward
With guest John Hinderaker

There’s a lot of joy in the air. Or so we’re told by the Jolly Dad VP nominee Tim Walz. To step past the vibes for a moment, we talk with John H. Hinderaker, president of the Minneapolis-based Center of the American Experiment. He takes us through the methods and policies of Governor Walz, which reveal a less-than-pleasant character.

Plus, he sticks around with James, Steve, and “Lucretia” to discuss the 50th anniversary of Richard Nixon’s departure from the White House.

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #702

On the Shoulders of Giants

11413
Hosted by James Lileks, Rob Long & Steve Hayward
With guest Yuval Levin

Yuval Levin joins James, Rob and John Yoo to remind us of the Constitution’s unifying purpose in the era of polarization and mutually held suspicions between the parties. His latest book, American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation―and Could Again, disputes the prevailing pessimism as well as passive optimism, settling instead on a hopeful case for American coalition building.

Plus, the hosts discuss Kamala Harris’s strange campaign strategy of running on “her” record, wonder why the kids are skeptical of abundance, and consider the appeal of 15-minute cities.

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #701

In the Demo

5113
Hosted by James Lileks, Rob Long & Steve Hayward
With guest Ruy Teixeira

Back in 2002, Ruy Teixeira took note of demographic trends that spelled good news for the Democratic Party’s 21st-century prospects. Just two decades after the release of The Emerging Democratic Majority, he found himself wondering something else: Where Have All the Democrats Gone?  With what appears to be the coronation of Kamala Harris, he and the gang consider how pessimism, disorderliness, and faculty lounge talk have thrown America’s political coalitions for a loop.

Plus: Steve, James, and Rob finally get a chance to respond to the news that broke shortly after they wrapped last week; they make a couple of predictions for the VP’s VP pick; and James calls on all Ricochet rhythmists to send the songs! (Buck Dharma kicks things off with “End of Every Song”)

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #700

This Is How We Talk

3114
Hosted by James Lileks, Rob Long & Steve Hayward
With guest Ann Coulter

Another crazy week in American politics, another milestone. The Ricochet Podcast hits the 700-episode mark, and the chatter continues. Ann Coulter drops in — more briefly than expected, due to technical issues — to give us her hot take on the Republican National Convention. Then James, Steve, and Rob debate the Republican platform for the 21st century, find common ground on brass bands and Doric columns, and reflect on the passing of Bob Newhart.

– Opening sound this week: Trump makes his acceptance speech, Fox 32 (Chicago) talks polling.

Preview Open
The Ricochet Podcast #699

The Republican Edge

57
Hosted by James Lileks, Rob Long & Steve Hayward
With guest Henry Olsen

Joe Biden is adamant about staying in the race. It’s a fitting move for the leader of a party that has lost its long-held advantage in voter identification. Beyond the Polls host Henry Olsen joins James, Rob and Steve Hayward to dive into the Democratic Party’s dilemma, the global political realignment, and the here-to-stay Populist Era.

– This week’s audio: A trio of Biden gems in a week full of them.

Preview Open