Ricochet Podcast #518

The Home Stretch

91 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests Eli Steele, Shelby Steele & Susan Ferrechio

As you may be aware, we had a Presidential debate last night. The President did well, we all agree on that. Will it move the polls? Do the polls matter? We discuss. Then, Hoover’s Shelby Steele and his filmmaker son Eli Steele have made What Killed Michael Brown,  a provocative new documentary about race and the impact of the events in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. The film is streaming on Amazon (not without controversy — we discuss this on the show) and we implore everyone to watch it. Then, first time guest Susan Ferrechio, the Washington Examiner’s Chief Congressional Correspondent stops by to give us the low down on her mano-a-mano match with CNN’s Brian Stelter (take our advice and watch the clip) and discuss media bias the the prospects of holding the Senate and re-taking the House. Yes, we have a new LPoW courtesy of Jenna Stocker (and we remembered to add it to the description). Finally, a few thoughts on Jeffrey Toobin (we assure you that our Zoom call was squeaky clean), and we reveal why there are no pumpkins in the Robinson household.

Music from this week’s show: Susie Q by Creedence Clearwater Revival

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Ricochet Podcast #517

The Big Tech Election

103 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guest Kimberly Strassel

We’ve got some debates town halls to cover, we’ve got a good old fashioned social media shadow banning scandal, Joe Biden’s son is bad at influence peddling, we had a Supreme Court nominee sail through her hearing, and we get into the nitty gritty on the 1619 Project. But most importantly, we spend some quality time with Kim Strassel, she of the Wall Street Journal, and one of the most ardent supporters of the President. We of course talk about that with her, also the Senate, the previously mentioned big tech/media controversy.

Music from this week’s show: Amie by Pure Prarie League

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Ricochet Podcast

The Case for Trump: Victor Davis Hanson Makes The Closing Argument

69 COMMENTS
Hosted by Peter Robinson
With guest Victor Davis Hanson

With a little over three weeks to go before the election, we thought it would a good time to have a heart to heart discussion with our good friend Victor Davis Hanson. the Classics professor, the military historian, the farmer, the cultural observer, and the author of The Case For Trump, his best selling book that came out in 2017 and was re-issued earlier this year. It’s the most cogent case we’ve seen for the re-election of the President. In this one on one conversation, Peter Robinson takes Victor through all the reasons to cast a vote for Donald Trump and challenges Victor with a few reasons not to pull the lever for him. It’s an enlightening and informative hour and should be required listening (if we do say so ourselves) for all voters, especially those who are still undecided. Have at it.

 

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Ricochet Podcast #516

Meet The Press

183 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests Alex Berenson & Andrew Beaton

We know you like it when the hosts get into it and we know you like it when one of them gets triggered by a certain Chief Executive. So –no spoilers!– we think you’ll enjoy the opening segment of today’s Big Show. But stick around, because we want to introduce you to two members of the media we think you ought to be aware of. First up: Alex Berenson, once a card carrying member of the elite media (the New York Times) and now a novelist who does some independent journalism on the side. His work on COVID over the past six months (available on Twitter and on his website is not to be missed. Then, meet Andrew Beaton, who covers sports for the Wall Street Journal. His no nonsense reporting on COVID and sports and the impact of the social justice movement is not to be missed. But that’s not all: we’ve got a new Lileks Post of The Week, courtesy of @DoctorRobert (it’s about oboes). Finally, we lost a great one this week. Well, those of us who were aware  of him did. Guess which one of our podcasters is not really aware of the contributions to the culture Edward Van Halen left us?

Music from this week’s show: Dance The Night Away by Van Halen

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Ricochet Podcast #515

The Viral President

156 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests Casey Mattox, Dr. George Savage & Henry Olsen

The news cycle these days is crushing — warping time upon itself like a black hole. So how does America’s Most Balanced Podcast® respond? By booking a third guest, of course. On today’s lineup, we’ve got Casey Mattox;the Vice President for Legal and Judicial Strategy at Americans for Prosperity, a group dedicated to (among other things), getting Amy Coney Barrett through the nomination process. You can help by visiting their website UniteForBarrett.com and signing a letter that will be sent to your Senator. Do it! Then, our good friend (and fellow board member) Dr. George Savage stops by to give us an M.D.’s perspective on the President’s condition and what his course of treatment might be. Finally, Henry Olsen, he of the Horse Race podcast right here on this network visits and dispenses some punditry on how the President’s health may affect his re-election effort. No spoilers here, sorry. Finally, the Lileks Post of The Week is back and it’s a doozy: did Harry Truman actually approve the use of the use of the A-Bomb at the end of WWII or did the military just deploy like a new submarine or aircraft? We get into it and then some.

Music from this week’s show: Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)  by John Lennon

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Ricochet Podcast #514

Battlegrounds; Real and Imagined

335 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests H.R. McMaster & John Yoo

Another jam packed week means another jam packed show: We’ve got the Ricochet Podcast’s Senior Court Packing and Confirmation Correspondent, John Yoo to help us sort out the coming SCOTUS confirmation hearings, and we’ve got Lt. General H.R. McMaster, U.S. Army, ret. to talk about his new book, Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World. Also, a Ricochet Podcast Presidential Debate Preview and the weirdest Emmy’s ever.

Music from this week’s podcast: Roar by Katy Perry

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Ricochet Podcast #513

The COVID Doc and Tik-Tok

59 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guest Dr. Jay Bhattacharya

This week on America’s Most Benevolent Podcast®, another super-sized episode. First up, the Middle East is breaking out in…peace. That’s good, right? Well, depends who you ask. We discuss. Then, our good pal Dr. Jay Bhattacharya joins to bring us up to speed on the coming vaccine, the (very treacherous) intersection of politics and medicine, whether or not the lockdown was a mistake, and more. The Lileks Post of The Week makes its triumphant return with a terrific post by @kirkianwanderer, Say Goodnight, Blue Eyes”: George Burns on Best Friends. Finally, are you as confused about the social media app Tik-Tok as Peter Robinson? If so, Rob Long is here to explain it to you. Maybe he should make a short video about it?

Music from this week’s episode: What Time Is It by Marshall Crenshaw

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Ricochet Podcast #512

Senator Fix-It

148 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guest Ben Sasse

This week, the rare single guest show. But when that guest is Senator Ben Sasse, he has enough brain power to fill two segments and that’s exactly what the does on today’s episode. Mostly, we discuss his WSJ Op-Ed, Make The Senate Great Again, which is a manifesto on how to fix the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body. Also, some thoughts on Woodward v. Trump and the less than great mayor of the City That Never Sleeps.

Music from this week’s show: The Sand Hills of Old Nebraska by Ole Rasmussen

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Ricochet Podcast #511

Bad Hair Day

112 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests Michael Anton & Sally Jenkins

Well, it’s crunch time now: we’re into the final lap of the election and things are going to be intense for the next 8 weeks or so. But first, some personal business: one of our intrepid cast is sending his youngest child off to college. Is his purpose in life now over? We discuss. Then Mr. Flight 93 himself, Michael Anton joins to discuss his new book, The Stakes: America at the Point of No Return and to warn everyone that if Joe Biden wins, the country will turn into California (but without the weather, the beaches, and the surfing). For those of us who live in the Golden State, it’s a weird way to sell a book (it’s not that bad here), but hey, Michael’s gotta eat too. Then, something of a departure for America’s Most Beloved Podcast® — a sports segment! And if we’re going to do a sports segment, then we’re going to get one of the best in the business to help us. That would be the great Sally Jenkins — columnist for The Washington Post. We talk about college football, political activism in sports, and what’s it’s like to enter the family business when your dad was one of the all time legends. Finally, Nancy Pelosi gets a blowout and it blows up. Perfect.

Music from this week’s show: I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair by Ella Fitzgerald

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Ricochet Podcast #510

Conventional Thinking

134 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long

It’s the Republican National Convention week, or as pundits on the right call it — Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, and whatever other major holiday you want to thrown in there. We break it all down: the pluses, the minus, the hits and the misses. And we make some predictions for the next couple of months. As you’re hear, we recorded this show on Zoom in front of an audience of our beloved Ricochet members. We’ll be doing a few more of these on Zoom before the election, so if you’d like to participate, join us!

Music from this week’s show: Street Fighting Man by the Rolling Stones

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Ricochet Podcast #509

Say It Ain’t So, Joe

52 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests Gerald Baker & Victor Ashe

This week, Joe Biden accepts the Democratic nomination and we devote all of the opening segment to the just ended Democratic Convention. Then, this may sound a bit inside baseball (inside Ivy League baseball), but stick with it, because it has implications for cancel culture, affirmative action, and a host of other issues that stem from the way higher education is conducted in the U.S. We’re joined by Ambassador Victor Ashe, who is running for a seat on the Yale Corporation, the tightly controlled and opaque governing body that runs Yale University. The policies they institute have wide ranging implications for schools and for our culture at large. Then, WSJ columnist Gerald Baker joins us to discuss some of the topics he’s been writing about including defunding the police, the protests, and the Presidential election. We’ve got Ricochet member @jennastocker as this week’s LPoW winner for her post Minneapolis Isn’t Lost – Yet — we wonder why? Finally, some thoughts on Steve Bannon and the prospect of life returning to normal.

Music from this week’s show: the last great american dynasty by Taylor Swift

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Ricochet Podcast #508

Coconut Buttons

54 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests Mark Simon & Tevi Troy

We’ve got a new VP candidate, we’ve got Mark Simon (right hand man to Hong Kong freedom fighter Jimmy Lai), we’ve got historian Tevi Troy on political conventions (or the lack of them) and using songs for political rallies, we’ve got a warning on Blazing Saddles and we’ve got a Lileks Post of the Week (courtesy of Ricochet member Sage Wolkenfeld) about the importance of dressing well. That’s a pretty full show. What do you have for us?

Music from this week’s show: Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top

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Ricochet Podcast #507

The Crusaders

51 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests Michael Tracey & Thomas Madden

Last week, Rob Long and Peter Robinson found themselves in a disagreement about –not kidding– The Crusades. Well, one of the great things about having a very popular podcast is that you can get just about anyone to show up and adjudicate any dispute or question one might have. It’s basically like having Wikipedia on call. But more about that in a moment. Up first, independent journalist Michael Tracey had a radical idea: there was a lot of talk about the riots in the mainstream media, but almost no reporting on the aftermath and the human cost of the unrest. So he got in his car and did it himself. His story is very much worth your time, as is this conversation with him (thanks to Ricochet member @concretevol for the suggestion!). Then, as mentioned, we tracked down Professor Thomas Madden, aka the world’s foremost authority on The Crusades to determine who got it right. You’ll have to tune in to get the results. Also, @bossmongo wins the coveted LPoW badge this week, and are movie theaters history? We discuss.

Music from this week’s show: Ourselves To Know by Warren Zevon

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Ricochet Podcast #506

How You Doing?

30 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guest John Yoo

Tis week, James is blue, Peter is unplugged, Rob meets his political doppelgänger, John Yoo meets his hero, and Kevin Faulconer (the current Republican Mayor of San Diego) gets his shot on The Big Show. Also, Ricochet member @skipsul gets another turn as the Lileks Post of The Week, and the podcasters pick Biden’s VP.

Want still more Yoo? Join us next Wednesday at 7PM ET for virtual book party with John, hosted by Troy Senik on the occasion of the publication of his new book Defender in Chief: Donald Trump’s Fight for Presidential Power. Ask questions, get gardening tips, and more. See here for details.

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Ricochet Podcast #505

Get Schooled

67 COMMENTS
Hosted by Bethany Mandel, James Lileks, Peter Robinson
With guests Jason Riley & Luke Thompson

Hello faithful Ricochet Podcast listeners. It’s us. We have another show for you. It’s a good one. We have Ricochet Editor and Twitter celebrity Bethany Mandel sitting in for Rob Long. We have the WSJ’s Jason Riley as a guest. We have political strategist to the stars, Luke Thompson as the other guest. We also discuss aliens and Ricochet member Kephalithos wins this week LPoW for the very intriguing post American Architectural Geography: Part 1, Timing. It’s a good show. You should listen. And tell your friends. Because we want more listeners.

Music from this week’s episode: Gone Till November by Wyclef Jean

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Ricochet Podcast #504

The Long Game

69 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests Avik Roy & Bjørn Lomborg

Back this week with the full cast and another full show. We start with a deep dive on the Bari Weiss resignation and free speech in general. Then our favorite Denmark dude, Bjørn Lomborg joins to discuss his new book, How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet. and we give him a chance to rebut a very snarky New York Times review of said book. Happy to help, Bjorn. Then, our favorite health care wonk, Avik Roy (listen to his 2x a week Covid in 19 podcast — co-hosted by some guy we’ve ever heard of– for all the latest COVID news and analysis) drops by to school us why schools should stay open. Finally, yep it’s another Lileks Post of The Week, this time by Ricochet member Tocqueville, who has compiled a very good list of Bullsh*t words/expressions that have got to go! 2020 Edition. The guys add a few of their own, so please feel free to give us yours in the comments below. In the meantime, stay safe and mask it.

Music from this week’s show: Times Like These by Glen Campbell

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Ricochet Podcast #503

Everything Is Broken

323 COMMENTS
Hosted by Bethany Mandel, James Lileks, Rob Long
With guests Heather Mac Donald & Shermichael Singleton

We’re back after our 4th of July break (well, most of us are back — we have Ricochet Editor Bethany Mandel sitting in for the vacationing Peter Robinson) and we’ve got another super-sized episode to make up for our time off. First up, the always great Heather Mac Donald, who speaks truth to protestors like nobody else. Then, meet Shermichael Singleton, former political strategist, a former Deputy Chief of Staff at HUD, and a former member of the GOP. Shermichael tells us why he’s left the latter two organizations and it should be required listening at the RNC. Luckily for us, Shermichael is a current Ricochet podcaster and if you have not listened to the Speak-Easy podcast he co-hosts with Antonia Okafor, we highly recommend it. Also, a bit on the Harper’s free speech letter, the triumphant return of the Lileks Post of The Week, and Bethany has a new Twitter friend.

Music from this week’s show: Everything Is Broken by Bob Dylan

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Ricochet Podcast #502

School of Sowell

42 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests John Yoo & Thomas Sowell

About once a year, we get a visit from the master himself, the great Thomas Sowell. This year’s session is on the occasion of the publication of his new book, Charter Schools And Their Enemies  and more importantly, his 90th(!) birthday on June 30th. We talk about the success of charter schools despite the teacher’s union and America’s worst mayor doing everything they can to undermine them. Then Ricochet’s Senior Supreme Court and Legal Analyst John Yoo joins to break down last week’s curious DACA and Bostock decisions. Finally, some thoughts on statues.

We’re off next week for the holiday. Stay safe everyone!

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Ricochet Podcast #501

Sycophants and Brutuses

49 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests Abe Greenwald & Coleman Hughes

Another action packed show: Is the lockdown over or is this just intermission? Hey, did John Bolton write a book? Did the Supreme Court hand down some decisions?

Leading off our guest spots this week is Coleman Hughes who has been on our radar for a while. In this moment, we thought it was high time he was on your’s, too. Be sure and read his essay Stories and Data: Reflections on race, riots, and police at City Journal as we discuss on the show. His other essays are also well worth your time.

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Ricochet Podcast

500: Lick The Sugar

90 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guest Roland Fryer

Milestones — they seem so important when they’re far away and then you arrive at them and then it suddenly doesn’t seem such a big deal. At the start of the year, we had some big plans to mark this achievement (if that’s what you can call it), but then the lockdown happened, and well, the rest is…But, don’t fear — we actually put together a great show with a great guest: Roland Fryer, Professor of Economics at Harvard –making his Ricochet Podcast debut. His studies on changing the behavior of cops and racial differences in police use of deadly force are the gold standard and are used by police departments all over the world to write policies on training and engagement with civilians. It’s a fascinating conversation. We also do some reminiscing, some teasing, and some looking ahead to the next 500 (!) shows. Thanks for listening, sticking with us, and for all the thousands of great comments. We’ll do this again in 2030.

Music from this week’s show: The Proclaimers – I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)

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