Ricochet Podcast #489

The One We Did On Video

22 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guest Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D.

Strange times call for improvisation and trying new things. So this week The Ricochet Podcast isn’t just a podcast, it’s also a Zoom webinar (sorry, the video is only for Ricochet members — not a member? Join today!). See James Lileks’ secret TV studio designed by a dyslexic! Rob Long owns and prominently displays Communist propaganda! Peter Robinson is wearing a sweater! Wait, that’s not a surprise. OK, he’s floating above San Francisco bay! But enough about the video, more importantly, we’ve got a great guest this week: Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine at the Stanford Medical School, Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. He explains why the numbers we’re seeing may not tell the entire story of this pandemic. Also, a new Lileks Post of The Week, My Life as a Google End User, some thoughts about life as we now know it, and some cameo appearances from some actual Ricochet members!

Music From This Week’s Show: Sitting In My Room by The Ramones

More
Ricochet Podcast #488

Life During Wartime

172 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests Arthur Brooks & Debra Saunders

Settle in, shelter-in-placers, we’ve got another super-sized (and shall we say, impassioned) edition of the Ricochet Podcast. In addition to the robust debaters, we’ve got Deb Saunders (self-quarantined from an undisclosed location) and Arthur Brooks who provides some much needed optimism in these dark days.

Music from this week’s show: Life During Wartime by Talking Heads

More
Ricochet Podcast #487.5

Special Ricochet Podcast: Dr. George Savage

15 COMMENTS
Hosted by Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guest Dr. George Savage

With the country on virtual lockdown and many, many unanswered questions about the Corona Virus, we thought it was a good idea to do a stand alone podcast with our good friend and the most knowledgeable medical person we know (and full disclosure: Ricochet Board Member), Dr. George Savage. Rob Long, and later, Peter Robinson ask the questions on this show, but later in the week, we’ll open to the floor up to you and let you ask Dr. Savage. Stay tuned for a post soliciting questions. In the meantime, listen to this show and stay safe.

More
Ricochet Podcast #487

The President of The Midwest

88 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests John Yoo & Mitch Daniels

This week on the pioneering social distanced produced podcast (we are all at least several hundred miles apart), we of course talk about the virus that went viral. And fair warning: there is some criticism of the President in this show. We also call on our old friend, Purdue University President Mitch Daniels, who in an alternate universe, is probably enjoying his second term as President of the United States. P.S. you should read Andy Ferguson’s terrific profile of him in The Atlantic.We talk to him about the virus (natch), how he’s keeping tuition at Purdue under $10K, and the challenges of running a large community in this day and age. Then, the 4th Ricochet Podcaster (as he’s now known), John Yoo stops by to talk about the legalities of governments taking over hotels and medical facilities to treat coronavirus patients. Finally, more talk about life in the Age of Corona and James gives some tips on buying toilet paper.

More
Ricochet Podcast #486

My Corona

79 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, John Yoo, Peter Robinson
With guests Dr. George Savage & Henry Olsen

Rob Long is off this week, Law Talk’s John Yoo is sitting in. We’ve got Henry Olsen (he of The Horse Race podcast right here on this network) to chat about Super Duper Tuesday, Joementum!,  and whether we’ve seen the last of the Socialist. Then, our friend and advisor Dr. George Savage stops by the tell us all about the Corona Virus — who’s got it, who doesn’t, what we can do about it and what we can’t. Yes, we’re sick of this topic too. Also, Chuck Schumer says something dumb, why are so many old white guys running for higher office, are some people are too damn sensitive, and another edition of What Are You Watching?

Music from this week’s show: My Sharona by The Knack

More
Ricochet Podcast #485

The Most Interesting Virus in the World

44 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests Luke Thompson & Michael Shellenberger

The main topic? What else? The Coronavirus, which is roiling everything from the markets to the political arena and beyond. The Vice President is the new point man.

Then we get down to the nitty gritty of the race for the Democratic nomination with Luke Thompson and talk to a sensible Democrat about the environment as we’re joined by the President of Environmental Progress, Michael Shellenberger, on why nuclear power is the way to go and his new book, Apocalypse Never.

More
Ricochet Podcast #484

Pardon Us

59 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Jon Gabriel, Rob Long
With guests Cristina Hoff Sommers & John Tierny

Gotta make this brief as we are very, very busy around here: Peter Robinson? Not here this week. Jon Gabriel sits in for him. It’s really cold in NYC today. We break down the dumpster fire Democratic debate. Then, author and New York Times science writer (no that’s not a typo) John Tierny on his book The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It .  We’re positive you are going to like it. Then, our pal Christina Hoffs Sommers from the Femsplainers podcast stops by to talk about Harvey Weinstein, Democratic primary candidate wackiness (and woke-i-ness) and why she thinks Bernie Sanders will be the nominee. Finally, pardon us, but we have to discuss the pardons, and Jon Gabriel humblebrags about reading some really old books. Yawn.

Music from this week’s show: Rose Garden by Lynn Anderson

More
Ricochet Podcast #483

Everybody Must Get Stone

64 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests John Yoo & Yuval Levin

Yeah, it another really busy week in the Ricochet Podcast Extended Universe (or as we like to call it, RIPEU, or repoo): we had a primary, some candidates drop out the race, we had a former Trump campaign advisor sentencing blow up into a fight between the President and his Attorney General. But we decided to ignore all of that (for at least about 70% of the show) and focus on other matters. First we have a discussion about why things are actually pretty great right now, premised on Ross Douthat’s upcoming book The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success (Ross will be on the show in March to defend himself).

Then, we continue ignoring current events as the great Yuval Levin stops by to discuss institutions and why we need them (you’ll want to buy his book, A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream). It’s a fascinating conversation, completely devoid of any controversy involving a Tweet. Ahhhh, take me away Calgon. But, all of that bliss comes to a crashing halt when Ricochet Podcast Senior Justice Department and Legal Pundit John Yoo calls in from the tub in his hotel room (not kidding!) to discuss the Barr/Trump/Stone controversy of the moment. Guess we had to do that? Also, Rob Long moonlights on yet another podcast to discuss his hobbies. We recommend it. Finally, mazel tov to @bucknelldad, he’s the winner of the highly coveted Lileks Post of The Week, for his French Court Scrambles the Debate Over What is “GMO” in Foods post. Magnifiqué, mon ami.

More
Ricochet Podcast #482

The Greatest Week

112 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests Debra Saunders & Michael Graham

A debacle in Iowa, a triumphant State of The Union speech, a rip-off, a socialist, a small town mayor with a big win — you name it, we discuss it on this week’s edition of The Big Show, aka The Ricochet Podcast. To help us sort through it all, we’ve got the great Deb Saunders, White House correspondent for the Las Vegas Review Journal, and Mr. New Hampshire himself, Michael Graham (listeners, please send him some decaf– he needs it). Also, come on down, Ricochet member @nohaaj! You’ve got the highly coveted, much sought after Lileks Post of The Week. Finally, a White House speechwriter reviews the SOTU speech, another Long Poll Question®, and we close with another edition of What Are You Watching? What are you watching? Let us know in the comments.

Music from this week’s show: My Generation by The Zimmers

More
Ricochet Podcast #481

Can I Get A Witness?

43 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests John Yoo & Kimberly Strassel

Do not adjust your podcast app or web browser, you are in fact seeing this week’s Ricochet Podcast drop a day early. And we’ve got a good one for you: Chief Impeachment Pundit John Yoo stops by to grade Alan Dershowitz’s impeachment defense arguments and then The Wall Street Journal’s Kim Strassel gives no you-know-what’s about the Democrats and their tactics. Also, our crew punditizes (we just made that word up) on the Middle East, Lileks gives Post of The Week honors to @henrycastaigne for his Epic Crossover Event: Dr. Who Battles the Gods of the Copybook Headings, we’ve got a new Long Poll question, and a new jingle! 

Music from this week’s episode: Can I Get A Witness by Marvin Gaye

More
Ricochet Podcast #480

A Blast From The Past

110 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guest Henry Olsen

You asked for more face time with The Founders®, and here it is: our first Question Time show of 2020 (there will be more!). We cover some Ricochet history, get into a feisty debate about abortion, take a brief break with Henry Olsen, host of our new Horse Race podcast to make some hay (see what we did there?) on impeachment and some key Senate races. Also, Lileks opines on the new Star Trek series, and the hosts pick a historical moment they’d like to visit once we achieve a critical mass of members (what are YOU waiting for? Join today!).

Thanks for all the great questions, Ricochet members!

More
Ricochet Podcast #479

Benignly Pompous

49 COMMENTS
Hosted by Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guest Niall Ferguson

Now that impeachment is upon us we thought we’d let the guys do a long segment (that’s not a euphemism) on it themselves. Then, Niall Ferguson joins to explain why the Trump administration is like the Corleone family, but trust us — he means this as a compliment (calm down and read the column, MAGA folks). We go celestial with this week’s Lileks Post of The Week Winning the Cosmic Lottery by @brycecarmony. Are we alone? Give us your take in the comments. And finally, the Attorney General wants Apple to create a back door to our phones. Since we always forget to lock the back door, we tend to think this is a bad idea. How about you?

Music from this week’s show: You Ain’t The Problem by Michael Kiwanuka

More
Ricochet Podcast #478

One Hit Wonders

52 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, John Yoo, Peter Robinson
With guest Luke Thompson

Welcome to the first podcast of the new decade*, the new year, and Ricochet’s 10th anniversary year! Great, we won’t have to write that again. This week, Ricochet Podcast Chief Impeachment Pundit and McRib Analyst John Yoo sits in for Rob Long to parse impeachment, the legal issues surrounding the Iran crisis, and we’ve got Luke Thompson, the Smartest Political Consultant in America in the guest slot to give us an overview on Iowa, New Hampshire, Bernie-mentum, how the Republican hold the Senate and maybe even take back the House. Finally, thanks to @gumbymark‘s post One-Hit Wonders of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s  (this week’s Lileks Post of The Week winner) we choose our favorite one hitters. What’t yours? Also, Megxit is a thing and we tell you why it probably won’t happen.

Music from this week’s show: I Ran (So Far Away) by A Flock of Seagulls

More
Ricochet Podcast #477

Happy Seasons!

38 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests Byron York & Joseph Bottum

It’s our last podcast for 2019, (but evidently not the last one of the decade) and we do our best to cover the ridiculous and the sublime. For the former, we call upon the Washington Examiner’s Byron York, the leading authority on all things impeachment (you should also be listening to his podcast which this week features a fascinating interview with Devin Nunes). We get the skinny on all of the machinations, strategizing, gamesmanship, and a prediction on the longterm effects (spoiler alert: nothing). Also, do not ask Byron about the robo-calling bill Congress just passed, because he doesn’t know a damn thing about it. OK?

Then, a total gear shift as we are joined by Joseph (or if you are friends with him, Jody) Bottum, the author, poet, and all around oracle on all things Christmas (visit his Amazon page and buy a few of his stories, won’t you?). Needless to say, it’s a much deeper and spiritual conversation than the one in the first half of the show.

More
Ricochet Podcast #476

Boris and Blighty’s Big Day

63 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests John Yoo & Toby Young

Around these parts, we strive to provide Class A Punditry® no matter where in the world the news happens. So this week, we jump across the pond to cover last night’s stunning Tory victory in the Mother Country. To do that, we call on our mate Toby Young (he of the London Calling podcast, aka Great Britain’s fastest growing chat show) who takes us through all of the machinations and expectations of this historic election. Then, it’s back home where we get a visit from our newly minted Ricochet Podcast Chief Impeachment Pundit, Professor John Yoo, esq. (if you’re not listening to his Law Talk with Epstein & Yoo and Pacific Century podcasts, you are missing out). The Professor takes us through the week’s events with lots of legal insight and analysis with no spin. We wish our good pal Pat Sajak a speedy recovery by awarding the highly coveted Lileks Post of The Week badge to @PHCheese for his post Get Well Fast Pat Sajak and we’ve got a new Long Poll question for you. Finally, Rob attends a Christmas party with a bunch of frogs, Peter is rocking out on Handel, and Lileks will blow your snow if you ask him. Leave your requests in the comments.

Music from this week’s show: Rose of England by Nick Lowe

More
Ricochet Podcast #475

Unexpectedly High Jobs, Way Down to Louisiana

32 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests Bobby Jindal & John Yoo

Bobby Jindal, former governor of Louisiana, stops by to talk to the full crew about How Trump Wins the Populist Patriots and how that particular group has been ill served by Democrats and Republicans alike and what Republicans can do to win their support. The Jobs Report is out with “unexpectedly high” numbers: 266,000 new non-farm jobs. Remember when the reports were always “unexpectedly low” under Obama? Rob attempts to explain why Obama is responsible for Trump’s great economy even though he hedges his bets by saying presidents can’t control the economy. Then John Yoo, detainee at UC Berkeley, joins the podcast, again, to talk impeachment. John has the most beautiful suggestion for what Trump should do, should there be an impeachment trial in the Senate. You’ll want to hear this one because it’s a winner. Big league. And if you disagree, let us know in the comments.

Finally, congratulations to @garymcvey for winning the prestigious Lileks Post of the Week competition for his post, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service: This Never Happened to the Other Fellow. We only hand out 52 of these per year, folks.

More
Ricochet Podcast #474

The Washington Nationalists

40 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson

We’re down a homme this week (details about that in the show), but we’re still full to the brim on compelling and clever conversation with our guest National Review editor Rich Lowry, who stops by to talk about his new book, The Case for Nationalism: How It Made Us Powerful, United, and Free. Is America an idea or a nation? Or both? It’s a wide ranging and detailed conversation (as planned, which is why we only have one guest this week) and raises a lot of interesting points about the pluses and minuses of the movement at the forefront of the political debate not only in America, but in many other countries as well. Also, hats off to @drbastiat for winning this week’s much coveted Lileks Post of The Week award for his The Paradoxical Popularity of Progressive Professionals post. Finally, because we have to, we check in on impeachment and wind up the show revealing our favorite Thanksgiving dishes. Mmmmm, sweet potato with marshmallows.

We’re off next week. Happy Thanksgiving to all of our listeners, especially the ones who are members, and we’ll see you in December!

More
Ricochet Podcast #473

It’s Alright

75 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guest Scott Adams

Got the full band back together for this one and we’ve got Scott Adams on base (see what we did there?). You know Scott as the Dilbert dude, but you also know that he’s been a staunch supporter of the President since the ’16 primaries. So we wanted to see where Scott’s head is at in the midst of impeachment and well, he does not disappoint. Also, Mike Bloomberg writes a big check, and Ricochet member @cowgirl wins the coveted Lileks Post of The Week for her post Service…As in: When I’m Dead, Use this Music at My Service. What’s your service song? Tell us in the comments.

Also, we’ve got a new Long Poll question for you, and finally, the new Disney + streaming service wants you to know that “older movies have ‘Outdated Cultural Depictions’”. OK, so do most people. Got a problem with that?

More
Ricochet Podcast #472

The Elitists

117 COMMENTS
Hosted by Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests David Limbaugh & Joel Stein

Our deepest apologies for the delay in getting this show out the door. A lot of factors conspired in this show being a day late (but not a dollar short). And let’s also say this up front: for reasons that will become apparent to you when you listen to it, this is one of the quirkiest Ricochet Podcasts we’ve ever done (and not just because of the occasionally iffy audio). OK, enough of the caveats, let’s talk about the show.

First off, we’re down a host (although he does make a cameo appearance late in the show). Second, one of the hosts is podcasting while driving (you’d think he would have learned a lesson from the last time he attempted this, but apparently not). Our third host is ensconced in small town hotel room with less than ideal internet service and well, we struggle a bit with that too (we don’t do this very often, but you’ll definitely want to listen to the very end of the show if you like hearing Ricochet Podcast bloopers). All that being said, we did manage to put together a very interesting show featuring two guests from opposite sides of the aisle.

More
Ricochet Podcast #471

Putting Out Fires

56 COMMENTS
Hosted by James Lileks, Peter Robinson, Rob Long
With guests Douglas Murray & John Yoo

Got a Super-Sized show for you this week chocked full of topics and Big Name Guests®. First up, we take a look at the state of California, which appears to be regressing back to the 19th century in real time. Then, Douglas Murray stops by to discuss his new book The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity which ponders and answers all of the provocative questions posed by the words in that title. Then, our old friend, fellow Ricochet podcaster, cable news star and human trending topic on Twitter John Yoo joins to clear up exactly what he thinks about Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. Did Laura Ingraham trap him into saying something he did not mean to say? Were we as tough on him as Chris Cuomo? Listen, decide, and let us know in the comments. Then, @rushbabe49 wins the highly coveted, much sought after Lileks Post of The Week prize for her The Story That Disappeared post, and yes, there’s a new Long Poll question too. Finally, (and we do mean finally), Obama calls out cancel culture, and President Trump runs a new campaign commercial and you’ll never believe who it impressed.

Music from this week’s show: Cleanin’ Out My Closet by Eminem

More