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Gao Zhisheng is one of the most heroic men in China, or anywhere. He is a human-rights lawyer who has put his neck on the line and paid for it with ten years of imprisonment and torture.

His wife and two children fled to America. One of those children is Grace, a senior in college, who is presently at the Oslo Freedom Forum, where Jay is too. They sat down for this “Q&A.” What’s it like to be the daughter of such a man? What does it do to you?

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It’s been a terrible week for Trump – which means a terrible week for those who love this country. Jay and Mona consider the implications of the Russia probe, Flynn’s conduct, the Comey business, and the president’s leaked comments to the Russians about Comey. What a world. The podcast ends with some happy musings about music, and a note of hope, if not exactly optimism, from Jay.

Music is Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Third movement.

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America react to the news that the Justice Department named a special counsel to investigate Russian involvement in the 2016 campaign and the choice of former FBI Director Robert Mueller to lead it. They discuss reports that Michael Flynn told the Trump transition team that he was under federal investigation before becoming national security adviser but was hired anyway. They tear apart the idea from New York Times columnist Ross Douthat that Mike Pence and the Trump cabinet need to invoke the 25th amendment and begin removing Trump from office. And they note the passing and mixed legacy of media and politics titan Roger Ailes.

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Ricochet Editor-in-Chief Jon Gabriel and Heatstreet’s Stephen Miller talk about Trump spilling the beans to the Ruskies, Comey slipping a memo to the New York Times, and whether we think Trump lasts another year.

Our intro and outro music is “Crawling After You” by Bass Drum of Death. Stephen’s song of the week is “Punk” by Gorillaz, and Jon’s is “No Shade” by Wavves. To listen to all the music featured on The Conservatarians, subscribe to our Spotify playlist. You also should subscribe to this podcast and give it five-star, glowing reviews on iTunes!

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Want to help the HLC podcast continue to prosper and grow? Please take just a minute to go to iTunes and give us 5 stars! Don’t know how? It’s easy: directions here.

Welcome to the Harvard Lunch Club Political Podcast for May 17, 2017 it’s “The Hate Party” edition of the podcast, brought to you by ZipRecruiter and the Great Courses Plus.

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America discuss reports that President Trump revealed very sensitive intelligence during his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. They also get a kick out of a lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee, alleging staffers weren’t paid the current minimum wage for their work in 2016. And they have some fun with the news that a published photo of President Trump’s bodyguard revealed the personal cell phone number of Defense Sec. James Mattis.

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As a journalist, Jay Nordlinger covers a lot of ground: people, human rights, language, music, golf and more. His best articles and essays from the last decade now appear on the pages of Digging In: Further Collected Writings of Jay Nordlinger.

In a 10-minute conversation with The Bookmonger, Nordlinger describes how he comes up with story ideas, the importance of writing about people rather than concepts, and how William F. Buckley Jr. influenced him.

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It’s never a dull moment with the Trump administration and to parse everything that happened this week, we call on our good friend, former podcaster, and the newly minted host of Washington Week In Review Bob Costa. After that, we take a look back at the 2016 race with Jonathan Allen, co-author of Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign. Also, taping, vaping, and narrative shaping. Yeah, we went there.

Music from this week’s podcast: Shattered by The Rolling Stones

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America examine the logic behind a surprising tweet from Utah Sen. Mike Lee suggesting Obama Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland should be Trump’s choice to head the FBI. They also react to dozens of anonymous government sources suggesting the firing of James Comey was about Russia and that the deputy attorney general allegedly threatened to resign because the administration claimed the firing was his idea. And they discuss reports that Trump has repeatedly asked White House lawyers if he can communicate with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

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Ricochet Editor-in-Chief Jon Gabriel and Heatstreet’s Stephen Miller talk about, what else, Trump’s pink slip to FBI Director James Comey. They cover the politics surrounding both the firing and the crazy, nay, hysterical reaction of the DC press corps.

Our intro and outro music is “Teenage FBI” by Guided by Voices. Stephen’s song of the week is “Slip Away” by Perfume Genius, and Jon’s is “Prom Song” by Pile. To listen to all the music featured on The Conservatarians, subscribe to our Spotify playlist. You also should subscribe to this podcast and give it five-star, glowing reviews on iTunes!

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Daniel Krauthammer joins Need to Know to talk of the divide on the right over nationalism versus patriotism. Is nationalism a good impulse or not? He also offers views on the Comey firing.

Jay and Mona then speak of the French elections, immigration, the unfilled jobs in the Trump Administration, how to boost the economy, Prince Phillip’s retirement, uniforms (school and otherwise), and the great Kate O’Beirne – RIP.

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America point out the Senate hearings on Michael Flynn produced nothing that wasn’t already known but agree it’s a good thing President Trump removed Flynn after just a few weeks on the job. They also sigh as John Kasich offers a long-winded explanation about why he can’t speculate about running against Trump in 2020. And they discuss the rise of politically-driven divorces, primarily by couples bitterly divided over Trump.

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Welcome to the Harvard Lunch Club Political Podcast for May 9, 2017, it’s the Profiles in Leftism edition of the show brought to you by ZipRecruiter and SimpliSafe. This week the GOP is celebrating the passage, through one house of Congress, a repeal, only not really a repeal of the People’s Healthcare bill, AKA: ACA, AKA Obamacare. (Just an aside, but why is the conservative press trying to run away from the rumor that our Representatives drank beer after the victory? Isn’t that a good thing? Beer?).

Anyway, every liberal in America with a megaphone is screaming bloody murder. And even some conservatives are screaming that socialized medicine is now cast in concrete. I mean, lighten up folks. We take issue, however, with one Poli. Sci. Professor from Duke who somehow got the august editors of The Hill to publish one of the most shallow (and at the same time pompous) diatribes on any subject I have ever read in my life. I really do recommend you read it and comment on it on Ricochet (if you *are* haha, a *member*).

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Diana Damrau is an opera star – a German soprano – and a total delight. Jay sat down with her in New York for this “Q&A.” They talk about her new album – a compilation of Meyerbeer – and many other things: her children, her favorite singers, her technique, her dancing (including Michael Jackson routines).

No one can resist this soprano onstage. She is pretty irresistible in interviews, too. See what you think.

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We know what the Founding Fathers said, but what did they mean? That’s the question Thomas G. Westasks, then answers, in The Political Theory of the American Founding: Natural Rights, Public Policy, and the Moral Conditions of Freedom.

In a 10-minute conversation with The Bookmonger, West interprets the phrase “all men are created,” explains how a slaveholder such as Thomas Jefferson could have written those words, and speculates on what the Founders would think of 21st-century America.

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Check out the new Harvard Lunch Club Hidden Gem playlist on Spotify!

Want to help the HLC podcast continue to prosper and grow? Please take just a minute to go to iTunes and give us 5 stars! Don’t know how? It’s easy: directions here. We thank you! (and please hit our tip jar, here…ty bb, xoxo. Two dollars a show – that’s all we ask).

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We’re a man down this week, as James Lileks is in Reno (no, he did not a shoot a man there just to watch him die), but we have lots to talk about and two great guests to discuss it all with. Our old pal David Limbaugh returns to give us insight into his new book The True Jesus: Uncovering the Divinity of Christ in The Gospels. It’s a fascinating book in which David combines the four Gospel stories into a unified account (though not, he humbly admits, a perfect harmony) and guides readers on a faith journey through the Four Evangelists’ testimonies of the life of Jesus Christ. And yes, we talk about Trump too. Then, if you really want to understand what’s going on in Europe, then you have to go to Europe. Or, at least call someone in Europe. So we rang up John O’Sullivan who knows more about the E.U., Brexit, and the French elections as anyone. Finally, courtesy of Ricochet member @robertmcreynolds, we delve in to the question of sanctuary cities, and while we’re at it, do a drive-by of Berkeley and of Cuba. Yes, Cuba. You’ll have to listen to find out why.

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The Atlantic’s David Frum joins NTK to evaluate Trump’s first nearly 100 days. Mona plays Devil’s advocate with Frum, a Trump critic – at least for a while. Jay engages David about the French elections, and then conversation turns to the March for Science, O’Reilly, FoxNews, the Detroit Tigers, and David Selznick.

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“University Challenge” is a British quiz show, watched all over the world (particularly on YouTube). A major star of the recent season was Eric Monkman, of Oakville, Ontario. He was the captain of a Cambridge team. And he wowed the world with — as Jay says — “his amazingly extensive knowledge; his unaffected, individualistic style; and his obvious generosity of spirit.”

A hashtag flew through the Internet: #monkmania. Jay confesses, happily, that he is a monkmaniac.

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America discuss the pressure mounting on the Democratic National Committee to spend big on every special House election, despite long odds in most of them. They also unload on University of California-Berkeley administrators for cancelling a speech by Ann Coulter over security concerns instead of cracking down on students and faculty threatening to disrupt the event. And they address the latest twist in leftist conspiracy theories, as liberals contend Rep. Jason Chaffetz decided not to seek re-election because he’s being blackmailed by Russia.