The Ricochet Podcast

For decades, war game experts have produced dire predictions for American-Iranian war scenarios. While it's still early days, the circumstances are much more favorable than strategists had supposed. Noah Rothman returns to break down what's going right in Iran, what remains worrisome and uncertain, what the public ought to anticipate, and what the administration ought to tell them. (Noah also gives us a quick preview of his upcoming book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence in America.) The fellas wrap the interview with theme-appropriate drapings: Brits are removing their greatest citizens from the nation's banknotes, reminding us of waning resolve from Western allies, and a thwarted terrorist plot in New York has the media and politicians twisting into knots to conceal the truth. (This episode was recorded on Thursday, March 12th to accommodate the hosts' travel schedules.)

James, Steve and Charles are back together to discuss life during wartime.

Underneath the "cuddly" rhetoric of the Democatic Socialists there lurks admirers of some of the most evil men in history. And, says our guest Tal Fortgang of the Manhattan Institute, they are also poised to take control of the whole of the Democratic Party.  There's also some hockey talk (USA! USA! USA!), the State of the Union and Gavin Newsom's SAT scores.

It's been said that there's no use in proposing that Donald Trump moderate his rhetoric, but with presidential approval ratings being what they are, a friendly reminder about duties and decorum might be just what the doctor ordered. Daniel Mahoney, author and professor emeritus at Assumption College, joins James and Steve to discuss his latest piece, "Discipline at a Moment of Power." Plus, the fellas consider this morning's breaking news about the SCOTUS ruling on "emergency" tariffs, applaud Marco Rubio's performance in Munich, and reflect on the passing of Jesse Jackson and Robert Duvall. 

Conservatism and the Republican Party have been at an impasse for some time. On the one hand, we're beholden to the enduring principles of our founding, on the other we're proud members of the world's most innovative state. Henry Olsen joins Steve and James this week to discuss life at the conservative crossroads. (Check out his new podcast series of the same name here!) Plus, Lileks and Hayward celebrate the EPA's move to drop the greenhouse gas "endangerment finding," and mark the departure of a friend of Ricochet. Rest in peace, Mr. John Ekdahl. 

Lingering cold has many a podcast host needing a week off, but Rob Long and Steve Hayward reconvene to enjoy some juicy stories and just desserts: The "Democracy Dies in Darkness" crowd got cut up in broad daylight, Jeffrey Epstein's pals are paying their due for dealing with the devil, and a $2 million verdict was awarded to a minor in a suit against the medical professionals who deformed her. 

Peter returns to catch up with James of Snogadishu and Charles of the land of peace, prosperity, and enviable winter climate. It's good timing to have the ever-winsome Robinson back as the trio wraps their heads around another week of crazy that hits a little too close to home. They grapple with domestic disturbances revolving around another killing in the Twin Cities and the preposterous notion that journalists have special First Amendment privileges. There's also trouble abroad...all over the place, in fact. But we're feeling pretty good about a State Department left in Little Marco's hands.

We're one year into Trump 2.0. And it's America at 250. James, Steve and Charles discuss and debate an especially wild week for an already-adventurous Trump administration.

Sometimes you've just had enough. Bill Barr, two-time Attorney General and author of One Damn Thing After Another, knows the feeling. He joins James, Steve, and Charles today to discuss the legal grounds for the extraordinary rendition of Nicolás Maduro and the options available to federal law enforcement as the Twin Cities tiptoe around an insurrection.  The trio speculates on whether the US is reversing its position on Iran, considers the supposed price tag on a Greenland buy, and James declares that he has absolutely no opinion on the new Star Trek series. Not a one. Zip, zero. Don't bother asking...

James, Steve, and Charles are back for a new year that seems determined to outdo its predecessor. Lileks reports from the Twin Cities, a site dead set on being the epicenter of American chaos. Then the fellas step out of the Minnesota cold to warm their bones by the fire of collectivism. And they round it all out with a chat about the ever-surprising Don Doctrine, which put an end to one tyrant last week and has many wondering what it could mean for Iran.

We have a special Christmas season episode to tide everyone over through the holidays. Steve Hayward sits down with Rob Long, who's just wrapped his first year at Princeton's Theological Seminary. They discuss dramatic career changes, the storyteller's take on the link between show business and the saving souls business, and the modern cultural discomfort with the faith of our fathers.

If you have access to the internet, you've likely seen a clip of Scott Jennings acting as a lone voice of reason on a noisy CNN panel. This week, he joins Steve and Charles to discuss his new book, A Revolution of Common Sense, an account of President Trump's fight against a whole lot of kinds of crazy. Plus, Cooke and Hayward consider Australia's latest bid against gun ownership, suss out Susie Wiles' slip-up with the press, and marvel at the legacy of another kid from one of the other boroughs, Norman Podhoretz of Brooklyn, who passed this week at 95.

America has a big anniversary coming up. And you know it's set to be grand when people give it a name like "semiquincentenial." To help us prepare for the big 250th, Matthew Spalding, Dean of Hillsdale College's School of Government in DC, joins to discuss his just-published book: The Making of the American Mind. He and the gang get into the story of how a group of iron men came to declare war with and independence from the greatest empire on earth. They delve into the many attacks against the Declaration and the founding that are coming in from all angles these days. Remember, these self-evident truths are not obvious, so order your copy today! Plus, Señor Lileks wonders what we're supposed to call this escalating series of adventures near Venezuela; the Honorable Hayward weighs in on the stunningly titled Trump v. Slaughter SCOTUS case and Justice KBJ's startling comments; and, lastly, Captain Cooke has a bone to pick with Europe!  - Sound from the open this week: The EU fines X and Trump talks Europe with Politico

Two thirds of the earth is covered by water and the other third is covered by our intrepid trio of Steve Hayward, Charles C.W. Cooke and James Lileks. We start the week in Minnesota where federal officials believe over $1B of taxpayer money was lost in multiple instances of fraud. Then we run the gamut of the J6 Bomber arrest, the Pentagon's actions in the Caribbean, Texas redistricting and the eye-popping price Netflix is spending to acquire Warner Bros.-Discovery. Finally, we ask you to contribute to a GoFundMe project for our old friend Jon Gabriel who announced earlier this week that he's battling "The Big C."

The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice was founded in 1957 to ensure fairness in a union struggling to become more perfect. Yet somewhere along the way, bad actors saw an opportunity to play with the scales while Justice donned her blindfold. Our new Assistant Attorney General of the division is Ricochet's dear friend Harmeet Dhillon — and she's back to remind Americans that Justice has an enforcement arm.  Harmeet gets us up to speed on her team's investigation into the latest riot at UC Berkeley; reports on how they've handled the workload with only one-third of the manpower; and reiterates the righteousness of the division's purpose while clarifying how she and the ambitious lawyers under her plan to balance the scales on a level playing field.  James, Steve, and Peter weigh the president's approval numbers on the economy and foreign policy; and they have reason to believe that Democrats will continue to be hardest hit as Epstein files work their way to the public.  Sound clip from this week's open: TPUSA spokesman Andrew Kolvet explains how UC Berkeley administrators worked to undermine their event last week. 

Rob Long and John Yoo are reunited with James to serve up some laughs as they sift through some unpleasant truths that many of us would prefer to ignore. The trio yawns at the conclusion of the record-long government shutdown but sees plenty to worry about in its resuming business as usual; considers some elementary underpinnings of the affordability problem; John Yoo takes a barrage of questions on the SCOTUS term and presidential war powers; and Brother Rob takes us out with some thoughts on walking one's path even in tough times. Sound from this week's opening: The House adopts the Senate’s plan to reopen the government and Sen. rand Paul talks the deficit on NewsMax2

The American right has a decision before it. There are a few elements in the coalition that threaten the stability of the whole. The boys of the Ricochet Podcast propose the following: Sweeny in, Fuentes out. After settling on that, Steve, Charles, and James get to Tuesday's rout; Mayor Mamdani and the limits to NYC's invincibility; Trump's bad day at SCOTUS; all Canadian land acknowledgements taken to their illogical conclusion. All this before landing on an oddly reassuring note — that America is still among the sanest places on the planet.

James, Steve, and Charles are back for a Halloween treat: H.R. McMaster joins at the top for a chat about military matters: the Maduro regime and boat strikes; UAVs and the fight in Eastern Europe; the Department of War and our readiness.  Plus, the fellas defend cultural confidence, brave the Great Feminization, and name the most horrifying flick they've seen. - Sound from this week's open: Senator John Kennedy on the shutdown. 

Charles Murray's inquiries into social science have resulted in the publication of a number of the most important (and controversial) academic books of the past half-century. It's safe to say he enjoys complexity and taking a stand — and yet there's one big question that Mr. Murray spent half his life dismissing, and the second half marveling at without quite settling. Today, he sits down with Steve, Charlie and a visiting Peter Robinson to discuss his most personal work yet, the just-released Taking Religion Seriously. Plus, our trio of merry hosts basks in the Democrats' disarray and they take a closer look at the Supreme Court's hearing in the Callais case that will settle the contradictions between the 14th Amendment and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Sound clip from this week's open: Justice Brown Jackson spars with an attorney during the Callais v. Louisiana hearing.

The government shutdown drags on, but the president's pulled off his biggest deal yet. Noah Rothman joins Charlie and Steve to discuss the monumental advancement toward regional stability and the unique talents for these wins by American and Israeli leaders — talents for which they are unlikely to receive due honors. Plus, Hayward and Cooke consider shutdown messaging strategy, mock the MacArthur Foundation for its dimwitted grant giving, and scratch their heads at the fact that the name "Katie Porter" and the word "frontrunner" appear so often in the same sentence.  Sound from this week's open: Gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter breaks down in an interview with CBS News’s California-based correspondent Julie Watts. - Visit today's sponsor: Go to cozyearth.com/RICOCHET for up to 20% off!