The Ruminant returns to its usual format today after last week’s drive-time diversion, as Jonah is once again placed under the unsettling eyes of several silent spectators. After exploring the history of American censorship and the current state of free speech, Jonah dives headfirst into the ongoing Liz Cheney controversy and lingering nuttiness of Donald Trump within the GOP. Will Josh Hawley ever cease to irritate? Is morality hardwired into babies? And why do the women in Jonah’s life all have awkwardly positioned birthdays?

Show Notes:

- Jonah’s latest column

- Jonah on political religions

- Ross Douthat: “When Wokeness Becomes Weakness”

- Banned in Boston

- “The movie's over, it's four o'clock, and we're in trouble deep”

- Charlie Kirk, political genius

- Josh Hawley rants about free speech

- Just Babies, by Paul Bloom

- National Review: “Liz Cheney is Not the Problem”

- The Wednesday G-File

- The Paul Wolfowitz/Sam Tanenhaus controversy

The Remnant returns to normalcy today with one of Jonah’s favorite guests: the illustrious Chris Stirewalt. The pair engage in pop culture-infused punditry, focusing on the GOP’s internal war between MAGA advocates and Liz Cheney supporters and America’s supposed entry into a new Progressive Era under President Biden. Prepare to be bedazzled by Chris’ peerless Sebastian Gorka impression, the raw craziness of Donald Trump, and Jonah’s secret history as an adolescent ice cream vendor.

Show Notes:

-    Chris’ page at The Dispatch

-     Cheneypalooza

-  Trump backs Elise Stefanik

-    Mike Pence trudges toward 2024

-    What the heck is going on in Maricopa County?

-    The members-only Wednesday G-File

-    The road to Kenya

-  Chris: “The era of big government is here”

-    The Election Integrity Alliance, yeesh

-   Dr. Gorka

-   Jonah’s cordial, not-at-all controversial disagreement with Bill Kristol

-   “If the paper turns clear, it’s your window to weight gain!”

-   “Welcome to the new progressive era”

-   When Trump and the Clintons were BFFs

Jonah flies solo on the week’s first Remnant, as he tries out a format that seeks to provide the footnotes to some of the most commonly landed-on items from the program’s bingo card. On this first explainer, Jonah tackles the straw man and frequent leftist punching bag called social Darwinism, and whether or not such an ideology ever even existed in the first place. Do any conservatives actually believe this stuff? And how did the tables turn on libertarians to such a degree that the most laissez-faire political ideology possible ended up facing accusations of eugenic sympathies? (You can also tune in to learn why you should never trust Wisconsinites.)

Show Notes:

-The (underrated) Tyranny of Clichés

-Obama calls the GOP budget “social Darwinism”

-Schoenwald has some strange opinions on Herbert Spencer

-The University of Wisconsin and progressivism

-Hofstadter’s book on social Darwinism

Jonah and a brand new guest, Robert Draper of the New York Times, engage in punditry ranker than even the most devoted Remnant listener could imagine before gushing over Draper’s adorable canine companion. If that sounds like a retread of the week’s previous episode with A.B. Stoddard, fear not! Today’s dog talk is entirely spontaneous. The pair have Biden’s joint congressional address to dissect, and Draper has a fascinating new piece on Republican turmoil that stimulates plenty of conversation on internecine party warfare. Will partisanship destroy us all? Can the GOP be saved from insanity? And why do Jonah and Robert both recall Watergate with fondness?

Show Notes:

- Robert’s page at the New York Times

- Robert’s latest piece, “Liz Cheney vs. MAGA”

- “I’m a conservative, but I’m not angry about it”

- “I am a gaffe machine”

- Dispatch Live reacts to Biden’s first joint congressional address

- Ross Douthat: “Biden Should Go Big, and Then Brag About It”

- Ross Douthat: “What Bidenism Owes to Trumpism”

- The Jason Miller tweet that stole Jonah’s heart

- Trump discovers “America First”

- The week’s first Remnant with A.B. Stoddard

- Mark Leibovich on Kevin McCarthy

- David Brooks: “The GOP is Getting Worse”

- Jonah: “Unity Can Be Worse Than Partisanship”

- Karl Rove’s “100-year majority”

- The Wednesday G-File