Q & A, Hosted by Jay Nordlinger

A refreshing, interesting, and meaty conversation about sports with Jay’s gurus, David French and Vivek Dave. Several items are on the menu. The expansion of the Big Ten conference. The idea of the student-athlete. The NBA offseason. (What is Kevin Durant thinking?) Shohei Ohtani. The skills of hockey players. Tiger Woods. The Saudi League. More. These gurus are stuffed with knowledge... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

David Mastio is a veteran journalist, long associated with USA Today. Until recently, he was deputy editorial-page editor. But then he came up against wokeness—and was eventually hounded out of the paper. He has landed on his feet, however, at StraightArrowNews.com. Dave Mastio’s story is a modern American story. He lays it out matter-of-factly. Listen to him. When USA Today lost him—they lost a... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Jay “nerds out” a bit with Luke Kerr-Dineen, a real authority on golf. LKD is an editor at Golf magazine and Golf.com. With Jay, he talks about the recent U.S. Open. The new Saudi golf tour. The ins and outs of swings. Favorite golfers, favorite courses—the problem of equipment gone wild. A delightful and invigorating discussion, for golfers, of course, but for non-golfers too, who may catch the... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Jacob Mchangama is a Danish lawyer, civil libertarian, human-rights advocate, and writer. He is the founder and director of Justitia, a think tank. He is an old friend of Jay’s, and a favorite of Jay’s. Mchangama’s new book is “Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media.” Of the book, the late P.J. O’Rourke said, “The best history of free speech ever written and the best defense of free... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Paul Massaro is a senior policy advisor to the U.S. Helsinki Commission. With Jay, he discusses the Ukraine war, primarily: what it means for the United States, Russia, Europe, and—not least—Ukraine. The views he expresses are his own and do not represent an official position of the U.S. government. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Michela Wrong is a journalist, and “not just any journalist,” as Jay says in his introduction: She is “a famed, and superb, chronicler of Africa.” Along with her journalism, she has written five books, rightly acclaimed. “In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz” is a fascinating depiction of Mobutu and Zaire. Ms. Wrong’s latest book is “Do Not Disturb,” about Rwanda. You will enjoy this conversation about a... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Abdulrahman al-Sadhan worked for the Red Cross, or Red Crescent, in Saudi Arabia. He jotted some tweets critical of the Saudi dictatorship, anonymously. But his cover was blown—and he was arrested, imprisoned, tortured . . . This is the Saudi way. Working to win his release is his sister, Areej. As Jay says, “she is a brave, determined woman, and, of course, a very loyal sister.” This is a story... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Jewher Ilham, age 27, is a Uyghur activist, in the United States. She is a spokesman for the Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region. Her father, Ilham Tohti, an economist, is somewhere in the gulag. The U.S. State Department has classified China’s persecution of the Uyghur people as a genocide. Jewher Ilham is the author of “A Uyghur’s Fight to Free Her Father” and “Because I Have To.”... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Vladimir Kara-Murza is one of the leading Russian democracy campaigners. He is an old friend of “Q&A” and an old friend of Jay’s. Now he is a political prisoner. His wife and partner—his wife and chief ally—is Evgenia Kara-Murza. In this conversation, she talks about her husband, their marriage, their work, the Russian people . . . As Jay points out, she is much like Vladimir: brave, elegant... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Akhil Reed Amar is an outstanding teacher of the Constitution, and American history. He is a professor of law at Yale. He was born in Michigan to immigrant parents from India. The latest of his several books on the Constitution is “The Words That Made Us.” He recently wrote about Roe vs. Wade, explaining why he, a pro-choice Democrat, thinks it is a bad decision. He does a podcast called “Amarica’... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe