Q & A, Hosted by Jay Nordlinger

Michael Wooldridge is the chairman of the computer-science department at Oxford University. He is a specialist in artificial intelligence, and the author of a new brief history of the subject (which Jay has reviewed). Driverless cars are coming. What else is coming? Should we worry or rejoice? Anyway, a fine talk with the AI Man. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Peter Meijer is a new congressman from Grand Rapids, Mich. He is the son of Hendrik Meijer, with whom Jay did a “Q&A” three years ago (here). The Meijers own a chain of “superstores” in Michigan (and beyond) where virtually everyone shops. Peter went to West Point, Columbia, and NYU. He served in the Iraq War. Three days after he was sworn in as a congressman, a mob attacked the Capitol. To Jay... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Jay talks with Jonah Goldberg about his writing life, his dogs, his political thought. Bill Buckley, Charles Krauthammer, Donald Trump. Music, sports, food. “Life its ownself,” or at least significant slices. Jonah is in splendid form, expressing joy even when the topics are unjoyful, somehow. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Michael Powell is a national reporter for the New York Times. He has had many beats in his career, including sports. Today, he has a tricky one, you might even say a dangerous one: free speech, campus life, intellectual debate. Recently, he published a blockbuster piece headed “Inside a Battle Over Race, Class and Power at Smith College.” Jay talks with him about this—and about his career... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Steven B. Smith is indeed an American, Chicago born. (The line is Saul Bellow’s, cited by Smith in this “Q&A.”) He is a political scientist, a political theorist, a famous professor at Yale. His new book is “Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes.” He and Jay talk about patriotism (naturally) and nationalism and many other issues—including “wokeness” on campus and baseball. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

On Twitter, Claire Berlinski bills herself as a “rootless cosmopolitan.” She has styled her new newsletter “The Cosmopolitan Globalist.” There is such a thing as “owning the insult.” In other words, if they’re going to call you those things anyway … Berlinski is a writer and scholar who specializes in international relations. She has lived in various places and is now in Paris. With Jay... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Douglas Carswell grew up in Uganda. For a dozen years—2005 to 2017—he was a member of the British parliament. He is a conservative and a free-market man. In recent weeks, he has come to America to head the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. Jay talks with him about a little bit of everything: Africa; British politics (Thatcher, Cameron, Boris, et al.); Mississippi (how do you sell Thatcher... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Jared Genser is an American human-rights lawyer, who has represented many political prisoners and dissidents all over the world. From 2006 to 2010, he served as pro bono counsel to Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy leader. A week ago, the Burmese military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi and the government in a coup d’état. Genser wrote about the issue here. And he talks about Burma—and his work... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Jay hosts two of his young colleagues from National Review: Madeleine Kearns, of Glasgow, and Cameron Hilditch, of Belfast (or nearby). He has had them as guests before—singly. This show is more of a roundtable. Under discussion: the British Isles, with its accents and whatnot; the critical importance of “loser’s consent” in a democracy; great literature (including “Jane Eyre”and George Herbert)... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

John Hare is an eminent philosopher—a professor of philosophical theology at Yale. Among his books are “Why Bother Being Good? The Place of God in the Moral Life.” Hare is also a renowned teacher, prized by his students. He is the son of another eminent philosopher, R. M. Hare. He and Jay talk about that. What else do they talk about? Young Hare’s adventures in India, as a teenager. His time on a... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe