Q & A, Hosted by Jay Nordlinger

Here at the beginning of the year – with the college football championship and the NFL playoffs gearing up – Jay does a sportscast. He does it with three of his favorite gurus and people: Sally Jenkins, of the Washington Post; David French, of The Dispatch; and Vivek Dave, “the corporate high-flyer from Chicago,” as Jay calls him. They impart great wisdom with much warmth: on college and pro... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Mitch Daniels is the president of Purdue University. Before his current job, he had many others. He was governor of Indiana, for instance. And White House budget director. Before those two jobs, he was chief political adviser to President Reagan. In his office at Purdue, Daniels talks with Jay about higher ed, the federal government, and more. At the end, Jay pumps Daniels for a Reagan story or... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Alon Ben-Meir is an extraordinary figure, born in Baghdad in 1937. He is a professor of international relations at New York University. He has long been involved in international negotiations. He knows the Middle East intimately. In this conversation, he and Jay cover a good part of the waterfront (not that there’s much water in the Middle East): Turkey, Syria, the Yazidis... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

That is the title of Becky Powell’s new book. She got the title from a country song, written by Darryl Worley and Harley Allen, and recorded by the former. Becky is a friend of Jay’s. Her book is a memoir. One day, she learned that her husband – and the father of their three children – had killed himself. Then she learned that he was $21 million in debt. He had borrowed the money from 90 people. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Jay’s guest is Fred Hiatt, the editorial-page editor of the Washington Post. In addition to being an editor, he is a columnist. He writes a great deal about human rights, and pays particular attention to China. He and Jay begin by talking about the Uyghur people. The Chinese government is doing catastrophic, Nazi-like things to them. (Yes, sometimes the N-word applies.) What can the world at large... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Jay’s guest is Alexandra DeSanctis, or Xan (pronounced “Zan”), his colleague at National Review. She is in Washington, Jay in New York. They talk about a range of issues: abortion, impeachment, 2020 politics, baseball, cooking, and more. This conversation is like a busy train line: If you don’t like one issue, another one will be along in just a moment. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

That was the title of a column long ago, and for many years – first written by Drew Pearson, then by Jack Anderson: “The Washington Merry-Go-Round.” Robert Costa is a national political reporter for the Washington Post. He is also the moderator of “Washington Week,” a political analyst for NBC News, etc. He and Jay worked together at National Review. Jay asks him what it’s like to have a front-row... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Peter Pomerantsev has written a couple of books with very interesting titles. Their subjects are important, too. A few years ago, Pomerantsev published “Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible,” about the “surreal heart” of Putin’s Russia. Now he has published “This Is Not Propaganda,” about … well, propaganda, or fake news, or disinformation. It is a worldwide epidemic. Pomerantsev is a Soviet... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Denise Ho is a star in Hong Kong and in the broader Asian world. She is a singer and actress. She is also a democracy leader. She has been in the throes of the protests in her home city. What has her activism done to her artistic career? What are the prospects for the democracy movement in Hong Kong? What do protesters expect of the outside world, if anything? Denise Ho is a wonderful interviewee... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Jonathan V. Last, executive editor of The Bulwark, is known as “JVL.” Jay (S.) Nordlinger is not known as “JSN” – but we will call him that just for the purposes of this episode. Jay and Jonathan worked together at The Weekly Standard many years ago – indeed, in the last century. On this podcast, Jay asks Jonathan the pregnant question: What does the “V” stand for? They go on to Jonathan’s... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe