Q & A, Hosted by Jay Nordlinger

Jay does a sportscast — but with a twist at the end: a discussion of Star Wars, Star Trek, etc., with two experts on the subject: David French and Sopan Deb. David is one of Jay’s regular sports gurus, and so is Vivek Dave. They are both present. Sopan is a ringer, a guest guru: a writer for the New York Times, a stand-up comedian, a musician, and more. The gang talks about the NBA... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Otto Reich is a former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela. He’s also one of Jay’s favorite people. They talk about the current crisis: where it stands, how it developed, and what might happen next. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Eric Edelman is one of our top diplomats (retired though he may be) and one of our top foreign-policy thinkers. In a long career, he was ambassador to Finland and ambassador to Turkey. Before that, he was an assistant to George P. Shultz. Some years before that, he was a doctoral student at Yale, writing about post-war Italy. Jay reviews some pressing concerns with him, past and present... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Megha Rajagopalan is a foreign correspondent for BuzzFeed News. She is one of Jay’s favorite reporters. She grew up in Maryland, and for years reported from China. She is now in the Middle East. She and Jay talk mainly about China: the pleasures and perils of reporting from there; the mass round-up of the Uyghurs; the ability of ordinary Chinese to find out the truth about their country; and so on. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Peter Wood is the president of the National Association of Scholars. He is also an anthropologist. Jay is an old anthro major. So, they talk anthro major to anthro major, so to speak. What happened to this once-proud field? They also talk about higher education. And lower education. And online education, for college students. Is that a bright prospect? A dim one? Toward the end, Jay asks Mr. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

In a sportscast, Jay asks David French and Vivek Dave about last night’s championship game – Alabama vs. Clemson. Or should that be Clemson vs. Alabama? They also debate the college-football playoff system: Should more teams be involved? Later, there is talk of the NFL – including the dreaded double doink (a field-goal attempt that doinks once, doinks again, and then fails). Finally, the NBA... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Michael Rubin is a wide-ranging authority on the Middle East, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. In this “Q&A,” Jay simply picks his brain: about Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Rubin has a lot to say, and he says it very, very clearly. At the beginning, Jay asks him about his background: Rubin grew up in a family of veterinarians. He was allergic to... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

How goes college football? What about the playoffs? What about the latest retirement of Urban Meyer? How goes the NFL? What about Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Colin Kaepernick? How goes college basketball? Is the season too long? Or just right? How goes the NBA? Is there trouble in the paradise of the Golden State dynasty? How’s LeBron working out in L.A.? Jay has with him two gurus... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

On last week’s National Review cruise, Jay sat down with Kevin D. Williamson and asked him to talk – about conservatism, cities, Bush 41, Twitter, “elites,” social-media mobs, restaurants … Every word is interesting. And if one happens not to be – well, that is interesting in itself. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

There are few things Jay likes to do more in life than talk with Rob Long, and he got to do it on last week’s National Review cruise. Sitting in a lounge, Jay asks Rob about books, music, TV, standup, food … They talk about Groucho, the Stooges, Gleason, Pryor, Johnny, Letterman, “Cheers,” “The Simpsons,” “All in the Family” … Pork chops, ham, pig’s feet … Jay could not have had a better time... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe