Q & A, Hosted by Jay Nordlinger

Throwing rules to the wind, Jay does a music program: a half-hour of music about summer, or related to summer. We’ll hear Mendelssohn, Webern, Barber, and others. There’s a girl named Jeannie involved, too (with light brown hair). This “Q&A,” or non-“Q&A,” is a midsummer night’s gift. The playlist for this show may be viewed here. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Frank Lavin has had a busy and interesting life. He worked for Reagan, Bush 41, and Bush 43. He was ambassador to Singapore. He is a robust free-trader. He is now a businessman. And he is the author of a book about his father: “Home Front to Battlefront: An Ohio Teenager in World War II.” Jay picks his brain about an assortment of things, and Lavin’s brain is eminently pickable. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

David Satter is an American authority on Russia – a man who cares so much about Russia and the Russian people that he bothers to understand them. And to tell the truth about them, as he knows it. Speaking of knowing: His latest book is “The Less You Know, the Better You Sleep.” With Jay, he talks about Putin, the diaspora, democracy, Trump, Stalin, literature, and a lot more. An experienced... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

John J. Pitney Jr. is a famous conservative professor of political science. He works at Claremont McKenna College, in California. Jay asks him about California – is there any gold left in it? He also asks Pitney about his upbringing and education. And about his conservatism. How did he get that way? Well, at 13, he started reading National Review and corresponding with William F. Buckley Jr. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

As Jay says, John O’Sullivan is one of the most eminent political journalists in the English-speaking world. He is British — a Liverpudlian, and an exact contemporary of the Beatles — but he has lived all over and worked all over. In this “Q&A,” he joins Jay from his home in Budapest. He talks about the British election. And Brexit. And the EU. And NATO. And immigration/assimilation. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Richard Brookhiser is a journalist and historian — the author of many books about the Founders. His latest book is Founders’ Son, about Abraham Lincoln and his relation to the founding generation. Brookhiser is also Jay’s fellow senior editor at National Review — and, in this podcast, they cover a lot of ground. They talk about the Founders. And Lincoln. And the Civil War. And FDR. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Vladimir Kara-Murza is a Russian democracy leader, and one brave hombre. Twice, he has been poisoned. Twice, he recovered. And he is still at his work. Jay wrote about him earlier this year in a three-part series: Part I, Part II, and Part III. And Kara-Murza is Jay’s guest on this “Q&A.” They talk about vital matters: Putin, the West, “fake news,” and the future. Kara-Murza has important things... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Zimbabwe gained its independence in 1980. Since then, it has been ruled by one man: Robert Mugabe, the dictator. Like most Zimbabweans, Evan Mawarire has never known any other leader. Today, he is Mugabe’s worst nightmare: a principled, moral, talented, brave critic. Mawarire is a Christian pastor. Last year, he made a video, expressing love of country, and exasperation at the longstanding... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

This week, Jay has been at the Oslo Freedom Forum, the annual human-rights gathering in the Norwegian capital. Its founder is Thor Halvorssen, who also started the Human Rights Foundation, which is based in New York. And he is Jay’s guest on this “Q&A.” They talk about dictatorship and democracy. At the end, they talk about one dictatorship in particular – that in Mr. Halvorssen’s home country... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Gao Zhisheng is one of the most heroic men in China, or anywhere. He is a human-rights lawyer who has put his neck on the line and paid for it with ten years of imprisonment and torture. His wife and two children fled to America. One of those children is Grace, a senior in college, who is presently at the Oslo Freedom Forum, where Jay is too. They sat down for this “Q&A.” What’s it like to be the... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe