Q & A, Hosted by Jay Nordlinger

Diana Damrau is an opera star – a German soprano – and a total delight. Jay sat down with her in New York for this “Q&A.” They talk about her new album – a compilation of Meyerbeer – and many other things: her children, her favorite singers, her technique, her dancing (including Michael Jackson routines). No one can resist this soprano onstage. She is pretty irresistible in interviews, too. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

John Negroponte is one of the leading diplomats of our age. When he was a young man, he was at Henry Kissinger’s side in Vietnam. He had a Latin American career, including the ambassadorships to Mexico and Honduras. He was also ambassador to the Philippines. In the George W. Bush years, he was ambassador to Iraq, and ambassador to the U.N. He was also director of national intelligence and deputy... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

At Claremont McKenna College, in Claremont, Calif., there is a student-hosted podcast: “ Free Food (For Thought).” Jay was on the campus recently. And he sat down for a podcast with two hosts, Zach Wong and Bryn Miller. It was obviously unusual for Jay to be in the “A” chair, the answerer’s chair. He is used to being in the “Q” chair. So, for something different, we thought we would share this... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

This is Tara Ross’s moment – an extended moment. She is one of the country’s foremost experts on the Electoral College. This institution was put in the spotlight in 2000. And again in 2016. Tara Ross is the author of “Enlightened Democracy: The Case for the Electoral College”; a children’s book, “We Elect a President: The Story of Our Electoral College”; and the forthcoming “The Indispensable... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

“ University Challenge” is a British quiz show, watched all over the world (particularly on YouTube). A major star of the recent season was Eric Monkman, of Oakville, Ontario. He was the captain of a Cambridge team. And he wowed the world with — as Jay says — “his amazingly extensive knowledge; his unaffected, individualistic style; and his obvious generosity of spirit.” A hashtag flew through the... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Venezuela is spinning out of control: starvation, desperation, chaos, fear. Hannah Dreier, the Associated Press correspondent in Caracas, is in the midst of it. In a briefing with Jay, she gives us the latest. What does the latest include? The slums – the ruling party’s strongholds – turning against the party. The supreme court nullifying the congress. And then reversing itself. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

With his old friend Mark Farrell, the golf pro, Jay talks Masters 2017 – the shoot-out between Sergio Garcia of Spain and Justin Rose of Britain. Also, should golf be an Olympic sport? (Rose is the reigning gold medalist – the only one there has been, in the modern era.) Also, whatsamatter with Tiger? And so on. Mark Farrell is a guru and a treat. Even the un-golf-minded might well enjoy. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

With Norman Podhoretz, you can talk about practically anything – so Jay does. They talk about writing, of course. Few do it as well as NPod. They talk about his friend Shakespeare, and his friend Yeats. They talk about novels. (Podhoretz rates “Anna Karenina” number one.) They talk about music and ballet. Even math and science. And also politics, including Trump. And Europe – its fate. Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

For ten years – 2006 to 2016 – Toomas Hendrik Ilves was president of Estonia. He grew up in New Jersey. His parents, like many Estonian parents – if they were lucky – took refuge abroad. With Jay, he talks a little about his life, and the great challenges facing his country, and liberal democracy in general. A name for those challenges would be Vladimir Putin. At the end of the podcast... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Eliot Cohen is a leading national-security scholar and an adviser to presidents, would-be presidents, and others. His latest book is The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power & the Necessity of Military Force. Jay asks him to take a tour around the world, and he does: beginning with Mexico, moving to Europe, moving to the Far East, and the Mideast, and elsewhere. They wind up talking about the Trump... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe