Q & A, Hosted by Jay Nordlinger

October is a big month for the baseball world. And Jay would like nothing better than to talk baseball with George Will — which he does. Will wrote a blockbuster baseball book, Men at Work. It keeps selling and selling. He himself is an encyclopedia of baseball. He has opinions, as everyone does, and they are all undergirt by facts. With Jay, he talks a little about his boyhood. His family... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Grant Starrett is a lawyer and politician in Tennessee. Kind of a model, if you’re a conservative Republican – a blue-chipper. He ran for Congress this year, against the Republican incumbent, and lost. Still in his twenties, he will probably run again, with a different result. Jay is a friend of Starrett’s, and they talk about running for office: the fundraising, the handshaking, the issues... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Thomas Sowell has revised and enlarged his important book Wealth, Poverty and Politics. With Jay, he talks about – well, wealth, poverty, and politics. How about Adam Smith and those boys? What about the role of geography? George Washington referred to America’s “blessed location.” What about the Korean Peninsula? The two halves of it are terribly different, aren’t they? Jay is like a guy in a... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Jay has a little therapy session with Noah Rothman of Commentary magazine, one of his favorite analysts and writers. They talk about Trump and Hillary, of course – especially the former. And Russia, NATO, and Saddam. And the alt-Right. And the media. In other words, issues of the hour (and some past hours, and some future ones). After the conversation, Jay said, in so many words, “Thanks... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

Jonah Goldberg is a leading conservative critic of Trump and Trumpism. Therefore, there is a big target on his back, and front, and everywhere else. And yet he stands and delivers. With Jay, he talks about Assange. Putin. The American Right. National Review. The National Enquirer. Hillary. The Trump Train. Anti-Semitism. The GOP future. Etc. He and Jay talk it all out, or most of it out... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

At the end of the 1980s, Kanan Makiya wrote the book that taught everyone about Saddam Hussein’s Iraq: “ Republic of Fear.” His most recent book is a novel, also about Saddam: “The Rope” (as in the instrument of his death). With Jay, he talks about Iraq past, present, and future. He also talks about the greater Arab and Muslim world, and its relation to the West. Many Americans would like to wash... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

That was the title of Timothy Crouse’s famed book of 1973: “ The Boys on the Bus.” It was about reporters covering the 1972 presidential campaign. This year, Robert Costa, of the Washington Post, is covering the presidential campaign. He is an old friend and colleague of Jay’s, and they discuss the reporting life: What’s it like to cover Hillary, Bernie, the Donald, and them? What can a person... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

The University of Chicago dropped a very pleasant bombshell this week: a letter to incoming freshmen, announcing that the university honors freedom of expression, and that it will not put up with any of the “trigger warning” or “safe space” nonsense. Well. To discuss this with Jay is an illustrious Chicago professor, Charles Lipson, a political scientist. He was born and raised in little Marks... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

That would be a good name for a show, and it’s a good idea for a show: “Ask Dan” – Dan being Daniel Hannan, the distinguished British writer, and member of the European Parliament. You can ask him virtually anything, and he will give you a good, well-informed answer, beautifully expressed. This is essentially what Jay does in this “Q&A”: He asks Hannan about Britain and America and some other... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe

For conservatives, is the Supreme Court reason enough to vote for Donald Trump? Also, if you’re a conservative and you’re voting for neither Trump nor Hillary, are you really voting for Hillary, as so many allege? Jay explores these questions with a brilliant colleague of his from National Review, Ian Tuttle. They also talk about Tuttle’s alma mater: St. John’s College. There... Source Get full access to Onward and Upward at www.jaynordlinger.com/subscribe