The Ricochet Podcast

Steve Hayward is traveling abroad, so Ricochet co-founder Rob Long takes a break from his seminary studies to join James and Charlie in a discussion of worldly ways this week. The trio discusses property taxes, crazies with guns, and Bari Weiss's making a big deal over The Free Press. Plus, there's a comedian on trial in the UK, sustained outrage over Trump's law-and-order blitz, and disappointment among his enemies that he could be away from the cameras and alive at the same time.- Sounds from this week's open: Tim Waltz on Donald Trump's "death" earlier this week, and Donald Trump's announcement that he was not dead earlier this week.- Visit this week's sponsor, Prize Picks, and use code RICOCHET and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup!

This week's podcast starts out on a somber note, as this week's tragic news of the attack on Annunciation Catholic school hits unsettlingly close to home for one of our hosts. James, Charles, and Steve then chat with Will Chamberlain about next week's NatCon conference taking place in Washington, DC. The trio also weighs in on flag-burning.- Sound from this week's open: Jesse Merkel, who lost his 8-year-old son Fletcher in the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting on Wednesday speaks to the media.

Democrats have been worked up this week over congressional redistricting in Texas. But, hypocrisy aside, could this be a low priority for a party well into the double-digits in favorability? To get a sense of what the left ought to be doing instead, we welcome Ruy Teixiera back to the podcast to discuss the now-endangered liberal patriot. (Be sure to subscribe to his Substack of the same name!) Plus: James, Charles and Steve suss out the raid on John Bolton's house, have their voices heard on mail-in ballots, and collectively grimace at the Cracker Barrel rebrand. Opening sound this week: Sen. John Kennedy (R - LA) on the Democrats ( via Fox News) and John Bolton on Trump (CNN)Please visit our fantastic sponsor for this week's show: Get a FREE report with all the details at Bank on Yourself.com/ RICOCHET

Noah Rothman returns ahead of Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin to give a foreign policy progress report of the president's second term. He gets into the fraught history of US-Russia negotiations, applauds the latest maneuvers in the Middle East, and applies a big-picture framing of the geopolitical status quo in response to the charge that collapse is imminent. Plus, Charlie, Steve, and James discuss the federalization of law enforcement in D.C. and the administration's announcement of potential weed reform. Sound from this week's open: President Trump and House Minority Leader Jefferies on DC police “scheme.”Please visit our fantastic sponsors:Cozy Earth: Upgrade your summer. Go to cozyearth.com/RICOCHET for up to 40% off best-selling temperature-regulating sheets, apparel, and more.Qualia Senolytic: Take control of your cellular health today. Go to qualialife.com/ricochet and save 15% to experience the science of feeling younger.

In less than eighty years, the US has slipped from its baby boom heyday to a baby bust. Timothy Carney, author of Alientated America and Family Unfriendly, joins the Ricochet Podcast to discuss the implications and potential consequences of the nation's waning will to procreate.   Steve, Charles, and James gab about the fuss over gerrymandering, appraise Trump's warning to DC leadership, and consider the predicament before Israel as they plan to occupy Gaza City.- Sound from this week's opening: Jim Acosta interviews an AI version of deceased Parkland shooting victim.

Another workweek, another outrage, another Casual Friday. Lileks, Hayward, and Cooke remain (reasonably) laid back in the face of madman theory in action, tariff tranches, deadly predators, and pun-heavy advertisements.- Sound from this week's open: Sydney Sweeny promoting American Apparel jeans and Donald Trump explains how to escape from alligators.

At 750 episodes, the Ricochet Podcast is ready to accept the responsibilities that come with joining the ranks of august institutions and fellow pillars of Western Civilization. To that end, our princely hosts, James, Charles, and Steven, convene with Ellen Fantini of The European Conservative for a digital roundtable on her magazine's unique efforts to restore the rites of the proud cultures on the other side of the Atlantic. Plus, the gents discuss the revisited Russiagate scandal, the Colbert affair, and Hunter Biden's...uh...transfixing effort to revive the family name.  Sound from this week's open: Tulsi Gabbard answers a question at Wednesday's White House press conference, and Stephen Colbert offers another of his "satirical witticisms."Check out Ricochet sponsors:Bank on Yourself: Get a FREE report with all the details at Bank on Yourself.com/ RICOCHETCozy Earth: Upgrade your summer. Go to cozyearth.com/RICOCHET for up to 40% off best-selling temperature-regulating sheets, apparel, and more.

Hardly a week passes without an event happening that compels one to wonder what it means for the contemporary right. It just so happens that this week, Matt Continetti, author of the indispensable book about the right, is able to join us to discuss the latest intraparty quarrels over Jeffrey Epstein, the One Big Beautiful Bill, foreign wars, and the domestic cultural kind. Plus, John Yoo joins James and Steve in the co-host panel for a chat on the defunding of NPR and PBS, McMahon v. New York, migraine-inducing pop references, and the social uplift of fat-shaming.- Sound clip from this week's open: President Trump in the Oval Office calling the Epstein Files "a hoax."- Get a FREE report with all the details at Bank on Yourself.com/ RICOCHET

James, Steve, and Charles reconvene after an Independence Day break to catch up over some thoughts on the One Big, Beautiful Bill, Ketanji Brown Jackson's professional disorientation, and the latest dead end on getting to the truth about the twisted villain Jeffrey Epstein. The trio also discusses the newest superhero would-be-blockbuster that's betting on subverting viewer expectations, and James tells us about his own recent crime-fighting adventure...Visit this week's sponsors:Take control of your cellular health today. Go to qualialife.com/ricochet and save 15% to experience the science of feeling younger.Escape the summer heat while you sleep, visit https://cozyearth.com and use code RICOCHETSound clip from this week's open: Trump dismisses question about that Epstein creep. 

Even bunker-busters dropped on a major enemy can't top the news cycle for a whole week these days, but James, Charlie and Steve get to that along with today's Supreme Court decision drop. They're joined by Manhattan Institute president Reihan Salam to discuss New York City voters' decision to let Zorhan Mamdani turn America's largest city into a hipster paradise.