The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg
In “The Remnant," Jonah Goldberg enlists a “Cannonball Run”-style cast of stars, has-beens, and never-weres to address the most pressing issues of the day. Is America doomed? Has liberalism failed? And will mankind ever invent something better than ‘90s-era “Simpsons?” Mixing political history, pop culture, rank punditry, and shameless book-plugging, Goldberg and guests will have the kinds of conversations we wish they featured on TV. And the nudity will (almost) always be tasteful. Brace your bingo cards.
Sophistry and Sovereigntism | Ruminant
Jonah Goldberg ruminates on the indictment of John Bolton, G.K. Chesterton’s beef with Edmund Burke, and the POLITICO report on the Young Republicans.
Show Notes:
—Wednesday's G-File
—Nick Catoggio on the Young Republicans
—The fight over National Guard deployment
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File newsletters—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experien...
Ask a Catholic | Interview: Father Gregory Pine
Father Gregory Pine joins the podcast today, and Jonah Goldberg desperately tries not to offend him while asking his most pressing religious questions about the efficacy of prayer, the salvation of non-Christians, and the rules regarding priestly celibacy.
Shownotes:
—Father. Gregory Maria Pine, O.P.
—Your Eucharistic Identity: A Sacramental Guide to the Fullness of Life
—Lumen Gentium
—The Bad Popes
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to...
The Annual State of the Dispatch | Interview: Steve Hayes
Jonah Goldberg has reluctantly invited notorious media hack Steve Hayes back on the show to wax lyrical about The Dispatch’s 2025 thus far, the SCOTUSblog acquisition, and maintaining one’s integrity.
Shownotes:
—2024 Annual State of The Dispatch
—Steve’s weird NWYT on The Dispatch Podcast
—Steve’s good NWYT on The Dispatch Podcast
—Newsgeist
—SCOTUSblog
—Most recent Dispatch Podcast
—The Dispatch founding manifesto
—Grayson Logue’s article on vaccines and pediatricians
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative pe...
Bummed Out, Mustache-Twirling Villains | Ruminant
Still recovering from last week’s deep dive into Burke and Berlin, Jonah Goldberg flexes his political muscles, traipsing across the Gaza deal, free speech in Britain, the Letitia James indictment, departmentalism, and the squalor of American politics.
Show Notes:
— Friday’s Dispatch Podcast
— Remnant Podcast with Jay Nordlinger
— Jonah’s Wednesday G-File on Tucker Carlson
— Remnant with Emily Oster
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File newsletters—...
Puritans, Canadians, Weberians, Oh My! | Interview: Molly Worthen
Jonah Goldberg talks to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor Molly Worthen about her recent book, Spellbound, as they trace the history of charisma—not to be confused with charm—through 400 years of American history.
Show Notes:
—Molly’s webpage
—Molly’s book: Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File newsletters—click...
Eternal Vigilance | Interview: Jay Nordlinger
Jonah Goldberg has convinced Dispatch contributing writer Jay Nordlinger to take a break from swanning about Europe to sit and chew over the great issues of our day. They discuss the two-year anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attacks, the Nobel Peace Prize, the consequences of presidential action, and free speech.
Show Notes:
—Jay’s Substack
—Jay’s New Criterion page
—Renew Democracy Initiative
—The Next Move Substack
—Jay’s book: Peace, They Say: A History of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Most Famous and Controversial Prize in the World
—The Rest Is History episode on Enoch...
The Three Great Revolutions | Ruminant
After powering through some rank punditry, Jonah Goldberg displays his intellectual prowess by tackling G.K. Chesterton’s take on Edmund Burke, outlining mankind’s three great revolutions, and dissecting our notion of “identity crisis.”
Show Notes:
—Friday’s Dispatch Podcast
—Chesterton on Burke
—Jonah’s Remnant with Allen Guelzo
—Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy
—“The Hedgehog and the Fox”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative p...
The Wings Are Eating the Center | Interview: Elliot Williams
Frenemies Jonah Goldberg and Elliot Williams, accustomed to sitting across from each other on CNN, come together to discuss a meeting of generals, the Comey indictment, and the drift of the parties.
Show Notes:
—Elliot Williams’s Profile
—Five Bullets: The Story of Bernie Goetz, New York's Explosive '80s, and the Subway Vigilante Trial That Divided the Nation
—Advisory Opinions episode on Comey indictment
—“Why Everyone Is Rushing to Label Themselves an ‘Independent’ ” - Jonah’s LA Times Column
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, pol...
Parenting in the Modern Age | Interview: Emily Oster
Jonah Goldberg teams up with Emily Oster—Brown University economist, and more importantly, Dispatch contributor—to discuss Tylenol and autism, the allure of tradwives, and the battle over household divisions of labor.
Show Notes:
—Emily Oster’s writer page for The Dispatch
—Emily for The Dispatch: Missteps to a Misguided Claim
—ParentData website
—Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong—and What You Really Need to Know
—Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool
—The Family Firm: A Data-Driven Guide to Better Decision Making in the Early Scho...
Toads on the Stool of Truth | Solo
Jonah Goldberg is smacked back to reality from his break abroad with the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey and the beginning symptoms of a cold. Powering his way through cough medicine, he argues against the vindictive nature of the Trump administration, dives into the hagiography of Charlie Kirk on the right, and revisits the debate between Athens vs. Jerusalem from his Remnant episode with historian Allen C. Guelzo.
Show Notes:
—Andrew McCarthy's piece on the Comey indictment in National Review
—Nick Catoggio's Boiling Frogs newsletter on the Comey indictment
—Jonah's Rem...
Barbarians at the Gate | Interview: Allen C. Guelzo
Historian Allen C. Guelzo joins Jonah Goldberg to discuss his new book, The Golden Thread: A History of the Western Tradition, Volume I: The Ancient World and Christendom, exploring the origins of the key threads that make up the Western tradition, how they were woven together over two-and-a-half millennia, and how foundational ideas such as science, freedom, equality, law, good government, and virtue emerged and evolved.
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access t...
You Know That I Know | Interview: Steven Pinker
Renowned psychologist Steven Pinker joins Jonah Goldberg to share insights from his latest book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life, which explores humanity’s unique sixth sense for common knowledge.
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File newsletters—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by...
Contempt for Congress (Re-Air) | Interview: Yuval Levin
Editor’s note: Jonah Goldberg has vanished somewhere in the Swiss Alps. While search-and-rescue teams brave the mountains, we’re re-airing a Remnant classic with fan favorite Yuval Levin. This episode first aired March 26, 2025.
Not since Thomas Jefferson podcasting alone has a guest been so wise as Yuval Levin, who joins Jonah Goldberg to discuss the trend of Lebowskian communication mishaps, the danger of obsessive abstraction in Trumpian times, and the promise of connecting with the median voter.
Show Notes:
—The Atlantic: "Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans"
—Yuval on The Ezra Klein S...
The (Second) Great Leap Forward | Interview: Dan Wang
While Jonah’s travels continue, guest host Kevin Williamson is joined by Dan Wang, author of Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future, for a discussion of China’s approach to engineering in the 21st century, what living in Shanghai during the pandemic was like, and the future of U.S.-China relations.
Show Notes:
—Dan Wang’s website
—Kevin for The Dispatch: “Understanding China’s Engineering Empire”
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The Next Generation of Woke | Interview: Claire Lehmann
Editor’s Note: Jonah is traveling this week, but he pre-recorded this episode with Claire Lehmann on September 8 to make sure you got your Remnant fix.
Claire Lehmann, founder of Quillette and contributing writer for The Dispatch, joins Jonah Goldberg to discuss the radicalization of young women, the new wave of wokeness championed by figures like Zohran Mamdani, and why Australia is a terrifying continent filled with creatures that want you dead.
Show Notes:
—Claire Lehmann for The Dispatch: "The Next Generation of Wokeness"
—Claire Lehmann for The Dispatch: "When Women Are Radicalized"
The Remn...
The Problem with ‘They’ | Ruminant
Jonah Goldberg dissects the inflammatory ‘war’ rhetoric coming from both the right and left following the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk, the rise of political violence in recent years, and the various forms of killing throughout human history.
But first, Jonah wants you to know he’s not an arsonist.
Show Notes:
—Jonah Goldberg for National Review: Debate Amongst Yourselves
—Charles Fain Lehmann on The Remnant
—Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Advisory Opinions
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a...
Honor Among Nations | Interview: Graeme Wood
Jonah Goldberg sits down with Graeme Wood of The Atlantic to break down Iran’s recovery after its 12-day war with Israel, the chances of regime change, and what’s next for Israel in Gaza.
Plus: Why honor among nations still matters.
Show Notes:
—The Neighbor From Hell
—For Iranians, War With Israel Still Looms Large
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File...
Gay Race Communism | Interview: Chris Stirewalt
Chris Stirewalt joins Jonah Goldberg to unpack the Frasier-esque undertones of Donald Trump’s birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ capitulation on vaccine mandates, and the “mean girls” dynamic inside the Trump administration.
Show Notes:
—Seth Masket's Substack on the popularity of the presidency
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File newsletters—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast...
We Scold These Truths | Solo
Jonah Goldberg ruminates on the recent exchange between Ted Cruz and Tim Kaine on the celestial origins of rights, the idea of “heritage Americans,” and Donald Trump’s dying relationship with Modi.
Show Notes:
—Cass Sunstein on The Remnant
—Michael Warren reporting on the NatCons
—Friday's Dispatch Podcast
—Friday’s G-File
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Vice Week | Interview: Charles Fain Lehman
Vice week continues with Charles Fain Lehman, Manhattan Institute fellow and Dispatch contributing writer, joining Jonah Goldberg for a discussion on drug addiction, legalized gambling, and porn.
Show Notes:
—Charles for The Dispatch: “The Sports Gambling Backlash Is Here”
—Charles for The Dispatch: “It’s Time to Prosecute Pornhub”
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The Whore House in Falls Church | Interview: Tim Carney
Tim Carney, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Jonah Goldberg to unpack his latest investigative reporting on a local brothel, and they discuss the cronyism lurking behind tariffs as well as misconceptions common on both the left and the right about encouraging Americans to have more children.
Show Notes:
—Read Tim's book: Family Unfriendly: A Critical Examination of Overparenting and Its Consequences
—Read Tim's reporting on the Falls Church brothel
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspec...
The Coming GOP Civil War | Solo
Jonah Goldberg addresses the ‘thoughts and prayers’ backlash following the tragic school shooting in Minneapolis, examines fractures within the Trump coalition, and continues the Dispatch Roundtable’s discussion of how bad Franklin D. Roosevelt was as a president.
Show Notes:
—In Defense of Thoughts and Prayers
—Michael Brandon Doughtery's article for National Review
—Friday's Dispatch Roundtable
—Daniel McCarthy's response to Jonah
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all...
Conserving Liberalism | Interview: Cass Sunstein
Jonah Goldberg is joined by Cass Sunstein, legal scholar and author of Manipulation: What It Is, Why It’s Bad, What to Do About It, to define liberalism once and for all (it means being a mensch), explain the role of “nudging” in public policy, and defend the “abundance” agenda.
Show Notes:
—Sludge: What Stops Us from Getting Things Done and What to Do About It
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—inc...
What’s Going On Across the Pond? | Interview: Daniel Hannan
Lord Daniel Hannan of Kingsclere joins Jonah Goldberg for a royal breakdown of new speech laws in the United Kingdom and to provide a history lesson on the Conservative Party.
Show Notes:
—Hannan's website
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File newsletters—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.
...
Cash and Character | Solo
Jonah Goldberg ruminates on the FBI search of John Bolton’s home, the uselessness of political labels, and how the ghost of Joseph McCarthy and the Soviet Union still haunts us.
Plus: More I-told-you-so’s from Liberal Fascism and Suicide of the West.
Show Notes:
—The Atlantic’s profile of Laura Loomer
—James Kirchick on Tucker Carlson
—Charles Fain Lehman on guaranteed income programs
—Wednesday’s G-File
—Fact check on Trump’s “six wars” claim
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and cultur...
When Harry Became Sally | Interview: Carole Hooven
Carole Hooven, evolutionary biologist and nonresident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Jonah Goldberg to discuss the differences between gender and sex, homosexuality in the animal kingdom, and epigenetics.
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File newsletters—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.
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Pleading Insanity | Interview: Emmett Rensin
Emmett Rensin, author of The Complications: On Going Insane in America, joins Jonah Goldberg for a candid conversation on the state of our mental health institutions, the history of the insanity defense and his own challenges navigating care while living with schizoaffective disorder.
Show Notes:
—Rensin's essay for The Dispatch
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of Jonah’s G-File newsletters—click here. If you’d like to remove...
Déjà-Munich | Solo
Jonah Goldberg analyzes the strategic chess match between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin before diving into the federal takeover of D.C.’s streets and the president’s takeover of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Show Notes:
—Kevin Williamson's Wanderland on postmodernists
—Jonah's G-File on postmodernists
—Megan McArdle in the Washington Post on crime
—Grayson Logue for The Dispatch: “What’s Next for the Bureau of Labor Statistics?”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Disp...
The Jews Have the Last Laugh | Interview: Barry Strauss
Jonah Goldberg invites Barry Strauss, author of Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World’s Mightiest Empire, to discuss the clashes between these two ancient worlds, focusing on key events like the Siege of Masada and the Bar Kokhba revolt. Discover how these uprisings not only challenged Roman authority but also shaped the cultural and political landscape of current events.
Show Notes:
—Read Strauss’ other books
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The...
Manipulating the Weather | Interview: Dr. David Keith
Dr. David Keith, professor of geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago and founder of Carbon Engineering, joins Jonah Goldberg to explain the controversy surrounding geoengineering. They brainstorm ways to decarbonize the economy, argue over the fine print of climate policy, and wonder if humanity can fix the planet without accidentally turning it into a giant Easy-Bake Oven.
Show Notes:
—Dr. Keith's bio
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access...
There’s A Lot of Nonsense These Days | Solo
With his memory fading, Jonah Goldberg is fed up with his difficulty with remembering things, and pundits and politicians’ refusal to tell the truth. He ruminates over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Hamas acting as a prison gang, tariffs, and bias in the mainstream media.
Show Notes:
— Hamas G-File
— Old Fictions, New Fictions G-FileT
he Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only con...
The Revolutions of 1776 | Interview: Phillip Muñoz
Continuing the counterprogramming tradition, Phillip Muñoz, the Tocqueville professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, joins Jonah Goldberg to discuss the remarkable revolutions of the American Founding, the allure of postliberalism, and the proper place of religious authority. Plus: Their thoughts on cultural shifts and virtue.
Show Notes:
— Phillip Muñoz’s bio
— Muñoz's National Affairs article
—Jonah's Next 250 article on the American Revolution
—Irving Kristol's article on the free society
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a...
A Return to Econ 101 | Interview: Russ Roberts
Jonah Goldberg is joined by Russ Roberts, the president of Shalem College and host of the EconTalk podcast, to discuss trade policy, combat intellectual idolatry, and review recent events in Israel.
Plus: their thoughts on the rise of antisemitism and fringe ideas.
Show Notes:
—EconTalk Podcast
—Russ Roberts’ latest book, Wild Problems
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only co...
Artificial Reef Conservatism | Solo
Never shy of small talk, Jonah Goldberg is eager to discuss the Sydney Sweeney outrage, the American genetics movement, and G.K. Chesterton.
Plus: his thoughts on the new Superman movie and the shifting nature of aesthetics.
Show Notes:
—Remnant AMA with Sarah Isgur, Part 1
—Remnant AMA with Sarah Isgur, Part 2
—Advisory Opinions podcast
—This week’s Dispatch Podcast
—Jonah’s Wednesday G-File
—Jonah for The Dispatch: “Don’t Call This Conservatism”
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan...
Ask Me Anything, Pt. 2 | Interview: Sarah Isgur
Sarah Isgur, Advisory Opinions host and Dispatch senior editor, is back for more, joining Jonah Goldberg on The Remnant to answer fans’ questions and offer up some life advice. Listen along to learn about the happiest days of Sarah and Jonah’s lives, common accusations, lifehacks, smells, and more.
Show Notes:
—The Advisory Opinions Podcast
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—...
Ask Me Anything, Pt. 1 | Interview: Sarah Isgur
In a much-anticipated episode of The Remnant, Sarah Isgur—Advisory Opinions host and Dispatch senior editor—joins Jonah Goldberg to answer fans’ questions. Listen along to learn about their friendship, favorite legal dramas, midlife career changes, parenting, and much more.
Show Notes:
— Sarah's Advisory Opinions podcast
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Nature Is Trying to Kill You | Solo
Deep in the Adirondacks, Jonah Goldberg ruminates over the dangers of nature, wealth’s ability to solve problems, and the merits of “tough on crime” policies.
Plus: his thoughts on economic inequality and the ills of scientism.
Show Notes:
—Free Press: “I Once Thought Europeans Lived as Well as Americans. Not Anymore.”
—WSJ: “The New Hot Topic in European Politics Is Air Conditioning"
—John McCormack for The Dispatch: "Why Murders in One of America’s Most Violent Cities Hit a Historic Low"
—Remnant Episode with Tomer Persico
The Remnant is a production of The D...
Furnishing the Mind | Interview: Chris Stirewalt
Jonah Goldberg and Chris Stirewalt imagine a post-Trump GOP, disclose their favorite political films, and examine America’s problems with cultural literacy and nostalgia.
Show Notes:
—Follow @ChrisStirewalt on X
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Across the Pond Politics | Interview: Francis Dearnley
An off-the-grid Jonah Goldberg is joined by Francis Dearnley, host of “Ukraine: The Latest,”to discuss how the Russia-Ukraine war ends and dive into British politics.
Show Notes:
—Follow @FrancisDearnley on X.
—Listen to Ukraine: The Latest
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including Jonah’s G-File newsletter, regular livestreams, and other members-only content—click here.
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Words, Words, Words | Solo
A voice-conscious Jonah Goldberg is flying solo at the Chautauqua Institution and ready to flesh out his morning thoughts. He ruminates over the Epstein-Trump drama, discusses attempts to lower the voting age, and explains the importance of terms.Plus: a review of the week’s Remnant episodes with guests Tomer Persico and Sarah Isgur.
Show Notes:
—This week's Dispatch Roundtable Podcast
—This week's Remnant with Tomer Persico
—This week's Remnant with Sarah Isgur
—Last week’s Remnant with Chris Stirewalt
—WSJ Epstein Birthday Letter Article
The Remnant is a p...
