The Charles C. W. Cooke Podcast

National Review

A show about politics, music, technology, rollercoasters, golf carts, and the United States of America. read less
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Episode 58: The Parent Trap
21-03-2024
Episode 58: The Parent Trap
On episode 58—recorded from Lord Ravenscroft's desolate manor—Charles reviews objections to his approach to counting states, relates the most recent problems he's had with his golf cart, and talks to Tim Carney about his new book, Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be. Among the questions Charles and Tim discuss are why we should have "lower ambitions for our kids"; what modern parents are doing wrong—and why; what caused these mistakes; whether there is a political answer to them; why creative and independent play is so important; why parents think the world is more dangerous than it is; whether achieving the cultural changes that Tim proposes will be different given the obvious collective action problem; how cultural underconfidence factors in to the baby bust; and what Tim would do if he were a dictator.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

Episodes

Episode 58: The Parent Trap
21-03-2024
Episode 58: The Parent Trap
On episode 58—recorded from Lord Ravenscroft's desolate manor—Charles reviews objections to his approach to counting states, relates the most recent problems he's had with his golf cart, and talks to Tim Carney about his new book, Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be. Among the questions Charles and Tim discuss are why we should have "lower ambitions for our kids"; what modern parents are doing wrong—and why; what caused these mistakes; whether there is a political answer to them; why creative and independent play is so important; why parents think the world is more dangerous than it is; whether achieving the cultural changes that Tim proposes will be different given the obvious collective action problem; how cultural underconfidence factors in to the baby bust; and what Tim would do if he were a dictator.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 57: The Single Most Egregious Violation of the Fourth Amendment
13-03-2024
Episode 57: The Single Most Egregious Violation of the Fourth Amendment
On episode 57, Charles announces a special jigsaw puzzle and relates which 44 states he's visited before talking to Robert Frommer about an extraordinary case of civil asset forfeiture. The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 56: God
22-02-2024
Episode 56: God
On episode 56, Charles talks to Father Nathaniel Meyers, the Pastor of the Church of St. Francis Xavier in Buffalo, MN, about whether God exists, how we can know, and whether it ultimately matters.Fr. Meyers's reading list:St. Augustine's City of GodA Contemporary Cosmological Argument for the Existence of GodAnything by Cardinal RatzingerLetters of St. PaulThe dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 55: The Ghosts of Hampton Court Palace
16-02-2024
Episode 55: The Ghosts of Hampton Court Palace
Charles invites Gareth Russell to tell him all about his latest book, The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of British History at Hampton Court. Among the topics they discuss are the wives of Henry VIII, the use of séances to get one's own way, the first performances of Macbeth and Hamlet, the writing of the King James Bible, snobbery within eighteenth century chocolate production, whether Mary I was as bad as her reputation suggests, and why George III moved the monarchy to Buckingham Palace.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 54: Mad Dogs and Englishmen and Manatees and Sloths and Triplets and Dachsunds and Furniture
06-02-2024
Episode 54: Mad Dogs and Englishmen and Manatees and Sloths and Triplets and Dachsunds and Furniture
Charles introduces a new section on the show: Manatee Fact Hour. Then he invites that reprobate Kevin Williamson on for another throwback show. Presented by Prang and Company.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 53: CharlesGPT
02-02-2024
Episode 53: CharlesGPT
def generate_podcast_intro(episode_number, host_name, guest_name, topic):     intro = f"On episode {episode_number} of the {host_name} Podcast, budget cuts destroy the introduction and {informal_name} talks to {guest_name} about {topic}."     return introepisode_number = 53host_name = "Charles C. W. Cooke"informal_name = "Charles"guest_name = "Timothy B. Lee"topic = "artificial intelligence"podcast_intro = generate_podcast_intro(episode_number, host_name, guest_name, topic)print(podcast_intro)# The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 52: The First Uniquely American Culinary Art
25-01-2024
Episode 52: The First Uniquely American Culinary Art
On episode 52, Charles talks to Peter Suderman about cocktails. Among the topics discussed are: What is a cocktail? When were they invented? How have they changed over time? What is the 'cocktail renaissance'? How have laws affected their production or development? And how did Peter get into this in the first place?The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 51: An Oral History of Sports Misery
11-01-2024
Episode 51: An Oral History of Sports Misery
In episode 51, Charles confesses that he is genuinely morose about the end of the Jaguars season, and then talks to his colleagues about their own sporting highs and lows. For just $5/month, you can help a sad male fan.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 50: The Wintertime Maritime Bedtime Crime Pantomime
19-12-2023
Episode 50: The Wintertime Maritime Bedtime Crime Pantomime
On episode 50, Charles is rudely prevented from staging his radio play by the Ghost of Luther Abel. After that, he talks to Rafael A. Mangual about crime. (Here's his book.) Among the questions they discuss are why Rafael believes that the U.S. has a "decarceration problem"; whether too many Americans are in jail; whether the justice system is "racialized"; what we should do about police brutality; whether voters will punish politicians who make them less safe; and what law-and-order policymakers got wrong in the 1990s.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 49: The Front of the Auditorium
06-12-2023
Episode 49: The Front of the Auditorium
On episode 49—so called because there have been 48 others—Charles talks to Russ Roberts, the host of the EconTalk podcast and the president of Shalem College in Jerusalem. Among the topics they discuss are: What life has been like in Jerusalem since October 7; why Russ started a podcast so early; why he's less interested in economics than he used to be; how strongly he holds his views; whether individuals who do well in the free market 'deserve' it; which economic concepts are hardest to convey; why he doesn't call himself a 'libertarian'; why it's important to live 'like an artist'; and whether the West is going to make it in the long run.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 48: Trias Politica
21-11-2023
Episode 48: Trias Politica
On episode 48, Charles celebrates the Jacksonville Jaguars' 34-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans, and then talks to Steve Simpson about the core of America's system of government: the separation of powers. Among the questions discussed are: What is separation of powers? Why does it matter? Does America still have it? Can it co-exist with the modern world? Can there be such a thing as an "independent executive agency"? What is the "unitary executive doctrine"? Are we going in the right direction—or backsliding back to monarchy?The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 47: See Saw, Stalemate Thaw?
15-11-2023
Episode 47: See Saw, Stalemate Thaw?
On episode 47, Charles tries to work out why some of the anti-Israel protests have bothered him so much, and then talks to Ruy Texeira about the current state of the Democratic Party. Among the questions asked are: Why is Texeira's new book called 'Where Have All the Democrats Gone?' when the Democrats seem to be doing fine? Why is the "shadow Democratic Party" so  strong? What is the "soul" of the Democratic Party? What did Bill Clinton get right in the 1990s?  How correct was the thesis of 'The Emerging Democratic Majority?' Is abortion hurting the Republicans? What should we draw from this year's Virginia elections? And is demography destiny after all?The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 46: October 7
26-10-2023
Episode 46: October 7
On episode 46, Charles talks to Dan Senor about the horrors of October 7. Among the topics discussed are: What happened? Why did it happen? Why would Hamas's apologists say it happened? Was Dan surprised that it happened? Does he worry about another Holocaust? Has he been shocked by the reaction in the United States? What will happen next? Why does Dan describe Israel's system as "genius" in his new book?The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 45: Where Did Identity Politics Come From?
17-10-2023
Episode 45: Where Did Identity Politics Come From?
On episode 45, Charles admits that he missed the podcast's anniversary. Then he talks to Yascha Mounk about his new book, The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time. Among the topics discussed are where identity politics comes from, how it spread so fast over the last ten years, why it's a problem, whether opposition to it should be moral or practical or both, and what will happen if it's not checked.Charles's piece about going to an NFL game in London can be found here.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 44: Differ We Must
06-10-2023
Episode 44: Differ We Must
On episode 44, Charles talks to NPR's Steve Inskeep about his excellent new book on Abraham Lincoln, Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America. Among the topics discussed are whether the book is a call for engagement in the modern era, whether practical politics gets a bad rap, what Lincoln really thought about African-Americans, whether Lincoln intuited that he was going die in office, what challenges are presented by the fact that Lincoln was murdered when he was, whether Lincoln's occasional dishonesty was justified, and what class-based "equality" meant in his era.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 43: Deconstructing Carpeaux
28-09-2023
Episode 43: Deconstructing Carpeaux
On episode 43, Charles answers a question about atheism and individual rights: "How can your belief in unalienable rights be squared with your professed atheism?" Then he talks to Heather Mac Donald about her book, When Race Trumps Merit: How the Pursuit of Equity Sacrifices Excellence, Destroys Beauty, and Threatens Lives.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 42: Pop Goes the Diesel
19-09-2023
Episode 42: Pop Goes the Diesel
On episode 42, Charles answers a question about the game of Rugby, and then talks to Douglas Brunt about his fascinating new book about Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the diesel engine and, at one point, one of the most famous and interesting people in the world. Among the questions asked are: Why have we not heard more about Diesel? What sort of world was he inventing in? Why were the world's militaries so interested in his work? What did he believe in? What did he think of America? Did he get on with Thomas Edison? How did he come up with the idea for his engine? How did he disappear—and what are the main theories as to how it happened?The book is The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 41: Cold War II
15-09-2023
Episode 41: Cold War II
On episode 41, Charles talks to the historian Niall Ferguson about Cold War II (not Cold War 2.0). Among the questions asked are: What is a Cold War and why are we in one? Is China now more ideological than it was twenty years ago? Should America be taking more drastic action at home and abroad? What sort of tools should the United States be creating? Is Ukraine a distraction from the real threat? Will the Chinese turn on their government? Who will win the battle this time around?The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 40: New Old Americans
06-09-2023
Episode 40: New Old Americans
On episode 40, Charles talks to Winkfield Twyman Jr. and Jennifer Richmond about their book, Letters in Black and White: A New Correspondence on Race in America. Among the issues discussed: Have our conversations about race got worse despite conditions for African-Americans having improved? Is racial solidarity necessary in a country that once had slavery? Can a focus on 'Old Americans' help everyone move on? Were Wink and Jennifer nervous about having an "authentic conversation" about race? Should others be?The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.
Episode 39: Two Cheers for the Writers' Strike?
25-08-2023
Episode 39: Two Cheers for the Writers' Strike?
On episode 39 of the Charles C. W. Cooke Podcast, Charles talks to Rob Long, a writer and the founder of Ricochet.com, about the ongoing "Hollywood Strike," which is now on its 114th day. What's it about? Is it justified? How—and when—will it end? Why do entertainment figures have unions? Is streaming ruining everything? Will this strike make it worse? How a big a threat to actors and writers is Artificial Intelligence? And how did Rob get into Hollywood, anyway?The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.