Q & A, Hosted By Jay Nordlinger

Masih Alinejad is a U.S. citizen from Iran. She is a journalist, a democracy activist, and a human-rights activist. Jay wrote about her last year: “A Free Spirit.” In that year, 2021, she was the target of a kidnapping plot by the Iranian dictatorship. In recent weeks, she has been the target of a murder plot. She is unable to live at home, in New York. But she is as outspoken as ever—a free... Source

Recently, John Bolton was the target of a murder plot by Iran. He now has Secret Service protection. He and Jay talk about Iran. Also Ukraine, Taiwan, South Korea, the GOP, and the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago. As usual, Bolton is interesting, informed, and frank. Source

Harvey Mansfield is one of the most celebrated and valued teachers in America. He is a professor of government at Harvard—and has been so since 1962. This year, some of his students and admirers held a conference called “Harvey Mansfield at 90.” With Jay, Professor Mansfield discusses some of his career-long concerns: Aristotle, Machiavelli, Tocqueville . . . He also answers, “What is democracy? Source

Kim Holmes is a veteran foreign-policy hand. For many years, he was at the Heritage Foundation. He was also an assistant secretary of state. Today, he is, among other things, vice chairman of the Center for International Private Enterprise. With Jay, he talks about the War on Terror (ongoing). And, of course, the Ukraine war. And China and Taiwan. He also talks about American conservatism: Are... Source

Hillel Neuer is the executive director of UN Watch. Like no one else, he keeps an eye on the United Nations, particularly when it comes to human rights. If you care about what the U.N. does with human rights—and usually they do appalling things—then Neuer is your man: your man in Geneva. He is also a broadly thoughtful and experienced man, and Jay asks him some essential questions about his life... Source

A refreshing, interesting, and meaty conversation about sports with Jay’s gurus, David French and Vivek Dave. Several items are on the menu. The expansion of the Big Ten conference. The idea of the student-athlete. The NBA offseason. (What is Kevin Durant thinking?) Shohei Ohtani. The skills of hockey players. Tiger Woods. The Saudi League. More. These gurus are stuffed with knowledge... Source

David Mastio is a veteran journalist, long associated with USA Today. Until recently, he was deputy editorial-page editor. But then he came up against wokeness—and was eventually hounded out of the paper. He has landed on his feet, however, at StraightArrowNews.com. Dave Mastio’s story is a modern American story. He lays it out matter-of-factly. Listen to him. When USA Today lost him—they lost a... Source

Jay “nerds out” a bit with Luke Kerr-Dineen, a real authority on golf. LKD is an editor at Golf magazine and Golf.com. With Jay, he talks about the recent U.S. Open. The new Saudi golf tour. The ins and outs of swings. Favorite golfers, favorite courses—the problem of equipment gone wild. A delightful and invigorating discussion, for golfers, of course, but for non-golfers too, who may catch the... Source

Jacob Mchangama is a Danish lawyer, civil libertarian, human-rights advocate, and writer. He is the founder and director of Justitia, a think tank. He is an old friend of Jay’s, and a favorite of Jay’s. Mchangama’s new book is “Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media.” Of the book, the late P.J. O’Rourke said, “The best history of free speech ever written and the best defense of free... Source

Paul Massaro is a senior policy advisor to the U.S. Helsinki Commission. With Jay, he discusses the Ukraine war, primarily: what it means for the United States, Russia, Europe, and—not least—Ukraine. The views he expresses are his own and do not represent an official position of the U.S. government. Source

Michela Wrong is a journalist, and “not just any journalist,” as Jay says in his introduction: She is “a famed, and superb, chronicler of Africa.” Along with her journalism, she has written five books, rightly acclaimed. “In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz” is a fascinating depiction of Mobutu and Zaire. Ms. Wrong’s latest book is “Do Not Disturb,” about Rwanda. You will enjoy this conversation about a... Source

Abdulrahman al-Sadhan worked for the Red Cross, or Red Crescent, in Saudi Arabia. He jotted some tweets critical of the Saudi dictatorship, anonymously. But his cover was blown—and he was arrested, imprisoned, tortured . . . This is the Saudi way. Working to win his release is his sister, Areej. As Jay says, “she is a brave, determined woman, and, of course, a very loyal sister.” This is a story... Source

Jewher Ilham, age 27, is a Uyghur activist, in the United States. She is a spokesman for the Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region. Her father, Ilham Tohti, an economist, is somewhere in the gulag. The U.S. State Department has classified China’s persecution of the Uyghur people as a genocide. Jewher Ilham is the author of “A Uyghur’s Fight to Free Her Father” and “Because I Have To.”... Source

Vladimir Kara-Murza is one of the leading Russian democracy campaigners. He is an old friend of “Q&A” and an old friend of Jay’s. Now he is a political prisoner. His wife and partner—his wife and chief ally—is Evgenia Kara-Murza. In this conversation, she talks about her husband, their marriage, their work, the Russian people . . . As Jay points out, she is much like Vladimir: brave, elegant... Source

Akhil Reed Amar is an outstanding teacher of the Constitution, and American history. He is a professor of law at Yale. He was born in Michigan to immigrant parents from India. The latest of his several books on the Constitution is “The Words That Made Us.” He recently wrote about Roe vs. Wade, explaining why he, a pro-choice Democrat, thinks it is a bad decision. He does a podcast called “Amarica’... Source

Harvey Sachs is one of the great writers about music. “His biography of Toscanini,” says Jay, “is one of the greatest biographical feats I know.” Sachs’s latest book is “Ten Masterpieces of Music.” With Jay, he talks about this mighty ten. The conversation at large abounds in interesting facts, observations, opinions, and stories. Source

As Jay says in his introduction, Matthew Continetti is “a conservative and a conservative-ologist: a student of conservatism, a dissector of it, an expert on it. He has written a new book: ‘The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism.’” Jay and Matt have a meaty hour on conservatism. And they barely get started. Source

Inna Sovsun is a member of the Ukrainian parliament. What she has to say about what is happening in her country right now is very informative and not a little moving. Source

“On ‘Q&A,’” says Jay, “I have had people from many walks of life: politicians, novelists, athletes, comedians, scientists, journalists, businessmen, sopranos, human-rights activists—on and on. I don’t think I have ever before had a poet. So, today is the day to have one. She is Danielle Rose.” And a very interesting person is she. A thought-provoking, enriching conversation. Source

Jimmy Crumpacker is a very interesting fellow who is running for Congress in Oregon. He is from an old Oregon family—about as old as such a family can get. Jimmy Crumpacker is seventh generation. He is a Republican, of the old school, which is to say, he believes in limited government, free markets, and economic growth. Also the rule of law. Born and raised in Portland, he discusses with Jay the... Source