Jonah, you are the best

Guys…. It’s Sarah’s voice…can you please make it stop? Or at least run it through an AI filter?

As a 40-something, fiscally conservative, socially centrist female who found a “home” at The Dispatch, I have to respectfully request that you never-ever-ever-ever again invite Megan McArdle on as a guest. Her most recent commentary on the private healthcare insurance system in the US was so tone-deaf and elitist, that it made me want to immediately unsubscribe. Instead, I chose to listen to the entirety of the discussion, and came away with a deep sense of disappointment at her lack of perspective and personal commentary that wreaked of privilege. I grew up in, and now raise a family in a very upper-middle-class environment. Our monthly healthcare premiums are more than our mortgage, and it’s completely unaffordable to even use this “coverage.” Back in the early 2000’s while I was in college, I was hit by an elderly, uninsured driver and left with thousands of dollars in medical debt and saddled with a corresponding credit score. Our system is broken. We CAN do better, and Megan’s analysis is gross, and at best, wholly uninformed.

Isgur is the only host who can accurately portray views she doesn’t agree with

This podcast has increased in self indulgent stories, language crutches, and lacks the rigor long time listeners came to expect. Sarah’s use of “how dare you” is used so much, it’s lost meaning. Jonah thinks inside jokes and stories are “a fun conversation”, but it’s only fun for him. Steve hasn’t had a new opinion in two years, and reminds us every time he talks. Time to change it up yall, if that’s even possible for you.

Sarah’s opening question felt like it took 5 minutes to ask. Less Sarah in all the feeds.

As a policy centrist but social liberal, I’m a big fan of The Dispatch and Sarah Isgur in general. While her opinions can definitely grind my gears at times, it’s great to hear view points that I can often relate to, even if it’s not always in the same context. That being said, I also have great appreciation for the work that everyone else puts into this show. I would, however, not be a listener, had I not been an avid fan of Left, Right, and Center. Whether you’re conservative or liberal, it’s always good to hear various viewpoints so you can be well informed. Give this podcast a shot - even if you don’t agree with everything, you can come to appreciate the common ground. Shows like this make me miss the days where we could talk about politics (and I’m only 33).

Andy McCarthy: I agree Trump is a criminal and an adjudicated rapist, but c’mon I’m not going to vote for a democrat. There must be better conservatives out there than this…

He went personal on this one.

Please be nicer to Sarah, Steve. It would really ruin your whole dynamic if she left.

I was expecting balance based on what someone else told me and clearly this is not that; when you just look at the backgrounds of these people, they are clearly very right leaning. What is ‘non-partisan, conservative perspective’, supposed to mean? No, this is partisan for sure. If you want balance it’s not this, these folks have a very clear right slant so if you like that this might be for you.

I lean slightly further right but love the insights you guys provide. So I don’t agree with everything you say but that is not why I am here.

Your interviewer can’t even bother to pronounce her name correctly? I tried but absolutely not. The disrespect. Former dispatch member btw. Sooo disappointed in all of you for reasons particular to each one of you

Jamie, Hugh Hewitt interview… excellent.

Hugh is sad. Trump is strong and smart and fast and brave (paraphrasing). It’s sad to hear a man grovel. He actually says “Trump Force One” at one point for god’s sake. He also says “you don’t 2x down on a loser.” (?) History will not favor Hugh Hewitt. Edit: Young men don’t join the military because they can just buy military weapons. Why join when you can play?

The Dispatch has been heading in the direction of “well Trump really isn’t that bad but Kamala is unacceptable” since July. Capping it off with today’s interview with Hugh Hewitt deceptively titles “A vote against Kamala”. Does anyone with a brain buy that Hewitt was ever going to do anything but vote for Trump for the past 8 years?

Does the fact that Harris is in a bit of a unique position by having a day job for which she’s had to swear an oath to serve the nation matter at all? Is she really free to go out an bang on the administration she is serving even to win an election? I routinely engage with fed officials and have done so across three administrations. The same official will tout policies of the new administration and will NEVER criticize their current president. It simply is not done. What would you be saying about her as a VP if she were to use disloyal language about the President and administration at whose pleasure she currently serves???

I really like this podcast and the people on it even though I am much more liberal than they are. It’s the only politics content I consume. I take their point on public health credibility with George Floyd but the complete lack of concern regarding the substance around George Floyd’s killing is a real bummer. No the protests should not have been ok but the hosts have a way of hand waiving away any problems with race or any number of other concerns on the left without actually addressing them. Also there were many public health messaging failures during the pandemic but the hosts also forget the many many people who died and that people were doing their best to stop that.

I think Harris will win by a fairly wide margin so my vote won’t matter. Therefore I’ll write in DeSantis and then straight Republican on the down ballot. I can’t stand Trump, his policies are dangerous imho. I cannot will myself to vote for him, but I’ll keep my vote to myself to anyone I know.

I really like hearing all sides & opinions of our politics. Trying not to be in a world of only the opinions I agree with. I really like this podcast but Sarah is very very one sided her “pushbacks” are getting more & more ridiculous. I initially enjoyed her point of view but as our election creeps closer & things get crazier. So has she it’s disappointing I want to continue this podcast but she is making me want to run away from it

Jonah said Trump is more responsible for the assassination attempt on his life than Biden is. Let that sink in. Except for Sarah, these guys hate Trump more than they love America. You'll hear them put down Republicans/conservatives far more than you'll hear them ever saying anything bad about a leftist. Listen to them contort themselves to stick up for the Hunter Biden laptop debacle by the media. Jonah even admitted that the Trump trial was a farce, but stated Trump had it coming, so it's OK. How un-American.

I love this podcast and look forward to it every week, especially the Friday episode. But please, please, please don’t have anymore partisans in the Friday episode. Former Senator Heidcamp spoke almost entirely in talking points for that entire episode, blatantly lied about the democrat’s reaction to 2016 (despite Sarah putting facts in front of her), and then minimized political violence all to say “orange man bad.” We can get this from CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and any number of mainstream outlets. The Dispatch is not supposed to be about that.

Just listened to the post debate podcast… first just want to say I (and members of my family) landed on the Dispatch from Advisory Opinions where we love listening to Sarah and David… big fans of David and Nancy French. Although we have watched Jonah on CNN from time to time and noted his mispronunciation of Kamala Harris’s (the Vice President of the United States) first name with much distain coming from an obviously educated man - I am discouraged that Jonah continued on this episode as they even went so far as to TEACH one the correct pronunciation at the DNC. Just wanted to let you know to some it makes Jonah seem at best disrespectful and misogynistic .. worst BOTH or dare I say racist. Just trying to help.. as I’m sure that is not the impression you want your listeners to land on - thanks for your attention.

Sarah twisted herself into quite a pretzel trying to make an argument about who “won the debate” and why it wasn’t really Harris. Any sentient person who watched or saw clips of that debate knew who won (for the record, Harris won). Steve stated it best “we just spent 15 min talking about eating cats and dogs”. The final topic “media bias” was just a tired trope. THE media is now not dominated by historical main stream liberal media. FOX news is now so main streamed it touts itself as the #1 news network. A simple perusal of the opinion page of the WSJ shows the “conservative/MAGA” bias. I listen to this podcast (along with reading the WSJ, WaPo, and my local state newspaper) to avoid siloing myself with confirmation bias. I still certainly hold strong opinions, but I’m willing to be challenged. I do however find it insulting when someone like Sarah (with her own biases) tries to tell me I didn’t see what I saw and heard what I heard. I know it wasn’t the outcome she’d hoped for, but “them are the facts”.

I’ve followed The Dispatch since its inception. I’m left of center, but really appreciate hearing faithful conservative viewpoints because they’re built on core values and integrity. As Jonah likes to say, this country needs a brake pedal and a gas pedal and conservatives bring the brakes. So why the 3-star rating? Simply because the commitment to integrity has faltered and has ceded way to false equivalencies between the parties. I can’t say for sure when the change happened, but I do suspect hiring Sarah has played a major role along with David French leaving. It’s to the point where I just always know what Sarah is going to say because it’s just what the right-wing eco sphere says. Sometimes there’s no light between Sarah and Trump, like trying to pin a big chunk of the J6 blame on Nancy Pelosi. She then defends Vance’s comments about the cats as if he’s shining a light on an important issue. Screw that, I live near Springfield and the only thing Vance is accomplishing is driving MAGA to hate crimes and violence, hence the bomb threats in Springfield. This doesn’t help local officials solve any problems, which is why DeWine has had to push back on the hateful rhetoric. Ceding integrity is likely why the remaining G File crowd are just purely right-wing ecosystem folks with bad and boring takes. The team needs to remember why they founded The Dispatch and get back to standing up for rule of law and integrity as paramount over policy differences. This isn’t hard people, just say when given the choice between a candidate on the other side of the aisle vs. one with zero integrity and zero respect for our constitution, we choose the one on the other side of the aisle. I miss David, peace.

As always giving any credit to Harris seems to make you dry heave, but I did learn a few things and I thank yu for that. It seems as though, you absolutely deplore the idea of a Harris presidency, but don’t vote for Trump either. If you do want to tip the scale it’s not working and if you want to appear 100% impartial, not working either. However I appreciate you being a voice that is still to the right of the Bulwork and Pod Save America. And I hope to keep learning.

Thanks for the continued analysis. It is great to hear smart takes on issues. The criticism of fact checkers and the RFK bear story was incorrect as JFK reported that a woman in the van ahead of him hit the bear. On the migrants eating pets story, I would hope that someone might ask if the migrants are desperately hungry rather than just saying let them eat geese

Booking Brian Stelter for a media blind spot piece was a misstep for the Dispatch. He is clearly out of touch, and simply confirmed that his blind spots are so large he can’t have a logical discussion about media blind spots. Bottom line: wrong booking for the topic. Also, he starts the convo saying the media should treat DJT as a pathological liar, and then immediately lies about ratings on The Apprentice to draw an analogy about trump’s history of popularity (it took me 2 secs to google the apprentice ratings over the years and we that they went up year after year). The best part about the interview was Jamie telling Brian he wouldn’t watch him on a CNN-reboot.

And a schmuck. Thanks for illuminating.

Take a shot every time the host interrupts the panelists.

I first listened to this show a year or so ago because David French and Jonah Goldberg are on it (French appears from time to time). As we approach the 2024 election, I’ve grown frustrated with this podcast. They are clearly anti-Trump, which is fine, and they are conservative (also fine). What’s frustrating is that they spend so much time talking about theoretical conservatism at the expense of practicality while ignoring the world in which we live. They’ve clearly grown bored making the same statements about Trump, so they’ve moved toward picking apart Harris despite some tepid support for her and recognizing the threat Trump is to democracy. I have no issue with their criticisms of Harris’ policies, but they aren’t contrasting them with Trump’s, so their criticisms lack context. They ultimately come across as being attendees at a gang fight where they stand in a side alley making comments about the gangs’ weapons of choice, outfits, and fighting styles. If you want discussions about philosophical conservatism, this is your podcast. If you want discussions about politics from a Never-Trump perspective that has a point of view and knows what side it’s on, I might suggest the Bulwark.

The podcast speaks for itself as a thinking person’s news commentary. But I would still listen to the end just for the closer music, which is the perfect mix of rough-and-tumble big drums, combined with thoughtful or plaintive violins, and - the best part - this unusual and unsettling sound (what is that thing - scraping a pencil against a coffee can? I love it) that finishes things out, which perfectly characterizes the complexity of the issues of the day. Please keep up the good work. I also would love to know who did the music.

Guys if you’re going to say her first name, it’s like Pamela but with a K.

If you hearing about the politics of the day. This as good as any. In someways superior. Sarah Isgur has multiple perspectives to offer. She is a lawyer, had run Carly Fiorina’s Presidential campaign. She also worked at the DOJ under Trump. Figuratively. Jonah unlike Trump has actually read some books. He also speaks German, likes both cats and dogs which I for the life of me cannot understand. Dogs rule. (Note: I own two Spanielsl’s). Steve Hayes, Apparently the money man of The Dispatch and a very occasional author of deep insights into the Republican mind. He talks to lot of politics insiders. For comic relief and real insights into Poles and Polling, Chris Stirewalt often joins in for a rollicking good time. I highly recommend the broadcast.

Keep having Megan on show, love her insight and dry humor!

Is it really so hard to remember how to say Kamala Harris’s name? The stress is on the first, not the second, syllable. How long has she been a public figure and this is still an issue? Update: It’s August 19 — you still can’t pronounce Kamala Harris’s name correctly? Is it intentional now?

Well done show. Minor quibble - Whoever picks interviewer interviewee pairs needs to make sure it’s somewhat a pairing of equals.

I am canceling my subscription. The idea that a moderator on a political podcast would say that voting for Trump does not mean that you agree with January 6th. Yes, yes it does. The idea that would conflate disagreeing with Harris on policy is the equivalent of not voting for reasons of character. January 6th, dictator day 1 are issues of character. If you are willing to vote for Trump after that then you are condoning THAT BEHAVIOR with your vote. So you need to own his character if you vote for him. Policies are moot at this point

Giving a 2-star rating for one reason: Megan Mcardle can’t make a statement without saying “Right” at the end. As in: “Trump isn’t helping himself in that way….RIGHT”. Most annoying habit ever - is it a plea for agreement, a demand for an affirmative answer? Not sure but it is a pernicious habit among many of our self-styled “public intellectuals” that just comes off as precious, cloying, and arrogant at the same time.

X7/16/24: French just finished saying “never dehumanize people” and Jonah says, “Steve Bannon is a gargoyle and has hooves.” Are you nitwits performing an SNL skit? It may be possible that stupid rhetoric could motivate some extreme behavior. If so, the Dispatch crew has contributed plenty … Jonah, Kevin, French, guests like Tim Miller, Robert Kagan. Steve get out of there. 6/29/24: Poor Kevin Williamson. Good on you (and Steve) for bringing attention to Trump’s gibberish during the debate. If Biden was a 10 on an incoherence scale, Trump was a 7. But when you interpret Trump’s gibberish (which suggests it’s not gibberish) in the most uncharitable fashion, you sound just like Trump. Of all the negative influences DJT has had over the years, ruining Kevin is one of Trump’s greatest sins. Earlier review: The Dispatch … yikes. Jamie replays portions of a Crenshaw interview, where Crenshaw makes the point that there is a big difference between an insurrection and a bunch of procedural efforts [albeit Ill-conceived, wrong, etc.]. Then Costa brings the facts … all of which were procedural. Come on. Moving on … Steve Hayes … great to hear you in other episodes. Jonah … you should have Robert Kagan on at least once a week. By comparison, he makes you sound reasonable.

Make it stop. You guys are letting her set the tone & each episode is getting progressively harder to get through. If she was a man, I would feel the exact same way. Someone please intervene.

Sarah, Jonah, Steve, Kevin, Michael, et al are the best. Very informative while also extremely entertaining. Meghan McCardle and David French are great frequent guests. a conservative bent to be sure but with differing perspectives. Outstanding.

Walz looks too old. VERY DEEP! Plus a bundle of sophomoric joke lines.

Just started listening, not sure if I’ll continue. I so enjoy hearing differing opinions, but please don’t jump on the bandwagons that only play old short clips of politicians and use that to make a false claim of their stance. It’s dishonest and patronizing. There are lots of people like me who are discerning and sick of the games.

“One can only hope there are bombs in many peoples’ houses that Israel can pull the trigger on?” What the heck? Might it be enough to just talk without trying to be so witty? Been a subscriber for a while - done with this.

Please just have Steve and Sarah talk. 7/20 - and with Steve not even on I cannot listen to the jerk. Get over it Jonah, you are done! Steve please show the president how it’s done and fire him!!! 7/28 well done Steve for labeling your speculative comments. Could you please teach you egoistical colleague the benefit of doing the same.

Took 45 minutes for them to start talking about the biggest political story in the country. The North Korean Ministry of Information would be proud!

Jonah, God bless. I rarely agree with you, but I can entertain your opinions. I get you don’t like the term coup, so let’s use palace revolution. The idea that removing Biden from the future ticket and replacing it with Kamala who was appointed internally and not elected by the American people to run for this ticket isn’t such a stretch of the imagination for many when it comes to that terminology.

Smart and witty insight on the important matters of the day. The Dispatch is building something unique in a world filled with tribal garbage

I think the people here are some of the smartest commentators, especially on the right. But, I do think they too frequently pivot to media criticism even when it is only tangential. There’s an unnecessary chip on their shoulders - just have confidence in your views and reporting waste time talking as if you’re the only source that does it right.