26 JUN 2024 · https://genevasummit.org/speaker/anastasia-shevchenko/ was a civil-society leader in Russia. She was the first person prosecuted under the Kremlin’s notorious law concerning “undesirable organizations.” She fled Russia in the summer of 2022 and continues to work for human rights in her native country from abroad. Earlier this month, she was a guest, by video hook-up, of the https://oslofreedomforum.com/. In this “Q&A,” Jay talks with Mrs. Shevchenko about the Soviet Union, Putin, Ukraine—many things. An encounter with Anastasia Shevchenko is a pleasure and an inspiration. 

19 JUN 2024 · https://x.com/Schneider_CM?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor is a writer and podcaster. With Scot Bertram, he hosts a https://www.wasntthatspecial.com/about about “Saturday Night Live.” Jay talks with him about “SNL,” about politics, about politics and “SNL,” etc. 

14 JUN 2024 · Adrian Karatnycky is a New Yorker with Ukrainian-Polish heritage. For eleven years, he was president of Freedom House. Today he is with the Atlantic Council and other organizations. He was a student of Ukraine—and the general neighborhood—long before most people thought of Ukraine. He has now written a history: “https://www.amazon.com/Battleground-Ukraine-Independence-War-Russia/dp/0300269463/ref=sr_1_1?crid=21GWFPF97RBLQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.xNISilzT8p0Y8GsXIRt76a4e9u-TpSuvpbI4LqhNmRnmTc0Tx9e0mtKacjT-c7yBF9EetDudDVJn9mrCDyQQDQC1crc92qz3c8gBGjQfIIxfvpRCF_pOR9gO2Ex1HJLO.E_K3pbwT2bnqe54rZnKBQOqfm5EnmF5GGRVbmU6uYCY&dib_tag=se&keywords=karatnycky+adrian&qid=1718380795&sprefix=karatnycky+adrian%2Caps%2C77&sr=8-1.” With Jay, Karatnycky talks about some of the basics. A deeply knowledgeable man about a crucial set of issues. 

7 JUN 2024 · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Fernando_Chamorro_Barrios is one of the most important journalists in all of Latin America. He is a Nicaraguan—though the dictatorship has stripped him of his citizenship. He now works in exile, in Costa Rica. He is the son of Pedro Joaquín and Violeta Chamorro. His father was the editor of La Prensa, the newspaper that opposed the Somoza dictatorship. He was assassinated in 1978. His mother was elected president of Nicaragua in 1990. Carlos Fernando was involved with the Sandinista movement for some years. Like so many others, he turned into an opponent. They have hounded him out of the country. Yet he is still on their tail. With Jay, he discusses family, Nicaragua, and politics in general. 

5 JUN 2024 · Across the globe, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Rusesabagina is known as “the hotel manager.” In 2004, Don Cheadle portrayed Rusesabagina in the movie “https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Rwanda.” (Cheadle won an Academy Award for the portrayal.) In 1994, Rusesabagina was the general manager of a hotel in Kigali. In that capacity, he saved 1,268 refugees from murder—from the genocide. In 2005, George W. Bush bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Rusesabagina. But the hotel manager’s troubles were not ended. In 2020, he was kidnapped, imprisoned, and tortured by the Rwandan dictatorship for two years and seven months. Jay has sat down with Rusesabagina at the https://oslofreedomforum.com/, asking about his life, and life more generally. 

16 MAY 2024 · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Brookhiser has written many books about the American Revolution and the Founding Fathers. He got interested when he went to college—to Yale, where he saw John Trumbull’s paintings. Now he has written a https://www.amazon.com/Glorious-Lessons-Trumbull-American-Revolution/dp/0300259700/ref=sr_1_1?crid=32M7C3BIV0FT0&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.OS1vJsGjmtAjIiGMKxT2Kp8_jspLd3pUgGyTzIowGB98cv6gC4lmHNZ0REU3_rNqE3A8iXOcasLVRiLc3Pi0159vU8lcBMeJNCCelNMVL6Uv97iqiJo-h_KhlDUozTZzLHn6U9OdWQ86lxC10l5uHMMmVVe1q_IXnyySXztleqgNLKICSmVAGg4_wDAPQ7TshlO4hqefJ1_HPx9l7Do-XHJr3Sw9aBcMuzYzB-iVQ6vOHx5jfj1q-o6nnvI2zbapudhwzj2U5gJNq5ZgRwHssqzK5wczK3MA8y0dwTsNzX8.-BJuiu2sSu-Oebs4p-TR_LbP7kbE4Jwt1ri-TxJkdkw&dib_tag=se&keywords=richard+brookhiser&qid=1715875671&sprefix=%2Caps%2C79&sr=8-1 of the artist. A wonderful student and explainer and depicter, Brookhiser is. 

14 MAY 2024 · https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko is one of the leading war reporters and defense analysts in Ukraine. He himself is Ukrainian—from the east of the country. He went to college in Mariupol, which has now been bludgeoned and taken over by Putin’s forces. Ponomarenko has come out with a book, mid-war: “https://www.amazon.com/Will-Show-You-How-Was/dp/1639733876.” Jay talks with him about issues that gnaw at a great many. 

6 MAY 2024 · Mohamad Jebara grew up in Ottawa, Canada, the son of Lebanese immigrants. He, and they, were “cultural Muslims.” But he soon became a scholar of Islam, and a philologist. He is a man of formidable learning, and he has a gift for imparting what he knows to a general audience. From ages ten to twelve, he memorized the Koran. It is still there, in his head. He practices while driving or working out. His new book is “https://www.amazon.com/Life-Quran-Eternal-Enduring-Legacy/dp/1250282365/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3HDRKUQ9GZ7IQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.OnJDuHQ0rp38WGXErnSJLEU7AUmrKeoFqqJgo7_vxRLuCTRP0KfPL0KldscZTxFrenF-UcXDWmqgEA7bSON_hSYp4UFfNlToY68Nhr3MYvSY8rfv_4pmqHPZcZOKIc2BoO3bJkz4IuDbGvjZuyEUXg.X3lquD8btOqApmSM0gaJ9x6y5afbJ94v7K2drdG_N-0&dib_tag=se&keywords=mohamad+jebara&qid=1714662794&sprefix=mohamad+jebar%2Caps%2C121&sr=8-2.” Jay asks him some basic questions, questions to which many may like to know the answers. An interesting and illuminating confab. 

23 APR 2024 · https://law.arizona.edu/person/simone-m-sepe and https://moralscience.arizona.edu/person/saura-masconale teach at the University of Arizona. He is in the law school; she is in the Department of Political Economy and Moral Science. They are both associated with the https://freedomcenter.arizona.edu/. He is from Rome, she is from Verona. They are married, with three excellent children. Jay talks with them about their interests (and his). 

18 APR 2024 · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_L._Smith is one of the leading economists of our time. He was born in Wichita, on January 1, 1927. In 2002, he https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2002/press-release/. Professor Smith has taught at many universities. He is a classical liberal, in the mold of a Smith of yore: Adam. With Jay, he talks about his life, his findings, and freedom—glorious, precious freedom.