Readers of National Review will know who Daniel Hannan is — the British writer and politician, an altogether extraordinary person. (His website is here.) This week, he dropped by NRHQ — our headquarters in New York — so I snagged the opportunity of an in-person podcast.
For this Q&A, go here.
We begin by talking about America, for which Hannan has a great deal of admiration, for various reasons. He is like Paul Johnson, believing that if you don’t like America, you don’t like people, because people from all over come here to live, in all their star-spangled glory (and sometimes ingloriousness).
We then talk about some big issues (not that America isn’t). Take national self-determination. Should the Catalans have a state? Should the Kurds? What are the ins and outs, pros and cons? What are the principles?
Further, we talk about immigration. In every generation, people say, “Well, previous immigration was okay, but now it’s gotten out of hand, and the new ones won’t assimilate.” If it was not true before, can it at last be true?
Other big issues are nationalism and populism. Relatedly, what is conservatism? (Lately, I’ve taken to saying that the fault line on the right can be expressed in a rhyme: Bannon or Hannan?) Toward the end of our podcast, there is discussion of two major figures from the recent British past, Balfour and Churchill.
Dan Hannan is, among other things, an excellent teacher. He teaches naturally — effortlessly, unselfconsciously — as he talks and breathes. Again, hear him here.
P.S. Mona Charen and I have recorded a Need to Know, here. We take up many subjects, including the Virginia governor’s race. Mona talks about it so “granularly,” as they say these days, that I wonder whether I’m podcasting with Larry Sabato, or Michael Barone.
P.P.S. At The New Criterion, I’ve done a little appreciation of The Well-Tempered Clavier — just a quick love-post about it. Go here. #YayBach #SoliDeoGloria