The War on Boys
Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, President Trump's nominee to head the Veterans Administration, is facing new scrutiny over allegations of misconduct. Jackson is merely the latest example of someone whose once-sterling legacy has taken a hit by associating with Donald Trump. Check out the video of me talking about this with Don Lemon on CNN last night.
Waffle House Hero
James Shaw Jr. risked when he tackled the Waffle House shooter. One of my colleagues has set up a GoFundMe page to help him cover medical expenses, and to show our gratitude.
This Week on Matt Lewis and the News
This week, Warren Farrell, PhD, joined the podcast to talk about his new book:The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys are Struggling and What We Can Do About It.
Farrell told me, "26 out of 27 of the most devastating shootings...are from boys who don't have father involvement, either at all or very minimal." He also noted that, "In the 60 largest developed countries, boys are falling behind girls in every single academic area...they're [also] falling behind girls in physical health."
As a father of two boys, this is an issue that really hits home. But it impacts all of us. Please listen to this podcast - and share it with a friend.
Last week, Jonah Goldberg joined Matt Lewis and the News to chat about his new book, Suicide of the West. You won't want to miss it, so make sure you've subscribed to Matt Lewis and the News on iTunes or Stitcher. If you have already subscribed, be sure to rate it and leave a review - and of course, share it with your friends. And, if you like podcasts, I would also recommend signing up for Jonah's podcast, The Remnant.
This week on other podcasts
The latest Ezra Klein podcast interview with Yascha Mounk, author of 'The People vs. Democracy' is a must-listen for anybody who is worried about the future of liberal democracy.
Are you a fan of documentaries and/or sex cults?
I want to highly recommend the new Netflix doc, titled Wild Wild Country, about a so-called sex cult. It's the true story of a cult that relocated from India to Oregon in the early 1980s, took over an entire town, and tried to take over an entire Oregon county. I don't want to spoil the six-part series, but the story involves a co-founder of Nike, the ex-spouse of Godfather producer Albert S. Ruddy, and the daughter of the congressman who was assassinated during the Jonestown massacre. It also involves the importation of homeless people (to swing an election), the poisoning of hundreds of Oregonians, and planned political assassinations.
Trump's unstable base
Among the chattering classes, conventional wisdom suggests that President Donald Trump’s standing remains incredibly strong among Republicans. This notion is used to dismiss the possibility that someone (say, a newly disgruntled U.S. ambassador to the United Nations) could muster a serious primary challenge to the president in 2020. It’s also used to absolve Congressional Republicans who reluctantly support Trump's agenda, even where it diverges from traditional conservative orthodoxy. But are Trump's poll numbers really that strong with Republicans? And if so, does it even matter? The answers may surprise you.
New project!
I'm considering launching another podcast, featuring my friend Shoshana Weissmann. This would be more of a rapid-fire weekly discussion about the news. We did a test episode last week, and I think it went well. Please check it out - and let us know in the comments (or via email or Twitter) what you think.