{"podcast":{"title":"The Ricochet Podcast","slug":"the-ricochet-podcast-317753","podcast_index_feed_id":317753,"rss_url":"https://feeds.feedburner.com/ricochet","website_url":"https://ricochet.com/series/ricochet-podcast/","image_url":"https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/87ac5b53ec9200929552d3ddd32888f9.jpg","author":"Ricochet","episode_count":677,"summary":"Weekly episodes of Ricochet’s flagship podcast feature our hosts James Lileks, Steve Hayward, Charles C. W. Cooke, and guests discussing the issues of the week. Listen to The Ricochet Podcast , along with more than 40 other original podcasts, at Ricochet.com . No paid subscription required. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ricochet-podcast--5817275/support .","last_synced_at":"2026-07-25T20:21:32.397170+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ricochet-podcast-317753"},"episode":{"title":"Teaching Wit, Wisdom, and Love of Country","slug":"teaching-wit-wisdom-and-love-of-country","published_at":"2026-06-19T21:05:53+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ricochet-podcast-317753/teaching-wit-wisdom-and-love-of-country","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ricochet-podcast-317753","url":"https://www.spreaker.com/episode/teaching-wit-wisdom-and-love-of-country--72604264","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/35/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72604264/ricochet_794.mp3","summary":"America's 250th birthday is just a few weeks out, and festivities are underway. But, leaving aside disputes about fist fights and daring stunts on the White House South Lawn, a question emerges about what a serious celebration of the American way looks and feels like. To consider this and more, Charles, James, and a visiting Peter Robinson sit down with Matthew Mehan, author and Associate Dean of Hillsdale College's graduate school in Washington, D.C., to discuss The American Book of Fables . The gang thinks through the meaning of our civic inheritance and the endeavor to pass on the baton to the young. Matt's here to remind us that the arduous effort can be joyful and that hopefulness is a trait that marks the serious thinker. Our trio also kvetches (and then some!) over the Iran deal, winces at the newly unveiled Obama Presidential Center, and chortles with bewilderment at the accusation that a Pride-themed baseball cap was \"desecrated\" by a Bible verse. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ricochet-podcast--5817275/support .","meta_description":"America's 250th birthday is just a few weeks out, and festivities are underway. But, leaving aside disputes about fist fights and daring stunts on the Whi…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3438,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-ricochet-podcast-317753/episodes/teaching-wit-wisdom-and-love-of-country/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ricochet-podcast-317753/teaching-wit-wisdom-and-love-of-country.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}