We talked with Peter Beinart, New Republic editor and author of The Good Fight : Why Liberals—and Only Liberals—Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again. Beinart talks about Cold War liberalism, how the left abandoned anti-communism and anti-totalitarianism in the 1960s, and what people on the Left need to do now to deal with the threat of Islamic Jihadism. We also talked about Iran, Democratic opposition to Hillary Clinton, Al Gore’s prospects, and the likelihood of a third party challenge in 2008.

You can listen directly by clicking right here, or you can get it via iTunes here (we like it when you subscribe on iTunes, as it boosts our rank on their charts). There’s an archive of past podcasts here, and lo-fi versions, suitable for dialup, are here.

Music is by Mobius Dick. And, as always, my lovely and talented cohost is taking comments and suggestions.

This week we interview Mary Cheney about her new book, Now It’s My Turn: A Daughter’s Chronicle of Political Life. And, unlike some people, we actually spend most of our time talking about the non-gay parts! And, shockingly, that’s actually most of the book. Who knew?

Among other things, Mary Cheney talks about her dad’s heart attack (he had his first at the same age that Helen had her heart attack), about the role of blogs and alternative media in the 2004, 2006 and 2008 campaigns, whether folks in the White House have lost touch with the base and what they should do about it, how to get started in a political campaign, and more.

You can listen directly (no iPod needed!) by clicking right here, or you can subscribe via iTunes here (we like that, as it pushes us up the iTunes charts). There’s a lo-fi version for dialup here, and you can see a complete archive of podcasts here.

Music is by The Opposable Thumbs. I think you’ll find the audio on this podcast significantly improved, thanks to a new studio setup and a new digital phone box.

As always, my lovely and talented cohost is taking comments and suggestions.

Okay, a while back I was skeptical of Seth Roberts’ new book, The Shangri-La Diet: The No-Hunger, Eat Anything Weight Loss Plan. Most diets don’t work, and this one sounded particularly oversold. Lots of folks emailed that they like it, though, and Helen was interested, so we decided to look him up and see what he had to say about it. Can you really lose weight with a little bit of sugar-water or olive oil?

It’s an interesting approach — though my two-week test-drive hasn’t seemed to do much — and he has some useful thoughts on societal attitudes and behaviors regarding food and fatness in general. Plus, Helen — a Weight Watchers expert — has some insights of her own.

You can listen to the interview directly (no iPod needed!) by clicking right here, or you can subscribe via iTunes (we like that).

There’s an archive of previous podcasts here.

Music is by Audra and the Antidote.

As always, my lovely and talented cohost is soliciting comments.

It’s a roundup of Republican problems and solutions in today’s Glenn and Helen Show. First, we talk to Ken Mehlman, chair of the Republican National Committee, about polls, anger in the base, and issues like immigration, spending, taxes, and judges. We pressed Mehlman pretty hard, and I think it’s fair to say that he realizes that action is more important than rhetoric if the GOP is to win back the base before November. Whether he and the White House can deliver on that, especially in the face of the Senate Republicans’ foot-dragging, is another question.

Given all the dissatisfaction, especially over immigration, we also talked with Michael Barone, blogger, columnist, and editor of The Almanac of American Politics, about the prospects for a third-party candidate in 2008. Barone is interesting as always.

I hope you enjoy them both. You can listen to the program by clicking right here, or you can get it via iTunes here (we like it when you subscribe). A low-fi episode, suitable for dialup, etc., is available here, and there’s an archive of previous podcasts right here.

Hope you like it. As always, my lovely and talented cohost is soliciting comments.

UPDATE: This piece by Dick Meyer at CBS connects with the above, especially the Barone discussion. I don’t think that Mayor Bloomberg is a credible third-party candidate, though.

ANOTHER UPDATE: A reader who claims inside knowledge says that Bloomberg plans to run, and is already making preparations for a third-party campaign. I don’t know any more than that, though. Despite his nominally Republican status, I’d expect him to draw more votes from Democrats, but I could be wrong about that.

We’re up to #4 on the iTunes politics charts, putting us just ahead of Sean Hannity. That’s not bad.

LATER: We’re now #3, beating out Stephanopoulos, too. Well, we’re certainly doing it on a smaller budget.

We talk to Jim Meigs of Popular Mechanics about alternative fuels, and Henry Copeland of Blogads.com about the new Blogads reader survey and the future of the blogosphere.

Popular Mechanics has just published an extensive look at alternative fuels like ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, and hydrogen (you can see the article here), and we had Editor-in-Chief Jim Meigs on to talk about what they found, and what the prospects are for getting away from gasoline — and for the political system’s getting rational about energy and fuel.

We also talk with Henry Copeland of Blogads.com about the future of the blogosphere. Blogads has just released the results of their survey on blog readers, and Henry talks about the results, the blog-advertising business, whether the blogosphere is too commercialized, and what’s likely to come next. Ads on podcasts? Who knows?

You can listen directly (no iPod needed!) by clicking right here, or you can get it via iTunes. There’s an archive of previous podcasts here, and you can get a low-fi version suitable for dialup here.

Music — appropriate for both biofuels and blog advertising — is Audra and the Antidote’s “Sugar Daddy,” available for download here.

As always, my lovely and talented cohost is taking comments and suggestions.

I’m interested in the Singularity, and I’m a big fan of Vernor Vinge’s. He’s got a new book out next week called Rainbows End, set in 2025, and as I’ve mentioned before it’s pretty much an Army of Davids kind of world. He’s also the author of such previous classics as A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky.

We talk to him about the Singularity — and how it may come from the superhuman “ensemble behavior” of ordinary humans with powerful computers linked via the Internet rather than through the development of superhuman artificial intelligence — about signposts indicating how we’re doing, about humanity’s prospects for utopia or extinction, and related minor issues. We also discussed writing science fiction (the secret, he says, is “brain parasitism,” taking advantage of readers’ smarts), whether college is becoming obsolete, mind uploading, and the joys (or lack thereof) of virtual-reality sex, a question that perplexes Helen.

You can listen directly (no iPod needed) by clicking right here, or you can get it via iTunes. (We’d like it if you’d actually subscribe on iTunes, as that’s what pushes us up the charts there). There’s also an archive of previous podcasts here, and you can get this — and other — podcasts in a low-fi dialup version here.

Hope you liked it! Music is “Indistinguishable from Magic” and “Robosexual” by Mobius Dick.

Once again, my lovely and talented cohost is soliciting comments and suggestions for future episodes.

UPDATE: Vinge emails: “Wow! Such fast ‘time to press’ is a nice commentary on our times all by itself.”

We interview blogger Michael Totten, who spent the last six months covering Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq for his blog, with support from his blog readers. He talks about what he saw, how well the reader-support model works, and what he sees in the region’s future.

We also talk to StrategyPage publisher Jim Dunnigan, author of numerous books on military matters, and columnist/blogger Austin Bay, who’s also the author of The Wrong Side of Brightness, a novel, and who has another novel coming out soon. They talk about China’s military and political ambitions, the progress of events in Iraq, and what to do — and what, apparently, we’re already doing rather quietly — about Iran. (There’s also some discussion of the much-touted Iranian “EMP bomb” threat.)

As always, it’s a must-listen. You can click right here to listen to it directly, or you can get it via iTunes here.

There’s an archive of previous podcasts here, and lo-fi versions for dialup are available here.

Hope you like it. My lovely and talented co-host is, as always, taking comments and suggestions for future episodes.

Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. is running for Senate in Tennessee, and his bus tour took him right past our house. He stopped by for a rare in-studio interview (since we usually do these by phone), and talked about Iraq, Iran, alternative energy, ANWR drilling and nuclear power, gun rights, immigration (he supports the Sensenbrenner bill, and explains why), health care, and more. Including, of course, PorkBusters.

I found it a very interesting interview. We’re not on the same page on some issues (I think he’s overoptimistic, to put it mildly, about the amount of cooperation we can expect from Russia and China on Iran), but we agree on some others (including the pork). He’s a smart guy, and I found him less polished-and-packaged than I’d anticipated; it’s easy to see why people expect him to have a big future in politics.

Helen liked the bus, and we sent Rep. Ford off with some reading material to help him pass the hours on the road.

You can listen to the interview directly (no iPod needed!) by clicking right here. You can also get it via iTunes.

You can get a low-fi version, suitable for dialup, cellphones, etc. here, and there’s an archive of all our previous podcasts here.

As always, my lovely and talented cohost is soliciting your comments and suggestions.

Music is by Mobius Dick.

We managed to catch up with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist this morning, and talked to him about immigration — both legal and illegal — whether the issue will split the Republican party, and what he thinks about Trent Lott’s remarks on PorkBusters, and about pork generally.

It’s shorter than our usual interview, as he only had about 10 minutes this morning (things are kind of busy in the Senate) but I think you’ll find it worth listening to.

You can listen directly by clicking here (no iPod needed!) or you can get it here via iTunes. A low-fi version for dialup is available here, and, of course, there’s an archive of all our previous podcasts here.

As always, my lovely and talented cohost is soliciting your comments and suggestions.

Music is by Todd Steed and the Suns of Phere, off the album Heartbreak and Duct Tape.

It’s all about kidney donation, and organ donation policy, with Virginia Postrel. Virginia is the author of books like The Substance of Style and The Future and Its Enemies. Kidney recipient Sally Satel has written a book with Christina Hoff Sommers, One Nation Under Therapy : How the Helping Culture is Eroding Self-Reliance and PC, M.D.: How Political Correctness Is Corrupting Medicine. Virginia talks about what it’s like to donate a kidney, what’s wrong with organ-donation policy and how to fix it, and how some people wonder why a libertarian would do something actually generous.

Click here to listen directly (no iPod needed!) or you can get it here via iTunes.

There’s an archive of previous podcasts here, and a collection of low-fi versions for dialup here. Hope you like it! As always, my lovely and talented cohost is taking comments and suggestions.

It’s a podcast about Israel and blog carnivals. You wouldn’t think the two are connected, but that’s because you don’t know about the nude bodypainting. Or — well, just listen. Sharon Stone appears, briefly.

First we talk to Israeli ambassador Daniel Ayalon about the Palestinians, the European Union, Iranian nuclear weapons and the prospects for another Osirak-style raid, and American attitudes toward Israel. Then we interview BlogCarnival.com founder Brad Rubenstein about the mushrooming growth of blog carnivals, and get his tips for carnival submitters, organizers, and readers.

Anyway, it’s a surprisingly, er, festive podcast, and we hope you like it!

You can listen directly by clicking right here, or you can get it here via iTunes.

There’s an archive of previous episodes here. There’s also an archive of low-bandwidth versions for dialup users, etc., available here.

As always, my lovely and talented cohost is soliciting comments and suggestions.

Is psychology over-politicized? We interview Dr. Nicholas Cummings, a past President of the American Psychological Association, and coauthor of Destructive Trends in Mental Health: The Well-Intentioned Path to Harm, about the injection of politics into mental health in general, and the American Psychological Association in particular. Plus, why men are disappearing from the psychological profession.

You can listen to the podcast directly (no iPod needed!) by clicking right here, or you can get it via iTunes right here.

There’s an archive of previous episodes here. There’s also an archive of low-bandwidth versions for dialup users, etc., available here.

As always, my lovely and talented cohost is soliciting comments and suggestions.

This time we interview cardiologist Dr. Wes Fisher, and Laurie Anderson of WebMD, about heart attacks, heart attack prevention, and the latest information on cardiac health. Also, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Stewart Baker talks about the Dubai Ports deal, and comments on some port security suggestions from Frank J.

The heart stuff is near and dear to our, er, hearts, since Helen had a heart attack six years ago and now sports an implantable pacemaker/defibrillator. We learn how men and women differ in this area, what the latest research suggests about diet, exercise, and supplements like CoEnzyme Q10, Folic Acid, etc. Our guests also answer some questions from Helen’s blog readers about heart health and coping with the aftermath of heart attacks. It turns out that women as young as 18 years old can be at risk for heart attacks, and that traditional medical tests often miss those. (Dr. Fisher also sells medical t-shirts, like the one worn by Helen in the picture at right, at Medtees.com).

Stewart Baker is the Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Homeland Security. He talks about the Dubai Ports deal, and the security issues involved. He also responds to some comments from Jim Dunnigan and Austin Bay on previous podcasts, and comments on blogger Frank J. Fleming’s suggestions on ways to improve port security. Hey, if you want to think outside the box, there’s no better place to start than Frank J. — he lives outside the box.

Anyway, you can listen directly by clicking here (no iPod needed!) or you can get it via iTunes here.

There’s also a podcast archive here, and lo-fi versions suitable for dialup are here.

As always, my lovely and talented co-host is taking suggestions and comments.

Music is from “Suitcase and a Gun,” by the Nebraska Guitar Militia, off the album Four Pickups of the Apocalypse.

We interviewed Claire Berlinski, author of Menace in Europe: Why the Continent’s Crisis is America’s, Too, about Europe, Muslim integration (and the lack thereof), and the political, diplomatic, and military consequences thereof. I think it’s one of the most important books of the year, and that this is one of the most important podcast interviews we’ve done. Her advice to the White House and State Department on Europe: “Make contingency plans in case it all goes to hell, because it very well might.”

You can listen directly (no iPod needed!) by clicking here, or you can get it via iTunes.

There’s also a podcast archive here, and there are low-bandwidth versions for dialup users, etc., here.

Music: “Too Many Goodbyes,” by The Defenders of the Faith, from Original Sins, the first album I ever produced. That’s the Insta-Brother, Jonathan Reynolds, on guitar along with Hector Qirko, and Doug Weinstein plays drums and Hammond organ.

As always, my lovely and talented cohost is soliciting comments and suggestions.

We interviewed John Scalzi, author of Old Man’s War and Ghost Brigades, as well as Tim Minear, Executive Producer and writer for Firefly, Wonderfalls, The Inside, Serenity, and more.

Both talk about their work, their fans, and the surprisingly large role that the Internet has played in their success. Tim Minear (whose interview starts at about 21 minutes in) also answers questions about the possibility of a second season for Firefly, and talks about his screenplay of Robert Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

It’s a pretty heavily science-fiction-themed episode, and Helen isn’t that into science fiction, but after talking to Scalzi and Minear she says she’s changing her mind. And she loved Wonderfalls.

Take a listen and see what you think. You can listen directly (no iPod needed!) by clicking here, or you can get it (and even subscribe) via iTunes. A low-bandwidth version for dialup users is located here, and there’s an archive of past podcasts here.

If you’d like to play it directly in your browser with no messy downloading, go here and click on the gray Flash player.

Music for this episode: “Temptation” by Mobius Dick.

And, as always, the lovely and talented co-host is asking for your comments and suggestions.

Once again we’re featuring blogger and author Austin Bay and StrategyPage publisher, and author of many books, Jim Dunnigan. Bay and Dunnigan have been our most popular guests so far — their last episode has been downloaded over 125,000 times — and this time they talk about the ongoing Dubai ports imbroglio, the troubles of Islamists in the Philippines, the continuing danger posed by Iran, and Europe’s problems with Muslim immigration. Don’t miss it, especially their take on the ports issue, which suggests that we’ve been much too worried about terrorism in connection with the deal. I’m now convinced that there isn’t much there, there.

You can click right here to listen directly. (No iPod needed!) You can also subscribe via iTunes, and there’s a low-bandwidth podcast archive, for dialup users, cellphone listeners, etc., right here. Hope you like it. And don’t forget there’s an archive of previous episodes here.

As always, my lovely and talented producer is soliciting comments and suggestions.

UPDATE: Austin Bay has posted some additional thoughts and information relating to his podcast comments.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist talks about government preparations for avian flu, and bloggers interviewed on the fly talk about everything, all in the latest Glenn and Helen podcast. To listen, click right here, or you can subscribe via iTunes, which we like because it pushes us up on the charts — we’re Number 6 on the “talk radio” podcast charts at the moment. I don’t think we’re a threat to Howard Stern, though. (An archive of all our podcasts is here. For you dialup and cellphone listeners, a low-bandwidth archive is here.)

Anyway, in today’s show, Senator Bill Frist talks about the threat of avian flu, and new government programs to prepare for epidemics of all sorts. Interestingly, he endorses the Ray Kurzweil suggestion to take a “Manhattan Project” approach toward developing rapid-response technologies for dealing with contagious disease of both the natural or biowar variety. How ready are we right now? Not very.

Also, we roamed Bloggers’ Row at CPAC and interviewed a wide variety of bloggers, and a even a few non-bloggers we happened upon, including Little Miss Attila, Lashawn Barber, Joel Miller, Wonkette Emeritus Ana Marie Cox,, Sean Hackbarth of The American Mind, Chris Nolan, Condi for President fans Americans for Rice, and Muslims for Bush, soon to be renamed “Muslims for America.” (Come to think of it, Frist has a sort-of blog, too).

The music is “Bonnie Lou and Buster vs. Caligula,” off of Todd Steed and the Suns of Phere’s album, Heartbreak and Duct Tape.

UPDATE: By the way, this is the digital recorder we used for the live interviews, with the accessory stereo condenser microphone.

And, as always, the InstaWife is asking for comments and suggestions.

Today we talked with James L. Swanson, author of Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, about John Wilkes Booth, Confederate plots, revisionist history, the trustworthiness of actors, the upcoming movie based on the book, featuring Harrison Ford, and much more.

Helen didn’t think she’d find this one interesting, but once she started reading the book she was hooked. It was about a narcissistic killer — her specialty!

You can listen to the podcast directly (no iPod needed!) by clicking here, or you can subscribe on iTunes — and we wish you would, as apparently that’s what got us into the top 10 “talk radio” podcasts.

The end music is by Todd Steed and the Suns of Phere, off the CD Heartbreak and Duct Tape. Lead vocals by Kat Brock of Dixie Dirt, with former Judybat Paul Noe on bass. I love the song, and thus let it run a bit longer than usual. John Wilkes Booth really “should’ve grown up while he had the chance.”

Meanwhile, as always, the lovely and talented Insta-Wife is looking for comments and suggestions. Hope you like this!

UPDATE: For those with dialup connections, a slim, trim 16 kbps version can be found here. I’ve put up some of the earlier episodes in that format, too.

And there’s an archive of all our podcasts that can be accessed by clicking the “podcasts” tab on the navbar at the top of the screen, or by clicking here.

Austin Bay and Jim Dunnigan on the war, Roger Stern and Lynne Kiesling on oil supplies and energy policy, and warblogger Michael Yon on his experiences in Iraq, and his difficulties with the U.S. Army — all in the latest podcast.

Once again, we got syndicated columnist, author, and blogger Austin Bay together with author and StrategyPage.com publisher Jim Dunnigan and let them talk (with just a few questions from us) about what’s going on in the world. The discussion covers Iran, the Cartoon War in Europe, the difficulties in intervening in Darfur, and more.

Also, Roger Stern, from the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins (and author of this paper on geopolitics and oil pricing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) talks with Lynn Kiesling, Director of the Center for Applied Energy Research, and blogger, about oil pricing and U.S. policy — will there be pressure for higher petroleum taxes, and is that better than pushing particular technologies like hybrids or ethanol?

Finally, warblogger Michael Yon talks about his experiences in Iraq, a famous photo, and his difficulties with the U.S. Army’s legal team — difficulties that were resolved once the blogosphere got involved. Apparently, a lot of people in the Pentagon read blogs.

Hope you like it! You can listen directly by clicking here; it’s also available via iTunes.

And, as always, the lovely and talented Insta-Wife wants your comments and suggestions.

And there’s a complete archive of podcasts here, too.

ANOTHER PODCAST: It’s guy stuff, with interviews about boys in school and hybrid cars. Michael Gurian, the author of The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in School and Life (and subject of this Newsweek cover story) talks about how boys learn differently, and how changes in education have hurt their progress. He also offers some solutions, and some thoughts on videogames, character, and violence.

As you might imagine, Helen has some thoughts on that subject too, and the discussion is very interesting.

Also (beginning at about 18:30), Popular Mechanics editor Jim Meigs talks about hybrid hype and reality. For an article in their next issue, the PM folks tested some hybrid vehicles wheel-to-wheel with their purely gas-powered counterparts and discovered some interesting things. He also talks about the prospects for future energy-efficient (and maybe gasoline free) automobiles.

No word, though, on when I can expect my flying car. I forgot to ask. Maybe next time!

You can listen by clicking here (no iPod needed) or via iTunes. We hope you like it! As always, the lovely and talented producer is soliciting comments.

So we interviewed Norah Vincent, author of Self Made Man: One Woman’s Journey into Manhood and Back. Helen does most of the talking on this one, as Vincent talks about dating women as a man, the importance of fathers, and why being a man isn’t nearly as easy as most women think.

You can listen to the show (no iPod required!) by clicking here, or via iTunes.

We thought it was really interesting, and we hope that you will, too.

Music: Strange and Beautiful (intro) and The Crush (end) by Audra and the Antidote.

And as always, the lovely and talented producer of this show is soliciting comments.

It’s another podcast — this one featuring blogger and author Austin Bay and StrategyPage publisher, and author of many books, Jim Dunnigan.

Jim and Austin talk about Iran’s nuclear weapons program, unconventional delivery systems, the prospects for an Iranian popular revolt, and much, much more.

You can listen to the podcast (no iPod needed!) by clicking right here, or you can get it via iTunes or the RSS feed at the right. (It also appears automatically in some aggregators, like MyYahoo). As always, the lovely and talented InstaWife is soliciting comments about the show.

Hope you like it!

UPDATE: A somewhat encouraging analysis of Iran’s situation.

And note the “Podcasts” tab on the Nav bar at the top, which takes you to an archive of podcasts.

It’s another InstaPundit / Dr. Helen podcast, featuring ex-Wonkette Ana Marie Cox, who talks about her new novel Dog Days, Nick Denton’s eccentric management style, how blogging actually helps with book-writing (I agree) and the role of women in the blogosphere — a subject on which she and Helen are not in agreement.

Also, controversial musician Todd Steed, who discusses his song “TennCare Buzz” — possibly the most controversial rock and roll song about prescription drug policy ever recorded. (No, Kurt Cobain’s “Lithium” doesn’t count.) He also talks about his new CD, Heart Break and Duct Tape, as well as death, rock and roll, bands that won’t play “Freebird” any more, and the lasting consequences of high school — plus the joys of having a home studio. (More of his music is online here). Todd’s segment begins at about 20:30.

You can hear the podcast directly (no iPod needed!) by clicking here. It’s also available through iTunes, or you can subscribe to the RSS feed to the right.

Hope you like it! As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.

IT’S ANOTHER PODCAST: We were going to run this later, but with the American Film Renaissance happening this weekend, we decided to go ahead and post this new podcast interview with independent documentarians Evan Coyne Maloney and Stuart Browning of On the Fence Films, talking about looking for the Men’s Center on campus, how technology is changing the documentary-film business (and maybe reducing its leftward tilt), and the difference between Canadian hopitals and Canadian veterinarians. They’ve got two films coming out soon: Indoctrinate U., about politics on campus, and Dead Meat, about the Canadian healthcare system, both of which you can read about by following the link.

You can listen to the interview by clicking here, and it’s also available via iTunes or the InstaPundit RSS 2.0 feed. I think you’ll also find the interview audio better on this episode than on the previous one. (The producer, as always, is soliciting comments.) And check out Evan’s blog, too.

PODCASTING COMES TO INSTAPUNDIT: This was actually Helen’s idea, and with the book done I finally had some time. The first InstaPundit/Dr. Helen podcast is online, and you can play it by clicking here.

Today’s episode features an interview with blogger Michelle Malkin, talking about her book Unhinged, her life as a blogger, the Washington Post and the Bill Roggio affair, the Condi Rice presidency, and whether she plans to follow in the footsteps of Wonkette.

Also, a musical interview with Audra Coldiron, of Audra and the Antidote, about how the Internet makes it possible to be a mother, a musician, and a web designer, plus how her high school horrors led to adult creativity, and a surprising enthusiasm for homeschooling.

If you want to subscribe, the RSS 2.0 feed is here. (It’s also in the right-hand column). Just copy the link and paste it into your podcast-listening software; then you’ll get new episodes automatically.

If you’ve got suggestions for future shows, drop ’em in the comments over at Helen’s blog — she’s the producer.

UPDATE: I guess podcasting is inherently unconservative. That’s okay!