How to Teach the Kids Division of Labor | Interview: Jeanna Smialek

With Jonah Goldberg sleeping off his election-night hangover, Dispatch in-house grumbler Kevin Williamson takes the helm for today’s conversation with author Jeanna Smialek. The pair discuss Jeanna’s new book about the novelist and cover economist Maria Edgeworth, digging into political economy, Adam Smith, moral novels, women’s education, Harriet Martineau, early feminism, utilitarianism, value theory, Ireland, Little House on the Prairie, and the Great Potato Famine. Show Notes: The Remnant is a production of ⁠The Dispatch⁠, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a nonpartisan perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including the Saturday Ruminant, audio versions of all our articles and newsletters, and Jonah’s twice-weekly G-File—⁠click here⁠. Instructions on how to set up your members-only feed can be found here, and if you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member ⁠by clicking here⁠. Want to see more of The Dispatch in Google search? Add Us as a Preferred Source Kevin D. Williamson is national correspondent at The Dispatch and is based in Virginia. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he spent 15 years as a writer and editor at National Review, worked as the theater critic at the New Criterion, and had a long career in local newspapers. He is also a writer in residence at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. When Kevin is not reporting on the world outside Washington for his Wanderland newsletter, you can find him at the rifle range or reading a book about literally almost anything other than politics. The podcast transcription below was generated using artificial intelligence and may include occasional errors or misspellings. Jonah Goldberg 0:00 If you're a student, high school, college, grad school, homeschooled, doesn't matter where, you can now get a full year of a Dispatch membership for free, thanks to the generosity of our members who have donated to our student sponsorship program. Every article, every newsletter, every podcast, including the members-only stuff. Go to thedispatch.com/studentsponsorships and fill out the form. You don't need to put in a credit card, nothing renews automatically, and our team will set you up within a few days. Teachers, you can sign up a whole class there too. And if you're not a student but you got one in your life, a kid, a grandkid, a nephew who keeps sending you TikToks about the DSA or MAGA forever, send them that link. We're under no illusions that we're going to change the world with this, but we do think the country would be in a marginally better place if more young people were getting their news from The Dispatch than social media. And we're grateful to all the members who've gifted these memberships for allowing us to do this. Music 1:03 [upbeat music] Music 1:18 Ladies and gentlemen, uh... Music 1:20 Can I please have your attention? Can you dig it? Music 1:30 [crowd cheering] Interactive transcripts are available to Premium members. Join to follow along with the audio. Join Now More We Think You’d Like