Many of you may have never heard of Jonah Goldberg, which really is a shame. Do you enjoy dogs? How about a good scotch? What about well-reasoned argumentation and generally enlightening conversation? If you like any of these above things, you might find something in common with Goldberg — who is giving a talk at UNC next Monday.
A fascinating thinker, Goldberg’s list of accomplishments include being the founding editor of National Review Online, being named one of the top 50 political commentators in America and writing three New York Times bestselling books.
Before I go further, I feel obliged to warn you that Goldberg is a conservative. Some of you, my more liberal colleagues, might view this as a reason to not come to his talk. That’s an understandable sentiment. Perhaps you’ve heard the refrain, "facts don’t care about your feelings," one too many times. Perhaps you’ve been on the bad end of an attempt to “own the libs” and have a distaste for the conservative movement. Perhaps you think conservatives are the reincarnation of George Lucas’ stormtroopers as we blindly follow Emperor Trump and Darth Mattis in a crusade against the soon-to-be Jedi Knight Cory Booker and Princess Kamala Harris.
Whatever your rationale, I promise you that you will be mightily surprised by what you’ll find from Jonah Goldberg.
Goldberg is one of those thinkers who manages to marry a thoughtful and careful intellect with a sense of humor and general lightheartedness that I’d like to see more people adopting as they approach our current cultural situation. He's not a fan of President Donald Trump's — who once bizarrely accused Goldberg of not knowing how to buy pants — and falls into the camp of thinkers who refuse to put party loyalty or their dislike of Trump about their deeply held beliefs.
Even those who don’t agree with his arguments can concede that Goldberg’s takes on political situations are, by and large, nuanced and interesting. He also manages to find a way to present himself affably by writing about things that have nothing to do with politics, especially dogs (although if this is due to laziness or marketing genius, I haven’t decided yet).
Many of us are at UNC because we wish to learn. Goldberg is the kind of speaker which, after listening to one of his talks, you will have walked away having learned something or with a new question to explore. That’s why I’m writing this article — to encourage you to come to his talk regardless of what political affiliation you lean toward. You’ll learn something. You’ll probably have a decent time. You’ll certainly meet some interesting people. There might even be free food (I doubt it, but it’s worth the risk). And, if all else fails, you can gather a few friends outside and start protesting.
What else could you want?
Jonah Goldberg will be speaking this Monday at 5:00 in Howell Hall, room 115. The event is being hosted by the Carolina Liberty Foundation.
