Conservative Conversations with ISI: Recent Episodes
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
Conservative ideas are no longer welcome on most college campuses—or anywhere else. If you are a conservative student or professor, or just interested in the conservative intellectual tradition, this podcast is for you! Join Johnny Burtka, James Davenport, and Marlo Safi for in-depth conversations with leading thinkers on the most important issues facing conservatism.
In this insightful episode, hosts Marlo Slayback and Tom Sarrouf are joined by Dr. Alex Taylor, Assistant Professor of English at Christendom College, for an engaging discussion on one of America's most compelling literary figures—Flannery O'Connor. Together, they explore the profound Catholic themes that run through O'Connor's stories, her unique use of the grotesque to reveal grace, and the enduring relevance of her work in a culture increasingly distant from traditional faith.
From the shocking moments in her fiction that awaken characters to divine realities to the deeper philosophical and theological questions O'Connor wrestled with, Dr. Taylor brings a rich theological perspective to the conversation. Whether you're a longtime fan of O'Connor or new to her work, this episode provides fresh insights into how her stories challenge, inspire, and provoke deeper reflection on the human condition.
Join us as we delve into O'Connor’s world and discuss how her Southern Gothic style and deeply Catholic worldview continue to resonate today.
In this episode, we sit down with Eugene Callahan, economist, philosopher, and author, to explore the deep and often overlooked connections between computer science and the humanities. Drawing from his recent article "The Ghost in the AI Machine" in Modern Age Journal, Eugene delves into the profound implications of AI and technology on human life. We discuss the nature of intelligence from a human perspective and examine the philosophical risks posed by the rapid advance of AI. Eugene shares his insights on the proper limits of technology, questioning whether our pursuit of technical progress might be leading us astray from the core human values that the liberal arts strive to preserve. Join us as we navigate the complex terrain where technology meets philosophy, and consider what it truly means to be intelligent in an increasingly automated world.
In this episode, we sit down with Brad Littlejohn, a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a leading voice in the intersection of Christian ethics and public life. Brad dives into the themes of his latest book, Called to Freedom: Retrieving Christian Liberty in an Age of License (Christ in Everything), where he explores the delicate balance between autonomy and restraint in the Christian understanding of freedom. Together, we unpack how tradition and authority can guide us in an age that often prioritizes individualism at the expense of community and virtue.
The conversation also delves into Brad's recent article at American Compass, where he examines the pervasive impact of digital technology and social media on our social and political lives. We discuss how the online world shapes our perceptions, relationships, and behaviors, and what this means for the future of public discourse and societal well-being. Brad offers insights into the dangers of unbridled freedom in the digital age and the need for thoughtful engagement with technology that honors human dignity and fosters genuine community.
Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on tradition, freedom, autonomy, and the boundaries that keep us grounded in an ever-shifting landscape. Whether you're interested in the philosophical underpinnings of liberty or the practical implications of living out these values in a digital world, this episode offers valuable perspectives on navigating the complexities of modern life through the lens of Christian wisdom.
This week on the podcast, hosts Marlo Slayback and Tom Sarrouf sit down with Aaron Zubia to delve into the life and philosophy of David Hume. Join them as they explore Hume's background and his pivotal role in the Scottish Enlightenment. They discuss Hume's Epicureanism and skepticism, examining how these ideas shaped his thought and influenced modern philosophy. The conversation turns to Hume's views on conservatism and liberalism, sparking a debate on whether conservatives can reconcile with liberal politics today. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion and leave with some recommended readings to deepen your understanding of Hume's enduring impact.
In this compelling episode of Conservative Conversations, we welcome back Jon Askonas, a repeat guest known for his deep insights into international relations, national security, and the evolving intersection of war, technology, and public institutions. Jon brings his expertise to a wide-ranging discussion on America's current posture on the global stage, the nation's obligations to its allies and citizens, and the importance of organizational know-how and institutional memory in shaping policy.
Together, we explore critical topics like the role of selective service and the draft in a modern context, always grounding our conversation in the enduring principles of American history and philosophy. Whether you're interested in the future of global politics or the philosophical underpinnings of America's actions on the world stage, this episode offers a thought-provoking journey through the complexities of international relations and national defense.
In this thought-provoking episode, we sit down with Carson Holloway, a distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska Omaha and a Washington Fellow at the Claremont Institute's Center for the American Way of Life. Holloway, an accomplished author, delves into the complex dynamics of press accountability in modern America, drawing from his essay, "Rethinking Libel: Defamation and Press Accountability."
Together, we revisit the landmark 1964 New York Times v. Sullivan case that established the malice standard in libel law, exploring its far-reaching implications on political discourse. Holloway offers a compelling critique of the current state of media liberties, arguing that unchecked freedom to defame can erode the very foundations of democratic debate.
Join us as we explore potential remedies to this imbalance and consider how the Founders' views on free speech and freedom of the press might inform today’s challenges. This episode is essential listening for anyone concerned with the integrity of public discourse and the role of the media in a healthy democracy.
In this engaging episode, we are joined by Khalil Habib, Associate Professor of Politics at Hillsdale College, to explore the profound ideas of Montesquieu and David Hume. We delve into how their philosophies illuminate the current political landscape and the foundational principles that anchor political life. Our conversation examines Montesquieu's influence on the American Constitutional order and the enduring relevance of his political philosophy. We discuss David Hume's insights into human nature and governance, and their implications for modern politics. We also explore the connection between Montesquieu's greater political philosophy and the core values of liberty and justice in America, and engage in a thought-provoking discussion on whether the American founding represents a relativist project.
This episode offers a rich exploration of the ideas that continue to shape our political institutions and societal norms. Whether you're a student of political theory or simply interested in the philosophical roots of contemporary politics, this conversation provides valuable insights and stimulating discussions.
Join hosts Tom Sarrouf and Marlo Slayback on this week's episode of Conservative Conversations, brought to you by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI). Our special guest, Garrett Snedeker, Deputy Director of the James Wilson Institute, dives deep into the pressing legal and political issues shaping the conservative movement today.
In this episode, we tackle:
- The Trump Conviction: Exploring the broader implications for American politics and the judicial system. What does this mean for future presidential accountability and the rule of law?
- The Chevron Doctrine: Understanding why this long-standing judicial principle was overturned and its impact on administrative law. How will this reshape the power dynamics between federal agencies and the courts?
- Future of Conservative Jurisprudence: Discussing the trajectory of conservative legal thought and its influence on upcoming Supreme Court decisions.
- Murthy vs. Missouri: Analyzing this pivotal case concerning government influence on social media content moderation and its First Amendment implications.
Don't miss this insightful conversation with one of today's leading conservative legal minds. Tune in for a thorough analysis and engaging discussion that will leave you better informed on the key issues at the intersection of law and politics.
More from Garrett Snedeker
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This week we spoke with Dr. Shawn Phillip Cooper. Join us as we delve into the rich lore of King Arthur. In this episode, Dr. Cooper unpacks the key characters and plot points that make up the legendary tales of King Arthur and his knights.
Discover the historical origins of the Arthurian legend and how it has been interwoven with various European traditions over the centuries. Dr. Cooper sheds light on how stories of chivalry, heroism, and the quest for the Holy Grail have evolved, influenced by French, Welsh, and English sources, creating a complex tapestry of myth and history.
Additionally, we explore the profound impact of the Arthurian legend on British self-identity. From its medieval roots to its role in shaping national pride and cultural heritage, King Arthur’s story continues to resonate in the British imagination.
Tune in to understand why the legend of King Arthur endures as a powerful symbol of virtue, leadership, and national identity. Don’t miss this enlightening discussion with one of the foremost experts on medieval literature.
More from Shawn Phillip Cooper: https://criticalreadings.com/
In this enlightening episode of the ISI Podcast, we sit down with the insightful N.S. Lyons to discuss his recent article in First Things, "The Re-Paganization Thesis." Lyons delves into the intricate intersections of religion and civilization, examining how modern societal shifts mirror ancient paganism's return. Join us as we explore the core arguments of the Re-Paganization Thesis, the role of religion in shaping and sustaining civilizations, the implications of these shifts on contemporary culture and politics, and Lyons' perspective on the future of Western civilization in light of these trends. This conversation offers a deep dive into the philosophical and cultural currents reshaping our world. Whether you're a student of history, religion, or politics, this episode provides valuable insights into the forces at play in our society.
First Things Article
The Upheaval | N.S. Lyons | Substack
Join us for an enlightening episode of Conservative Conversations as we dive deep into the world of cultural criticism and sociology with authors Michael Harding and William Batchelder. In this special episode, we explore their latest book, "The Philosophy of Philip Rieff: Cultural Conflict, Religion, and the Self."
Philip Rieff, a towering figure in the realm of sociological thought, profoundly impacted our understanding of the interplay between culture, religion, and individual identity. Harding and Batchelder unravel Rieff’s complex ideas, shedding light on his analysis of the therapeutic culture that has come to dominate contemporary society. They discuss how Rieff's work challenges us to rethink the cultural conflicts and religious transformations that shape our modern world.
Tune in to hear Harding and Batchelder share their insights on Rieff’s philosophical journey, the relevance of his work today, and the process of writing their comprehensive exploration of his legacy. Whether you're a student of sociology, a follower of cultural critique, or simply curious about the forces shaping our society, this episode offers a thought-provoking discussion that you won't want to miss.
Subscribe now to the ISI podcast and join us for an intellectual journey through the life and ideas of Philip Rieff, as brought to life by Michael Harding and William Batchelder.
Book Link
Join us for an enlightening episode as we sit down with Dr. Stephen Wolfe, author of the thought-provoking book, "The Case for Christian Nationalism." Hosted by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), this episode delves into the controversial yet compelling arguments presented in Wolfe's book.
Dr. Wolfe discusses the concept of Christian nationalism, exploring how it aligns with traditional Christian political thought and the American founding principles. He explains his vision of a homogenous society that orders earthly life towards heavenly ideals, a notion grounded in theological anthropology. Wolfe also addresses the criticisms and challenges his ideas have faced, providing a robust defense of his viewpoints.
Listeners will gain insight into the historical and philosophical underpinnings of Christian nationalism, as well as its implications for modern governance and society. Whether you agree or disagree, this episode promises a rich, intellectual discourse on a topic that is shaping contemporary political debates.
Tune in to explore the intersections of faith, politics, and society with one of today's most provocative conservative thinkers.
In this compelling episode of Conservative Conversations, we sit down with Theo Wold, the newly appointed Director of the Administrative State Project at the Claremont Institute. Drawing from his extensive experience in government, including his roles as Solicitor General of Idaho, Acting Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice, and Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy under President Donald Trump, Wold delves into the complexities of the administrative state and its intricate connection with the so-called deep state.
Wold provides an in-depth analysis of the essential elements that allow the deep state to function effectively, such as entrenched bureaucracies, lack of transparency, and self-sustaining regulatory agencies. He explores the feasibility of dismantling the administrative state without addressing the deep state, offering his unique insights and practical solutions.
Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on the hidden powers shaping our government and the challenges of bringing unaccountable executive bureaucracies back under popular and constitutional control.
More From Theo
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Join us for an enlightening episode with Phil Magness, renowned economic historian and scholar, as he sits down with the Intercollegiate Studies Institute to discuss:
- The pervasive problem of academic plagiarism in universities
- Root causes and potential solutions
- Magness's extensive research and experience in the field
- His pivotal role in exposing the Claudine Gay scandal at Harvard:
- Implications of high-profile academic misconduct
- Insights into his latest economic research
- Significant economic trends
- Historical contexts and their relevance today
- A balanced critique of the best and worst ideas emerging from both the left and the right:
- Challenges and considerations for contemporary ideological movements
Tune in for an episode that promises to inform, challenge, and inspire with Phil Magness and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.
More by Phil Magness:
https://www.independent.org/
Twitter - @PhilWMagness
In this episode of the Conservative Conversations, Dr. Cliff Porter shares his multifaceted journey and profound insights. Dr. Porter discusses his initial academic focus on history and political philosophy.
Explores his fascination with understanding historical events and societal behaviors.
- Delves into the question of how an educated nation like Germany could commit atrocities during WWII.
- Examines the dangers of prioritizing the group over the individual.
Transition to Medicine: - Explains how his historical studies led him to the field of medicine.
- Discusses the ethical and moral questions that drove his interest in healthcare.
- Analyzes how political agendas influenced the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Highlights the negative consequences of politicizing public health measures.
- Stresses the importance of a patient-centered approach and the preservation of individual liberties.
Join us for a thought-provoking discussion that bridges the gap between historical insights and modern medical practice, providing valuable lessons for today’s challenges.
More from Cliff Porter: https://www.txmedicalcare.com/
Join us for a captivating episode of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute's podcast as we sit down with esteemed historian Andrew Willard Jones. Renowned for his deep expertise in medieval studies and the intricate relationship between the Church and the state, Jones offers listeners a profound exploration of the Middle Ages.
In this episode, Jones delves into the social, political, and theological landscape of medieval Christian society, shedding light on how these historical dynamics continue to influence contemporary thought. With a focus on the rich tapestry of medieval thought, Jones reveals the enduring relevance of this period in understanding modern issues of governance, faith, and community.
- Insight into the complex interplay between religious and political authority in the Middle Ages.
- A deeper appreciation for the theological underpinnings of medieval society.
- An understanding of how medieval perspectives can inform current discussions on liberty and societal organization.
Whether you're a history enthusiast, a student of theology, or simply curious about the past's impact on the present, this episode promises to enrich your understanding and spark thoughtful conversation.
Tune in to uncover the lessons of the Middle Ages with Andrew Willard Jones, only on the ISI podcast.
Join us on this insightful episode of the ISI Podcast as we welcome esteemed scholar Mark David Hall to discuss his latest book, "Christian Nationalism: Myth and Reality." Hall, a leading expert on the American Founding and religion's role in public life, delves into the controversial and often misunderstood concept of Christian Nationalism.
In this engaging conversation, Hall addresses critical questions such as: What is Christian Nationalism? How has it shaped American history and politics? Are the Founding Fathers' principles rooted in Christian beliefs? Through a nuanced exploration, Hall separates myths from historical truths, providing listeners with a well-rounded understanding of this complex topic.
Whether you're a student of history, a scholar, or simply interested in the intersection of faith and politics, this episode offers valuable insights into the ongoing debate over America's religious and cultural identity. Tune in to gain a deeper perspective on how Christian Nationalism continues to influence contemporary discourse.
Welcome to our latest podcast episode featuring a fascinating discussion with historian and YouTube creator Alan Harrelson. Join us as we delve into "the good life" and explore Alan's unique perspective on living an agrarian lifestyle, his academic work, and his passion project, The Pipe Cottage.
Alan Harrelson, a renowned historian specializing in Southern Agrarian thought, shares his insights on the cultural and intellectual history of the American South, including the impact of the Civil War. We also discuss the inspiration behind his popular YouTube channel, The Pipe Cottage, where he blends historical discussions with his love for pipe smoking.
In this episode, you'll discover:
- Alan's journey into the world of Southern Agrarianism and his academic pursuits.
- The influence of the Southern Agrarians and their vision for a balanced, agrarian society.
- How The Pipe Cottage combines history, culture, and the art of pipe smoking.
- Reflections on "the good life" and the principles of agrarian living.
- In-depth discussions on the Civil War and its lasting influence on Southern identity.
- Insights into what Southern conservatism means today and how it shapes contemporary thought.
Don't miss this engaging conversation that bridges history, lifestyle, and personal passions. Tune in and get inspired by Alan Harrelson's thoughtful approach to life and history.
More from Alan Harrelson: https://pipecottage.com/
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Join us for an engaging discussion on education reform and school choice with Corey DeAngelis, a prominent advocate and researcher in the field of education policy. In this podcast hosted by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), Corey dives deep into his work and insights on how school choice can positively impact students and families.
Corey DeAngelis is a leading voice in the school choice movement, emphasizing the importance of empowering parents to choose the best educational options for their children. As the Director of School Choice at the Reason Foundation and a distinguished education policy analyst, Corey brings valuable expertise to the conversation.
Tune in to discover:
- The benefits of school choice for academic outcomes and student well-being.
- How educational freedom fosters innovation and competition among schools.
- The role of policy in expanding access to quality education for all children.
- Current challenges and future prospects for school choice initiatives nationwide.
Whether you're a student, educator, policymaker, or concerned citizen, this podcast offers compelling insights into the critical issues shaping the future of education. Don't miss this enlightening conversation with Corey DeAngelis, presented by ISI.
Stay informed and inspired by subscribing to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) for more thought-provoking discussions on topics that matter.
Corey DeAngelis: https://twitter.com/DeAngelisCorey
Read His Book: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/dr-corey-a-deangelis-ph-d/the-parent-revolution/9781546006862/?lens=center-street
Join us for an insightful discussion as Mike Gonzalez, Senior Fellow at The Heritage Foundation and author of the groundbreaking book, "Next Gen Marxism: What It Is and How to Combat It," delves into the pervasive influence of contemporary Marxism on American culture. In this podcast hosted by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), Gonzalez reveals how Marxism, despite its evolution beyond Soviet forms, has seeped into the fabric of our society, shaping narratives and policies that erode individual freedoms and national unity.
In his book, Gonzalez exposes how Marxism, born in European intellectual circles, has transformed through the lens of America's 1960s student radicals. Today, this adapted ideology manifests in identity politics, radical activism, and educational indoctrination, fueling divisions based on race, ethnicity, and sexuality. Gonzalez's analysis provides crucial insights into the origins of America's societal challenges and offers actionable strategies to counter the spread of this new iteration of Marxism.
Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of the ideological battle shaping our nation and discover how we can confront and overcome the influence of next-gen Marxism in our communities and institutions. This podcast is essential listening for anyone concerned about preserving America's founding principles and securing a future based on individual liberty and genuine equality.
More about Mike Gonzalez
This week Don Westblade a professor at Hillsdale college joins Tom on the podcast to discuss his work at Hillsdale and more!
In this episode:
- Explore teaching the Bible to students with Don Westblade, emphasizing its relevance and real-world impact.
- Learn how Westblade addresses criticism of the New Testament, offering historical and cultural context.
- Preview Westblade's discussion on Jerusalem from Russell Kirk's "The Roots of American Order" at ISI's Summer Honors Conference.
- Gain insights into the role of Deism in America's founding, as discussed by Westblade in this engaging podcast episode.
Become a Member:
https://isi.org/join-community/
Support ISI:
https://isi.org/donate/
Upcoming ISI Events:
https://isi.org/events/
Tune in for an insightful discussion with Kevin Kosar, where we explore the ideas of Edward Banfield, the New Deal era, and contemporary public policy.
Kevin, a seasoned expert in governance and public administration, shares perspectives on Banfield's research and its relevance today, particularly in understanding urban issues, poverty, and government intervention. Discover how Banfield's insights intersect with discussions around the New Deal and its lasting impact on American society. Gain fresh insights into the complexities of public policy and social challenges in this engaging conversation.
Join Tim Carney, author and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, in a compelling conversation with ISI about his latest book, "Family Unfriendly." In this podcast, Carney delves into the cultural shifts that have made raising children more challenging in modern society. Drawing on research and personal insights, Carney explores how societal norms, economic pressures, and policy decisions have contributed to the decline of family-friendly environments. Discover thought-provoking perspectives on how we can restore a culture that values and supports strong families. This podcast is a must-listen for anyone interested in understanding the dynamics shaping family life today.
Join us as Fr. John Strickland delves into his captivating new book, "The Age of Paradise: Christendom from Pentecost to the First Millennium." Fr. Strickland, an esteemed scholar and Orthodox priest, provides a rich exploration of the early centuries of Christianity, tracing the development of Christendom from its origins to the first millennium. Discover the profound impact of this transformative era on Western civilization and gain a deeper understanding of the roots of Christian tradition.
This conversation offers a fascinating journey through history, theology, and culture, shedding light on the enduring legacy of the early Church.
Website: https://johnstrickland.org/podcast/
Join us for a thought-provoking episode as we delve into the intricate relationship between religion and governance with author Miles Smith. In this captivating discussion, we explore Smith's latest book, "Religion & Republic: Christian America from the Founding to the Civil War," which provides a fascinating historical perspective on the interplay between Christianity and the American experiment in democracy during its formative years.
Miles Smith, an esteemed scholar and expert in American history, offers profound insights into how religion influenced the development of American institutions from the nation's inception through the tumultuous era of the Civil War. Drawing on meticulous research and compelling narratives, Smith traces the evolving role of Christianity in shaping America's political landscape, illuminating the profound impact of faith on the formation of laws, governance structures, and societal norms.
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Join host Tom Sarrouf and esteemed philosopher John Cuddeback on a thought-provoking journey into the realm of classical philosophy and the pursuit of the "good life." In this captivating podcast episode produced by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), listeners are invited to delve deep into the timeless wisdom of the philosophical tradition.
Drawing upon his expertise in moral philosophy and natural law, Professor Cuddeback illuminates the multifaceted concept of the "good life" and its significance in shaping individual flourishing and societal well-being. Through engaging dialogue and insightful analysis, Cuddeback explores key philosophical questions, such as: What constitutes a truly fulfilling life? How can ancient wisdom inform contemporary notions of happiness and virtue? And what role do personal choices and ethical principles play in the pursuit of human excellence?
Listeners will gain valuable insights into classical philosophical perspectives on human nature, morality, and the cultivation of virtuous character. Whether reflecting on the teachings of Aristotle, Aquinas, or other influential thinkers, Cuddeback offers profound reflections on the enduring quest for authenticity, purpose, and fulfillment in life.
This enlightening conversation serves as a compelling reminder of the enduring relevance of classical philosophy in navigating the complexities of modern existence. Prepare to be inspired, challenged, and enriched as you embark on this philosophical exploration of the "good life" with John Cuddeback and ISI.
We are thrilled to unveil the latest milestone in Modern Age's evolution: a new website!
Join us this week as we engage in an insightful discussion with Dan McCarthy and Andrew Beck on the noteworthy updates to ISI's Modern Age Journal.
Andrew Beck, esteemed co-founder of Beck & Stone, has collaborated closely with ISI to craft a visually stunning and seamlessly navigable platform, ensuring that accessing our esteemed publication is now more convenient than ever before.
In this conversation, we delve into the meticulous design process, the strategic vision driving this transformation, and the profound impact it will have on our readership. Join us as we explore the intersection of tradition and modernity, and celebrate the dawn of a new era for Modern Age.
Modern Age History:
Founded in 1957 by Russell Kirk and Henry Regnery, Modern Agehas been helping to shape the conservative mind and intelligent discourse in the United States (and abroad) for more than six decades.
Under the leadership of acclaimed editor Dan McCarthy, Modern Age guides readers through these contentious, confusing times by applying the wisdom of “the permanent things” to the crises of our age and to what Kirk called “the great moral and social and political and economic and literary questions of the hour.
Modern Ageis now available in print and digital editions. Print subscribers also receive complimentary digital access.
Website
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Use the code MODERNAGE1957 for discounted on a one-year print subscription!
In today's episode, we sit down with Matthew Peterson, the Editor-in-Chief at Blaze Media. Join hosts Tom and Marlo as they discuss with Matt his work at Blaze, the challenges conservatives face in media, and strategies to make a meaningful impact.
Matt shares his insights on why conservatives struggle in media and offers thought-provoking ideas on how they can overcome these obstacles. From the importance of messaging to the power of storytelling, Matt explores the keys to effectively communicating conservative values in today's media landscape.
But the conversation doesn't stop there. Tom, Marlo, and Matt delve into what it takes to be a great statesman, discussing the qualities and characteristics that define true leadership. With wisdom and passion, Matt inspires listeners to strive for excellence and make a positive difference in their communities and beyond.
Texts Mentioned:
- https://www.theblaze.com/
- https://americanmind.org/
- “Blaze News Investigates: What Really Happened with Tim Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad” by Cortney Weil
- Gateway to Statesmanship by John A. Burtka IV
- Blessed Charles of Austriaby Charles A. Coulombe
- “The Way Forward” by Matthew J. Peterson
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- Support ISI
- Upcoming ISI Events
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Join us in this eye-opening podcast with historian David Beito and Tom Sarrouf as they delve into Beito's latest book, 'The New Deal's War on the Bill of Rights.' Prepare to be shocked as he exposes the astonishing lengths FDR and New Dealers went to suppress freedom of speech, privacy, and civil rights.
Discover the concealed truths behind this era, revealing a side of history often overshadowed by pro-FDR propaganda. Don't miss this revealing discussion that challenges historical narratives!
Texts Mentioned:
- The New Deal’s War on the Bill of Rightsby David Beito
- From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State by David Beito
- T.R.M. Howard by David Beito
Are you new to the world of Shakespeare and eager to dive into the timeless brilliance of his works? Join us in this enlightening podcast episode as Benedict Whalen, an esteemed professor at Hillsdale College, takes us on a journey through the basics of understanding and appreciating the genius of William Shakespeare.
Benedict Whalen, a distinguished scholar with expertise in literature and classical education, provides valuable insights and strategies for those taking their first steps into the world of the Bard. Whether you're a student, teacher, or lifelong learner, this podcast offers a friendly guide to demystifying the beauty of Shakespearean literature.
Benedict Whalen is a respected professor at Hillsdale College, known for his passion for classical education and literature. His engaging approach to teaching brings Shakespeare's works to life for students and audiences alike.
Website: Intercollegiate Studies Institute
Twitter: @ISI
YouTube: @EducatingForLiberty
Join us on a captivating journey through the minds of the Founding Fathers—men of intellect, integrity, and ambition who shaped the early American republic.
In "Mental Maps of the Founders," Michael Barone explores the geographic orientation of six key figures, unraveling the stories of Virginians with different compass points in mind, a refugee from Puritan Boston forging a new path in Philadelphia, and individuals from diverse commercial hubs. From the sugar-and-slave island of St. Croix to the stern Swiss city-state of Geneva, their disparate origins shaped the foundation and management of a financial system vital for the young republic's commerce.
Inspired by the richness of Founding Fathers literature, Barone, a map enthusiast and co-author of The Almanac of American Politics, presents reflective essays that unveil how the mental maps of these visionaries helped define the contours and character of a fledgling nation navigating unknown geographical features and political boundaries.
Texts Mentioned:
- Mental Maps of the Founders by Michael Barone
- Notes on the State of Virginiaby Thomas Jefferson
- Thoughts on the Cause of Present Discontentsby Edmund Burke
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Welcome to a special episode where we bring you an insightful recording from the Heritage Foundation.
Join us as President and CEO of ISI, Johnny Burtka, takes the stage to present a compelling lecture on his latest book, "Gateway to Statesmanship."
In this thought-provoking episode, Johnny Burtka explores the key themes and insights from his book, providing a gateway to a deeper understanding of statesmanship. Delve into the principles and perspectives that shape effective leadership and governance.
Following the lecture, we transition to a dynamic panel discussion featuring Johnny Burtka, Elbridge Colby, and Dan McCarthy. These distinguished voices engage in a nuanced dialogue, offering diverse viewpoints on statesmanship, its relevance in contemporary politics, and the broader implications for our nation.
This Heritage Foundation event provides you with a front-row seat to an enlightening exploration of leadership, governance, and the timeless principles that guide our nation.
Paul Robinson joins us this week to discuss his book "Russian Conservatism."
Listen as Paul, Marlo, and Tom delve into the evolution of Russian conservative thought spanning the early nineteenth century to the contemporary era. Author Paul Robinson traces philosophers, politicians, and figures' significant contributions across the Imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet periods. By exploring cultural, political, and socio-economic conservatism in Russia, he asserts that these ideas provide valuable insights into both Russia's historical trajectory and its current state. Furthermore, it suggests that understanding Russian conservatism is crucial for anticipating the nation's future developments, indicating potential influences, whether positive or negative, in the years ahead.
Texts Mentioned:
- Russian Conservatismby Paul Robinson
- Russian Liberalismby Paul Robinson
- A People’s Tragedy by Orlando Figes
- The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America since 1945by George H. Nash
- Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke
- Vekhi by Pyotr Struve
- History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Unionby Josef Stalin
- Man in the Struggle for Peaceby Charles Malik
- “A World Split Apart” by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
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In this episode:
- Fisher Derderian, President of the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation, joins the podcast to talk about all things related to Roger Scruton from his concept of “oikophilia” to his views on conservation and his aesthetic theory
Texts Mentioned:
- Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
- The Battle for Home by Marwa al-Sibouni
- On Hunting by Roger Scruton
- “Why I Became a Conservative” by Roger Scruton
- Gentle Regrets by Roger Scruton
- Beauty: A Very Short Introduction by Roger Scruton
- “Why Beauty Matters” documentary by Roger Scruton
- www.scruton.org
Become a part of ISI:
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- Upcoming ISI Events
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In this episode:
- Carrie Gress and Noelle Mering join the podcast to discuss their “Theology of Home” project, focusing on a material and spiritual culture of beauty in ordinary home life
Texts Mentioned:
- Theology of Home bookset by Carrie Gress and Noelle Mering
- Awake, Not Woke by Noelle Mering
- The End of Womanby Carrie Gress
- theologyofhome.com
Become a part of ISI:
- Become a Member
- Support ISI
- Upcoming ISI Events
In this episode:
- Miles Smith joins the podcast to discuss the destruction of American statues and the political endgame that motivates it
- a lesson against civic contempt for average people and a story about the wisdom and erudition of country folk
- a listener question about good books to introduce kids to the “great tradition”
Texts Mentioned:
- Apply for the ISI Honors Conference!
- The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
- The Great Traditionby Richard Gamble
- The Little Princeby Antoine de Saint-Exupery
- The Tale of Peter Rabbitby Beatrix Potter
- Aesop’s Fablesby Aesop
- Blessed Charles of Austria by Charles Coulombe
- The Hobbitand Lord of the Ringsby J.R.R. Tolkien
- Little House on the Prairieby Laura Ingalls Wilder
- The Iliad and The Odysseyby Homer
- The Hardy Boysby Franklin W. Dixon
- Nancy Drewby Carolyn Keene
- The Beginner’s Bible
- The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
- Lee: A Biography by Clifford Dowdey
- King James Bible
- Book of Common Prayer
- Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
- Confederates in the Atticby Tony Horwitz
- “What Happens When a Poor State Guts Its Public University” by Michael Powell
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In this episode:
- Spencer Kashmanian, ISI’s own chief of staff, joins the podcast to talk about his love for jazz music, its connections to the Christmas season, and elements of its “conservative disposition”
Texts Mentioned:
- “Christmastime Revives Jazz Legends” by Marlo Slayback
- “White Christmas” by Charlie Parker
- The Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom
- “Summer of ’69” by Bryan Adams
- Leisure: The Basis of Cultureby Josef Pieper
- The Republic by Plato
- The Lord of the Ringsby J.R.R. Tolkien
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In this episode:
- Jeremy Wayne Tate, founder and CEO of the Classical Learning Test, joins the podcast to talk about reforming curricula to cover the most important texts and thinkers of the Western Heritage
- how the College Board has changed the purpose of education and caused a decline in educational quality and skill development, and how to fix it
- why students “light up” when we teach things related to man’s capacity to good and evil, and the timeless principles and questions that pertain to the good life
Texts Mentioned:
- The Republicby Plato
- The Odyssey by Homer
- cltexam.com
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In this episode:
- Andrew Bacevich joins the podcast to talk to Tom about his 2008 book, The Limits of Power, about the failures of the Iraq War and the cultural, political, and military crises that led to it and exposed the weaknesses in America’s global posture
- the lessons to be taken from the post-WWII history of American military policy and foreign entanglements
- why the impulse to rely on “American muscle” to fix things is often unjustified
Texts Mentioned:
- The Limits of Power by Andrew Bacevich
- The Decadent Societyby Ross Douthat
- “The Crisis of Confidence” speech by Jimmy Carter
- Battlegroundsby H.R. McMaster
- ISI Debate on Taiwan and China
- American Conservatism: Reclaiming an Intellectual Tradition by Andrew Bacevich
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In this episode:
- William Benson and Michael Ippolito, co-founders of The American Postliberal, join the podcast to talk about the rising success of their new journal and the postliberal vision that animates its vision
- what “catholic political realism” is, what its goals are, and why it’s the best hope for America’s future
- how America’s history is best understood in light of its Catholic heritage, which holds the key to understanding a Catholic future for America
Texts Mentioned:
- The American Postliberal substack
- “The 1492 Project: Two Americas” by Michael Ippolito
- “The 1492 Project: The Founding” by Michael Ippolito
- “The 1492 Project: America’s Catholic Destiny” by Michael Ippolito
- Longinquaby Pope Leo XIII
- “Catholic Political Realism Is the Only Hope for America” by William Benson
- “To the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island” by George Washington
- Dignitatis Humanae by Pope Paul VI
- “Blues for Blue Laws” by Michael Ippolito
- Leisure, the Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper
- Apply for the ISI Honors Conference!
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In this episode:
- Khalil Habib joins Conservative Conversations in an episode that covers a wide range of great thinkers, including Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Polybius, Livy, Lucretius, Tocqueville, and Edmund Burke
- why republics tend to become empires, and how the Founders used the history of the classical world when thinking about the Constitution
- how Napoleon fits into the story and meaning of the French Revolution
Texts Mentioned:
- Discourses on Livyby Niccolo Machiavelli
- Considerations on the Causes of Greatness of the Romans and Their Decline by Montesquieu
- The History of Romeby Livy
- The Histories by Polybius
- On the Nature of Things by Lucretius
- The Federalist Papers
- Reflections on the Revolution in Franceby Edmund Burke
- The Ancien Regime and the French Revolution by Alexis de Tocqueville
- The Spirit of the Lawsby Montesquieu
- Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville
- A People’s Tragedyby Orlando Figes
- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
- Discourse on the Arts and Sciences by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- “Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol” by Edmund Burke
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In this episode:
- three historians discuss the legacies and importance of Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley
- what it means to be a statesman, as exemplified by these great American leaders
- what we miss about America when we miss 19th century American history
Texts Mentioned:
- A Man of Iron by Troy Senik
- Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times by H.W. Brands
- President McKinley: Architect of the American Century by Robert W. Merry
- “Cross of Gold” speech by William Jennings Bryan
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In this episode:
- Professor Susan Hanssen joins the podcast to discuss the quintessentially American holiday of Thanksgiving and its history
- how the Puritans and Pilgrims fit into the British political and cultural experience, how they end up in America, and how they shape America today
- what remains in the American project as a “remnant” that’s powerful and worth conserving today
Texts Mentioned:
- Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789 by George Washington
- William Bradford’s Journal
- “A Model of Christian Charity” by John Winthrop
- Notes on the State of Virginiaby Thomas Jefferson
- Proclamation of Thanksgiving by Abraham Lincoln
- Reflections on the Revolution in Franceby Edmund Burke
- The Mayflower Compact
- A Defence of the Constitutions of the Government of the United Statesby John Adams
- The Captive Mindby Czeslaw Milosz
- The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk
- The Roots of American Orderby Russell Kirk
- “How America’s Adams Family Inherited and Preserved the Pilgrim Mind” by Susan Hanssen
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In this episode:
- ISI’s own Jane Scharl joins the podcast to talk about her work as a professional poet and playwright
- why everyone needs to appreciate the fine arts to be fully human, and how to get started for beginners
- why beauty changes and saves the world by changing and saving souls, and how to become a patron of artists to produce more beautiful things
Texts Mentioned:
- Sonnez Les Matines by Jane Scharl
- A People’s Tragedy by Orlando Figes
- Apollo and Daphne myth
- The Aeneid by Virgil
- “Can Poetry Matter?” by Dana Gioia
- Beowulf
- Wiseblood Books
- Slant Books
- St. Louis IX Art Society
- Pushkin by Jonathan Leaf
- jcscharl.com
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In this episode:
- A special debate between Henry Olsen and Donald Devine about the legacy of Ronald Reagan, from our recent Modern Age panel celebrating the launch of the new Modern Age website
Texts Mentioned:
- Old House of Fear by Russell Kirk
- The Working Class Republicanby Henry Olsen
- Ronald Reagan’s Enduring Principles by Donald Devine
- Ronald Reagan “A Time for Choosing” Speech
- Modern Age
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In this episode:
- Dr. Jerry Hendrix, a retired Navy captain and author of To Provide and Maintain a Navy, joins the podcast to talk about the need for America to revitalize the US Navy and defend the “free seas”
- a deep dive into America’s foreign policy, especially the challenges posed by our three biggest adversaries: China, Russia, and Iran
- advice for students consider a life of service in the US armed forces
Texts Mentioned:
- To Provide and Maintain a Navyby Jerry Hendrix
- The Free Sea by Hugo Grotius
- “The Age of American Naval Dominance Is Over” by Jerry Hendrix
- “Farewell Address” by George Washington
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In this episode:
- Sam Hammond, senior economist at the Foundation for American Innovation, joins the podcast to talk about artificial intelligence and its transformative aspects on modern society
- what AI offers human society to advance our economy and our society, and the potential dangers of AI run amok
- how AI and super-intelligent machines that match or exceed human cognition will mean for human nature and what it means to be a human being
Texts Mentioned:
- “Attention is All You Need” by Ashish Vaswani
- Science, Scientism, and Society webinar
- Jon Askonas Conservative Conversations episode
- “Common Sense on AI” by Sam Hammond and Jon Askonas
- “AI and Leviathan: Part I” by Sam Hammond
- “AI and Leviathan: Part II” by Sam Hammond
- “AI and Leviathan: Part III” by Sam Hammond
- Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
- Revolt of the Publicby Martin Gurri
- fai.org
- “Second Best” substack by Sam Hammond
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In this episode:
- Rodge Reschini, ISI’s editor of The Cornell Review, joins the podcast to talk about the state of the conservative movement at Cornell
- a student perspective on “academic freedom”
- how to leverage alumni support as a check on the worst impulses of American universities
Texts Mentioned:
- “Trigger Warnings Are Bad, Voluntary or Not” by Rodge Reschini
- “Should College Come With Trigger Warnings? At Cornell, It’s a ‘Hard No’”
- Collegiate Network Fellowships and Internships
- The Cornell Review
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In this episode:
- Alexandra Hudson joins the podcast to talk about her new book, The Soul of Civility
- how Burke and Locke come together with the “vertical” and “horizontal” social compacts that capture the social and political relations of society
- the difference between politeness and civility, and the limits of politeness in our personal and political life
Texts Mentioned:
- The Soul of Civility by Alexandra Hudson
- A People’s Tragedy by Orlando Figes
- The Maxims of Ptahhotep
- Federalist 51by James Madison
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Beyond Order: Twelve More Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson
- On The Beautiful and the Sublime by Edmund Burke
- Civic Renaissance
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In this episode:
- A special Q&A between Johnny and Tucker following Tucker’s keynote address at ISI’s annual Gala for Western Civilization at our new Linda Bean Center on campus in Wilmington, DE
- Tucker reflects on a career in journalism and the role of individuals in a democracy. Join us as they discuss the future of America and what ISI is doing for students across the country.
Texts Mentioned:
- The Long Slide by Tucker Carlson
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In this episode:
- Jesse Merriam, professor of constitutional studies at Patrick Henry College, joins the podcast to talk about how we got our antiracist Constitution
- how Brown v. Board’s jurisprudence unleashed a diversity regime that has usurped the written Constitution and the principles of a free society
- what we can expect for the future of affirmative action in light of the recent Supreme Court decisions challenging affirmative action
Texts Mentioned:
- How We Got our Antiracist Constitution by Jesse Merriam
- Brown v. Board of Education
- We The PeopleThree Volume Trilogy by Bruce Ackerman
- Government by Judiciary by Raoul Berger
- The Warren Revolutionby L. Brent Bozell, Jr.
- “Originalism and the Desegregation Decisions” by Michael McConnell
- “The Originalist Case for Brown v. Board of Education” by Michael McConnell
- “The Original Intent—As Perceived by Michael McConnell” by Raoul Berger
- Thomas Jefferson to Henri Gregoire, February 25, 1809
- Plessy v. Ferguson
- “The Affirmative Action Regime” by Jesse Merriam
- Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard
- Grutter v. Bollinger
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In this episode:
- Catherine Pakaluk joins the podcast to discuss her forthcoming book, Hannah’s Children, about women having large families amongst a culture of childlessness
- the limits of economic and family policy in reversing the falling birthrates, and what really drives our demographic decline
- Marlo and Catherine talk about the various joys and challenges that come with motherhood, both of one child and of many children
Texts Mentioned:
- Hannah’s Children: The Stories of Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth by Catherine Pakaluk
- The Birth Dearth by Ben Wattenberg
- “Jordan Peterson Interviews Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy”
- Coming Apart by Charles Murray
- Get Married by Brad Wilcox
- The Two Parent Privilege by Melissa Kearney
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In this episode:
- Zena Hitz joins the podcast to talk about the enduring value and necessity of a liberal arts education
- how class and economic considerations describe the shifts towards “practical” studies and coursework to the neglect of “the fundamental questions”
- the connection between ascetic practice and proper reasoning, and how education requires retreat from the present things
Texts Mentioned:
- Lost in Thought by Zena Hitz
- catherineproject.org
- Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
- Sophistby Plato
- Phaedrus by Plato
- Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
- City of Godby Augustine
- Republicby Plato
- Democracy in Americaby Alexis de Tocqueville
- Confessions by Augustine
- Genesis
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In this episode:
- Tom Shakely, Chief Engagement Officer for Americans United for Life, joins the podcast to discuss the case for making birth free and charting a pro-family agenda
- why Lincoln’s insights on shaping public opinion about slavery should analogously inform the pro-life movement’s thinking about protecting the unborn
- how the logic of abortion could lead to a dystopian regime that promotes euthanasia as a right and a good
Texts Mentioned:
- “Make Birth Free” by Elizabeth Bruenig
- “Make Birth Free” white paper by Catherine Glenn Foster and Kristen Day
- “Why Voting on Life is Absurd” episode of “The Based Catholic”
- Get Married by Brad Wilcox
- “Conservative Conversations” episode with Brad Wilcox
- The American Wayby Allan C. Carlson
- “The Forgotten History of America ‘Making Birth Free’” by Allan C. Carlson
- “A Constitutional Vision: Lincoln Proposal” by Catherine Glenn Foster
- Death, Dying, and Euthanasiaby Dennis J. Horan and David Mall
- aul.org
- x.com/aul
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In this episode:
- Michael Anton joins the podcast to discuss his book, The Stakes, about the state of the country in 2020 and what could be lost and gained
- How the progressive ideology that rules California’s politics has turned the state into a nightmare, from education and cost-of-living to immigration and crime
- Where we could be headed in America’s short-term political future with the coming 2024 election, or even the long-term prospects near the end of the Republic
Texts Mentioned:
- The Stakes: America at the Point of No Return by Michael Anton
- “The Flight 93 Election” by Michael Anton
- Riggedby Mollie Hemingway
- The Dying Citizen by Victor Davis Hansen
- https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/
- Regime Change by Patrick Deneen
- “Modernity and Its Discontents” by Michael Anton
- The Narrow Passage by Glenn Ellmers
- Machiavelli’s Effectual Truth by Harvey C. Mansfield
- Florentine Histories by Niccolo Machiavelli
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In this episode:
- Jay Richards joins the podcast to talk about the political machine that drives the transgender ideology that has captured the American public square
- how fighting gender ideology offers an opportunity for conservatives to make allies with others across the political spectrum to defend reality
- practical advice for how to become an expert in any topic
Texts Mentioned:
- Chloe Cole testimony before Congress
- Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier
- Cass Report
- “gender unicorn” diagram
- Book of Joel
- Buck v. Bell
- When Harry Became Sallyby Ryan Anderson
- The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Selfby Carl Trueman
- Strange New World by Carl Trueman
- Love Thy Body by Nancy Pearcey
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In this episode:
- Sohrab Ahmari, author and founder of Compact magazine, joins the podcast to discuss his new book, Tyranny Inc. about private coercion and its role in harming the American working class
- what we can learn from the political economy of Louis Brandeis and John Kenneth Galbraith
- how privatization opens the door to corporate tyranny against workers, and how to fix it
Texts Mentioned:
- “Sohrab Ahmari on the Unbroken Thread” episode of Conservative Conversations
- The Unbroken Thread by Sohrab Ahmari
- Tyranny, Inc. by Sohrab Ahmari
- A People’s Tragedy by Orlando Figes
- Rerum Novarum by Pope Leo XIII
- The Age of Jackson by Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
- The Market Revolution: Jacksonian America, 1815-1846by Charles Sellers
- The Rise of American Democracy: Jackson to Lincolnby Sean Wilentz
- compactmag.com
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In this episode:
- Acclaimed journalist and activist Christopher Rufo joins the podcast to discuss his new book, America’s Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything
- why language is an essential tool in driving social and political change
- what the Right can do to reform and change the institutions that have been captured by Leftist priorities
Texts Mentioned:
- America’s Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything by Christopher F. Rufo
- “The Three Worlds of Evangelicalism” by Aaron Renn
- rufo.substack.com
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In this episode:
- Brad Wilcox, the Director of the National Marriage Project, joins the podcast to talk about marriage, family formation, and children
- The important keys to successful and happy marriage, and what elites tell us that we need to reject
- why men and women are alienated from each other, and what each sex should go to recover a calling to family life
Texts Mentioned:
- Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilizationby Brad Wilcox
- “Women Who Stay Single and Don’t Have Kids are Getting Richer” by Molly Smith
- “Should Couples Merge Their Finances?” by Joe Pinsker
- “One Key to a Happy Marriage?: Joint Bank Accounts” by Jenny Olson
- “Where Have All the Good Men Gone?” by Brad Wilcox, Emma Fuentes, and Michael Krieger
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In this episode:
- Glenn Ellmers joins the podcast to discuss his new book, The Narrow Passage, about the permanent political problems that stem from reason in politics
- how the modern project rejects the humility of the classical tradition, and has ushered in the philosophic tyranny of the modern administrative state and woke ideology
- why the Left is built upon a contradiction between postmodernism and a belief in rational post-political expertise
Texts Mentioned:
- The Narrow Passage: Plato, Foucault, and the Possibility of Political Philosophyby Glenn Ellmers
- “Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid” by Jonathan Haidt
- “German Nihilism” by Leo Strauss
- The Soul of Politics: Harry V. Jaffa and the Fight for America by Glenn Ellmers
- claremont.org
- “PODCAST: Glenn Ellmers on Harry Jaffa and the Soul of Politics” by The Anchoring Truths Podcast
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In this episode:
- Joseph DeReuil, a student at Notre Dame and editor-in-chief emeritus of ND’s Irish Rover, joins the podcast to talk about being sued by a Notre Dame professor
- what life is like on a Catholic college campus like Notre Dame, and how ISI and the Collegiate Network has helped him make a difference
- what aspiring journalists should pay attention to when honing their skills
Texts Mentioned:
- “No Man Can Serve Two Masters” by Mary Frances Myler
- “Keough School Professor Offers Abortion Access to Students” by Joseph DeReuil
- “Tamara Kay Explains Herself to Notre Dame Democrats” by Luke Thompson
- “We Will Not Be Silenced” by The Irish Rover editorial staff
- irishrover.net
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In this episode:
- ISI’s Conservative Book of the Year Award Winner Daniel Mahoney and former attorney general and senator Jeff Sessions join the podcast for a live interview with Johnny about Dan’s book The Statesman as Thinker
- whether the Founders were too successful in setting up a system of checks and balances that ultimately undermined statesmanship of “great-souled men”
- the pathologies of American education, and the need for alternative institutions to excite the “life of the mind” and a serious commitment to the pursuit of truth
Texts Mentioned:
- The Statesman as Thinkerby Daniel J. Mahoney
- The American Commonwealth by Lord James Bryce
- Democracy in Americaby Alexis de Tocqueville
- The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay
- The Life of George Washington by John Marshall
- On Duties by Cicero
- His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph Ellis
- The Logic of Liberty by Michael Polanyi
- “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” by Frederick Douglass
- Winston Churchill MIT Commencement Speech
- Meditationsby Marcus Aurelius
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In this episode:
- Lee Edwards joins the podcast to celebrate 100 episodes of Conservative Conversations and talk about the history of ISI
- how fusionism remains a vibrant approach to conservative politics and scholarship in bringing together seemingly disparate persuasions
- the importance of Bill Buckley not only as an intellectual or a political actor, but as an organizer in creating many of the central institutions in the conservative movement
Texts Mentioned:
- Educating for Liberty by Lee Edwards
- God and Man at Yale by William F. Buckley, Jr.
- “For Our Children’s Children: A Fifty Year Program” by Frank Chodorov
- The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk
- The Roots of American Order by Russell Kirk
- The Quest for Community by Robert Nisbet
- William F. Buckley, Jr.: The Maker of a Movementby Lee Edwards
- What is Conservatism? edited by Frank Meyer
- “Consistency in Politics” by Winston Churchill
- Victims of Communism
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In this episode:
- Claes Ryn joins the podcast to discuss his most recent book, The Failure of American Conservatism and the Road Not Taken
- why the imagination of a culture is central to its political disposition, and why the Left has been successful in dominating the American imagination
- how Strauss, particularly his critique of historicism, has eroded American traditions, and ultimately been unsuccessful against left-wing attacks on American traditions
Texts Mentioned:
- The Failure of American Conservatism and the Road Not Takenby Claes Ryn
- The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945by George Nash
- Democracy and Leadership by Irving Babbitt
- Rousseau and Romanticismby Irving Babbitt
- Treatise on Law by Thomas Aquinas
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In this episode:
- Zak Slayback, Marlo’s husband and a partner at 1517 Fund, joins the podcast to discuss the critical distinctions and concepts regarding discussions about technology in the modern world
- what “scale” and “time-frame” considerations do on a social scale with different technological disruptions, especially in the information age
- how techno-realism charts the right course for conservatives between techno-optimism and techno-pessimism
Texts Mentioned:
- “How Tech Works” by Zak Slayback
- That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
- “Living in a Tech Age” with Jon Askonas
- The Epic of Gilgamesh
- “The Optimistic Thought Experiment” by Peter Thiel
- Rerum Novarumby Pope Leo XIII
- A Canticle for Liebowitzby Walter Miller, Jr.
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In this episode:
- a Modern Age panel on the release of Patrick Deneen’s newest book, Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future,featuring Patrick Deneen, Senator JD Vance, Kevin Roberts, and Christine Emba
- how the classical tradition of mixing “the many” and “the few” in a regime gave way to the modern liberal project of unending progress, to the detriment of the common good
- what regime change would actually look like in terms of the American economic, political, and social order
Texts Mentioned:
- Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future by Patrick Deneen
- Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick Deneen
- Hillbilly Elegyby JD Vance
- Rethinking Sex by Christine Emba
- The Kevin Roberts Show
- “Liberalism is Loneliness” by Christine Emba
- Humanae Vitae by Pope Paul VI
- “The Sun Has Set on Global Europe” speech by Kevin Roberts
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In this episode:
- McKay Stangler, ISI’s Director of Foundation Relations, joins the podcast to discuss Richard Weaver, one of the luminary figures of the early conservative movement
- a crash course in the themes of the southern agrarian tradition: practice, place, and solidarity
- how to recover a sense of the shared use of language, and the social solidarity that accompanies it
Texts Mentioned:
- Ideas Have Consequencesby Richard Weaver
- Visions of Order by Richard Weaver
- Boomersby Helen Andrews
- After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre
- “Up from Liberalism” by Richard Weaver
- “House Divided Speech” by Abraham Lincoln
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In this episode:
- Alexander Salter, professor of economics at Texas Tech University, joins the podcast to discuss his new book, The Political Economy of Distributism
- how capitalism does or does not support the common good of society, and how the re-emergence of discourse about the common good in politics can be bolstered by returning to the distributist writers
- what Wilhelm Röpke contributed to both economic science and towards creating a “humane economy,” and why we need to read him today
Texts Mentioned:
- The Political Economy of Distributism by Alexander Salter
- “Catholic Social Doctrine and the Dignity of Work” by Sen. Marco Rubio
- The Servile State by Hilaire Belloc
- The Outline of Sanity by G.K. Chesterton
- A Humane Economyby Wilhelm Röpke
- awsalter.com
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In this episode:
- Archduke Eduard Habsburg joins the podcast to discuss his new book, “The Habsburg Way,” about his family, their values, and character
- how marriage and family were both central to the Habsburg’s personal and political success and longevity
- why nationalism and imperialism are not necessarily opposing political philosophies, and how there can be an integration of nations within “supranational organizations”
Texts Mentioned:
- The Habsburg Way: Seven Rules for Turbulent Times by Archduke Eduard Habsburg
- 1984by George Orwell
- The Education of Cyrus by Xenophon
- On Kingship by Saint Thomas Aquinas
- Utopia by Saint Thomas More
- The Virtue of Nationalismby Yoram Hazony
- “The Nationalist Mistake” by Phillip Blond
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In this episode:
- Hadley Arkes, founder and director of the James Wilson Institute, joins the podcast to discuss his newest book, Mere Natural Law
- how the Dobbs ruling dodged the essential moral questions at the heart of abortion, and why conservative jurisprudence has failed to do so
- how principles of natural law are so suffused into America’s law and the American regime that they are inseparable from any judgments about law in the judiciary
Texts Mentioned:
- Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitutionby Hadley Arkes
- First Things by Hadley Arkes
- Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
- The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics by Immanuel Kant
- Roe v. Wade
- Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
- The Federalist Papers by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay
- Lectures on Lawby James Wilson
- Constitutional Illusions and Anchoring Truths by Hadley Arkes
- Natural Rights and the Right to Choose by Hadley Arkes
- ISI Homecoming, June 2-3, 2023
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In this episode:
- Enrique Pallares joins the podcast to discuss conservatism and liberalism in the Spanish tradition, and how it is influenced by and departs from other European political traditions
- a deep dive into the life and thought of Miguel de Unamuno, a Spanish thinker who opposed ideology and stressed the centrality of the person
- how ideology subjugates the human person and closes us off to living a truly human life
Texts Mentioned:
- The Roots of American Order by Russell Kirk
- Intelligible Spain by Julian Marias
- Cadiz Constitution of 1812
- Unam Sanctamby Pope Boniface VIII
- En Torno al Casticismoby Miguel de Unamuno (in English and Spanish)
- “What is Ideology?” by Mark Shiffman
- Gorgiasby Plato
- The Brothers Karamazovby Fyodor Dostoevsky
- casacarmenwines.com
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In this episode:
- Brad Birzer, professor of history at Hillsdale College, joins the podcast to discuss his new book, Mythic Realms: The Moral Imagination in Literature and Film
- a crash course in all the must-see movies and TV series that teach about justice, charity, and finding one’s place in the moral order
- how the frontier, captured in Western film and movies, represents the possibilities that have embodied the American spirit
Texts Mentioned:
- Mythic Realms: The Moral Imagination in Literature and Film by Brad Birzer
- The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk
- Beyond Tenebrae by Brad Birzer
- Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke
- Dandelion Wineby Ray Bradbury
- Something Wicked This Way Comesby Ray Bradbury
- Democracy and Leadershipby Irving Babbitt
- Enemies of the Permanent Things by Russell Kirk
- The Batman Trilogy
- The Lord of the Ringsby J.R.R. Tolkien
- “Friday Night Lights Fight (Revised)” by Peter Lawler
- Stranger Things
- The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
- The Martian Chroniclesby Ray Bradbury
- Watchmenby Alan Moore
- V for Vendettaby Alan Moore
- Tenet
- Interstellar
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In this episode:
- The Hon. Paul J. Ray, former head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), joins the podcast to give a primer on the administrative state and how it works
- how the administrative state cuts against the American tradition of self-government and each citizen’s ability to exercise practical reason
- how the federal system of American government serves as an application of subsidiarity in our political regime
Texts Mentioned:
- Summa Theologiae by St. Thomas Aquinas
- Rerum Novarumby Pope Leo XIII
- Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
- Bureaucracy by James Q. Wilson
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In this episode:
- Julius Krein, founder and editor of American Affairs journal, joins the podcast to talk about problems in America’s advanced post-industrial economy, and how we can address issues like family policy, debt, innovation, taxation, and labor markets
- how Americans should really think about capitalism as “private wealth accumulation,” and break out of the “textbook economics” bookish view of market systems, important as they might be
- what listeners need to know about the landscape of the political and social realignment in recent American history, and where the Right needs to continue moving to create a new “inside consensus” on various policy fronts
Texts Mentioned:
- “America Pulls Back from Values that Once Defined It” by Aaron Zitner
- “The Last Gasp of an Ideology” by Julius Krein
- The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order by Gary Gerstle
- “The Digital Age Produces Binary Outcomes” by David Goldman
- America, Inc.? Innovation and Enterprise in the National Security State by Linda Weiss
- “The Long, Slow Death of Global Development” by David Oks and Henry Williams
- Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future by Patrick J. Deneen
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In This Episode:
- Joseph T. Salerno, Academic Vice President of the Mises Institute, joins the podcast to talk about Murray Rothbard’s political and economic thought
- why a demagogue is necessary for the masses to re-establish control over their government in the age of social democracy
- a primer on the economic theory of the Austrian economists, as well as their underlying anthropology and praxeology
Texts Mentioned:
- “Education in Economic Liberty” by Wilhelm Röpke in What is Conservatism?edited by Frank S. Meyer
- “Why I am Not a Conservative” by F.A. Hayek
- “The Use of Knowledge in Society” by F.A. Hayek
- America’s Great Depressionby Murray Rothbard
- Human Action by Ludwig von Mises
- “Murray Rothbard versus the Progressives” by Joseph T. Salerno
- “In Defense of Demagogues” by Murray Rothbard
- Rothbard versus the Philosophers edited by Roberta Modugno
- “Why a Socialist Economy is Impossible” by Joseph T. Salerno
- “The End of Socialism and the Calculation Debate Revisited” by Murray Rothbard
- The Road to Serfdomby F.A. Hayek
- The Constitution of Libertyby F.A. Hayek
- “Joe Salerno on His Career as an Heir to Rothbard” by Joseph T. Salerno
- “A Radical Right-wing Alternative” in the New York Times, 1971
- Dan McCarthy “Conservative Conversations” special lecture
- Mises Institute
- Money: Sound and Unsound by Joseph T. Salerno
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In this episode:
- Johnny interviews Henry Mack, Senior Chancellor of Higher Education at the Florida Department of Education, live from ISI’s inaugural American Politics and Governance Summit, an academic conference for faculty and graduate students
- how Florida has been a leader in conservative education reform in promoting the Great Books and “educating for democratic citizenship”
Texts Mentioned:
- “Florida’s Higher Education Reforms” by Henry Mack and Daniel Kennelly
- The University in Ruins by Bill Readings
- Common Good Constitutionalism by Adrian Vermeule
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In This Episode:
- Timothy Goeglein joins the podcast to talk about his new book, Toward a More Perfect Union, about the failures of civics and history education in America, and what we can do to teach students about the Great American Story
- how Howard Zinn, the 1619 Project and other progressives purposely sought to erase American history and miseducate millions of American students through a neo-Marxist lens
- what parents, teachers, and communities can do to help recover a sense of the Great American Story, and revitalize the civic culture that has built and sustained America
Texts Mentioned:
- Toward a More Perfect Unionby Timothy S. Goeglein
- U.S. Citizenship Test
- The Shaping of the American Mind ISI study on civic knowledge
- The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones
- The 1776 Report
- Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
- Cyropaedia: The Education of Cyrusby Xenophon
- Gettsyburg movie
- Gods and Generals movie
- John Adams mini-series
- “The End of the English Major” in New Yorker
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In This Episode:
- Kevin Gutzman, professor of History at Western Connecticut State University, joins the podcast to discuss the presidencies of Democratic-Republican presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe
- how the states and sectionalism played an important role in the Early Republic, and why Jefferson and his successors emphasized the importance of state’s rights and decentralized power
- the key events during the presidencies of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe that kick off Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny
Texts Mentioned:
- The Jeffersonians: The Visionary Presidencies of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe by Kevin Gutzman
- James Madison and the Making of America by Kevin Gutzman
- First Inaugural Address by Thomas Jefferson
- Letter from Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 15 February, 1791
- “Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank” by Alexander Hamilton
- “A Summary View of the Rights of British America” pamphlet by Thomas Jefferson
- James Madison’s Notes of the Constitutional Convention from June 18, 1787
- Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Robert Livingston, 18 April, 1802
- Letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Dickinson, 9 August, 1803
- Proposed Amendment to the Constitution Regarding Louisiana by James Madison
- Trans-Continental Treaty of 1819
- Monroe Doctrine
- Calhoun: American Heretic by Robert Elder
- Diary of John Quincy Adams
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In this episode:
- Dan McCarthy gives a lecture on the various elements of the conservative movement to ISI’s staff at our campus in Wilmington, DE
- a historical account of the American revolution and its implications for American conservatism
- why conservatives need to see through “both eyes” of history and ideas
Texts Mentioned:
- Second Treatise of Government by John Locke
- Natural Right and History by Leo Strauss
- The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk
- The Quest for Communityby Robert Nisbet
- Crisis of the House Divided by Harry V. Jaffa
- “Is Liberalism Worth Saving?” symposium in Harper’s Magazine
- Roots of American Order by Russell Kirk
- Democracy in Americaby Alexis de Tocqueville
- The Superfluous Men by Robert Crunden
- The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams
- The Waste Landby T.S. Eliot
- Memoirs of A Superfluous Manby Alfred Jay Nock
- The Revolt of the Massesby Jose Ortega y Gasset
- The Liberal Tradition in Americaby Louis Hartz
- The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945 by George Nash
- The Road to Serfdomby Friedrich Hayek
- The Constitution of Liberty by Friedrich Hayek
- Witness by Whittaker Chambers
- Containment or Liberation? by James Burnham
- The Emerging Republican Majority by Kevin Phillips
- The Virtue of Nationalismby Yoram Hazony
In This Episode:
- Adam Hoffman, a writer for the Princeton Tory, joins the podcast to discuss his recent piece in the New York Times about how the leftist political culture on college campuses has sparked a reactionary shift for conservative students
- how college administrations are not only actively pushing a progressive social agenda, but also seeking to exclude conservative counter-opinions in the classroom and through student life programs
- how the size of university endowments has untethered the universities from traditional channels of accountability, and what can be done to rein in woke campus culture
Texts Mentioned:
- “My Liberal Campus is Pushing Freethinkers to the Right” by Adam Hoffman
- “Boston College professor assigns students to make their own 'fursonas,' has furries come to class” by Kassy Dillon
- “Toward a Party of the State” by Gladden Pappin
- “The End of the English Major” by Nathan Heller
- “Do Ideas Have Consequences? Intellectual History and Conservative Strategy" video by Sam Goldman
- “Princeton University is the World’s First Perpetual Motion Machine” by Malcolm Gladwell
- The Princeton Tory, an ISI-sponsored Collegiate Network newspaper
- The Kalven Report
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In This Episode:
- William Ruger joins the podcast to discuss the war between Russia and Ukraine, how it came to be, and how America should respond
- why conservatives should take a “grand strategy” approach to foreign policy, global affairs, and the national interest
- how George Washington’s “Farewell Address” strikes the right balance for American foreign policy, and where we have departed from it today
Texts Mentioned:
- “Farewell Address" by George Washington
- Jay’s Treaty
- “The Conquest of the United States by Spain” by William Graham Sumner
- Madeleine Albright Interview with Matt Lauer
- “How America Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline” by Seymour Hersh
- A Student’s Guide to International Relations by Angelo Codevilla
- Monroe Doctrine
- The Tragedy of US Foreign Policyby Walter McDougall
- The Tragedy of Great Power Politicsby John Mearsheimer
- Responsible Statecraft magazine
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In This Episode:
- Mark Tooley, President of the Institute for Religion and Democracy, joins the podcast to discuss “The New Whiggery,” the IRD’s new fellowship on the principles of classical liberalism and the American Founding
- what a Christian realism approach to foreign policy looks like
- how classical liberalism differs from conservatism, and why some right-leaning thinkers like Hayek wanted to eschew the term “conservative”
Texts Mentioned:
- Providence Magazine
- Plough Magazine
- The New Whiggery Fellowship
- “Thomas Aquinas, The First Whig” by Michael Novak
- The Englishman and His History by Herbert Butterfield
- “Why I Am Not a Conservative” by F.A. Hayek
- The Spirit of Democratic Capitalismby Michael Novak
- God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of Academic Freedomby William F. Buckley, Jr.
- “The New Whiggery” by Mark Tooley
- The Roots of American Orderby Russell Kirk
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In This Episode:
- Chris Buskirk joins the podcast to talk about his new book, America and the Art of the Possible, about restoring “national vitality” and re-sparking the risk-taking, adventurous spirit that built America
- how financialization operates in the modern American economy and creates mismatched incentives that undermine widespread American prosperity
- why conservatism should focus less on ideological constructs and more on being practical and getting conservative outcomes like stronger family formation, higher life expectancy, and increasing total factor productivity
Texts Mentioned:
- America and the Art of the Possible: Restoring National Vitality in an Age of Decay by Chris Buskirk
- American Greatness: How Conservatism, Inc. Missed the 2016 Election and What the Establishment Needs to Learnby Chris Buskirk
- “Our Mission Statement” by William F. Buckley Jr.
- “I Had to Guard an Empty Room: The Rise of the Pointless Job” by David Graeber
- Bullshit Jobs: A Theoryby David Graeber
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In This Episode:
- Thomas West joins the podcast to discuss the political theory of the American Founding and its reliance on natural law and natural rights
- why students of the American Founding must read more public laws and state laws and constitutions to fully understand the Founding era
- how the Founders fit liberty and equality together in a truly coherent way
Texts Mentioned:
- The Political Theory of the American Founding by Thomas West
- The Declaration of Independence
- Virginia Declaration of Rights
- Vindicating the Founders: Race, Sex, Class and Justice in the Origins of America by Thomas West
- The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay
- The Constitution
- The Real American Founding: A Conversation course with David Azerrad and Thomas West
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In This Episode:
- Gladden Pappin joins the podcast to discuss the conditions in modern Western political culture that have given rise to post-liberalism on the Right
- how Hungary draws on often-neglected parts of the Western political tradition as inspiration for their political order
- why the conservative movement needs to focus on family policy as a political lodestar in the post-Roe era
Texts Mentioned:
- Postliberal Order substack
- “Return to Normalcy” by Gladden Pappin
- “Make Birth Free” by Catherine Glenn Foster and Kristen Day
- Make Birth Freewhite paper by Americans United for Life
- “Affirming the American Family” by Gladden Pappin and Maria Molla
- American Affairsjournal
- Edmund Burke: A Genius Reconsideredby Russell Kirk
- What is Conservatism?edited by Frank Meyer
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In This Episode:
- Fr. Ben Kiely joins the podcast to discuss his ministry of helping persecuted Christians in the Middle East with Nasarean.org
- why social conservatism is an essential facet of any conservative worldview
- how nationalist politics is compatible with Catholicism and Catholicism’s approach to politics
Texts Mentioned:
- https://nasarean.org/
- Fr. Kiely’s speech at NatCon 3
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In This Episode:
- Paul Kengor joins the podcast to discuss the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and his contributions to philosophy and the Church in the Western world
Texts Mentioned:
- Dupesby Paul Kengor
- The Pope and the President by Paul Kengor
- The Divine Plan by Paul Kengor and Robert Orlando
- ISI Debate on Transgenderism and Womanhood - SIGN UP TODAY!
- Jesus of Nazarethby Pope Benedict XVI
- Catechism of the Catholic Church
- Fides et Ratio by St. Pope John Paul II
- Confessionsby St. Augustine
- Humanae Vitaeby Pope Paul VI
- Evangelium Vitae by St. Pope John Paul II
- Veritatis Splendor by St. Pope John Paul II
- Commentary on the Third Secret of Fatima by Pope Benedict XVI
- “Vatican Preps for Conclave as ‘Pope is Dying’” by John Gizzi
- “Reversing the Dictatorship of Relativism: Remembering Pope Benedict XVI” by Paul Kengor
- “The Politically Incorrect Pope Francis — 14 Shocking Statements” by Paul Kengor
- Traditionis Custodes by Pope Francis
- Institute for Faith and Freedom
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In This Episode:
- Jon Askonas joins the podcast to discuss how a technological age makes conservative and traditional values obsolete, and how to overcome this problem
- why Karl Marx has to teach conservatives about analyzing and understanding “historical materialism,“ the fundamental material elements of society
- what really drove the disintegration of a shared conception of reality, and how to navigate the “post-real” world
Texts Mentioned:
- “Why Conservatism Failed” by Jon Askonas
- The Market and Other Ordersby F.A. Hayek
- Ideas Have Consequencesby Richard Weaver
- Revolt of the Publicby Martin Gurri
- “Reality: A Post-Mortem” by Jon Askonas
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In This Episode:
- Aaron Renn joins the podcast to discuss American Reformer’s goal of reinvigorating evangelical intellectual thought within conservatism
- the history and traditions of Evangelicalism in American social and political life, and how evangelicalism needs to respond to hostility to Christianity
- how class, social status, and wokeness shape the disconnect between Protestant elites and the evangelical base that supports nationalist populism
Texts Mentioned:
- “The Three Worlds of Evangelicalism” by Aaron Renn
- aaronrenn.substack.com
- The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher
- Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick J. Deneen
- A Secular Age by Charles Taylor
- The Case for Christian Nationalism by Stephen Wolfe
- americanreformer.org
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In This Episode:
- Sarah Gustafson joins the podcast to discuss the theme of her course at Harvard University, “Anxiety and Restlessness in Democratic Times”
- how America’s “mental health crisis” is driven by the quality of American souls and affected by the American regime
- the legacy of Harvey Mansfield as a scholar, public political philosopher, and intellectual giant at Harvard
Texts Mentioned:
- Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville
- Manliness by Harvey Mansfield
- Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism by Anne Case and Angus Deaton
- Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam
- The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Confessionsby Augustine of Hippo
- Republicby Plato
- City of God: Against the Pagans by Augustine of Hippo
- Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
- Politicsby Aristotle
- Leisure, the Basis of Cultureby Josef Pieper
- Pensees by Blaise Pascal
- Lost in Thought by Zena Hitz
- The Emperor’s Club movie
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In This Episode:
- Rod Dreher joins the podcast to discuss “The Benedict Option,” a program for living an authentically Christian life in an anti-Christian culture that reigns today in the liberal West
- what conservatives in America need to learn from Hungarian conservatives about conserving Christian culture
- why Christians in the post-Christian West need to adopt a new disposition towards state power, evangelization, and interactions with non-Christians
Texts Mentioned:
- The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher
- “When Gay Rights Clash with Religious Freedom” by Tish Harrison Warren
- “A Small Texas City Gets a Drag-Queen Parade for Christmas” by Kevin E. Stuart
- Live Not by Lies by Rod Dreher
- The Matter with Thingsby Iain McGilchrist
- Rod Dreher’s Diary
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In This Episode:
- Matthew Spalding, Professor of Constitutional studies at Hillsdale College in Washington D.C., joins the podcast to discuss the first principles and permanent truths that undergird the American Founding
- how critiques from National Conservatives and Post-Liberal Integralists misunderstand classical liberalism and the “American Enlightenment”
- the common ground between Straussians and Kirkians, and the potential for a principled fusion between the once-warring camps in the conservative movement
Texts Mentioned:
- We Still Hold These Truths by Matthew Spalding
- Heritage Guide to the Constitutionby Matthew Spalding and David Forte
- Politicsby Aristotle
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In This Episode:
- Jeff Sessions, former Senator from Alabama and 84th Attorney General of the United States, joins the podcast to discuss his accomplished career in politics
- what conservative education reform looks like at the curricular and administrative levels
- how the GOP can reach voters by appealing to the important issues without exaggerating or being demagogic
Texts Mentioned:
- Federalist No. 10by James Madison
- The Declaration of Independence
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In This Episode:
- Greg Collins joins the podcast to discuss his book, Commerce and Manners in Edmund Burke’s Political Economy
- how traditional society gave rise to market societies and property rights, and how Burke’s defense of economic liberty differed from that of Adam Smith
- how the rise of capitalism is coterminous with the rise of the modern state and administrative powers
Texts Mentioned:
- Commerce and Manners in Edmund Burke’s Political Economy by Greg Collins
- Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke
- Thoughts and Details on Scarcity by Edmund Burke
- The Wealth of Nationsby Adam Smith
- Democracy in Americaby Alexis de Tocqueville
- Memoirs on Pauperism and Other Writings by Alexis de Tocqueville
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In This Episode:
- Alexandra DeSanctis joins the podcast to discuss abortion and building a pro-life agenda after Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and the 2022 Congressional midterm elections
- how support for abortion is rooted in a defective view of what womanhood is
- what pro-lifers can and must do to make abortion unthinkable in America
Texts Mentioned:
- Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing by Alexandra DeSanctis and Ryan T. Anderson
- “Why Big Business Loves Abortion” by Alexandra DeSanctis
- “Congress Has a Role To Play in Limiting Abortion” by Alexandra DeSanctis
- America and the Pill: A History of Peril, Promise, and Liberationby Elaine Tyler May
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In This Episode:
- Dan McCarthy returns to the podcast to discuss Willmoore Kendall’s The Conservative Affirmation
- what majoritarianism and “the social contract” in the American tradition really means for today’s politics
- how Kendall interpreted John Locke and its relation to the American Founding
Texts Mentioned:
- The Conservative Affirmation by Willmoore Kendall
- The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945by George Nash
- The Dilemmas of American Conservatism, edited by Kenneth Deutsch
- What is Political Philosophy?by Leo Strauss
- Heaven Can Indeed Fall by Christopher Owen
- John Locke and the Doctrine of Majority Rule by Willmoore Kendall
- Tucker Carlson interview clip
- The Basic Symbols of the American Political Tradition by Willmoore Kendall
- The Second Treatise of Government by John Locke
- Natural Right and History by Leo Strauss
- The Social Contractby Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- The Government of Polandby Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- Modern Age
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In this episode:
- Curt Mills joins the podcast to discuss the political dynamics surrounding the upcoming midterm elections
- how the establishment GOP is navigating the challenges and opportunities of the growing nationalist-populist movement within the party
- Why traditionally Blue states like Oregon, Rhode Island, and Maine could become Red states in the coming years
Texts Mentioned:
- What It Takes: The Way to the White House by Richard Ben Cramer
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In this episode:
- Joseph Stuart, professor of history at the University of Mary and a former ISI Weaver fellow, joins the podcast to discuss the work of 20th century historian of culture, Christopher Dawson
- why religion is at the heart of cultural identity, and how cultures that abandon their religion inevitably become captured by ideological “political religions”
- how to appreciate different cultures and have a rich, complex view of other civilizations without becoming a relativist
Texts Mentioned:
- Christopher Dawson: A Cultural Mind in the Age of the Great Warby Joseph Stuart
- Gifford Lectures by Christopher Dawson
- Leisure, The Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper
- Primitive Cultureby Edward Tylor
- The Power and the Gloryby Graham Greene
- Religion and Culture by Christopher Dawson
- The Dynamics of World History by Christopher Dawson
- The Crisis of Western Educationby Christopher Dawson
- The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Orderby Samuel Huntington
- “Christopher Dawson and Ayatollah Khatami and ‘The Dialogue of Civilizations’ A Christian-Muslim Conversation” by Stephen G. Carter
- The Mission movie
- “Conservatism” by Christopher Dawson (introduction by Joseph Stuart)
- Religion and the Modern Stateby Christopher Dawson
- Joseph Stuart Faculty Page
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In this episode:
- Joshua Hochschild, director of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics program at Mount St. Mary’s University, joins the podcast to talk about how his studies in medieval philosophy and metaphysics influenced his religious journey to the Catholic faith
- the ways that smartphones change human life and social organization, and how the information age is dramatically different from other technological revolutions
- previews the work of Wendell Berry and his views on systemic racism in light of the release of his newest book, The Need to Be Whole
Texts Mentioned:
- Ideas Have Consequences by Richard Weaver
- “How is My iPhone Changing Me?: Neuroscience and Thomistic Psychology” by Joshua Hochschild
- “Technology and the Soul: The Spiritual Lessons of Digital Distraction” by Joshua Hochschild
- Phaedrusby Plato
- “I Used to be a Human Being” by Andrew Sullivan
- Leisure, The Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper
- The Social Dilemmadocumentary
- The Screwtape Lettersby C.S. Lewis
- The Need to Be Whole: Patriotism and the History of Prejudice by Wendell Berry
- The Hidden Woundby Wendell Berry
- “Race and Anti-Fragility” by Joshua Hochschild
- The City of God: Against the Pagans by Augustine of Hippo
- Standing by Words by Wendell Berry
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In this episode:
- Troy Senik joins the podcast to talk about President Grover Cleveland’s life and unlikely path to the presidency
- the principled character of Cleveland, and how his sense of honesty was at the center of this political priorities as a reform-minded politician during the Gilded Age
- the political and cultural context in which Cleveland rose to prominence, and how his second term shaped a political realignment that saw his classical liberal politics exit politics until the 1970s
Books Mentioned:
- A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbably Presidency of Grover Clevelandby Troy Senik
- Coolidgeby Amity Shlaes
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In this episode:
- Francesco Giubilei joins the podcast to discuss the current landscape of Italian politics and how it led to the election of Giorgia Meloni
- the relationship between Italy and the European Union, and the major problems with globalization that have produced a nationalist backlash
- How the Middle Ages shaped the local diversity of Italian cities and cultures, how the Catholic Church has played a defining role in the cultural and religious identity of Italy, and why the Roman Empire is the beginning of Italian conservatism
Texts Mentioned:
- The History of European Conservative Thought by Francesco Giubilei
- Interpretations of Fascismby Renzo de Felice
- “The Perfect Consumer” speech by Giorgia Meloni
- The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa
- The Crisis of Modernity by Augusto del Noce
- Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke
- The Divine Comedyby Dante Alighieri
- “Why I Became a Conservative” by Sir Roger Scruton
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In this episode:
- Antony Davies, professor of economics at Duquesne University, joins the podcast to discuss the current state of the American economy, including the record-level inflation hurting American consumers and its roots in the government response to COVID-19
- how government policies surrounding taxation and government spending contribute to the inflation crisis, and how to restructure the tax code in a way that is more clear, more fair, and better for long-term economic prosperity
- why the Biden student loan forgiveness program encourages all the wrong incentives in higher education, and how university endowments can be leveraged towards better educational and financial outcomes
Texts mentioned:
- “Words and Numbers” Podcast by Antony Davies and James Harrigan
- Cooperation and Coercion by Antony Davies and James Harrigan
- Milton Friedman and Phil Donahue interviews
- “Free to Choose” documentary by Milton Friedman
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In this episode:
- Eugene Meyer, son of Frank S. Meyer and President and CEO of the Federalist Society, joins to talk about the legacy of Fusionism, the philosophy pioneered by his father
- Frank Meyer's conversion from communism to championing politics centered around individual freedom
- the enduring debate over the timeless principles of freedom and virtue in American political history
Texts Mentioned:
- In Defense of Freedom by Frank S. Meyer
- "Common Good Originalism" by Josh Hammer
- The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
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In this episode:
- Richard Gamble, professor of history at Hillsdale College, joins the podcast to discuss the two strands of American civil religion
- Lincoln’s European political influences, and how Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address changed the way that America thinks about its purpose and how it reshapes our view of the American Founding
- Why the “old” conception of American Exceptionalism offers the best understanding of the American identity
- How Protestantism shaped the landscape of American higher education in the colonial period and the early Republic
Texts Mentioned:
- “Civil Religion in America” by Robert Bellah
- The Tragedy of U.S. Foreign Policy: How America’s Civil Religion Betrayed the National Interest by Walter McDougall
- “Gettysburg Gospel” by Richard Gamble
- Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln
- The National System of Political Economy by Friedrich List
- The Great Tradition edited by Richard Gamble
- A Fiery Gospel: The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the Road to Righteous War by Richard Gamble
- The War for Righteousness: Progressive Christianity, the Great War, and the Rise of the Messianic Nation by Richard Gamble
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In this episode:
- Frederica Mathewes-Green joins the podcast to discuss the basics of Eastern Orthodox spiritual practices
- the life and work of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, one of the most important Orthodox theologians in the West
- the major differences in approach, focus, and emphasis between Eastern and Western prayer, doctrine, and political theology
Texts Mentioned:
- The Orthodox Church by Timothy Ware
- The Orthodox Way by Bishop Kallistos Ware
- The Jesus Prayer: The Ancient Prayer That Tunes the Heart to Godby Frederica Mathewes-Green
- Fr. Arseny: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father by Vera and Peter Bouteneff
- The Didache
- Two Views of the Cross by Frederica Mathewes-Green
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In this episode:
- Vincent Muñoz joins the podcast to discuss his new book, Religious Liberty and the American Founding: Natural Rights and the Original Meanings of the First Amendment Religion Clauses
- How the Founders agreed on religious liberty as a natural right in principle, but disagreed about what that means in practice
- Why the natural rights tradition offers a coherent account of the proper limits of church-state relations
Texts Mentioned:
- Religious Liberty and the American Founding: Natural Rights and the Original Meanings of the First Amendment Religion Clauses
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In this episode:
- Marcus Witcher, Assistant Professor of History at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama and co-author of Black Liberation Through the Marketplace, defines classical liberalism
- The Philadelphia Society and the conservative icons that have marked its history
- How to address injustice of the past through the marketplace
Texts Mentioned:
- Getting Right with Reagan: The Struggle for True Conservatism, 1980-2016 by Marcus Witcher
- Black Liberation Through the Marketplaceby Marcus Witcher and Rachel Furgeson
- Conversations on Conservatism: Speeches from the Philadelphia Society by Marcus Witcher (Author), Blake Ball (Editor), Kevin Hughes (Editor)
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In this episode:
- Phillip Blond, founder and director of ResPublica, joins the podcast to discuss "Red Toryism"
- the link between liberalism and economic and social insecurity
- the case against nationalism and the case for empire
- why visual art matters
Texts Mentioned:
- Red Tory: How Left and Right Have Broken Britain and How We Can Fix It by Phillip Blond
- Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
- The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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In this episode:
- Frank H. Buckley, the Foundation Professor of Law at the Antonin Scalia Law School, discusses his newly published book, Progressive Conservatism: How Republicans Will Become America’s Natural Governing Party
- How left-wing progressive policies on immigration, education, and burdensome regulations make America more immobile and aristocratic, and how progressive conservatives can solve this problem
- how progressive conservatism repudiates recent conservative history, and hearkens back to older parts of the American conservative tradition, such as Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower
Texts Mentioned:
- Progressive Conservatism: How Republicans Will Become America’s Natural Governing Party by F.H. Buckley
- “The Significance of the Frontier in American History" by Frederick Jackson Turner
- The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater
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In this episode:
- Dr. Chad Pecknold from CUA joins Marlo Slayback and Johnny Burtka to discuss post-liberalism
- how post-liberalism differentiates itself from other camps in conservatism
- how St. Augustine defines freedom
Texts Mentioned:
- The City of God, Against the Pagans, by Augustine of Hippo
- The Religious Nature of the City, by Chad Pecknold
- Where Augustine is Not Silent, by Chad Pecknold
- St. Augustine’s Journey to Easter, by Chad Pecknold
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In this episode:
- Carmel Richardson, an editorial fellow for The American Conservative, discusses her recent article about seed oils, food regulations, and what is driving the decline in American nutrition and poor health outcomes
- crunchy conservatism and generational shifts in outlook in the conservative movement
- the bigger picture surrounding the baby formula shortage
Texts Mentioned:
- Seed Oils and Bad Science by Carmel Richardson
- Crunchy Cons: The New Conservative Counterculture and Its Return to Rootsby Rod Dreher
- Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Foodby Catherine Shanahan, M.D.
- Re-evaluation of the traditional diet-heart hypothesis: analysis of recovered data from Minnesota Coronary Experiment (1968-73) by Christopher Ramsden, et al.
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In this episode:
- Charles Fain Lehman, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, discusses recent crime surges across the country and their potential causes
- Why police departments are facing a recruitment crisis
- How conservatives should think about criminal justice reform
Texts Mentioned:
- Fixing Drinking Problems: Evidence and Strategies for Alcohol Control as Crime Control by Charles Fain Lehman
- Rejecting Disorder by Charles Fain Lehman
- Pot and Pathology by Charles Fain Lehman
- Bloodless Moralism by Helen Andrews
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Conservative Conversations Episode 48—Ryan T. Anderson on The Supreme Court Overturned Roe v. Wade — Here’s What’s Next for Pro-Lifers
In this episode:
- Ryan T. Anderson, President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, discusses what’s next for the pro-life movement after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24
- How the concept of “body self-dualism” underpins abortion and transgenderism
- Ryan’s forthcoming book on how abortion harms everything and solves nothing
Texts Mentioned:
- Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothingby Ryan T. Anderson and Alexandra DeSanctis
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In this episode:
- Dr. Samuel Gregg, Distinguished Fellow in Political Economy and a Senior Research Faculty member at The American Institute for Economic Research, explains why Americans are experiencing record inflation
- What a recession today would look like
- How conservatives should approach political economy
Texts Mentioned:
- The Next American Economy: Nation, State, and Markets in an Uncertain World by Dr. Samuel Gregg
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Conservative Conversations Episode 46—Geoff Shullenberger on Spiritual Decay, School Shootings, and René Girard’s Mimesis
In this episode:
- Geoff Shullenberger, a clinical associate professor at New York University and a columnist at Compact, discusses the phenomenon of the school shooter in America after the tragedy in Texas
- How René Girard’s mimetic theory can explain violent behavior
- The religious and social dimensions of mass shootings and human sacrifice
Texts Mentioned:
- The Faith of Mass Shootersby Geoff Shullenberger
- Human Sacrifice and the Digital Business Modelby Geoff Shullenberger
- Thresholds of Violenceby Malcolm Gladwell
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Conservative Conversations Episode 46—David Whalen on Wonder, Literature as Political, and Books that Inspire
In this episode:
- Dr. David Whalen, a longtime English professor at Hillsdale College, describes what the telos of the university is
- The difference between wonder and curiosity
- How literature intersects with the political
Texts Mentioned:
- King Learby William Shakespeare
- On the Unseriousness of Human Affairs: Teaching, Writing, Playing, Believing, Lecturing, Philosophizing, Singing, Dancing by James V. Schall
- Leisure: The Basis of Cultureby Josef Pieper
- Brideshead Revisitedby Evelyn Waugh
- A Soldier of the Great Warby Mark Helprin
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Conservative Conversations Episode 45—Victor Davis Hanson on The Dying Citizen
In this episode:
- Victor Davis Hanson, winner of ISI’s Conservative Book of the Year Award, discusses his book “The Dying Citizen” during a special live podcast recording
- How elites have warped what citizenship is
- How identity politics has eroded citizenship and become an issue of national security
Texts Mentioned:
- The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying The Idea Of Americaby Victor Davis Hanson
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Conservative Conversations Episode 44—Josh Craddock on SCOTUS, Overturning Roe, and Building a Culture of Life
In this episode:
- Josh Craddock, affiliated scholar with the James Wilson Institute for Natural Rights and the American Founding, discusses the Supreme Court’s leaked majority opinion from an abortion case
- The legal history of abortion in America and the originalist case for prenatal personhood
- How to build a culture of life after Roe
Texts Mentioned:
- The Constitution Already Prohibits Abortion: An Originalist Case for Prenatal Personhood by Josh Craddock
- Choose Life by editors John Goodrich and Jeanette Pifer
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Conservative Conversations Episode 42—Michael Gibson on Tech, Elon Musk’s Twitter, and the Paper Belt on Fire
In this episode:
- Tech venture capitalist Michael Gibson discusses working for Peter Thiel and investing in talented college dropouts and renegades
- The concept of the “Paper Belt” and how credentialism can obscure true education
- Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and what that might mean for conservatives and free speech
Texts Mentioned:
- The Rise and Fall of American Growth by Robert J. Gordon
- The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All The Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better by Tyler Cowen
- Paper Belt on Fire: How Silicon Valley Heretics Took on Higher Ed by Michael Gibson
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Conservative Conversations Episode 42—Daniel Schmidt and the Future of Campus Journalism
A Student Journalist’s Question That Rattled The Elites
In this episode:
- Daniel Schmidt, a freshman and senior editor at the University of Chicago’s Collegiate Network newspaper, discusses Anne Applebaum’s reaction to a question he asked about disinformation that went viral
- Why no one is asking influential leaders and journalists the questions that Americans care most about
- How student journalists are making an impact on their campus and beyond
Texts Mentioned:
- “Editorial: UChicago Must End Its Booster Mandate—We Are Not Lab Rats” by The Chicago Thinker Editorial Board
- “Atlantic’s Anne Applebaum Rattled by Hunter Biden Question in Epic Own by Thinker’s Daniel Schmidt” by Mitchell Robinson of the Chicago Thinker
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Conservative Conversations Episode 41—Matthew Schmitz on Compact Magazine, Right Liberalism and Left Libertinism
In this episode:
- Matthew Schmitz, co-founder and editor of the new Compact Magazine, discusses the juncture of the labor populist left and the populist right
- Editorial positions the nascent magazine has already taken that have caused a stir among the left and right
- What the editors mean when they call their magazine “radical”
Texts Mentioned:
- Compact Magazine
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 40—Christine Emba on Rethinking Sex
In this episode:
- The Washington Post’s Christine Emba describes her new book, “Rethinking Sex”
- How today’s sexual ethics are failing Americans
- Why consent is an ethical floor but not the ceiling of intimacy
Texts Mentioned:
- Rethinking Sex: A Provocation by Christine Emba
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 39—Kevin Roberts on The Future of the Heritage Foundation, Criminal Justice Reform, and the Pro-Life Movement
In this episode...
- Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, discusses the storied conservative institution
- How conservatives ought to approach “Defund the Police”
- Why “social” conservatives shouldn’t be the junior partner in the movement
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 38—Steven F. Hayward on Reagan, M. Stanton Evans, and Lessons for Today
In this episode...
- The “unsung” hero of conservatism, M. Stanton Evans
- The failures of liberalism leading up to President Reagan’s presidency
- The notion of free expression and its metaphysical roots
Texts Mentioned:
- M. Stanton Evans: Conservative Wit, Apostle of Freedom by Steven F. Hayward
- The Age of Reagan: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order, 1964-1980 by Steven F. Hayward
- Revolt on Campus by M. Stanton Evans
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 37—Matthew Continetti on Neoconservatism
In this episode...
- Matthew explains the history of American conservatism, the topic of his upcoming book “Engaged nationalism” and the US’s role in international relations is described
- Listeners learn why Irving Kristol cautioned against traditionalism
Texts Mentioned:
- The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism by Matthew Continetti
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 36—David Goldman on American Innovation & Great Power Competition
In this episode...
- David P. Goldman is an American economist, music critic, and author, best known for his series of online essays in the Asia Times under the pseudonym Spengler. He writes frequently for Asia Times, Law & Liberty, Claremont Review of Books, and First Things on political economy, foreign policy, and religion.
Texts Mentioned:
You Will Be Assimilated: China's Plan to Sino-Form the World by David P. Goldman
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Elbridge Colby on Creating a Conservative Foreign Policy
In this episode...
- Elbridge Colby, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development at the Department of Defense, discusses foreign policy fault lines on the right, America’s biggest adversaries today, and his thoughts on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine
Texts Mentioned:
The Strategy of Denial: American Defense in an Age of Great Power Conflict by Elbridge Colby
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Michael Brendan Dougherty on Populist Chaos, the Parental Principle And What Ireland Taught Him About Tradition.
In this episode...
- Michael Brendan Dougherty, senior writer at National Review, discusses the implications of what he witnessed at his child’s school board meeting, his evolution as a conservative, and the parentless generation that was orphaned by history
Texts Mentioned:
My Father Left Me Ireland, by Michael Brendan Dougherty
Mind of the New Majority, by Michael Brendan Dougherty
What I Saw at the School-Board Meeting, by Michael Brendan Dougherty
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Tom Woods on Folk Libertarianism, the Biomedical Security State and the Anti-War Movement
In this episode...
- Tom Woods, host of the Tom Woods Show, discusses libertarianism, its drift away from Ron Paul’s values, and institutional libertarianism’s approach to government overreach during COVID-19
Texts Mentioned:
Tom Woods’ Reading List
The Revolution: A Manifesto, by Ron Paul
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Oren Cass on Breaking the College-for-All Model
In this episode...
- Oren Cass, executive director of American Compass and author of The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America discusses his recent findings about the high-school-to-college pipeline, and potential solutions that could allow Americans on other paths to prosper
Texts Mentioned:
- Coming Apart by Charles Murray
- Our KidsRobert Putnam
- The Wealth of Nationsby Adam Smith
- The Road to Serfdomby F.A. Hayek
- Serfdomby F.A. Hayek
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 31—David Reaboi on National Divorce
In this episode...
- David Reaboi, a fellow at the Claremont Institute, discusses why he believes a national divorce is inevitable in the U.S. due to the fundamental disagreements between the left and moderates and conservatives.
Texts Mentioned:
The Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom
A Conflict of Visions by Thomas Sowell
The Stakes by Michael Anton
The Michael Anton Tapes by Mark Granza
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 30—Erica Bachiochi on The Rights of Women
In this episode...
- Erica Bachiochi, legal scholar and author of the book “The Rights of Women: Reclaiming a Lost Vision,” discusses the feminist movements of the 20th and 21st centuries, and how far recent feminist activists have shifted on issues such as abortion when compared to the movement’s progenitors
- Texts Mentioned:
- Rights Talk by Mary Ann Glendon
- The Rights of Women by Erica Bachiochi
- The Feminist Case Against Abortion by Marry Harrington
- The Children of Pornhub by Nicholas Kristof
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 29— Helen Andrews on the Boomers
In this episode...
- Helen Andrews, a senior editor at The American Conservative, discusses her book about the Boomer Generation -- one which promised freedom and delivered disaster
Texts Mentioned:
- "The Last Imperialist: Sir Alan Burns's Epic Defense of the British Empire" by Bruce Gilley
- "In the Jaws of the Crocodile: A Soviet Memoir" by Emile Draitser
- "Boomers: The Men and Women Who Promised Freedom and Delivered Disaster" by Helen Andrews
- "Port Huron Statement"
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 28—Josh Hammer, op-ed editor at Newsweek, discusses the conservative legal movement, a recent abortion case that places two foundational modern abortion precedents in the crosshairs, and Hamiltonian jurisprudence.
In this episode...
- “Common Good Originalism” is defined
- Josh walks us through the conservative legal movement’s history
- Josh answers the question about whether conservatives should be cautiously optimistic about the abortion case in front of the Supreme Court
Texts Mentioned:
- “Common Good Originalism” by Josh Hammer
- “Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America” by Alex MacGillis
- “Amazon Unbound” by Brad Stone
- “The Age of Eisenhower: America and the World in the 1950s" by William I Hitchcock
- “The Age of Entitlement” by Christopher Caldwell
- “The Crimean War” by Orlando Figes
- “Beyond Originalism” by Adrian Vermeule
- “The Constitution Already Prohibits Abortion: An Originalist Case for Prenatal Personhood” by Josh Craddock
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 28 - Pedro Gonzalez on the Crisis of Manhood
In this episode...
- Pedro Gonzalez, an editor at Chronicles Magazine, talks about online fitness subcultures, the left’s attack on masculinity, and the role of men in American society
Books Mentioned:
- Sun and Steel by Yukio Mishima
- The New Right’s Strange and Dangerous Cult of Toughness by David French
- America The Fat and Impotent by Pedro Gonzalez
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Conservative Conversation with ISI: Episode 27 - James Poulos and the Cyborg Vivarium
In this episode...
- James Poulos discusses his new book “Human, Forever,” technology, and the soul
Books Mentioned:
- Proud To Be Right: Voices of the Next Conservative Generation, Jonah Goldberg
- The Constant Gardener, John le Carré
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Conservative Conversation with ISI: Episode 26 - Yoram Hazony
In this episode...
- Yoram Hazony discusses what National conservatism is, and highlights from the National Conservatism 2 conference in Orlando.
Books Mentioned:
- The Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties, Christopher Caldwell
- The Virtue of Nationalism, Yoram Hazony
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Conservative Conversation with ISI: Episode 25 - Dan McCarthy
In this episode...
- The Vice President of the Collegiate Network, Dan McCarthy, discusses how the media have discredited themselves in the eyes of many Americans, the journalists who are trailblazing in a hostile media landscape, and how students can help revitalize journalistic integrity
Books Mentioned:
- Communism and Nationalism, Roman Szporluk
- Rigged, Molly Hemmingway
- Winner Take All, Christina Binkley
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Conservative Conversation with ISI: Episode 24 - Elizabeth Corey and Jeff Polet on The Woke University
In this episode...
- ISI faculty members describe the type of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives campuses across America are coercing students and faculty to participate in
Books Mentioned:
- Straight Man, Richard Russo
- Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex, William D. Hartung
- The Rights of Women: Reclaiming a Lost Vision, Erika Bachiochi
- Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last, Wright Thompson
- Reagan: The Life, H.W. Brands
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 23 - Mary Harrington & Reactionary Feminism
In this episode...
- A listener question on the threats of progressivism on womankind
- An interview with UnHerd Contributing Editor, Mary Harrington
Links:
- Crisis is the New Normal
- The Case for Tory Anarchism
- Reactionary Feminist Substack
- The Lamp
Books Mentioned:
- Full Surrogacy Now, Sophie Lewis
- The Rights of Women, Erika Bachiochi
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 22 - Nate Hochman & Gen Z Conservatism
In this episode...
- A listener question on the best Conservative books of 2021
- An interview with CN Fellow, Nate Hochman
Links:
- Apply to the ISI Honors Program
- The After Nationalism Episode
- The CN Fellowships
Books Mentioned:
- Age of Entitlement, Christopher Caldwell
- After Nationalism, Sam Goldman
- Boomers, Helen Andrews
- The Face of God, Roger Scruton
- Closing of the American Mind, Alan Bloom
- Our Thoughts Determine our Lives, Elder Thaddeus
- The Portable Chaucer
- How to Think Seriously about the Planet, Roger Scruton
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 21 - C.S. Lewis and Men without Chests
In this episode...
- A listener question on men without chests
- An interview with Fr. Michael Ward, Professor of Apologetics at Houston Baptist University, on C.S. Lewis’ the Abolition of Man
Links:
- Father Michael Ward
- Word on Fire Academic
Books Mentioned:
- After Humanity, Fr. Michael Ward
- The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis
- The Road Not Taken, David Orr
- Roots of American Order, Russell Kirk
- Land of Hope, Wilfred M. McClay
- Love in the Ruins, Walker Percy
- That Hideous Strength, C.S. Lewis
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 20 - How should we teach American History?
In this episode...
- A listener question on Edmund Burke.
- An interview with Jeffrey Sikkenga the Executive Director of the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University.
Links:
- Professor Sikkenga’s USA Today Op-Ed
- The Ashbrook Center
- Teaching American History Source
Books Mentioned:
- Reflections on The Revolution in France, Edmund Burke
- A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, Edmund Burke
- The Conservative Mind, Russell Kirk
- Edmund Burke: A Genius Rediscovered, Russell Kirk
- Statecraft as Soulcraft, George Will
- On Conciliation with the Colonies, Edmund Burke
- Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge, Amity Shlaes
- Hot, Cold, Heavy, Light, Peter Schjeldahl
- Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis
- After Humanity, Fr. Michael Ward
- Land of Hope, Wilfred McClay
- History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution, Mercy Otis Warren
- Abraham Lincoln: A Biography, Lord Charnwood
- Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beacher Stowe
- The Federalist
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 19 - Michael Knowles, William F. Buckley Jr., and Political Correctness
In this episode...
- A listener question on contemporary conservative thinkers
- An interview with Michael Knowles, host of the Michael Knowles Show
Links:
- Michael’s introduction to God and Man at Yale
- Moral Imagination Podcast
- Firing Line
- Collegiate Network Fellowships
Books Mentioned:
- God and Man at Yale with Michael’s introduction
- Speechless, Michael Knowles
- Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Shoshana Zuboff
- I See Satan Fall Like Lightning, Rene Girard
- The Fall of the Athenian Empire, Donald Kagan
- Essays on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism, Juan Donoso Cortes
- Natural Right and History, Leo Strauss
- The Prince, Machiavelli
- The Republic, Plato
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 18 - Keeping Locke in the Locke Box with Richard Reinsch
In this episode...
- A conversation with the Editor of Law & Liberty, Richard Reinsch on Peter A. Lawler
- A listener question on fatal flaws in thinker's personal lives.
Links:
- ISI Honors Program
- He Built Better than He Knew, Richard Reinsch
- Law & Liberty
Books mentioned:
- Macbeth, Shakespeare
- Confessions of a Heretic, Roger Scruton
- Natural Right and History, Leo Strauss
- The Prince, Machiavelli
- Speechless, Michael Knowles
- Postmodernism Rightly Understood, Peter A. Lawler
- The Restless Mind, Peter A. Lawler
- Stuck with Virtue, Peter A. Lawler
- The Last Gentleman, Walker Percy
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 17 - Marlo Safi
In this episode...
- A listener question on the founding fathers
- A conversation with ISI’s National Director of Student Programs
Links:
- ISI Honors Conference
- The Collegiate Network
- CN Fellowships
- The New Thinkery
- Firing Line
- The University Bookman
Books Mentioned:
- Land of Hope, Bill McClay
- True and Only Heaven, Christopher Lasch
- Eisenhower in War and Peace, Jean Edward Smith
- Natural Right and History, Leo Strauss
- Roots of American Order, Russell Kirk
- Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition, Roger Scruton
- The Humane Economy, Wilhelm Roepke
- Biographies of Otto Von Bismark
- Reflections on the Revolution in France, Edmund Burke
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 16 - Sohrab Ahmari, The Unbroken Thread, and American Dystopia
In this episode...
- A listener question on starting new institutions of Higher Education.
- A conversation with conservative journalist Sohrab Ahmari!
Links:
- Apply to the ISI Honors Program
Books Mentioned:
- The Unbroken Thread, Sohrab Ahmari
- Super Can, Ballard
- Metropolis, Fritz Long
- Revolt of the Elites, Christopher Lasch
- Coming Apart, Charles Murray
- The American Political Tradition, Richard Hofstadter
- Political Economy in the Gilded Age: The Republican Party's Industrial Policy, Charles W. Calhoun
- The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis
- The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle
- Letter to the Duke of Norfolk, St. John Henry Newman
- Gulag Archipeligo, Alexander Solzhenitsyn
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 15 - Marco Rubio, China, and Common Good Capitalism
In this episode...
- A listener question on whether or not you can be a conservative without being religious
- An interview with Senator Marco Rubio on China, Capitalism, and supporting families
- A chance to win two tickets to the ISI Gala for Western Civilization!
- Enter Here!
Links:
- The Future of America Political Economy Conference
- Sign up as a member to attend next year’s conference!
- Confucius Institutes: China’s Trojan Horse, Lee Edwards
Books Mentioned:
- Roots of American Order, Russell Kirk
- Natural Right and History, Leo Strauss
- Modern and American Dignity, Peter Lawler
Become a part of ISI:
- Become a Member
- Support ISI
- Upcoming ISI Events
- Download the ISI App on iPhone
- Download the ISI App on Android
Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 14 - After Nationalism, Dangerous Conclusions, and Pessimism
In this episode...
- A panel from ISI’s Homecoming Weekend on Samuel Goldman’s book After Nationalism
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Links:
- Samuel Goldman, The Week
- Helen Andrews, The American Conservative
- Daniel McCarthy, The Spectator
- Rachel Bovard, Conservative Partnership Institute
- Law & Liberty Symposium on After Nationalism
Books Mentioned:
- After Nationalism, Samuel Goldman
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 13 - Frank Meyer, Fusionism, and the Enduring Tension
In this episode...
- A listener question on what journals to read in the conservative movement
- An interview with Reagan’s Terrible Swift Sword of the Civil Service
Links:
- The Fund for American Studies
- Imaginative Conservative
- The American Spectator
- Modern Age
- National Review
- The American Conservaitve
- James’ review of The Enduring Tension
- Philadelphia Society
- Acton Institute
- Episode with RJ Snell
Books Mentioned:
- The Enduring Tension, Donald Devine
- The Question of Freedom, William Thomas
- Divided we Fall, David French
- The Road to Serfdom, F. A. Hayek
- In Defense of Freedom, Frank Meyer
- The Moulding of Communists, Frank Meyer
- Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville
- Bureaucracy, Ludwig Von Mises
- Political Management of the Bureaucracy, Donald Devine
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Episode 12- The Tocqueville Option, Complexity, and Free Markets
In this episode...
- A listener question on building community while building a career
- An interview with Michael Matheson Miller of the Acton Institute
Links:
- Michael Matheson Miller
- The Moral Imagination Podcast
- Acton Institute
- Poverty Inc.
- Philadelphia Society
- Is There a Future for Fusionism?, Stephanie Slade
- Does Capitalism Destroy Culture?, Michael Matheson Miller
- Awakening from Nihilism, Michael Novak
- The Use of Knowledge in Society, F.A. Hayek
- Doing Business Studies
Books Mentioned:
- The Quest for Community, Robert Nisbet
- Twilight of Authority, Robert Nisbet
- Democracy in America, Alexis De Tocqueville
- What it Means to be Human, Carter Snead
- From Counterculture to Cyberculture, Fred Turner
- Artificial Unintelligence, Meredith Broussard
- Breath, James Nestor
- The Unbroken Thread, Sohrab Ahmari
- The American Republic, Orestes Brownson
- The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America, George Nash
- The Enduring Tension, Don Devine
- The End of History and the Last Man, Francis Fukuyama
- Dignity, Chris Arnade
- The Entrepreneurial State, Mariana Mazzucato
- Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman
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Episode 11 - Roger Scruton, Civilization, Conservatism Abroad, and Impossible Dialogue
In this episode...
- A listener question on conservatism outside the U.S.
- An interview with Dan Mahoney about Roger Scruton
- Words of wisdom from Roger Scruton on Civilization
Links:
- Roger Scruton: A Thing Called Civilization
- Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation
- Dan Mahoney at Law & Liberty
- The Critic
- Valeurs Actuelles
- Incorrect
Books Mentioned:
- The Solzhenitsyn Reader, ed. Edward Ericson jr. & Daniel J. Mahoney
- Bertrand De Jouvenel, Daniel J. Mahoney
- Maverick: A biography of Thomas Sowell, Jason Riley
- Minds Wide Shut, Morton Schapiro & Gary Saul Morson
- The American Republic, Orestes Brownson
- Red, White, and Black, ed. Robert Woodson
- How to Think Seriously about the Planet, Roger Scruton
- Gentle Regrets, Roger Scruton
- Our Church, Roger Scruton
- The Soul of the World, Roger Scruton
- Conversations with Roger Scruton, Mark Dooley
- Confessions of a Heretic, Roger Scruton
- Eccentric Culture, Remi Brague
- American Awakening, Joshua Mitchell
- The Meaning of Conservatism, Roger Scruton
- Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition, Roger Scruton
- How to be a Conservative, Roger Scruton
- The Idol of Our Age, Daniel J. Mahoney
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 10 - R. J. Snell, Fiction, Conservatism, and Conspiracy
In this episode...
- A listener question on the role of fiction in conservatism.
- An interview with R. J. Snell, editor of the Public Discourse
Links:
- Register for ISI’s inaugural Homecoming Weekend
- Witherspoon Institute
- Public Discourse
- Toward a New Consensus: An Invitation
- The Moral Imagination, Russell Kirk
- Barry Scholarship
- Antonio Gramsci
Books mentioned:
- Ideas Have Consequences, Richard Weaver
- Swallows and Amazons, Arthur Ransom
- The Pocket Oracle and the Art of Prudence, Balthasar Gracian
- The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Edmund Morris
- Robert Nisbet, Brad Lowell Stone
- The Quest for Community, Robert Nisbet
- Twilight of Authority, Robert Nisbet
- We Hold These Truths, John Courtney Murray
- Rationalism in Politics, Michael Oakeshott
- Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 9 - Gracy Olmstead, Agriculture, Localism, and Rootedness
In this episode...
- A listener question on the authors that influenced the hosts the most
- Gracy Olmstead, a Top 20 Under 30 ISI Alumna, on localism and agriculture
Links:
- Register for the ISI Inaugural Homecoming Weekend
- Front Porch Republic
- Conservative Conversations episode with Tim Carney and Rusty Reno
- Small-Town Natives Are Moving Back Home, Gracy Olmstead
Books Mentioned:
- Uprooted, Gracy Olmstead
- Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
- House Keeping, Marilynne Robinson
- East of Eden, John Steinbeck
- Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
- Landmarks, Robert McFarland
- Pastoral Song, James Rebanks
- The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkein
- Up to Heaven and Down to Hell, Colin Jerolmack
- Remembering, Wendell Berry
- Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs, Wallace Stegner
- Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville
- Hannah Coulter, Wendell Berry
- The Little Way of Ruthie Leming, Rod Dreher
- Hillbilly Elegy, J. D. Vance
- Heartland, Sarah Smarsh
- Hollowing out the Middle, Patrick Carr and Maria Kefalas
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Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 8 - Richard Weaver, C.S. Lewis, and the Conservative Response to Relativism
In this episode...
- A member question on working towards an intellectual career and life
- A conversation on Weaver, Lewis, & relativism with Rob Koons
- From the vault: a rare lecture from Richard Weaver himself
Links:
- Richard Weaver
- Rob Koons
Books Mentioned:
- Ideas Have Consequences, Richard Weaver
- The Ethics of Rhetoric, Richard Weaver
- Visions of Order, Richard Weaver
- Reflections on the Revolution in France, Edmund Burke
- The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods (Not In A Series), A. G. Sertillanges
- In Defense of Freedom, Frank Meyer
- Andrew Jackson Southerner, Mark Cheathem
- Andrew Jackson, Robert Remini
- Lincoln: A life of purpose and power, Richard Carwardine
- The Conservative Mind, Russell Kirk
- The Road to Serfdom, F.A. Hayek
- Edmund Burke: The Enlightenment and Revolution, Peter Stanlis
- The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis
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In this episode . . .
- A member question on constructive conversations despite disagreements
- Allen Guelzo on where rewriting history goes wrong
- Practical advice for students interested in graduate school
Links:
- Allen Guelzo
- The James Madison Program
- 1619 Project
- Dr. Guelzo on the 1619 Project
- Michel Foucault
- The Mending Wall, Robert Frost
Books mentioned:
- A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn
- Lincoln: A Very Short Introduction, Allen C. Guelzo
- Redeeming the Great Emancipator, Allen C. Guelzo
- Gettysburg: The Last Invasion, Allen C. Guelzo
- Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates That Defined America, Allen C. Guelzo
- Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President, Allen C. Guelzo
- Reconstruction: A Concise History, Allen C. Guelzo
- 1620, Peter W. Wood
- Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story, Wilfred M. McClay
- Modern Europe to 1815, Peter Gay
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- Upcoming ISI Events
In this episode...
- A member question on building conservative community amidst cancel culture
- A conversation with New York Times columnist Ross Douthat
Links:
- Ross Douthat
- Douthat’s NYT Columns
- Reactions, Ross Douthat’s Substack
- What Is the Future for Conservatism? A Debate
- Europe’s Forgotten Conservative Liberals, Samuel Gregg
- Modern Age
- National Review
- Richard John Neuhaus
- Joan Didion
Books Mentioned:
- The Decadent Society, Ross Douthat
- Everyday Saints, Archimandrite Tikhon
- What's Wrong with Rights?, Nigel Biggar
- A Humane Economy, Wilhelm Röpke
- A Time to Build, Yuval Levin
- The Age of Entitlement, Christopher Caldwell
- The Culture of Narcissism, Christopher Lasch
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- Upcoming ISI Events
Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 3—Yuval Levin, Formation, Freedom, and the University
In this episode . . .
- A member question on the state of conservatism and conservative politics
- A conversation with the 2021 Conservative Book of the Year winner, Yuval Levin
Links:
- American Enterprise Institute
- Yuval Levin
- “Start with Anthropology,” Yuval Levin
- Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts!
Books Mentioned:
- A Time to Build, Yuval Levin
- The Great Debate, Yuval Levin
- The Quest for Community, Robert Nisbet
- The Twilight of Authority, Robert Nisbet
- Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville
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- Support ISI
- Upcoming ISI Events
Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 4— Jeff Polet, Localism, Kirk, and the “Founding”
In this episode...
- A member question on imaginative literature
- A conversation with political science professor Jeff Polet
Links:
- Front Porch Republic
- Russell Kirk Center
- “Did America Have a Founding?”
- Modern Age
- Patrick Deneen at the National Conservatism Conference
Books mentioned:
- The Fall, Albert Camus
- The End of the Affair, Graham Greene
- Laurus, Eugene Vodolazkin
- American Awakening, Joshua Mitchell
- Demons, Fyodor Dostoevsky
- The Closing of the American Mind, Allan Bloom
- The Conservative Mind, Russell Kirk
- The Roots of American Order, Russell Kirk
- The Quest for Community, Robert Nisbet
- The Present Age, Robert Nisbet
- Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman
- The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin
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- Upcoming ISI Events
Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 3—R. R. Reno and Tim Carney
In this episode . . .
- A member question on whether we’ll see a return to fiscal conservatism
- A conversation with First Things editor R. R. Reno and AEI Fellow Tim Carney on the future of America and the right
Links:
- Public Discourse: “Toward a New Consensus”
- Barry Goldwater
- Ronald Reagan
Books mentioned:
- Alienated America, Timothy P. Carney
- Return of the Strong Gods, R. R. Reno
- The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945, George H. Nash
- A Time to Build, Yuval Levin
- The Road to Serfdom, F. A. Hayek
- The Conservative Mind, Russell Kirk
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- Become a Member
- Support ISI
- Upcoming ISI Events
Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 2—William F. Buckley Jr. and Academic Freedom
In this episode . . .
- A member question on cancel culture and career pursuits
- An interview with William F. Buckley Jr. on Academic Freedom
Links:
- Listen to the full Buckley interview
Books mentioned:
- What Is Conservatism?, edited by Frank Meyer
- God and Man at Yale, William F. Buckley Jr.
- Up from Liberalism, William F. Buckley Jr.
Become a part of ISI:
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- Support ISI
- Upcoming ISI Events
Conservative Conversations with ISI: Episode 1—John A. Burtka IV
In this episode . . .
- A member question on legislating morality
- James interviews ISI president John A. Burtka IV
Relevant Links:
- Towards a Conservatism of the Heart: A Roadmap for ISI’s Future, John A. Burtka IV
- Learn more about Russell Kirk here!
- Trinity Forum
- The Fund for American Studies
- Frank Chodorov
- What Conservatism Really Means, Renovatio Podcast, Hamza Yusef and Roger Scruton
Mentions:
- First Principles, Thomas Ricks
- The Enduring Tension, Donald Devine
- The Conservative Mind, Russell Kirk
- Ideas Have Consequences, Richard Weaver
- The Quest for Community, Robert Nisbet
- The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945, George H. Nash
- The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis
- Why Liberalism Failed, Patrick Deneen
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- Upcoming ISI Events
