The American Mind Podcast

Has the Nation Lost Its Faith? Divisions and the Future of the Right

A week from midterms, the guys discuss prospects for Republicans in the House and Senate. Polls forecast that Democrat challenges to the Right’s incumbent candidates may flip the House. Meanwhile, contests for the Senate are tight even in Texas, a historically conservative stronghold. Has Trump’s second presidency fulfilled the demands of the MAGA base, and will his disinterest in courting disaffected centrists facilitate the Left's broader effort to flip the Populist Right? Plus: the dangerous effects of AI technology on America's young people. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

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Midterm Results: Where did Trump Go Wrong?

Republicans were dealt a serious blow in the midterm elections this week. Major factors were the affordability crisis and price of gas, the war in Iran, and corruption. The Right must now soberly assess this rebuke without wishing it away. Trump's perceived neglect of bread-and-butter issues in favor of a tariff strategy and involvement in the Middle East has obviously hurt his appeal across the broad coalition that elected him the second time. But will Democrat leadership mistakenly read the election results as an endorsement of their progressive Woke agenda, and how will conservatives regroup ahead of 2028? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

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Israeli and Brazilian Elections: A New Era of Politics

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com Following a defeat in the first round of voting in Brazil’s general election, incumbent president Lula da Silva clawed back a victory against Flávio Bolsonaro in a runoff vote last Sunday. The Brazilian Right nonetheless gained significant ground in the upper and lower houses of Congress. Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu faces a close challenge from former IDF Chief of the General Staff Gadi Eisenkot. The direction of the war with Iran, and broader U.S.-Israel relations, hang in the balance.

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Midterms Outlook – Where Does the Right Go Now?

A week from midterms, the guys discuss prospects for Republicans in the House and Senate. Polls forecast that Democrat challenges to the Right’s incumbent candidates may flip the House. Meanwhile, contests for the Senate are tight even in Texas, a historically conservative stronghold. Has Trump’s second presidency fulfilled the demands of the MAGA base, and will his disinterest in courting disaffected centrists facilitate the Left's broader effort to flip the Populist Right? Plus: the dangerous effects of AI technology on America's young people. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

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Reflections on NatCon Jerusalem, ft. Matthew Peterson

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com Matthew Peterson joins the podcast to discuss his recent NatCon speech, which examined the shifting relationship between the New Right and Israel. He conveyed to the Israeli Right the desire of younger American conservatives to decouple from the Middle East amid a broader reevaluation of global alliances. But as the war against Iran proceeds, Peterson notes that some defenders of Israel wield “anti-Semite” to condemn skeptics of U.S. involvement, a counterproductive tactic in the face of rising anti-Semitism on both the Right and the Left. How can the two nations navigate their alliance amid a changing global order?

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Turmoil in France and South Africa – Can the Right Recover the West?

Riots in France—begun by students but now taken over by migrants—expose the dangers of uncontrolled immigration. Will the unrest flowing from Islamic-majority enclaves give rise to a populist Right movement? Meanwhile, what remains of a functioning society in South Africa is buckling under the strain of extreme governmental dysfunction. Racial violence between black communities and white Afrikaners has intensified as state control recedes, and more race laws now exist than during apartheid. Jeremy Carl, senior fellow at The Claremont Institute and author of The Unprotected Class joins President Ryan P. Williams to discuss what lessons America can draw from woes across the West. Plus: Predictions for the 2026 midterms and 2028 election. Recommended: The Unprotected Class: How Anti-White Racism Is Tearing America Apart This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

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Europe Lurches Leftward Toward Disaster. Can It Recover?

Europe faces a civilizational crisis induced by self-destructive progressive ideologies. The German Left has weaponized atonement for World War II to censor opposition. In Spain’s North African enclave, Ceuta, a recent border crossing by thousands of migrants posed an unchecked Moroccan challenge to Spanish sovereignty. Meanwhile, French deindustrialization and rampant immigration threaten to strangle its economy. Conservative movements have begun to gain traction, but can they pull Europe back from the brink? Claremont Review of Books Contributing Editor Christopher Caldwell joins Claremont President Ryan P. Williams to explain. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

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Brazilian Election: A Global Turn Against the Left?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com Flávio Bolsonaro, son of Brazilian ex-President Jair Bolsanaro, won 47-45 in the first round of Brazil’s general election against incumbent President Lula. A conservative, Bolsonaro heads a populist movement against progressives, mirroring Trump. Woke has been rejected globally, yet its fumes linger still in Leftist circles. How might this inform the Right's outreach to America’s economically liberal, culturally conservative middle?

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Beasts, Gods, and Bots: Facing down the Specter of a Post-Human Future

Anthropic's top brass have been meeting religious leaders and trying to bring theology into the AI conversation. Do our newest technocrats intend to build a machine god and usher in a horrifically digitized future? Meanwhile, Justice Samuel Alito weighed in on originalism, highlighting both its pitfalls and the broader successes of conservativism in the Supreme Court—and the Left’s radical response. Plus: On the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks by Hamas, Israel defiantly celebrates the universe’s lawgiver during Simchat Torah and remembers the fallen. Recommended: Religious Scholars Met With Anthropic: What They Heard Stunned Them We Are Clueless About What’s Coming Justice Samuel Alito: Even Originalists Make Mistakes The Alito Court: A Rare Interview With the Influential Supreme Court Justice This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

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Midterm Check In: The Future of the Democrats and the Challenges for MAGA

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com Five weeks from election day, hosts Spencer Klavan and Mike Sabo take stock of Republicans’ standing in the midterms. As incumbents, they already face stiff headwinds, and Trump’s interventions have made things still more difficult in key states. Will Trump’s communication strategy amid the affordability crisis and the Iran War turn voters away from conservative candidates? Plus: a prediction of Democrats’s focus post-elections—data centers, populism, and more.

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The Crisis of America is the Crisis of the West ft. Steve Hayward

Steve Hayward, senior fellow at Claremont and author-podcaster at the “Political Questions” Substack, joins the guys this week to discuss the political and intellectual significance of Harry Jaffa's teachings. His understanding of America's creed and culture remains critical amid our rolling crises of immigration and ideological revolution. Jaffa’s articulated the necessity of Judeo-Christian virtues and morality to the survival of America. But can today’s resurgence in spirituality be channeled to revive our dysfunctional social and political orders? Recommended: Political Questions Substack Harry Jaffa and the Declaration ft. Glenn Ellmers Patriotism Is Not Enough The Making of the American Mind The Rediscovery of America This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

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How the Left’s Climate Agenda Caused the West’s Economic Downfall ft. Rupert Darwall

Coming out of the 2008 recession, the globalist order envisioned a green recovery. Rupert Darwall, author of the forthcoming The Age of Error and the West's Undoing, joins the hosts to discuss the West’s unforced error in trying to achieve net-zero emissions amid a resurgence in business activity in the Global South and China—where economic ambition takes precedence over climate concerns, at the expense of Europe and America. Meanwhile, the narrative concocted by the CCP and Western epidemiologists to cover up COVID’s origins unveiled the West’s inability to block foreign influence. Plus: Nikole Hannah-Jones, the progenitor of the 1619 Project, sent her daughter to a black-majority NYC school as a test of racial ideology, only to discover the failures of a liberal education system. Recommended: The Age of Error and the West’s Undoing In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

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Russell Vought: How to Control the Administrative State

Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, joins Claremont Institute President Ryan P. Williams to discuss the Trump Administration’s effort to bring order to the administrative state. Director during Trump’s first term, Mr. Vought returned to the OMB during the Trump 47 transition with a plan to cut bureaucratic overregulation and out-of-control spending. Much remains to be done to rein in the independent agencies and rogue lower courts, settle institutional wokeness, and more. Can the administration permanently change how Washington functions? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

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Uncovered: Administrative State Abuses of Military Contracts

In this special episode, Will Thibeau, director of the Claremont Institute’s American Military Project, sits down with Claremont president Ryan P. Williams to discuss his recent report on the 8(a) Program, its unique weaponization in the Woke Era, and how the military under Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is combatting the rampant abuses. Plus: What can America’s industrial base learn from the Iran and Ukraine wars? Recommended: From Development to Dependency: The Corporate Welfare Economy Behind the 8(a) Program This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

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A Grade of Trump 2.0 - Claremont at the American Political Science Association

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com Caving to pressure from a minority of members within the American Political Science Association in 2021, Claremont’s panels featuring John Eastman were moved online over concerns about protests—a de facto disinvitation by APSA. Now Claremont is back, reaching young political scientists and thinkers with an earnest, conservative assessment of Trump 2.0, illegal immigration, China’s rise as an economic rival to the West, and more—angles that largely left-leaning APSA conferences typically avoid.

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Political Fallout: Charlie Kirk’s Legacy and “The Flight 93 Election”

Ten years ago, the Claremont Review of Books published “The Flight 93 Election,” Michael Anton’s urgent warning that the 2016 election would be do-or-die: Trump or Hillary. But where is conservatism now, ahead of midterms and the 2028 election? Plus: The guys reflect on the virtues and achievements of Charlie Kirk, who built up the conservative movement and the nation, and sacrificed everything for it one year ago. In the wake of Kirk’s assassination, the Right—splintered by the attack—has reckoned with the precarious state of our politics. Meanwhile, the Left has minimized the impact of the violence. Recommended: The Flight 93 Election After the Flight 93 Election Dispatches from the Late Republic This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

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Dolly Parton, RIP

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com Dolly Parton, a widely adored icon in country music and American pop culture, passed away last week at 80. A friend to both the right and left, Parton transcended national politics by her personal grace and remarkable philanthropy. Born to a poor, illiterate family, she leaves behind a legacy of generosity that includes Imagination Library, a nonprofit delivering millions of books to children worldwide at no cost to their families. Dolly Parton, rest in peace.

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FIRE Challenges Trump’s Deportation of Pro-Gaza Immigrants

Richard Lim, historian at Prager U. and host of the This American President podcast joins the guys to discuss his recent book on George Washington’s legacy, Refusing a Crown. Breaking through mainstream secularist assumptions, Lim argues that Washington’s greatness is best understood in the context of his Christian faith. Meanwhile, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has challenged the Trump Administration’s attempt to deport Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Özturk for anti-American speech. FIRE argues the constitution protects resident aliens, and even that immigrant speech cannot be scrutinized in the vetting process. Will reason prevail? Recommended: Refusing a Crown: How George Washington Changed the World This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

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Offensive Truths: Dr. Nathan Cofnas and the State of the Academy

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com Dr. Nathan Cofnas has been accused of “scientific racism” for his studies of race and genetics. Now he's been suspended by the University of Ghent and banned on Substack for his role in exposing the academic dishonesty of the late Jason Arday. As the DEI debate flares, the academic and radical Left communities have attempted to discredit and even threaten Cofnas, revealing again the civilizational threat posed by an unchecked race regime.

The Great American Trade War Continues

Trade negotiations between the U.S. and Canada broke down in the final hours of last Friday. This week, Trump’s 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian goods have gone into effect. Amid a rekindled trade war, the guys consider the president's and Congress’s role in shaping world history in light of electoral concerns before the 2026 midterms. Meanwhile, Lindsay Clancy is on trial for the alleged murder of her three children. The defense claims postpartum psychosis, but an alarming number of women are expressing misplaced "solidarity" with a woman accused of infanticide. Recommended: Republicans Embrace the Vice Economy This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

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