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The Furious Minds of MAGA (w/ Laura Field)

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Nov 24, 2025

Guest

Laura K. Field

Laura K. Field, a political theorist and author of *Furious Minds*, dives into conservative intellectual movements and their ties to the MAGA New Right. She explores the allure of charismatic teachers like Leo Strauss and critiques idea-first political philosophies that overlook reality. The conversation unveils the Claremont Institute's role in legitimizing Trumpism, categorizes factions within the MAGA movement, and discusses the ramifications of post-liberalism's push for moral politics. Field highlights the continuity of conservative thought while examining its radical shifts.

01:09:36

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ANECDOTE

Moment That Sparked Departure

Laura K. Field recounts a dinner where a Straussian colleague bragged about wanting to have sex with Michelle Obama, prompting her to question her place in that world.
That moment began her long process of leaving conservative intellectual circles and inspired the book's personal entry point.

insights

INSIGHT

Strauss's Shadow On Modern Right

Leo Strauss's fear of civilizational collapse and his dichotomies (ancients vs. moderns) seeded themes in later right-wing intellectuals.
Straussian emphasis on statesmanship and virtue helped justify grand, sometimes conspiratorial, political narratives.

insights

INSIGHT

Ideas Over Reality

Field labels some thinkers' approach "ideas first political philosophy," where abstract theory overrides empirical political realities.
That gap allows highbrow justifications for practical and sometimes extreme political actions.

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Field's Background and Entry into Straussian Circles

04:39 • 3min

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Personal Moment That Prompted Departure

07:19 • 2min

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The Allure and Risk of Great Teachers

09:22 • 2min

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Why Begin with Leo Strauss?

11:16 • 2min

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Ideas-First Political Philosophy Critiqued

13:19 • 3min

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Claremont's Role and Michael Anton

16:12 • 3min

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Did Claremont Punch Above Its Weight?

19:10 • 3min

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Three Camps of the MAGA New Right

21:51 • 3min

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Intellectual Fashions and Radicalizing Momentum

24:30 • 3min

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Paleo-Straussian Identity Explained

27:10 • 4min

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Post-Liberals and Deneen's Argument

31:28 • 3min

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Caginess and Political Long Game of Post-Liberals

34:36 • 5min

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Vermeule's Common Good Constitutionalism

39:23 • 2min

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State Coercion and Post-Liberal Appeal

41:17 • 7min

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Heritage, Tucker, Fuentes, and the Fallout

48:32 • 6min

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Convergence Around January 6th

54:13 • 6min

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Continuity, Discontinuity, and the Fringe Becoming Rug

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Ideas have consequences

Richard Weaver

In 'Ideas Have Consequences,' Richard M. Weaver argues that the decline of Western civilization is a result of the increasing acceptance of relativism over absolute reality. Despite advancements in knowledge, this shift away from the realist intellectual tradition has weakened Western society's capacity for reason, leading to catastrophic consequences for social order and individual rights. Weaver proposes a remedy in the renewed acceptance of absolute reality and the recognition that ideas, like actions, have consequences. The book also includes a foreword by Roger Kimball and an afterword by Ted J. Smith III, providing additional context and insights into Weaver's work and its historical significance.

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• Mentioned in 2 episodes

Common Good Constitutionalism

Adrian Vermeule

Adrian Vermeule's "Common Good Constitutionalism" is a significant work in legal and political philosophy that challenges traditional liberal approaches to constitutional interpretation. Vermeule argues for a common good approach, emphasizing the importance of promoting the flourishing of the community as a whole. He criticizes the emphasis on individual rights and judicial review that he sees as characteristic of liberal constitutionalism. Vermeule's work has been highly influential within conservative legal circles but has also generated significant controversy. His ideas have been praised for their intellectual rigor and criticized for their potential to undermine individual liberties.

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Why Liberalism Failed

Patrick J. Deneen

In 'Why Liberalism Failed,' Patrick J. Deneen critiques both classical liberalism (often called libertarianism) and progressive/modern liberalism. He argues that liberalism has created contradictions such as fostering material inequality despite advocating for equal rights, discouraging civic commitments in favor of privatism, and giving rise to a comprehensive state system while pursuing individual autonomy. Deneen contends that liberalism's success is generating its own failure, leading to issues like income inequality, cultural decline, atomization, and the erosion of freedoms. The book examines the outcomes of the growth of the state, the construction of the free market, and the effects of technology on freedoms and culture.

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Making men moral

Civil Liberties and Public Morality

Robert P. George

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• Mentioned in 15 episodes

Regime Change

Toward a Postliberal Future

Patrick J. Deneen

In 'Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future', Patrick Deneen presents a vision for a postliberal society, critiquing the current liberal order for eroding traditional social structures such as family, religion, and local community. Deneen argues that classical liberalism has created a self-serving elite that benefits at the expense of the working class. He proposes a new elite aligned with the interests of the working class, advocating for a mixed regime that combines elements of aristocracy and democracy. The book builds on his previous work, 'Why Liberalism Failed', and suggests a strategic formation of a new elite devoted to 'pre-postmodern conservatism' and the common good, particularly attentive to the voice and status of the working class.

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• Mentioned in 5 episodes

Furious Minds

The Making of the MAGA New Right

Laura K. Field

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• Mentioned in 51 episodes

Plato's Republic

Plato

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The age of entitlement

America since the sixties

Christopher Caldwell

In this book, Christopher Caldwell argues that the reforms of the 1960s, intended to make the nation more just and humane, have come with staggering costs in wealth, freedom, and social stability. These costs have been unevenly distributed among classes and generations. Caldwell explores key political turning points over the past half-century, including affirmative action, leveraged buyouts, iPhones, Oxycotin, Black Lives Matter, and internet cookies, showing how these reforms have led to two incompatible political systems and driven the country toward conflict.

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Ravelstein

Roser Berdagué Costa

Saul Bellow

SANTILLANA EDICIONES GENERALES SL

Published in 2000, 'Ravelstein' is a biographical roman à clef that tells the story of a friendship between a university professor, Abe Ravelstein, and a writer. The novel is set against the backdrop of Ravelstein's impending death from AIDS and explores his intellectual and erotic attachments. The narrator, Chick, reflects on Ravelstein's life and their shared experiences, delving into themes of Jewish identity, intellectual culture, and the significance of Ravelstein's death as the end of an era. The novel also follows Chick's own near-death experience and his eventual decision to write Ravelstein's memoir.

Laura K. Field's Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right, published earlier this month, is a book we simply had to discuss. Listeners to this podcast will recognize its cast of characters—conservative intellectuals like Patrick Deneen, Michael Anton, John Eastman, Adrian Vermeule, and Harry Jaffa, among others—whose ideas and influence Field carefully categorizes and evaluates, bringing order to an unruly decade of intellectual history. Topics include: Leo Strauss and the problem of great teachers; the use and abuse of grand narratives by the right; how the Claremonters went all in on Trump; the permission given by postliberals to some of the nastiest impulses on the right; and more!

Sources:

Laura K. Field, Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right (2025)

— "Revisiting Why Liberalism Failed: A Five-Part Series," Niskanen Center, Dec 21, 2020

Patrick Deneen, Why Liberalism Failed (2018)

— Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future (2023)

Matthew Sitman, "Liberalism and the Catholic Left," Commonweal, Dec 3, 2018

Publius Decius Mus/Michael Anton, "The Flight 93 Election," Claremont Review of Books, Sept 5, 2016

Adrian Vermeule, "Integration from Within," American Affairs, Spring 2018

The Editors, "The Fight is Now," The American Mind, Nov 5, 2020

Anemona Hartocollis, "On Campus, Trump Fans Say They Need 'Safe Spaces,'" New York Times, Dec 8, 2016

Further Listening:

KYE: "Rise of the Illiberal Right," July 12, 2019.

KYE: "Midnight in the Garden of American Heroes (On West Coast Straussians)," Feb 11, 2021.

KYE: "Unraveling Allan Bloom and Saul Bellow," June 21, 2021.

KYE: "The Afterlife of January 6," July 19, 2021.

...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon for access to all of our bonus episodes!

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