Laura Field On Trump's Intellectuals

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Jan 2, 2026

Laura Field, a writer and political theorist specializing in far-right populism, dives into the complexities of modern ideological battles. She explores the New Right's revival of foundational questions about virtue and meaning, critiquing the emptiness of contemporary liberalism. Their discussion includes the Claremont Institute's legacy and its radical critiques of the administrative state, as well as how economic anxieties have fueled Trumpism. Field also tackles the allure of heroic politics and the controversial figures that intertwined with the January 6 events.

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INSIGHT

Reviving Big Questions Left By Liberalism

The New Right revived deep questions about meaning and virtue neglected by mainstream liberalism.
Laura K. Field argues these thinkers supply thick answers that attract young people seeking purpose.

ADVICE

Read Great Books, Reject Illiberal Means

Take conservative intellectuals' revival of classics seriously but critically engage with their politics.
Andrew Sullivan and Laura K. Field both recommend studying deep questions without endorsing illiberal means.

INSIGHT

Proceduralism Created A Meaning Vacuum

Liberal proceduralism narrowed public language for defending values and left a vacuum of meaning.
Field and Andrew Sullivan say that absence made citizens vulnerable to illiberal alternatives.

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Laura Field is a writer and political theorist who specializes in far-right populist intellectualism in the US. She’s currently a Scholar in Residence at American University, a Senior Advisor for the Illiberalism Studies Program at GW, and a nonresident fellow with Brookings. Her new book is Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right. We bonded over some of the right’s wackier innovations, and differed over how far the left has also slid into illiberalism.

An auto-transcript is available above (just click “Transcript” while logged into Substack). For two clips of our convo — on the New Right’s “post-constitutional moment,” and the war on the civil service — head to our YouTube page.

Other topics: growing up in Alberta; losing a parent at a very young age; Plato an early inspiration; growing tired of the Straussians; the decline of religion under liberalism; Locke; Rousseau; Nietzsche; Fukuyama; the resurgence of the illiberal left and illiberal right; the Claremont Institute and Harry Jaffa; Jaffa’s extreme homophobia and hatred of divorce; Allan Bloom; Lincoln fulfilling the Founding; Hobbes; the role of virtue in a republic; Machiavelli; Michael Anton’s “Flight 93 Election”; John Eastman and “Stop the Steal”; Curtis Yarvin and The Cathedral; Adrian Vermeule’s Common Good Constitutionalism; Catholic conversion; Pope Leo; Obergefell, debating Harvey Mansfield over marriage; Woodrow Wilson’s expansion of the state; Thatcher and Reagan slimming it down; the pros and cons of technocratic experts; DOGE vs federal workers; “queer” curricula and the 1619 Project; edge-lords; Bronze Age Pervert and pagan masculinity; Fuentes and Carlson; and debating the dangers of wokeness.

Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy. Coming up: Claire Berlinski on America’s retreat from global hegemony, Jason Willick on trade and conservatism, and Vivek Ramaswamy on the right’s future. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.