The Conclave | View from the Danube #7

As the Conclave begins to elect a new spiritual leader to a billion Catholics, Rod Dreher finds himself looking towards the deeper meaning and purpose of the Papacy, the Church, and religion, in a secular world. Do Catholics need a moderniser, or a traditionalist? Constancy, or renewal? The theme mirrors the great secular debate between populism and the establishment. How much do we need our leaders to be 'relatable'? What is the source of their power: is it ordinariness, or the extraordinary?After all, populist insurgent Nigel Farage is presently toasting big UK wins for his Reform Party in the UK; while establishment conservatives Pierre Poilievre and Peter Dutton were both dumped out of their respective election battles in Canada and Australia. Finally, we turn to Trump’s film tariffs. The latest front in his war for American jobs. Could it ever work? What would it even mean? And what does the global roster of film scripts say about the liquid capital that the modern film business represents? This month, Rod is joined by Lord David Frost of Allenton, former Conservative peer. And Anthony O’Hear, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Buckingham, and Visiting Fellow at the Danube Institute. *** The View From The Danube is the keystone video podcast of the Danube Institute, a Budapest-based think tank that aims to bring Conservative perspectives from the Anglosphere together, in the heart of the European capital of Conservativism. It stars Rod Dreher, author of The Benedict Option and Living in Wonder, a senior fellow at the Danube Institute, John O’Sullivan, former speechwriter to Margaret Thatcher, the founder and President of the Danube Institute, and Calum Nicholson, the Director of Research. This month, Anthony O’Hear fills in for Calum. With regular guests, we’ll be looking at how Conservatism is changing in a world that is itself changing beyond recognition.