

The Radio Free Hillsdale Hour
Hillsdale College
The Radio Free Hillsdale Hour is a one-hour, weekly radio show/podcast advancing the efforts of Hillsdale College in radiating its knowledge and teaching to the world outside of campus. Listeners will hear the arguments and debates that make up the liberal arts education and will experience the learning and teaching that happens on campus. Hosted by Scot Bertram.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 30, 2024 • 50min
Todd Bensman Reports on the Border Crisis
Guests: Charles N. Steele, Todd Bensman, & Michael Francisco Host Scot Bertram talks with Charles N. Steele, associate professor of economics and Herman A. and Suzanne S. Dettwiler Chair in Economics at Hillsdale College, about his work as chair of Hillsdale’s new Center for Commerce & Freedom. Todd Bensman, fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and author of Overrun: How Joe Biden Unleashed the Greatest Border Crisis in U.S. History, gives a field report from his recent visit to the high-traffic Darién Gap. And Michael Francisco, ’04, partner at First and Fourteenth, discusses his time as a clerk on the United States Supreme Court and how Hillsdale helped him succeed in law.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aug 23, 2024 • 45min
Ivan Pongracic Lived Through Communism
Guests: Ivan Pongracic & Anne R. Keane Host Scot Bertram talks with Ivan Pongracic, professor of economics and William E. Hibbs/Ludwig von Mises Chair of Economics at Hillsdale College, about growing up in communist Yugoslavia and his role in Hillsdale’s new online documentary course Marxism, Socialism, and Communism. And Anne R. Keene takes us inside her recent book, The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, and discusses the art of biography.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aug 16, 2024 • 48min
America’s Most Consequential Political Conventions
Guests: Joseph Postell, Trent England, & Kevin Gerstle Host Scot Bertram talks with Joseph Postell, associate professor of politics at Hillsdale College, about the history of America’s most memorable and consequential political conventions. Trent England, founder and executive director of Save Our States, discusses the flawed marriage of the movements to implement a national popular vote and ranked-choice voting. And Kevin Gerstle, associate professor of mathematics at Hillsdale College, describes the history and evolution of cryptography.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aug 9, 2024 • 46min
Victor Davis Hanson Recaps Donald Trump’s Political Comeback
Guests: Victor Davis Hanson & Newt Gingrich Host Scot Bertram talks with Victor Davis Hanson, the Wayne and Marcia Buske Distinguished Fellow in History at Hillsdale College and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, about the stakes of the 2024 presidential election and the new material in the re-release of his book The Case for Trump. And we play excerpts from a recent lecture from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich titled "What to Do About the DOJ?," delivered at a Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar in Florida.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aug 2, 2024 • 45min
Megan Basham: How the Left Infiltrated America’s Churches
Guests: John W. Grant & Megan Basham Host Scot Bertram talks with John W. Grant, associate professor and chairman of Politics at Hillsdale College, about the political ramifications of the works of Karl Marx and Hillsdale’s new online documentary course Marxism, Socialism, and Communism. And Megan Basham, culture reporter at The Daily Wire, discusses how progressive powerbrokers set out to co-opt evangelicals for political purposes and her new book Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 26, 2024 • 51min
Jennifer Strickland Reclaims Womanhood
Guests: Jonathan Gregg, Jennifer Strickland, & Jason Peters Host Scot Bertram talks with Jonathan Gregg, assistant professor of education at Hillsdale College, about the outdated nature of the teacher certification process. Jennifer Strickland, founder of U R More and host of the I AM A WOMAN Podcast, discusses the gender confusion in our world today and her new book I Am a Woman: Taking Back Our Name. And Jason Peters, associate professor of English at Hillsdale College, continues a series on novelist, poet, and cultural critic Wendell Berry, this time diving into his fiction and poetry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 19, 2024 • 47min
John J. Miller Wants More Conservatives In Journalism
Guests: John J. Miller, Jeremy Carl, & Dutton Kearney Host Scot Bertram talks with John J. Miller, Director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College, about the history and importance of conservative journalism and his recent article on the subject. Jeremy Carl, senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, discusses the shifting racial regime in America and his new book The Unprotected Class: How Anti-White Racism Is Tearing America Apart. And Dutton Kearney, associate professor of English at Hillsdale College, continues a series on James Joyce and the Modernist literary movement, this time diving into A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 12, 2024 • 45min
Randy Barnett Chronicles the History of Originalism
Guests: Joseph Postell & Randy E. Barnett Host Scot Bertram talks with Joseph Postell, associate professor of politics at Hillsdale College, about the origins and development of political conventions. And Randy E. Barnett, Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University, chronicles his own development as a constitutional scholar and champion of Originalism and discusses his new memoir A Life for Liberty: The Making of an American Originalist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 5, 2024 • 49min
Independence Day Special: The Constitution
Guests: Ronald J. Pestritto, Hadley P. Arkes, & David Azerrad Host Scot Bertram talks with Ronald J. Pestritto, dean of the Graduate School, professor of Politics, and Charles and Lucia Shipley Chair in the American Constitution at Hillsdale College, about his lectures in Hillsdale's Constitution 101 Online Course. Hadley P. Arkes, Edward N. Ney professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions Emeritus at Amherst College, describes the natural law roots of our Constitution. And David Azerrad, assistant professor and research fellow at the Graduate School of Government at Hillsdale College, shows how the Constitution's preamble serves as a "political mission statement" for the United States.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jun 28, 2024 • 51min
The Early Statesmanship of James Madison
Guests: Matthew Spalding & Joy Pullmann Host Scot Bertram talks with Matthew Spalding, vice president of Washington Operations and dean of the Van Andel Graduate School of Government at Hillsdale College, about the life and impact of James Madison before his presidency. And Joy Pullmann, executive editor at The Federalist, reveals the efforts by activists to replace patriotism with loyalty to queer politics and shares details from her new book False Flag: Why Queer Politics Mean the End of America.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.