Hold These Truths with Dan Crenshaw

Dr. Jordan Peterson is the author of the bestselling books "Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life" & "12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos" and the host of "The Jordan B Peterson Podcast." Follow him on Twitter at @jordanbpeterson and Instagram at @jordan.b.peterson.

What did the Founding Fathers mean by the words, "We hold these truths to be self evident..."? In what ways did they weave the concept of equality into this founding document? How should we deal with the hypocrisy of Jefferson and others who pledged their lives to the words "all men are created equal" while at the same time enslaving people? What's the difference between our political constitution and our social constitution, and how are they aligned in America today? Dr. Danielle Allen joins us to answer these questions and explore the history, meaning, and philosophical foundations of our Declaration of Independence. Dr. Danielle Allen is the author of "Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality." She is also the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, Director of Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, and the principle investigator for the Democratic Knowledge Project. Follow her on Twitter at @dsallentess.

The issue of keeping our promise to our Afghan allies is personal to me. My interpreter, Raqman, made the ultimate sacrifice on the day I was injured. I survived, he didn’t. While Raqman cannot be here, two Afghan SIV recipients, Abdul Sami and Matiullah, join me to discuss the threats and perils Afghan linguist face and the difficulty of coming to the U.S. as Special Immigrant Visa recipients. Hear their moving story and help us get our Afghan’s allies to safety.

Iran is the greatest destabilizing force in the Middle East. China is waging an economic and information war against the western world. How should the United States confront each of these distinct threats to the global order? Secretary Mike Pompeo joins us to share the Trump Administration's approach and a behind-the-scenes look at the Soleimani Strike, the Abraham Accords, and checking the Chinese Communist Party's escalating aggression. Sec. Pompeo served as Secretary of State for President Trump from April 2018 to Jan 2021. Prior to serving at State, he was the Director of the CIA and represented Kansas’ 4th Congressional District between 2011 and 2017. Follow Sec. Pompeo on Twitter at @mikepompeo and on Instagram at @mikepompeo86.

John Guydon joins the podcast to help us navigate the uncomfortable topic of racism in America, the antiracism industry that’s incentivizing victimhood, and how to overcome people’s limiting beliefs about skin color. John is an entrepreneur, author, public speaker, and documentarian. Check out his TedX Talk here https://youtu.be/CxEuHNtxe2Y and follow him on Twitter at @IamJohnGuydon.

Medicaid reform is one of the most complicated and misunderstood policy debates in America today. Luckily, we have Seema Verma to walk us through it. We cover everything you need to know about Medicaid, from its origins and purpose to how it's working today. We also discuss what it will take to build a modern health care system that brings better quality, better outcomes, and lower costs for everyone. Seema Verma is a national health policy expert that served as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from 2017 to 2021, the longest tenure in modern history. As the Senate-confirmed head of CMS, Seema oversaw a budget of $1.3 trillion—nearly a third of the Federal budget—and health insurance programs for over 140 million Americans and managed over 6,000 employees.

Chef Andrew Gruel has a nuanced, pragmatic view of the causes behind America's current labor market shortage and minimum wage debate. So why does MSNBC's business correspondent Stephanie Ruhle hold so much contempt for him and every other small business owner? Chef Gruel joins us to break down the recent twitter spat with Stephanie, and the economics of restaurant management in an age of rising inflation, unemployment, and oppressive government regulations. Chef Gruel is a seafood guru, sandwich junkie, and restaurateur. He is the Founder and Executive Chef of Slapfish, which he bootstrapped from a food truck to 24 restaurant locations in less than 10 years. Follow him on Twitter at @ChefGruel.

The tenet of Critical Race Theory is that your skin color determines your fate in life. What happens when you teach children to believe that? Dr. Richard Johnson knows, and he's fighting to stop it and the rest of the woke left's Marxist ideology from being further incorporated into America's classrooms. He joins us to talk about the real change that's needed in our education culture, ending the school to prison pipeline in minority communities, and expanding access to school choice where it's needed most. Richard A. Johnson, Ed.D., is the director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Booker T. Washington Initiative which examines the effects of public policy on African-American communities. An educator for more than 20 years, Johnson has extensive experience in teaching and research. He worked as a research assistant at the University of Texas Mental Science Institute in the early 90s, studying the efficacy of counseling and pharmacological therapy on cocaine and heroin addicts. He began counseling inner-city adolescent males and founded an academy for troubled boys which provided education, discipline and residential substance abuse treatment. In 2007 he began teaching and research in the areas of psychology and academic performance. A Texas native, he grew up in Houston’s Fifth Ward and graduated from Wiley College with a Bachelor’s in history and government. After obtaining his degree, he joined the U.S. Army where he not only obtained the rank of sergeant but also played for the All-Army Basketball Team. Following active duty, Johnson obtained a master’s degree in clinical psychology and then a doctoral degree in education administration from Texas Southern University. Most importantly, Johnson served as the President of the Louisiana Prison Chapel Foundation for nearly two decades, building more than 20 churches inside of prison walls. In addition, Johnson served as the co-founder and second president of 100 Black Men Metropolitan Houston, vice president of development for 100 Black Men San Antonio and co-chair of the education committee of the NAACP, Houston.  

What's the best weapon to fight poverty in America? Speaker Paul Ryan spent his career in the House, and now as a private citizen, developing policies to help people rise out of poverty and make better lives for themselves. We talk about the moral foundations of capitalism, creating anti-poverty programs based on rigorous data and analysis (instead of ideology and partisanship), and the dangerous trend of politicians on the left and right to embrace populism untethered from principles. Paul Ryan was the 54th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from October 2015 to January 2019. In 2019, he launched the American Idea Foundation, a non-partisan, not for profit organization that expands economic opportunity by partnering with local organizations and academics to advance evidence-based public policies. Follow him on Twitter at @SpeakerRyan.

Israeli Defense Forces Brigadier General (Ret) Amir Avivi joins us in our series examining the ongoing conflict in Israel. Gen. Avivi gives a closer look at the dynamics of the latest ceasefire and the evolution of Israeli Defense Forces operations against Hamas. After his service, Gen. Avivi founded HaBithonisti, Protectors of Israel, a group of retired and reserve officers and soldiers of the IDF who work to promote Israel’s security.