Conservative Conversations with ISI

In this episode:Johnny interviews Henry Mack, Senior Chancellor of Higher Education at the Florida Department of Education, live from ISI’s inaugural American Politics and Governance Summit, an academic conference for faculty and graduate studentshow Florida has been a leader in conservative education reform in promoting the Great Books and “educating for democratic citizenship”Texts Mentioned:“Florida’s Higher Education Reforms” by Henry Mack and Daniel KennellyThe University in Ruins by Bill ReadingsCommon Good Constitutionalism by Adrian VermeuleBecome a part of ISI:Become a MemberSupport ISIUpcoming ISI Events

In This Episode:Timothy Goeglein joins the podcast to talk about his new book, Toward a More Perfect Union, about the failures of civics and history education in America, and what we can do to teach students about the Great American Storyhow Howard Zinn, the 1619 Project and other progressives purposely sought to erase American history and miseducate millions of American students through a neo-Marxist lenswhat parents, teachers, and communities can do to help recover a sense of the Great American Story, and revitalize the civic culture that has built and sustained AmericaTexts Mentioned:Toward a More Perfect Union by Timothy S. GoegleinU.S. Citizenship TestThe Shaping of the American Mind ISI study on civic knowledgeThe 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-JonesThe 1776 ReportAlexander Hamilton by Ron ChernowCyropaedia: The Education of Cyrus by XenophonGettsyburg movieGods and Generals movieJohn Adams mini-series“The End of the English Major” in New YorkerBecome a part of ISI:Become a MemberSupport ISIUpcoming ISI Events

In This Episode:Kevin Gutzman, professor of History at Western Connecticut State University, joins the podcast to discuss the presidencies of Democratic-Republican presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroehow the states and sectionalism played an important role in the Early Republic, and why Jefferson and his successors emphasized the importance of state’s rights and decentralized powerthe key events during the presidencies of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe that kick off Westward Expansion and Manifest DestinyTexts Mentioned:The Jeffersonians: The Visionary Presidencies of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe by Kevin GutzmanJames Madison and the Making of America by Kevin GutzmanFirst Inaugural Address by Thomas JeffersonLetter from Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 15 February, 1791“Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank” by Alexander Hamilton“A Summary View of the Rights of British America” pamphlet by Thomas JeffersonJames Madison’s Notes of the Constitutional Convention from June 18, 1787Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Robert Livingston, 18 April, 1802Letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Dickinson, 9 August, 1803Proposed Amendment to the Constitution Regarding Louisiana by James MadisonTrans-Continental Treaty of 1819 Monroe DoctrineCalhoun: American Heretic by Robert ElderDiary of John Quincy AdamsBecome a part of ISI:Become a MemberSupport ISIUpcoming ISI Events

In this episode: Dan McCarthy gives a lecture on the various elements of the conservative movement to ISI’s staff at our campus in Wilmington, DEa historical account of the American revolution and its implications for American conservatismwhy conservatives need to see through “both eyes” of history and ideasTexts Mentioned:Second Treatise of Government by John LockeNatural Right and History by Leo StraussThe Conservative Mind by Russell KirkThe Quest for Community by Robert NisbetCrisis of the House Divided by Harry V. Jaffa“Is Liberalism Worth Saving?” symposium in Harper’s MagazineRoots of American Order by Russell KirkDemocracy in America by Alexis de TocquevilleThe Superfluous Men by Robert CrundenThe Education of Henry Adams by Henry AdamsThe Waste Land by T.S. EliotMemoirs of A Superfluous Man by Alfred Jay NockThe Revolt of the Masses by Jose Ortega y GassetThe Liberal Tradition in America by Louis HartzThe Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945 by George NashThe Road to Serfdom by Friedrich HayekThe Constitution of Liberty by Friedrich HayekWitness by Whittaker ChambersContainment or Liberation?  by James BurnhamThe Emerging Republican Majority by Kevin PhillipsThe Virtue of Nationalism by Yoram Hazony

In This Episode:Adam Hoffman, a writer for the Princeton Tory, joins the podcast to discuss his recent piece in the New York Times about how the leftist political culture on college campuses has sparked a reactionary shift for conservative studentshow college administrations are not only actively pushing a progressive social agenda, but also seeking to exclude conservative counter-opinions in the classroom and through student life programshow the size of university endowments has untethered the universities from traditional channels of accountability, and what can be done to rein in woke campus culture Texts Mentioned:“My Liberal Campus is Pushing Freethinkers to the Right” by Adam Hoffman“Boston College professor assigns students to make their own 'fursonas,' has furries come to class” by Kassy Dillon“Toward a Party of the State” by Gladden Pappin“The End of the English Major” by Nathan Heller“Do Ideas Have Consequences? Intellectual History and Conservative Strategy" video by Sam Goldman“Princeton University is the World’s First Perpetual Motion Machine” by Malcolm GladwellThe Princeton Tory, an ISI-sponsored Collegiate Network newspaperThe Kalven ReportBecome a part of ISI:Become a MemberSupport ISIUpcoming ISI Events

In This Episode:William Ruger joins the podcast to discuss the war between Russia and Ukraine, how it came to be, and how America should respondwhy conservatives should take a “grand strategy” approach to foreign policy, global affairs, and the national interesthow George Washington’s “Farewell Address” strikes the right balance for American foreign policy, and where we have departed from it todayTexts Mentioned:“Farewell Address" by George WashingtonJay’s Treaty“The Conquest of the United States by Spain” by William Graham SumnerMadeleine Albright Interview with Matt Lauer“How America Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline” by Seymour HershA Student’s Guide to International Relations by Angelo CodevillaMonroe DoctrineThe Tragedy of US Foreign Policy by Walter McDougallThe Tragedy of Great Power Politics by John MearsheimerResponsible Statecraft magazineBecome a part of ISI:Become a MemberSupport ISIUpcoming ISI Events

In This Episode:Mark Tooley, President of the Institute for Religion and Democracy, joins the podcast to discuss “The New Whiggery,” the IRD’s new fellowship on the principles of classical liberalism and the American Foundingwhat a Christian realism approach to foreign policy looks likehow classical liberalism differs from conservatism, and why some right-leaning thinkers like Hayek wanted to eschew the term “conservative”Texts Mentioned:Providence MagazinePlough MagazineThe New Whiggery Fellowship“Thomas Aquinas, The First Whig” by Michael NovakThe Englishman and His History by Herbert Butterfield“Why I Am Not a Conservative” by F.A. HayekThe Spirit of Democratic Capitalism by Michael NovakGod and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of Academic Freedom by William F. Buckley, Jr.“The New Whiggery” by Mark TooleyThe Roots of American Order by Russell KirkBecome a part of ISI:Become a MemberSupport ISIUpcoming ISI Events

In This Episode:Chris Buskirk joins the podcast to talk about his new book, America and the Art of the Possible, about restoring “national vitality” and re-sparking the risk-taking, adventurous spirit that built Americahow financialization operates in the modern American economy and creates mismatched incentives that undermine widespread American prosperitywhy conservatism should focus less on ideological constructs and more on being practical and getting conservative outcomes like stronger family formation, higher life expectancy, and increasing total factor productivityTexts Mentioned:America and the Art of the Possible: Restoring National Vitality in an Age of Decay by Chris BuskirkAmerican Greatness: How Conservatism, Inc. Missed the 2016 Election and What the Establishment Needs to Learn by Chris Buskirk“Our Mission Statement” by William F. Buckley Jr.“I Had to Guard an Empty Room: The Rise of the Pointless Job” by David GraeberBullshit Jobs: A Theory by David GraeberBecome a part of ISI:Become a MemberSupport ISIUpcoming ISI Events

In This Episode:Thomas West joins the podcast to discuss the political theory of the American Founding and its reliance on natural law and natural rightswhy students of the American Founding must read more public laws and state laws and constitutions to fully understand the Founding erahow the Founders fit liberty and equality together in a truly coherent way Texts Mentioned:The Political Theory of the American Founding  by Thomas WestThe Declaration of IndependenceVirginia Declaration of RightsVindicating the Founders: Race, Sex, Class and Justice in the Origins of America by Thomas WestThe Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John JayThe ConstitutionThe Real American Founding: A Conversation course with David Azerrad and Thomas WestBecome a part of ISI:Become a MemberSupport ISIUpcoming ISI Events

 In This Episode:Gladden Pappin joins the podcast to discuss the conditions in modern Western political culture that have given rise to post-liberalism on the Righthow Hungary draws on often-neglected parts of the Western political tradition as inspiration for their political orderwhy the conservative movement needs to focus on family policy as a political lodestar in the post-Roe eraTexts Mentioned:Postliberal Order substack“Return to Normalcy” by Gladden Pappin“Make Birth Free” by Catherine Glenn Foster and Kristen DayMake Birth Free  white paper by Americans United for Life“Affirming the American Family” by Gladden Pappin and Maria MollaAmerican Affairs journalEdmund Burke: A Genius Reconsidered by Russell KirkWhat is Conservatism? edited by Frank MeyerBecome a part of ISI:Become a MemberSupport ISIUpcoming ISI Events