The Close Read Podcast

Now that COVID is effectively behind us, it's increasingly easy to throw the hazy blur that was late 2019-2022 down the memory hole. Jeffrey Anderson's latest CRB essay shines a light on the COVID craze: government overreach, popular complacency, and collective amnesia. Spencer sits down with Anderson to continue the post mortem analysis and ask how we can prevent the same extreme policies from coming to pass again. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com

For a country that features so prominently in the news and so wildly in many conspiracy theories, Russia is a country that many Americans—especially many in the press—scarcely understand. Dan Mahoney’s new review essay in CRB gives a clarifying survey of major trends, challenges, and attitudes in Russian politics since the days of the Tsars. Without emotional theatrics but with moral clarity, Mahoney equips readers with resources for a fuller understanding of Russia’s past and its possible future.   This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com

Podcast discusses the intellectual differences between national conservatism and Trump's nationalism, reviews Chris Rufo's new book, explores American voter preferences, evaluates conservative perspectives on Elon Musk and critiques of the new left, and reflects on past traumas and literary explorations.

Celebrated journalist Lord Charles Moore joins Spencer to discuss his CRB essay on the history and prospects of Thatcherism and its implications for modern conservative movements on both sides of the pond. On the one hand, the forces arrayed against Thatcher's legacy have never been stronger. On the other hand, the attitudes she represented--including the "commonsense view that people would probably be better at running their own affairs than governments would"--just won't go away. In the age of Trump and Brexit, but also of globalist bureaucrats and Conservative ineptitude, what is Thatcherism's future?   This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com

Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan meet to peruse the fall CRB.  Kesler’s editor’s note about the intellectual legacy  of Henry Kissinger considers whether foreign policy realism is gaining steam on the world stage as multiple wars rage on. Mark Helprin’s essay on the grinding conflict in Israel takes a practical look at the situation, and Bill Voegeli’s essay articulates the predicament of the modern Left since October 7. Plus much more from the fall CRB.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com

Algis Valiunas, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and contributing editor at The New Atlantis, joins Spencer to discuss the great modernist and Anglican convert T.S. Eliot. In the spirit of the season, Valiunas explores how a mixture of tragedy, heartache, and providence led Eliot gradually from the sorrow and discontent expressed in his jarring masterpiece, The Waste Land, on through to conversion and the searing brilliance of Christian poems like Four Quartets.   This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com

Martha Bayles, frequent contributor to the CRB and prolific author and essayist, joins Spencer to discuss the perils and pitfalls presented by AI, especially as it pertains to the entertainment industry. Bayles elucidates the challenge of AI in entertainment as it emerged during the SAG-AFTRA strike. Will the strike’s goals be met in the long term, or is an AI future inevitable? Plus: reflections on how digital delivery systems have changed the media landscape, for better and for worse.   This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com

Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan convene to survey the summer CRB. Kesler's editor's note about the decline of West Virginia University proves timely as universities across the country reveal their funding priorities. Christopher Flannery’s cover essay on President James A. Garfield introduces a neglected American statesman, while analyses of everything from affirmative action to modernist poetry round out the issue. Plus: some new authors make their CRB debut.   This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com

Wilfred M. McClay, the Victor Davis Hanson Chair of Classical History and Western Civilization at Hillsdale College, joins Spencer to discuss the virtues and the public perception of the Midwest. Professor McClay illuminates the "reservoir of idealism" hidden away in the Midwest's often unexplored but fascinating history. Plus: a deep dive into why the Midwest is so misunderstood.   This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com

Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan sit down to rifle through the Spring CRB. There's lots to unpack, including but not limited to: Kesler's editor's note on the growing ideological divide among the states, Christopher Caldwell's investigation of unrest in France, and a new biography of MLK, Jr. Plus: incisive commentary on the Supreme Court's history with affirmative action, and a whistle-stop tour through the greatest hits of country music's first ladies. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com