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The American Mind

The Claremont Instituteclaremontinstitute.libsyn.com
The American Mind Podcast uncovers the ideas and principles that drive American political life. In each episode, we engage Claremont Institute scholars, co-conspirators, and critics in thought-provoking discussions about the real causes of our current political and cultural reality. We explore these ideas with an eye towards restoring American civic health. The Roundtable is a weekly show, hosted by our editors and publisher with a unique blend of joviality and intellectually stimulating conversation, boosted by an occasional glass of whisky. Each episode focuses on a handful of topics that carry significant weight in the debate of ideas for the best path of American life, both privately and civically. Of course, we do reserve some time for fun in each show. Occasionally, we produce special podcast features on individual topics with commentary from the top thinkers in America today. Think of American Mind Podcast specials as succinct audio-documentaries. Tell us what you think! Subscribe to our channel, rate us, leave a review, and help spread the word to your friends and colleagues! Interested in hearing from us on a particular topic? Email your suggestions to [email protected]. And visit our website, americanmind.org, for essays, editorials, debates, and more. The American Mind, The Roundtable, and our specials are productions of the Claremont Institute. The mission of the Claremont Institute is the recovery of the American idea—the timeless principles that have made America great since its founding.

Episodes

Biden’s Parting Gifts

As Biden’s lame duck administration winds down, he—or whoever's in charge—is leaving a few fun parting gifts for the incoming Trump Administration. From escalation in Ukraine, to a re-opened border surprise, to the intractable financial situation, Trump's team will have their work cut out for them. Democrat strategists, however, seem determined not to learn anything from their electoral failure, which bodes well for the future. So the editors remain optimistic—and thankful. Ryan gives a spirited...

Nov 27, 20241 hr 16 minEp. 245

Recess is Over

With a historic second Trump presidency on the way, there's a new vista of possibility just over the horizon. Immigration, trade, and international relations are each in for a major overhaul. But amid the scramble to plan out Trump's first 100 days, there's one critical area that has largely evaded conservative attention: education. Ryan and Spencer are joined by Professor Amy Wax to unpack some of the most efficient ways a Trump administration could reform our broken system from kindergarten on...

Nov 21, 20241 hr 4 minEp. 244

One Shift, Two Shifts, Whiteshift, Redshift

Trump assembles a notably youthful cabinet of swamp-draining avengers, grinding the gears of the Left. Democrats, meanwhile, face a Hobson’s choice between declining into irrelevancy and admitting they were wrong about Trump all along. Some are taking a sober look at the future while others spiral into BlueAnon conspiracy and outrage, doubling down on race politics despite its failure or getting Lysistrata-pilled and swearing off men. Good luck, we guess?

Nov 14, 20241 hrEp. 243

He's So Back

Exceeding even the most optimistic expectations, Trump swept across the states handily to the chagrin of the Harris-Walz campaign, winning both the electoral and popular votes—and becoming the second-only president to serve two, nonconsecutive terms. The editors react to the election results, the Left’s wild missteps and pending meltdown; the Trump campaign’s successes; and what his first 100 days should look like.

Nov 07, 202459 minEp. 242

Madison Square Garbage

Joe Biden has October surprised everyone by saying what he really thinks for a change. In a pitiful effort to characterize Trump's Madison Square Garden rally as a Neo-Nazi gathering, Biden unguardedly referred to Trump supporters as "garbage." As both candidates make their closing arguments, the editors share their final thoughts on the election, the strengths of each campaign, and the dangers of a Kamala victory. These include censorship of “misinformation” and crackdowns on dissent, of the ki...

Oct 31, 20241 hrEp. 241

It's in the Bag

Conservative-backed litigation is whittling away at the administrative state to protect the rights and decision-making power of the people. Meanwhile, liberal thinkers hyperventilate over the need for “experts,” and cast the average pleb as unworthy of having a voice. Back on the campaign trail, Trump enjoys McDonalds once again–but as a fry cook. In response, the Harris crowd goes ballistic in a very normal and hinged way. The race remains neck-and-neck, but blue cracks are beginning to show as...

Oct 24, 202458 minEp. 240

No Thoughts in My Head, Just Vibes

As election season heats up, Harris loses steam in battleground states--and loses grip on support from black voters and men. After years of wishfully presenting the emasculated man as an ideal of "enlightened" masculinity, the campaign reverses course and marshals the full force of Democrat media savvy in an attempt to shame men into voting for Kamala because that's what real manhood looks like. The results are...underwhelming. Plus: Kamala’s book, Smart on Crime, is found to be low on rigor and...

Oct 17, 202459 minEp. 239

As I Was Saying...

Trump was back in Butler this week after a failed assassination attempt there—and joining him on-stage this time was none other than Elon Musk. But will MAGA Musk last? Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has been giggling her way through a few shows and podcasts, notably including the crude and awkward chat pod, Call Her Daddy. The editors discuss Harris’s many faceplants, the potential of the pod-bro vote, and the signs that Democrats may be worried by the polls. Recommended media: Mr. X Identity in the ...

Oct 10, 20241 hrEp. 238

Vance Mops the Floor (ft. Todd Bensman)

Seth Barron returns to the podcast to discuss Tuesday’s rousing VP Debate, in which a silver-tongued J.D. Vance thoroughly trounced a sputtering and nervous Tim Walz. Will it matter at all? Meanwhile, the world collapses in on the giant power vacuum left by America’s absent president, as Hurricane Helene ravages six states and Iran launches missiles at Israel. Plus: immigration expert Todd Bensman gives his firsthand account of the shocking immigration debacle in Colombia, and what the Trump tea...

Oct 03, 202457 min

Special Edition: Truths ft. Vivek Ramaswamy

In today's special edition of The Roundtable, Ryan Williams, President of the Claremont Institute interviews Vivek Ramaswamy about his latest book "Truths: The Future of America First." Buy the book here . In "Truths: The Future of America First," Ramaswamy shows exactly how honesty about the most important issues will get our country back on track. The America First movement emphasizes the issues that bring us together, not what divides us. It asks that we put our country over politics, merit o...

Sep 25, 202447 min

Missed Again.

Not even two months after the first assassination attempt against him, President Trump survives another one. Media coverage of the event has been—predictably—atrocious. Meanwhile, Ketanji Brown Jackson has, by citing a junk study to support affirmative action, perfectly illuminated the dishonesty inherent in modern uses of social science. One of which is to support the Left’ in its march toward mass censorship against anyone who doesn’t support the current thing. Plus: an announcement about Jame...

Sep 19, 202459 minEp. 236

Special Edition: Debate Reactions

In a special, up-to-the-minute episode of The Roundtable , Mike, Spencer, and Ryan give their first impressions of what was, by all accounts, a dog's breakfast of a debate. Topics include Trump's missed opportunities, Kamala's boldfaced lies, and the hellaciously biased moderation by ABC's David Muir and Linsey Davis. Plus: will Trump's closing mic drop be enough to win voters over?

Sep 11, 202455 min

Wolves in Skin Suits ft. Megan Basham

In a time when the slimmest margins in just a couple of swing states can flip national elections, Democrats are making a play for the pews. Claremont Institute Lincoln Fellow and Daily Wire Reporter Megan Basham joins the editors to discuss her latest book, Shepherds for Sale , which describes a left-wing effort to wield evangelical voting power and moral prestige for woke causes. Plus: Brazil is encroaching on the free speech rights of Americans through sanctions on X/Twitter, while the FBI is ...

Sep 05, 20241 hr 3 minEp. 235

Terms, Conditions, and Amendments

RFK Jr. has stepped out of the presidential race and thrown his weight behind Trump. Will it help, or will he be forced back onto the ballot in swing states by the court? And will RFK’s movement be absorbed by the Right, or remake the Right in its image? Meanwhile, Disney tried to argue that a man couldn’t sue them and would have to go through arbitration because he once signed up for a Disney+ trial and thus was bound to their terms of service. Are infamous terms of service a backdoor to suppre...

Aug 29, 20241 hr 5 minEp. 234

Skin Suits, Clown Suits, and Leap Frogs

As the spectacle of the DNC passes before our screens, the Obamas expertly put a button on the Left's fable of Joe's evanescence and Kamala's rise to greatness. But will it stick, and how far can media hype take Comrade Kamala? She has been surprisingly aggressive about wearing Trump’s campaign policies as a skinsuit, yet simultaneously running economically to the left of...herself and her own administration. Are Americans converging around a particular basket of populist policy positions, and w...

Aug 22, 20241 hr 9 minEp. 233

Will it Matter? ft. Jeffrey H. Anderson

As we hurtle ever closer to the election and headlines fly past left and right, it can be hard to tell which news stories will make a dent, and which will vanish into the memory hole. Spencer and Ryan bring on former Bureau of Justice Statistics Director Jeffrey H. Anderson to game out what major points of late will ultimately help determine the final electoral count, from Walz’s dubious military service claims, to JD Vance’s net worth, to polling, and more! Recommended reading/listening Covid C...

Aug 15, 202456 minEp. 232

Walzing Toward Armageddon

Kamala Harris has chosen her VP, and he's right out of central casting--if you're shooting an episode of Ted Lasso featuring nationwide race riots. That's right, it's Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. It's unclear that this will do much to buttress support for Harris among the "white dudes" she claims to be courting, but she's at least avoided angering the pro-Hamas crowd by not picking Palestine critic Josh Shapiro. Meanwhile, Hamas itself took an L when one of its leaders was assassinated by a bomb...

Aug 07, 202459 minEp. 231

Weird...

The lame duck Biden Administration, in its last-ditch effort to leave a mark on US policy, is threatening to pack the Supreme Court. Is court packing a trial balloon for a future attempt by another Democrat administration, a winning policy issue, or a toothless threat? Meanwhile, another viral TikTok trend has been absorbed into mainstream Democrat rhetoric. After all, arguments are hard: why not just sideye people you don’t like, label them “weird,” and call it a day? Plus: James pulls philosop...

Aug 01, 20241 hr 1 minEp. 230

Kamalapalooza

It's official: Joe Biden has failed to resist the onslaught of pressure from the elites that are really in charge of far-left politics. Kamala Harris is now ascendant, throwing the 2024 election further into chaos. With veepstakes well underway, it seems party elites are already putting a bow on a nice little political coup--in other words, it's “our democracy in action.” Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign has been doing a better job of making him look relatable and rolling with the punches. The editor...

Jul 25, 202457 minEp. 229

Shots Fired, Bullets Dodged

Donald Trump was nearly assassinated last weekend, but for the few degrees of rotation that brought his head out of the bullet’s trajectory at the last possible second. The events surrounding the attempted assassination raise questions about everything from media integrity, to secret service incompetence, to… epistemology? But one thing is certain: Trump has become a world-historic figure. In the days following the attempt on his life, he has named JD Vance his VP pick, and the RNC is well under...

Jul 18, 20241 hr 4 minEp. 228

Re-Platformed

Biden’s debate performance was so horrid that Democrats have taken it as license to wonder openly who else could be their candidate. But is it too little too late? Trump has taken some notes and mellowed out—at least, after his fashion. The GOP, for its part, has adopted a new, slimmed-down and notably altered platform, having gone without one in 2020. The new one hedges on staple issues like abortion, perhaps out of necessity in the current climate. The editors examine the increasingly clear po...

Jul 11, 202459 minEp. 227

Wretched of the Earth, Unite

The Supreme Court ruled in Murthy v. Missouri, that the states of Missouri and Louisiana have no standing to challenge the Biden Administration’s meddling in online speech. So who does? Meanwhile, Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, has reached a plea deal with the US and is now a free man, leaving onlookers to wonder about details of the deal that—ironically—will probably remain secret. Finally, the editors take George Latimer’s expensive primary victory over Jamaal Bowman as occasion to look...

Jun 27, 20241 hr 2 minEp. 226

Russian Sub Summer

Steve Bannon looks to be headed to prison in July as a result of a totally normal and not-at-all political conviction that will take him out of the picture for four of the election campaign's most important months. Nothing to see here! Meanwhile, the CIA's venture cutout In-Q-Tel seems to be gearing up to run its own disinformation campaign. The editors also dive into the antics of environmental activist group Just Stop Oil, which has painted Stonehenge orange so that they can something somethin...

Jun 20, 20241 hr 3 minEp. 225

Hostage Situations

Hunter Biden has been found guilty of lying about his drug habits on an application to obtain a firearm—does it matter? Is this a triumph of impartial justice or a smokescreen to cover up other Biden crimes? Meanwhile, Israel has recovered some of its hostages from Hamas, which you would think is cause for celebration—but not for useful idiots in the Western media. And Europe may be heading rightward as its immigration crisis worsens still further. The editors puzzle through it all and remind yo...

Jun 14, 20241 hr 5 minEp. 224

I wish I Knew How to Quit You

Trump’s enemies can’t seem to let go of their obsession with him, or keep themselves from living up to the worst things he says about them. New York DA Alvin Bragg obtained the felony conviction his supporters have been lusting after since he entered office, upending the legal system in the process. Meanwhile the media ecosystem has already been thoroughly corrupted, in part to protect Biden and Obama from scrutiny over their duplicitous dealings in the middle east. Plus: pride month is a little...

Jun 06, 20241 hr 7 minEp. 223

Sinking Parties… and Piers

The Libertarian Party has rejected RFK in favor of a no-name candidate, Chase Oliver—but he’s a far cry from Libertarians of old. Meanwhile, the US military-built aid pier on Gaza’s coast was hit by harsh seas and will become an artificial reef if not repaired soon, shining a light on the degradation of the military’s infrastructure capabilities. Finally, old recognizes old as the Biden admin trots out Robert De Niro for its latest display of irrelevant celebrities. The editors analyze the headl...

May 30, 202448 minEp. 222

A Dangerous Empire to Lose

Scarlet Johansson is "shocked" and "angered" that even though she declined to voice ChatGPT 4.0, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman seems to have plugged an imitation of her voice into the software. And you thought Her was fiction. Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been confirmed dead after his Vietnam-era helicopter crashed, plunging Iran—already in a precarious political position—into an even more uncertain future. What is the U.S.'s position in all this, and how can we play the bad hand we fi...

May 23, 20241 hr 2 minEp. 221

Borg Scouts

The Boy Scouts abandoned manly virtue for DEI and participation medals long ago. This killed enrollment numbers, but the Scouts are doubling down, rebranding to “Scouting America” and advertising their willingness to accept boys and girls (and presumably enbies) just as they are. Meanwhile, Biden’s particular brand of senile venom was on full display when he crossed himself in the name of abortion. In more heartening news, The Guardian's attempt to dox formerly anonymous X poster “Lomez” seems t...

May 16, 20241 hr 11 minEp. 220

Go See a Star War

Filled with apparent panic at Biden's low standing among "the youth," the Administration pulled out all the stops this week with a press conference featuring...Mark Hamill? Was that the best they could do? Maybe, as student riots and protests continue to emphasize Biden's rowdy kids problem--not that the Right is quite sure how to respond to campus antisemitism, either. Elsewhere in academia, the rolling replicability crisis continues apace, indicating once again that data worship is a mistake. ...

May 09, 20241 hr 1 minEp. 219
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