This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.comPresident Ryan Williams reports on the Claremont Institute's Lincoln fellowship. On the docket: America’s political economy and the utility of tariffs, RFK’s new dietary guidelines, and more!

“Woke One was crazy.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, questioned this week on ABC about a fellow Democratic Socialist’s call to cancel Thanksgiving in 2020, rolled out a new messaging strategy for the Left. Woke 2 will try to distance itself from COVID-era messaging while still demanding that America be transformed to suit its latest grievance coalition. Plus: inflation of the racial oppression narrative, and the purge of liberal arts colleges.Recommended:AOC can’t escape ‘Woke One’Why I Quit the Tenure Track This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.comCommon good discourse, recently a central topic of right-wing discussion, suffered distortions as it became a catch-all term for the worst fears of the Trump-deranged. Now, as Trump’s possible heir, J.D. Vance has occasioned new debate over the term, its meaning, and its future. How much involvement should the government have in private morality? And is Vance truly "post-liberal"?

Jason Arday, who rocketed to academic stardom as the youngest black professor at Cambridge, now faces claims that his PhD thesis contains plagiarism. That's not all: huge portions of his story seem likely to be fabricated, from a supposed brain surgery days before his defense, to an appearance on the documentary Seven Up. But is Arday really the problem? It seems the institutional decay goes much deeper. This week, hosts Spencer and Mike discuss the necessity of a reckoning in the academies. Plus: is America having a Catholic moment? Or is she an irrevocably Protestant nation?Recommended:Questions Mount Over a Star Scholar’s Life and CareerA Catholic Moment or an Evangelical Century?The Political Theory of the American Founding This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.comNew York mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration announced a special pied-à-terre tax on non-primary residences in an attempt to price out affluent owners—noting down properties and owners who might be subject to it in a publicly available list. As the Democratic Socialists rise to take the lead of Democratic politics, how will Republicans respond?

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu entered meetings with Trump this week to discuss their respective wars with Russia and Iran. Will Trump shift strategies to bring an end to the conflicts in time for the midterms? Will Thibeau, director of the American Military Project, joins the guys to survey the battlefield and its implications. Meanwhile, Senator Rand Paul released pages of Fauci’s COVID-era diary ahead of the ex-public health official’s appearance before a Senate committee, prompting a retrospective on the dark days of lockdown.Recommended:US military is powerful enough to crush enemies, but can it defeat their ‘final 10%?’ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.comFaced with ever-greater housing costs, Millennials and Gen Z are finding little comfort in the decreased price of luxury goods like TVs and phones. Despite traditional indicators, today's economic landscape is far grimmer than the one the Boomers faced. How will America bridge this generational disconnect to restore a sense of civilizational continuity?

President Trump this week has announced a set of 50 percent tariffs on various Canadian goods, with a 30-day window to negotiate before they are imposed. In retaliation against Canada’s quotas on American cars and alcohol, Trump proposes to levy tariffs on wine, hockey sticks, and cement. But does it serve America and the Right ahead of midterms? Meanwhile, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearings, following the dismissal of Pam Bondi, give a snapshot of the Right's shifting composition ahead of midterms. Plus: Lindsey Graham, RIP.Recommended:Let’s Not Do That Again This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Marco Rubio declared a crusade against the International Criminal Court, citing the ICC’s aim to deny America its sovereignty on behalf of globalist elites. But the New York Times recently reported that the U.S. is managing Venezuela’s oil export revenue. Does the "Donroe Doctrine” run against the administration's wider outlook on nationalism? Meanwhile, two fatal ICE shootings, in Maine and Houston, call into question if the public can stomach immigration enforcement ahead of the midterms. Plus: Thoughts on Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey and Young Washington.Recommended:The Viceroy of Venezuela This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.comGraham Platner, a self-proclaimed communist and the Democrats’ former working-class role player in Maine’s Senate election, has withdrawn his candidacy following allegations of sexual misconduct. The Left has now jettisoned Platner despite mainstream media attempts to downplay his reported behavior. Can the Left appeal to the white working class when they so obviously despise it?