Episode 14 - The Price of Greatness with Jay Cost
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Release Date: 09/04/2018
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Jonah Goldberg makes his triumphal return to Saving Elephants where host Josh Lewis peppers him with unyielding questions on what his fourth and forthcoming book will be about, the practicality of setting lottery winnings as a life-goal, what a post-Trump GOP might look like, whether it makes sense to even “save” the elephants, and whether we should welcome human enslavement to our future AI overlords. Remnant fans, have your bingo cards at the ready! About Jonah Goldberg From Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief and co-founder of , based in Washington, D.C. Prior to...
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In 2019 Caylan Ford resigned her political candidacy in Canada after controversy over allegations of her echoing white nationalist rhetoric. In spite of her resignation—and continual insistence she held no such views—the mobs of cancel culture demanded “justice”. She was blacklisted from employers, unable to continue work with organizations that seek to liberate people living under the yoke of totalitarianism, ostracized by friends and colleagues, attacked and trolled online, and shunned by her community. Caylan joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to share her...
info_outlineSaving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
William F Buckley was one of the most important figures in the conservative movement over the past century. His posthumous 100th birthday is Monday, November 24. Come celebrate the life and legacy of Buckley as our Saving Elephant panelists pay tribute to a conservative life well lived. Panelists include: - CEO of Michael Lucchese - Founder and CEO of - Podcaster, professor, ect.
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Returning to the Founders' blueprint for dividing power across federal, state, and local governments may be the greatest weapon we have to reverse the appalling state of our politic divisiveness. What is federalism? And what would a recommitment to federalism look like? Saving Elephants welcomes panelists from the State Policy Network and the Acton Institute to discuss what it means to take federalism seriously again. The panelists include: Brooke Medina - VP of Comms with the State Policy Network Jenn Butler - Sr Policy Advisor with the State Policy Network Dan Hugger - Librarian and...
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There are four faces on the Saving Elephants’ Mount Rushmore of great conservatives: Edmund Burke, Russell Kirk, Thomas Sowell, and William F. Buckley. While the first three have each had fully episodes dedicated to their life and works, William F. Buckley has yet to be explored at length. And with Buckley’s posthumous 100th birthday happening later this month, now is the perfect time to reflect on his long and remarkable life. Sam Tanehaus’ decades-in-the-making biography of Buckley was published earlier this year and he joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to cover...
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Those who identify as pro-immigration and pro-nationalist are often at odds with one another. But what if a healthy dose of nationalism is the very thing that could bolster our immigration? Nathan Brown and Robert Haglund argue in their new book that “much of the dysfunction in contemporary American politics is a consequence of the failure by our elites to understand the crucial relationship between immigration and nationalism.” Nathan and Robert join Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to explore the history and controversy of immigration in America, what the Left and the...
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Does the Right have a radical problem, particularly among young men? Saving Elephants assembles another insightful panel to offer their...insights. The panelists include: - President of America's Future - Proffessor at the University of Pikeville - VP of NoCapFund Lura Forcum - President of the
info_outlineSaving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Disillusioned with the rigidity of political tribalism, J.J. McCullough left his role as conservative journalist and commentator and became a content creator. His YouTube channel, offers his one million subscribers weekly deep dives about countries, cultures, and Canada. But while politics is not the focus of his channel, some of his content is still tinged with the overtures of his past life. J.J. joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to discuss how his political philosophy can inform his work without his work being subsumed to a set of ideological commitments, how this...
info_outlineSaving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Justin Stapley and I have been on similar journeys these past many years seeking to better understand our worldviews and the ever-changing political moment and how best to restore sanity and integrity to our politics. But while I've been diligently producing podcast episodes for these past seven years, Justin has launched a dizzying array of projects. In his own words: There's an ongoing joke between myself and that every time I'm on his podcast, I've rebranded. And he's not necessarily wrong, lol. Here's the various blogs and efforts I've done since 2016... Never Tyranny was my...
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One cannot BE a conservative. One can only aspire to conservatism. So says John Wilsey in his new book . Perhaps Roger Scruton’s was a worthy endeavor but too audacious of a title. John Wilsey joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to flesh out the aspirational nature of conservatism and how it grounds the individual. They explore the religious roots of American conservatism and the challenges of bringing up a new generation of conservatives without the giants of the past conservatives had to look to for inspiration and encouragement. About John Wilsey...
info_outlineHas American politics always been this divisive? Would you believe it was once much worse?
National Review columnist and visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Jay Cost joins us to discuss how a difference of opinion in the early days of the American republic led to a fight that can still be felt today.
Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton and James Madison went from being close allies to bitter political opponents shortly after the nation was formed. Jay Cost’s latest book— The Price of Greatness–tells the story of how this epic rivalry between two great men laid the groundwork for much of our political strife today. His message is important in understanding part of what makes our politics so divisive and how we can overcome that division.
In addition to National Review and the American Enterprise Institute, Jay’s work can be found at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Weekly Standard, and various other notable publications. Jay has written three books: “The Price of Greatness: James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and the Creation of American Oligarchy”(Basic Books, June 2018); “A Republic No More: Big Government and the Rise of Political Corruption”(Encounter Books, 2015); and “Spoiled Rotten: How the Politics of Patronage Corrupted the Once Noble Democratic Party and Now Threatens the American Republic”(Broadside Books, 2012).
According to his AEI bio, his interests are broadly focused on civic republicanism in the United States, with emphases on the political theory of James Madison, the problem of political corruption, the role of political parties, the development of civic institutions over time, and the power and responsibility of Congress. He writes and speaks frequently on American elections, with a special attention on placing contemporary trends in historical context.
As will be evident throughout the episode—Jay has a commanding knowledge of U.S. history and its impact on our political world. If you enjoy the discussion but have an unquenchable thirst for more, I’d highly recommend you buy the book and then truck on over to the podcast Jay and his colleague Luke Thompson cohost called Constitutionally Speaking; a show about how the Constitution works and how it was put together.