A Conversation With Dinesh D’Souza
Bookworm Room's Podcast
What do Israel’s uncertain election results, America’s looming midterms, Donald Trump’s approach to Iran, and biblical archaeology have in common? They’re all subjects in my wide-ranging conversation with author, filmmaker, and political commentator Dinesh D’Souza. We discuss Netanyahu’s political prospects, the failures that allowed October 7 to happen, Trump’s successes and shortcomings, the growing radicalism of the Democrat party, and whether Republicans can hold on to Congress. D’Souza also offers an interesting perspective on Trump’s foreign policy: The president...
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Minnesota Election Shenanigans, San Francisco Insanity, And The Affordability Myth
Bookworm Room's Podcast
Minnesota’s election laws are supposed to protect the integrity of the vote, but do they instead invite fraud? I look at the state’s astonishing voter-vouching system, James O’Keefe’s undercover investigation, and the decision to prosecute O’Keefe and Cam Higby. Thanks to the Streisand effect, that prosecution may have exposed Minnesota’s election practices to far more scrutiny than the authorities ever intended. I also explain why I believe election practices in one state can undermine the voting rights of Americans everywhere. Then it’s on to San Francisco, where city officials...
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Troy A. Miller On Faith, Politics, And America’s Future
Bookworm Room's Podcast
In this wide-ranging conversation, Andrea Widburg speaks with Troy A. Miller, president and CEO of , an association of Christian communicators, about why so many Christians stay on the political sidelines despite holding strong moral convictions. They explore the misunderstood separation of church and state, the chilling effect of the Johnson Amendment on political speech from the pulpit, and why religious values are no less legitimate in the public square than secular ones. The conversation also examines the growing influence of Christian media, younger Americans’ search for faith, truth,...
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The Left’s Astonishing Lack of Nuance and Imagination
Bookworm Room's Podcast
In this podcast, I explore two defining weaknesses of the modern left: a lack of nuance and a failure of imagination. Beginning with a Scottish museum's absurd decision to remove ancient Egyptian mummies out of respect for the dead, I examine how progressives increasingly ignore context, intention, and human complexity. From gun control and Obamacare to Islamism and identity-obsessed academic psychology, I argue that people who pride themselves on empathy and tolerance are often astonishingly incapable of imagining that other people might think, believe, or want something entirely different....
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Europe’s Unrest And The 2028 Republican Presidential Race
Bookworm Room's Podcast
In today’s podcast, I start with the growing violence in Europe, where the alliance between Islamists and leftists raises troubling questions about whether Europeans still have the will to defend their civilization. Then I turn to American politics, where J.D. Vance’s suggestion that he might sit out the 2028 presidential race makes me wonder whether Marco Rubio’s rising star—and Vance’s continued association with Tucker Carlson—might have something to do with that decision.
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Why The Political Party That Rejects Antisemitism Is The Better Bet
Bookworm Room's Podcast
I’ve realized that I’ve become a single-issue voter—but probably not for the reason you’d expect. In this podcast, I explain why antisemitism, abortion, euthanasia, statism, and the value of individual human life all connect for me, and why that connection now shapes how I look at politics. It’s a blunt argument about life, death, liberty, and the moral divide between the parties—and why I think that divide matters more than any one candidate.
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Don’t Let Young People Fill Their Moral Vacuum With Sharia
Bookworm Room's Podcast
What happens when a culture celebrates sexual freedom but leaves young people without a moral compass? I revisit the Cornell fraternity controversy to explore shame, personal responsibility, and the double standard surrounding intoxication and consent. Then I consider young people’s search for traditional faith—and troubling polling about their attitudes toward Sharia law. If the next generation is hungry for meaning and clear standards, what are we offering them? Sources: The New York Times’s “How a Cornell Student Went From Shame to Action”: Rasmussen Reports’ “Sharia...
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The Double Standard Of Drunken Sex
Bookworm Room's Podcast
If everyone involved is drunk, drugged, and making terrible decisions, why is one person presumed incapable of consent while the others are presumed fully responsible? Using the Cornell rape allegations and the Brock Turner case, I challenge the double standard surrounding intoxication, sexual consent, and personal responsibility—and ask whether our culture has confused bad judgment with criminal intent. The 2019 ABC News report is here: https://abcnews.com/US/humiliated-chanel-miller-survivor-brock-turner-sex-assault/story?id=65821466
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An interview with Ruel Domi: Populism, Socialism, European Politics
Bookworm Room's Podcast
American Thinker editor Andrea Widburg sits down with writer Ruel Domi, an Albanian-born graduate student who brings a distinctly European perspective to American politics. They discuss Europe’s economic and political troubles, immigration and assimilation, what “right” and “left” mean on opposite sides of the Atlantic, and why socialism has become so attractive to younger Americans. Along the way, they find plenty to agree about—and a few things worth arguing over.
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Even At Their Worst, Republicans Are Better Than Democrats
Bookworm Room's Podcast
The only thing that will help Republicans win this fall is if the hardcore political types—the types who read political sites all year long, not just in the lead-up to presidential elections—vote. In other words, this is a vote for the base. However, too often, Republicans are so caught up in the need for political perfection that they take their marbles and go home rather than vote. This podcast concedes that those of you unhappy about Republicans, whether regarding the economy, foreign policy, immigration, or anything else, are absolutely right. Trump and the Republicans, I admit, solely...
info_outlineHelp me develop a polite, persuasive argument to challenge a young friend of mine who has bought into the media narrative about right-wing extremism.
I have a young friend — my children’s age — who is an extremely bright, thoughtful, and (so he believes) informed young man who wants to pursue a graduate degree in politics and terrorism. His biggest concern is “right-wing extremism in America.”
When I first heard this, my initial impulse was to say, “That’s just wrong. It’s a stupid Leftist lie. You’re being brainwashed. If you want to make a difference in the world, tackle left-wing extremism.”
Fortunately, I’ve finally figured out that insulting people is not the way to get them to agree with you. There are better persuasion techniques. Because I respect my young friend’s intelligence, I want to take some time to assemble an argument that will present data in a way that challenges his beliefs without insulting his intelligence. This post represents the first draft of that email.
Maybe it’s my legal training, but I believe that one of the best ways to challenge an argument is to start by identifying bias, both my own and the bias of the person(s) advocating the opposite view. I’ve been open with my friend about my bias. My problem is to convince him that the media from which he gets his ideas about right-wing extremism is biased too. Very biased.
The other day on his podcast, Andrew Klavan played two videos, one of the media celebrating Trump’s anticipated downfall and the other celebrating Obama’s allegedly scandal-free presidency. In both videos, raw partisanship is on display. The video below is Andrew Klavan’s show, which I’ve queued up to those back-to-back videos, starting at 19:15:
[To read the rest, rather than listening to the podcast, please go here.]