Episode 47 - Wonkish Optimism with Andy Smarick
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Release Date: 12/17/2019
Roundtable - Taking Federalism Seriously
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
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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190 – Biographizing Buckley with Sam Tanenhaus
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
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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189 – Rescuing the American Project with Nathan Brown and Robert Haglund
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
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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Roundtable - The Kids are all Alt-Right
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
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
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188 – The UnLeft with J.J. McCullough
Saving 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...
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Bonus Episode - My Conversation / Intervention with Justin Stapley
Saving 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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187 – Audaciously Aspirational with John Wilsey
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
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...
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Roundtable - Combating Political Violence
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
In the wake of Charlie Kirk's shocking assassination, Americans are bracing for further political attacks. But is further violence inevitable? And what can be done to prevent things from escalating? Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis assembles a roundtable to discuss these sobering and important issues. The panelists include: - Host of - Host of - Host of - Host of - Host of
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186 – Conservative Canucks with Shawn Whatley
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Is Trump correct that Canada is destined to be America’s 51st state? Or is there simply too much distinction between Canada and the United States to collapse us both into one homogenous mess? If conservatives in the U.S. are trying to conserve the American revolution, what are Canadian conservatives hoping to conserve? How might these two liberty-loving nations help each other better understand each other through comparison? Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is Shawn Whatley to make sense of it all. About Shawn Whatley Shawn Whatley hosts , a weekly...
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185 – Inventing Conservatism with Daniel J. Flynn
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Few forerunners of the modern conservative movement are as important, little known, and underappreciated as Frank Meyer. Meyer possessed the IT factor that made women want him and men want to be associated with him. He used that in his early years to advance Marxism in England—building an impressive Marxist organization that had the attention of UK’s government, dating the Prime Minister’s daughter while calling for the violent overthrow of the Prime Minister’s government, and becoming a national celebrity as the nation debated whether he should be exiled. But later...
info_outlineAs Republicans look ahead to the end of the Trump presidency (whether that’s a year away or five years out) many are beginning to ask, “what does a post-Trump GOP look like?”
For conservatives who have spent the past three years as outcasts from a party increasingly given to populist nationalism, the prospects are both exciting and worrying. Will things ‘go back to normal’? Will the Republican party once again be the home of conservatism? Or has Trump permanently changed things? And, if so, how much has changed?
Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is joined by Andy Smarick who holds an optimistic view of what the future has in store for conservatives. His recent article in The Bulwark entitled The Post-Trump GOP argues that few presidents have had a lasting impact on their party, and that Trump is even less likely leave his mark as “Trumpism has failed in terms of principles, people, and popularity.”
But it’s not enough to hope for the end of populist nationalism in the GOP. Conservatives must have something better to offer as an alternative. And to that end, Andy makes his case for why conservatism has a rich and deep heritage that will long outlast the Age of Trump.
Andy Smarick is the Director, of Civil Society, Education and Work at R Street, a free-market think tank with a pragmatic approach to public policy challenges. We draw inspiration from such thinkers as Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek, Ronald H. Coase, James M. Buchanan and Arthur C. Pigou. Andy researches and writes about civil-society issues at R Street, including localism, governing institutions, education and social entrepreneurship.
Before joining R Street, Andy was a Morgridge Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and served as president of the Maryland State Board of Education. Prior to that, he worked at the White House as an aide in the Domestic Policy Counsel and was a deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education. He was also the deputy commissioner of education in New Jersey and a legislative assistant at the U.S. House of Representatives.
Andy has authored or edited four books The Urban School System of the Future: Applying the Principles and Lessons of Chartering (2012); Closing America’s High-achievement Gap: A Wise Giver’s Guide to Helping Our Most Talented Students Reach Their Full Potential (2013); Catholic School Renaissance: A Wise Giver’s Guide to Strengthening a National Asset (2015); and No Longer Forgotten: The Triumphs and Struggles of Rural Education in America (2018).
Andy earned his bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude and with honors, in government and politics from the University of Maryland, and his master’s in public management from UMD’s School of Public Policy. He lives in Stevensville, Maryland with his wife and three kids.