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Episode 85 – Strong Towns with Charles Marohn

Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

Release Date: 06/15/2021

Roundtable - Buckley Turns 100 show art Roundtable - Buckley Turns 100

Saving 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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Roundtable - Taking Federalism Seriously show art 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 show art 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 show art 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 show art 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 show art 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 show art 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 show art 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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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 show art 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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More Episodes

For thousands of years the ways in which cities and towns developed has provided us with a of blueprint for what human habitats need to flourish.  Yet today many of our cities and towns have forsaken these tried-and-true methods and instead imposed rational planning and an overreliance on pricey infrastructure projects to foster growth and further development.  What are the potential downfalls of departing from these practices of the past?

 

Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is joined by Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns to traverse the world of urban planning and discuss the need for a return to the ancient models of development, the terrible costs of over-indebted infrastructure projects to younger Americans, whether or not Wal-Mart is a net boon or detriment to local communities, and how conservatism can help us form a more prosperous and enjoyable world.

 

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About Charles Marohn

Charles (or “Chuck” to friends and colleagues) Marohn is the founder and president of Strong Towns, a nonprofit that supports thousands of people across the United States and Canada who are advocating for a radically new way of thinking about the way we build our world.  Marohn is a professional engineer and a land use planner with decades of experience.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning, both from the University of Minnesota.

 

Marohn is the author of Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity (Wiley, 2019).  He hosts the Strong Towns Podcast and is a primary writer for Strong Towns’ web content.  He has presented Strong Towns concepts in hundreds of cities and towns across North America.  Planetizen named him one of the 10 Most Influential Urbanists of all time.  He is a long-time commentator on KAXE Northern Community Radio.  He currently co-hosts KAXE’s Dig Deep program, a monthly examination of public policy issues affecting Minnesotans.

 

Marohn grew up on a small farm in central Minnesota.  The oldest of three sons of two elementary school teachers, he joined the Minnesota National Guard on his seventeenth birthday during his junior year of high school and served in the Guard for nine years.  In addition to being passionate about building a stronger America, he loves playing music, is an obsessive reader, and religiously follows his favorite team, the Minnesota Twins.  Chuck and his wife live with their two daughters in their hometown of Brainerd, Minnesota.  You can find him on Twitter @clmarohn

 

Listener Mail

Josh responds to a listener’s question about conservatism’s challenges with appealing to minorities and whether our nation’s institutions are worth conserving given the history of American slavery and other past sins.