Episode 91 – Invisible Men with Ian Rowe and Nique Fajors
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Release Date: 09/21/2021
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
In this era of polarization and partisan bickering, Americans of all political persuasions are calling for the nation to come together. National unity is certainly in high demand and highly praised. But what is unity? As Yuval Levin argues in his latest book, , “unity doesn’t mean agreement…disagreement does not foreclose the possibility of unity. A more unified society would not always disagree less, but it would disagree better—that is, more constructively and with an eye to how different priorities and goals can be accommodated. That we have lost some...
info_outlineSaving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
It's the last night of the Democratic National Convention and who better to offer commentary on Kamala Harris' speech than a cross-partisan panel? Join us for a livestream discussion scheduled to take place shortly after Kamala's speech.
info_outlineSaving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
The great fusionist project of ordered liberty advocated by Frank Meyer, William F. Buckley, and M. Stanton Evans is defended and affirmed today by a group calling themselves Freedom Conservatives, or FreeCons. And as most groups of conservatives are wont to do, they have drafted a outlining what they hope to affirm. Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is a proud signatory on this statement and welcomes in this episode one of the two originators of the Statement, Avik Roy, for a wide-ranging discussion on fusionism, how FreeCons may compare and contrast with NatCons, the need for...
info_outlineSaving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Was Abraham Lincoln a racist? Were his efforts at emancipation the mere cold calculations of a politician whose sole aim was to win the Civil War, or do they point to some deeper ideals of America’s first principles? Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is Lincoln historian Dr. Allen C. Guelzo for a wide-ranging conversation on how Lincoln’s efforts at ending slavery and saving the union may provide the clearest example of prudent American statesmanship in practice. About Dr. Allen C. Guelzo Excerpts from the Dr. Allen C. Guelzo is a New York...
info_outlineSaving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
In an age of rampant informalities, shoddy attire, and the kind of milieu that makes a possibility, conservatives stand athwart history yelling STOP! Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is the impeccably dressed Samuel Goldman to explore how conservatism informs the world of fashion, why legendary figures on the Right from Russell Kirk to Albert J Nock to Willmoore Kendall wore such questionably lavish accessories, the connective tissues between intellectual conservatism and 90s era punk rock, and much more. About Samuel Goldman Samuel Goldman is an associate professor of...
info_outlineSaving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
In an age where what passes for the archetype conservative are the likes of , , , , , and Donald Trump, it can be discouraging for those of us who take pride in the rich legacy and colorful history of thinkers on the Right to be associated with such grifters, demagogues, and charlatans. Trying to define conservatism is challenging and trying to compile a list of individuals who best exemplify conservatism is problematic. Yet this is becoming increasingly important in a world where “conservatism” is quickly being coopted by reactionary nationalist populists who have little to...
info_outlineSaving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
In February of 2004 the late Charles Krauthammer delivered the keynote address at . It was a year into the Iraqi war and several years into the War on Terror. Krauthammer’s address—entitled Democratic Realism—lauded much of the Bush administration’s approach to the war, but offered some stern warnings on how the war and rebuilding efforts might go awry. His warnings proved to be profoundly prescient as the following years led to the disillusionment of what broadly (and wrongly) became known as NeoCon foreign policy. What had the Right missed in Krauthammer’s...
info_outlineSaving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
How might music point us to the good, the true, and the beautiful? What is the purpose of music, and we are guilty of misusing it? Why are we so obsessed with Taylor Swift? Musician and conservative journalist Barney Quick joins Josh to discuss how conservatism might better inform our approach to music. Also discussed are whether or not the elephants can be saved at all, how an owning-the-libs approach misses the spirit of conservatism, and whether or not Principles First has lost its first principles. About Barney Quick Barney Quick is a journalist whose work...
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After a stint of episodes taking deep dives into obscure topics, Josh returns to some conservative first-principles by inviting long-time friend of the podcast Cal Davenport on for a wide-ranging discussion on whether or not the fusionist consensus is truly dead, why all the energy in the Right seems to be going towards the NatCons, what’s leading to the rise of populism, how to repackage conservative ideas into digestible slogans, who belongs on the Mt. Rushmore of conservative thought, and how Edmund Burke factors into all of this. Trigger warning for the Straussian listener: this...
info_outlineSaving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
David Bahnsen returns to the podcast to discuss his latest book: . David holds a high view of work and, in an era where self-help gurus are teaching us how to work less to achieve a work/life balance, David wants to shift the paradigm to work/rest and celebrate the productive nature of our being. Also discussed in this episode are what the church gets wrong about work, how each generation brings different challenges and advantages to work culture, universal basic income (UBI), whether the Marxist are right and work under a capitalist system is exploitation, and what the future of...
info_outlineSaving Elephants host Josh Lewis is joined by Ian Rowe and Nique Fajors—two black Harvard Business School graduates—who hope to change the narrative and highlight the positive achievements of black men in the United States. What is wrong with the common narrative surrounding black men? How much has changed over recent decades and are those changes adequately reflected in the narrative?
Ian and Nique host The Invisible Men, a podcast and video platform interviewing successful black men. In the aftermath of Rodney King’s assault by police officers in the 90s and his attackers’ subsequent acquittal, Ian Rowe and Nique Fajors grew weary of a public narrative proclaiming that black men in America were doomed to failure under an oppressive system. A feeling of invisibleness struck both Ian and Nique who were then Harvard Business School classmates as the stories of men like them became increasingly ignored in the public eye. Today, Ian and Nique have resurrected “The Invisible Men” as a video podcast. In their inaugural episode, Ian and Nique share their inspiration behind launching “The Invisible Men” documentary in the 90s and discuss why—30 years later—their message of agency and empowerment is needed more than ever.
About Ian Rowe
Ian Rowe is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on education and upward mobility, family formation, and adoption. Mr. Rowe is also the cofounder of Vertex Partnership Academies, a new network of character-based International Baccalaureate high schools opening in the Bronx in 2022; the chairman of the board of Spence-Chapin, a nonprofit adoption services organization; and the cofounder of the National Summer School Initiative. He concurrently serves as a senior visiting fellow at the Woodson Center and a writer for the 1776 Unites Campaign.
Until July 1, 2020, Mr. Rowe was CEO of Public Prep, a nonprofit network of public charter schools based in the South Bronx and Lower East Side of Manhattan. Before joining Public Prep, he was deputy director of postsecondary success at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, senior vice president of strategic partnerships and public affairs at MTV, director of strategy and performance measurement at the USA Freedom Corps office in the White House, and cofounder and president of Third Millennium Media. Mr. Rowe also joined Teach for America in its early days.
Mr. Rowe has an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was the first black editor-in-chief of The Harbus, the Harvard Business School newspaper; a BS in computer science engineering from Cornell University; and a diploma in electrical engineering from Brooklyn Technical High School (Brooklyn Tech), one of New York City’s elite public schools, which specializes in science, technology, and mathematics.
You can follow Mr. Rowe on Twitter @IanVRowe
About Nique Fajors
Nique Fajors is a business leader in retail, e-Commerce, software entertainment, and organizational development. Mr. Fajors has launched over 85 e-Commerce products and services generating over $2.1 billion. A nationally respected business thought leader, he has been quoted in the New York Times, The Financial Times, and Business Week and been a speaker at TEDx.
You can follow Mr. Fajors on Twitter @NFajors