113 – It's Greek to Me with Christopher Chesny
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Release Date: 08/16/2022
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
The immortal words of the —We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness—are etched upon the hearts of American patriots today and knit us together with patriots down through the ages. Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is joined by Hillsdale professor Brad Birzer as they delve into the depths of this most remarkable of political texts and explore the origins of the ideas that birthed our nation. About Brad Birzer From...
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Whether you call it the Semiquincentennial or the Sestercentennial; whether you’re on team Red, Blue, or politically homeless; whether you believe Die Hard is a movie about Independence Day; America’s 250th birthday is something worth celebrating. So how best to ring in this once-in-a-lifetime advent? Saving Elephants has assembled a panel to reflect on what it means for America to turn the big 250.
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Richard Weaver was a twentieth century American scholar and rhetorician whose writings were praised by the likes of Russell Kirk, William F. Buckley, Willmoore Kendall, and Frank Meyer. But nowadays Weaver is either derided as a racially charged Southern sympathizer or . If he’s discussed at all. Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is Michael Lucchese, whose latest essay in defends Weaver’s contributions to the intellectual Right and argues his writings are still instructive for the conservative today. This episode explores Weaver’s actual views on the South...
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What if we can agree on the political solution, but we disagree on whose side is most likely to benefit? Congress is broken. On this we can all agree. One of the more interesting reform ideas to emerge is the call to expand the number of Representatives in the United States House, thereby making it more likely Representatives could actually, you know, represent their constituents. This idea seems to have some bipartisan appeal and is championed by voices on both the Left and Right. But doesn’t it stand to reason that any reform to the system is bound to favor one side over...
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In 1976 historian George H. Nash wrote , a celebrated historical accounting that established much of the narrative for how we think about the development of modern conservatism even today. But much has changed since the seventies. What can the history of conservatism tell us about this present moment, and what can it tell us about where things may be heading? Dr. Nash joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to unravel the past, present, and future of conservatism in the United States. About George H. Nash George H. Nash is the epitome of a gentleman and a scholar. ...
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Persuasion seems conspicuously absent from our politics. Not shouting, denouncing, or trying to convince the “other side” that they’re wrong, evil, or both. But the good faithed attempt to reach the hearts, minds, and emotions of others and persuade them to our point of view. Why? Why is persuasion so hard? And is it even possible to persuade in an era of political polarization? Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis welcomes fellow “Josh”—Josh Bandoch—on the show to discuss his latest book, , and to explore how persuasion can engage with how the...
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Sometimes the best way to understand one’s culture is to compare it with something entirely different. In this episode Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis take a deep dive into China with Chinese dissident Lu of the YouTube channel . Lu demystifies what the Communist Chinese Party (CCP) wants, why they fear Taiwan, how they view the ethnic Han population, why they work so hard to cover up the history of the Tiananmen Square massacre when far more people died in the great famine and the cultural revolution, and just who the heck is this “professor” Jiang Xueqin who’s been all over...
info_outlineSaving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
This month marks eight years of Saving Elephants tirelessly calling the GOP back to its classical conservative roots instead of the cult-of-personality nationalist populism to which the party has succumbed. And over these past eight years...things have only gotten worse. Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis assembles an all-star panel to answer the question: is the GOP worth saving? Meet the Panelists: Shawn Whatley Shawn Whatley hosts , a weekly podcast focusing on political ideas, culture, and news. Shawn, MD, is a seasoned physician leader with experience in emergency...
info_outlineSaving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Friendship is one of the last words you might associate with politics these days. Yet John von Heyking believes recovering a proper, classical understanding of friendship is precisely what our civic order needs to function. Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis and John discuss the differences in how the ancients and medievals viewed friendship and how it’s been undervalued by us moderns. They also discuss the important need for civic education and why America has to import Canadians like John to teach American civics. About John von Heyking Bio from John von...
info_outlineSaving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
It's been nearly a month since Supreme Leader Khamenei and his gathered Legion of Doom were killed in the Trump administration's "special military operation" in Iran. So, are we at war with Iran now? If so, what's the objective? Isn't Congress supposed to declare a war before a president takes things this far? What are the necessary and practical limits on a president's wartime powers? We covered all of this and more in the latest Saving Elephants livestream. The panelists include: · JB Shreve – Host of ...
info_outlineThe Orthodox Christian faith is a growing yet tiny minority in the Christendom body in the United States. Yet they are growing in strength and numbers on the broader American Right. Which suggests that Orthodoxy may exert its influence on the conservative movement of the future. What traditions does the faith hold that may bolster and modify conservatism? What challenges are there in seeking to fuse a predominantly Eastern religion with the politics of the West? How do practicing Orthodox view Russia’s war in Ukraine? Can Orthodoxy be a gateway for those who become radicalized on the Right? Returning guest and Greek Orthodox practitioner Christopher Chesny joins Josh to answer all this and more.
About Christopher Chesny
Christopher Chesny is a conservative activist who has been involved in Republican and conservative politics for almost two decades. After his political awakening at a young age after the 2000 Election and 9/11, he began to engage in the public policy process in a myriad of ways before graduating high school, and that engagement has continued through college up to the present day. This has included academic public policy research, journalism covering state governmental bodies including legislatures and executive and judicial branch agencies, being elected to various party offices and as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention, lobbying legislators for conservative causes both in an activist and professional capacity, managing social media accounts for conservative groups, and most significantly volunteering and sometimes professionally managing and consulting political campaigns in multiple states across the country.
Currently living in Virginia outside of Washington, D.C., Christopher was born in Oklahoma City and grew up outside Tulsa, and received his B.A. with a Major in Political Science and Minors in History and Economics from Arizona State University, and later his Master's Degree in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma. Besides specializing in American political history and psephology (the study of elections) since the Second World War, he is a fan of history and geography from most every era in most every part of the world, especially the history of different religious faiths. Besides keeping up with current events, he is also an armchair cinephile and an avid fan of both classical music and rock 'n roll, especially alternative rock and its offshoots from the 1980s through to the present day.
You can find Chris on Twitter at @ChrisChesny89