127 – 40 Must-Read Conservative Books – Part 2
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Release Date: 03/21/2023
192 – Remnant Redux with Jonah Goldberg
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Jonah Goldberg makes his triumphal return to Saving Elephants where host Josh Lewis peppers him with unyielding questions on what his fourth and forthcoming book will be about, the practicality of setting lottery winnings as a life-goal, what a post-Trump GOP might look like, whether it makes sense to even “save” the elephants, and whether we should welcome human enslavement to our future AI overlords. Remnant fans, have your bingo cards at the ready! About Jonah Goldberg From Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief and co-founder of , based in Washington, D.C. Prior to...
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191 – Canceling Caylan with Caylan Ford
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
In 2019 Caylan Ford resigned her political candidacy in Canada after controversy over allegations of her echoing white nationalist rhetoric. In spite of her resignation—and continual insistence she held no such views—the mobs of cancel culture demanded “justice”. She was blacklisted from employers, unable to continue work with organizations that seek to liberate people living under the yoke of totalitarianism, ostracized by friends and colleagues, attacked and trolled online, and shunned by her community. Caylan joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to share her...
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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
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...
info_outlineThe conservative tradition embodies centuries of accumulated wisdom from some of the brightest and most inspiring thinkers you’ll find. Yet for the young conservative eager to learn more about this tradition, choosing which books to read can be a daunting task.
Most online lists of top conservative books contain familiar titles of classic tomes that inspire and challenge readers to this day. Yet far too often such lists also include authors such as Charlie Kirk, Ann Coulter, Sebastian Gorka, Dinesh D’Souza, Dan Bongino, and Mike Lindell who, while they may be gifted at inflicting liberal tears, have nothing of value to say on behalf of their supposed conservative convictions. There is so much more to conservatism than owning the libs and brandishing firearms in your social media profile picture. What’s more, many lists are inflated with works on libertarian, patriotic, religious, or cultural topics that, important though they may be, are only tangential to conservatism.
It is particularly challenging for us younger conservatives to cut through the noise on the Right today to explore the deeper, auspicious truths of our rich heritage. As such, I’ve compiled a list of 40 must-read conservative books worth your time and attention for this episode. Whether you read all, some, or only one below, you will be getting a healthy dose of conservative thought that cuts through the banality of most political discourse and gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a conservative.
It would be an impossibility to rank these books in order of importance, relevance, insightfulness, readability, etc. As such, I have opted to list the titles alphabetically. There is no perfect place to start; just find a book that strikes your interest and dive in!
In this episode I cover the second twenty books in the list. If you want to hear the first twenty check out episode 126. Here are the books I cover in this episode:
Heaven Can Indeed Fall: The Life of Willmoore Kendall – Christopher Owen
How to be a Conservative – Roger Scruton
I, Pencil – Leonard Read
Ideas Have Consequences – Richard Weaver
In Defense of Freedom and Related Essays – Frank Meyer
Intellectuals and Society – Thomas Sowell
Natural Right and History – Leo Strauss
Neo-conservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea – Irving Kristol
The Quest for Community – Robert Nisbet
Rationalism in Politics – Michael Oakeshott
The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism – Leo Strauss
Reflections on the Revolution in France – Edmund Burke
The Right – Matthew Continetti
The Road to Serfdom – F. A. Hayek
Suicide of the West – Jonah Goldberg
The Vision of the Anointed – Thomas Sowell
The Theft of a Decade – Joseph Sternberg
Them – Ben Sasse
What Is Conservatism? – Frank Meyer
Witness – Whittaker Chambers