141 – The Soul of Civility with Alexandra Hudson
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Release Date: 10/17/2023
205 – Radical Experimentation in Liberty with Brad Birzer
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...
info_outline
Roundtable - America, 250 Years Young
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
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.
info_outline
204 – Weaving Thru Weaver with Michael Lucchese
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
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...
info_outline
Roundtable - Should We Uncap The House?
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
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...
info_outline
203 – Historizing Conservatism with George Nash
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
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. ...
info_outline
202 – How to Get What You Want with Josh Bandoch
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
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...
info_outline
201 – All Things China with Lu
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
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_outline
200 – Is the GOP Worth Saving?
Saving 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_outline
199 – Getting Friendly with John von Heyking
Saving 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_outline
Roundtable - POTUS War Powers
Saving 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_outlineEveryone supports civility, in theory, when the “other side” is behaving themselves. But what is the role of civility in an era of growing political division? Is civility a weakness that can be exploited by our political opponents? Is it simply being well-mannered and exceedingly nice, or is there more to it?
Those are the very questions Alexandra Hudson set out to answer in her new book, The Soul of Civility. Alexandra joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to unpackage how civility holds the timeless answers for humanity’s timeless struggle with living alongside the “other side”.
About Alexandra Hudson
From Alexandra’s website:
Alexandra Hudson is a writer, popular speaker, and the founder of Civic Renaissance, a publication and intellectual community dedicated to beauty, goodness and truth. She was named the 2020 Novak Journalism Fellow, and contributes to Fox News, CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, TIME Magazine, POLITICO Magazine, and Newsweek. She earned a master’s degree in public policy at the London School of Economics as a Rotary Scholar, and is an adjunct professor at the Indiana University Lilly School of Philanthropy. She is also the creator of a series for The Teaching Company called Storytelling and The Human Condition. She lives in Indianapolis, IN with her husband and children.
But wait, there’s more…
During the conversation Josh and Alexandra briefly discuss Edmund Burke’s take on social contract theory. This is a complex issue and there simply wasn’t adequate time to explore it fully. So, after the conversation with Alexandra, Josh shares his thoughts on how Burke’s understanding of social contract theory might rescue Lockean liberalism from being merely a tool of the Left to something conservatives can embrace themselves.