Episode 67 – The Radio Right with Paul Matzko
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Release Date: 09/15/2020
Episode 99 – The Forgotten Legacy of Willmoore Kendall with Chris Owen
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Few individuals have had as deep an impact on modern conservative thought, yet remain in relative obscurity, as Willmoore Kendall. The conservative English professor Jeffrey Hart said of Kendall that he was "the most important political theorist to have emerged in the twenty-odd years since the end of World War II." Kendall’s writings are thought-provoking, challenging, contentious, scrupulous, and, often, innovative. His analysis and critiques took no prisoners on both the Right and Left, and his prickly personality shattered relationships with friends, family, and spouses...
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Episode 98 – The Deep Places with Ross Douthat
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
New York Times columnist Ross Douthat joins Josh Lewis to talk about his recent memoir . His book tells of his recent journey in battling chronic Lyme disease and his reflections on illness, discovery, and hope. Ross’ story begins prior to the illness in which he was attempting to build the life he’d always dreamed of. “At that moment in my life I only really believed in upside…I wrote my share of words on the problem of evil…usually making the case that much of American Christianity offers people the wrong answers, encouraging them to believe that actually bad...
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Episode 97 – Good Grief with Jimmy Humphrey and Andrew Snyder
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Christmastime is here, a season of joy and merriment, happy gatherings of family and friends, peace on earth and goodwill to all. Both tradition and pop culture remind us that all is merry and bright this time of year. And yet for some who are grieving the holiday season only amplifies sorrow. As the rest of the world is making merry the pains of suffering and loss seem unbearable and profoundly alienating. The British statesman Edmund Burke believed that “beings made for suffering should suffer well.” What are we to do with grief in a season that exacerbates...
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Episode 96 – Conservative Minds with Kyle Sammin and Corey Astill
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Hosts of the podcast Kyle Sammin and Corey Astill join Josh to discuss the timeless questions of what conservatism actually means, how the Left more utopian than they often admit, whether they actually read all eight hundred pages of Whittaker Chambers’ Witness, and which tomes and authors are indispensable to the serious conservative thinker. About Conservative Minds A podcast about conservative ideas and thinkers. Hosts Kyle and Corey explore what it means to call yourself a conservative, where conservatism has been, and where it's going. Each week, they select readings...
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Bonus Episode – America's Future with Ericka Andersen
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
In this re-podcast from America’s Future Facebook live interview, Ericka Andersen interviews Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis about his motivations for launching Saving Elephants. Also discussed are the worsening partisanship and tribalism in recent years and possible solutions to a healthier political dialogue. About Ericka Andersen Ericka Andersen is a freelance writer and digital media marketing professional. Her writings cover addiction, church planting, mental health, politics, policy, culture, fitness, and more for a variety of publications in including the Wall...
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Episode 95 – Reassessing the GOP with Justin Stapley
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
For the Trump-skeptical conservative, the past five years have been dizzyingly disconcerting. We’ve often felt politically homeless and even out of step from the power centers on both the Left and Right. What’s a principled conservative to do? What is the long-term goal of the movement? What future might we practically hope for and what goals are overly optimistic and detached from reality? Returning guest Justin Stapley joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to contemplate the merits of Trump-skeptical conservatives sticking with the GOP and whether the...
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Episode 94 – What's the Matter with Socialism?
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis offers a conservative critique of socialism. It’s hardly news that socialism is gaining in popularity among younger Americans. Yet it’s more difficult to ascertain what Millennials have in mind when they express support for socialism or socialist candidates. Do they mean Marxism or the numerous varieties of Communist authoritarian regimes tried over the past century, European-style “socialism”, democratic socialism, having the state seize the means of production and abolish private property, bolstering labor unions, or some complex...
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Episode 93 – Repainting the Fusionist Fence with James Davenport
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Founded in 1953, the (ISI) has remained on the forefront of the conservative intellectual movement with a particular focus on ensuring college students are equipped with the tools they need to explore the conservative worldview. During the tumultuous begins of the modern conservative movement in the United States, ISI embraced many of the views and adherents of both the libertarian and traditionalist wings of the movements. Today, ISI is yet again navigating the divisions on the Right as they seek to maintain a platform where these embattled factions can meet together and debate...
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Episode 92 – The Spice of Life
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
As the old adage goes, variety is the spice of life. And the conservative heartily agrees. Variety, not uniformity, is what gives life its vitality and each life the potential for self-actualization and the opportunity for each of us to develop in our own unique way. But is variety compatible with equality? What do we mean by equality, and how might equality be established? What is the relationship between equality, progress, and justice? In this solo episode, Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis explores what conservatism has to say about variety and equality...
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Episode 91 – Invisible Men with Ian Rowe and Nique Fajors
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Saving 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 , 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’...
info_outlineMany Evangelicals and conservatives share an embattlement mindset. Somehow we’re always losing the culture wars despite political gains and cultural acceptance, and even when we’re in the majority politically or enjoy unprecedented influence we can’t shake the feeling that the other shoe is about to drop. No majority, position, or gain is ever secure and we’re just one election away from losing everything.
But where does this embattlement mindset come from? Is it simply crackpot paranoia? Is there something embedded in the histories of the Right and Evangelicalism that gives this mindset an air of legitimacy? Or is it a little bit of both?
Paul Matzko joins Josh to answer these questions by exploring the murky histories of the radio Right in the 1960s, Kennedy’s successful efforts at censoring opposition, and the cultural significance of Evangelicals’ evolution from The Painter of Light Thomas Kinkade to The Painter of Trump Jon McNaughton.
Paul Matzko is a historian (PhD, Penn State) specializing in the intersection of politics and religion in twentieth century America. His work also draws from media studies, public choice economics, gender studies, and social movement theory.
Paul’s book The Radio Right, was published earlier this year, which tells the story of the 1960s far Right, who were frustrated by what they perceived to be liberal bias in the national media, particularly the media's sycophantic relationship with the John F. Kennedy administration. His book provides the essential pre-history for the last four decades of conservative activism, as well as the historical context for current issues of political bias and censorship in the media.
Paul has taught multiple courses at Penn State, both on campus and online, and worked as an adjunct at Princeton University. He is currently the Assistant Editor for Tech and Innovation at Libertarianism.org, an outreach of the Cato Institute, where he runs a regular column and also hosts a podcast on emerging technology called Building Tomorrow. He cohosts the Impolitic podcast dedicated to friendly conversations on politics, culture, and history from the standpoint of his own libertarian views and the socialists views of his friend Sean Trainor.
Paul can be found on Twitter @PMatzko