Libsyn Directory

126 – 40 Must-Read Conservative Books – Part 1

Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

Release Date: 03/07/2023

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...

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...

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...

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

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...

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...

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...

Roundtable - Combating Political Violence

Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

In the wake of Charlie Kirk's shocking assassination, Americans are bracing for further political attacks. But is further violence inevitable? And what can be done to prevent things from escalating? Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis assembles a roundtable to discuss these sobering and important issues. The panelists include: - Host of - Host of - Host of - Host of - Host of

186 – Conservative Canucks with Shawn Whatley

Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

Is Trump correct that Canada is destined to be America’s 51st state? Or is there simply too much distinction between Canada and the United States to collapse us both into one homogenous mess? If conservatives in the U.S. are trying to conserve the American revolution, what are Canadian conservatives hoping to conserve? How might these two liberty-loving nations help each other better understand each other through comparison? Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is Shawn Whatley to make sense of it all. About Shawn Whatley Shawn Whatley hosts , a weekly...

185 – Inventing Conservatism with Daniel J. Flynn

Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

Few forerunners of the modern conservative movement are as important, little known, and underappreciated as Frank Meyer. Meyer possessed the IT factor that made women want him and men want to be associated with him. He used that in his early years to advance Marxism in England—building an impressive Marxist organization that had the attention of UK’s government, dating the Prime Minister’s daughter while calling for the violent overthrow of the Prime Minister’s government, and becoming a national celebrity as the nation debated whether he should be exiled. But later...

More Episodes

The 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 first twenty books in the list:

A Conflict of Visions – Thomas Sowell

A Time to Build – Yuval Levin

The Abolition of Man – C. S Lewis

Basic Economics – Thomas Sowell

Black Rednecks and White Liberals – Thomas Sowell

Coming Apart – Charles Murray

The Conscience of a Conservative – Barry Goldwater

The Conservative Affirmation – Willmoore Kendall

The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945 – George H. Nash

The Conservative Mind – Russell Kirk

The Constitution of Liberty – F. A. Hayek