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Leonard Leo: The Conservative Fundraiser Remaking American Culture
01/15/2026
Leonard Leo: The Conservative Fundraiser Remaking American Culture
As a long-time chair of the Federalist Society, Leonard Leo played a leading role in bringing half of today's Supreme Court to the Bench. Today, as one of the conservative movement's premier fundraisers and strategists, he has dedicated himself to "crushing liberal dominance" in politics, media, and culture. On today's Unbridled, Peter and Leonard discuss Leonard's formative political experiences, his approach to philanthropy, his fight to gain a foothold for traditional conservatism in movies and TV, and how to find great, affordable wines. Timestamps 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:02:55 - Leonard Leo’s background 00:05:22 - Why Leo joined the Federalist Society 00:07:01 - “Crushing” Liberal dominance 00:11:28 - The Left and Right operationalizing their views 00:18:18 - Thinking about philanthropy 00:24:10 - What happened to American universities? 00:27:21 - Suggestions for Conservative philanthropy 00:37:44 - Leonard Leo’s funding 00:40:43 - Conservatism today 00:53:59 - Positive cultural changes 01:02:47 - Cards! Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Host: Peter Robinson Peter Robinson Unbridled is a podcast of the Civitas Institute of the University of Texas at Austin Executive Producers: Mat Hames Beth Hames Researcher: John Masko Producer: Laura Utt Editor: Josh Meyers Post Production: Jacob Estrada Camera: Josh Harwick, Nathan Jennings Music by Brandon Shufflebarger
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