The American Mind
The American Mind Podcast uncovers the ideas and principles that drive American political life. In each episode, we engage Claremont Institute scholars, co-conspirators, and critics in thought-provoking discussions about the real causes of our current political and cultural reality. We explore these ideas with an eye towards restoring American civic health. The Roundtable is a weekly show, hosted by our editors and publisher with a unique blend of joviality and intellectually stimulating conversation, boosted by an occasional glass of whisky. Each episode focuses on a handful of topics that carry significant weight in the debate of ideas for the best path of American life, both privately and civically. Of course, we do reserve some time for fun in each show. Occasionally, we produce special podcast features on individual topics with commentary from the top thinkers in America today. Think of American Mind Podcast specials as succinct audio-documentaries. Tell us what you think! Subscribe to our channel, rate us, leave a review, and help spread the word to your friends and colleagues! Interested in hearing from us on a particular topic? Email your suggestions to [email protected]. And visit our website, americanmind.org, for essays, editorials, debates, and more. The American Mind, The Roundtable, and our specials are productions of the Claremont Institute. The mission of the Claremont Institute is the recovery of the American idea—the timeless principles that have made America great since its founding.
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Non-Player Radio
04/25/2024
Non-Player Radio
A double-header in Congress this week as Mike Johnson's House passes a foreign aid package with help from Democrats, and the Senate confirms that China's ByteDance will have to sell TikTok to an American company or face exile from the app store. Meanwhile, NPR's new CEO is not only a sinister AWFL censorship enjoyer but a color revolutionary to boot. Is the Right heading off the West's demise at the past, or only just waking up to realize it's already happened? Plus: Trump faces trial for trying to influence an election he was...running in. Would a conviction really be all that bad for him politically? The editors discuss, then remind you to read the damn site.
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The Unprotected Class ft. Jeremy Carl
04/18/2024
The Unprotected Class ft. Jeremy Carl
Jeremy Carl, Claremont Senior Fellow and author of The Unprotected Class: How Anti-White Racism Is Tearing America Apart, joins the editors to discuss the book and the evidence it provides that white people have become objects of state-sanctioned hatred in America. Meanwhile, the movie Civil War is out, and there's not much more to it than the viral trailer. But there's some hilarious posturing on behalf of journalists, which is always good for a laugh. Plus: are mopey dorm-room-style protestors at Google harbingers of the Left's future? The editors zero in on the real issues before reminding you to read the damn site. Recommended Reading:
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Trump’s Path of Totality
04/11/2024
Trump’s Path of Totality
The numbers are in, and they aren’t good. Recent inflation exceeded expectations, and even that doesn’t fully capture the pain felt by everyday Americans. Meanwhile, much of the US bore witness to the primal wonder of the cosmos during Monday’s total eclipse. As “The Science” becomes increasingly shamanistic, the world becomes more and more enchanted—but what you make of it depends on where you stand. The difference in lived and reported experiences seems to be manifesting in voters as the election season spools up and cracks deepen in the Democrat Party over the question of Zionism.
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Scams' Day of Visibility
04/04/2024
Scams' Day of Visibility
Liturgical calendar printer go brrrrrr as the Trans Day of Visibility falls this year on Easter Sunday--and Biden's Twitter handlers clearly had no trouble deciding which should win out. Meanwhile Amazon has abandoned its "Just Walk Out" program, which identified as an AI marvel but was actually just a bunch of guys in India watching you shop. And Soros DAs have come up with a new answer to the housing shortage: just let wandering sex offenders squat in homes owned by law-abiding citizens. When the real thing disappoints, it seems our answer is just to spin up simulations--of sex, of competence, of progress. The fellas trace the common threads, then remind you to read the damn site.
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Poor Man’s Rich Man
03/28/2024
Poor Man’s Rich Man
Turns out that which doesn't bankrupt Donald Trump makes him richer. Somehow. Truth Social has been valued at $8 billion, over $4 billion of which accrues to Trump's net worth--all while his astronomical bond is being reduced in New York. Meanwhile, as Hamas enjoyers try to overrun the Left, the Right is locked in its own disputes about how to handle antisemitism. Everyone's looking for the one big bad guy or grand narrative that can explain the whole complicated world. But are they looking in the wrong places? The editors analyze the thought processes underlying the news before reminding you to read the damn site. Recommended reading:
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Shadowbond
03/21/2024
Shadowbond
As Trump goes through the legal wringer in New York, the state’s AG is gearing up to start seizing his properties to cover a mammoth $464 million bond. Meanwhile, the government nakedly colluded with Big Tech giants to censor people that didn’t espouse the approved COVID narrative; can the Supreme Court fix things, or does the problem go deeper? Plus: Christine Blasey Ford has crawled out of the memory hole to shill for her new book about Justice Kavanaugh. How convenient. The editors unpack the news before reminding you to read the damn site. Recommended reading:
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Tik, Tok, Boom
03/14/2024
Tik, Tok, Boom
The House has passed a bill that will force TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest from the platform within six months; otherwise, the service will be banned in the U.S. The bill has split the Right as well as the Left, raising questions about espionage, economics, and American sovereignty. But will shutting down the app really hurt China all that much? Meanwhile, old man yells at country as Biden gives his third State of the Union Address, which may or may not have riled up his supporters but certainly failed to win over his detractors. Finally, former special counsel Robert Hur testified about his decision to characterize Biden as a nice, forgetful old man. The editors investigate what it's all about, before reminding you to read the damn site. Recommended reading:
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They're Sending Their Worst
03/07/2024
They're Sending Their Worst
In perhaps the least surprising but most unusual Super Tuesday ever, or at least in living memory, Donald Trump and Joe Biden have been all but officially confirmed as the presidential contestants for 2024. Whose party hates their candidate the least? Nothing is now stopping us from finding out--not even the best efforts of the Colorado Supreme Court, whose expulsion of Trump from the ballot was overruled in a unanimous SCOTUS decision that apparently ended the Constitution, or something. Meanwhile illegal immigrants are now being flown across the border? Seth and Spencer marvel at the outlandish nature of it all, and remind you to read the damn site.
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Deaths of Decline
02/29/2024
Deaths of Decline
It’s a sad news week. Aaron Bushnell, an active-duty member of the US Air Force, self-immolated in front of the Israeli Embassy in D.C. this week in a misguided protest against the war in Gaza. Meanwhile, a young nursing student, Laken Riley, was murdered by an illegal immigrant in Georgia with multiple prior arrests. Plus: an unusual ruling out of Alabama has raised difficult and uncomfortable questions about the moral status of IVF. The editors analyze the depressing facts and factors that undergird the headlines, before reminding you to read the damn site. Further reading:
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Gemini Rising
02/22/2024
Gemini Rising
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died in prison after multiple poisonings by Putin's operatives. In the States, this has prompted fewer sober reflections than fervid John Le Carré-style fantasies about domestic politics. Those politics are themselves increasingly sordid as Donald Trump grinds his way through one legal procedure after another, including a nakedly political judgment against him in New York. Will the absurdity of the ruling cause other business moguls in the state to take Trump's side? And what on earth is going on with Google's anti-white AI? Seth and Spencer talk through it all, and remind you to read the damn site. Recommended reading:
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Sliding into Senility
02/15/2024
Sliding into Senility
Russia is reigniting the space race as the House Intelligence Committee sounded the alarm that they may have already deployed an anti-satellite weapon system, which could cripple the US. Moreover, space provides an interesting use case for nuclear weapons, and Russia is signaling it may be willing to go nuclear. Meanwhile, America continues its descent into decay as Biden continues to show signs of mental decay, and the He Gets Us SuperBowl ad, which fundamentally misses the point of the biblical story, was plastered across the nation’s televisions. The editors break it down, and remind you to read the damn site! Recommended reading:
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Respect the “Other”
02/08/2024
Respect the “Other”
Republicans are seriously struggling to harness the momentum that Red-State governors have generated in favor of immigration enforcement. Is any Republican in Congress both competent and bold? Meanwhile, Nikki Haley suffered the latest and most embarrassing of her defeats in Nevada on Tuesday, losing a primary in which Trump did not participate, so that voters instead picked “None of These Candidates.” Plus: Elon Musk is doing some great things, including challenging Disney and other megacorps. Can he be a benevolent force, or is he a sinister transhumanist? In closing, a full complement of editors remind you to read the damn site. Recommended Reading
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False God
02/01/2024
False God
Is Taylor Swift a Deep State plant to help get Biden reelected? Almost certainly not, but the theory does provide an interesting window into everyone’s 2024 mindset. Meanwhile, conservative protestors are discovering what martyrdom really means as six abortion protestors were found federally guilty of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, and another is facing hate crime charges for allegedly destroying a Satanic Temple shrine in the Iowa capitol. Plus: police-abolitionists are manipulating a simple traffic stop for their political gain. In closing, the editors remind you to read the damn site. Recommended reading:
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Showdown on the Southern Border
01/25/2024
Showdown on the Southern Border
The New York Times has anointed the Claremont Institute and its fellows as leaders in the fight against DEI. They think this makes Claremont a sinister cabal, of course, but the editors are happy to accept it as a compliment and take a victory lap. And, in a major plot twist, even the Times's readers seem to be on our side--sort of. Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is facing down Biden's federal government and instructing state officials to enforce border laws, even in the face of a Supreme Court defeat. Is this a constitutional crisis in the making? Plus: Donald Trump scooped up another healthy primary win in New Hampshire. The gang's all here to break it down—before reminding you to read the damn site, of course. Recommended reading:
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Trump Ecocides the Opposition in Iowa
01/18/2024
Trump Ecocides the Opposition in Iowa
The Iowa results are in, and though they're not altogether shocking, they are revealing. Trump took the state with a commanding lead over all other candidates. Is the writing on the wall for DeSantis? What will become of Vivek Ramaswamy? Meanwhile, as the slow march to global government continues in Davos under the guise of going green, global elites are planning your future. Is Green™ the globalists’ greatest weapon, or just window dressing for their racial concerns? Plus: the editors remind you, as always, to read the damn site. Recommended reading:
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Everything Woke Goes To...
01/12/2024
Everything Woke Goes To...
Planes are literally falling apart in the sky--is DEI to blame, and does anybody care? Meanwhile, Biden found himself heckled in the middle of an early campaign speech by Israel ceasefire maximalists, providing further confirmation that the scrambled signals within the Democrat ranks are not getting un-scrambled anytime soon. And finally, the Republican party strikes back on ballot shenanigans, as a number of red-state leaders propose kicking Biden off the Ballot in response to corresponding attacks on Trump in Colorado and Maine. The editors discuss the wisdom and efficacy of this move before reminding you to read the damn site!
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SCALPED
01/04/2024
SCALPED
It finally happened: Claudine Gay is out as president of Harvard after a tireless guerrilla journalism campaign led by the Manhattan Institute's Chris Rufo, who conclusively exposed Gay's fraudulence as a scholar. But is plagiarism just par for the course? Seth and Spencer consider the low, low bar that Gay failed to clear, and where the fight over higher ed will take us next. Plus: migrants continue to flood unchecked across the border, and the powder keg in the Middle East grows ever more flammable. What will come of it all? The editors discuss before insisting for the first (but not the last) time in 2024 that you read the damn site! Recommended Reading
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You Wild Colorado
12/21/2023
You Wild Colorado
The Supreme Court of Colorado has ruled that Donald Trump can be excluded from the state’s ballots under a circuitous 213-page reading of the 14th Amendment. Meanwhile, Chris Rufo has forced CNN to run unfavorable stories about Harvard President Claudine Gay and her (allegedly) plagiarized academic papers. How can the Right keep the pressure on the diversocrats as they disgrace themselves? Speaking of disgrace, the editors cannot escape discussing the gay sex that was filmed in a Senate hearing room by a Democrat aide, before closing out by discussing “what a damn year” it has been. Recommended Reading:
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Civil War Ain’t Like the Movies
12/14/2023
Civil War Ain’t Like the Movies
Douglas Emhoff, the “Second Gentleman,” has made an amusing and perhaps telling unforced error in very publicly butchering the story of Hanukkah. Meanwhile, Hunter Biden has found his way into the news again, surprising no one, and civil war is back in the discourse as Alex Garland’s forthcoming movie will attempt to tackle the subject. Is this wish fulfillment for the Left, subtle messaging for the Right, or something in between? And what would a second civil war really look like? The editors discuss the news before reminding you to read the damn site! Recommended reading:
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Revolt of the Kids
12/07/2023
Revolt of the Kids
A generational divide is intensifying within the Left, as a radical ascendant generation increasingly decries the more moderate Boomers, as exemplified most recently by a demand from Biden’s White House interns that the administration throw itself behind a permanent ceasefire in Israel. Meanwhile, the US is being slapped around on the world stage, this time by the Houthis. The future for Americans looks increasingly bleak; can we turn the ship around successfully? The complete cast muse over the correct way to shake off the dust in the domestic and foreign policy arenas before, as always, reminding you to read the damn site.
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Imagineering AI Domination
11/30/2023
Imagineering AI Domination
The terminally online are showing themselves unable to unplug from the negative feedback loops to which they subscribe. Hollywood, especially Disney, is continuing to fail to really show us anything new that average people can connect to. Plus: censorship from top to bottom is wreaking havoc on nation states, especially as immigration spikes drive cultural wedges into the populace. Seth and James, refreshed from Thanksgiving, break it down.
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Eighty-One Candles
11/23/2023
Eighty-One Candles
A full complement of editors is joined by not one, but two special guests this week: Jeremy Carl & Michael Anton, both Claremont Institute senior fellows. In addition to seared turkey liver stuffing (true story), the cast are finding both white and black pills aplenty as there’s ample reason to despair and rejoice. From the inferno that was Joe Biden’s birthday cake, to populists claiming upset wins in two countries, to what they’re grateful for, the guys discuss it all this Thanksgiving. Plus: An extended list of reading recommendations as the cast reminds you to head on over to read the damn site (after you finish your turkey, of course). Recommended reading:
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Potemkin Villagers
11/16/2023
Potemkin Villagers
Xi Jinping is coming to town and Gavin Newsom has decided that it’s finally time to clean up the city of feces and urban decay: San Francisco. But if you’re not a Chinese party apparatchik you’re SOL: Gov. Gruesome essentially came right out and said that it wasn’t worth the cleanup for you, dear voter. Meanwhile, Nikki Haley calls for a complete and total crackdown on all pseuds and New York’s Kathy Hochul gives the editors occasion to discuss the weaponization of free speech and cancel culture. Finally, as always, the editors remind you to read the damn site! Recommended reading:
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Rogue's Gallery
11/10/2023
Rogue's Gallery
Seth and Spencer are going rogue again today, with a veritable who's who of psychopaths and weirdos from America's current moral and psychic breakdown. First it's the Nashville shooter's gruesome anti-"cracker" manifesto, which highlights once again how the various grievances of woke politics always end up getting elided into a hatred of white people. This in turn has been transmuted into a hatred of Israel as the global Left whips up a fervor over Hamas and Palestine. Under those circumstances, who wouldn't want to flee from whiteness, as Canadian pop star Buffy Sainte-Marie seems to have done? Plus: reflections on Tuesday's elections and the ongoing dilution of American citizenship, with a reminder to read the damn site. Articles mentioned in this episode:
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Noticing Things
11/02/2023
Noticing Things
AI is getting close to committing the grievous crime of noticing patterns in the data. Surely the government must step in. Biden recently signed an executive order attempting to bring the power of AI into service of the woke regime. Meanwhile, the Left is caught in an uncomfortable battle between its old guard and the swelling immigrant coalition. How will the Left handle its problems from both sides without resorting to government by supercomputer? And can the birds escape the stain of humanity? The editors discuss, before reminding you to read the damn site. Articles and books mentioned in this episode:
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Holy War
10/26/2023
Holy War
The House of Representatives has chosen a speaker at last. Their choice, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, seems to vindicate Matt Gaetz's risky maneuvering. The House's first action was a vote to support Israel against Hamas, with the radicals of the Squad predictably dissenting, raising the question of how serious antisemitism is in the U.S., and what America's so-far metaphorical wars of religion have to do with the literal war in the Middle East. Plus: what's the point of a 9-to-5? And don't forget to read the damn site! Clips mentioned in the episode: TAM articles:
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Hierarchy, not Hypocrisy
10/19/2023
Hierarchy, not Hypocrisy
As war continues between Israel and Hamas, antisemitism flares up across the West in response to a jihadist attack on a hospital, falsely attributed in the press to Israel. Meanwhile, the House continues on without a new Speaker, though it increasingly looks as if when all the shouting is over, business as usual will resume. It's a masks-off moment all around--but are average Americans waking up, and can they ultimately be saved? In closing, the editors provide recommendations to remind you to read the damn site. Media mentioned in this episode:
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Israel Under Attack
10/11/2023
Israel Under Attack
Hamas launched a series of devastating attacks against Israel over the last few days using everything from rockets to hang gliders, with a civilian death toll in the hundreds at the time of recording, including at least eleven Americans. Israel is at war for the first time in over 50 years. The editors explore how Hamas’s attacks fit into the broader geopolitical landscape of the Middle East, how regional dynamics are likely to unfold in the coming months, and what's motivating the radical pro-Palestinian movements in the West. Episode Links:
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Gaetz to the Unknown
10/05/2023
Gaetz to the Unknown
Florida Representative Matt Gaetz took advantage of a new procedural rule to orchestrate the ouster of Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, hoping to force more movement on the debate over congressional spending. But what's the plan? Meanwhile, on the subject of Things You are Not Allowed to Notice, a raft of horrific murders in cities across the country highlights the wages of bad philosophy and bad policy. In closing, the editors provide reading recommendations so you'll be reminded to read the damn site! American Mind articles mentioned in this episode:
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Blue Sulla ft. Jeremy Carl
09/28/2023
Blue Sulla ft. Jeremy Carl
Gavin Newsom has been making national headlines lately, causing some to wonder whether he's got designs on the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination. The crew discuss whether Claremont Fellows Armen Tooloe and Andrew Beck are right to fear that Gavin will sweep to power as a "Blue Sulla." Meanwhile, it's shutdown season once again, and House Republicans are not interested in playing nice. What do they stand to gain? Joined by special guest Jeremy Carl, Spencer and Ryan survey the rocky territory ahead, assess the trajectory of our republic, and remind you to read the damn site! American Mind articles mentioned in this episode:
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