Hold These Truths with Dan Crenshaw

When China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, most people expected the country to be on the path to embracing western values of freedom and democracy. But the opposite occurred – more and more countries, institutions, and individuals now find themselves forced to comply with CCP authoritarianism or face serious consequences. Army War College's Dr. Azeem Ibrahim joined Rep. Crenshaw to examine how the Chinese Communist Party's strategies of economic colonization and transnational repression created this dramatic shift in the global order.

Dr. Azeem Ibrahim is the author of "Authoritarian Century: Omens of a Post-Liberal Future." He is a Research Professor at the Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College, and a Director at the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy in Washington, D.C. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge after which he completed fellowships at the universities of Oxford, Harvard and Yale. Follow him on X at @AzeemIbrahim.

Security consultant Ed Calderon returns to give Rep. Crenshaw an update on the cartel wars, what's behind the deep cultural distrust of Mexicans towards the United States, and the political outlook for the country as AMLO's presidential term comes to an end in 2024. What are the current tactical capabilities of Mexico's police and military in their battles against the cartels, and what support from the U.S. military would help? How might Mexico's private sector be the ultimate end of the cartels? What do current political trends and Mexico's view of history have to do with their antagonism against the U.S? AMLO is on his way out, but why is his power and influence likely not going away anytime soon? Ed answers all these questions and more in this episode recorded as part of Rep. Crenshaw's work on the Congressional Cartel Task Force.

Ed Calderon started his career as a police officer in Tijuana and worked in the fields of counter-narcotics, organized crime investigation, and public safety in the northern border region of Mexico. Today he is a security consultant who has worked with the FBI, Navy SEALs, and special forces groups from around the world. Check out his podcast Manifesto Radio and follow him on Instagram at @manifestoradiopodcast.

Pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson returns to give Rep. Crenshaw her insights into Trump vs DeSantis, how abortion is affecting the GOP's election prospects, good and bad candidate messaging strategies, and much more. What should DeSantis do if he had a time machine? How did Republicans get caught off guard by the Roe v Wade backlash and is there any hope to convince Gen Z to become pro-life? What effect is the political consulting industry having on candidate quality and the populist echo chamber of social media? They also discuss how to craft accurate voter surveys, what went wrong with the 2022 midterms, and Trump's chances of defeating Biden in 2024.

Kristen Soltis Anderson is a pollster, speaker, commentator, and author of The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (And How Republicans Can Keep Up). She is Founding Partner of Echelon Insights, an opinion research and analytics firm that serves brands, trade associations, nonprofits, and political clients. Through her work at Echelon, she regularly advises corporate and government leaders on polling and messaging strategy, and has become one of the foremost experts on the Millennial generation. She also leads focus groups for The New York Times' opinion section "America in Focus" series. Follow her on X at @KSoltisAnderson and read her Substack here: kristensoltisanderson.substack.com/

Jonah Goldberg returns for a conversation about everything wrong with the GOP and Congress today, and how we can fix it. They talk about the populist stranglehold over political institutions, broken incentive structures in the primary system, expectations vs reality in Congress, the media industrial complex, and much more.

Jonah Goldberg is the host of The Remnant podcast, Senior Fellow and Asness Chair in Applied Liberty at American Enterprise Institute, and the author of Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy. Follow him on X at @JonahDispatch.

What does conservatism mean? What principles do we stand for? And what vision for conservatism is most aligned with both America's founding and its future? Avik Roy joined Rep. Crenshaw to answer these questions and look at how the New Right has diverged in favor of populism and nationalism. They steelman and respond to all the major arguments of the New Right on trade and industrial policy, government intervention, foreign policy, and immigration.

Avik Roy recently co-founded the Freedom Conservatism project to address these questions and give us a Statement of Principles to guide the future of the conservative movement. Read their statement here: www.freedomconservatism.org/

Avik Roy is the President and Co-founder of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity. He is the principal author of The Apothecary (the Forbes blog on health care policy and entitlement reform), as well as author of Transcending Obamacare: A Patient-Centered Plan for Near-Universal Coverage and Permanent Fiscal Solvency (2014) and How Medicaid Fails the Poor (2013). His research interests include the Affordable Care Act, universal coverage, entitlement reform, international health systems, veterans' health care, and FDA policy.

Wildly fun episode with comedian JP Sears joining Rep. Crenshaw for a conversation about using comedy to reveal truths and bridge political divides (a strategy which might come in handy at the Thanksgiving table). Along the way they also talk about JP's prior career as a life coach, how evil captivates people, the Bill Burr joke that decimated the pro-choice argument, and – of course – how to survive bear/shark attacks.

JP Sears is the author of the just-released children's book "Chomp Chomp Chomp: The Snapfast Challenge". Watch his insanely funny satire videos at AwakenWithJP on YouTube and Instagram.

Dr. Miriam Grossman joined Rep. Crenshaw to explain the dark origins of the phenomenon known as Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (when an adolescent or young adult expresses a sudden and intense belief that their gender identity is different from their assigned sex). We learn about Dr. John Money, a monster who pioneered gender-transition surgery for minors in the 1960s. Dr. Grossman explains how activists got once highly respected organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics to normalize transitioning minors. She covers everything that's wrong with the studies used by trans activists and doctors to manipulate the parents of these children. And she gives guidance to parents on how to prevent schools from exposing their kids to gender ideology.

Miriam Grossman, MD has a Doctor of Medicine from New York University Medical School and is board certified in psychiatry, with a sub-specialty in child and adolescent psychiatry. She is the author of "Lost in Trans Nation: A Child Psychiatrist's Guide Out of the Madness." Follow her on X at @Miriam_Grossman.

Arthur C. Brooks returns to talk about the psychology of political movements, how fear is used as a tool to outrage and manipulate people, and how to preserve your happiness and sanity throughout all of it. Arthur explains why our brains are hardwired to emphasize negativity. He shows how politicians and influencers are exploiting that evolutionary trait to monetize your anger and gain power. He gives us some practical advice for how to disassociate yourself from outrage culture. And he gives us perspective on what real happiness should mean in work, school, family, and our purpose in life.

Arthur C. Brooks is the co-author with Oprah Winfrey of the new book "Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier." He is the William Henry Bloomberg Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School and Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School, where he teaches courses on happiness and leadership. He is the creator of the popular "How to Build a Life" column at The Atlantic, an acclaimed public speaker, and the author of numerous bestselling books, including "From Strength to Strength" and "Love Your Enemies."

Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris is a distinguished professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and one of the foremost experts on the interplay of neuroscience and psychedelics. He studies how psychedelics such as psilocybin, LSD and DMT can change the human brain and be used to treat various mental health challenges such as trauma disorders, major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and addiction. Dr. Carhart-Harris joined Rep. Crenshaw to discuss the latest findings from clinical trials of psychedelic therapies, how the mind is affected by the different kinds of psychedelics, the legal landscape for these therapies, and the risks and benefits he sees in psychedelics, other prescription drugs, and alcohol.

Follow Dr. Carhart-Harris on X at @RCarhartHarris.

The one-and-only Kevin Sorbo (aka Hercules) joined Rep. Crenshaw to talk about the culture war battles in Hollywood over conservatism, masculinity, and Christianity. They look at how morality and traditional archetypes have transformed in modern movies and tv. Kevin talks about the business of Christian independent filmmaking, policies that enable states like Georgia and Texas to attract film productions away from Hollywood, and just how the hell Netflix is able to churn out so many terrible new movies every month. They end with some advice for how conservatives can communicate their views more purposefully to persuadable liberals.

Kevin Sorbo portrayed Hercules on the classic 90s tv show. Since then he has become one of the leading actors and filmmakers in Christian independent cinema. His first children's book, The Test of Lionhood, was just published with Brave Books. Follow Kevin's snarky conservative wit and insights on X at @ksorbs.