Join the Anchoring Truths Podcast for both a look back and a look ahead for originalism. Our guest, Steven Calabresi, is the co-author of a new intellectual history “The Meese Revolution” that describes the rise of originalism, which necessitates telling the story of Ed Meese, without whom it surely does not happen. Calabresi, who was part of that history working closely with Meese, threads a story through virtually all important legal and policy events of the 1980s, many of which continue to shape the world of the twenty-first century. And as we come to the end of our discussion, I think you’ll agree that in many respects we are still living through the Meese Revolution.

Professor Calabresi is the Clayton J. & Henry R. Barber Professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, as well as a visiting professor at Yale Law School. Calabresi clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia and Judges Robert H. Bork and Ralph K. Winter. He was a Special Assistant to Attorney General Meese from 1985 to 1987 and worked with Ken Cribb as his deputy in 1987 on the second floor of the West Wing of the Reagan White House. Calabresi has written books on presidential power and comparative constitutional law and the origins of judicial review. He and co-author of The Meese Revolution Gary Lawson are also the co-editors of a casebook on U.S. Constitutional Law, and Calabresi is also the co-editor of a casebook on comparative constitutional law. He has written over seventy law review articles since 1990.

"The Meese Revolution" may be purchased here.

Join host Garrett Snedeker for an exciting discussion with author Brad Littlejohn, Ph.D., about his new book Called to Freedom: Retrieving Christian Liberty in an Age of License. The conversation explored conflicting definitions of liberty, the issue of expressive individualism, and misperceptions of the freedom secured by the Constitution.

Pre-order Called to Freedom here.

Brad Littlejohn (Ph.D, University of Edinburgh) is a Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), where he writes on technology policy and Protestant social ethics. He is also the founder and President Emeritus of The Davenant Institute, and the author or editor of nineteen books, the newest of which is Called to Freedom: Retrieving Christian Liberty in an Age of License. He writes (regularly) at his Substack, bradlittlejohn.substack.com, and tweets (irregularly) under the handle @WBLittlejohn.

JWI Affiliated Scholar & Professor of Philosophy Frank Beckwith confronts a troubling trend among some legal scholars who, in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, have constructed and advocated for a right to abortion rooted in religious liberty.

This episode is adapted from a program JWI co-sponsored with First Liberty Institute's Center on Religion Culture and Democracy.

A recap of the largest annual gathering of the Right's lawyers, the Federalist Society's National Lawyers Convention, is the topic of discussion this week. Garrett Snedeker joins JWI Programs Director Daniel Osborne for a high-level account of the 2024 NLC.

Snedeker shares his thoughts with Osborne on the convention's theme of group identity and the law, the backdrops of the convention including a new administration and a forthcoming change in leadership for the Society, and the happy presence of so many James Wilson Fellowship alumni at the convention.

To watch videos of the convention's panels visit here

Who was for they/them versus who was for you? Join host Garrett Snedeker for a fascinating discussion with Jon Schweppe, Director of Policy for the American Principles Project (APP), on the power of the most influential political ads that shaped the 2024 presidential election.

Jon Schweppe is the Director of Policy for APP. He advances the organization’s legislative priorities by working with allied groups and with federal and state lawmakers. Schweppe is an alumnus of the Claremont Institute’s Lincoln Fellowship. He has been published in a number of publications, including The New York Post, The American Mind, First Things, Newsweek, The Federalist, and the Daily Caller. He has worked on several political campaigns, focusing mainly on communications and policy. He is a graduate of Augustana College, where he majored in Economics and Finance.

Follow Jon on X here.

Learn more about APP here.

JWI Co-Director Gerry Bradley delivers remarks on what he calls the tragedy of "progressive" prosecution. Since George Floyd's death on May 25, 2020, the U.S. has undergone a significant reevaluation of its criminal justice system and has moved towards a more "progressive" prosecution. Professor Bradley explores the legal and societal implications of this evolution and will consider how a proper understanding of crime and punishment might provide a just solution; particularly in light of the moral responsibly of prosecutors and the need for a compelling justification for punishment in a fair society.

We are excited to be dive into Second Amendment jurisprudence and the Natural Right to Self Defense. Our entry into that topic is collection of opinions in Hanson v. United States from a divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from October 29, 2024. In that case, the majority upheld the District’s ban on the possession and sale of what it called “extra-large capacity magazines." The panel ruled the city’s ten-round limit for magazines fit within the nation’s historical tradition of regulating “particularly dangerous weapons” and those “capable of unprecedented lethality,” even though there weren’t similar bans when the Second Amendment was ratified. A dissenting opinion held that “Magazines holding more than ten rounds of ammunition are arms in common use for lawful purposes. Therefore, the government cannot ban them.”

Joining us on the episode is the lawyer who delivered theoral argument and represented Mr. Hanson and other plaintiffs at the D.C. Circuit, Edward “Ed” Wenger. Ed, a 2016 James Wilson Fellow, is a partner at Holtzman Vogel. Ed has focused the bulk of his career on appellate and constitutional litigation, as well as critical motions practice. His appellate experience began, first, as a law clerk for the Judge Edward Prado of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and it continued as a law clerk for the Judge Karen Henderson of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He has since served as the Chief Deputy Solicitor General for the State of Florida (the number two appellate litigator or the State) and the General Counsel to the West Virginia Attorney General.

Hanson v. D.C. appellate opinion

Hadley Arkes on D.C. v. Heller in First Things

Join Anchoring Truths Podcast host Garrett Snedeker and journalist Conn Carroll for an exciting discussion about Carroll's new book Sex and the Citizen and the importance of marriage.

In Sex and the Citizen, Conn Carroll shows how the assault on marriage conducted by cultural and political elites is undermining the very foundations of our democracy. Carroll's book is a powerful and urgent exploration of one of the most overlooked forces shaping the political landscape today: the rapid decline of marriage. Once the cornerstone of American life, marriage has seen a dramatic fall from grace. In 1960, four out of five households were led by married couples; today, that number has plummeted to less than half, with more people choosing cohabitation over commitment. The American family, as we once knew it, is unraveling. Sex and the Citizen offers a bold vision for restoring the stability and prosperity that marriage once provided. By learning from history, we can rebuild a society where love and commitment are the keys to human flourishing.

Conn Carroll is the commentary editor for the Washington Examiner. He served as a communications director in the U.S. Senate for seven years before returning to journalism. He is a graduate of the Antonin Scalia Law School and lives in northern Virginia with his wife and three children.

Order Sex and the Citizen here, and follow Conn Carroll on his Twitter page.

In this minisode, host Garrett Snedeker speaks with returning guest Mark Bauerlein about the current decline in educational quality at universities, and the challenges that technology poses to the intellectual development of youth.

Mark W. Bauerlein is an English professor emeritus at Emory University and a senior editor of First Things. He also serves as a visitor of Ralston College, a start-up liberal arts college in Savannah and as a trustee of New College of Florida.

The world is not a machine. Humanity is not a mistake. Those should not be such bold words and yet, according to this week’s guest, Spencer Klavan, they need to be repeated as often as possible today.

Light of the Mind, Light of the World, Spencer's new book, tells a daring new story about how we got here, and how we can chart a better path forward. He argues that science itself is leading us not away from God but back to him, and to the ancient faith that places the human soul at the center of the universe.

Spencer A. Klavan is returning guest to the Anchoring Truths Podcast. A graduate of Yale, he earned his doctorate in ancient Greek literature from Oxford University. He is the author of the acclaimed book How to Save the West: Ancient Wisdom for 5 Modern Crises and the editor of Gateway to the Stoics. The host of the Young Heretics podcast and associate editor of the Claremont Review of Books, he has written for many outlets, including The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, City Journal, Newsweek, The Federalist, The American Mind, and The Daily Wire. He lives near Nashville, Tennessee.  

Buy Light of the Mind, Light of the World here.

Follow Spencer on X/Twitter

Subscribe to Spencer's Substack