‘My Father Left Me Ireland’: A conversation with Michael Brendan Dougherty

“My Father Left Me Ireland: An American Son’s Search for Home” is the first book by National Review senior writer Michael Brendan Dougherty. It’s ostensibly a personal story, told through a series of letters written from an American son to his absent Irish father. But it’s also a deep meditation on the importance of one’s roots, one’s family, and one’s nation.

In this episode, we talk with Michael about how he came to write this book and what nationalism means to him. We also discuss his problems with modern social science, the political philosophy of Edmund Burke and Patrick Pearse, the real meaning of Francis Fukuyama’s “End of History” thesis, and much more.

You can subscribe to Banter on iTunes, Stitcher, or the podcast player of your choice, and archived episodes can be found at www.aei.org/feature/banter. This is Banter episode #361.

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An interview with Daniel Mulhall, Ireland’s ambassador to the US

Lyman Stone on demographics, fertility, and the myth of the population bomb