The American Mind Podcast

Following a major Republican defeat in the midterms, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is out and replaced by Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy. The Trump administration’s final years lie ahead, and a new agenda will have to take shape. Will Trump angle to shore up his legacy and court public approval, or lay the groundwork for a Republican successor—potentially marking the end of MAGA?

A week from midterms, the guys discuss prospects for Republicans in the House and Senate. Polls forecast that Democrat challenges to the Right’s incumbent candidates may flip the House. Meanwhile, contests for the Senate are tight even in Texas, a historically conservative stronghold. Has Trump’s second presidency fulfilled the demands of the MAGA base, and will his disinterest in courting disaffected centrists facilitate the Left's broader effort to flip the Populist Right? Plus: the dangerous effects of AI technology on America's young people.

Republicans were dealt a serious blow in the midterm elections this week. Major factors were the affordability crisis and price of gas, the war in Iran, and corruption. The Right must now soberly assess this rebuke without wishing it away. Trump's perceived neglect of bread-and-butter issues in favor of a tariff strategy and involvement in the Middle East has obviously hurt his appeal across the broad coalition that elected him the second time. But will Democrat leadership mistakenly read the election results as an endorsement of their progressive Woke agenda, and how will conservatives regroup ahead of 2028?

Following a defeat in the first round of voting in Brazil’s general election, incumbent president Lula da Silva clawed back a victory against Flávio Bolsonaro in a runoff vote last Sunday. The Brazilian Right nonetheless gained significant ground in the upper and lower houses of Congress. Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu faces a close challenge from former IDF Chief of the General Staff Gadi Eisenkot. The direction of the war with Iran, and broader U.S.-Israel relations, hang in the balance.

A week from midterms, the guys discuss prospects for Republicans in the House and Senate. Polls forecast that Democrat challenges to the Right’s incumbent candidates may flip the House. Meanwhile, contests for the Senate are tight even in Texas, a historically conservative stronghold. Has Trump’s second presidency fulfilled the demands of the MAGA base, and will his disinterest in courting disaffected centrists facilitate the Left's broader effort to flip the Populist Right? Plus: the dangerous effects of AI technology on America's young people.

Matthew Peterson joins the podcast to discuss his recent NatCon speech, which examined the shifting relationship between the New Right and Israel. He conveyed to the Israeli Right the desire of younger American conservatives to decouple from the Middle East amid a broader reevaluation of global alliances. But as the war against Iran proceeds, Peterson notes that some defenders of Israel wield “anti-Semite” to condemn skeptics of U.S. involvement, a counterproductive tactic in the face of rising anti-Semitism on both the Right and the Left. How can the two nations navigate their alliance amid a changing global order?

Riots in France—begun by students but now taken over by migrants—expose the dangers of uncontrolled immigration. Will the unrest flowing from Islamic-majority enclaves give rise to a populist Right movement? Meanwhile, what remains of a functioning society in South Africa is buckling under the strain of extreme governmental dysfunction. Racial violence between black communities and white Afrikaners has intensified as state control recedes, and more race laws now exist than during apartheid. Jeremy Carl, senior fellow at The Claremont Institute and author of The Unprotected Class joins President Ryan P. Williams to discuss what lessons America can draw from woes across the West. Plus: Predictions for the 2026 midterms and 2028 election.

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Europe faces a civilizational crisis induced by self-destructive progressive ideologies. The German Left has weaponized atonement for World War II to censor opposition. In Spain’s North African enclave, Ceuta, a recent border crossing by thousands of migrants posed an unchecked Moroccan challenge to Spanish sovereignty. Meanwhile, French deindustrialization and rampant immigration threaten to strangle its economy. Conservative movements have begun to gain traction, but can they pull Europe back from the brink? Claremont Review of Books Contributing Editor Christopher Caldwell joins Claremont President Ryan P. Williams to explain. 

Flávio Bolsonaro, son of Brazilian ex-President Jair Bolsanaro, won 47-45 in the first round of Brazil’s general election against incumbent President Lula. A conservative, Bolsonaro heads a populist movement against progressives, mirroring Trump. Woke has been rejected globally, yet its fumes linger still in Leftist circles. How might this inform the Right's outreach to America’s economically liberal, culturally conservative middle?

Anthropic's top brass have been meeting religious leaders and trying to bring theology into the AI conversation. Do our newest technocrats intend to build a machine god and usher in a horrifically digitized future? Meanwhile, Justice Samuel Alito weighed in on originalism, highlighting both its pitfalls and the broader successes of conservativism in the Supreme Court—and the Left’s radical response. Plus: On the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks by Hamas, Israel defiantly celebrates the universe’s lawgiver during Simchat Torah and remembers the fallen.

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