The Close Read Podcast

As Trump’s presidency enters its latter half, will the administration stay on course where others have floundered? Editor Charles Kesler and associate editor Spencer Klavan meet live and in-person to discuss the new CRB. They are joined by Salvatori Fellow Glenn Ellmers to focus in on his latest piece, “The Big Three,” about Trump’s potential rank as a world historic figure. As midterms loom large in the national conversation, the conversation turns to what comes next for America’s Right. Plus: Leonard Sax on the negative influence of A.I. on adolescent girls and boys, William Voegeli on the disappointing legacy of Obama’s regime, and more!

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads his piece, “Fightin’ Words,” featured in the Claremont Review of Books’ Fall 2026 issue.

Lane Scott joins Associate Editor Spencer Klavan to discuss her latest piece, “Cowboys and Carpetbaggers,” featured in the new Fall 2026 issue. The bitter domestication of America’s West during the 19th century, commemorated in Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove, offered opportunities for rugged conquest but also posed a challenge to civilized family life. Today, Taylor Sheridan’s hit show Yellowstone demonstrates that the longing and the tension remains even in our hyper-civilized age. Can the men of America find their happily ever after?

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “Red and Dead,” Daniel J. Mahoney’s essay featured in the Claremont Review of Books’ Summer 2026 issue.

American schools are failing society. Illiteracy is rampant while progressive ideology overrides traditional curricula. Social studies, history, and civics are all captured by people and organizations devoted to anti-American revisionism. Mark Bauerlein, First Things contributing editor and Emeritus Professor of English at Emory University, outlines the dangers of teaching students to hate their country before they understand it in his latest CRB piece, “Saving Civics.” Can Americans recover a shared canon and a moral core?

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “Bursting the Bubble,” Michael Barone’s review of 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History—and How It Shattered a Nation, featured in the Claremont Review of Books’ Summer 2026 issue.

The American Revolution produced a lasting republic, now in its 250th year. But is it still the country the founders envisioned? Claremont Review of Books editor Charles Kesler joins associate editor Spencer Klavan to review the CRB’s summer 2026 edition, including Kesler's own essay on the principles and lasting success of our revolution as distinguished from its English and French counterparts. Other essays in the issue include Christopher Flannery on Benjamin Franklin's advice for the common man, Andrew Roberts on the clashes between Churchill and de Gaulle, and much more!

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “Wine Lunacy,” Sam Schneider’s most recent entry to the column Under the Vine and Fig Tree, featured in the Claremont Review of Books’ Summer 2026 issue.

Following Richard Nixon's victory in the turbulent 1968 election, an amendment threatening to dismantle the Electoral College gained startling momentum. Enter the young senate staffer Michael Uhlmann, whose 1970 report put forward what would become the definitive case for the institution thereafter. The amendment failed, but a torrent of new challenges to our constitutional system now arise ahead of 2028. This week, Former president of American Enterprise Institute Christopher DeMuth joins Spencer Klavan to consider if the Electoral College can still weather the storm of an emboldened Left.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has emerged as the leader of the global Left. As president of the Socialist International and co-founder of the Global Progressive Mobilization, Sánchez has pioneered a new strain of European politics to counter Trump. Contributing Editor Christopher Caldwell joins the show to discuss his latest piece, “Pedro Sánchez’s Kingdom,” and the anti-American sentiment that progressive leaders use to distract from unpopular immigration and economic policies. How will the Right respond?