On the heels of a dramatic Trump victory in the 2024 election, Democrats scramble to get their bearings. Spencer is joined by senior editor William Voegeli to conduct a wellness check on the blue and battered Left, discussing both Voegeli’s recent cover essay and the eventful months of Trump 2.0 that have unfolded since it was published. Democrats remain uncomfortably yoked to their progressive wing; meanwhile, Trump spends political capital to accomplish any and every goal he’s ever harbored in his heart of hearts—ignoring shots fired from opponents. What will the parties look like once he’s done?

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan discuss the winter issue, hot off the press. William Voegeli’s cover essay delivers a bleak prognosis for a Democratic party unable or unwilling to cut loose woke deadweights. Kesler observes the terror struck in the heart of the administrative state by Elon Musk’s DOGE. Christopher Caldwell and Andrew Busch offer insightful analyses of populism’s rise and pitfalls in France and at home, while Daniel Mahoney and Gary Saul Morson explore Russia’s history of oppression and dissidence. Plus much more from the latest issue!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan sit down to page through the newly released fall CRB and talk election results. Kesler’s essay discusses the possibility of a long-awaited Republican majority; William Voegeli tracks the humiliation of both Biden and the mainstream media; and Christopher Caldwell highlights the success of Trump’s arresting rhetoric in a post-rhetorical age. And much more! Plus: the online-exclusive “Christmas Review of Books” is out now.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

With election day creeping ever closer, political predictions are everywhere already. Spencer takes the opportunity to sit down with Dr. William Voegeli, senior editor of the Claremont Review of Books, to survey the history and prospects of realignment. Voegeli gives an incisive explanation of the current electoral landscape and what both parties need to do to capitalize on the opportunities before them.  

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan meet the afternoon before the first 2024 presidential debate to discuss the new Spring CRB. Kesler and Spencer spin insightful short-term prophecies--and Kesler calls Biden's flop in advance--using the editor's note as a starting point. Meanwhile, Lee Edwards' tribute to Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago does honor to an epochal work of dissident literature. There's a surfeit of great content in the latest issue, from National Conservatism to George Orwell.  

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Now that COVID is effectively behind us, it's increasingly easy to throw the hazy blur that was late 2019-2022 down the memory hole. Jeffrey Anderson's latest CRB essay shines a light on the COVID craze: government overreach, popular complacency, and collective amnesia. Spencer sits down with Anderson to continue the post mortem analysis and ask how we can prevent the same extreme policies from coming to pass again.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

For a country that features so prominently in the news and so wildly in many conspiracy theories, Russia is a country that many Americans—especially many in the press—scarcely understand. Dan Mahoney’s new review essay in CRB gives a clarifying survey of major trends, challenges, and attitudes in Russian politics since the days of the Tsars. Without emotional theatrics but with moral clarity, Mahoney equips readers with resources for a fuller understanding of Russia’s past and its possible future.  

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan meet to discuss the winter CRB.  Kesler’s cover essay covering the intellectual differences between national conservatism and Trump's brand of nationalism takes top billing. Michael Knowles's insightful review of Chris Rufo's new book invites us to consider where Rufo's project may be headed. Plus lots of other excellent material from the winter CRB, and a hint at the best subtitle ever. 

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Celebrated journalist Lord Charles Moore joins Spencer to discuss his CRB essay on the history and prospects of Thatcherism and its implications for modern conservative movements on both sides of the pond. On the one hand, the forces arrayed against Thatcher's legacy have never been stronger. On the other hand, the attitudes she represented--including the "commonsense view that people would probably be better at running their own affairs than governments would"--just won't go away. In the age of Trump and Brexit, but also of globalist bureaucrats and Conservative ineptitude, what is Thatcherism's future?  

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan meet to peruse the fall CRB.  Kesler’s editor’s note about the intellectual legacy  of Henry Kissinger considers whether foreign policy realism is gaining steam on the world stage as multiple wars rage on. Mark Helprin’s essay on the grinding conflict in Israel takes a practical look at the situation, and Bill Voegeli’s essay articulates the predicament of the modern Left since October 7. Plus much more from the fall CRB. 

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe