For the first time, voters got to see the major candidates for the Republican nomination for President on the same stage, with one glaring exception. On this episode of the Free Expression Podcast, GOP strategist and columnist Karl Rove tells WSJ editor at large Gerry Baker why he thinks Vivek Ramaswamy had the worst moment of the night in Milwaukee, how Nikki Haley and Mike Pence advanced their cause and says Ron DeSantis just managed to survive, albeit with a couple of difficult moments.  And he argues that Donald Trump's absence exposed his vulnerabilities as the frontrunner and insists the former president can still be beaten. 

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The GOP Debate and the Elephant (Not) in the Room

Based on his Wall Street Journal Opinion column "Free Expression," Editor-at-Large Gerry Baker speaks every week with some of the world's leading writers, influencers and thinkers about a variety of subjects. Baker will welcome his guests from the worlds of politics, philosophy, and culture for wide-ranging dialogues that will enlighten and fascinate listeners. Episodes will be released each week.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

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News

It’s a rare subject of bipartisan agreement that China is the greatest strategic challenge facing the U.S., perhaps the greatest it has ever faced. And yet, despite a decade of admirations of both parties acknowledging the threat, we are woefully under-prepared for it. What can the next President learn from the mistakes of the recent past and how might he remedy them? On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, Richard Fontaine and Robert Blackwill, foreign policy commentators and co-authors of a new book, “Lost Decade: The US Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power” talk with Gerry Baker about what went wrong and how the next ad ministration must fix it. 

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How The U.S. Failed To Meet the China Challenge

As global instability increases and threats to our national security grow, what can we learn from the history of warfare?  In a new book, noted military historian Victor Davis Hanson examines how some wars have resulted not just in defeat for the vanquished but in the annihilation of their civilization and people. On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, Prof. Hanson tells Gerry Baker about the parallels between these wars and the threats we now face from our increasingly bold adversaries. How can we avoid the mistakes of those previous civilizations and ensure our survival?  He also talks about America’s internal fractures and how they are weakening our national security and what our political leaders can do to reverse the damage in a pivotal election year.

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War and The Fragility of Civilization

Adult film actress Stormy Daniels took to the stand this week in the criminal hush-money trial of Donald Trump, surprising the media, legal experts and even the former President himself. But the more we heard the salacious details in the testimony, the more it seemed the move might backfire on the prosecution.  In what already looks to many like a thin case against Mr. Trump, the admission of lurid stories about a sexual encounter that even the judge seemed to think might not be relevant only reinforced the perception that the prosecution is a politically-motivated attempt to discredit the former president and current Republican candidate. On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, former prosecutor Andy McCarthy talks to Gerry Baker about the case, why it would be a mistake for Donald Trump to testify in his own defense, and the many other legal threats Donald Trump is facing. 

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Sex, Lies And Testimony

With the explosion of protests on university campuses and as Donald Trump sits in a courtroom facing felony charges, the 2024 presidential race is at a new level of volatility. Polls show Joe BIden trailing Trump in the key swing states, leaving the current President with only the slimmest of margins as a path to reelection.  Six months out, what might change? On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Cook Political Report Amy Walter and Gerry Baker discuss which states may decide the future of the presidency and the issues which mean the most when going to the polls. 

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Campuses, Courtrooms and Swing States: Six Months to the Presidential Election

Have our elite universities become seedbeds of hatred? Since Hamas’ murderous attacks on Israel on October 7th, and the war in Gaza that followed, demonstrations have exploded on the campus of American universities. In the last two weeks, the mayhem has escalated. Columbia University especially has been overrun by angry protesters, many of them pushing nakedly antisemitic messages and harassing Jewish students - who have been advised to steer clear of campus for their own safety. One Columbia professor who has challenged the encampments, Shai Davidai, has even found himself barred from the campus. On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, Davidai tells Gerry Baker about the growth of Hamas and Hezbollah-supporting organizations at Columbia and other universities and describes the threat they pose not just to Jews but to the wider population. 

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The GOP Debate and the Elephant (Not) in the Room

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