How to balance state and national power was perhaps the single most important and challenging question confronting the early republic. The way the framers took up that question, and the approach they landed on for addressing it, can help us appreciate just how unlikely the emergence of the United States as we now know it really was. Guest Allen Guelzo joins us to discuss the framers’ approach to federalism and how it can still help us maximize liberty and use power responsibly today.

Allen Guelzo is the senior research scholar in the Council of the Humanities at Princeton University, as well as director of the Initiative on Politics and Statesmanship at the university’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.  

This podcast discusses themes from Dr. Guelzo’s essay in the Winter 2022 issue of National Affairs, “Federalism and the Founders.”  

Conservatives have been on the sidelines of climate-policy debates for several decades now. In recent years, however, a new force has appeared in climate politics: the Eco-right. Guests Alex Bozmoski and Nate Hochman join us to discuss the different factions within this movement of scrappy, conservative-leaning non-profits and think tanks, and explain how they can best work together to guide and embolden the right on climate-related issues.

Alex Bozmoski is the vice president for programs at DEPLOY/US. Nate Hochman is an Intercollegiate Studies Institute fellow at National Review and a recent graduate of Colorado College.

This podcast discusses themes from Alex and Nate’s essay in the Fall 2021 issue of National Affairs, “The Future of Conservative Climate Leadership.” 

Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have few fans in Washington, but thanks to increasing worries over the long-term stability of the dollar, they have piqued the interest of some major investors. In an era of rapid growth in deficits and debt and rising inflation, cryptocurrencies may be pointing us toward a new monetary order. Guest Avik Roy joins us to discuss why policymakers should take these currencies seriously — as both threats and opportunities.

Avik Roy is president of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity.

This podcast discusses themes from Avik’s essay in the Fall 2021 issue of National Affairs, “Bitcoin and the U.S. Fiscal Reckoning.”  

The case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — which the Supreme Court will hear this term — offers the cleanest opportunity since 1973 for the Court to revisit its abortion jurisprudence. A review of that jurisprudence shows that, regardless of anyone’s views of abortion itself, basic fidelity to the Constitution and the rule of law demands it be overturned. Guest Carter Snead joins us to make the constitutional, legal, and moral case for rejecting the Court’s abortion precedents.

O. Carter Snead is professor of law at the Notre Dame Law School and director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame.

This podcast discusses themes from Carter’s and Mary Ann Glendon’s essay in the Fall 2021 issue of National Affairs, “The Case for Overturning Roe.”  

Few would dispute the observation that Congress is now dysfunctional. But why has that happened? Considering the House of Representatives in particular suggests three ways in which Congress has gone off track: substantive, procedural, and structural. Each in turn points to a set of reforms that might help the House recover its central place in our constitutional system. Former congressman Keith Rothfus joins us to walk through these reforms and how they might empower the people’s house.

Keith Rothfus represented Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives between 2013 and 2019.

This podcast discusses themes from Keith’s essay in the Summer 2021 issue of National Affairs, “How to Fix the House of Representatives.”

The idea that immigration is the solution to the aging of American society has become an article of faith among those arguing for ever-higher levels of new arrivals. It’s not a crazy argument; it just happens to be incorrect. In reality, the impact immigrants can have on population aging is small. Immigration certainly makes our population larger, but not younger. Guest Steven Camarota joins us to debunk this conventional wisdom and suggest alternatives for addressing the challenges of an aging society.

Steven Camarota is the director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies.

This podcast discusses themes from Steve’s essay in the Summer 2021 issue of National Affairs, “Immigration and the Aging Society.”  

In recent years, some on the right have argued that the national interest requires policymakers to coordinate key sectors of the economy, and that this would mark a return to a proud American tradition. But the history of American economic policy provides as much a warning as a guide for these would-be planners, and should leave them wary of attempts to direct the economy from the top down. Guest Mike Watson joins us to discuss this history and its lessons for today’s political leaders.  

Mike Watson is the associate director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for the Future of Liberal Society.

This podcast discusses themes from Mike’s essay in the Summer 2021 issue of National Affairs, “Industrial Policy in the Real World.”

Benjamin Franklin presents us with layers of confounding mystery. And that’s how he wanted it. From his earliest creation — a set of letters to the editor of the New-England Courant written under the pseudonym Silence Dogood — he hid himself behind masks that let him speak frankly yet always ambiguously. Both what he said and how are keys to his enduring appeal. Guest Ralph Lerner joins us to discuss how we might discern some of Franklin’s principles, and what the founding father can still teach us today about the arts of persuasion and self-government.

Ralph Lerner is the Benjamin Franklin Professor Emeritus in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago.

This podcast discusses themes from Ralph’s essay in the Spring 2021 issue of National Affairs, “Puzzling over Franklin.”  

When we discuss education in America, we almost invariably refer to schools. But Americans have always been ambivalent about whether parents or a formal teaching establishment should ultimately be responsible for the education of the rising generation. That ambivalence itself offers a key to understanding America’s endless education debates. Guest Rita Koganzon joins us to discuss the history of these two educational traditions — institutionalized schooling and self-education — and how they might shape the future of American education.

Rita Koganzon is a professor of politics and the associate director of the program on constitutionalism and democracy at the University of Virginia. Her research focuses on the themes of childhood, education, and the family in political thought.  

This podcast discusses themes from Rita’s essay in the Spring 2021 issue of National Affairs, “A Tale of Two Educational Traditions.”

The crisis in which our country found itself following the 2020 election was in many respects unprecedented. Yet it also built on a years-long pattern by which losing politicians have sown mistrust in our elections. We must now wonder if every candidate who loses a major election will refuse to concede and instead set out to raise money and build support on the back of unfounded claims of corruption. To avoid that prospect, we will need to come to terms with the scope of the problem, and that won't be comfortable for either party. Guest Brad Raffensperger joins us to discuss the bipartisan assault on trust in our elections and how we might begin to restore the public’s confidence in our democracy and its institutions.

Brad Raffensperger is the secretary of state of Georgia. Secretary Raffensperger oversaw Georgia’s closely contested race in the 2020 presidential election — including a recount by hand that confirmed Joe Biden’s win by fewer than 12,000 votes.     

This podcast discusses themes from the secretary’s lead essay in the Spring 2021 issue of National Affairs, “The Assault on Trust in Our Elections.”