Bradley Lectures Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Saving Jonah from the Will Apr 28, 2020

Show notes

Should we impose term limits on members of Congress? Should we drastically expand the size of the House of Representatives? Are Republicans republicans and Democrats democrats? Jonah Goldberg joins the show to discuss George Will’s Bradley Lecture, how Dr. Will humbled Young Jonah with an answer that launched a thousand op-eds, and to ruminate on political […]

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The evolution of the Bobo Feb 17, 2020

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The late 20th century brought into existence a new species of moneyed elite. This highly educated nouveau riche combined traditional bourgeois ethic with bohemian tastes to form a new species that David Brooks called the “Bobo.” What became of the Bobos, and how does their legacy live on — or not — in today’s elite? […]

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So you want to build an institution Feb 03, 2020

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From Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France to Yuval Levin’s new book, A Time to Build, conservatives have long been fascinated by the relationship between the American individual, state, and mediating institutions. Building properly-functioning institutions of all kinds – media, religious, or educational — is crucial to the politics and social lives of […]

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What’s the matter with Hollywood? Jan 20, 2020

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Decades prior to today’s political arguments about “coastal elites” misunderstanding “flyover country,” film critic, author, and talk show host Michael Medved made a cultural argument. Medved contended that the cloistered cultures of Hollywood were unresponsive to market demands, and chose to push a narrative—one that would not serve their own financial interests — about religion, […]

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Some reflections on Gertrude Himmelfarb Jan 07, 2020

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Prolific historian, author, and social critic Gertrude Himmelfarb (1922–2019) leaves behind a legacy of scholarship transcending time and place. Her insights into the past, such as her studies of Victorian England, help fashion a worldview for the present, one emphasizing virtue, truth-seeking, and humility. AEI Senior Fellow Karlyn Bowman joins the podcast to memorialize Dr. […]

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Work, progress, and administration Dec 16, 2019

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“In my business,” explained one immigrant entrepreneur in the mid-1930s, “I am the best economist.” So went the argument against centralized power acting for what it believed to be the common good. Knowledge is too diffuse for a command economy to function – just one lesson among many that historian and author Amity Shlaes gleaned […]

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A last gasp for the First Freedom (ft. Ramesh Ponnuru) Dec 03, 2019

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The first Amendment to the Constitution provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” 200 years after its ratification, the Supreme Court determined that a nonsectarian prayer at a public high school’s graduation ceremony violated the Establishment Clause, and was not protected under the Free […]

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Democracy with Chinese characteristics Nov 12, 2019

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In 2019, everyone from seven-time NBA All-Star James Harden to the writers of South Park has something to say about China. The narrative is fairly simple: China is an economic behemoth, full of billions of consumers ready to support American business – as long as said business keeps quiet about Chinese authoritarianism and human rights […]

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Speech codes, bureaucracy, and the ‘shadow university’ Oct 14, 2019

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College campuses play a central role in shaping the thinking of future leaders and current public intellectuals. But starting in the 1990’s, campuses took a strange tack, engaging in more banning than shaping. Speech codes developed by shadowy bureaucracies restricted activities that might offend – whether speech, laughter, or even pinning up a calendar. Professor […]

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Stork realities (ft. Lyman Stone) Sep 24, 2019

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Are we doomed? Probably. But the reason for that doom depends on whom you ask. If you ask a candidate at a recent Democratic town hall event on climate change, we might be doomed because our planet cannot sustain current population levels. But if you ask writer Jonathan V. Last, he will write a book […]

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