Dad Saves America

Latest Episodes:

Peter Boghossian: Can We Still Find Common Ground in the Wake of Charlie Kirk? Sep 25, 2025

Show notes

I sat down with philosopher and author Peter Boghossian to wrestle with America’s deepening fracture. Why are so many people cheering political violence, and what—if anything—can pull us back? Ideological capture throughout the education system has broken our engines of knowledge production, turning them into “indoctrination mills” and teaching young Americans to see opponents as existential threats. Is reform even possible at this point? Peter makes the case for burning it all down—or, more accurately, for making these institutions pay the cost of their vices and watching them collapse under their own weight.

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Follow Peter on X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/peterboghossian

Peter on Substack: https://boghossian.substack.com/

Peter on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@drpeterboghossian/featured

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Outline:

[0:00] Charlie Kirk’s murder revealed a deep divide

[5:11] Can we reform away political bias on campus?

[15:01] Am I a hypocrite with my own son?

[22:13] TikTok, disinformation, and echo chambers

[32:09] Should government restrict vices?

[39:41] What are do “left” and “right” mean in 2025?

[49:24] Destroy the institutions but forgive the individuals

[59:11] The left needs to come back to the table

[1:06:22] Does the left offer anything to our society?

[1:16:38] Can we agree on some neutral principles?

[1:32:08] What if we just banned the crazies?

[1:37:20] Money printing is the ultimate luxury belief

[1:42:01] We will eventually pay the price for our vices

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Bret Weinstein on Genetic Tribalism and the Global Backlash Against Jews - Part 2 Sep 18, 2025

Show notes

I sat down with evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein to explore how evolution can help make sense of tribalism, religion, and the ongoing war in Gaza. He shares his experience commenting on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the simultaneous resurgence and weaponization of antisemitism, speaking both as a scientist and as an American Jew who doesn’t see his views reflected by either major camp. Bret warns against embracing our genetic programming for "lineage-against-lineage" displacement, rather than the collaborative spirit that built Western civilization.

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Follow Bret on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/BretWeinstein

Watch the Darkhorse Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@DarkHorsePod/featured

Purchase a copy of “A Hunter-Gather’s Guide to the 21st Century”: https://www.amazon.com/Hunter-Gatherers-Guide-21st-Century-Challenges/dp/0593086880

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Outline:

[0:00] Evolution of culture and religion

[12:32] Antisemitism and conspiracy thinking

[20:38] How Israeli policy impacts Jews globally

[26:42] Nazi Twitter went mainstream

[33:17] John’s take on Israel-Palestine

[42:30] Bret’s evolutionary take on the Gaza War

[52:26] How genes get into the future

[1:01:08] Is Christianity evolutionarily adaptive?

[1:10:26] We aren’t fit for the world we’ve built

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Bret Weinstein on Epstein, Globalization, and How Our Institutions Went Insane - Part 1 Sep 04, 2025

Show notes

I sat down with evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein to unpack how behind-the-scenes power and perverse incentives have hollowed out America’s institutions. Bret argues that issues like the Epstein saga, COVID propaganda, and transgender ideology have exposed a deeper problem: elites wield leverage out of sight while government, media, and universities rely on theatrical, so-called “expertise” to bolster public authority. Our institutions so consistently engage in the exact inverse of good governance and common sense that many Americans are left wondering what remains of our democratic republic—and whether the West can be pulled back from the brink.

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Follow Bret on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/BretWeinstein

Watch the Darkhorse Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@DarkHorsePod/featured

Purchase a copy of “A Hunter-Gather’s Guide to the 21st Century”: https://www.amazon.com/Hunter-Gatherers-Guide-21st-Century-Challenges/dp/0593086880

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Outline:

[0:00] What’s going on with the Epstein files?

[17:30] The internet and dysfunctional governance

[22:00] Why modern institutions agree on bad ideas

[33:30] Corrupt the incentives, corrupt the elite

[42:42] Can the Constitution survive globalization?

[50:25] Are we evolving towards virtual community?

[1:00:10] When governments turn on their own people

[1:07:38] The battle between “us” and “them”

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Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DmcaH_Gkj9c

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Paul Zak on Neuroscience, Trust, and Why Communism Sucks Aug 28, 2025

Show notes

I sat down with neuroeconomist, author, and entrepreneur Paul Zak to discuss the neuroscience of human behavior and society. Paul explains his work on oxytocin—the "moral molecule"—and how it affects everything from political beliefs and economic systems to our most intimate relationships. We discuss why a lack of "friction" is making Gen Z miserable, why strong relationships are essential for success, and how to build a resilient mind in an anxious world.

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Purchase “The Little Book of Happiness”: https://a.co/d/fnWrfdX

Learn more about Paul’s “Six” app: https://your6.com/

Follow Paul on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/pauljzak

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Outline:

[0:00] The role of biology in economics

[10:35 10:49] Are humans rational?

[16:33 16:47] Oxytocin, trust, and cooperation

[23:58 24:12] How do screens impact our interactions?

[27:56] Homogeneity vs. polarization

[34:33] Learning new skills with neuroscience

[38:56] You need to encounter friction in life

[50:08] Acclimate to fear and uncertainty

[54:53] Good relationships allow you to take risks

[58:25] The neuroscience of dating, politics, and masculinity

[1:11:17] Testosterone turns Democrats into Republicans?

[1:18:13] You always have to fight communism

[1:26:20] Status-seeking is a zero-sum game

[1:32:34] “The Little Book of Happiness”

[1:37:06] The morality of free markets

[1:43:53] The pros and cons of American dynamism

[1:49:13] Is persuasion just manipulation?

[2:02:29] Building an app to set emotional goals

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Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ldhH-yo0_zc

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Education Is About Forming Souls, Not Filling Brains – Fr. Daniel O'Mullane Aug 21, 2025

Show notes

I sat down with Father Daniel O’Mullane, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, to discuss how and why he’s built a Catholic school based on the classical education model. Rather than obsessing over college and career preparation, the typical goals of primary and secondary schooling, he approaches education from the ground up, prioritizing the intellectual, social, and spiritual development of children. Fr. O’Mullane believes that time-tested teaching methods—measured in centuries, not decades—and the great works of Western civilization are among the best tools for cultivating students’ sense of meaning and purpose in a culture adrift.

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Learn more about Our Lady of Mount Carmel School: https://olmc.academy/

Follow Fr. O’Mullane on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/fatherdano

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Outline:

[0:00] Not your average Catholic school

[5:38] Should “college and career” be the goal of school?

[23:28] Purpose, narrative, and progress

[36:50] Man is both spiritual and material

[56:43] What does classical education look like?

[1:07:17] Why the great works of Western civilization matter

[1:13:38] Orderly behavior vs. true virtue

[1:17:45] Building a school that’s better than prison

[1:26:28] School should protect a child’s sense of wonder

[1:32:09] Schools shouldn’t interfere with parenting

[1:37:44] How to find teachers who aren’t ideologically captured

[1:41:03] Entrepreneurship within the Church structure

[1:55:56] How Fr. O’Mullane’s became a priest

[2:15:28] What is the future of faith in our culture?

[2:18:00] Rise to meet the demands of love

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Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/xBW7NePlI0U

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Why We Should Cut Legal Immigration In Half - Mark Krikorian Aug 14, 2025

Show notes

I sat down with Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, to discuss why he believes we should significantly reduce immigration levels. Often, the immigration debate is so focused on illegal immigration that equally important questions about legal immigration are entirely ignored. As Mark points out, even President Trump—smeared as an anti-immigrant radical—has generally supported high levels of legal immigration. Mark, on the other hand, is an unapologetic restrictionist. Our conversation digs deep into the economics of immigration, the importance of assimilation, and practical solutions to our current immigration conundrum.

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Learn more about the Center for Immigration Studies: https://cis.org/

Follow Mark on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/MarkSKrikorian

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Outline:

[0:00] Modern immigration isn’t like Ellis Island

[8:51] What does assimilation mean?

[20:48] Trump’s reelection and cultural alignment

[29:39] Isn’t more workers better for the economy?

[43:05] Consumer prices, farm labor, and automation

[55:37] The problem with libertarian utopianism

[59:11] How can we know the “right” amount of immigration?

[1:03:44] What’s the problem with H-1B visas?

[1:07:46] Trump isn’t an immigration restrictionist

[1:13:11] What do we do about non-criminal illegal immigrants?

[1:28:02] Should we “build the wall”?

[1:33:38] Should we rethink birthright citizenship?

[1:40:42] Was Mitt Romney right about self-deportation?

[1:47:49] Population decline and the welfare state

[1:55:55] We are communities, not just individuals

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Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DRRsKtoml3I

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James Lindsay on Marx, Education, and the History of “Woke” Aug 07, 2025

Show notes

I sat down with James Lindsay to unpack how woke Marxist ideology infiltrated Western society, starting from Marx himself up through the political turmoil of the past decade. While working on the “Grievance Studies” hoax papers alongside Peter Boghossian and Helen Pluckrose, James began to realize that the ideological rot in academia was worse than he thought. Following that experience, he dedicated himself to researching the long intellectual history of wokeness, critical theory, and communism and educating the public about the political, rhetorical, and institutional traps set by the modern Left.

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Check out New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/

Follow James on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/ConceptualJames

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Outline:

[0:00] Targeted by the Southern Poverty Law Center

[12:26] Sense-making in the internet age

[25:43] Becoming the top intellectual historian of wokeness

[47:50] How Marxism transformed into intersectionality

[1:04:36] Power politics vs utopian Marxism

[1:24:53] Marxism is inherently anti-democratic

[1:31:42] Are academics are natural marxists?

[1:44:36] How neo-Marxism took over education

[1:58:21] Race, sex, and the internet

[2:13:18] Is James pushing an ideological narrative?

[2:20:11] What role did the collapse of religion play?

[2:34:40] Have we developed antibodies to wokeness?

[2:43:09] James won’t (and can’t) keep his mouth shut

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Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GUWQozp304g

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Only Elites Can Afford Luxury Beliefs. The Rest of Us Get Left Behind. - Rob Henderson Jul 31, 2025

Show notes

I sat down with Rob Henderson, author of "Troubled: A Memoir of Family, Foster Care, and Social Class,” to discuss why elite progressives promote radical ideas that they would never tolerate in their own lives. Coining the term “luxury beliefs,” he’s incisively diagnosed how their obsession with virtue signaling sacrifices the well-being of the poor. Rob shares how growing up in foster care, enlisting in the Air Force at 17, and later attending Yale and Cambridge shaped his worldview over the years. We also discuss Gen Z’s widening gender divide along political lines and what it could mean for the future of family formation.

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Rob’s article on sex differences: https://www.city-journal.org/article/men-women-political-divide

Follow Rob on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/robkhenderson

Read Rob’s work on Substack: https://www.robkhenderson.com/

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Outline:

[0:00] Why does over-schooling end in communism?

[17:22] Elites talk progressive but live conservative

[28:10] Family instability is much worse than poverty

[43:10] The male-female political split

[59:33] Did the country lose its mind in 2013?

[1:08:11] Are relationships and marriages doomed?

[1:27:40] America is suffering from wealth disease

[1:40:48] When is therapy useful and when is it the problem?

[1:47:55] Why more young men should consider the military

[1:54:36] Podcasts are good, but books are better

[1:58:48] Don’t stifle yourself, but don’t have pointless arguments

[2:02:26] Masculinity, rites of passage, and adulthood

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Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/izcLJ6fIE1A

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Globalists Say Educated Women Don’t Want Kids. Are They Wrong? - Catherine Pakaluk Jul 24, 2025

Show notes

I sat down with Catholic social scientist and author Catherine Pakaluk to explore why some highly educated women are still choosing to have large families. A mother of 14 children herself, Catherine made “#postcardsforMacron” go viral after the French president made dismissive remarks about educated women not wanting large families. She has since written the book Hannah’s Children, in which she profiles 55 college-educated women raising large families in spite of societal trends against motherhood and a looming depopulation crisis. Our conversation also digs into how her Catholic faith has shaped her philosophical and economic worldview—and why anti-human ideologies have become dominant in recent decades.

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Follow Catherine on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/CRPakaluk

Purchase a copy of “Hannah’s Children”: https://www.amazon.com/Hannahs-Children-Quietly-Defying-Dearth/dp/1684514576

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Outline:

[0:00] Why have so many kids?

[7:48] Kids are liberating, not burdensome

[14:10] Birthrate collapse vs. overpopulation

[20:53] Original sin and anti-natalism

[26:42] Environmentalism became planet worship

[34:46] Why do some women have lots of kids?

[49:54] Writing “Hannah’s Children”

[1:01:38] The Biblical story of Hannah

[1:08:29] Is reproduction a moral obligation?

[1:16:54] Suffering is a necessary evil

[1:29:22] Catholic social teaching and private property

[1:36:43] Is Christianity pro-socialist?

[1:43:07] Utilitarianism, individualism, and collectivism

[1:51:32] Transhumanism and techno-optimism

[1:56:29] The problem of evil and the purpose of freedom

[2:03:02] Having kids is scary but worth it

[2:10:28] Parenting and patriotism

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Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gtTO2xlxES0

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Trans Libertarian Sara Higdon: "I Have a Mental Illness.” Jul 17, 2025

Show notes

I sat down with Sara Higdon, a transwoman and libertarian content creator, to unpack the uncomfortable truths about modern gender ideology. Sara shares her personal story of transition and her concerns about the transgender social contagion impacting children. We discuss the historical context of gender dysphoria, the multi-billion dollar “gender medicine” industry, and the radical activists working to eliminate parental rights.

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Follow Sara on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/SaraHigdon_

Check out Sara’s YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@sarahigdon?si=AC7aoIuYUvjJb3xI

Purchase a copy of “A Practical Response to Gender Distress”: https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Response-Gender-Distress-Families/dp/B0CXMRGMBV/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.I-lw7IeD5TNZ3QOBovrLtA.IDiY7I1STXTTMaV1pdwMyC75sUP3HoBNuf8vPtigOMI&qid=1710243622&sr=8-1

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Outline:

[0:00] Having uncomfortable conversations

[2:48] Sara’s personal story

[6:45] How did trans issues become mainstream politics?

[17:10] The first wave of “trans celebrities”

[26:48] LGBT tolerance vs childhood indoctrination

[31:50] What if your child actually has gender dysphoria?