The American Mind Podcast

Latest Episodes:

FIRE Challenges Trump’s Deportation of Pro-Gaza Immigrants Sep 02, 2026

Show notes

Richard Lim, historian at Prager U. and host of the This American President podcast joins the guys to discuss his recent book on George Washington’s legacy, Refusing a Crown. Breaking through mainstream secularist assumptions, Lim argues that Washington’s greatness is best understood in the context of his Christian faith. Meanwhile, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has challenged the Trump Administration’s attempt to deport Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Özturk for anti-American speech. FIRE argues the constitution protects resident aliens, and even that immigrant speech cannot be scrutinized in the vetting process. Will reason prevail?

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

Offensive Truths: Dr. Nathan Cofnas and the State of the Academy Aug 27, 2026

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com

Dr. Nathan Cofnas has been accused of “scientific racism” for his studies of race and genetics. Now he's been suspended by the University of Ghent and banned on Substack for his role in exposing the academic dishonesty of the late Jason Arday. As the DEI debate flares, the academic and radical Left communities have attempted to discredit and even threaten Cofnas, revealing again the civilizational threat posed by an unchecked race regime.

The Great American Trade War Continues Aug 26, 2026

Show notes

Trade negotiations between the U.S. and Canada broke down in the final hours of last Friday. This week, Trump’s 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian goods have gone into effect. Amid a rekindled trade war, the guys consider the president's and Congress’s role in shaping world history in light of electoral concerns before the 2026 midterms. Meanwhile, Lindsay Clancy is on trial for the alleged murder of her three children. The defense claims postpartum psychosis, but an alarming number of women are expressing misplaced "solidarity" with a woman accused of infanticide.

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

President AOC? The TikTok-ification of Politics Aug 20, 2026

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com

Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez angling to become president in 2028? Ahead of the election, both California’s Gavin Newsom and AOC, who just last week denounced “Woke One,” have aimed to gain broader appeal. In AOC's case this means oversharing about fertility treatments and making TikTok-esque video shoots. But will her attempt to moderate progressivism and play social media politics pay off?

Groypers, Grifters, and the GOP: Florida's Primary Election Aug 19, 2026

Show notes

Florida is conducting a primary election to pick Governor Ron DeSantis’s conservative successor. President Trump’s choice, Representative Byron Donalds, leads in the polls. Opposing him, political newcomer James Fishback leads a young, online centric and anti-Israel platform. Meanwhile, the Left coalition continues its reckoning with Woke, reordering to capture populist, pro-Gaza, and anticapitalist energy. Plus, backlash against Big Tech: data centers, Flock cameras, and more!

The Summer That America Became a Nation of Luddites

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

An Education Academies Won’t Provide: Claremont’s Lincoln Fellowship Aug 13, 2026

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com

President Ryan Williams reports on the Claremont Institute's Lincoln fellowship. On the docket: America’s political economy and the utility of tariffs, RFK’s new dietary guidelines, and more!

AOC Goes from Woke 1 to Woke 2: A New Left Coalition Forms Aug 12, 2026

Show notes

“Woke One was crazy.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, questioned this week on ABC about a fellow Democratic Socialist’s call to cancel Thanksgiving in 2020, rolled out a new messaging strategy for the Left. Woke 2 will try to distance itself from COVID-era messaging while still demanding that America be transformed to suit its latest grievance coalition. Plus: inflation of the racial oppression narrative, and the purge of liberal arts colleges.

Recommended:

AOC can’t escape ‘Woke One’

Why I Quit the Tenure Track

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

Common GoodGate, Again Aug 06, 2026

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com

Common good discourse, recently a central topic of right-wing discussion, suffered distortions as it became a catch-all term for the worst fears of the Trump-deranged. Now, as Trump’s possible heir, J.D. Vance has occasioned new debate over the term, its meaning, and its future. How much involvement should the government have in private morality? And is Vance truly "post-liberal"?

Catastrophe at Cambridge – Jason Arday and the Scandal at DEI Aug 05, 2026

Show notes

Jason Arday, who rocketed to academic stardom as the youngest black professor at Cambridge, now faces claims that his PhD thesis contains plagiarism. That's not all: huge portions of his story seem likely to be fabricated, from a supposed brain surgery days before his defense, to an appearance on the documentary Seven Up. But is Arday really the problem? It seems the institutional decay goes much deeper. This week, hosts Spencer and Mike discuss the necessity of a reckoning in the academies. Plus: is America having a Catholic moment? Or is she an irrevocably Protestant nation?

A Catholic Moment or an Evangelical Century?

The Political Theory of the American Founding

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

Zohran Mamdani Comes for the Pieds-à-Terre Jul 30, 2026

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com

New York mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration announced a special pied-à-terre tax on non-primary residences in an attempt to price out affluent owners—noting down properties and owners who might be subject to it in a publicly available list. As the Democratic Socialists rise to take the lead of Democratic politics, how will Republicans respond?

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

The American Mind Podcast

Related Podcasts

1

2

3

4

5

6