Eric and Eliot pay their respects to the late Vice President Dick Cheney before welcoming their guest Laura Field to discuss her book Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right. They explore the origins of the effort to create an intellectual ecosystem for Trumpism starting with the Claremont Institute and Michael Anton's infamous "Flight 93" article in the Claremont Review of Books. Laura explains the influence of philosopher Leo Strauss on these early efforts as well as Strauss's student Harry Jaffa. They discuss the emergence of post-liberalism, Catholic integralism, and the arguments made on behalf of these positions by Patrick Deneen and Adam Vermeule. They also discuss national conservatives, techno-monarchists, and advocates of Red Caesarism like Peter Thiel and Curtis Yarvin. Finally, they touch on the openly theocratic efforts of Christian nationalists to fit into the Trumpist universe, and the overlaps and contradictions among these various Trumpist movements.
Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right
https://a.co/d/eeTmFrT
Eric's Reflections on Vice President Dick Cheney:
https://thedispatch.com/article/dick-cheney-conservatism-republican-party/
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1:01:32
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1:01:32
America Can't Go It Alone
Eric and Eliot discuss the GOP’s ongoing Nazi problem and the growing danger of anti-Semitism on the right. They debunk President Trump’s false claims about America’s nuclear arsenal, then pivot to a conversation about alliance management. Eliot shares insights from a recent trip to Canada, highlighting the damage Trump has done to America’s relationship with its northern neighbor. They broaden the discussion to other allies, including the “special relationship” with the UK and the often-prickly partnership with France. Finally, they examine the administration’s lawlessness at sea and its refusal to allow Congressional oversight as it escalates pressure on Venezuela.
Show Notes:
Eric & Frank Miller's latest on arms control: President Trump, Don’t Fall into Putin’s Arms Control Trap
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
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58:58
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58:58
Paranoia and Purges Are Consuming the Pentagon
Eric and Eliot discuss appeasement and the striking similarities between Putin’s recent demands and Hitler’s insistence that the Czechs surrender the heavily fortified Sudetenland. They then turn to the latest idiocy coming from the administration, including Trump’s demolition of the East Wing, the Pentagon’s new exclusively right-wing press corps, and the live-fire Marine exercise that sent ordnance onto I-5 in California during a salute to Pete Hegseth and JD Vance. They also examine Putin’s phone call with Trump and the situation in Ukraine, along with Trump’s accelerating campaign of regime change in Venezuela. They end the week’s conversation with thoughts on the No Kings protests and the daunting prospects for a sustained ceasefire in Gaza.
Show Notes:
- Appeasement: Chamberlain, Hitler, Churchill, and the Road to War: https://a.co/d/awNtPTM
- Eric & David Kramer’s latest on Ukraine: https://thedispatch.com/article/trump-putin-budapest-ukraine-tomahawks/
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
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1:03:29
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1:03:29
The Dark Forces Conspiring Against Democracy (w/ Bill Galston)
Eric and Eliot welcome William Galston to Shield of the Republic to discuss his recent book, Anger, Fear, Domination: Dark Passions and the Power of Political Speech. They explore why liberal-democrats tend to underestimate the importance of these forces and the special peril they might present to representative government. They also talk about why the dark passions seem to be so predominant in politics globally and the different schools of thought regarding democracy's staying power in the long run.
Anger, Fear, Domination: Dark Passions and the Power of Political Speech:
https://a.co/d/8B6dFfk
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
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47:19
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47:19
How The Jews Fought Rome
Eliot and Eric welcome back friend of the show Barry Strauss, the Corliss Page Dean Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. They discuss the series of Jewish revolts against Roman rule in 67-70 AD and the subsequent Roman siege of Masada, as well as the later Diaspora and Bar Kochba revolts situating them in the geostrategic competition between the Roman and Parthian empires. Barry explains the complications of the ethnic and religious divisions in Judea as well as the role of Jewish apocalyptic and messianic thinking on the protagonists of these serial rebellions. He also touches on the reasons why Judea was seemingly so hard to govern for the Romans, the divisions among Jews, and the degree to which archaeology and numismatics can add to the surviving literary accounts of the wars between Rome and the Jews.
Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World's Mightiest Empire:
https://a.co/d/9xfsZOd
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. We probe beyond the hive mind of Washington conventional wisdom on national security and foreign affairs.
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