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Arthur Herman, author of Founders Fire, Part One: Herman introduces the "Founder" archetype in American history, characterized by vision, bias toward action, and high risk tolerance. Tracing this from George Washington at the 1787 Constitutional Convention to Rufus Putnam establishing the anti-slavery community of Marietta, Ohio, Herman highlights how early development was shaped by the Patent Act of 1790. In the Gilded Age, titans like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, James J. Hill, and Thomas Edison capitalized on these rights and the expanding railroad network to rapidly scale industries, driving down prices for consumers despite fierce, competitive corporate wars. (1)
Written while the Constitutional Convention was taking place in 1787, the Northwest Ordinance was adopted fully by the new government, despite being a production of the Articles of Confederation. It also laid the foundation for many of the Founders' priorities and aspirations in terms of governance, land usage, economics, and slavery. How would the new, […]
Written while the Constitutional Convention was taking place in 1787, the Northwest Ordinance was adopted fully by the new government, despite being a production of the Articles of Confederation. It also laid the foundation for many of the Founders' priorities and aspirations in terms of governance, land usage, economics, and slavery. How would the new, expanding America look, and what would it be like? The Northwest Ordinance is an essential enabler for the America that came on the heals of the Revolution.Jeff is joined by historian Peter Onuf to discuss this essential, yet largely overlooked, document.Read the document: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/the-northwest-ordinance/Host: Jeff SikkengaExecutive Producer: Jeremy GyptonSubscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanideaHomepage: https://ashbrook.org/the-american-idea-podcast/Thank you for being part of The American Idea community.Follow on Twitter https://x.com/amideapodcastFollow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ashbrookcenter/
Guest host Krish Dunham examines what he calls the left's "lariat of lunacy"—a set of ideas he argues have lassoed common sense in American politics. Drawing on his experience as a first-generation legal immigrant, educator, and student of American history, Krish discusses the nation's Judeo-Christian heritage, Benjamin Franklin's call for prayer at the Constitutional Convention, defunding police, open borders, race-conscious government policy, compelled speech, and efforts to replace capitalism with socialism. He challenges Americans to defend the rule of law, free speech, economic liberty, and the principles that have made the United States a beacon of hope.
In this Federalist Society America 250 series, experts analyze modern legal and policy debates through the lens of the Founding generation. The Founders gave us the tools to answer many contemporary questions; join us as we explore those answers.In Federalist 23, Alexander Hamilton identified the common defense and the preservation of peace against external attacks as two of the principal purposes served by union. The Constitution that union adopted divides the power to declare war—vested in Congress—and the power to direct war—vested in the President as Commander in Chief. But what does it say about national security more broadly? The Founders were not without reservation about the risks of concentrating the means of defense, with James Madison warning the Constitutional Convention that a “standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty.” It was also clear from the start, however, that functions like intelligence gathering belonged more naturally to the executive, whose institutional character supported the necessary secrecy and dispatch.This webinar will explore how the Founders understood national security power beyond the battlefield, how closely subsequent practice tracked their design, and whether today’s allocation of powers serves both the nation's security and its liberty.Featuring:Dr. Alberto Coll, Director, Global Engagement; Vincent de Paul Professor of Law, DePaul University College of LawProf. Matthew Waxman, Liviu Librescu Professor of Law, Columbia School of LawProf. John Yoo, Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law, University of California at Berkeley; Senior Research Fellow, School of Civic Leadership, Civitas Institute, University of Texas at Austin; Nonresident Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute(Moderator) Molly Nixon, Senior Fellow in Executive Power, Cato Institute
To recap the Aug. 4 primary elections, MIRS sits down with Lansing-based Andrea Bitely – a moderate Republican – and Democratic Socialist Jessica Newman, a political operative in Ferndale (1:30). How will Democrat U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed try to connect with Detroit seniors, Macomb County's pro-Trump autoworkers and "Reagan Democrats", and the pre-Trump Republicans in white collar Oakland County? Also, what might be Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Rogers' courting strategy to win Democratic voters who wanted Congresswoman Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham) to win the primary? Additionally, they discuss who might vote YES on summoning a state Constitutional Convention in November, and whether Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Democrat nominee for Governor, is prepared for a "fire hose" of negative ads from Republicans.
In this Federalist Society America 250 series, experts analyze modern legal and policy debates through the lens of the Founding generation. The Founders gave us the tools to answer many contemporary questions; join us as we explore those answers.The Founders drew their understanding of international law — known at the time as the law of nations — from 18th Century classical texts. Hamilton, Madison, Jay, Jefferson, and others all studied the edition of Emmerich de Vattel’s Law of Nations, released on the eve of the American Revolution. Its precepts were analyzed in The Federalist Papers, debated in the Constitutional Convention, and resulted in a few basic principles. First, along with the Constitution and the laws of the United States made in pursuance thereof, all Treaties made under the authority of the United States "shall be the supreme Law of the Land." Second, the Define and Punish Clause gives Congress the power to define and punish . . . Offenses against the Law of Nations.” The Founders viewed the right of self-defense as a fundamental, inherent natural right of nations. They recognized the right of preemptive use of force in anticipatory self defense. This right had an expansive interpretation, allowing actions against credible threats without awaiting an actual first strike. There was room for argument on how “imminent” the threat must be. Current international law on this issue consists of the UN Charter and contemporary understandings and interpretations of customary international law. This Forum will bring together two foremost scholars, each expert in both the Founders’ understanding and the current understanding of international law, for a conversation about the historic and contemporary interpretations of the propriety of our current war against Iran and related matters.Featuring:Prof. Martin S. Flaherty, Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor, School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton UniversityProf. Jeremy A. Rabkin, Professor Emeritus of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University(Moderator) Dr. Sohan Dasgupta, Assistant Secretary for Trade and Economic Security, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (former) | Political Head, Millennium Challenge Corporation (former) | Managing Director, Berkeley Research Group (BRG)
Two weeks after reacting to NYC Mayor Mamdani's Fourth of July speech, Justin and Jesse bring in the contrast: the founders, speaking for themselves. They read Benjamin Franklin's 1787 speech calling for prayer at the Constitutional Convention — the one where he quotes three Bible verses in three paragraphs and asks why a room full of the most educated men in America forgot to consult "the Father of lights." Then they read the part of the Declaration of Independence you've never seen: Thomas Jefferson's original draft included a full grievance against the king for forcing the slave trade on the colonies, calling it "piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers." It was removed — not because Virginia opposed it, but because South Carolina and Georgia refused to sign unless it was cut. James Madison predicted there would be war within 60 years if slavery wasn't resolved. He was right. If you've ever wanted to watch two founding fathers comprehensively out-argue every modern politician without even trying, this is the episode. LINKS Sign up at pathofprogress.ca and use code carpefide for FREE avatars, backgrounds, and more! 30 days FREE Visit carpefide.com and check out our BRAND NEW SITE, hunt for our Easter Egg to win a sticker! Use code CARPE FIDE for 10% off your book purchase at Mud Hen Mama's main site Check out the discounted Men's and Women's bundles for our listeners at Old Forge Press We have RELAUNCHED our store! New shirts, colorways, and shipping options are YOURS for the taking (well, buying really, but you know what I'm talking about...) Head to carpefide.com/shop today to grab your new gear! Visit offgridwarehouse.com and use code CF10 for 10% off your offgrid order!! LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, REVIEW! This year we're making an effort to grow our podcast without being cringey. That said, some cringe must happen, and that's happening now. Please head over to iTunes to leave a rating and a comment, subscribe to us on YouTube, and follow us on all the socials to keep up to date, and most of all, leave us some feedback and dialogue with us. You can also drop us a line at hello@carpefide.com
Send us Fan MailIn Part 2 of their series on George Washington, Dale and Brian continue exploring the extraordinary character and leadership of America's first president. From commanding the Continental Army through impossible odds to leading the Constitutional Convention and setting the standard for the presidency, they examine the qualities that made Washington an indispensable figure in the nation's founding.The conversation also unpacks Washington's unwavering faith, his deep concern for the character of the American people, and the enduring legacy he left for future generations. Through it all, listeners are challenged to rediscover the principles that helped shape America from the very beginning.Episode Highlights: Did Washington have wooden teeth?Leading through adversity.A president sets the standard.Faith and the founding.Lessons that still matter.Links Mentioned in Episode/Find More on ForeverLawn:www.foreverlawn.comImpact Without Limits Instagram: @impact_withoutlimitsForeverLawn's Instagram: @foreverlawnincGet Grass Without Limits HereVisit our show notes page HERESubscribe to Our Newsletter HEREDale's Instagram: @dalekarmieBrian's Instagram: @bkarmieFind Our Shorts on the ForeverLawn YouTube ChannelRead Washington: A Life by Ron ChernowRead Being George Washington by Glenn BeckRead First by Dave ZanottiVisit the White House Freedom 250 WebsiteVisit Hilldale's WebsiteWatch the Live Free Podcast hosted by Josh HowertonCheck out PragerU's ContentVisit the Wallbuilders WebsiteThis show has been produced by Adkins Media Co.
What does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide? Americans have debated those questions for 250 years. The issue of what it means to be an American shaped the compromises in the Constitution and the arguments we've been having ever since—spawning abolitionism, secession, and civil war; populism, mass migration, and global leadership; movements for reform and the backlashes to them. Former Obama speechwriter Ben Rhodes has examined the speeches of 15 people that shaped and reflected the argument Americans have been having from our founding to the present day's heated divisions. Rhodes has traced the history of our battle over identity. The result is a revealing portrait of America itself: a nation divided between two stories—one of inheritance, power, and exclusion; the other of equality, striving, and belonging. Drawing on a decade writing for Barack Obama, Rhodes also shows us how words can redirect a nation, what makes a speech enduring, and why oratory is a unique form of persuasion in American democracy. From Benjamin Franklin's call for compromise at the Constitutional Convention, to Alexander Stephens' case for white supremacy as the cornerstone of the Confederacy; from Martin Luther King's dream of true equality to Donald Trump's rallying cry against democracy itself, these speeches remind us that history is a living argument. At a time when American identity—and truth—is contested, Rhodes comes to Commonwealth Club World Affairs to offer a fresh and powerful look at who we really are and who we could still become. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Send us Fan MailIn this final episode of the season, there are three parts which support the concluding chapter of The Christian Past That Wasn't. The first part is former Secretary of Health and Human Services Ben Carson's false telling of Ben Franklin's call to prayer during the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Carson said the delegates stopped and prayed after Franklin called them to prayer. They didn't. This is the kind of folklore which I correct in The Christian Past That Wasn't. The second part of this segment is a brief analysis of Al Mohler's admission that the Constitution doesn't acknowledge any Christian foundation. This significant admission came in a short video this week. Even though Mohler is honest about one aspect of the Constitution, he considers the lack of explicit Christian language to be an error on the part of the founders. Here is where he is wrong and I respond to Al Mohler's opposition to the American Constitution. The third and final part tracks with the Conclusion of The Christian Past That Wasn't. I discuss separation of church and state in light of the golden rule and the moral teachings of Christ. I end the podcast where I started it by examining the issue of posting copies of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. I come down on the side that posting the Decalogue is an imposition of one faith over others and thus an improper establishment of religion. As such it violates the golden rule. If I don't want someone to impose their faith on me, I shouldn't do that to others. In the words of Texas state legislator John Bryant from the podcast, "That's not fair, and that's not American." Produced, written, and hosted by Warren ThrockmortonMusic by Netop, Jonathan Swaim, and Dustin BlatnikTo get The Christian Past That Wasn't go to www.christianpast.com for buying option.The Christian Past That Wasn't Music PlaylistSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6jP94UmS5sCwoB4Ex3ini9?si=C2d_agOxTfechFztsPVXgAAmazon: https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/d7a5977b7b4543f399f70463b226f4bfsune?marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&musicTerritory=US&ref=dm_sh_qtlquXBX7hURQO7DbA05ImNSy
America's Work Force Union Podcast brings together two conversations that capture the labor movement's momentum heading into a consequential fall election season. First, Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga joins fresh from the AFL-CIO's 30th Constitutional Convention in Minneapolis, where delegates voted to set a new organizing target of 2 million new union members by 2032 after surpassing the previous goal of 1 million. Burga reports on a broad wave of organizing activity across Ohio spanning healthcare, construction, higher education, hospitality, libraries, museums and the arts, with recent wins including workers at Jeni's Ice Cream, United Academics of Ohio University and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. He also addresses the ongoing challenge of securing first contracts after organizing wins and what Ohio workers should watch for when the General Assembly returns from summer recess and the lame duck session begins after November's elections. Then, CWA District 4 Administrative Director Frank Mathews discusses a ratified four-year contract for approximately 300 DirecTV customer service workers across Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Minnesota and Colorado, delivering compounded wage increases of 13.4% and preserving health care after workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike in April. Mathews addresses the growing difficulty of protecting health care at the bargaining table, describes a roughly tenfold increase in CWA organizing activity since COVID and details the CWA's new Fighting Oligarchy political education training rolling out across Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan ahead of November's elections. Visit ohioaflcio.org for Ohio AFL-CIO updates and cwa-union.org for more from CWA District 4.
Sermon by Apostle Ren Schuffman America turns 250 this year, and while that milestone deserves celebration, there is something far deeper happening beneath the surface. This anniversary aligns with the completion of five full biblical Jubilee cycles, each spanning 50 years, and understanding what that means could change the way you see the church, the nation, and your own life right now.Contrary to what many have been taught, America was not founded as a secular nation. The historical record is clear. Benjamin Franklin called for prayer at the Constitutional Convention. The first Continental Congress opened in Christian prayer. John Adams wrote that the founding was built on the general principles of Christianity. George Washington declared it the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God. And on the very day the Constitution was signed, America became the first nation in history to take a legal stand against the slave trade, driven by founders who understood that the gospel and human bondage could not coexist.But the deeper story is about Jubilee. In Leviticus 25, God established a 50-year cycle in which debts were canceled, captives were freed, and lost inheritance was returned to its rightful owners. Jubilee was God's declaration that loss is never the final word. And it was never just an Old Testament concept. Jesus announced the Jubilee Himself in Luke 4, quoting Isaiah 61 and declaring the favorable year of the Lord had arrived. He was not pointing to something coming. He was announcing something that had already begun.Jesus is the kinsman Redeemer, the one described in Leviticus 25 who steps in to buy back what a family member lost. He became flesh to be kin to humanity. He had the rights of the Son of God. He paid the price with His own blood. In Revelation 5, John sees a sealed scroll in the hand of God, the cosmic deed to all creation, and weeps because no one is found worthy to open it. Then the Lion of Judah steps forward. Jesus opens the scroll and reclaims not just Israel but every tribe, language, people, and nation.Now, at 250 years, the church in America faces a defining moment. In recent generations, believers have quietly retreated from culture, education, government, and public life. Ground was surrendered that was never meant to be given up. But Jubilee declares that what was lost must be returned. The kingdom of this world is becoming the kingdom of our Lord. The church is not called to hide. It is called to advance.If you have ever wondered whether God is still at work in America, whether the church still has a role to play in culture and society, or whether the losses in your own life are truly permanent, this message is for you.Keywords: biblical Jubilee, America 250th anniversary, kinsman Redeemer, Revelation 5 sealed scroll, Luke 4 favorable year of the Lord, Christian founding of America, church and culture, reclaiming your inheritance, Leviticus 25 Jubilee, Jesus as Redeemer, prophetic word for America, kingdom of God, Christian history America, founding fathers and Christianity, Jubilee year 2026https://www.ffc.church (Our Website) https://www.facebook.com/freedomfellowshipokc (Follow us on Facebook) https://anchor.fm/freedom-fellowship/message (Subscribe to our Audio podcast) Were you blessed by this message? Give to help us spread the gospel https://www.ffc.church/give
Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.comWas America founded as a Christian nation, or has that story been repeated so often that it feels true? Warren Throckmorton, retired professor of psychology and author of The Christian Past That Wasn't and co-author of Getting Jefferson Right, joins Will Wright and Pastor Josh Burtram to test popular founding myths against primary sources. Throckmorton walks through claims about the Constitution, religious tests, Benjamin Franklin's prayer motion, Thomas Jefferson, the Danbury Baptists, the Cape Henry prayer, the 1774 Continental Congress prayer, and David Barton's influence on modern Christian nationalist history. He argues that many Christian nation claims depend on selective quotation, invented stories, or ignoring the actual records of the Constitutional Convention. The conversation also explores why these myths are emotionally powerful. Fear, identity, and power can make bad history feel comforting, especially when people believe their faith or country is being taken away.Guest BioWarren Throckmorton, PhD, is a writer, researcher, and retired professor of psychology at Grove City College. His work examines Christian nationalism, American religious history, psychology, and the misuse of historical claims in public life. He is the author of The Christian Past That Wasn't: Debunking the Christian Nationalist Myths That Hijack History and co-author, with Michael Coulter, of Getting Jefferson Right: Fact Checking Claims About Thomas Jefferson. In this conversation, Throckmorton brings together historical fact-checking and psychological insight to explain why myths about America's Christian founding remain powerful, why primary sources matter, and why separation of church and state protects religious freedomBook MentionedThe Christian Past That Wasn't: Debunking the Christian Nationalist Myths That Hijack History by Warren ThrockmortonBookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889835820Getting Jefferson Right: Fact Checking Claims About Thomas Jefferson by Michael Coulter and Warren ThrockmortonBookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798990900622Relevant Links & ResourcesThe Throckmorton InitiativeURL: https://warrenthrockmorton.substack.com/ Support Sarah Stankorb's work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026. Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/Support the showKeep the conversation going.Want to learn more about Faithful Politics, suggest a future guest, or connect with us directly?Visit our website:faithfulpoliticspodcast.comBrowse our bookstore, featuring books from many of our guests:faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstoreSupport the show and help us keep these conversations going:patreon.com/cw/FaithfulPoliticsSubscribe for behind-the-scenes content, reflections, and updates:faithfulpolitics.substack.comContact the hosts:Josh Burtram, Faithful Host: Josh@faithfulpolitics.comWill Wright, Political Host: Will@faithfulpolitics.comFollow Faithful Politics:Instagram: faithful_politicsFacebook: FaithfulPoliticsPodcast
We sit down with a longtime public servant and community leader—a retired CEO of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC, former Pennsylvania Deputy Secretary of Community & Economic Development, and former Clarion County Commissioner—who now volunteers with Braver Angels. He shares why fostering respectful dialogue, finding common ground across political divides, and embracing compromise are essential to strengthening our democracy and solving today's toughest public policy challenges.What if the story of the U.S. Constitution wasn't just about the Founding Fathers? On The Spark, we spoke with Mechanicsburg playwright Cindy Dlugolecki and composer Christine Purcell about Quill-adelphia, an original musical that shines a light on the lesser-known people behind one of America's most important documents. The production centers on Jacob Shallus, the Pennsylvania Assembly assistant clerk who hand-penned the final copy of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, while also exploring the experiences of everyday citizens, the contributions of women, and early abolition efforts during the Constitutional Convention.
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss why an insurgent candidate with so many red flags got so far, how shocking new details about Trump's 2025 income show billions in earnings while those who bought his crypto lost billions, and what everyone lost when the president decided World Cup rules didn't apply to us.For this week's Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David talk with guest Jesse Wegman, Senior Fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, about his new book The Lost Founder: James Wilson and the Forgotten Fight for a People's Constitution. Wilson, a Scottish-born delegate at the Constitutional Convention, argued that the people—not the states—held true governing power, pushing for a directly elected president, only to be erased from history after his career collapsed into debt and disgrace. In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily Bazelon talks with Senator Chris Murphy about his new book, Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America. Murphy lays out a provocative agenda for Democrats to call Americans to national service, break up corporate power, rebuild local communities, and create a bigger tent that reaches disaffected conservatives hungry for change. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Nina Porzucki Research by Emily DittoYou can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here. Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park. Follow@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfestNeed to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss why an insurgent candidate with so many red flags got so far, how shocking new details about Trump's 2025 income show billions in earnings while those who bought his crypto lost billions, and what everyone lost when the president decided World Cup rules didn't apply to us.For this week's Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David talk with guest Jesse Wegman, Senior Fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, about his new book The Lost Founder: James Wilson and the Forgotten Fight for a People's Constitution. Wilson, a Scottish-born delegate at the Constitutional Convention, argued that the people—not the states—held true governing power, pushing for a directly elected president, only to be erased from history after his career collapsed into debt and disgrace. In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily Bazelon talks with Senator Chris Murphy about his new book, Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America. Murphy lays out a provocative agenda for Democrats to call Americans to national service, break up corporate power, rebuild local communities, and create a bigger tent that reaches disaffected conservatives hungry for change. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Nina Porzucki Research by Emily DittoYou can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here. Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park. Follow@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfest Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss why an insurgent candidate with so many red flags got so far, how shocking new details about Trump's 2025 income show billions in earnings while those who bought his crypto lost billions, and what everyone lost when the president decided World Cup rules didn't apply to us.For this week's Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David talk with guest Jesse Wegman, Senior Fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, about his new book The Lost Founder: James Wilson and the Forgotten Fight for a People's Constitution. Wilson, a Scottish-born delegate at the Constitutional Convention, argued that the people—not the states—held true governing power, pushing for a directly elected president, only to be erased from history after his career collapsed into debt and disgrace. In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily Bazelon talks with Senator Chris Murphy about his new book, Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America. Murphy lays out a provocative agenda for Democrats to call Americans to national service, break up corporate power, rebuild local communities, and create a bigger tent that reaches disaffected conservatives hungry for change. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Nina Porzucki Research by Emily DittoYou can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here. Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park. Follow@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfest Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.comWas America founded as a Christian nation, or is that question usually about today's politics more than the eighteenth century? John Fea, historian of early America and American religion, joins Will Wright and Pastor Josh Burtram to slow the conversation down. Fea explains why many Americans historically believed they lived in a Christian nation, while also showing why that does not settle what the founders intended. The discussion moves through state constitutions, religious tests, the First Amendment, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, the Constitutional Convention, anti-Federalist objections, and the difference between religious freedom and religious toleration. Fea argues that Christianity clearly mattered in the founding era, but the federal Constitution did not create a Christian republic. The episode also asks what America's 250th should mean if we want better history, better citizenship, and a more honest public conversation about faith and democracy.Guest BioJohn Fea, PhD, is a historian of early America, American religion, and the founding era. He is Senior Fellow at the Lumen Center for the Study of Christianity and Culture in Madison, Wisconsin, and taught U.S. history at Messiah University for more than two decades. He is the author or editor of several books, including Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?, Why Study History?, Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump, and the forthcoming In God We Trust: Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? His work helps listeners think historically about the founders, religious liberty, the Constitution, Christian nationalism, and the difference between using the past responsibly and using it for present-day political agendas.Book MentionedIn God We Trust: Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? by John FeaPublisher: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9780664269579 Support Sarah Stankorb's work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026. Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/Support the showKeep the conversation going.Want to learn more about Faithful Politics, suggest a future guest, or connect with us directly?Visit our website:faithfulpoliticspodcast.comBrowse our bookstore, featuring books from many of our guests:faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstoreSupport the show and help us keep these conversations going:patreon.com/cw/FaithfulPoliticsSubscribe for behind-the-scenes content, reflections, and updates:faithfulpolitics.substack.comContact the hosts:Josh Burtram, Faithful Host: Josh@faithfulpolitics.comWill Wright, Political Host: Will@faithfulpolitics.comFollow Faithful Politics:Instagram: faithful_politicsFacebook: FaithfulPoliticsPodcast
Send us Fan MailLet's compromise! Lawrence Goldstone joins me to talk Imperfect Union: How Errors of Omission Threaten Constitutional Democracy.Buy Imperfect UnionCheck Out Lawrence's WebsiteSupport the show
QUILL-ADELPHIA highlights the often-overlooked contributions of middle-class citizens, women, and abolition advocates during the Constitutional Convention. The reading and concert performance is being presented as a fundraiser for the Harrisburg branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), supporting its mission to advance equity for women and girls through education, research, and advocacy.Also on the program, we speak with two soul food restaurants in Central Pennsylvania:Eugene Goodman Eugene Goodman is co-owner of Sweet T & Greens in Harrisburg; a restaurant built on the belief that life's best moments are shared through family and food. Drawing inspiration from family traditions—fried fish and collard greens from Geno's family and fire-pit chicken quarters and country ribs from Eugene—Sweet T & Greens serves comfort food rooted in heritage, community, and the memories created around the table.Corey Woods Corey Woods is the Chef de Partie and owner of Soulcialize Southern Style Soul Food Catering in Lancaster. After launching the business in 2018, Woods combined his culinary training, industry experience, and passion for soul food to fill a unique niche in Lancaster's food scene. Beyond catering, he is deeply involved in community initiatives, partnering with local organizations to support minority-owned businesses, school supply drives, youth programs, and community-building events. When not in the kitchen, Woods enjoys spending time with family and friends, fishing, reading, sports, and his work in real estate.
When the Constitutional Convention came to a close in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked, "Well, Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?" Franklin replied, "A republic, if you can keep it." In the life of the church, God has a calling for us...if we will follow it.
When the Constitutional Convention came to a close in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked, "Well, Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?" Franklin replied, "A republic, if you can keep it." In the life of the church, God has a calling for us...if we will follow it.
Robert Cwiklik, guest author, recounts how, in July 1866, New Orleans became the site of a brutal police-led riot against a constitutional convention aimed at securing Black voting rights. Following Lincoln's death, President Andrew Johnson's lenient Reconstruction policy empowered former Confederates, who enacted "Black Codes" to essentially re-enslave African-Americans through vagrancy laws and labor restrictions. When unionists attempted to rewrite Louisiana's constitution to include Black suffrage, local police and white citizens opened fire on the convention-goers. The massacre resulted in at least 44 deaths, mostly Black veterans and delegates, while white casualties were largely attributed to friendly fire. This violence horrified the North, leading to a massive Republican victory in the 1866 midterm elections and providing a mandate for Radical Reconstruction. The incident highlighted the deep-seated resistance of white Southerners to the concept of racial equality and the failure of Johnson's initial approach to national healing. Sheridan's Secret Mission: How the South Won the War After the Civil War (2)
Robert Morgan, Associate Pastor of World Outreach Church, shares that America's founding was deeply shaped by Scripture, reminding us that God still calls us to build our lives on the unchanging foundation of His Word. Long before the Declaration of Independence, pastors were preaching from Scripture and shaping the ideas that would become the foundation of a new nation. Seven key Bible verses played a remarkable role in American history, from Deuteronomy 1:13 inspiring the first colonial constitution to Acts 4:12 being spoken over a dying Alexander Hamilton. George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and others drew deeply from the Bible in their leadership and decision-making. The Constitutional Convention itself was rescued from collapse when Franklin quoted Psalm 127:1 and called the delegates to prayer. These stories have been quietly removed from textbooks, but they are real and they matter. The same God who guided a fledgling nation through impossible odds is still at work today, and the question for each of us is whether we will build our lives on His foundation.Verse References:Deuteronomy 1:13 inspired pastor Thomas Hooker to argue that people have a God-given right to choose their own leaders. His ideas led directly to the Connecticut Constitution, the prototype for the U.S. Constitution.Romans 13:1 was the text of a 1750 sermon that John Adams later called the catechism of the revolution, preached by Jonathan Mayhew more than two decades before the first shots were fired.Psalm 35:1 was read aloud at the First Continental Congress at a moment of crisis, and the delegates felt as though it had been placed in the Bible just for them.Joel 3:19 was the text pastor Jonas Clark preached after seven members of his congregation were killed at Lexington Green, the opening battle of the Revolutionary War.1 Samuel 7:12 was the passage Washington's chaplain preached after the impossible victory at Yorktown, calling the soldiers to remember God's providential help throughout the war.Psalm 127:1 was quoted by Benjamin Franklin at the Constitutional Convention when the entire process was on the verge of collapse. Washington then led the delegates to a nearby church to pray, and they returned to produce the Constitution.Acts 4:12 were among the last words spoken over Alexander Hamilton as he lay dying after his duel with Aaron Burr. He humbly acknowledged his sin and trusted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
The founding fathers have assembled to draft and codify the law we which to see govern society, and name 250 things we love about the US of A.
SPONSORS: 1) SUPERPOWER: Head to Superpower.com and use code JULIAN at checkout for $20 off your membership. Unlock your new health intelligence. 100+ biomarkers. Every year. Detect early signs of 1,000+ conditions. #superpowerpod JOIN PATREON FOR EARLY UNCENSORED EPISODE RELEASES: https://www.patreon.com/JulianDorey CLIPPERS DISCORD: https://discord.gg/8QmWEKJ3BT (***TIMESTAMPS in Description Below) ~ Henry William Brands Jr. (H.W. Brands) is an American historian. He holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his PhD in history in 1985. He has authored over 40 books U.S. history. His works have twice been selected as finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. BRANDS'S LINKS: - NEW WASHINGTON BOOK: https://a.co/d/0hT1qvYk - ALL HW's BOOKS: https://shorturl.at/xmgCc - SUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@hwbrands - X: https://x.com/hwbrands?lang=en FOLLOW JULIAN DOREY INSTAGRAM (Podcast): https://www.instagram.com/juliandoreypodcast/ INSTAGRAM (Personal): https://www.instagram.com/julianddorey/ X: https://twitter.com/julianddorey JULIAN YT CHANNELS - SUBSCRIBE to Julian Dorey Clips YT: https://www.youtube.com/@juliandoreyclips - SUBSCRIBE to Julian Dorey Daily YT: https://www.youtube.com/@JulianDoreyDaily - SUBSCRIBE to Best of JDP: https://www.youtube.com/@bestofJDP ****TIMESTAMPS**** 0:00 - HW's insane writing, history & digital preservation 9:03 - Ben Franklin & lost history 20:58 - Franklin in Paris, The Polymath 29:38 - Young Franklin's apprenticeship & upward mobility 40:24 - Franklin flees Boston for open-minded Philly 50:11 - Why Revolution Succeeded, Franklin's early career 1:02:09 - Franklin lives in London, Odd Marriage & Businesses 1:15:35 - Measuring Gulf Stream, Seeing future of Colonies Early 1:22:41 - Franklin & London Politics 1:32:12 - The Freemasons 1:36:41 - Franklin's religious beliefs, Humanism & Evidence 1:40:47 - HW's decision to write about George Washington 1:49:40 - HW's "6 Volume History of the USA" Biographies, FDR, Nixon 2:01:26 - Avoiding Moral Judgement as Historian 2:15:15 - Slavery & Judging Figures "in their time," Washington's Secrets to Success 2:20:17 - America at 250, Washington's childhood, Early Military Career 2:31:24 - War, human nature & complex history 2:41:21 - Washington's British Army Career Ends, Farming & Slavery 2:53:52 - Constitutional Convention, Stamp Act, WW3 3:04:50 - How Washington became Continental General 3:13:45 - The fragile, ongoing American experiment 3:17:45 - HW's Work CREDITS: - Host, Editor & Producer: Julian Dorey - COO, Producer & Editor: Alessi Allaman - https://www.youtube.com/@UCyLKzv5fKxGmVQg3cMJJzyQ - In-Studio Producer: Joey Deef Julian Dorey Podcast Episode 443 - H.W. Brands Music by Artlist.io Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What does the Constitutional Convention have to do with your marriage? More than you might think. As we celebrate Independence Day, Dan explores one of the greatest acts of collaboration in history—the creation of the U.S. Constitution—and uncovers surprising lessons for couples navigating differences in intimacy, communication, and connection. The delegates in Philadelphia didn't create unity by forcing everyone to agree. They built structures that honored competing needs. Your marriage can too. In this episode you'll learn: Why trying to "win" intimate disagreements keeps couples stuck How to create conversations where both spouses feel represented The difference between compromise and true collaboration Practical ideas for building your own "marriage convention" Why a more perfect union—not a perfect marriage—is the goal This Independence Day, celebrate more than freedom. Celebrate building a marriage where both of you can flourish.
As America marks its 250th anniversary, Rose Unplugged asks the question Benjamin Franklin posed on the steps of Independence Hall: "A republic — if you can keep it." This episode traces that charge from the fragile days of the Constitutional Convention to today, spotlighting the lesser-known signers of the Declaration of Independence whose ordinary lives produced an extraordinary nation, and drawing a parallel between the Israelites facing Goliath and modern Americans facing an ever-growing government. Along the way, Rose makes the case that liberty, life, and borders aren't just political issues but biblical ones — rooted in scripture and in the founders' belief that rights come from God, not government. It's a call to remember what made America great in the first place, and to decide — deliberately, generation by generation — whether that inheritance will be preserved or quietly surrendered on our watch.Please Support this Podcast:www.askchapter.org/realhelphttps://www.mypillow.com Promo Code: ROSEhttps://patriotmobile.com/partners/rosewww.americansforprosperity.org Rose's Ministry: www.sheiscalledbyhim.com
As America marks the 250th anniversary of the Revolution, a key question still deserves our attention: how did a loose collection of North American colonies defeat the most powerful empire on earth?In this special episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of Ohio State University and Massachusetts state champion U.S. history and civics teacher Kelley Brown explore that question with Pulitzer Prize winner Joseph Ellis, author of His Excellency: George Washington and the new The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding. Their conversation centers on George Washington, the figure historians consider indispensable to American independence.Among the topics they explore:A general who won by not losing: Washington lost more individual battles than he won, but by Valley Forge he understood he needed only to outlast the British, fighting a "war of posts" and engaging only when he held the advantage.A leader defined by surrendering power: Prof. Ellis shares that Washington never overtly sought to lead the Continental Army, or become president, and that precisely because he did not want power, he could be trusted with it.A presence that made the U.S. Constitution possible: Washington didn't speak until the last day at the Constitutional Convention, yet his presence alone lent the effort its legitimacy. As Prof. Ellis puts it: without Washington, no war won, no Constitution, and no nation.A reckoning with the Founding's failures: Drawing on his latest book, Prof. Ellis examines the two great tragedies of the Founding, slavery and the mistreatment of Native Americans, and where Washington, who chose to free the enslaved people he owned, stood on each topic.Tune in to hear this fascinating conversation about why George Washington's example remains relevant today.
Welcome to Day 1 of American Ground Radio's 10th Annual Fourth of July Special — What Makes America Great — with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. We're celebrating America's 250th birthday with some of the most inspiring voices in the country. We kick things off with country music legend Clint Black, who calls the Constitution America's greatest gift — not because it created a perfect nation, but because the framers built in the wisdom to know they weren't perfect and gave the people the tools to correct course. He reflects on John Adams making those horseback rides from Boston to Philadelphia at an age Clint was when he was reading about it — knowing the punishment for failure was death — and what that kind of courage means to the rest of us. Then Joe Piscopo — Frank Sinatra's vice chairman of the board — joins us from New Jersey, talking about his grandfather's manifest on the German freighter that brought him to Ellis Island, his father fighting for the United States Army Air Corps in World War II, and why every morning on the radio he feels like he's on a mission in their name to keep the legacy of this country alive. Singer-songwriter Don McLean, author of American Pie, tells us about falling in love with an Israeli woman, living outside Tel Aviv while he could hear the Iran-Iraq War a hundred miles away, and coming home to America thinking — we have no idea how safe we are here. He also tells us about a new documentary on the making of American Pie and his brand new album American Boys. Mattress Mack — Jim McIngvale of Gallery Furniture in Houston — gives us the three-word formula he's lived by his whole life: late to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise. He talks about opening his furniture store as a shelter during Houston floods and hurricanes, about a man who spent six years in Angola Penitentiary and is now one of his best employees, and about why the Judeo-Christian work ethic is the foundation of everything he's built. He also shares that in 1900, the average American household had 10.5 people. Today it's under two. And one, he says, is the loneliest number. Gary Sinise — Lieutenant Dan himself, founder of the Gary Sinise Foundation, author of Grateful American — talks about standing at the DMZ between North and South Korea and staring into the eyes of a North Korean guard who has never known freedom, and what that does to your appreciation for everything the men and women who serve under our flag have given us. He also shares that the 30th anniversary of Forrest Gump is coming up on July 6th. Our American Mamas Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson join us to talk about their 23rd annual Fourth of July family gathering — a tradition they started as young newlyweds so their children would always have a reason to come home — and what it means now that those children have children of their own. Teri talks about the new urgency she feels as a patriot, the sense that this 250-year experiment is teetering, and why that makes the celebration more important, not less. Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas opens with the observation that Benjamin Franklin — a deist who didn't believe God intervened in human affairs — stood at the Constitutional Convention and said, the longer I live, the more I'm convinced God governs the affairs of men. He also makes a sober point that America has no biblical promise of eternal endurance the way Israel does — and that our future depends entirely on our response to God's call to repentance. And Dr. Carol Swain — one of 12 children who grew up in poverty in the rural South, dropped out of school after eighth grade, and went on to earn a Ph.D. and become a university professor — says it was the people who made her great, many of them white men who saw something in her worth believing in. She says the most positive indoctrination in the world is being told you live in the greatest country on earth and that hard work will get you somewhere — and she credits not being exposed to critical race theory and victimology as part of why she was able to succeed. Throughout the special, we return to the central truth that runs through every one of these interviews — America doesn't manufacture greatness. It unleashes it. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Pianist Stephen Siek served as a professor of music at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, where he taught piano, music history, American music, the aesthetics of music, and film music. He is currently Director of the Emeritus College Academy for Continued Learning at Arizona State University. He has performed and lectured at piano conferences for organizations such as the Historical Keyboard Society of America and the American Liszt Society. Siek is a specialist in the keyboard music of the Federalist Era American composer Alexander Reinagle. Reinagle was born in Edinburgh and immigrated to America in 1786, first briefly to New York before settling in Philadelphia and later Baltimore, where he died in 1809. He quickly became an important figure in the musical life of Philadelphia, where he performed at the 1787 Constitutional Convention and attracted the attention of George Washington. Siek will visit the Bay Area to perform the music of this little-known early American on Monday, July 20, 2026, the 240th anniversary of Reinagle's first performance in the United States, at Littlefield Concert Hall at Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland. Siek joins the podcast to talk about the life and work of this underrecognized American composer.Music: Sonata in D I. Allegro con Brio, Sonata in E II. Adagio, Variations On "Steer Her Up And Had Her Gawn," Sonata in C II. Adagio, and Variations On "Lee Rigg" by Alexander Reinagle, performed by Stephen Siek (Titanic Records)pianosage.netFollow us on Instagram and Facebook.otherminds.orgContact us at otherminds@otherminds.org.The Other Minds Podcast is hosted and edited by Joseph Bohigian. Outro music is “Kings: Atahualpa” by Brian Baumbusch (Other Minds Records).
#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of Michigan podcast
In this episode of #FactsMatter, Guy Gordon and Research Council President Eric Lupher continue their deep dive into the question Michigan voters will face in November 2026: Should the state convene a constitutional convention? They break down Article VII-Local Government and discuss how Michigan's local government system has evolved from the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 to today's sprawling network of 1,800+ counties, cities, townships, villages, and the hundreds of special authorities that have emerged over time. Lupher explains that despite never having been amended, the structure is riddled with unresolved structural issues that a con-con could finally address. He also walks through why this structure creates both local control and major inefficiencies, how state laws have steadily eroded home rule, and why outdated constitutional language no longer reflects how counties operate. Their conversation traces the origins of Michigan's local government map to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, explores how townships evolved into major population centers, and examines the proliferation of special authorities—now numbering more than 400 statewide—created to deliver services that individual municipalities can't efficiently provide on their own. Gordon and Lupher unpack the core tension at the heart of Article VII: efficiency and modernization versus accountability and home rule. They examine how overlapping jurisdictions complicate economic development and how state laws increasingly override local decision-making. The episode also highlights areas where Michigan's constitution no longer reflects reality—such as outdated provisions on county governance that conflict with “one person, one vote” requirements—and considers whether a constitutional convention could resolve these inconsistencies or rethink the balance of power among county officials. Lupher emphasizes that while Article VII is ripe for review, any reforms must preserve the constitution's role as a durable framework rather than a detailed policy manual. For policymakers, civic leaders, and anyone interested in Michigan's governance, this episode offers a clear, accessible overview of the structural questions that could shape a future constitutional convention.
On the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it's worth asking: What was the American Revolution actually about? We all remember the broad strokes we learned in school: Independence from the British crown. Taxes on tea. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But on a deeper level, the American Revolution was—and is—a revolution in political theory, reimagining what a legitimate government is and what its relationship to its citizens should be. Washington's troops won the ground war 245 years ago at Yorktown, but the ideological battle continues against forces on both the left and the right who are pursuing a ruthless assault on America's core values. The American Revolution isn't over. Inscribed inside the dome of the Jefferson Memorial are the words: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Thomas Jefferson wrote that in an 1800 letter, but that feeling of hostility toward the tyranny of a distant monarch is what drove him and his fellow revolutionaries in 1776. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch summarized the Declaration's core ideas in an interview with Reason: "The Declaration of Independence had three great ideas in it. That all of us are equal. That each of us has inalienable rights given to us by God, not government. And that we have the right to rule ourselves." That's why Jefferson declared that a legitimate government requires the "consent of the governed." Thomas Paine put it more scathingly in his 1776 pamphlet Common Sense, writing that "government by kings was first introduced into the world by the Heathens." Monarchy was the Devil's most effective and enduring form of "idolatry." We don't fret over tyrannical kings in today's America. Only ceremonial vestiges of hereditary monarchy remain in the modern world. The Revolution achieved a complete victory in that sense. Yet a counterrevolution is underway, one that views the American Revolution and the republic it birthed as a failed liberal regime that has outlived its usefulness. And these counterrevolutionaries sit remarkably close to the levers of power. Self-Rule Under Threat Three years before he became vice president, J.D. Vance told podcaster Jack Murphy that America had reached a point of no return. "We are in the late republican period," he said. "If we're going to push back against it we have to get pretty wild and pretty far out there and go in directions that a lot of conservatives right now are uncomfortable with. Indeed, among some of my circle the phrase 'extra-constitutional' has come up quite a bit." Vance regularly cites and associates with a group of so-called "postliberals." He appeared on a panel with one of this movement's leading intellectuals, Patrick Deneen, a Notre Dame political science professor and the author of Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future, in 2023. Deneen believes there is an unbridgeable divide between the "elite" and "ordinary" people. "What is needed," he writes in the book, "in short, is regime change—the peaceful but vigorous overthrow of a corrupt and corrupting liberal ruling class," which will be replaced by a more virtuous one. He envisions the kind of aristocratic government favored by the ancients like Plato and Aristotle, endorsing "aristopopulism," where an elite class works to further the interests of the masses. "The replacement of the current elites in our society ought to be more closely aligned to the interests of ordinary people," Deneen said at the panel. He invokes a "premodern conception of liberty—expressed in the pages of Plato, Aristotle, the Bible," where institutions like the family, the church, and the state worked together to impose "guardrails" protecting individuals from becoming "slaves" to their own desires. My colleague Stephanie Slade writes about the postliberal right for Reason magazine. "He says people like [himself] should just be in charge of our government. That's what he means by regime change," Slade says. "[That] we should replace the current elites." She notes that postliberals are willing to frame the entire American Founding as a mistake: "They might say, yeah, America did have a liberal founding and that's why it was a mistake. Actually, this whole experiment was a mistake, and it maybe took a couple hundred years for that mistake to play out….We now can see that it doesn't lead to good conservative outcomes." In his book Common Good Constitutionalism, Adrian Vermeule, a postliberal Harvard Law professor and appointee to President Donald Trump's Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States, wrote that "the central aim of the constitutional order is to promote good rule, not to 'protect liberty' as an end in itself." That's a rejection of the spirit of 1776. Paine saw the existence of government as a necessary evil because of "the inability of moral virtue to govern the world." A minimal state, in his view, should be restricted to supplying "freedom and security." As Gorsuch put it in the same Reason interview: "If you think of the Declaration as kind of our mission statement, our ideals, and the Constitution is the how-to manual—well, the Constitution is all about dividing power. Madison realized men are not angels and that their aspirations for power need to be checked and checked and checked again." The "regime change" Deneen and Vermeule call for isn't explicitly violent. Deneen describes "Machiavellian means to achieve Aristotelian ends." The strategy manifests as a steady expansion of presidential authority, as we've seen under Donald Trump's second term: the 143 executive orders he signed in just his first 100 days, more than any other president in history; his decision to send troops to American cities without permission from local authorities; his declaring of 21 national emergencies while in office; and his decision to send illegal immigrants to overseas prisons in defiance of the judicial branch. Incidentally, one of the grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence was King George III's penchant for shipping the accused "beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offenses." Before he became vice president, Vance encouraged Trump to emulate Andrew Jackson and dare the Supreme Court to try enforcing its rulings against him. "If I was giving him one piece of advice," Vance said, "fire every single mid-level bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, replace them with our people, and when the courts—because you will get taken to court—and when the courts stop you, stand before the country like Andrew Jackson did and say, 'The chief justice has made his ruling, now let him enforce it.'" "That's a really dangerous idea to be even casually trotting out there, let alone for somebody who is now the sitting vice president to be on the record," Slade says. "He said it a number of years ago when he was just a candidate for office, but I've never seen anything from him since he's been in office that makes me think that he doesn't ultimately believe in that sort of approach to politics." Some postliberals call for measures far more dramatic than the steady erosion of constitutional restraints currently underway. Michael Anton, who worked in Trump's State Department over two terms, wrote in his book The Stakes about the prospect of a "Red Caesar"—a right-wing dictator who would rise from the ashes of the fallen republic. "Caesar's word replaces constitutionalism and even, in the final analysis, law," he wrote. In a podcast conversation with pro-monarchist blogger Curtis Yarvin, Anton discussed what that might look like. "Caesarism is a form of monarchy, but that follows a nonfunctioning republic, a republic that doesn't work anymore," Anton said. Yarvin proposed that the path to power would begin with declaring a state of emergency in an inaugural address, "taking direct control over all law enforcement authorities….Basically like Caesar, you're using all of the force available to you." "There is just clearly much more of a sense that government power is meant to be used to advance our side in the face of our enemies," Slade says. "And the enemies are the left, the political left, and anyone on the right who isn't going to line up with [them]. [They believe] political power should be used to reward our friends and punish our enemies, and that to me is a clear violation of one of the core principles of rule of law, which is equal treatment for everyone under law." In the COVID era, President Joe Biden imposed national mandates by executive fiat, and his administration tried to suppress dissent by pressuring tech companies to censor critics. The Democratic Party has also flirted with the idea of packing the Supreme Court to get its way, which is not a new impulse for the party. When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried to pack the Court in 1937, it cost him the support of progressives who had previously backed the New Deal. FDR is revered by progressives and cited by Yarvin as a prototype for an American Caesar. "Was FDR a dictator? What does it mean to be a dictator? What does this pejorative word mean?" Yarvin asks. "A dictator is somebody who rules alone. And that, I think, is a beautiful thing." The Revolution was, first and foremost, about self-rule: We would no longer abide by a diktat from an overseas king. From the very beginning of the republic, power-seeking men have tried to undermine that vision. In its earliest days, there was a plot to install a Prussian prince as king of a new American monarchy. Jefferson accused John Adams and Alexander Hamilton of being monarchists, recounting in horror a dinner conversation in which Hamilton told him "the greatest man…that ever lived was Julius Caesar." But monarchy is seductive because strongmen promise order in chaotic times. In the wake of Shays' Rebellion, a post-Revolution farmer's uprising, Jefferson worried the Constitution's drafters were overreacting by creating a powerful presidency that would devolve into a monarchy. "What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?" he wrote. And then, famously: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure." Hopefully, patriots won't be shedding blood anytime soon. But Jefferson's point stands: Preserving the promises of the Revolution will always be an ongoing battle. Self-rule was one of those promises. Another was self-ownership, which includes the right to do what you want with your own property. The Rise of 'Right-Wing Progressivism' The Declaration accused the king of "cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world." The American colonies experienced unprecedented economic growth, a topic of keen interest to the laissez faire economist Adam Smith, whose book The Wealth of Nations also turns 250 this year. Smith was fascinated by the American colonies, observing that their "progress has been more rapid than that of the English in North America. Plenty of good land, and liberty to manage their own affairs their own way, seem to be the two great causes of the prosperity." Other imperial powers, such as the Spanish and Portuguese, mandated that their colonists trade only through state-created monopolies. Smith pointed out that because American colonists could export lumber to the wider European market, they were incentivized to clear and improve land. Low taxes enabled them to reinvest their profits. Smith criticized England's Navigation Acts for prohibiting colonists from buying from other countries and for discouraging manufacturing to protect domestic competitors. Although England's "mercantile spirit" hampered the economy, Smith believed that in virtually every other respect the liberty of the English colonists "to manage their own affairs their own way is complete," concluding that both England and the colonies would be better off with an independent America that traded freely with England. Like the American revolutionaries, Smith described economic freedom as not just smart policy, but as a natural right. "To prohibit a great people…from making all that they can of every part of their own produce," he wrote, "is a manifest violation of the most sacred rights of mankind." That revolutionary understanding is still under attack today from both the left and the right. Socialists like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.) and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani talk about individual profits as if they are the property of the collective. And Trump has the same mercantilist instincts toward trade that Smith argued against 250 years ago. "I love tariffs. Most beautiful word," Trump said in September 2025. "I said my favorite word in the English dictionary is the word tariff." The postliberal right argues that laissez faire economics has undermined the working class. "Conservatives have outsourced our economic and domestic policy thinking to libertarians," Vance said at a 2019 National Conservatism Conference. "Do we serve pure unfettered commercial freedom, do we serve commerce at the expense of the public good, or do we serve something higher? And are we willing to use political power to actually accomplish those things?" "It is really important to recognize that what the postliberal right is pushing in terms of economics is progressivism," Slade says. "It's not conservatism." Tucker Carlson made the point in 2019 when he praised Elizabeth Warren's "economic patriotism" platform, noting it "sounds like Donald Trump at his best." What the so-called "economic patriots" of the left and right are converging on is a rejection of the spirit of 1776 and an embrace of monarchy. In the 18th century, many colonists could trade only through state-licensed monopolies. Warren has proposed remarrying corporations and the state through "stakeholder capitalism," in which political appointees sit on corporate boards to steer them in the right direction. Trump took a major step toward the corporatist approach in 2025 when directing the federal government to take a 10 percent stake in Intel. Before him, President Barack Obama took stakes in GM and Chrysler as part of a bailout package. "I don't think it's really a sustainable political equilibrium to have two parties that are both economically leftist," Slade says. "The American people are not on board with that. That is the horseshoe in action. And it's part of why I think there is an opportunity for old-school Reagan-style free-market conservatism to make a comeback." The slow abandonment of the revolutionary ideas of self-rule and private property that American patriots fought for in the late 18th century is downstream of a third, fundamental aspect of the American Revolution that is also under attack: freedom of conscience. Remarrying Church and State The postliberal right wants to tear down the wall between church and state. "They want to integrate church and state instead of separating them," Slade says. In some cases, it's Catholic integralists like Harvard's Vermeule, who has described a strategy of turning the government Catholic by "strategically locat[ing]" integralists "within liberal institutions…to undo the liberalism of the state from within." Deneen has suggested passing "blue laws" that would ban pornography, online gambling, and operating businesses on Sundays. A Protestant variety of Christian nationalism is embodied by pastor Doug Wilson—a spiritual mentor to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who invited Wilson to lead a prayer at the Pentagon. In a recent interview, Wilson said the "governing authorities should recognize formally that Jesus rose from the dead" and that "the basis of law would have to be Christian, and I would want it to be Protestant." Most of the revolutionaries were Christian Protestants, but they insisted on separating church and state to avoid the horrific religious wars that had ravaged Europe. "Torrents of blood have been spilt in the old world" to end religious discord by establishing state churches, wrote James Madison in opposition to taxes that would have funded an official church of Virginia. An even deeper problem for these devout believers in divine providence was that marrying religion to the state removed the very freedom to choose faith that God desires. In his opposition to the Virginia law, Jefferson wrote that "Almighty God hath created the mind free" and that "all attempts" to force religious belief "are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion." Madison argued historically that Christianity reached its "greatest lustre" in the times before it incorporated with the state, and that religious laws would counterproductively discourage nonbelievers from entering a region he hoped would become a beacon of Christianity. "Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man." Slade draws on her own Catholic faith in making the case. "I am a libertarian because I'm a Catholic, because I believe that every person was created in the image of God," she says. "I just think it's morally wrong from a Catholic or Christian perspective to try to use the coercive, violent power of the state to make people live a certain way. Even if the way that these guys would like to make people live—going to church on Sunday, praying, investing in your community and your family, self-sacrifice—all these good Christian values. They're good Christian values, but they can't be coerced or imposed from the top down. It's wrong and morally offensive from a Christian perspective." Slade says she understands the despair postliberals feel about the collapse of faith and virtue in contemporary America and that they have a point about the progressive capture of institutions. "What they're channeling is a really influential belief, which isn't totally wrong, that the left made a very concerted effort to make what is often referred to as a 'long march through the institutions' and to capture so many of our elite institutions—both at the governmental level but also at the cultural level: higher education, Hollywood, the mainstream media." Critics of the progressive agenda—or "wokeness"—often describe it as its own kind of religion. Linguist and social critic John McWhorter has argued that it has "slowly transmogrified into a kind of replacement for Protestant Christianity" among its adherents. Whether religious or not, progressives have imposed their social values on Americans through public school curricula, federal policy, and civil rights law. They have violated the freedom of conscience that Jefferson and Madison wrote about in a way very similar to how mandating religion would. Postliberalism is part of the political backlash. A poll conducted in early 2021 of people who voted for Trump in 2020 didn't find agreement on nationalist economic policies—tariffs, industrial policy, any of that—but found near-universal agreement on a sense of cultural siege. About 90 percent agreed with statements like "the mainstream media has become just an arm of the Democratic Party" or "Christianity is under attack today." "This sense that the culture has been captured by people who are hostile to people like me and who hate me and want to drive me out of the public square has created so much resentment and so much of a backlash that's driving this postliberal right-wing politics," Slade says. "I don't think it's possible to understand what's going on on the right without looking at what's been going on on the left, definitely ramping up during the period referred to as the great awakening." Slade's new book argues that the remedy to this postliberal moment is a rediscovery of "fusionism"—the reintegration of liberty and virtue. "A good society needs to be both free and virtuous. And the Founders certainly believed this," she says. John Adams wrote just 13 days before the signing of the Declaration that "the only foundation of a free Constitution is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People…they will not obtain a lasting Liberty." "What he's saying is, we can have a limited government in a free society, but if the people aren't naturally virtuous, if they don't trust each other, if they aren't good to each other—that [the Republic] is going to end up succumbing to tyranny and to a strongman government," Slade says. His fellow revolutionary and intellectual adversary Jefferson flipped the equation by writing that liberty "is the great parent…of virtue." Balancing liberty and virtue means reconstructing some of the civic "guardrails" that Deneen laments having lost in modernity—but not handing the power to regulate our conscience to the government. "What we're seeing a lot is people who are focused either on liberty but don't spend a lot of time thinking about how do we cultivate virtue, or who say, forget your liberty, we want virtue at the point of a gun," Slade says. "Government's job is to protect our basic rights and liberties. It should be prioritizing the protection of liberty." "That doesn't mean that virtue isn't important. In fact, it's the highest, most important thing in life—to pursue a virtuous life," Slade continues. "But it's not OK to expect government to do that for us. Government protects our freedom and we use that freedom to pursue virtue." The solution, Slade argues, has to be ground-up. She invokes Alexis de Tocqueville, who observed when he came to America in the 1830s that Americans excel at coming together and creating voluntary community solutions to social problems. "We should have some muscle memory here. We should be able to get back to that idea of thinking of ourselves as being on the front lines of solving problems, building new civil society institutions, nongovernmental institutions that can try to solve the problems we see in our society," Slade says. "Good policy can make this easier. And bad policy can crowd it out and make it a lot harder." The Declaration of Independence is 250 years old, but the Revolution it started is as vital as ever. During the final days of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was famously asked what kind of government they were in the process of designing. "A Republic," he said, "if you can keep it." Photo Credits: Horst Galuschka/dpa/picture-alliance/Newscom/ Dennis Flaherty / Jaynes Gallery / DanitaDelimont.com / Danita Delimont/ Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Newscom/ TIA DUFOUR/UPI/Newscom/Antonio Perez/TNS/Newscom/ Aaron Schwartz - Pool via CNP/picture alliance / Consolidated News Photos/Newscom/ Ron Adar / SOPA/ Images/Sipa USA/Newscom/ JT Vintage/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom/ AdMedia/SIPA/Newscom/ Hugh Rooney / Eye Ubiquitous/Newscom/ Bonnie Cash - Pool via CNP/CNP / Polaris/Newscom/AdMedia/Newscom/ Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA/Newscom/ Polaris/Newscom; Eric Lee - Pool via CNP/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Department of Defense The post The American Revolution Isn't Over appeared first on Reason.com.
Send us Fan MailThe separation of powers is one of the defining principles of American government and a key safeguard of individual liberty. Born out of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the U.S. Constitution established three branches of government, each with distinct responsibilities and the power to check the others.In this episode, Dean William Koch of the Nashville School of Law and Judge Usman from the Tennessee Court of Appeals sit down for a thoughtful discussion exploring the founders' vision for the separation of powers, the meaning and purpose of checks and balances, and how the judicial branch has evolved over the past 250 years. Together, they examine why this constitutional framework remains essential to preserving the rule of law and maintaining the balance of power in a modern democracy.
Ralph speaks to economist Dean Baker about the hypocrisies behind the supposed Social Security shortfall and Republicans' "waste, fraud, and abuse" panic. Then, Ralph talks to journalist and ocean activist David Helvarg about his new book: Forest of the Sea: The Remarkable Life and Imperiled Future of Kelp.Dean Baker is a Senior Economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, where he authors “Beat the Press,” his regular commentary on economic reporting. He has written several books, including Getting Back to Full Employment: A Better Bargain for Working People, The End of Loser Liberalism: Making Markets Progressive, False Profits: Recovering from the Bubble Economy, and The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer.People will hear big numbers. They'll hear “$300 billion” and they'll go “Oh my God, that's a lot of money. That's money out of my pocket. It's causing the government deficit,” whatever. That's because they haven't given it any context…If we could, in any conceivable world, afford to pay $500 billion to increase the military budget, surely we can afford to pay $300 billion to ensure that everyone gets their Social Security benefits. It's just a case of: put it in context. I'm not going to say it's a small number. It isn't. But it's smaller— $300 billion is smaller than $500 billion, and that's really not a disputable point.Dean BakerWhere [DOGE] had the biggest consequences is with foreign aid. [Musk] just got a big kick out of that— USAID, he just shut it down. He boasted about that. He goes, “Last weekend I fed USAID into the wood chipper.” That's almost verbatim what he said. Now, what this meant was that you have people— and you could find waste in that program just like any other program, but this is a program that provided millions of people with medicine, with nutrition, with healthcare. And suddenly they couldn't get it…And Elon Musk was boasting that he killed that program. That's great. But millions of people, I mean, thankfully, I don't think it's millions yet, but if that program doesn't get restarted or funded somewhere else, you're going to see millions of people lose their lives.Dean BakerSo we're saying we have people on Medicaid that are committing fraud? No one gets a check from Medicaid. What would that even mean? Like, you signed up for Medicaid and you weren't eligible, so that would mean that they might be making a payment to a doctor or hospital that they don't actually have to make because you didn't qualify? I'm sure that happens sometimes but it's not like someone's living high on the hog because they were able to get Medicaid to pay for their doctor's visit when it actually shouldn't have.Dean BakerDavid Helvarg is a journalist and ocean activist. He is the founder and executive director of Blue Frontier, an ocean policy and media group, and producer of Rising Tide: The Ocean Podcast. He has produced more than 40 documentaries for media outlets, including PBS and the Discovery Channel. And he has written several books, including Blue Frontier, The War Against the Greens, and Forest of the Sea: The Remarkable Life and Imperiled Future of Kelp.I've been pushing with my colleagues in journalism the idea of the “blue beat.” The only resource in the ocean not fully exploited at this point is good investigative reporting and narrative storytelling. Because people don't connect with it, a lot of people think the environment ends at the shoreline. And that's really where 95% of the living space on the planet begins.David HelvargPeople at least know that corals are in trouble and they have some sense of what a coral reef is. People don't know that the planet has this other forest crisis—that kelp forests cover an area larger than the Amazon basin, and they're also being impacted by these marine heat waves that are growing every year. And as you add more heat to the system, it gets more energetic, which is why we have more and more extreme storms. I covered Katrina in 2005. I thought that would be a turning point (we had 1,800 people killed and a million environmental refugees). But the propaganda by the oil and gas industry is such that we keep having these disasters from a warming ocean planet, we see the melting of the Arctic ice, and instead of an alarm bell, it became a dinner bell for all the shipping industries and people who want to exploit the oil and gas in the increasingly open Arctic waters. So we're in this crisis point. I'm more frustrated than despairing because we know what the solutions are. It's creating the political will to enact them.David HelvargWhen I started Blue Frontier 20 years ago, the main threats were overfishing and pollution—oil, chemical, plastic, nutrient pollution. Today, that's being overwhelmed by these marine heat waves.David HelvargNews 6/26/26* Our top story this week comes to us from New York City, where democratic socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani has pulled off a stunning hat trick, with all three candidates for Congress endorsed by the Mayor winning their primaries on Tuesday. The most surprising victory is that of Darializa Avila Chevalier, who ousted the powerful incumbent Congressman Adriano Espaillat, head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in New York's 13th congressional district. This primary had turned ugly, with Espaillat's campaign seeking to weaponize anti-Haitian racism in the Dominican community against Avila Chevalier, per the Haitian Times, despite the fact that she is not in fact Haitian. Impressive in another way is the victory of UAW organizer and New York State Assemblywoman Claire Valdez in New York's 7th district. Much has been made of this race being a proxy battle between Mamdani and his onetime supporter, retiring Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, who backed her protégé, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso to succeed her in this seat. Reynoso enjoyed the support of a broad range of New York elected officials – including Velazquez along with New York Attorney General Letitia James, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and a broad range of unions and civil society groups, most notably the Working Families Party – but was absolutely trounced by Valdez, who won by over 20 points with the support of Mamdani and NYC-DSA. Meanwhile, in the 10th district, Brad Lander won by an even greater margin, outrunning incumbent Congressman Dan Goldman by over 30 points while running on a pro-Palestine platform in the most Jewish congressional district in America. These victories send a clear signal to the sclerotic, ossified leadership of the Democratic Party. The only question now is will they listen.* Beyond the congressional races, DSA won a remarkable number of races at the state level. According to Democratic Left, DSA will send as many as seven new legislators to Albany this cycle, for a total of “four state senators and 11 or 12 members of the state assembly.” As the magazine notes, this means that the “2027-2028 socialist bloc in Albany will be the second largest in a state legislature in U.S. history…behind 20 members in Wisconsin in 1919 and ahead of 14 members in Wisconsin in 1911.” Within New York City, DSA endorsed candidates won seven out of eight races for seats in the state legislature, per NYC-DSA. All told, it was a thunderous victory for the left in New York and raises the clout of Zohran and his compatriots to dizzying heights.* Meanwhile, in Washington DC, NOTUS reports the local DSA has exploded in membership, adding nearly 1,000 new members since this time last year. This growing bloc flexed its political muscle in the recent Democratic primaries, electing DSA members Janeese Lewis George for Mayor and Aparna Raj for the Ward 1 seat on the DC Council, as well as Oye Owolewa for an at-large seat. Axios notes that they are already eying, “two more openings — to fill Lewis George's Ward 4 seat and the at-large seat of Congress-bound Robert White.” If these votes go in DSA's favor, Lewis George could assume the mayoralty with a progressive majority of seven out of 13 members on the Council. Since her victory last Tuesday, Lewis George has emphasized her plan to lower utility costs through “expanding government solar,” and “balcony solar” for apartment tenants, optimizing efficiency at local government agencies and maximizing federal housing grants.* In Maryland, the results for DSA and progressives more generally were not quite so decisive but the left notched key victories nonetheless. DSA endorsed candidate McKayla Wilkes won her primary for the Charles County Commission and incumbent State Delegate Gabriel Acevero won reelection to his seat. Senators Dalya Attar and Nancy King, both centrist incumbents, lost to progressive challengers, per Maryland Matters. Will Jawando in Montgomery County won the County Executive position with broad support from the Maryland political establishment and progressives, while Maryland Senate Majority Leader Bill Ferguson fended off his first real challenge in years only after a last minute pledge to reverse his position on Maryland congressional redistricting. However, in the 5th congressional district, Steny Hoyer protégé and “AIPAC-backed” Adrian Boafo won the primary to succeed his mentor in Congress. According to the Jerusalem Post, “AIPAC poured $5.7 million into his campaign through its super PAC.” Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn came in a distant third place, despite scoring the endorsement of Nancy Pelosi. In short, the left has more work to do in order to build a political machine in Maryland as they have in New York and DC.* The next major contest between the factions of the party will occur next week in Colorado, where Melat Kiros, a DSA-backed progressive challenger born in 1997, is taking on Congresswoman Diana DeGette, who first took office that same year, per Zeteo. According to a poll conducted on behalf of the Kiros-aligned Justice Democrats, she leads DeGette by five points and she has now won the endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders. Senator and former Governor John Hickenlooper is also facing a progressive primary challenge from State Senator Julie Gonzales and, according to the polls, he holds but a single digit lead, the Coloradan reports. We will be watching both of these races closely.* Meanwhile in Congress, the Senate has passed a new resolution on Iran, this time directing Trump to “remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities against Iran unless explicitly authorized by Congress, other than to defend America, an ally or partner from ‘imminent attack,'” according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal notes that while the resolution is nonbinding, it was previously passed by the House, marking “the first time both chambers of Congress have passed the same measure to curb” presidential power to wage war on the Islamic Republic. The resolution passed 50-48, with the support of Republican Senators Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul. Senators Mitch McConnell and Dave McCormick were absent, and Senator John Fetterman again broke ranks with the Democrats to vote no.* Turning from the Senate floor to the shop floor, the United Auto Workers (UAW) concluded their 39th Constitutional Convention last week, with a momentous vote to divest the union's investments from Israel bonds. UAW's divestment decision is the latest victory in the campaign to disentangle the finances of American organized labor from the state of Israel, following the United Electrical Workers (UE) in 2015 and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in 2023. UAW members also heard from Abdul El-Sayed, the candidate the union has endorsed in the Michigan Senate race. This contentious campaign will not be over until August, but El-Sayed, occupying the progressive lane, has moved into the lead and appears to be consolidating his lead, winning the endorsement of Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen just this week, per the Traverse City Record-Eagle. Van Hollen himself has recently begun hinting that he may seek higher office, recently telling NOTUS that he is “kicking the tires” on a 2028 presidential bid.* Turning to foreign affairs, this week saw the fall of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Starmer, a centrist who was elected Labour Party leader in 2020 following the ouster of leftist Jeremy Corbyn, has held the post of Prime Minister since 2024 when Labour won an historic landslide. Since then however, his personal approval rating and that of the party has cratered, creating space for the rise of the far-right Reform UK party. The BBC reports Starmer will remain in his post until a new leader is chosen from within the party, with the presumptive successor being MP Andy Burnham who recently beat back a challenge in his own seat by a Reform candidate by a large margin. Starmer is now set to be the shortest serving Labour PM in British history, while Burnham is set to become the UK's seventh Prime Minister in the last ten years, both indications of the precariousness of the post-Brexit British political order.* Our final two stories come to us from Latin America. First, in Bolivia, the country's union confederation has maintained a general strike against the right-wing government of Rodrigo Paz for nearly two months over his administration's initiatives to privatize government services and rescind the land reform program instituted over the last several decades of rule by the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS). On June 19th, journalist Ollie Vargas reported that the government had blinked and signed an agreement to withdraw these plans in exchange for the unions ending the general strike. However, Vargas notes that “most affiliated unions state that they want to maintain strike until [the Paz government] resigns.”* Finally, in Colombia, the right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella emerged victorious from Sunday's runoff presidential election, defeating leftist Ivan Cepeda, the handpicked successor of sitting President Gustavo Petro, by less than one percentage point. In the immediate wake of the election, President Petro “alleged that Israel interfered” in the election, citing “irregularities in the country's vote counting process and calling for a full audit and recount,” per Drop Site News. However, by Wednesday, Cepeda himself formally conceded, framing his decision to do so as “an act of democratic responsibility, to contribute to harmony, peace and dialogue among Colombians,” Al Jazeera reports. As one of his first acts, Abelardo de la Espriella has committed to reestablishing diplomatic relations with Israel, which had been severed under President Petro.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe
Was America's founding a genuinely Christian project, or has that idea been read backward into history by people who want it to be true? Dr. Ben Carson, famed neurosurgeon, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and founder of the American Cornerstone Institute, joins Joshua Lewis to make the case that the founders' faith wasn't incidental to the American project, but was foundational to it.ABOUT THE EPISODE:Carson walks through the well-known stories: George Washington's providential survival during the French and Indian War, Benjamin Franklin's call to prayer at the Constitutional Convention, John Adams' conviction that the Constitution was built for "a moral and religious people." Carson recounts these as evidence that the founders understood their rights as God-given rather than state-granted and argues this conviction is what allowed the young nation to move as fast as it did.But this episode tackles some of the harder questions about America's Christian roots. In fact, many Christians today are wrestling with where the line falls between honoring faith's role in government and slipping into theonomy or Christian nationalism (using the Bible not just to inform conviction, but to enforce practice). Josh and Dr. Carson walk through the difficult cases, including Thomas Jefferson's private letters calling Paul "the first corruptor" of Christ's doctrine, the Treaty of Tripoli's explicit statement that the U.S. government is "not in any sense founded on the Christian religion," and the uncomfortable reality that some founders held views far messier than the Sunday-school version of American history.What emerges is a conversation about the difference between a Christian moral framework shaping a leader's conscience and a Christian theocracy shaping a nation's laws and why the founders, having fled state-enforced religion in Europe, were careful to avoid recreating it here. Dr. Carson also addresses the founders' inconsistencies head-on, including slavery, and how a constitution "inspired" by Christian conviction could coexist with such a profound moral failure.If you've ever felt caught between two unsatisfying camps with "America was a secular Enlightenment experiment" on one side, and "America should be governed by biblical law" on the other, this conversation gives you a third way to think about it: historically honest, theologically grounded, and avoidant to both extremes.0:00 – Introduction0:51 – Built on Faith Children's Book1:00 – Washington's Providence Stories4:34 – Christianity Twisted by Marxism6:09 – Founders and Deism Debate8:00 – Declaration vs Constitution11:06 – Theonomy and Theocracy12:47 – Christian Ethics and Lawmaking19:12 – Washington's Christian Faith20:50 – Jefferson's Mixed Beliefs26:49 – Benjamin Franklin's Faith33:39 – Treaty of Tripoli Question35:32 – James Madison and Constitution38:05 – Christian Political Involvement RESOURCES MENTIONED:- Dr. Ben Carson's children's book, Built on Faith (co-authored with Kirk Parrish): https://www.amazon.com/Built-Faith-Ben-Carson/dp/1967002711- American Cornerstone Institute: https://americancornerstone.org- Andrew Wilson, Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West: https://www.crossway.org/books/remaking-the-world-hcj/- Carl Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: https://www.crossway.org/books/rise-triumph-modern-self-hcj/- Treaty of Tripoli (1797), Article 11 (full text): https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/bar1796t.aspSubscribe to The Remnant Radio newsletter and receive our FREE introduction to spiritual gifts eBook. Plus, get access to: discounts, news about upcoming shows, courses and conferences - and more. Subscribe now at TheRemnantRadio.com. Support the showABOUT THE REMNANT RADIO: The Remnant Radio exists to equip believers who are hungry for the radical middle of both Word and Spirit. Subscribe for twice-weekly content on theology, church history and the gifts of the Spirit.
At the 39th Constitutional Convention of the United Auto Workers (UAW) in Detroit, Michigan, union delegates debated and affirmed the aggressive direction the UAW has taken under current President Shawn Fain, supporting pushes to increase shop-floor militancy, support new organizing efforts, and take stronger stances on the political crises working people face today. Among the major developments to come out of the UAW Constitutional Convention was a historic vote to divest the union from Israel bonds, which provide financial support to Israel's government as it continues to wage a US-backed campaign of genocidal violence and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians. In this episode, we break down this historic vote and what it means for union members with a panel of rank-and-file workers and members of Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), a left-wing caucus within the UAW. Panelists include: Andrew Bergman, a worker at General Motors in Detroit, Michigan, a member of UAW Local 22, and co-chair of UAWD; Navruz Baum, a paralegal in New York, a member of UAW Local 2325, and a member of the UAWD Steering Committee; Margie Thornton, an attorney in Colorado, a member of UAW Local 2320, and a member of the UAWD Steering Committee; and Mike Davis, an auto parts worker in Ohio, a member of UAW Local 2021, and a member of UAWD Additional links/info: Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) website, member platform, and donation page Navruz Baum, Daily Struggle, "UAW divests from Israel bonds" Dan DiMaggio & Jane Slaughter, Labor Notes, "Auto worker delegates back union's fighting direction at UAW Convention" Shireen Akram-Boshar, Truthout, "United Auto Workers vote to divest from Israel in historic victory" Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
At the 39th Constitutional Convention of the United Auto Workers (UAW) in Detroit, Michigan, union delegates debated and affirmed the aggressive direction the UAW has taken under current President Shawn Fain, supporting pushes to increase shop-floor militancy, support new organizing efforts, and take stronger stances on the political crises working people face today. Among the major developments to come out of the UAW Constitutional Convention was a historic vote to divest the union from Israel bonds, which provide financial support to Israel's government as it continues to wage a US-backed campaign of genocidal violence and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians. In this episode, we break down this historic vote and what it means for union members with a panel of rank-and-file workers and members of Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), a left-wing caucus within the UAW. Panelists include: Andrew Bergman, a worker at General Motors in Detroit, Michigan, a member of UAW Local 22, and co-chair of UAWD; Navruz Baum, a paralegal in New York, a member of UAW Local 2325, and a member of the UAWD Steering Committee; Margie Thornton, an attorney in Colorado, a member of UAW Local 2320, and a member of the UAWD Steering Committee; and Mike Davis, an auto parts worker in Ohio, a member of UAW Local 2021, and a member of UAWDAdditional links/info: Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) website, member platform, and donation pageNavruz Baum, Daily Struggle, “UAW divests from Israel bonds”Dan DiMaggio & Jane Slaughter, Labor Notes, “Auto worker delegates back union's fighting direction at UAW Convention”Shireen Akram-Boshar, Truthout, “United Auto Workers vote to divest from Israel in historic victory”Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme SongCredits: Audio Post-Production: Jules TaylorBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!
Rank-and-file delegates amended the UAW Constitution at the union's 39th Constitutional Convention, requiring the union to divest from Israel Bonds after a grassroots campaign led by auto workers, academic workers, and graduate employees.
In today's episode of The Quiz, we're testing your knowledge on everything from the birth of ancient empires and early American history to modern demographic shifts and dystopian pop culture. Can you answer these? Founding Fathers: We journey back to Philadelphia in 1787 during a pivotal moment in American history. Do you know which legendary leader served as the president of the Constitutional Convention? Ancient Empires: According to classical mythology, a pair of twin brothers raised by a she-wolf went on to lay the foundations of a mighty civilization. Can you name the two brothers known as the founders of Rome? Capital Hills: Capitol Hill has seen plenty of generational shifts over the years. At the start of the 119th Congress, what was the official median age of a United States Senator? Play. Share. Listen, with Actor Bill Lobley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What does it look like when a classical Christian education meets a national civics competition? In this episode of Refining Rhetoric, host Robert Bortins sits down with two Classical Conversations students — Owen Burrill and Elisha Hoey — who were selected as national finalists in the U.S. Presidential 1776 Award, a civics competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education celebrating America's 250th anniversary. Out of hundreds of thousands of eligible students, only 20 made it this far — and these two CC students are among them. Owen and Elisha share how they tackled a study library spanning John Locke's Two Treatises of Government to Madison's notes from the Constitutional Convention, what surprised them most about the Founding (hint: virtue shows up everywhere), and how Classical Conversations' emphasis on memory work, primary documents, and impromptu speaking gave them a real edge. They also dish on their private tour of the National Archives and what it was like to see the Declaration of Independence without the crowds. Whether you're a homeschool parent wondering if the hard work is paying off, or a student looking for a reason to dig deeper into American history, this conversation is proof that a classical education does more than prepare kids for college — it prepares them for the arena. This episode of Refining Rhetoric is sponsored by Classical Conversations' new 2026 Product Line: This April, Classical Conversations launched an exciting portfolio of new products designed to strengthen math fluency, develop critical reasoning skills, and equip families with practical tools for classical, Christian homeschooling. From flashcard resources and reasoning curriculum to hands-on manipulatives and a foundational parent resource, these releases deepen the classical learning journey for families at every level. Visit https://classicalconversations.com/WhatsNew/ to explore the entire April 2026 product collection and start strengthening your family's classical, Christian education today.
Drop us a note about the podcast. Doubt gets treated like sophistication these days, but John 20 treats it like a turning point. We start with the resurrection account: Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb, the disciples behind locked doors, and Thomas drawing a hard line: no wounds, no belief. Then Jesus shows up anyway, speaks peace, and invites Thomas to look and touch. It's a blunt, hopeful picture of Christian faith: Jesus does not dodge honest questions, but He does call us out of faithlessness and into belief.From there, we bring Scripture into the places people actually feel pressure. We read Genesis 2:24-25 and ask where we're getting our marriage advice, what “one flesh” means in real life, and why God's design for husband and wife cannot be swapped out for whatever is popular. We also read Psalm 119 and Proverbs 16 to underline mercy, truth, peace, and the danger of power used without wisdom.We close by honoring sacrifice with a Medal of Honor spotlight, then reflect on Benjamin Franklin at the Constitutional Convention, urging daily prayer and warning that nations built without God drift toward division and confusion. If you care about the resurrection of Jesus, biblical marriage, Christian living, and faith in public life, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review wherever you listen.#ChristianNation#AmericanHeritage#BenjaminFranklinSupport the showThe American Soul Podcasthttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1791934/subscribeCountryside Book Serieshttps://www.amazon.com/Countryside-Book-J-T-Cope-IV-ebook/dp/B00MPIXOB2 America's Christian Heritage Podcasthttps://www.buzzsprout.com/2622483
The Preacher Behind the Constitution #RTTBROS #NIGHTLIGHT #USA250 #AMERICA250 #NATION250The Preacher Behind the Constitution“"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”— Jeremiah 17:9THE STORYJames Madison arrived at the Constitutional Convention with a plan.He had spent the winter of 1786 to 1787 reading every book he could find on the history of governments. He studied them as a diagnostician, trying to understand why human governments so reliably collapse into tyranny or anarchy.His conclusion was thoroughly biblical: the problem is human nature. People in power abuse it. Majorities oppress minorities. Madison's genius was in designing a system that took human sin seriously as a structural assumption. Checks and balances. Separation of powers. Federalism. Each element of the Constitution reflects a deep suspicion of concentrated human authority.Madison had learned this from a Presbyterian minister. John Witherspoon, the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence, was president of the College of New Jersey when Madison was a student. The Father of the Constitution was, in a real sense, the student of a preacher.THE REFLECTIONJeremiah 17:9 is not a comfortable verse. The heart is deceitful above all things. Desperately wicked. This is the anthropology of Scripture, which takes the Fall seriously.Madison took it seriously. His Constitution was built for fallen people living in a fallen world, which is exactly why it has lasted longer than any comparable governing document in history. It does not assume the best about human nature. It builds in safeguards for the worst.The irony is beautiful: the most successful secular governing document in human history works precisely because it was designed around a profoundly biblical understanding of human nature.We live in an age that has recovered the Enlightenment's optimism about human nature, the belief that people given enough education will reliably choose good. History has not been kind to that view. Scripture has always been honest about it.THE PATRIOT'S PRAYERLord, You know the heart better than we know ourselves, and we are grateful that You do not leave us to our own devices. We thank You for the wisdom You gave to the framers of this Constitution, wisdom that looked honestly at human nature and built accordingly. Forgive us for the ways we have trusted in our own goodness rather than Your grace. In Jesus' name, Amen.PRAY IT FORWARD: Ask God today to show you an area of your own heart where you have been trusting in your own goodness rather than His grace, and receive His honest assessment with humility.
Karine Premont and Christopher Devine have a new edited volume focusing on the American Vice Presidency and analyzing not just the office and the officeholders, but also the role of vice presidential candidates in the campaigns for the presidency. Second in Command: Reevaluating the Role of Vice Presidents and Running Makes in Modern American Politics (U Michigan Press, 2026) is a fascinating exploration of the role and place of the vice president, the vice presidency, and the vice presidential running mate. Often this position and this job are dismissed—since the vice president has very few actual powers, besides his/her role as president of the Senate and tiebreaker in that body, and one of the certifiers of the Electoral College votes after an election. But in the contemporary political environment, vice presidents have grown in importance in terms of their role on the presidential ticket and in their role once elected to office. Second in Command is split into two parts, the first section focusing on the vice president in office, while the second part examines the vice presidential candidate and the role of being a running mate to a presidential candidate. In our conversation we discuss the fact that the vice president is often considered to be the “appendix” of American government, created at the Constitutional Convention to break a tie in the Senate, should there be one, and to solve the problem coming out of the newly designed Electoral College where two votes needed to be cast for president. But over the past fifty years, there has been tremendous change in terms of the inhabitants in the office, their relationship to the president and the presidency, and their activities on the campaign trail. Vice Presidents have become general advisors to the president. This precedent was established between President Jimmy Carter and his vice president, Walter Mondale. And since the 1970s, this newly engaged position and role for the vice president have generally been in place, with different approaches from different presidents/vice presidential pairs. The idea of trying to “balance” the ticket is still part of the selection dynamic, but it is as important as the working relationship that presidents have pursued with their vice presidential pick. We had a fascinating discussion of the history of the vice presidency as well as an analysis of the more modern dynamic. We talked about different parts of ticket balancing, since it is not necessarily about geography so much as constituent appeals: religious groups, gender, expertise/experience, and more. Second in Command: Reevaluating the Role of Vice Presidents and Running Mates in Modern American Politics is available from the University of Michigan Press via open access. Here is the link: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.14505045 It can, of course, also be purchased. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Karine Premont and Christopher Devine have a new edited volume focusing on the American Vice Presidency and analyzing not just the office and the officeholders, but also the role of vice presidential candidates in the campaigns for the presidency. Second in Command: Reevaluating the Role of Vice Presidents and Running Makes in Modern American Politics (U Michigan Press, 2026) is a fascinating exploration of the role and place of the vice president, the vice presidency, and the vice presidential running mate. Often this position and this job are dismissed—since the vice president has very few actual powers, besides his/her role as president of the Senate and tiebreaker in that body, and one of the certifiers of the Electoral College votes after an election. But in the contemporary political environment, vice presidents have grown in importance in terms of their role on the presidential ticket and in their role once elected to office. Second in Command is split into two parts, the first section focusing on the vice president in office, while the second part examines the vice presidential candidate and the role of being a running mate to a presidential candidate. In our conversation we discuss the fact that the vice president is often considered to be the “appendix” of American government, created at the Constitutional Convention to break a tie in the Senate, should there be one, and to solve the problem coming out of the newly designed Electoral College where two votes needed to be cast for president. But over the past fifty years, there has been tremendous change in terms of the inhabitants in the office, their relationship to the president and the presidency, and their activities on the campaign trail. Vice Presidents have become general advisors to the president. This precedent was established between President Jimmy Carter and his vice president, Walter Mondale. And since the 1970s, this newly engaged position and role for the vice president have generally been in place, with different approaches from different presidents/vice presidential pairs. The idea of trying to “balance” the ticket is still part of the selection dynamic, but it is as important as the working relationship that presidents have pursued with their vice presidential pick. We had a fascinating discussion of the history of the vice presidency as well as an analysis of the more modern dynamic. We talked about different parts of ticket balancing, since it is not necessarily about geography so much as constituent appeals: religious groups, gender, expertise/experience, and more. Second in Command: Reevaluating the Role of Vice Presidents and Running Mates in Modern American Politics is available from the University of Michigan Press via open access. Here is the link: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.14505045 It can, of course, also be purchased. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science
The Prayer #RTTBROS #Nightlight #USA250 #Nation250 #America250The Prayer That Moved a ConventionExcept the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it.— Psalm 127:1THE STORYIt was the summer of 1787, and the Constitutional Convention was on the verge of collapse.The delegates had been arguing for weeks. The small states and the large states were deadlocked. The entire enterprise was unraveling, and men were talking about going home for good.Then Benjamin Franklin, eighty-one years old, the oldest man in the room, rose to speak. He reminded them that in the beginning of the conflict with Britain, they had daily prayer in that very room. "Our prayers, Sir, were heard," he said, "and they were graciously answered." He then quoted Psalm 127 directly: "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it." He moved that the Convention open each session with prayer.The formal motion was tabled in the moment. But Virginia's Edmund Randolph offered a counter-proposal: that a sermon be preached on the Fourth of July. On July 4th, 1787, the entire Convention assembled at the Reformed Calvinistic Church in Philadelphia, where Rev. William Rogers prayed asking God to enable them to devise such measures as may prove happy instruments in healing all divisions. Washington recorded the visit in his diary.THE REFLECTIONWhat happened next is the part of this story that almost never gets told.After five weeks of deadlock, after the recess and the church service and the prayer of Rev. Rogers, the Convention reconvened. In just ten weeks, those same divided delegates produced the document that has become the longest-running constitution in the history of the world.Franklin later wrote that he could hardly conceive a transaction of such momentous importance should be suffered to pass without being in some degree influenced, guided, and governed by that omnipotent, omnipresent, and beneficent Ruler. Hamilton reportedly declared that the Constitution was a system which without the finger of God never could have been suggested and agreed upon.The prayer that seemed to be tabled was not tabled at all. It was answered. They went to church. They asked God for wisdom. And ten weeks later they had the Constitution.THE PATRIOT'S PRAYERPray It Forward: Is there a situation in your life, a deadlock, a conflict, a decision that feels impossible, where you have been relying on human wisdom alone? Do what the Convention finally did: go before God and ask Him to be the architect.
The worker's share of Gross National Income just hit its lowest level ever recorded. Corporate profits just hit their highest share in nearly 80 years. And CEOs took home $1.24 million in raises last year while average workers earned around $50,000. AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond has seen enough. On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Redmond breaks down the new GNI data, the AFL-CIO's annual Executive Paywatch findings, the defeat of a federal provision that would have blocked state AI worker protections for 10 years and what organized labor is bringing to its quadrennial convention in Minneapolis — record organizing rates, court victories and a message of solidarity heading into the midterm election cycle. Read the AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch report and get convention updates at aflcio.org.
Every 50 years, America has been overtaken by a Great Awakening — 1826, 1876, 1926, 1976. If the pattern holds, 2026 is the year. And the signs are already showing up in places nobody expected. Is America on the verge of the Fifth Great Awakening? Lance Wallnau sits down with evangelist and prayer leader Sharon Bolan — founder of Let's Pray USA and author of Let's Pray: 62-Second Prayers for America — to unpack the prophetic signs converging right now and why this may be the most urgent prayer moment in a generation. On Pentecost Sunday, Sharon Bolan received a word: "The first flood started over. I will send the second flood to start a NEW beginning. It will be a flood of My Spirit the world will not be able to contain." Then a Kentucky Derby winner named Golden Tempo — dead last the entire race — surged to first place at the final stretch. The word that came with it: "Those who have been in obscurity are about to come on the scene like Elijah — with power." In this episode: * The 50-year awakening cycle and why 2026-2027 is the target window * The full prophetic word Sharon Bolan received about the Second Flood * What Golden Tempo's Kentucky Derby win signaled about what's coming * The Cyrus anointing on Trump — and what the church must do right now * How one-minute prayers shifted the crime rate in New Orleans (she has the stats) * Why Benjamin Franklin called for prayer at the Constitutional Convention — and what Hamilton said back * George Washington: the "kneeling general" of Valley Forge The window is open. The pattern is undeniable. Don't miss this one. Podcast Episode 2140: Why Some Believe America's 5th Awakening Hits in 2026 | don't miss this! Listen to more episodes of the Lance Wallnau Show at lancewallnau.com/podcast
America's story didn't begin in 1776. It began 150 years earlier with the Pilgrims, the Mayflower Compact, and a covenant made before God.Listen as Pastor Stephen Martin, Pastor Daniel Hayworth, and guest Pastor Rob open the America 250 series by tracing the biblical roots of the nation — from a deadly first winter and Squanto's unlikely arrival, to Benjamin Franklin calling the Constitutional Convention to prayer.Perfect for your morning commute or workout, this conversation reframes American history as a multi-generational covenant with God rather than a mere political contract.You'll Learn:✅ Why a covenant runs deeper than any legal contract✅ How the moral law shaped righteous civil government✅ What real unity looks like beyond "diversity is our strength"✅ How prosperity can quietly pull a nation away from GodNew episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7 AM CT. Follow and subscribe so you never miss an episode of the America 250 series.
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