Podcast appearances and mentions of Sam Tanenhaus

One hundred years after William F. Buckley Jr.'s birth, Margaret Hoover sits down with biographer Sam Tanenhaus to reflect on the original “Firing Line” host's life and legacy. In his long-awaited book, “Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America,” Tanenhaus details Buckley's childhood, his leadership of the American conservative movement, and his later years.This is an abridged version of a conversation with Tanenhaus that lasted nearly 90 minutes. In it, Tanenhaus defends his handling of Buckley's Catholicism and his views on racial issues, as well as his contention that Buckley was an arguer, not a thinker. He also comments on Buckley's lasting impact on journalism and politics, including the extent to which he might have laid the groundwork for President Trump's MAGA movement. Support for Firing Line with Margaret Hoover is provided by Robert Granieri, Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, The Tepper Foundation, Peter and Mary Kalikow, Pritzker Military Foundation, Cliff and Laurel Asness, Katharine J. Rayner, Lindsay and George Billingsley, and Jared Stone.

Episode 4970: A Conversation With Sam Tanenhaus And The Book Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America Pt. 2

Teaser ... Sam's epic new biography of William F. Buckley ... Was Buckley the original Tucker Carlson? ... Buckley's paradoxical upbringing ... How Yale turned Buckley into a “counter-intellectual” ... Was Buckley racist or tribalist or what? ... Buckley v. the Civil Rights Act ... Heading to Overtime ...

Episode 4964: A Conversation With Sam Tanenhaus And The Book Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America

Few people exerted as profound an influence on the postwar conservative movement and the “fusionist” project of attempting to align libertarians with traditional conservatives on issues of shared interest as William F. Buckley Jr. The founder and longtime editor of National Review, Buckley hosted the weekly PBS program Firing Line, wrote a syndicated column, and authored roughly 50 books. He also found time to run for mayor of New York City in 1965. He had no real intention of winning but rather hoped to influence the terms of the debate over how the city was governed.Buckley commissioned Sam Tanenhaus to write his biography. The result is the comprehensive Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America. Please join us on Monday, November 17, a week before what would have been Buckley's 100th birthday, for an online discussion of the book and a man who helped shape public discussion for more than five decades. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are four faces on the Saving Elephants' Mount Rushmore of great conservatives: Edmund Burke, Russell Kirk, Thomas Sowell, and William F. Buckley.  While the first three have each had fully episodes dedicated to their life and works, William F. Buckley has yet to be explored at length.  And with Buckley's posthumous 100th birthday happening later this month, now is the perfect time to reflect on his long and remarkable life.   Sam Tanehaus' decades-in-the-making biography of Buckley was published earlier this year and he joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to cover a multitude of ground in sketching out a life well lived.  Sam discusses who Buckley was as a personal friend, his impact on the conservative movement, his flirtation with radicalism and maturing into his role as conservative gatekeeper, and many of the colorful characters Buckley interacted with throughout his life.  Sam also addresses some of the criticisms of his book, Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America.   About Sam Tanehaus Sam Tanenhaus, the former editor of The New York Times Book Review, is the author of the national bestsellers Whittaker Chambers: A Biography (winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize) and The Death of Conservatism. His feature articles and essays have appeared in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and Vanity Fair.   Buckley Turns 100 Come join the Saving Elephants livestream on November 23 at 8PM EST as we celebrate the life and legacy of William F. Buckley on the eve of his posthumous 100th birthday.  Your questions and comments welcome during this live event.

Watch the video recording of this Keynote here on YouTube.In the space of a single generation (1950 to 1980), the journalist and author William F. Buckley led a small band of little-known conservatives to the peaks of political power and cultural influence.Ten years before his death, Buckley chose journalist and historian Sam Tanenhaus to tell the full story of his life, granting him extensive uncensored interviews and exclusive access to his most private papers. The result, “Buckley: The Life and the Revolution,” published in June 2025, has received a great deal of attention and prompted wide and intense debate.In a live on-stage conversation at Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences, Peter Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences, and Tanenhaus discuss Buckley and the true meaning of his life and legacy in the Age of Donald Trump. Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X.

Long before Donald Trump up-ended traditional conservatism in the US, another charismatic figure was re-shaping the Republican Party.Writer William F. Buckley was the first editor of National Review, perhaps the most influential political magazine of the 20th century. Ronald Reagan was a particular enthusiast for its ideas.But there was another force in Buckley's life, and it often conflicted with his politics – the Catholic Church.GUEST:Sam Tanenhaus is the author of the acclaimed new biography, Buckley: The Life and Revolution that Changed America.

In this two-part episode, best-selling author and journalist Sam Tanenhaus discusses his much-anticipated biography of William F. Buckley Jr., entitled, Buckley: The Life and the Revolution that Changed America. In the second part, Tanenhaus covers Buckley the man, including his closest friendships and relationships, including his marriage to Canadian Patricia Taylor, and how we should understand him in today's fast evolving context of media, politics and ideas.  The Hub is Canada's fastest growing independent digital news outlet.   Subscribe to The Hub's podcast feed to get our best content when you are on the go: https://tinyurl.com/3a7zpd7e (Apple)  https://tinyurl.com/y8akmfn7 (Spotify)   Want more Hub? Get a FREE 3-month trial membership on us: https://thehub.ca/free-trial/ Follow The Hub on X: https://x.com/thehubcanada?lang=en   CREDITS: Amal Attar-Guzman - Producer and Video Editor Alex Gluch - Sound Editor Sean Speer - Host   To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts email support@thehub.ca

In this two-part episode, best-selling author and journalist Sam Tanenhaus discusses his much-anticipated biography of William F. Buckley Jr., entitled, Buckley: The Life and the Revolution that Changed America. In the first part, Tanenhaus covers Buckley's early life, his fast-paced career trajectory, and the ideas and values that animated his decades as America's leading conservative intellectual. The second part of the conversation will be released tomorrow.  The Hub is Canada's fastest growing independent digital news outlet.   Subscribe to The Hub's podcast feed to get our best content when you are on the go: https://tinyurl.com/3a7zpd7e (Apple)  https://tinyurl.com/y8akmfn7 (Spotify)   Want more Hub? Get a FREE 3-month trial membership on us: https://thehub.ca/free-trial/ Follow The Hub on X: https://x.com/thehubcanada?lang=en CREDITS: Amal Attar-Guzman - Producer and Video Editor Alex Gluch - Sound Editor Sean Speer - Host   To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts email support@thehub.ca

Sam Tanenhaus, author of Buckley: The Life and the Revolution that Changed America, on Bill, his thought, and his influence. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.

Author Sam Tanenhaus opens the acknowledgement section in his latest book, "Buckley," this way: "I first met William F. Buckley in 1990, shortly after I had begun work on a biography of Whitaker Chambers…Bill Buckley had been Chambers' last patron and most eloquent champion." The biography of Chambers was published in 1997. Now 28 years later, Sam Tanenhaus finished his 1,018-page book on the life of William Buckley Jr. "Within months of our first conversation, Bill Buckley had opened doors," writes Tanenhaus, "uncovered grant money, made phone calls, and performed innumerable other kindnesses, large and small." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Sam Tanenhaus opens the acknowledgement section in his latest book, "Buckley," this way: "I first met William F. Buckley in 1990, shortly after I had begun work on a biography of Whitaker Chambers…Bill Buckley had been Chambers' last patron and most eloquent champion." The biography of Chambers was published in 1997. Now 28 years later, Sam Tanenhaus finished his 1,018-page book on the life of William Buckley Jr. "Within months of our first conversation, Bill Buckley had opened doors," writes Tanenhaus, "uncovered grant money, made phone calls, and performed innumerable other kindnesses, large and small." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. Republican party today isn't what it used to be. But the evolution toward President Donald Trump's MAGA-ism began decades ago when William F. Buckley launched a revolution on the American right. As Buckley's official biographer Sam Tanenhaus tells Brian, the late conservative icon was a lot like Trump: a media-savvy wealthy elite who rebelled against the very establishment he came from. In his new book, Buckley: The Life and Revolution That Changed America, Tanenhaus lays out the improbable, fascinating story of the arch-Catholic New Englander who chummed around with hardcore leftists but transformed the GOP into a political powerhouse. In no small part by engaging Republicans in the culture war that eventually put Trump in the White House. (Recorded July 24, 2025) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Behind the News, 8/28/25 - guest: Sam Tanenhaus on Bill Buckley - Doug Henwood

Sam Tanenhaus, author of Buckley: The Life and the Revolution that Changed America, on Bill, his thought, and his influence The post Bill Buckley: his life and thought appeared first on KPFA.

What can we learn from the history of the American Right? Zachary and Emma welcome Sam Tanenhaus, historian and author, whose most recent work is his biography Buckley: The Life and Revolution That Changed America. Sam shares insights from his deep dive into the career of conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr., the country's “first intellectual entertainer.” He discusses how Buckley's blend of intellect and charisma set the stage for the modern conservative movement, the influence of media in shaping political discourse, and the ways in which Buckley's legacy continues to shape the Right. What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and The Podglomerate.For transcripts, to join the newsletter, and for more information, visit: theprogressnetwork.orgWatch the podcast on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/theprogressnetwork⁠⁠⁠And follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok: @progressntwrk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Tanenhaus, author of a long-awaited biography of William F. Buckley Jr., sits down with Margaret Hoover to discuss the original “Firing Line” host's life and legacy a century after his birth.In “Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America,” Tanenhaus details Buckley's childhood, his rise to lead the American conservative movement, and his later years. He explains why he believes Buckley chose him to tell this story and responds to some of the book's conservative critics.Tanenhaus defends his handling of Buckley's Catholicism and his evolution on racial issues throughout his life, as well as his assertion that Buckley was more of an arguer than a thinker. He also pushes back against those who question his decision to address suspicions about Buckley's sexuality in the book.Tanenhaus discusses Buckley's lasting impact on journalism and politics, including the extent to which he might have laid the groundwork for President Trump's MAGA movement. After spending nearly three decades writing the book, he also reflects on his own relationship with Buckley.Support for Firing Line with Margaret Hoover is provided by Robert Granieri, The Tepper Foundation, Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, and Pritzker Military Foundation.

On today's episode, Phil Christman joined Josiah to discuss Sam Tanenhaus' excellent new biography, Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed AmericaPre-order Why Christians Should Be Leftists here: https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802884053/why-christians-should-be-leftists/Check out Phil Christman's Substack The Tourist: https://philipchristman.substack.com/Follow Phil on Bluesky @philipchristman.bsky.socialBecome a Fruitless Patron here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=11922141Check out Fruitless on YouTubeFind more of Josiah's work: https://linktr.ee/josiahwsuttonFollow Josiah on Twitter @josiahwsuttonReferencesBuckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America by Sam Tanenhaus"William F. Buckley's Bill Never Came Due," Brandy Jensen in Defector, https://defector.com/william-f-buckleys-bill-never-came-due"A Complicated Man: William F. Buckley, Jr. (w/ Sam Tanenhaus)," Know Your Enemy, https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/know-your-enemy-a-complicated-man/"Keeping Up with the Bozells," Know Your Enemy, https://www.patreon.com/posts/unlocked-keeping-100674682Audio creditsWhatever - 80 horseYesterday - bloom."Gore Vidal vs. William F. Buckley Jr.," YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ1cRbkoPusLindbergh - Woody Guthrie ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy.Our mailbag runneth over! Unsurprisingly, we received so many excellent questions from subscribers for our most recent episode that we decided to answer even more of them. Once again religion seemed to be on the minds of listeners, and we take up charismatic Christians and the evolution of both the religious right and the Republican Party, as well as the role of Christian Zionism in U.S. policy toward Israel. But that's not all: other topics include leftist theory bros; Roy Cohn, Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, and the politics of sexual blackmail; Gore Vidal at 100, and more.Sources:Hal Lindsey, The Late Great Planet Earth (1970)Daniel G. Hummel, The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism: How the Evangelical Battle over the End Times Shaped a Nation (2023)Wilson Carey McWilliams, "The Bible in the American Political Tradition," in Redeeming Democracy in America, ed. Patrick Deneen & Susan McWilliams (2011)The Correspondence of Walter Benjamin and Gershom Scholem, 1932–1940, ed. Gershom Scholem (1992)Cedric Robinson, Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition, (1938)Phil Christman, Why Christians Should Be Leftists (2025)Sam Tanenhaus, Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America (2025)Nicholas von Hoffman, Citizen Cohn: The Life and Times of Roy Cohn (1988)Christopher M. Elias, Gossip Men: J. Edgar Hoover, Joe McCarthy, Roy Cohn, and the Politics of Insinuation (2021)Gore Vidal, United States: Essays 1952-1992 (1993)

In 1951, a 25-year-old oil heir with an unplaceable accent declared war on Yale University — and modern American conservatism was born.On this WhoWhatWhy podcast, Sam Tanenhaus, former editor of The New York Times Book Review and the author of Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America, talks to me about his monumental 1,000+ page biography of Buckley, a project 30 years in the making.We constantly ask how did we get here? How did the Republican Party transform into MAGA? The answer lies with Buckley — he was the engine that drove this evolution.William F. Buckley Jr. understood what few politicians grasped: Politics was becoming theater, and ideological battles would be won on cultural battlefields.Through meticulous research, including previously unknown family archives, Tanenhaus reveals how Buckley became the original conservative-coalition builder — simultaneously maintaining elite respectability while appealing to grassroots activists. Get full access to Talk Cocktail Podcast at jeffschechtman.substack.com/subscribe

Can the GOP Be a Party of Ideas? https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/magazine/can-the-gop-be-a-party-of-ideas.htmlREALIGNMENT NEWSLETTER: https://therealignment.substack.com/PURCHASE BOOKS AT OUR BOOKSHOP: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail Us: realignmentpod@gmail.comSam Tanenhaus, author of Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Sam unpack Buckley's influence on today's political landscape, how his ideas, debates, and style shaped postwar conservatism, the rise of MAGA conservatism after the 2012 election, the ideas vacuum on the left, and why developing a coherent worldview, beyond following the polls and vibes, matters more than ever post-2024.

The troubling thing about William F. Buckley, the media savvy founder of modern American conservatism, isn't so much his politics, but his likability. How could such an overtly reactionary racist and homophobe (even if he was himself gay), be such a charming fellow beloved by all who knew him? That's one of the central questions which Sam Tanenhaus addresses in his massive new biography Buckley. Tanenhaus reveals shocking new details about the Buckley family's secret funding of segregationist newspapers and White Citizens Councils—information that even appalled Buckley's own son Christopher. Buckley explores how someone could be genuinely charitable and philanthropic in his personal affairs while promoting such corrosive politics. Tanenhaus argues we live in a moment when it seems "almost impossible to disentangle those personas," yet Buckley embodied both simultaneously. This wasn't just genteel bigotry—it was a foundational contradiction that changed the United States and now helps define the theatrical toxicity of Trump's America. 1. Buckley's Family Secretly Funded Segregationists"Buckley's family actually sponsored the publication of a newspaper that supported the White Citizens Council... Buckley had kept it secret. He never told anyone."Tanenhaus reveals that the Buckley family funded segregationist publications in the South—a bombshell that "appalled" even Buckley's own son Christopher.2. The Paradox of Personal Charm vs. Political Toxicity"Gary Wills... said Buckley was simply the most charitable man you would meet that he had ever known. And he said, I love everything about Bill Buckley, but his crazy reactionary politics."The central mystery: How could someone be genuinely kind in person while promoting destructive ideologies? Tanenhaus argues this contradiction is what made Buckley so complex and influential.3. Questions About Buckley's Sexuality Haunted His Public Life"Vidal called Buckley a crypto-Nazi and Buckley said, don't call me a Nazi, you queer or I'll sock you in the goddamn face."The famous 1968 debate with Gore Vidal exposed underlying tensions about Buckley's identity, with suggestions he was a "closeted gay man" himself while using homophobic language.4. Buckley Invented Modern Political Theater"Buckley's innovation... was to see that media itself could become the instrument for a kind of theatrical presentation of history. And that proved to be really precious. And that's what we're living with now is politics is a kind of theater and even entertainment."Through "Firing Line" and his seemingly ubiquitous media presence, Buckley pioneered the performative politics we see today.5. His American Dream Was Reactionary Restoration"It was a dream of restoration... what he wanted to do was to create an America his own parents would have been comfortable in."Buckley sought to return to the "late 19th and early 20th centuries of entrepreneurialism, of laissez-faire economics"—a world Tanenhaus calls "a powerful delusion." This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

The definitive biography of William F. Buckley Jr., written by prize-winning biographer Sam Tanenhaus. This monumental work, more than two decades in the making, tells the compelling story of America's greatest conservative andthe rise and fall of the movement he led. BUCKLEY vividly captures its subject in all his facets and phases, offering an authoritative account of an American giant and the world he made.ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sam Tanenhaus, the former editor of The New York Times Book Review, is the author of the national bestseller Whittaker Chambers: A Biography, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. His feature articles and essays have appeared in the Atlantic, New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, and many other publications in the U.S. and abroad. He is currently a contributing writer for the Washington Post.

Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD 8) was the House manager of the second Trump impeachment in the Senate; is an outstanding constitutional scholar; a long-time law professor; a renowned author; a driving force behind the January 6th committee; and the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.  For the great privilege of interviewing him, we need all the tools a great interviewer would have.  It is therefore appropriate that we also interview Sam Tanenhaus, the biographer, in a new and magisterial work, of William F. Buckley, perhaps the best known and most fearlessly non-partisan in his selection of interview subjects.  Sam Tanenhaus has written the definitive work on Buckley, whose Firing Line project was in some ways an inspiration for our own podcast.  CLE credit is available for lawyers and judges from podcast.njsba.com.

Sam Tanenhaus, an esteemed journalist and biographer, joins The Vital Center to discuss his biography of William F. Buckley Jr. Buckley, a towering figure in American conservatism, helped to pave the way for the political realignment that Ronald Reagan accomplished. Tanenhaus exposes Buckley's darker origins, including his support for racial segregation in the South— a view which he later distanced himself from. Tanenhaus also speaks to Buckley's personal life and the conversations that led Buckley to select him as his biographer.

This episode is one that Matt and Sam have been anticipating for years: after two-and-a-half decades of research and writing, Sam Tanehaus's authoritative biography of William F. Buckley, Jr.—youthful booster of America First, enfant terrible at Yale, CIA agent, founder of National Review, best-selling author, brilliant television host, and more—has blessedly arrived. Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America stretches to just under 900 pages of text, before you get to the endnotes and index, an appropriately epic biography of an overstuffed, consequential life, containing far more than could be covered in a single episode. This conversation focuses on the challenges of writing a biography of a man whose archives rivaled those found in presidential libraries; Tanenhaus's discovery of a newspaper the Buckley's owned in South Carolina that essentially was a mouthpiece for the White Citizens' Council, and the Southern roots of Buckley's "northern segregationist" politics; the influence of his oilman father, who fled the revolution in Mexico and instilled anti-communist politics, as well as the Catholic faith, in his children; Buckley's role in forging the post-war conservative movement, through National Review and his frenetic endeavors as a columnist and speaker; the controversies, disappointments, failures, and triumphs of his decades-long career; and more. Sources:Sam Tanenhaus, Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America (2025)— Whittaker Chambers: A Biography (1997)John Judis, William F. Buckley, Jr.: Patron Saint of the Conservatives (1988)Sam Adler-Bell, "A Practical Fanatic," The Idea Letters, June 26, 2025Alexander Chee, "Mr. and Mrs. B.," Longreads, June 18, 2025Christopher Owen, Heaven Can Indeed Fall: The Life of Willmoore Kendall, (2022)Listen again to these Know Your Enemy episodes for background on:Brent Bozell: "Keeping up with the Bozells," Feb 26, 2021Willmoore Kendall: "The Long Farewell to Majority Rule? (w/ Joshua Tait)," May 17, 2021Frank Meyer: "Frank Meyer, the Father of Fusionism," Nov 10, 2021Joan Didion: "Joan Didion, Conservative (w/ Sam Tanenhaus)," Jan 13, 2022William F. Buckley, Jr.: "Buckley for Mayor (w/ Sam Tanenhaus)," Aug 23, 2021— "The Conservative and the Convict (w/ Sarah Weinman)," May 9, 2022— "Consider the Cranks (w/ David Austin Walsh)," May 21, 2024...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon for access to all of our bonus episodes!   

Katy Brodsky Falco details how women’s health has been defunded. Sam Tanenhaus examines his new book Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosted by Lee Cowan. In our cover story, Ted Koppel examines how funding cuts and layoffs are affecting cancer research at the National Institutes of Health. Also: Ben Mankiewicz previews the new “Superman” film, and talks with director James Gunn and actor David Corenswet; Lesley Stahl sits down with conductor-composer Michael Tilson Thomas; Jo Long Kent profiles CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, the driving force behind Uber; Robert Costa interviews Sam Tanenhaus, author of a new biography on conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr.; and Seth Doane scans the heavens at the Vatican Observatory. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to One Party Rule As SCOTUS Removes the Last Check on Trump | We Are Back in the 1850's With ICE Repeating the Cruelty of the Fugitive Slave Act | There Was a Respectable Right Before Trump's MAGA Took Over the GOP backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Anne McElvoy and guests explore the intersections between Christian faith and political decision-making and look at some recent dramas which explore the impact of belief.Chine McDonald is director of the Christian Think Tank Theos, Mark Lawson is a writer, broadcaster and theatre critic of Catholic journal The Tablet, Prof Anna Rowlands is St Hilda Professor of Catholic Social Thought & Practice at the University of Durham, Dafydd Mills Daniel is a Lecturer in Divinity at the University of St Andrews and Sam Tanenhaus, has published a biography of influential American conservative thinker and Catholic, William F Buckley Jnr. called Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America.Producer: Debbie Kilbride

What does the life of William F. Buckley, Jr. reveal about the deeper currents shaping American politics? In this episode, Jacob Heilbrunn speaks with Sam Tanenhaus, a former editor of The New York Times Book Review and the author of the new biography “Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America” (Random House, 2025). Together, they examine how outsider campaigns, cultural backlash, and the performance of political authenticity have reshaped both the right and the left. Is Trump the culmination, or corruption, of Buckley's movement? Has the liberal establishment lost its hold not just on power, but on the language of ideas itself? And in a time of ideological confusion and institutional decay, is today's chaos a break from the past or its inevitable result?Music by Aleksey Chistilin from Pixabay

The summit of NATO leaders that opened Tuesday at The Hague began beneath a new cloud of war in Iran. Yet among Europe's architects of shared security, a cautious optimism obtains. Also: today's stories, including an Iranian missile attack on the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, America's largest military installation in the Middle East; Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signing a law that would mandate that the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms; and a book review of “Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America” by Sam Tanenhaus. Join the Monitor's Kurt Shillinger for today's news.

As the world falls apart — and we prep for our Buckley mega-episode with Sam Tanenhaus — we're unlocking this fun episode from late last year. Subscribe at Patreon.com/knowyourenemy to never miss an episode like this one. And please listen to Jesse's insane, hilarious, freakishly prescient (and fake) podcast Tech Talk. A palette cleanser for subscribers: we watched Reagan (2024), with our intrepid producer, Jesse Brenneman. Even better, the movie is based on the 2006 book, The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism, by Paul Kengor — who just happens to have been Matt's close mentor as an undergraduate student. Reagan clocks in at over two hours and twenty minutes, and it's a wild, even fantastical ride that offers a revealing glimpse into the conservative psyche and a faithful rendition of the most hagiographic version of the Reagan mythology, especially his personal responsibility for ending the Cold War and finally putting the Soviet Union on the ash heap of history.Sources:Reagan (2024)Paul Kengor, The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism(2006)— God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life(2004)— A Pope and a President: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Extraordinary Untold Story of the 20th Century(2017)Edmund Morris, Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan (1999)

Leah, Kate and Melissa unpack this week's raft of SCOTUS decisions, including cases on “reverse discrimination” and whether Mexico can sue American gun manufacturers, and explain why a unanimous vote is more complicated than it appears. Also covered: Trump's new travel bans and the Justice Department filing a lawsuit against North Carolina because...a Democrat won the supreme court race. Finally, they discuss Kate's rockstar testimony in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary and some GOP senators' fixation on this very podcast. Host favorite things:Kate: The scholarship of Stanford's Mila Sohoni; Leah on the Daily ShowLeah: The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth, Kristin Henning; Betty Who's new music for Pride; Trump vs. Musk and this resulting hall of fame tweetMelissa: Leah and Troy Iwata on the Daily Show; The Cerebral, Bach-Loving Patrician Who Wrote Trump's Playbook, Sam Tanenhaus (NYT); Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America, Sam Tanenhaus; John Proctor Is the Villain (Broadway); Atmosphere: A Love Story, Taylor Jenkins Reid Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025! 6/12 – NYC10/4 – ChicagoLearn more: http://crooked.com/eventsOrder your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad VibesFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

Sam Tanenhaus, author of new biography of William F. Buckley, Jr., joins Michael Isikoff to discuss the conservative columnist's early role as a CIA spy and his longtime relationship with his one time agency boss, Watergate burglar Howard Hunt. Buy the bookBuckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter:https://twitter.com/SpyTalkerFollow Michael Isikoff on Twitter:https://twitter.com/isikoff Follow SpyTalk on Twitter:https://twitter.com/talk_spySubscribe to SpyTalk on Substackhttps://www.spytalk.co/Take our listener survey where you can give us feedback.http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=short

It's just Steve and Charles this week, taking in another wild one. Don and Elon are on the outs — but is it permanent? The courts are busy, and a handful of great, unanimous decisions get their due cheer; Karine Jean-Pierre goes independent; Ukraine's drones remind us that modern warfare has changed; and Sam Tanenhaus published his long-awaited Buckley bio. Tune in for Hayward's review preview.- Sound from this week's open: Elon Musk distances himself from the Trump Administration in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning 

It's just Steve and Charles this week, taking in another wild one. Don and Elon are on the outs — but is it permanent? The courts are busy, and a handful of great, unanimous decisions get their due cheer; Karine Jean-Pierre goes independent; Ukraine's drones remind us that modern warfare has changed; and Sam Tanenhaus […]

Today's Republican Party has come a long way from the days of William F. Buckley, Jr., but his legacy continues to be felt across the conservative movement.Sam Tanenhaus, former editor of the New York Times Book Review and author of the newly released Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America, joins Oren to discuss the conservative statesman's life and work. The two discuss how Buckley viewed himself as a reactionary bent on overthrowing the liberal orthodoxy of his day, his work to realign the party, and what those who aim to do likewise today can learn from his legacy.Further reading:“William F. Buckley, Jr. and the Politics of Reality" by Michael Lind

Sam Tanenhaus's guest essay in The New York Times, "The Cerebral, Bach-Loving Patrician Who Wrote Trump’s Playbook." Listener call-in commentary. Seth has more to discuss about hot dogs. Ken Khachigian's op-ed "Watergate-Style Hearings for the Biden Coverup" from The Wall Street Journal.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Sam Tanenhaus discusses the life of William F. Buckley Jr., the man who set the blueprint for the modern conservative movement, which has reached a new iteration in Donald Trump. Then, speaking of consequential figures, we consider a man who left an enormous impact on Hollywood: Desi Arnaz. Todd S. Purdum tells us all about Arnaz's groundbreaking life and career. And finally, a special treat: Cazzie David joins us from Los Angeles to share her answers to 50 of life's most pressing questions in this week's Perfect Ending.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.comDavid Graham is a political journalist. He's a long-time staff writer at The Atlantic and one of the authors of the Atlantic Daily newsletter. His new book is The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America. We go through the agenda and hash out the good and the bad.For two clips of our convo — on whether SCOTUS will stop Trump, and what a Project 2029 for Dems might look like — pop over to our YouTube page.Other topics: growing up in Akron; his dad the history prof and his mom the hospital chaplain; aspiring to be a journo since reading Russell Baker as a kid; the origins of Project 2025; its director Paul Dans; Heritage and Claremont; the unitary executive; the New Deal; the odd nature of independent agencies; Dominic Cummings' reform efforts in the UK; Birtherism; Reaganites in Trump 1.0 tempering him; Russiagate; the BLM riots vs Jan 6; equity under Biden; Russell Vought and Christian nationalism; faith-based orgs; Bostock; the trans EO by Trump; our “post-constitutional moment”; lawfare; the souped-up Bragg case; Liberation Day and its reversal; Biden's industrial policy; the border crisis; Trump ignoring E-Verify; Labour's new shift on migration; Obama and the Dreamers; Trump's “emergencies”; habeas corpus; the Ozturk case; the Laken Riley Act; the abundance agenda; the national debt; DOGE; impoundment and Nixon; trans women in sports; Seth Moulton; national injunctions; judge shopping; and trying to stay sane during Trump 2.0 and the woke resistance.Coming up: Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on the Biden years, Sam Tanenhaus on Bill Buckley, Walter Isaacson on Ben Franklin, Tara Zahra on the last revolt against globalization after WWI, NS Lyons on the Trump era, Arthur C. Brooks on the science of happiness, and Paul Elie on his book The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.comClaire Lehmann is a journalist and publisher. In 2015, after leaving academia, she founded the online magazine Quillette, where she is still editor-in-chief. She's also a newspaper columnist for The Australian.For two clips of our convo — on how journalists shouldn't be too friendly with one another, and how postmodernism takes the joy out of literature — pop over to our YouTube page.Other topics: a modest upbringing in Adelaide; her hippie parents; their small-c conservatism; her many working-class jobs; ADHD; aspiring to be a Shakespeare scholar; enjoying Foucault … at first; her “great disillusionment” with pomo theory; the impenetrable prose of Butler; the great Germaine Greer; praising Camille Paglia; evolutionary psychology; Wright's The Moral Animal and Pinker's The Blank Slate; Claire switching to forensic psychology after an abusive relationship; the TV show Adolescence; getting hired by the Sydney Morning Herald to write op-eds — her first on marriage equality; Bush's federal amendment; competition among women; tribalism and mass migration; soaring housing costs in Australia; rising populism in the West; creating Quillette; the IDW; being anti-anti-Trump; audience capture; Islamism and Charlie Hebdo; Covid; critical Trump theory; tariffs; reflexive anti-elitism; Joe Rogan; Almost Famous; Orwell; Spinoza; Oakeshott; Fukuyama and boredom; tech billionaires on Inauguration Day; the sycophants of Trump 2.0; and X as a state propaganda platform.Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy (the first 102 are free in their entirety — subscribe to get everything else). Next week: David Graham on Project 2025. After that: Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on the Biden years, Sam Tanenhaus on Bill Buckley, Robert Merry on President McKinley, Walter Isaacson on Ben Franklin, and Paul Elie on his book The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.comByron is a political journalist. He was a news producer for CNN in the early years, a reporter for The American Spectator, and the White House correspondent for National Review. He's currently the chief political correspondent for Washington Examiner and a contributor to Fox News. His most recent book is the 2020 bestseller, Obsession: Inside the Washington Establishment's Never-Ending War on Trump. We chewed over the recent political past and then got on to Trump, where things got stickier but still friendly.For two clips of our convo — on Clinton Derangement Syndrome in the ‘90s, and Trump bungling his gains on immigration — pop over to our YouTube page.Other topics: raised in Alabama; his dad a pioneer star in local TV news; the GOP takeover of the South; George Wallace; the Nation of Islam and AIDS; GOP fusionism in the Cold War; Mickey Kaus' courage; David Brock's war on the Clintons; Bill's triangulation and the DLC; Vince Foster; Lewinsky and impeachment; Ken Starr; Iraq and WMD; covering Dubya for National Review; that mag marginalized since Trump; Birtherism and demonizing Obama; McCain and the market crash; Obamacare; the Santorum candidacy; Pat Buchanan; Trump vs Jeb on 9/11; Trump blowing up GOP orthodoxies; Hillary in 2016; Russiagate; pardoning all January 6-ers; Trump's impeachments and McConnell; open borders under Biden; CHIPS and IRA; Trump hypocrisy on E-Verify; authoritarianism and self-deportation; Tom Homan; Bukele; the Alien Enemies Act; the SCOTUS standoff; judge shopping; DEI; Musk and DOGE; USAID and PEPFAR; Zelensky in the Oval; NATO; Chris Krebs; the tariff war; Trump's yips; and the looming empty shelves.Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy (the first 102 are free in their entirety — subscribe to get everything else). Coming up: Claire Lehmann on the woke right, David Graham on Project 2025, Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on the Biden years, Robert Merry on President McKinley, Sam Tanenhaus on Bill Buckley, Walter Isaacson on Ben Franklin, and Paul Elie on his book The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.comFrances Lee is Professor of Politics and Public Affairs at Princeton, and her books include The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Age. Steve Macedo —an old friend from Harvard — is the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton, and his books include Just Married: Same-Sex Couples, Monogamy, and the Future of Marriage. The book they just co-wrote is called In Covid's Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us.For two clips of our convo — on the demonization of dissent during Covid, and where the right went wrong on the pandemic — head to our YouTube page.Other topics: Frances raised in the Deep South; Steve from a family of educators in Massachusetts; his Jesuit schooling as a gay Catholic; how both were natural contrarians; the pre-pandemic plans for Covid; their personal reactions to the outbreak; the emergency after 9/11; the Spanish flu; the cost/benefit of lockdowns; the different reactions in red and blue states; the Sweden model; the trillions of dollars in Covid relief; Fauci's appeal to authority; Partygate and Newsom's French Laundry; the remote work enjoyed by elites; how blue-collar workers bore the brunt; the generational injustice suffered by kids; Operation Warp Speed; the early myths of the vaccine; the Ptown vaccinated outbreak; censorship on social media; the moralizing of the MSM; the public-health hypocrisy on BLM protests; the mask mandates after the vaccines; how boosters weren't backed by good evidence; the Great Barrington Declaration; the Ebright testimony; the “Proximal Origin” paper; gain of function and the short-lived moratorium; the illiberal mistakes of Francis Collins; addressing his claims on lab leak; and the alarming current risks of viral escape.Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy (the first 102 are free in their entirety — subscribe to get everything else). Coming up: Byron York on Trump 2.0, Claire Lehmann on the woke right, Robert Merry on President McKinley, Sam Tanenhaus on Bill Buckley, Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on the Biden years, and Paul Elie on his book The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.comFrancis is a physician and geneticist whose work has led to the discovery of the cause of cystic fibrosis, among other diseases. In 1993 he was appointed director of the Human Genome Project, which successfully sequenced all three billion letters of our DNA. He went on to serve three presidents as the director of the National Institutes of Health. The author of many books, including The Language of God, his latest is The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust.Our conversation was entirely agreeable until we talked about trust, and his own handling of the Covid epidemic. I asked him in depth about the lab-leak theory and why he and Tony Fauci passionately dismissed it from the get-go, even as it now appears to be the likeliest source of the terrible virus. Things got intense.For two clips of our convo — intense debate on the “Proximal Origin” paper outright denying a lab leak as the source of Covid-19, and Francis finding God after decades of atheism — pop over to our YouTube page.Other topics: growing up on a rustic farm in Shenandoah; his parents creating a community theater; homeschooled until 6th grade; his amazing scientific accomplishments as a young adult; his scientism; his terminally ill Christian patients; the AIDS crisis; C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity; the First Mover question; Ross Douthat and “fine-tuning”; the multiverse; the limits to the materialist view; deism; cradle believers vs converts; evolution and sacrificial altruism; Socrates; Jesus dying for our sins; the doubting Thomas; how angels manifest; Francis Bacon; Richard Dawkins; being the NIH director during Covid; trust and mistrust in science; the early confusion in pandemics; tribalism; dismal safety standards at the Wuhan lab; gain-of-function; EcoHealth and Peter Daszak; intel agencies on lab leak; furin cleavage sites; Kristian Andersen; geopolitical fears over Trump and China; the opacity of the CCP; the Great Barrington Declaration; Trump threatening science funding at the Ivies; In Covid's Wake; and if Francis has any regrets after Covid.Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy (the first 102 are free in their entirety — subscribe to get everything else). Coming up: Claire Lehmann on the woke right, Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee on Covid's political fallout, Byron York on Trump 2.0, Robert Merry on President McKinley, Sam Tanenhaus on Bill Buckley, Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on the Biden years, and Paul Elie on his book The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.comEvan is an attorney and gay rights pioneer. He founded and led Freedom to Marry — the campaign to win marriage until victory at the Supreme Court in 2015, after which he then wound down the organization. During those days he wrote the book Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry. Today he “advises and assists diverse organizations, movements, and countries in adapting the lessons on how to win to other important causes.” We became friends in the 90s as we jointly campaigned for what was then a highly unpopular idea.For two clips of our convo — on the early, fierce resistance to gay marriage by gay activists, and the “tectonic” breakthrough in Hawaii — pop over to our YouTube page.Other topics: raised in Pittsburgh by a pediatrician and a social worker; being a natural leader in high school; his awakening as a gay kid; the huge influence of John Boswell on both of us; working at Lambda Legal; Peace Corps in West Africa; a prosecutor in Brooklyn; the AIDS crisis; coalition building; engaging hostile critics; Peter Tatchell; lesbian support over kids; the ACLU's Dan Foley; Judge Chang in Hawaii; Clinton and DOMA; Bush and the Federal Marriage Amendment; the federalist approach and Barney Frank; Prop 8; the LDS self-correcting on gays; the huge swing in public support; Obama not endorsing marriage in 2008; Obergefell and Kennedy's dignitas; Trump removing the GOP's anti-marriage plank; Bostock; dissent demonized within the gay community; the Respect for Marriage Act; and Evan and me debating the transqueer backlash.Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy (the first 102 are free in their entirety — subscribe to get everything else). Coming up: Claire Lehmann on the success of Quillette, Francis Collins on faith and science and Covid, Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee on Covid's political fallout, Sam Tanenhaus on Bill Buckley, Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on the Biden years, and Paul Elie on his book The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.

Subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon to listen to this premium episode, and all of our bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/knowyourenemy Matt and Sam gab about "The Incomparable Mr. Buckley," a new PBS documentary on William F. Buckley Jr., which features Matt Sitman (!) as a talking head — along with a rogue's gallery of KYE friends and former guests: Perlstein, Tanenhaus, Tait, Gage, Burns, the whole gang... What do we make of the doc? Is it a whitewash? Is it too credulous about the conservative movement? Does it "get" Buckley, the man? (Does anyone?) And what does Buckley have to do with Donald Trump? This was a lot of fun. Good ol' KYE classico.Sources Cited:Barak Goodman, "The Incomparable Mr. Buckley," PBS (2024)Rick Perlstein, "An Implausible Mr. Buckley," American Prospect, April 17, 2024.Alexander Chee, "Mr. and Mrs. B," Apology Magazine, Jan 1, 2014.Ross Douthat, "'We're On Our Way Home Now, Duckie!'" Atlantic, Feb 2008Nicholas Buccola, "The Fire Is upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America," Princeton U Press, Oct 2019.Sam Adler-Bell, "The Conservative and the Murderer," New Republic, March 7, 2022Previously on KYE:Buckley vs. Vidal (2020)Buckley for Mayor (w/ Sam Tanenhaus) (2021)The Conservative and the Convict (w/ Sarah Weinman) (2022)In Search of Anti-Semitism (w/ John Ganz) (2023)

Subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon to listen to this bonus episode, and all of our bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/knowyourenemyThe great Sam Tanenhaus (author of Whittaker Chambers: A Biography) returns to the podcast for a spirited and gossipy discussion of everything we missed — or only briefly mentioned — in our main episode on Chambers, including: his religious faith, his sexuality, his ideological position in the National Review crowd, Hannah Arendt's review of Witness, and much more.Plus: we extract from Sam Tanenhaus an update on the status of his HIGHLY-anticipated biography of William F. Buckley Jr... This one is for real heads. Enjoy!

In this episode, Matt and Sam go deep into the life and times of Whittaker Chambers, most famous for his role in the "trial of the century"—the trial of Alger Hiss for perjury after Chambers accused Hiss of being a Communist spy during his years working in the federal government, especially the State Department. The two figures, once friends, came to symbolize a clash that was bigger than themselves, and prefigured the turn American politics would take at the onset of the Cold War. Chambers would become a hero of the nascent postwar conservative movement, with his status as an ex-Communist—one of many who would congregate around National Review in the mid-to-late 1950s—bringing his moral credibility to the right as one who had seen the other side and lived to tell his tale. Before all that, though, Chambers's life was like something out of a novel: a difficult family life, early brilliance at Columbia University, literary achievement in leftwing publications, and years "underground" engaging in espionage for the Soviet Union against the United States. "Out of my weakness and folly (but also out of my strength), I committed the characteristic crimes of my century," writes  Chambers in his 1952 memoir/jeremiad Witness.  Your hosts break it all down, assess his crimes and contributions, and explore one of the most consequential American lives of the twentieth century.  Sources:Sam Tanenhaus, Whittaker Chambers: A Biography (1997)Whittaker Chambers, Witness (1952)Whittaker Chambers, Cold Friday (1964)Whittaker Chambers, "Big Sister is Watching You," National Review, December 28, 1957The Whittaker Chambers Reader: His Complete National ReviewWritings, 1957-1959 (2014)William F. Buckley, Jr., editor, Odyssey of a Friend: Whittaker Chambers Letters to William F. Buckley, Jr. (1969)L. Brent Bozell, Jr. and William F. Buckley, Jr., McCarthy and His Enemies: The Record and Its Meaning (1954)Murray Kempton, Part of Our Time: Some Ruins and Monuments of the Thirties (1956)Landon R.Y. Storrs, The Second Red Scare and the Unmaking of the New Deal Left (2013)Richard H. Crossman, editor, The God that Failed: A Confession (1949)Lionel Trilling, The Middle of the Journey (1947)Matthew Richer, "The Cry Against Ninevah: A Centennial Tribute to Whittaker Chambers," Modern Age, Summer 2001Christopher Hitchens, "A Regular Bull," London Review of Books, July 1997Christopher Hitchens and Martin Amis, "No Laughing Matter" (YouTube, 2007)Jess Bravin, "Whittaker Chambers Award Draws Criticism—From His Family," Wall Street Journal, March 28, 2019Isaac Deutscher, "The Ex-Communist's Conscience,"  The Reporter, 1950. John Patrick Diggins, Up From Communism: Conservative odysseys in American intellectual history, (1975)Daniel Aaron, Writers on the Left, (1961)Larry Ceplair, Anti-Communism in Twentieth-Century America: A Critical History, (2011) ...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon for access to all of our bonus episodes!