Podcasts about Whittaker Chambers

Join us as we discuss the trial of Alger Hiss, why Whittaker Chambers became disillusioned with communism, the Rosenbergs, and the effects of the Red Scare on American society.Join us every Monday for episodes and discussions and on Thursdays for pop quizzes and Sketches in History!

It is August 3, 1948, and a former Communist Party member named Whittaker Chambers walks into a House committee room in Washington, D.C., and says something that no one in the room ever expected to hear. Alger Hiss is a spy. Hiss was not some offhand bureaucrat. He had helped organize the United Nations and attended Yalta. He had been, for much of the 1940s, one of the most respected foreign policy figures in the American government: Harvard-educated, polished, and credentialed, exactly the kind of man that postwar Washington was built by. The question of who was telling the truth would consume the country for years and leave damage that ran in both directions.Join us every Monday for episodes and discussions and on Thursdays for pop quizzes and Sketches in History!

SEASON 4 EPISODE 81: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (3:00) SPECIAL COMMENT: "Donald Trump Is Losing His Mind." It's the headline on a column in perhaps the most prominent MAGA magazine headline. It's not me saying it this time. Not Jimmy Kimmel. Not George Conway. Not a psychiatrist. The Washington Examiner: “Donald Trump Is Losing His Mind.” Why? Just because he’s also losing IRAN? Just because he’s COMPARING Iran to Vietnam (which he dodged)? Just because he threatened to go General Sherman on Teheran? Just because he's just announced you are no longer ALLOWED to CRITICIZE him ABOUT Iran? “Donald Trump Is Losing His Mind” writes The Washington Examiner - guess that makes it unanimous (and there is now polling on this!) ALSO: House Democrats want Kash Patel to take an alcoholism screening test. His choices amount to: a) ARE you an alcoholic? b) Are you so FULL of alcohol you’re at risk of bursting into flames, or c) are you J. Edgar Boozer. AND about the White House Correspondents Dinner Saturday. The Correspondents Association is obeying in advance to Trump, calling him an "honoree" and welcoming his rats like Brendan Carr and Stephen Miller. If you’re attending this dinner, and you are not planning to storm out or otherwise using this rare opportunity to protest Trump’s presence, you’re not only a traitor to JOURNALISM, you’re a traitor to America. B-Block (36:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Trump's "National Garden Of Heroes" with 250 statues of everybody from Elvis to Whittaker Chambers is dumb enough. What happens when they forget to order the statues? Interior Secretary Burgum wants Theodore Roosevelt in the pro football Hall of Fame even though there wasn't pro football while T.R. was alive. And new Congressman Clay Fuller says he was only joking when he said Georgia was named after George Washington. C-Block (45:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Talking about dinner in DC Saturday (The White House Correspondents) led me to mention my disastrous dates last century with Laura Ingraham on social media and there was considerable disbelief so it's time to tell that story. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A demon cast out, a crowd demanding proof, and Jesus refusing to play along with a generation addicted to signs. We start in Luke 11 with a blunt reality: division is not just unpleasant, it is destructive. When Jesus says a kingdom divided can't stand, we take that all the way down to the household level and ask what “one commanding officer” looks like in real life, especially in marriage, parenting, and the choices we make when nobody is watching.We move through Titus 2 and talk about the kind of character that holds a family together: self-control, respect, reverence, integrity, and speech that can't be condemned. Then we slow down on Jesus' lamp and “healthy eye” teaching and get uncomfortably practical. What we read, watch, scroll, and listen to doesn't stay outside of us. It forms our inner life, our temptations, and our habits. If we're honest, a lot of what we call light is really darkness dressed up as entertainment.From there we read Psalm 77 for the listener who feels distressed, sleepless, or abandoned, and we follow the psalmist's pivot from spiraling questions to steady remembrance. Proverbs 12:18 brings it home: our words can cut, or our words can heal. We also share a Medal of Honor account of courage and a powerful excerpt from Whittaker Chambers' “Witness” on why spiritual freedom and political freedom can't be separated.Listen, share this with someone who needs steadiness, and then subscribe and leave a review so more people can find the show. What's one input or habit you're ready to change after hearing this?#WhitakerChambers #ChristianNation#AmericanPatriotSupport the showThe American Soul Podcasthttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1791934/subscribeCountryside Book Serieshttps://www.amazon.com/Countryside-Book-J-T-Cope-IV-ebook/dp/B00MPIXOB2 

Personally selected passages from Witness, Whittaker Chambers's deeply emotional memoir about testifying to -- and against -- the ideology that dare not speak its name.   For twice the adventures, including last week's blockbuster about the Red Scare, subscribe to the show at patreon.com/filthyarmenian   Follow on X/insta @filthyarmenian

"I can't imagine standing on the street across from soldiers, weapons with nothing and walking into the guns."  A nation; its people and their culture, don't disappear simply because of oppression. They wait. They remember. And when the pressure becomes unbearable, they take action. What is unfolding in Iran is not chaos—it is resolve. Courage spreads when people see others stand unarmed against force, when fear gives way to duty, and when individuals decide that living without dignity is no longer acceptable. This moment is not driven by ideology, but by identity—by the refusal to forget who they are.  Steven Kuhn brings rare perspective shaped by military service, geopolitics, intelligence networks, and decades spent living and working across Europe and the Middle East. He describes how Iranians—inside and outside the country—are unified by a shared temperament: educated, measured, solution-oriented, and deeply loyal to one another. His insight reframes the protests not as disorder, but as a coordinated moral stand, supported quietly by global shifts in power, strategy, and information flow.  Steven is a former U.S. soldier, geopolitical analyst, entrepreneur, and founder of the Take America Back movement. Having lived in more than ten countries and worked closely with intelligence, military, and political leaders worldwide, he brings firsthand experience to moments of global inflection. His work now focuses on sovereignty, citizen leadership, and the restoration of nations from the ground up.  Learn more & connect:   IG: @steveneugenekuhn  Join Take America Back:  Jointab.us  Also in this episode:  Book: Witness: The True Story Of Soviet Spies In America And The Trial That Captivated A Nation by Whittaker Chambers  https://a.co/d/01aYyS89 You're invited to come to a Sovereign Circle meeting to experience it for yourself. To learn more, go to https://www.sovereignman.ca/. While you're there, check out the Battle Ready program and check out the store for Sovereign Man t-shirts, hats, and books. 

Conservative intellectual and Bulwark editor-at-large Bill Kristol joins hosts Josh Eakle and Max Marty to discuss his evolution from Republican insider to principled opponent of authoritarianism. Former chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle and architect of neoconservative foreign policy, Kristol reflects on how the party he helped shape for decades succumbed to populist demagoguery — and why he didn't see it coming. The conversation explores whether the Reagan-Bush conservative movement was actually an historical aberration, masking deeper nativist currents that Trump successfully unleashed. Kristol argues that decent people across the political spectrum must band together against authoritarianism, just as classical liberals and social democrats united against fascism and communism in the 20th century. Topics Discussed: * The journey from supporting Sarah Palin to becoming a Never Trumper — and why January 6th was the point of no return * How the Tea Party movement evolved from fiscal conservatism to proto-MAGA populism * Why immigration became the sleeper issue that reshaped Republican politics, even among affluent cruise-goers * The three-legged stool's collapse: how social conservatives, foreign policy hawks, and business elites all capitulated to Trump * America First's dark historical echoes and the return of 1920s-30s nativist isolationism * Why ex-Republicans have unique credibility in warning about authoritarianism — the “Whittaker Chambers effect” • How Trump inadvertently pushed Democrats toward free trade and internationalism * What Democrats can do to welcome center-right refugees without overthinking coalition politics Links & Resources: * The Bulwark* Defending Democracy Together – https://www.defendingdemocracytogethe...* Project Liberal – https://www.projectliberal.org* Become a Project Liberal member – https://projectliberal.org/member Get full access to Project Liberal at projectliberal.substack.com/subscribe

On Washington Wednesday, the Senate passes Trump's bill, on Legal Docket, Supreme Court supports online age verification; on World Tour, news from Poland, Hungry, Hong Kong, and China; and church doctrine deemed a threat. Plus, the World's largest rubber duck, Hunter Baker on Whittaker Chambers, and the Wednesday morning newsSupport The World and Everything in It today at wng.org/donateAdditional support comes from The Issues, et cetera podcast. Expert guests, Expansive topics, Extolling Christ. More at issuesetc.orgFrom Ambassadors Impact Network. Inviting entrepreneurs with a mission to connect with faith-based investors who share their vision. More at ambassadorsimpact.comAnd from Dordt University, whose online MBA and MPA programs prepare leaders for lasting impact. Dordt University. Until All Is Made New.

We Must Save the Books. That's Michael Kimmage's SOS message from Trumpian Washington in this issue of Liberties Quarterly. Kimmage, former director of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center, describes the surreal experience of being hired in January 2025 only to see his institution shuttered by Trump's administration three months later. He reflects on the "American ruin" created as a consequence of abandonment of the Wilson Center's 30,000 book library. And Kimmage connects the rapid destruction of foreign policy institutions like USAID and the U.S. Institute of Peace to a broader assault on expertise and nonpartisan learning, warning that without such institutions, "an abyss opens" in American governance and international relations. Five Key Takeaways* Institutional Destruction was Swift and Unexplained - The Wilson Center, USAID (reduced from 10,000 to 15 employees), and U.S. Institute of Peace were shuttered within months with no clear rationale provided, creating a "nightmare-like" quality where decisions happened without accountability.* America's First Modern Ruin - Kimmage describes the abandoned Wilson Center library as unprecedented in American experience - a functioning institution in the heart of Washington D.C. suddenly left as a tomb-like ruin, unlike anything seen in a country never defeated on its own soil.* Books Were Saved, But Expertise Was Lost - While the 30,000-volume library was eventually rescued and distributed to universities, the real loss was the destruction of nonpartisan expertise and institutional knowledge that took decades to build.* Echoes of 1950s McCarthyism - The assault on expertise mirrors McCarthyism, with direct connections through Roy Cohn's mentorship of Trump, but differs in scale since it's driven by a president rather than a senator.* The Death of Learning in Government - The shutdowns represent a fundamental rejection of the idea that careful, nonpartisan study of international affairs is essential to effective policymaking, potentially creating an "abyss" in American foreign policy capacity.Michael Kimmage is Director of the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute. Prior to joining the Kennan Institute, Michael Kimmage was a professor of history at the Catholic University of America. From 2014 to 2017, he served on the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, where he held the Russia/Ukraine portfolio. He has been a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and at the German Marshall Fund; and was on the advisory board of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. He publishes widely on international affairs and on U.S. policy toward Russia. His latest book, Collisions: The War in Ukraine and the Origins of the New Global Instability, was published by Oxford University Press in March 2024. He is also the author of The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy, published by Basic Books in 2020, and The Conservative Turn: Lionel Trilling, Whittaker Chambers and the Lessons of Anti-Communism, published by Harvard University Press in 2009.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.comSam is a biographer, historian, and journalist. He used to be the editor of the New York Times Book Review, a features writer for Vanity Fair, and a writer for Prospect magazine. He's currently a contributing writer for the Washington Post. His many books include The Death of Conservatism and Whittaker Chambers: A Biography, and his new one is Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America.It's a huge tome — almost 1,000 pages! — but fascinating, with new and startling revelations, and a breeze to read. It's crack to me, of course, and we went long — a Rogan-worthy three hours. But I loved it, and hope you do too. It's not just about Buckley; it's about now, and how Buckleyism is more similar to Trumpism than I initially understood. It's about American conservatism as a whole.For three clips of our convo — Buckley as a humane segregationist, his isolationism even after Pearl Harbor, and getting gay-baited by Gore Vidal — head to our YouTube page.Other topics: me dragging Sam to a drag show in Ptown; the elite upbringing of Buckley during the Depression; his bigoted but charitable dad who struck rich with oil; his Southern mom who birthed a dozen kids; why the polyglot Buckley didn't learn English until age 7; aspiring to be a priest or a pianist; a middle child craving the approval of dad; a poor student at first; his pranks and recklessness; being the big man on campus at Yale; leading the Yale Daily News; skewering liberal profs; his deep Catholicism; God and Man at Yale; Skull and Bones; his stint in the Army; Charles Lindbergh and America First; defending Joe McCarthy until the bitter end and beyond; launching National Review; Joan Didion; Birchers; Brown v. Board; Albert Jay Nock; Evelyn Waugh; Whittaker Chambers; Brent Bozell; Willmoore Kendall; James Burnham; Orwell; Hitchens; Russell Kirk; not liking Ike; underestimating Goldwater; Nixon and the Southern Strategy; Buckley's ties to Watergate; getting snubbed by Reagan; Julian Bond and John Lewis on Firing Line; the epic debate with James Baldwin; George Will; Michael Lind; David Brooks and David Frum; Rick Hertzberg; Buckley's wife a fag hag who raised money for AIDS; Roy Cohn; Bill Rusher; Scott Bessent; how Buckley was a forerunner for Trump; and much more. It's a Rogan-length pod.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: Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson on the Biden cover-up, Walter Isaacson on Ben Franklin, Robert Merry on President McKinley, Tara Zahra on the last revolt against globalization after WWI, N.S. Lyons on the Trump era, Arthur C. Brooks on the science of happiness, and Paul Elie on crypto-religion in ‘80s pop culture. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.

Brian talks about Aaron Sorkin, books, and Leonardo da Vinci for several minutes before remembering they're trying to do a comedy podcast, then immediately blasts Ayn Rand's shovel face. (Here's a link to the Whittaker Chambers review of Atlas Shrugged Brian mentions.) Also: “Puttin' on the Ritz”;”Rock Lobster”; all of a sudden, Jeff wants to shit at work; prostate exams; Brian tells the coconut joke AGAIN; old man balls; there's a video of a girl sucking chunky peanut butter through a straw; being middle aged is brilliant; John Cena's heel run; Adolf Hitler's heel run; an Australian woman got caught trying to sell human toes; pretty soon, you'll be able to finance your DoorDash order; the Daffy Duck and Porky Pig movie; check local listings, but McDonald's wants $3.40 for a large fries; and finally, farting at work.

An atheist, a radical for capitalism, a caricature of a greedy libertarian, a best-selling novelist, a difficult partner and passionate lover, and the self-proclaimed greatest philosopher since Aristotle: Ayn Rand was many things, and we talk about almost all of them in this epic episode. To do so, we called upon historian Jennifer Burns, whose intellectual biography, Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right , is enormously helpful in trying to understand an idiosyncratic writer who, both then and now, fits ambiguously into the "fusionist" post-war conservative movement. Rand remains a controversial figure whose ideas permeate our culture and continue to inspire some of the most consequential (and least appealing) political figures in the United States. To understand Rand and her influence, we examine her family's experiences during and after the Russian Revolution, her journey to the U.S. and early success in Hollywood, the arduous path she trod to become a writer, Rand's involvement in anti-New Deal politics in the 1930s and 40s, her ideas, philosophy, and scandalous personal life, and much more.Sources:Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead  (1943)— Atlas Shrugged (1957)— We the Living (1936)Jennifer Burns, Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right (2009)— Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative (2023)Whittaker Chambers, "Big Sister Is Watching You," National Review, Dec 28, 1957Murray Rothbard, "The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult," (1972)Mary Gaitskill, Two Girls, Fat and Thin (1991)Lisa Duggan, Mean Girl: Ayn Rand and the Culture of Greed, (2019)— "Ayn Rand and the Cruel Heart of Neoliberalism," Dissent, May 20, 2019.Adam Curtis, All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace, (2011)Listen again:"Milton Friedman and the Making of Our Times," Dec 3, 2023...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon to listen to all of our premium episodes!

Seventy-five years ago, Whittaker Chambers accused highly respected U.S. government official Alger Hiss of being a Communist. Hiss denied the accusation. Who was telling the truth? In his latest podcast, Ray Notgrass examines the controversy, the court trial that resulted, and the impact that the controversy had on American politics.Homeschool curriculum and resources for all ages: https://notgrass.com/Supplemental videos, field trips, and other resources: https://homeschoolhistory.com/Encouragement for homeschool moms: https://charlenenotgrass.com/

There are no stronger advocates against communism than those who once embraced it. Rebekah Bills shares 9 thought-provoking quotes from Whittaker Chambers on his ideological transformation. Article of the Day: Are you dreading getting together with family for Thanksgiving after a particularly ugly election year? Barry Brownstein offers 5 ways to not let politics ruin your family get togethers. Sponsors: Life Saving Food  Fifty Two Seven Alliance HSL Ammo Quilt & Sew

Americans are prone to get caught up in the game of left vs. right and Blue team vs. Red team. Unfortunately, Satan uses this game to sidetrack us from the real battle: good vs. evil. Whittaker Chambers said that there are only two choices: God or man. When we believe man is the solution to our problems, we deny the power of God. When we are fearful, we become desperate, and desperation creates the conditions for us to accept solutions that sound good, but ultimately lead to destruction. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/curtisbowers00/support

Alger Hiss worked in high-level roles in the U.S. government during the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. And then he was accused of using his access to spy for the Soviets. Research: “Alger Hiss.” FBI. https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/alger-hiss “A Byte Out of History, the Alger Hiss Story.” FBI. Jan. 25, 2013. https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/a-byte-out-of-history-the-alger-hiss-story Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Alger Hiss". Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Jul. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alger-Hiss Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Whittaker Chambers". Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Jul. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Whittaker-Chambers Chambers, Whittaker. “The Ghosts on the Roof.” Time. 5, 1948. https://time.com/archive/6784924/the-ghosts-on-the-roof/ Mark, Eduard. “In ReAlger Hiss: A Final Verdict from the Archives of the KGB.” Journal of Cold War Studies, vol. 11, no. 3, 2009, pp. 26–67. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26923052 Fox, John F. Jr. “In the Enemy's House: Venona and the Maturation of American Counterintelligence.” FBI.gov. Oct. 27, 2005. https://www.fbi.gov/history/history-publications-reports/in-the-enemys-house-venona-and-the-maturation-of-american-counterintelligence Hadley, David. “The Long Controversy Over Alger Hiss.” Teaching American History. Jan. 21, 2020. https://teachingamericanhistory.org/blog/the-long-controversy-over-alger-hiss/ “KGB interviews GRU agent and net controller name ALES 30 March 1945.” https://media.defense.gov/2021/Aug/01/2002818545/-1/-1/0/30MAR_KGB_INTERVIEWS_GRU_AGENT.PDF Rowe, Daniel, and Sarah Fagg, ed. “Alger Hiss and American Anti-communism.” New Histories. Vol. 3, Issue 5. https://newhistories.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/volumes/2011-12/volume-3/issue-5-crime-punishment/alger-hiss-and-american-anti-communism Sander, Gordon F. “Microfilm hidden in a pumpkin launched Richard Nixon's career 75 years ago.” New York Times.  Dec. 2, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/12/02/pumpkin-papers-richard-nixon/ “Secrets, Lies, and Atomic Spies: Alger Hiss.” NOVA. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venona/dece_hiss.html “The Yalta Conference.” U.S. State Department, Office of the Historian. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/yalta-conf#:~:text=At%20Yalta%2C%20Roosevelt%20and%20Churchill,of%20influence%20in%20Manchuria%20following See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Right after Fusionism, Part 2: Whittaker Chambers and the Economic Temptation

In this episode, Joe and Grettelyn get a preview of one of the upcoming talks at this year's Chesterton conference from speaker Joe Walsh, who will be looking at commonalities between G. K. Chesterton and Whittaker Chambers! To register for the conference, visit https://www.chesterton.org/43rd-annual-chesterton-conference/ today!

On this episode of Our American Stories, the book Witness: A True Story of Soviet Spies in America and the Trial That Captivated the Nation is one of the biggest U.S. bestsellers of the 20th century, yet it is almost unknown among Americans today. Here to tell the story is Greg Forster on behalf of the Acton Institute. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's episode, Jeremi and Zachary are joined by Michael Kimmage to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine. Zachary sets the scene with his poem entitled, "For a War of Worlds" Dr. Michael Kimmage is a professor of history at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. He is also a fellow at the German Marshall Fund, and chair of the Advisory Council for the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC. From 2014 to 2017, Kimmage served on the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, where he held the Russia/Ukraine portfolio. He publishes widely on international affairs, U.S.-Russian relations and American diplomatic history. Dr. Kimmage is the author of: The Conservative Turn: Lionel Trilling, Whittaker Chambers and the Lessons of Anti-Communism (2009); In History's Grip: Philip Roth's Newark Trilogy (2012); The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy (2020). His forthcoming book is Collisions: The Origins of the War in Ukraine and the New Global Instability (2024).

On the 75th anniversary of their discovery, what is the history of Whittaker Chambers' infamous Pumpkin Papers, their implications for Richard Nixon's career, and their significance for conservatism, patriotism, and loyalty in America today? On this episode, Jacob Heilbrunn speaks with Sam Tanenhaus, a contributing writer at the Washington Post's Book World. He is a former editor of The New York Times Book Review and the author of “Whittaker Chambers: A Biography” (Random House, 1997). His work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and the National Interest. His forthcoming book, “William F. Buckley, Jr.: His Life and Times,” will be published in Fall 2024.Music by Aleksey Chistilin from Pixabay

In this episode of “The Ben & Marc Show”, a16z's co-founders Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen take on the biggest  and most important film of the year – Christopher Nolan's latest blockbuster “Oppenheimer”. The film – based on the 2005 biography “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer'' by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin – chronicles the life of the American theoretical physicist, whose direction of the top secret Manhattan Project forever changed the course of world history. In this one-on-one conversation based on YOUR questions from Twitter, Marc and Ben examine the historical accuracies (and inaccuracies) of Nolan's epic work, explore in-depth the life of the enigmatic physicist himself, and tackle – from all angles – the social and philosophical aspects of communism, a theme that weighs heavily in the film, as Oppenheimer's association with party members led to his political downfall. We hope you enjoy this episode! Watch the video version here:  https://youtu.be/AwOFcxENsVk?si=vUF9ZO5Fcj9W0O49 Resources:Marc on X: https://twitter.com/pmarcaMarc's Substack: https://pmarca.substack.com/ Ben on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz NY Times: "The Problem With Everything-Bagel Liberalism" by Ezra Klein: 'https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/02/op... Books mentioned on this podcast (and others you'll want to check out):– “Red Decade” by Eugene Lyons https://amzn.to/3OEQMbZ– “When Reason Goes on Holiday: Philosophers in Politics” by Neven Sesardic https://amzn.to/455zYRv– "Witness" by Whittaker Chambers https://amzn.to/3OEu0RC– ”The Great Leap Forward" by Alexander J. Field https://amzn.to/3QlCYV2– "The Economic Consequences of U.S. Mobilization for the Second World War" by Alexander J. Field https://amzn.to/3Yemsbz– “The Man From the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann” by Ananyo Bhattacharya https://amzn.to/446SbNf– “Stalin's War: A New History of World War II” by Sean McMeekin https://amzn.to/47c29zw– “McCarthy” by Arthur Herman https://amzn.to/3OFKYzc Stay Updated:Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16zFind us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z The views expressed here are those of the individual personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any a16z funds. PLEASE SEE MORE HERE: https://a16z.com/disclosures/

This is the twenty-seventh installment in Eric's epic summer series covering the contentious and war-torn season of American history from 1914 to 1974. In this episode, he highlights the key event in this past century that sparked the liberal/conservative philosophical divide that we still struggle with in America today. It was a court case. The first televised court case in American history. ------------For more information about Daily Thunder and the ministry of Ellerslie Mission Society, please visit: https://ellerslie.com/. If you have been blessed by Ellerslie, consider partnering with the ministry by donating at: https://ellerslie.com/donate/

This week, Jeremi and Zachary are joined by Dr. Michael Kimmage to discuss the current state of the Ukraine War, and potential paths for it going forward. Zachary sets this scene with his poem entitled, "For Yegor." Dr. Michael Kimmage is a professor of history at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. He is also a fellow at the German Marshall Fund, and chair of the Advisory Council for the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC. From 2014 to 2017, Kimmage served on the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, where he held the Russia/Ukraine portfolio. He publishes widely on international affairs, U.S.-Russian relations and American diplomatic history. Kimmage is the author of: The Conservative Turn: Lionel Trilling, Whittaker Chambers and the Lessons of Anti-Communism (2009); In History's Grip: Philip Roth's Newark Trilogy (2012); The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy (2020). He writes frequently for Foreign Affairs and other major publications. He has a forthcoming book on the history of the Ukraine War, Collisions.

Pete Peterson, Dean of the Pepperdine School of Public Policy, on a proposed listener book club, Whittaker Chambers' autobiography Witness, a growing inability to defend the need for liberal arts education in America, and the California State Assembly denying statements by representatives of Crisis Pregnancy Centers and blocking Senate Bill 14— which would have sent child traffickers to prison for life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, the book Witness: A True Story of Soviet Spies in America and the Trial That Captivated the Nation is one of the biggest U.S. bestsellers of the 20th century, yet it is almost unknown among Americans today. Here to tell the story is Greg Forster on behalf of the Acton Institute. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omny.fm/listener for privacy information.

In 1948 Whittaker Chambers shocked the nation when, while testifying before Congress, he gave the names of individuals he claimed were working within the United States government as Communist spies for the Soviet Union.  Among those named was Alger Hiss, Chamber's close friend and former Communist comrade.  The ensuing trial quickly divided the nation into competing narratives.  Who was lying and who was telling the truth?  Was Chambers insane or, perhaps, seeking to destroy Hiss due to some personal grievance?  Was this merely a pretext to the coming Communist “purges” under the McCarthy hearings that took place a few years later?  Or had Chambers alerted the nation to the fact there were Soviet spies deep within the government and the prevailing liberal elite of that era had failed completely to respond to the threat?   Sam Tanenhaus, American historian, biographer, and journalist joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to take a deep dive into the remarkable life of Whittaker Chambers, including how Chambers came to break with Communism, whether Hiss was truly guilty, the real threat of Communism of that era, what the Chambers/Hiss trial came to represent for the nation as a whole, Chamber's association with William F. Buckley and the burgeoning conservative movement, and his lasting impact on the Right.   About Sam Tanenhaus Sam Tanenhaus is the US Writer at Large for Prospect and the editor of both The New York Times Book Review and the Week in Review section of the Times.  From 1999 to 2004 he was a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, where he wrote often on politics.  His work has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, The New York Review of Books, and many other publications.  Tanenhaus's book, Whittaker Chambers: A Biography, won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.  His books also include The Death of Conservatism and a soon-to-be-released biography of William F. Buckley Jr. and is the US Writer at Large for Prospect.  

In today's politics, it is not uncommon to see Members of Congress in shouting matches among each other and even toward witnesses. But what historical precedent could explain how we arrived at this point in time of polarized American politics? In this episode, learn more about the highly televised HUAC hearings of Alger Hiss and Whittaker Chambers and how the confrontational saga paved the way for this day and age of bitter polarization.Support the showNEW! Visit georgewashingtoninstitute.org for the one-stop shop of all things Friends & Fellow Citizens and George Washington Institute!JOIN as a Patreon supporter and receive a FREE Friends & Fellow Citizens mug at the $10 membership level or higher!SUBSCRIBE to our e-mail list for the latest news and updates from Friends & Fellow Citizens!NOTE: All views expressed by the host are presented in his personal capacity and do not officially represent the views of any affiliated organizations. All guests on interview episodes are solely those of the interviewees and may or may not reflect the views of the host or Friends & Fellow Citizens.

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!

On this episode of Our American Stories, the book Witness: A True Story of Soviet Spies in America and the Trial That Captivated the Nation is one of the biggest U.S. bestsellers of the 20th century, yet it is almost unknown among Americans today. Here to tell the story is Greg Forster on behalf of the Acton Institute. Forster is a Whittaker Chambers expert who has earned a Ph.D. with distinction in political philosophy from Yale University. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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! 

This week, Jeremi and Zachary are joined by guest Dr. Michael Kimmage to discuss The Russo-Ukrainian War. Zachary sets the scene with his poem entitled, "A Year After the War Began." Dr. Michael Kimmage is a professor of history at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. He is also a fellow at the German Marshall Fund, and chair of the Advisory Council for the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC. From 2014 to 2017, Kimmage served on the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, where he held the Russia/Ukraine portfolio. He publishes widely on international affairs, U.S.-Russian relations and American diplomatic history. Kimmage is the author of: The Conservative Turn: Lionel Trilling, Whittaker Chambers and the Lessons of Anti-Communism (2009); In History's Grip: Philip Roth's Newark Trilogy (2012); The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy (2020). He writes frequently for Foreign Affairs and other major publications.

Modern presidents both influence and are influenced by books, movies, and television; with no commander in chief is that more clear than with Ronald Reagan. Dr. Benjamin Griffin, chief of the Military History Division at the United States Military Academy, has researched and written the definitive book about the 40th president's interactions with Tom Clancy and other authors, Hollywood films, and other pop culture: Reagan's War Stories: A Cold War Presidency.In this chat, David Priess and Griffin discuss Tom Clancy's influence on an entire generation, how books with clear moral narratives informed Reagan's childhood, the influence of Whittaker Chambers on Reagan's iconic "A Time for Choosing" speech in 1964, the rich relationship between Reagan and Clancy, the outsized impact of Clancy's first two books, and the complicated notion of presidential "vision."Chatter is a production of Lawfare and Goat Rodeo. This episode was produced by Cara Shillenn of Goat Rodeo. Podcast theme by David Priess, featuring music created using Groovepad. Among the works mentioned in this episode:The book The Hunt for Red October by Tom ClancyThe book The Third Word War by Sir John HackettThe book Red Storm Rising by Tom ClancyThe book Subregional Security Cooperation in the Third World by William TowThe book That Printer of Udell's by Harold Bell WrightThe film High NoonThe John Carter of Mars books by Edgar Rice BurroughsThe book Witness by Whittaker ChambersThe book Darkness at Noon by Arthur KoestlerThe book The Bourne Identity by Robert LudlumThe film All the President's MenThe film Apocalypse NowThe film The Deer HunterThe film PattonThe film Back to the FutureThe TV movie The Day AfterThe movie The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)The book Euromissiles by Susan ColbournThe book The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

11/7/22 - Mary Nicholas, MD, is a retired physician and research librarian. She was active in the University Faculty for Life. She has contributed articles to both the American Thinker and Canada Free Press. Today's show will place a focus on Mary's book, The Devil and Bella Dodd: One Woman's Struggle Against Communism and Her Redemption. Show Resources: 1. Witness: A True Story of Soviet Spies in America and the Trial That Captivated the Nation by Whittaker Chambers (https://www.amazon.com/Witness-Cold.../dp/162157296X) 2. The Soviet Story (free) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7IrB_6mX4k

This week, Jeremi and Zachary talk with Dr. Michael Kimmage about how the Ukraine War has developed over the course of the year, and how they predict things will progress in the future. Dr. Michael Kimmage is a professor of history at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. He is also a fellow at the German Marshall Fund, and chair of the Advisory Council for the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC. From 2014 to 2017, Kimmage served on the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, where he held the Russia/Ukraine portfolio. He publishes widely on international affairs, U.S.-Russian relations and American diplomatic history. Kimmage is the author of: The Conservative Turn: Lionel Trilling, Whittaker Chambers and the Lessons of Anti-Communism (2009); In History's Grip: Philip Roth's Newark Trilogy (2012); The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy (2020). He writes frequently on the Ukraine War and related topics for Foreign Affairs.

NOW, TRUMP MUST BE PROSECUTED FOR ESPIONAGE A BLOCK (1:30) The New York Times' blockbuster and a stunning Trump leak of a letter from the National Archives makes it inevitable (2:15) There is no prosecutorial discretion here: if you've stolen MORE THAN 300 CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS THEY HAVE TO PROSECUTE YOU (2:43) And if some are the highest level of classification, you must be prosecuted FOR ESPIONAGE (3:00) The Times also implied there's video of people actually mishandling these documents (3:41) DOJ also isn't sure Trump isn't hiding MORE classified docs at Mar-a-Lago (5:08) None of the crimes mentioned on the search warrant are affected even if Trump somehow DID declassify the papers he stole (5:27) You also don't want to be Christina Bobb right now (6:47) Trump's motion to have a 'Special Master' review everything seized is described as 'Alice In Wonderland' (7:22) and incredibly it contains Trump boasting of how he got a threat relayed to Attorney General Garland (8:37) Judge Reinhart also seems to be leaning against unsealing the search warrant affidavit - in part for Trump's physical safety (9:55) Trump flunky Kash Patel is blaming the Government Services Administration because they haven't gotten around to blaming the moving company yet (10:05) Early Tuesday somebody connected to Trump LEAKED A NATIONAL ARCHIVES LETTER TO TRUMP'S LAWYER and ex-journalist John Solomon posted it (10:30) Archivist Debra Wall has detailed all of Trump's efforts to keep the stolen documents through the first five months of this year (11:07) Wall says Trump tried to claim executive privilege over them! The Biden White House finally agreed to waive any executive privilege (11:49) But Solomon (and presumably Trump) think the mere mention of Biden in the letter will let them paint this as Biden politically attacking Trump (12:09) without realizing that the letter confirms Trump DELIBERATELY held on to the documents and cannot claim some kind of mistake (12:39) And Wall even notes some documents were "Special Access Program materials" - bureaucratic speak of ultra-secret Black Ops programs. Trump is in twice as much trouble as he was before Solomon posted (15:20) They won't listen, but this would be a good time for his supporters to bail out on Trump because it's all indictments from here on in. B BLOCK (19:05) Every Dog Has Its Day: Roxy (20:33) Postscripts To The News: there's a Trump Electoral Fraud scandal too. The Your-Kraken-Is-Showing crowd seems to have illegally disseminated election data to people like friends of Sean Hannity (21:59) Why did The New York Times run a Trump Op-Ed by Rich Lowry when (23:13) it could've just reprinted his self-gratifying assessment of Sarah Palin's wink from 2008? (24:47) Sports: Tom Brady's back. The Masked Singer? Refilled his consecrated ground? (25:17) Bryce Harper's minor league rehab is...SPONSORED? (27:40) Trump, Tim Michels and Russia Ron Johnson compete for Worst Persons honors, with Ron insisting he was only involved in the coup for just "seconds." C BLOCK (32:00) My career stories - Things I Promised Not To Tell - focuses in this episode on the most talented (and most self-destructive) person I've ever worked with. He was a New York and Los Angeles radio news anchor and TV news reporter named Will Spens. He was a genius, but his ability to do what others would not try, eventually destroyed him.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode is sponsored by Wren. Signup at wren.co/shermer and Wren will plant 10 trees in your name. Start a monthly subscription to fund climate solutions. Shermer and Kirchick discuss: archives and secret sources of secret histories • the cause of homophobia, and how and why homosexuality was thought of as a “contagious sexual aberrancy” • why there is no lesbian history of Washington • J. Edgar Hoover, Clyde Tolson and gay mythmaking • FDR and Sumner Welles • why at the height of the Cold War, it was safer to be a Communist than a homosexual • Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss • the McCarthy hearings and how the Lavender Menace became inextricably linked with the Red Menace • astronomer Franklin Kameny and the Mattachine Society • JFK and his tolerance of homosexuality • Richard Nixon's notorious homophobia • Ronald Reagan's conflicting attitudes toward homosexuality • George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and real progress in acceptance of homosexuality • the trans movement and its homophobic consequences. James Kirchick has written about human rights, politics, and culture from around the world. A columnist for Tablet magazine, a writer at large for Air Mail, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, he is the author of The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues, and the Coming Dark Age. Kirchick's work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, the New York Review of Books, and the Times Literary Supplement. A graduate of Yale with degrees in history and political science, he resides in Washington, DC. This episode is also sponsored by Wondrium. 

This week, Jeremi and Zachary are joined by Michael Kimmage to discuss the Ukraine conflict. Zachary sets the scene with his poem: "For Mariupol" Dr. Michael Kimmage is a professor of history at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. He is also a fellow at the German Marshall Fund, and chair of the Advisory Council for the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC. From 2014 to 2017, Kimmage served on the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, where he held the Russia/Ukraine portfolio. He publishes widely on international affairs, U.S.-Russian relations and American diplomatic history. Kimmage is the author of: The Conservative Turn: Lionel Trilling, Whittaker Chambers and the Lessons of Anti-Communism (2009); In History's Grip: Philip Roth's Newark Trilogy (2012); and The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy (2020). He writes frequently on Ukraine, Russia, and U.S. foreign policy in Foreign Affairs and other major publications. This Episode was Mixed and Mastered by Karoline Pfeil, Oscar Kitmanyen, and Will Shute

Joe diGenova, legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia, joined WMAL's "O'Connor and Company" radio program on Monday about progressive Elie Mystall pushing the idea that the U.S. Constitution is "trash" and he also discussed the importance of the 70th anniversary of the publication of "Witness" by Whittaker Chambers. For more coverage on the issues that matter to you, visit www.WMAL.com, download the WMAL app or tune in live on WMAL-FM 105.9 FM from 5-9 AM ET. To join the conversation, check us out on Twitter: @WMALDC, @LarryOConnor, @Jgunlock, @amber_athey and @patrickpinkfile. Show website: https://www.wmal.com/oconnor-company/ WMAL's "O'Connor and Company" podcast is sponsored by Cornerstone First Financial: https://www.cornerstonefirst.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Chambers wrote to his friend Bill Buckley, most of us think the story of Oedipus ends when he learns he married his own mother and puts his eyes out.  In fact, however, Oedipus lived for years afterwards.  After the trials, Chambers lived for 10 years and Hiss for 45.  Neither escaped The Case, nor did their wives and children.  (Add this, by the way, to all the reasons that committing treason is a bad idea.). Each man wrote a book.  Chambers' became a best-seller, a major American autobiography, and a sacred text of the post-WWII right.  Hiss's book sank like a stone, as did another he wrote in the mid-1980s.  Chambers tried to stay out of the public eye.  Hiss tried to stay in it, but failed to establish either his innocence or the dimensions of the shape-shifting conspiracy that had framed him.  This Podcast recounts the tragic post-court life of each of our protagonists.    FURTHER RESEARCH   Episode 36:  Chambers' autobiography is “Witness,” most recently published by Regnery Gateway in 2014.  He was working on a huge, never finished book (working title “The Third Rome”) when he died.  Associated essays of his were published by Random House in 1964 under the title “Cold Friday” — the name of a field on his farm.  His articles for The National Review (amounting to less than 85 pages) were published by that magazine in “The Whittaker Chambers Reader: His Complete National Review Writings 1957-59” in 2014; these and his earlier short pieces appear in “Ghosts on the Roof: Selected Essays,” edited by Terry Teachout and published by Transaction in 1996.  Two books of Chambers' correspondence have been printed: “Odyssey of a Friend:  Letters to William F. Buckley, Jr., 1954-1961” (Regnery Gateway 1987); and “Notes from the Underground:  The Whittaker Chambers-Ralph de Toledano Letters 1949-60,” published in 1997 by Regnery Gateway.  Mr. de Toledano covered the trials for Newsweek Magazine and became a prominent conservative writer.  If you're interested in what Chambers did and thought in his last years, the best of the foregoing works is (in my opinion) the Chambers-Buckley correspondence.   Hiss's memoir, “In the Court of Public Opinion” (Knopf 1957), draws heavily on his Petition for a New Trial on Grounds of Newly Discovered Evidence.  His late-in-life autobiography, “Recollections of a Life,” was published by Seaver in 1988.  It is as dry as his first book.  Hiss's son, Anthony, maybe best known as The New Yorker's railroad correspondent under the pseudonym E.M. Frimbo, wrote about himself and his father in “Laughing Last” (Houghton Mifflin 1977) when things were looking up for his dad.  After the verdict of history had turned the other way, the young Hiss produced “The View from Alger's Window: A Son's Memoir” (Houghton Mifflin 1999).  It concentrates on the correspondence he shared with his imprisoned father.  The New York Times reviewer described the latter book as “deeply troubling,” “a painful story of the family as a factory of denial.”“Family Ties,” by Ann Douglas, https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/99/06/27/reviews/990627.27dougl.html. That The Times would publish such a review indicates how much, even among northeastern liberals, the verdict had solidified against Hiss and for Chambers.   More about the two protagonists' post-trial lives can be found in Professor Weinstein's book “Perjury” at pages 550-72 (chapter titled “Alger and Whittaker: The Vigil and the Death Watch”); and at pages 444-514 of the Sam Tanenhaus biography “Whittaker Chambers.”   Questions:  Which protagonist suffered more after the trials — the imprisoned Hiss or the ostracized Chambers?  Do you have a hunch that one or both of them overcame gloom and died with a somewhat satisfied, “something ventured, something gained” feeling?  Of the wives and children, only one (Hiss's son) capitalized on The Case.  If you had been one of the others, would you have been tempted to follow Tony's path?   If Hiss was guilty, why didn't he avoid the limelight like Chambers did?  And, when his son got interested in The Case, why didn't Hiss say to him “Son, this has taken over my life, but it doesn't have to mess up yours. I've got some years to live and powerful friends on my side; you just get on with your own existence and leave this to us.”  Why would he let his son take up a cause that Hiss knew was a lie and would likely someday be exposed as such, making his son look pitiful?

Alger Hiss is taken to prison   Alger Hiss's conviction — technically for perjury, but effectively for treason — was a major event.  It was a disaster for The Establishment, especially liberal Democrats, and vindication for Republicans and populist Democrats.  The 18 month labyrinth of HUAC hearings, depositions in Hiss's libel suit, grand jury proceedings, and two criminal trials were the long, long overture to the so-called McCarthy Era.  Senator McCarthy, in fact, gave his famous “I have a list . . .” speech just weeks after Hiss's conviction.  This Podcast gives an overview of the many and complex reactions to the guilty verdict.  Everyone, it seems, accepted the factual correctness of the verdict.  But many liberals could not help making up excuses for Hiss, or damning Chambers for being fat and melodramatic.  And many conservatives and populists could not help painting all liberals and Harvard graduates with the black pitch of Hiss's treason.  Most interesting and encouraging to me, a significant number of liberals and Democrats were sufficiently mature and morally alive to engage in genuine introspection and self-criticism, to admit they had ‘blown it big time' when it came to Soviet traitors in our midst, and to resolve to fashion a liberal anti-communism that was just as vigorous as what Republican conservatives had been offering for decades.     FURTHER RESEARCH    The McCarthy Era, although sparked by this Case, is an oceanic subject beyond the scope of these Podcasts.  If you want to read about it, among the best conservative books are George H. Nash's “The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945” (Basic Books 1976), esp. 84-130; and Richard Gid Powers' “Not Without Honor:  The History of American Anticommunism” (Free Press 1995), esp. 191-272.See also Professor Harvey Klehr's essay “Setting the Record Straight on Joe McCarthy,” https://archives.frontpagemag.com/fpm/setting-record-joe-mccarthy-straight-harvey-klehr/.   Among the far more numerous, totally anti-McCarthy books are David Caute's “The Great Fear:The Anti-Communist Purge Under Truman and Eisenhower” (Touchstone 1979), esp. 56-62; Fred J. Cook's “The Nightmare Decade:The Life and Times of Senator Joe McCarthy” (Random House 1971); Victor Navasky's “Naming Names” (Viking 1980) (especially the early pages); I.F. Stone's “The Truman Era: 1945-52” (Little Brown 1953) (Stone was himself a secret agent of the Soviet Union); and James A Weschler's “The Age of Suspicion” (Random House 1953).  I must note that it was a stroke of genius for the minimizers of Communist treason to name the era after anti-Communism's most irresponsible big name.  This is as if racists had succeeded in labeling the civil rights movement The Al Sharpton Movement.     Concerning the impact of the Hiss verdict in particular, Dean Acheson, in his autobiography “Present at the Creation:  My Years at the State Department” (Norton 1987), titles his pertinent chapter (at 354) “The Attack of the Primitives Begins.”  Alistair Cooke (at 340) also saw nothing good coming from Hiss's conviction.  A more mature view, at page 267 of Walter Goodman's “The Committee:The Extraordinary Career of the House Committee on Un-American Activities” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux 1968), is that the Hiss-Chambers Case “whip[ped] up a storm which did not last long but left ruins in its wake.”  Other more realistic analyses of the Case's impact on America are in Weinstein at 529-47 (chapter titled “Cold War Iconography I:  Alger Hiss as Myth and Symbol”); the best single essay on this Case in my opinion, Leslie Fiedler's “Hiss, Chambers, and the Age of Innocence” at 3-24 of his “An End to Innocence:  Essays on Culture and Politics” (Beacon Press 1955) and Diana Trilling's essay “A Memorandum on the Hiss Case,” first published in The Partisan Review of May-June 1950 and re-published at 27-48 of Patrick J. Swan's anthology of essays on this Case, “Alger Hiss, Whittaker Chambers, and the Schism in the American Soul” (ISI Books 2003).  The latter two essays I highly recommend.   Questions:  If you had been adult when Hiss was convicted, what would have been your reaction to his conviction?  ‘Justice at long last,' ‘a miscarriage of justice,' ‘guilty but a fair trial was impossible,' ‘technically guilty but with an excuse,' or something else?  Would your reaction have been purely emotional/political/tribal, or would you have cited one or more facts to support your reaction?  Would you have been totally certain that your reaction was the right one, or would you have harbored some doubts?

Psychiatrist Dr. Carl Binger This Podcast presents the testimony of an eminent psychiatrist, Dr. Carl Binger.  He opined that Whittaker Chambers suffered from a mental illness, called “Psychopathic Personality,” which causes its sufferers to make false accusations that they sincerely believe to be true.  Dr. Carl Binger was supposed to be, to use a baseball metaphor, The Clean-Up Hitter of The Hiss Defense.  The Defense had loaded the bases with Hiss and his wife (we barely knew Chambers/Crosley), the character witnesses (Alger is a fine upstanding man), and the Catletts (we had The Typewriter when The Spy Documents were typed).  Binger was supposed to bring all those runners and himself across home plate by answering a question so obvious that Hiss was asked it at his first HUAC appearance: why is Chambers lying?  Chambers had no rational motive to lie, but . . . . maybe an irrational one. Chambers' greatest fan would admit that his life was a target-rich environment of off-the-beaten-path behaviors.   Prosecutor Murphy fought to the bitter end to keep Binger's opinion from reaching the jury's ears.  But he had a good Plan B.  His cross-examination of Dr. Binger has been called the most destructive cross-examination of a psychiatrist in history.  The conventional opinion of scholars is that when Murphy was through with Binger, there was nothing left, not even mincemeat.  To many, Binger's testimony seemed a failed attempt to smear an honest man who was merely strange. See if you agree.   FURTHER RESEARCH   About Binger's testimony, see Cooke at 304-13; Smith at 386-93, saying (at 391) that “Murphy cut the poor psychiatrist into ribbons” and (at 393) that “the psychiatric evidence turned out to be a boomerang”; and Weinstein at 510-16.   One interesting aspect of this Case is the peek it gives into the morals and standards of this country's Establishment in the late 1940s.  Psychiatry had ceased to be new and frightening and had become, among many of the finest minds, almost a religion displacing Judaism and Christianity.  Forward-looking thinkers ranked Freud with Aristotle, Copernicus, and Einstein as one of the giant pioneers of human thought.  (Today, most see him as a great, brave pioneer but dismiss his all theories and techniques.). Alistair Cooke was so worshipful of psychiatry that he could not fathom Prosecutor Murphy questioning Dr. Binger's opinion.  Cooke seems to have thought Murphy outrageous when he demanded that the exalted expert make sense to the jury.   More broadly, at the time of the Hiss trials, the range of proper behaviors was much narrower than it is today.  Men worked and women stayed home to run the house and raise the kids; a web of laws and customs held blacks in inferior positions; swarthy-complected immigrants from Southern Europe, such as Italians, were barely considered to be white people; left-handed people were considered handicapped; people rarely married outside their religious denominations; homosexuality was a mental illness; proper citizens wouldn't dream of going outdoors not in a coat and tie; and you could tell much more about people's economic and social status by their clothing than you can today.  Any deviation from these norms might prompt wrinkled noses, raised eyebrows, and even suspicions of mental illness.  The latter was unfathomable and would bar you from decent society forever.  The Hiss Defense tried to use such limits on propriety and decency to make Chambers unbelievable and despicable.  The Defense failed because of Chambers' articulateness and his cool under fire, and because of the cross-examination of Dr. Binger.  And as Alistair Cooke wrote (at 312), the magician Binger could pull strange and frightening objects from his top hat, but he could not make the documents disappear.   Questions:  As you hear Dr. Binger's direct testimony, do you think to yourself “My God, he's got Chambers to a T.  Thank God we have modern psychiatry to explain rare mental illnesses like Chambers'”?  Or do Binger's words strike you as modern witchcraft concealed behind two Harvard degrees?  Psychiatry has changed hugely since 1949.  If you have any knowledge of it, what would a mainstream psychiatrist (if there is such a thing any more) say of Chambers today?  One said to me, “Probably neurotic, but not psychotic by any means.”   Concerning procedure, do you agree with Prosecutor Murphy that merely allowing the jury to hear the 65-minute long question listing all of Chambers' strange acts was itself unfair to Chambers and The Prosecution, and that the judges should have ruled on the admissibility of psychiatric testimony before?      

  Each side in this Case had a male homosexual secret.  Remember that we're in 1949, when conservatives thought that male homosexuality was a sin and a crime and enlightened liberals thought that gay men were tragic mistakes of nature, mentally ill, women trapped in men's bodies, but fortunately there was talk therapy, shock treatment and, if all else fails, lobotomies.  (Homosexual men were subjected to lobotomies until recently in Communist Cuba.)   Chambers, during his years in the Communist underground, had had gay sex with men he met in public places.  And Hiss's stepson (Mrs. Hiss's son by her first marriage) was gay and had been discharged from the Navy in 1945 on psychological grounds, which was a polite way of eliminating gay sailors.  The precise dimensions of each side's gay secret, how it was concealed, and how it was hinted at publicly and used covertly, is the subject of this Podcast.   Further Research:   Robert Stripling, HUAC's Chief Investigator and Nixon's partner in the first phase of the Case, said that it was whispered around the hearing room from Day One that Chambers was “a queer” — Stripling's word, not mine.  He also said that, whenever an ex-Communist testified, within hours rumors began that he or she was an alcoholic or drug addict, had been to see a psychiatrist, or was a “sex pervert” — again, Stripling's words, not mine.   The liberal historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., wrote discreetly that the “anti-Chambers whispering campaign was one of the most repellent of modern history.”  George H. Nash, “The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945” at 100 (Basic Books 1976).  Alistair Cooke used equal delicacy when, in his inventory of ‘secret explanations' of what happened between Hiss and Chambers, he wrote “one or two other theories . . . went the rounds of Washington and New York [that] . . . so mercilessly intrude into other people's lives that the incompleteness of this report appears a small price to pay for giving everybody so slandered the benefit of a large doubt.  The reader who is most prurient to know about such theories will be the one most apt to hit on them.”  Cooke at 334.  Dr. Weinstein, in his definitive book on this Case, deals with Chambers' homosexual acts at 112-13, 129-30, with Hiss's stepson's gayness at 424-25, and with Hiss's use of Chambers secret gay life to ‘explain' his mentally ill lies about Hiss at 405-08 and 639-41 (section 4, titled “Chambers as Paranoid:  The Revenge Motif” in an appendix titled “Six Conspiracies in Search of an Author, 1948-1996”).    I have never seen any indication that the two sides in this Case formally agreed not to smear each other with their gay secrets.  Nor have I ever had any reason to believe that Alger Hiss was in the slightest degree gay.   Questions: If you were one of Hiss's lawyers and the prejudices of 1949 were still widespread today, would your ethics deter you from smearing Chambers as gay (and therefore mentally ill or evil)?  Don't you have an ethical obligation to defend your client vigorously??  If you were Prosecutor Murphy, and if you feared testimony by Hiss's stepson, would you use your gay smear on the same grounds?  On the whole, which side do you condemn more for its use of the other side's ‘gay secret'?   Here is a poem, titled “Lothrop, Montana” that Whittaker Chambers wrote. It was published (under Chambers' real name) in The Nation magazine — to this day, the media headquarters of the Hiss side — on June 30, 1926, at page 726:   The cottonwoods, the boy-trees, Imberle — the clean, green, central bodies Standing apart, freely, freely, but trammeled; With their branches inter-resting — for support, Never for caressing, except the wind blow. And yet, leaning so fearfully into one another, The leaves so pensile, so tremulously hung, as they lean toward one another; Unable to strain farther into one another And be apart; Held back where in the earth their secret roots Wrap one about another, interstruggle and knot; the vital filaments Writhing in struggle; heavy, fibrous, underearthen life, From which the sap mounts filling those trembling leaves Of the boy-trees, the cottonwoods.   Is it reading too much between the lines to see in there a description of wrestling (Chambers' college sport) by two young gay men, ending as each one's ‘sap mounts' within their ‘secret roots' and ‘trembling leaves'?

Photo: http://www.spartacus-educational.com Now comes the witness who, in my opinion, dooms Alger Hiss.  He gives expert testimony supporting Chambers' claim that the typed spy documents were passed to him by Alger Hiss after Mrs. Hiss typed them on the Hiss home typewriter.  Lloyd Paul Stryker did not ask this witness a single question on cross-examination.  Listen to this Podcast to learn who was the witness and how he formed his expert opinion.  After the witness left the stand, all ears waited to hear Hiss explain how dozens of documents, obviously prepared for espionage, got typed on his home typewriter but he is still innocent. FURTHER RESEARCH: As one scholar put it, you wouldn't want to hang a man based  on the testimony of Whittaker Chambers and nothing more, but how could you disbelieve Chambers plus 64 pages of typewritten spy documents that had been typed on the Hiss home typewriter?  Herbert L. Packer, Ex-Communist Witnesses:  Four Studies in Fact Finding (Stanford Univ. Press 1962) at 22. The next witness is Raymond Feehan, sometimes called Ramos Feehan — a great multi-cultural name, perhaps only possible in 1949 in New York City.  Mr. Feehan was an FBI employee and a member of the profession of The Examination of Questioned Documents.  I have been unable to find a photo of him or any other information about him — which makes him the perfect dispassionate expert.  Alistair Cooke describes him as “a vigorous, dark-haired F.B.I. expert, . . .strictly a laboratory man . . . [who] appeared quite untouched by the emotions of the case . . . . [and had] all the basking pride of a travel lecturer much in demand.”  Alistair Cooke, A Generation on Trial (1952) at 168-69. Mr. Feehan opined that the typed spy documents and another bunch of documents, which everyone agreed had been typed on the Hiss home typewriter, had been typed on the same typewriter.  This opinion, wrote Alistair Cooke (at 168), “provoked quick intakes of breath from many casual spectators.” It is often misstated that this Case turned on a typewriter.  That's not true.  Mr. Feehan formed his opinion before the typewriter that everyone agreed was the Hiss home typewriter had been found.  Mr. Feehan based his opinion instead on a comparison of two sets of documents — the typed spy documents and the so-called Hiss Standards, which everyone had agreed had been typed on the Hiss home typewriter.  It is as if you proved that the fingerprints on a certain glass were my fingerprints by comparing them not to my fingers, but to a fingerprints (say, in the files of the FBI) that everyone agreed were my fingerprints.  The Prosecution's evidence, the evidence that convicted Alger Hiss, would have been exactly the same if no typewriter had ever been found. Concurring in Mr. Feehan's opinion was the founder of the profession of The Examination of Questioned Documents, one Ordway Hilton.  Ordway Hilton, Scientific Examination of Questioned Documents (Revised Edition) (Elsevier Science Publishing Co. 1982) at  224-25, 232. Questions:  How will Hiss explain how the typed spy documents got typed on his home typewriter?  His Explanation #1, to the Grand Jury, that Chambers snuck into the Hiss house and typed them up himself when no one was looking, didn't work.  He'll need a damned good Explanation #2, won't he?  You'll have to wait for Podcast #26 to hear it.  In the meantime, can you think of a way that Chambers (or someone with more time and resources) could make a ‘fake' typewriter and produce typewritten documents that looked exactly like documents that had been typed on the real Hiss home typewriter?  For that, you'll need to wait for Podcast #35.

With Bernie as the front-runner of the Democrat candidates right now, it's a good time to revisit some of the times he PRAISED communists like Castro and communist countries like the former Soviet Union and China. ALL socialists are bad! Plus, it's about time we saw some justice served to actor Jussie Smollett, who has finally been indicted by a grand jury. And finally, the University of Virginia has a new multicultural center that's open to everyone. Well, except white people. ----- Today's Sponsors: Black Rifle Coffee is a veteran-owned and operated premium, small-batch, roast-to-order coffee company for people who love America. Wake up to America's coffee by going to https://blackriflecoffee.com/whb to receive 20% off your first order of any coffee products (including Black Rifle Coffee Club). The Bouqs Company is here to make your life easier and they offer more than just roses. Sweet treats, beautifully styled bouquets, plants, gifts, and succulents are all on their site. Go to https://bouqs.com/whb for 25% off with code 'WHB'. ----- ► If you love this video, please subscribe to my channel and hit the notification bell: https://bit.ly/2TSyM3k Connect with Jon Miller on social media: https://twitter.com/MillerStream https://www.instagram.com/officialjonmiller https://www.facebook.com/whitehousebrief/ https://www.facebook.com/MillerStream/ About the White House Brief on BlazeTV: Find out what the mainstream media ISN'T telling you about the Trump administration. BlazeTV White House correspondent Jon Miller braves The Washington Hit Squad to cut through the fake news. About Jon Miller: Jon Miller is the host of "The White House Brief” on BlazeTV. He previously worked for Fox News, TheBlaze, and Mercury Radio Arts. In his time in media, Jon has actively fought against leftist bias and attacks against black conservatives like himself. Raised in a non-political household that valued a strong work ethic and individual responsibility, Miller was first introduced to conservatism by reading Whittaker Chambers, Friedrich Hayek, Russell Kirk, William F. Buckley Jr., Barry Goldwater, and Edmund Burke. While attending Columbia University, he joined the College Republicans, but found them to be “too liberal” and then worked as an assistant for Glenn Beck at Fox News. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you're an “expert,” the results in New Hampshire were a doozy. But if you're someone with an ounce of political intuition, the results were exactly what you'd expect. We have been saying for months that Biden had no shot and to watch out for Mayor Pete. Also, leaked audio of Bloomberg reveals how he ACTUALLY feels about "stop-and-frisk" despite his recent reversal. Miller debates Andrew Wilkow on the merits of saving lives through "stop-and-frisk." David Brooks of the Atlantic explains that the nuclear family was a mistake. We think publishing such an asinine article was a mistake. ------- Today's Sponsors: The Bouqs Company is here to make your life easier and they offer more than just roses. Sweet treats, beautifully styled bouquets, plants, gifts, and succulents are all on their site. Go to https://bouqs.com/whb for 25% off with code WHB. Home Title Lock puts a virtual barrier around your home's title and mortgage. Go to https://HomeTitleLock.com and enter your address to see if you're already a victim. Act now to get 60 risk free days of Home Title Lock. ------- Connect with Miller on Social Media: https://twitter.com/MillerStream https://instagram.com/officialjonmiller https://www.facebook.com/whitehousebrief https://www.facebook.com/MillerStream/    About the White House Brief on BlazeTV: Find out what the mainstream media ISN'T telling you about the Trump administration. BlazeTV White House correspondent Jon Miller braves The Washington Hit Squad to cut through the fake news.   About Jon Miller: Jon Miller is the host of "The White House Brief” on BlazeTV. He previously worked for Fox News, TheBlaze, and Mercury Radio Arts. In his time in media, Jon has actively fought against leftist bias and attacks against black conservatives like himself. Raised in a non-political household that valued a strong work ethic and individual responsibility, Miller was first introduced to conservatism by reading Whittaker Chambers, Friedrich Hayek, Russell Kirk, William F. Buckley Jr., Barry Goldwater, and Edmund Burke. While attending Columbia University, he joined the College Republicans, but found them to be “too liberal” and then worked as an assistant for Glenn Beck at Fox News.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman was the first to go. Could Trump finally be draining the swamp by ridding the National Security Council of dozens of Obama holdovers? Plus, in our mission to cover the stories that don't fit the establishment narrative (you know … that angry white supremacists are the only ones who pose a real threat to this country) we cover one story that few have touched: the attempted attacks on Trump supporters' lives in Florida. And lastly, Rebel News founder Ezra Levant caught a convicted terrorist on his Air Canada flight. Excuse me, Canadian government, what say you about this atrocity? Levant shares his shocking experience with Miller. Today's Sponsors: The Bouqs Company is here to make your life easier and they offer more than just roses. Sweet treats, beautifully styled bouquets, plants, gifts, and succulents are all on their site. Go to https://bouqs.com/whb for 25% off with code WHB. PARLER is the news & free speech app that won't silence your opinion or violate your privacy for financial gain. Simply download the app, create your account, post, share, and SPEAK ... FREELY. https://parler.com/auth/access ------- Connect with Miller on Social Media: https://twitter.com/MillerStream https://instagram.com/officialjonmiller https://www.facebook.com/whitehousebrief https://www.facebook.com/MillerStream/    About the White House Brief on BlazeTV: Find out what the mainstream media ISN'T telling you about the Trump administration. BlazeTV White House correspondent Jon Miller braves The Washington Hit Squad to cut through the fake news.   About Jon Miller: Jon Miller is the host of "The White House Brief” on BlazeTV. He previously worked for Fox News, TheBlaze, and Mercury Radio Arts. In his time in media, Jon has actively fought against leftist bias and attacks against black conservatives like himself. Raised in a non-political household that valued a strong work ethic and individual responsibility, Miller was first introduced to conservatism by reading Whittaker Chambers, Friedrich Hayek, Russell Kirk, William F. Buckley Jr., Barry Goldwater, and Edmund Burke. While attending Columbia University, he joined the College Republicans, but found them to be “too liberal” and then worked as an assistant for Glenn Beck at Fox News. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even the Democrats are saying it was Trump's best week EVER, but we can't let the president get too complacent — there's more work to be done! Plus, Miller has some explaining to do about his tweet that went viral Sunday night during the Oscars. ------ Today's Sponsors: The Bouqs Company is here to make your life easier and they offer more than just roses. Sweet treats, beautifully styled bouquets, plants, gifts, and succulents are all on their site. Go to https://bouqs.com/whb for 25% off with code WHB. Ashford University is higher education at your own pace. Gain skills you can use in your job now, and knowledge that prepares you for the job market of tomorrow. Enroll now by going to https://Ashford.edu/WHB ------ Connect with Miller on Social Media: https://twitter.com/MillerStream https://instagram.com/officialjonmiller https://www.facebook.com/whitehousebrief https://www.facebook.com/MillerStream/   > Try BlazeTV FREE for 30 days: https://blazetv.com/WHB   About the White House Brief on BlazeTV: Find out what the mainstream media ISN'T telling you about the Trump administration. BlazeTV White House correspondent Jon Miller braves The Washington Hit Squad to cut through the fake news.   About Jon Miller: Jon Miller is the host of "The White House Brief” on BlazeTV. He previously worked for Fox News, TheBlaze, and Mercury Radio Arts. In his time in media, Jon has actively fought against leftist bias and attacks against black conservatives like himself. Raised in a non-political household that valued a strong work ethic and individual responsibility, Miller was first introduced to conservatism by reading Whittaker Chambers, Friedrich Hayek, Russell Kirk, William F. Buckley Jr., Barry Goldwater, and Edmund Burke. While attending Columbia University, he joined the College Republicans, but found them to be “too liberal” and then worked as an assistant for Glenn Beck at Fox News. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The entire impeachment saga was a waste of everyone's time, and the Democrats (and Mitt Romney … or is that repetitive?) should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for foisting it on all of us. Now, until the Democrats come up with their next scheme, Trump can move on to the things that ACTUALLY matter to the American people. Also, Jon Miller discusses David Hogg's latest bout of idiocy and how Joe Biden was never going to be the front-runner. Today's Sponsors: Black Rifle Coffee is a veteran-owned and operated premium, small-batch, roast-to-order coffee company for people who love America. Wake up to America's coffee by going to https://blackriflecoffee.com/whb to receive 20% off your first order of any coffee products (including Black Rifle Coffee Club). The Bouqs Company is here to make your life easier and they offer more than just roses. Sweet treats, beautifully styled bouquets, plants, gifts, and succulents are all on their site. Go to https://bouqs.com/whb for 25% off with code WHB. Connect with Miller on Social Media: https://twitter.com/MillerStream https://instagram.com/officialjonmiller https://www.facebook.com/whitehousebrief https://www.facebook.com/MillerStream/   > Sign up for my free daily email to find out what's really going on in the White House: https://blazetv.com/WHB   About the White House Brief on BlazeTV: Find out what the mainstream media ISN'T telling you about the Trump administration. BlazeTV White House correspondent Jon Miller braves The Washington Hit Squad to cut through the fake news.   About Jon Miller: Jon Miller is the host of "The White House Brief” on BlazeTV. He previously worked for Fox News, TheBlaze, and Mercury Radio Arts. In his time in media, Jon has actively fought against leftist bias and attacks against black conservatives like himself. Raised in a non-political household that valued a strong work ethic and individual responsibility, Miller was first introduced to conservatism by reading Whittaker Chambers, Friedrich Hayek, Russell Kirk, William F. Buckley Jr., Barry Goldwater, and Edmund Burke. While attending Columbia University, he joined the College Republicans, but found them to be “too liberal” and then worked as an assistant for Glenn Beck at Fox News. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joined by Stu Burguiere, host of "Stu Does America," Miller takes on traitorous Mitt Romney, who announced he will vote to convict Trump and remove him from office. No one is surprised, but it's never a bad opportunity to point out what a piece of garbage he is. Trump delivers another outstanding State of the Union speech, but Dems completely dishonor the office by ripping his guest of honor, Rush Limbaugh, who was just diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, and ripping … literally ... Trump's speech to shreds. The sad state of the Democrat Party is so tangible you can taste it. Today's Sponsors:  The Bouqs Company is here to make your life easier and they offer more than just roses. Sweet treats, beautifully styled bouquets, plants, gifts, and succulents are all on their site. Go to https://bouqs.com/whb for 25% off with code WHB.---Keeps helps men keep their hair and prevent hair loss. Get a free online doctor consult and 50% off your first order. Visit https://Keeps.com/TODAY Connect with Miller on Social Media: https://twitter.com/MillerStream https://instagram.com/officialjonmiller https://www.facebook.com/whitehousebrief https://www.facebook.com/MillerStream/   > Sign up for my free daily email to find out what's really going on in the White House: https://blazetv.com/WHB  About the White House Brief on BlazeTV: Find out what the mainstream media ISN'T telling you about the Trump administration. BlazeTV White House correspondent Jon Miller braves The Washington Hit Squad to cut through the fake news.   About Jon Miller: Jon Miller is the host of "The White House Brief” on BlazeTV. He previously worked for Fox News, TheBlaze, and Mercury Radio Arts. In his time in media, Jon has actively fought against leftist bias and attacks against black conservatives like himself. Raised in a non-political household that valued a strong work ethic and individual responsibility, Miller was first introduced to conservatism by reading Whittaker Chambers, Friedrich Hayek, Russell Kirk, William F. Buckley Jr., Barry Goldwater, and Edmund Burke. While attending Columbia University, he joined the College Republicans, but found them to be “too liberal” and then worked as an assistant for Glenn Beck at Fox News. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices