The Claremont Review of Books Podcast

The American Revolution produced a lasting republic, now in its 250th year. But is it still the country the founders envisioned? Claremont Review of Books editor Charles Kesler joins associate editor Spencer Klavan to review the CRB’s summer 2026 edition, including Kesler's own essay on the principles and lasting success of our revolution as distinguished from its English and French counterparts. Other essays in the issue include Christopher Flannery on Benjamin Franklin's advice for the common man, Andrew Roberts on the clashes between Churchill and de Gaulle, and much more! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Following Richard Nixon's victory in the turbulent 1968 election, an amendment threatening to dismantle the Electoral College gained startling momentum. Enter the young senate staffer Michael Uhlmann, whose 1970 report put forward what would become the definitive case for the institution thereafter. The amendment failed, but a torrent of new challenges to our constitutional system now arise ahead of 2028. This week, Former president of American Enterprise Institute Christopher DeMuth joins Spencer Klavan to consider if the Electoral College can still weather the storm of an emboldened Left. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “Wine Lunacy,” Sam Schneider’s most recent entry to the column Under the Vine and Fig Tree, featured in the Claremont Review of Books’ Summer 2026 issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has emerged as the leader of the global Left. As president of the Socialist International and co-founder of the Global Progressive Mobilization, Sánchez has pioneered a new strain of European politics to counter Trump. Contributing Editor Christopher Caldwell joins the show to discuss his latest piece, “Pedro Sánchez’s Kingdom,” and the anti-American sentiment that progressive leaders use to distract from unpopular immigration and economic policies. How will the Right respond? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “Melville at Sea,” Algis Valiunas’s essay featured in the Claremont Review of Books’ Summer 2026 issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Excited by the prospect of capitalizing on China’s rise in the 2010s, American firms—notably Apple—funneled billions of dollars of capital and masses of infrastructure into the nation without regard for geopolitics. Today, China has realized its opportunity to rival the U.S. as a regional power, using our investments as a springboard. This week, Claremont Lincoln Fellow Emmet Penney joins Spencer Klavan to evaluate how, as America reaches an inflection point at 250, it can recover a sense of national agency and avoid the creeping "historical nihilism" that threatens to infect both the Left and the Right. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “We Shall Not Fight on the Beaches,” Theodore Dalrymple’s review of The Camp of the Saints, featured in the spring 2026 issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

The U.S. Military is the mightiest fighting force in history. Yet its evolution has been long and complex, and today it is suffering from the damage done by decades of social justice initiatives. Continuing a celebration the U.S.’s 250th year, American Military Project Director Will Thibeau joins Spencer Klavan to examine the pre-revolutionary origins of the Army and consider Donald Trump's efforts to correct Civil Rights-era deviations from its founding design. Plus: the significance of decorum, the often-overlooked implications of the second amendment, and more! A Distant Trumpet The Soldier and the State This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan his piece, “The Renegade Academy,” featured in the spring 2026 issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

As America continues to celebrate its 250th year in existence, Glenn Ellmers, Salvatori Research Fellow in the American Founding, sits down with host Spencer Klavan to illuminate the life, teaching, and significance of Harry Jaffa, godfather of the Claremont Institute. Jaffa gave new life to, among other things, Abraham Lincoln’s rich understanding of Declaration’s principles. Ellmers and Klavan contrast Lincoln’s statesmanship with the Marxism of John C. Calhoun, discuss the continuity of ancient and modern political thought as represented by the U.S., and consider what must be done to weed out corrupted political thought from higher education. Plus: the significance of Straussian teaching. Watch with video on YouTube Recommended: The Soul of Politics A New Birth of Freedom Crisis of the House Divided This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Editor Charles Kesler hails the arrival of the Spring 2026 issue with Associate Editor Spencer Klavan. The issue, which went to press just after war broke out in Iran, features Charles's editor's note about Reagan's Cold War strategy and Trump's high-stakes new venture in the Middle East. Can he avoid recycling past mistakes? Elsewhere in the pages, the New Criterion’s Sam Schneider kicks off a new wine column, uncorking the favorite drinks of the founders. Plus, Harvey Mansfield and the realignment of the Ivies in Ralph Hancock's review; the rise of competing, renegade academies in Spencer's; Michael Anton on the Left’s misinterpretation of the Right—and more! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “The Founders’ Cups,” Sam Schneider’s piece featured in the spring 2026 issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

To inaugurate a special podcast series celebrating the American Founding’s 250th anniversary, host Spencer Klavan and professor of politics at Washington and Lee University Lucas Morel discuss Abraham Lincoln’s history-making interpretation of the Declaration of Independence. All men are created equal. Drawing on a tradition that went right back to the founding, but making it vitally urgent for a moment of crisis, Lincoln made equality the golden life-source of the nation from which all other things must proceed. Now, Americans must endeavor to keep that principle alive through future generations. Plus: Frederick Douglass’s comments on Lincoln and the criticisms he faced from radical abolitionists. Recommended: Lincoln and the American Founding Measuring the Man John Quincy Adams and the Fourth of July An Oration: John Quincy Adams’ Christian America This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Lane Scott, author of the Substack Matriarch Goals, and editor Spencer Klavan sit down to discuss the Netflix hit, Stranger Things, one of the biggest television sensations in the last decade. In an era of “despair porn," the show illustrated why good defeats evil and gave viewers a way to reflect on the bittersweet significance of growing up. Its analog, 1980s world stands in contrast to our muted, digital one: the men are confident, the mainstream culture proud, American heroes permissible. What does this say of us now? Matriarch Goals Analog Kids This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “Never Trump After 2024,” William Voegeli’s review of Never Trump: The Revolt of the Conservative Elites and Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign, featured in the Fall 2025-Winter 2026 double issue.

President of the American Main Street Initiative Jeffery H. Anderson joins associate editor Spencer Klavan to address a little-noticed assault on the Founding, the country, and its great men: the Woke takeover of our national parks. At hallowed ground across the U.S., activist curators have rebranded Washington and the Founders as “enslavers” and condemned America's icons—the Liberty Bell included—in a melodramatic racial reckoning. But ahead of America’s 250th anniversary, Trump and the Right stand to beat back the false narrative, and revive the spirit of the nation. Hijacking America’s Story This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “Palace Intrigues,” Barry Strauss’s review of Kant: A Revolution in Thinking, featured in the Fall 2025-Winter 2026 double issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

John Quincy Adams, son of John, grew up amid the turmoil of the revolution. At just 14, he served as interpreter of French for America’s first minister in Russia. He grew into a diplomat, a secretary of state, a president, and a ferociously anti-slavery congressman—after leaving office. He saw deep into the heart of the Declaration’s logic and made it his guiding light. Browsing the diary of JQA, contributing editor Christopher Flannery and associate editor Spencer Klavan delight in the sixth president’s achievements, his towering ambitions, and his oddly relatable notes of self-reproach. Plus: a peek at CRBs to come! The Diaries of John Quincy Adams 1779–1848 In Revolution, Thucydides This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “Streaming Shakespeare,” Martha Bayles’s column featured in the Fall 2025-Winter 2026 double issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “Claustrophobic Metaphysics,” Edward Feser’s review of Kant: A Revolution in Thinking, featured in the Fall 2025-Winter 2026 double issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

When Richard Nixon resigned as president in 1974, the Watergate scandal was officially logged in the public memory as a victory of the neutral press over an out-of-control “imperial presidency.” Now, after the Trump years have hightened mistrust of official sources and suspicion of the administrative state, the Nixon story is more and more open to revision. Senior Fellow at the Center for Renewing America Nathan Pinkoski joins Associate Editor Spencer Klavan to reassess the televised dethronement of Nixon, the failure of Trump’s antagonists to execute a similar crusade, and what it means for the future of the presidency. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Editor Charles Kesler is joined by Associate Editor Spencer Klavan to crack open the much-anticipated CRB double issue, released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the CRB. Charles reflects on the Institute's principles, accomplishments, and prescience in his editor note. Paul Rahe equips readers to understand ongoing conflicts by exploring the history of Iranian revolutions. Christopher Caldwell tracks the rise of Zohran Mamdani and what it portends for both New York and Left politics. William Voegeli offers the definitive assessment of Never Trump. And much, much more! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

A pioneer of computing technology, Nvidia produces the chief component powering the AI revolution: the microchip. Having scaled the once-niche gaming hardware firm into an industry titan, founder and CEO Jensen Huang must now navigate global trade and politics. Associate editor Spencer Klavan is joined by Emmet Penney, senior fellow of the Foundation for American Innovation and contributing editor of Compact magazine, to explain this pivotal technology for the uninitiated and discuss growing concerns that a thin U.S. power grid could give China an opportunity to surge far ahead in the digital arms race. Plus: The Close Read is now on video! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “Goodbye to the Good War,” Sean McMeekin’s essay on reality, myth, and World War II, featured in the summer 2025 issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Until quite recently, the “New Atheism” held sway over the minds of many elites. But the secular, scientistic worldview that was once so in vogue proved radically insufficient to meet the challenges of the post-9/11 world. Now, a New Theism is gaining traction among many of the thinkers who once professed a confident unbelief. Associate Editor Spencer Klavan sits down with Matthew Schmitz, editor of Compact magazine, to discuss the profound ethical and political implications of this new theological outlook. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “Stardust,” Helen Andrews’s review of We Tell Ourselves Stories, featured in the summer 2025 issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Editor Charles Kesler sits down with Associate Editor Spencer Klavan to discuss the recent summer issue. Highlighted are Christopher Caldwell’s cover essay on UK immigration and Charles’ own piece on the Joe Rogan of the UK, Jeremy Clarkson. His show, Clarkson’s Farm, is a love letter to the English everyman in a moment when Britain is labouring (pun intended) under the burdens of bad government. Also in the issue, Sean McMeekin questions the merits of World War II as an analogue for the present moment, Matthew Schmitz tracks the revitalization of Christianity after the era of New Atheism, and Emmett Penney charts the meteoric rise of microchip maker Nvidia. Plus much more. Claremont Review of Books 25th Anniversary Gala Invite This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

The UK government of Boris Johnson, reckoning immigration as a pure economic gain, swung the door open to newcomers. Now 7 percent of the British population has been almost unilaterally imported en masse. Anger is swelling in response to “rape gangs” and other assaults on locals, and a new, populist right is materializing, with Nigel Farage leading the “fightback” against closed minds and open borders. Associate editor Spencer Klavan sits down with contributing editor Christopher Caldwell to discuss the UK immigration crisis and the future of the British Right. Discussion of “Land’s End.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads his latest piece in the CRB, “A Complete Unknown,” on Horace. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “Land’s End,” Christopher Caldwell’s cover essay on how mass migration has radicalized the United Kingdom, featured in the spring 2025 issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

The European Union’s crusade to eliminate so-called “harmful speech” has breached America’s digital boundaries. The Digital Services Act effectively gives EU bureaucrats the ability to curb Americans’ constitutional rights, doing away with free speech in today’s online public square. In this Close Read bonus episode, associate editor Spencer Klavan is joined by former professor of political philosophy and journalist of European affairs John Rosenthal to discuss how the US might counter-regulate and incentivize tech firms to stand against overseas censorship. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “Empire of Music,” Vladimir Golstein’s review of Tchaikovsky's Empire: A New Life of Russia's Greatest Composer, featured in the spring 2025 issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Few could have predicted it at the time, but the massive surveillance apparatus designed in the wake of 9/11 to fight terrorism has been turned against Americans in the wake of COVID. The biomedical security state's militarized pandemic response has accustomed Americans to being watched, shepherded, and degraded. Like terrorism, germs are a potentially ubiquitous and invisible enemy, justifying a permanent state of emergency involving levels of population management and control that Americans would never otherwise accept. Ethics and Public Policy Center fellow Aaron Kheriaty joins Spencer Klavan to discuss unchecked emergency powers, technologies, and tactics to attack our privacy and constitutional rights. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “Make Speech Free Again,” John Rosenthal’s essay on how the U.S. can defeat E.U. censorship, featured in the spring 2025 issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Mark Twain’s life and work are representative of what it means to be an exceptional American. His writing is earthy, funny, and direct, but also profoundly serious about morality and politics. Contributing editor and repeat guest Christopher Flannery sits down with host Spencer Klavan to discuss this giant of American letters, whose life and legend are as grand as his own stories. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Associate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “They Forgot to Sing,” Anthony Esolen’s review of Poetry as Enchantment, by Dana Gioia, featured in the spring 2025 issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan discuss the newly released spring issue. Kesler’s cover piece, reviewing a biography of William F. Buckley, Jr., gives insight into the life and profound impact of Buckley’s career; the virtues he emanated; and the long-awaited biography by Sam Tanenhaus. William Voegeli chronicles progressives' troubled attempts to build their way out of a woke tailspin. Christopher Caldwell gives a sobering analysis of Trump’s tariffs. And Daniel Mahoney provides a fresh survey of Winston Churchill’s early life and writings, alongside similar treatments of Mark Twain by Christopher Flannery, and Vladimir Golstein on Tchaikovsky. Plus: an invitation to join the CRB crew for a 25th birthday party! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Alexandria: a sprawling metropolis, once the cultural capital of the Western world. It was ruled by the Ptolemies, whose queens—the Cleopatras—produced the unforgettable queen we know from Shakespeare and Plutarch. Yet their history was eclipsed by that of the Roman Empire and has lost much of its glamor in the public imagination. Spencer sits down with Hoover Institution senior fellow Barry Strauss to dust off the fascinating stories of these Macedonian queens of Egypt. Extravagant, cunning, and powerful, with a flair for the dramatic, they embedded themselves into native Egyptian cultural and religious tradition, played politics as bloodsport, and left the world stage as they first entered—with a bang. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

On the heels of a dramatic Trump victory in the 2024 election, Democrats scramble to get their bearings. Spencer is joined by senior editor William Voegeli to conduct a wellness check on the blue and battered Left, discussing both Voegeli’s recent cover essay and the eventful months of Trump 2.0 that have unfolded since it was published. Democrats remain uncomfortably yoked to their progressive wing; meanwhile, Trump spends political capital to accomplish any and every goal he’s ever harbored in his heart of hearts—ignoring shots fired from opponents. What will the parties look like once he’s done? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan discuss the winter issue, hot off the press. William Voegeli’s cover essay delivers a bleak prognosis for a Democratic party unable or unwilling to cut loose woke deadweights. Kesler observes the terror struck in the heart of the administrative state by Elon Musk’s DOGE. Christopher Caldwell and Andrew Busch offer insightful analyses of populism’s rise and pitfalls in France and at home, while Daniel Mahoney and Gary Saul Morson explore Russia’s history of oppression and dissidence. Plus much more from the latest issue! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan sit down to page through the newly released fall CRB and talk election results. Kesler’s essay discusses the possibility of a long-awaited Republican majority; William Voegeli tracks the humiliation of both Biden and the mainstream media; and Christopher Caldwell highlights the success of Trump’s arresting rhetoric in a post-rhetorical age. And much more! Plus: the online-exclusive “Christmas Review of Books” is out now. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

With election day creeping ever closer, political predictions are everywhere already. Spencer takes the opportunity to sit down with Dr. William Voegeli, senior editor of the Claremont Review of Books, to survey the history and prospects of realignment. Voegeli gives an incisive explanation of the current electoral landscape and what both parties need to do to capitalize on the opportunities before them. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan meet the afternoon before the first 2024 presidential debate to discuss the new Spring CRB. Kesler and Spencer spin insightful short-term prophecies--and Kesler calls Biden's flop in advance--using the editor's note as a starting point. Meanwhile, Lee Edwards' tribute to Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago does honor to an epochal work of dissident literature. There's a surfeit of great content in the latest issue, from National Conservatism to George Orwell. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

Now that COVID is effectively behind us, it's increasingly easy to throw the hazy blur that was late 2019-2022 down the memory hole. Jeffrey Anderson's latest CRB essay shines a light on the COVID craze: government overreach, popular complacency, and collective amnesia. Spencer sits down with Anderson to continue the post mortem analysis and ask how we can prevent the same extreme policies from coming to pass again. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe

For a country that features so prominently in the news and so wildly in many conspiracy theories, Russia is a country that many Americans—especially many in the press—scarcely understand. Dan Mahoney’s new review essay in CRB gives a clarifying survey of major trends, challenges, and attitudes in Russian politics since the days of the Tsars. Without emotional theatrics but with moral clarity, Mahoney equips readers with resources for a fuller understanding of Russia’s past and its possible future. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe