McConnell Center Podcast

Join the #McConnellCenter as we host Kelly Hyberger, the Native American Collections Specialist of the Filson Historical Society, speaking as part of the "Tocqueville's America - and Ours" series.  Long considered a classic consideration of the origins, evolution, and future of democratic self-governance in America, we seek to read, understand, and examine Tocqueville's analysis and its implicatio...

Join the #McConnellCenter as we host Francisco Gonzales to deliver a lecture titled "The American Dream is a Terrible Thing to Waste - Entrepreneurs and Being Fearless in Today's Economy." Francisco Gonzalez is the founder and CEO of Fearless Journeys. As host of the Agents of Innovation podcast since 2015, Francisco has had engaging conversations with over 130 entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and...

Join the #McConnellCenter as we host Trey Dimsdale to deliver a lecture titled "Rights Inflation? Can We Talk Too Much About Rights?" Mr. Dimsdale, Director of the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, speaks as part of the "Tocqueville's America - and Ours" series. "Tocqueville's America - and Ours" is the McConnell Center's 2023-2024...

Join the   #McConnellCenter   as we host Luke C. Sheahan, Ph. D., to deliver a lecture titled "Why Associations Matter." Dr. Sheahan, a professor of political science at Duquesne University and a non-resident scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, speaks as part of the "Tocqueville's America - and Ours" series. Long considered a classic consideration of the origins, evolution, and future of de...

Join the #McConnellCenter as we host Aurelian Craiutu, Ph. D., to deliver a lecture titled "Why Not Moderation? Letters to Young Radicals." Dr. Craiutu, a political science professor at Indiana University and adjunct professor in the American Studies Program and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropic Studies at IUPUI, speaks as part of the "Tocqueville's America - and Ours" series.  Long conside...

Join the   #McConnellCenter   as we host Dr. Brad Birzer to deliver a lecture titled  "Robert Nisbet - The 20 th Century's Tocqueville?" Bradley J. Birzer (born 1967) is an American historian. He is a history professor and the Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies at Hillsdale College, the author of five books and the co-founder of The Imaginative Conservative. He is known also as a Tolkien...

Join the #McConnellCenter as we host Tracy McKenzie, PhD, to deliver a lecture titled  "Alexis de Tocqueville on Christianity and the Peril and Promise of Democracy." Dr. McKenzie, the Arthur F. Holmes Chair of Faith and Learning at Wheaton College, speaks as part of the "Tocqueville's America - and Ours" series. "Tocqueville's America - and Ours" is the McConnell Center's 2023-2024 programming, f...

Join the #McConnellCenter as we host Jonathan Den Hartog, PhD, to deliver a lecture titled "What Would Tocqueville Tweet? Democracy, Speech, and Discontent Across Two Centuries." Dr. Den Hartog, professor of history and chair of the history department at Samford University, speaks as part of the "Tocqueville's America - and Ours" series. "Tocqueville's America - and Ours" is the McConnell Center's...

Listen in as Australian Ambassador Kevin Rudd talks to a group of students about his life, career and experience studying China.  Ambassador Rudd served as Australia's twenty-sixth Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010, then as Minister for Foreign Affairs, before a second term as Prime Minister in 2013. He was Member for Griffith in the Australian Parliament from 1998 to 2013. Since leaving government...

Join the #McConnellCenter as we host author and writer Grace Olmstead to deliver a lecture titled "The Power of the Particular: Tocqueville's Vision for Stewardship in Place." Ms. Olmstead speaks as part of the "Tocqueville's America - and Ours" series. "Tocqueville's America - and Ours" is the McConnell Center's 2023-2024 programming, focused on studying Alexis de Tocqueville's 19th century work,...

McConnell Center  welcomes radio host Mr. Erick Erickson to discuss "Twenty-first Century Political Realignment: The United States After Trump ." Erick Erickson is an American conservative talk radio host, blogger, and former politician. He hosts a three-hour weekday talk show on WSB 95.5 FM and 750 AM in Atlanta, which is syndicated to other radio stations around the U.S. He also writes a right-w...

McConnell Center  welcomes Grace Olmstead to discuss The Power of Place and Partic u larity . Grace Olmstead is a journalist who focuses on farming, localism, and family. Her writing has been published in The American Conservative , The Week , The New York Times , The Washington Post, National Review, The Wall Street Journal, and Christianity Today , among others. A native of rural Idaho, she now...

McConnell Center  welcomes Dr. Ricky L. Jones to discuss The Criminalization of Black History . Raised by his grandmother in Atlanta's Carver Homes housing project, Ricky L. Jones not only became the first member of his immediate family to graduate high school, but by age 28 he also earned a Ph. D. Currently, he is Professor and Chair of the University of Louisville's Department of Pan-African Stu...

McConnell Center  welcomes Trivius Caldwell to discuss The Importance of Juneteenth . Trivius Caldwell is an active duty Lieutenant Colonel, Duke PhD student, and host of the "Live Everything" podcast where he explores the art of mindful leadership. As a military leader and scholar, Trivius has interacted with people from diverse backgrounds and has learned how to navigate complex cultural environ...

McConnell Center  welcomes Daniel McCarthy to discuss Conservatism, Populism, and 'Caesarism.' Daniel McCarthy is the editor of Modern Age. He is also director of the Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship Program at the Fund for American Studies. From 2010 through 2016 he served as editor of The American Conservative . His writing has appeared in a wide variety of other publications, including The Sp...

McConnell Center  welcomes Dr. Michael Greve to discuss Federalism Among the States . Professor of Law Michael S. Greve joined the faculty of the Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University in fall 2012 after having served as John G. Searle Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he specialized in constitutional law, courts, and business regulation and served as chairman o...

McConnell Center  welcomes Dr. Alan Harrelson to discuss "Kentucky Contributions to Southern Agrarian Thought." Dr. Alan Harrelson is originally from Darlington County, South Carolina and received his PhD from Mississippi State University. He currently teaches graduate students at Liberty University. He also hosts a successful YouTube channel, The Pipe Cottage.   Important Links Dr. Harrelson's wr...

McConnell Center  welcomes Dr Kathryn Norlock to discuss "What Comes Before and After Feminism?" Dr Kathryn Norlock is a professor of philosophy at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, and the Kenneth Mark Drain Chair in Ethics, as well as Acting Chair (for 2022-2023) in Gender and Social Justice. ​In 2015, she became a co-founder and co-editor of Feminist Philosophy Quarterly , a peer-revie...

McConnell Center welcomes Professor Jeffery Pojanowski to discuss  Constitutional Interpretation and the Classical Legal Tradition. Jeff Pojanowski joined the faculty and community of Notre Dame Law School in 2010 and was promoted to full professor in 2015. He teaches and writes in the areas of administrative law, jurisprudence, legal interpretation, and torts. He has published work in the Georget...

McConnell Center  welcomes Dr. David Campbell to discuss Religious Backlash - How Politics Pushes Americans Away from Religion. David Campbell is the Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy at the University of Notre Dame. His research focuses on civic and political engagement, with particular attention to religion and young people. His most recent book is Secular Surge: A New Fault Line in...

McConnell Center  welcomes Dr. Eric McDaniel to discuss The Continuing Crusade: American Religious Exceptionalism and the Future of American Politics . Professor McDaniel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Government and the co-director of the Politics of Race and Ethnicity Lab at the University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts. His research examines how the intersection of r...

McConnell Center  welcomes Dr. Mark David Hall to discuss the topic of What is Christian Nationalism? And Should I Be Concerned? Mark David Hall is a Herbert Hoover Distinguished Professor of Politics at George Fox University, where he has served since 2001. He received a BA in political science from Wheaton College and a PhD in political science from the University of Virginia. In addition to tea...

McConnell Center  welcomes Jeana Dunlap for a discussion entitled "History and Liberal Policy: Generational Wealth in Louisville and America." Jeana Dunlap is a lecturer in Urban Planning at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. She considers herself an urbanist, strategic advisor and recovering economist working at the intersection of community and economic development. Jeana's local...

McConnell Center  welcomes Matthew Continetti to discuss the work that informs his book The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism . Matthew Continetti is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where his work focuses on American political thought and history, with a particular focus on the development of the Republican Party and the American conservative movement in t...

McConnell Center  welcomes Dr. George Nash for a lecture entitled "American Conservatism and the Challenge of Populism." Dr. Nash is an independent scholar, historian, and lecturer, with specialties in twentieth century American political and intellectual history. He speaks and writes frequently about the history and present direction of American conservatism, the life of Herbert Hoover, the legac...