Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

As 2024 comes to a close podcasters everywhere will be doing one of those hackneyed and insufferable "a look back at the year's major events" shows. Not to be outdone, Saving Elephants will be getting in on the action as well with another livestream roundtable to bloviate and pontificate about the numerous twists and turns of our most recent trip around the sun.  Of course, unlike all those other...

As Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is wont to do, here is yet another episode exploring the political and philosophical brilliance of Edmund Burke.   But this time he is aided by scholar and professor Daniel Klein to examine the late writings of Burke's life as Europe was descending into revolutionary chaos.   What was Burke's understanding of liberty and natural rights, and how did it differ fro...

"I do not believe," wrote F. A. Hayek in his book The Fatal Conceit , "that the widely held conception of 'social justice' either describes a possible state of affairs or is even meaningful."   Hayek would complain "social" was a sort of "weasel word" that carried a lot of unexamined prescriptions.   To call something "social justice" is to advocate for something without bothering to fully explore...

Should conservatives be bullish or bearish on the incoming Trump administration? Will Trump 2.0 deliver us to the sunlit uplands of a prosperous free market economy, sensible immigration reform, and reductions in wasteful deficit spending and overbearing regulations? Or will America become a dreadful hellscape with an executive branch consistently thwarting its constitutional limits and a GOP-cont...

"The biggest takeaway from the 2024 election," writes Justin Longo of the Independence Center , is that "independents have officially broken the duopoly and now share the title of America's largest political group with Republicans."   But what is an independent, exactly?   What do they want and how are they different from those who proudly affiliate with the Republican or Democratic parties?   And...

Sure, the major news networks had all the "experts", but how many of them opined on what Buckley, Burke, or Kirk would think of the election results? Listen to Saving Elephants' livestream on election night as results come in from another stellar panel of cross-partisan contributors: Josh Lewis , Eric Kohn , Justin Stapley , Calvin Moore , Kent Straith, Mike Taylor , John Giokaris, Elizabeth Doll...

Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis flies this election day episode solo to offer his thoughts on how your vote is more likely to impact yourself than it is the races, having grace for those who choose to vote differently than we do, and why conservatives should take courage in a profoundly discouraging time.   Special Election Night Livestream   You're already staying up late to watch the election r...

The most [assuredly not] important election of our lifetime is a little more than two weeks away. The candidates are in the home stretch as each of them make their final pitch to the dwindling undecided voter. Join another venerable group of panelists as we share our thoughts on the state of the race and our hopes and fears with a coming Harris or another Trump administration. Panelists include: B...

Saving Elephants meticulously avoids many cringeworthy tropes in today's "conservative" media and opts instead for deeper conversations on the conservative worldview and what it can offer Millennials.   As such, there is much low-hanging-fruit among the fruitier parts of the Left that isn't as vigorously explored as it is in the aforementioned "conservative" media.   But that doesn't mean these to...

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Senator JD Vance square off for the first—and likely only—vice presidential debate that's sure to leave pundits chattering, social media accounts fighting, and late economists spinning in their graves. The debate begins at 9PM ET. Join us immediately following the debate for another livestream roundtable to restore some inkling of sanity back to this election. Pane...

In a world where both political parties are moving away from free market oriented policy solutions, a robust defense of our international allies, and traditional social norms, where does the conservative go from here? Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is joined by special returning guests Cal Davenport, Erik Kohn, and Justin Stapley for a roundtable discussion on what the future holds for the conse...

From Eastern Europe to the Middle East to Southeast Asia to so many other places, the world's on fire. Yet neither presidential candidate is offering us a compelling vision to navigate this brave new world. Join another august assembly of panelists as we discuss what a sensible foreign policy might look like.   You can also watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve3XCgOkHQc...

The Declaration of Independence audaciously declares certain "truths" to be "self-evident".   And, in so doing, offered a justification for not only a break with Great Britain and Revolutionary War, but the foundation upon which a new nation could be built.   But how uniformly were these "truths" held and understood by the Founding Fathers?   Were they disparate views that were ultimately incohere...

The stakes were high in the first debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Did anyone, other than the American people, emerge the loser? Were any pets harmed during the debate? Did some semblance of substance somehow slip through? Saving Elephants presents another livestream cross-partisan panel to debate the debate, featuring: Elizabeth Doll Mike Taylor Cal D...

In this era of polarization and partisan bickering, Americans of all political persuasions are calling for the nation to come together.   National unity is certainly in high demand and highly praised.   But what is unity?   As Yuval Levin argues in his latest book, American Covenant , "unity doesn't mean agreement…disagreement does not foreclose the possibility of unity.   A more unified society w...

It's the last night of the Democratic National Convention and who better to offer commentary on Kamala Harris' speech than a cross-partisan panel? Join us for a livestream discussion scheduled to take place shortly after Kamala's speech.

The great fusionist project of ordered liberty advocated by Frank Meyer, William F. Buckley, and M. Stanton Evans is defended and affirmed today by a group calling themselves Freedom Conservatives, or FreeCons.   And as most groups of conservatives are wont to do, they have drafted a Statement of Principles outlining what they hope to affirm.   Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is a proud signatory...

Was Abraham Lincoln a racist?   Were his efforts at emancipation the mere cold calculations of a politician whose sole aim was to win the Civil War, or do they point to some deeper ideals of America's first principles?   Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is Lincoln historian Dr. Allen C. Guelzo for a wide-ranging conversation on how Lincoln's efforts at ending slavery and saving the union m...

In an age of rampant informalities, shoddy attire, and the kind of milieu that makes People of Walmart a possibility, conservatives stand athwart history yelling STOP!   Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is the impeccably dressed Samuel Goldman to explore how conservatism informs the world of fashion, why legendary figures on the Right from Russell Kirk to Albert J Nock to Willmoore Kendall...

In an age where what passes for the archetype conservative are the likes of Candace Owens , Bill Mitchell , Sean Hannity , Matt Gaetz , Tomi Lahren , and Donald Trump, it can be discouraging for those of us who take pride in the rich legacy and colorful history of thinkers on the Right to be associated with such grifters, demagogues, and charlatans.   Trying to define conservatism is challenging a...

In February of 2004 the late Charles Krauthammer delivered the keynote address at AEI's Annual Dinner .   It was a year into the Iraqi war and several years into the War on Terror.   Krauthammer's address—entitled Democratic Realism —lauded much of the Bush administration's approach to the war, but offered some stern warnings on how the war and rebuilding efforts might go awry.   His warnings prov...

How might music point us to the good, the true, and the beautiful?   What is the purpose of music, and we are guilty of misusing it?   Why are we so obsessed with Taylor Swift?   Musician and conservative journalist Barney Quick joins Josh to discuss how conservatism might better inform our approach to music.   Also discussed are whether or not the elephants can be saved at all, how an owning-the-...

After a stint of episodes taking deep dives into obscure topics, Josh returns to some conservative first-principles by inviting long-time friend of the podcast Cal Davenport on for a wide-ranging discussion on whether or not the fusionist consensus is truly dead, why all the energy in the Right seems to be going towards the NatCons, what's leading to the rise of populism, how to repackage conserva...

David Bahnsen returns to the podcast to discuss his latest book: Full-Time: Work and the Meaning of Life .   David holds a high view of work and, in an era where self-help gurus are teaching us how to work less to achieve a work/life balance, David wants to shift the paradigm to work/rest and celebrate the productive nature of our being.   Also discussed in this episode are what the church gets wr...

Fusionism—the viewpoint advocated by the likes of William F. Buckley and Frank Meyer of order and liberty mutually reinforcing each other—has been the dominant form of conservatism in the United States for a generation.   In the era of Trump and the rise of nationalist populism on the Right, however, fusionism has steadily lost influence.   Should conservatives double down on what's worked in the...