The Brion McClanahan Show

I've used this term a lot on the show, but you may not know who I am talking about when I say "Straussians." This required an explanation both to who they are and why they are important. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

American history is full of myths. The most conspicuous and often derided is the so-called "Lost Cause Myth." But what about other myths? Are they correct, and what role do they play in our understanding of the past? https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

The Left can't stand the South, but they also can't stand Christian, white, "uneducated" rural Americans. And you know why? Because they like the South and Confederate symbols.  https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

Language matters, and if progressives have their way, they will completely change the way we use language and think about the American lexicon. This is not a positive development as Jeff Deist explains in a great piece for Mises.org.  https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

The United States Army has a personnel problem. They can't get anyone to join. Why? I talk about a couple of theories on this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.  https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

The Left is going nuts over Justice Jackson and her use of "Progressive Originalism" to "own" conservatives. Except she didn't, and her positions are laughable if you do even a cursory investigation into what the authors of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the 14th Amendment actually said the text would mean. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

A listener wanted a brief history lesson on central banking. This was a good opportunity to talk about John C. Calhoun and the unconstitutional banking system in the United States. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

"Conservative Nationalists" look to an inverted founding for inspiration. This is the same thing Joseph Story did in his "Commentaries on the Constitution," one of the most important "originalist" texts in American history. But this means they are using a distorted history to defend their positions. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

The left is now saying out loud what they have been doing for over 150 years. They want to shred the Constitution to save the Constitution.  https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

What caused the "Civil War"? Americans have debated this since the War itself, and modern interpretations often center on arguments made even before the War began in 1861.  https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

Should the Republicans embrace MAGA positions or should they nominate more moderate candidates like Liz Cheney or Mitt Romney? I think the answer is obvious if they want to win. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

One professor thinks so. Conservatives would probably line up behind the idea, but of course, this would be a distortion of American history and lead to several problems, as I illustrate on this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

Joe Biden and Donald Trump have accomplished the unthinkable. The endless investigations into the Trump administration and Biden's bumbling efforts have forced Americans on both sides of the political spectrum to think the executive office is illegitimate. Good. This should have happened long ago. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

The funeral for Queen Elizabeth II last week reminded me of several recent trends in America: 1) the elevation of the American president to an elected king, and 2) the growing desire from some conservatives to have an "American monarchy" based on American "nationalism." Like most conservatives, I enjoyed watching the pomp and circumstance from the Elizabeth II's funeral, but it was not American an...

Should the States invoke an Article V Convention? There are those on the left and right who say no, but the idea has gained some traction among conservatives. I am not opposed to it, and the arguments against it are  blind to our current political climate.  https://mcclanahanacademy.com  https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

Leftists like Jennifer Rubin are twisted into knots over recent Supreme Court decisions. You see, "legitimate" decisions are those they agree with. Anything conservatives do on the Court is "partisan hackery." That's what the right said about the Court for decades. These people have no self-awareness. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

The results are in. It will cost American taxpayers $62 million to change the names of several U.S. military installations and purge the United States military of all "evil" Confederates. This includes the beautiful monument to Confederate dead at Arlington National Cemetery. Can you say stupid? https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

The new catchphrase of the left is "equity." Gone are the days when "equality" would suffice. That is now considered "racist." Nothing short of "equity," meaning the complete leveling of society, is desirable. As Anthony Esolen explains in a recent article at Chronicles, "flattening the mountains" does not create anything but a desert. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/supp...

Our old friend VD Hanson is at it again. While I agree with much of what  he has to say in a recent piece at American Greatness, his "history" suffers from YSRDD, or Yankee Self Righteous Delusional Disorder.   https://mcclanahanacademy.com  https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

Many American conservatives have embraced "nationalism" as the remedy for modern political problems. This has been fueled, in part, by two conservative intellectuals, Yoram Hazony and Adrian Vermeule. But what if their "solutions" were little more than the problem itself? https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

Yes, says a Dean at a prominent West Coast law school. Why? Because it might undermine everything the left has (unconstitutionally) gained over the last half century through a misuse of the federal court system. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

President Brandon tells us MAGA voters are the greatest threat to America. Is that true? No. So what is? Jack Cashill has a very  politically incorrect answer. https://mcclanahanacademy.com  https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

Clyde Wilson's new book on John C. Calhoun is highly recommended, much more so than Robert Elder's recent biography of the South Carolina statesman. I explain why. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

David Brooks at the New York Times believe a third party could alter the 2024 election, particularly if both parties nominate "extreme candidates." Will that make 2024 like 1860?  https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support

Max Boot thinks "real America" is in fact blue America, not MAGA America. Is this correct? https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com