Modern Age with Dan McCarthy

In this episode of Modern Age , Dan McCarthy breaks down President Trump’s recent trade victories and challenges the mainstream narrative about tariffs, prices, and their impact on American consumers. Dan explains why the popular claim that tariffs are just a tax on consumers is misleading, and why many economists who make this argument actually know better. Using real-world examples and market th...

In this bold episode of Modern Age , Dan McCarthy brings together two unexpected figures: Donald Trump and Edmund Burke. The goal is to uncover what is really at stake in today's constitutional and institutional debates. Ten years after Trump came down the escalator and now six months into his second term, Dan explores how Trump’s disruption of elite institutions mirrors Burke’s 18th-century...

In this special episode of Modern Age , Dan McCarthy shifts gears to examine the most talked-about film of the moment: the new Superman movie. But this isn't just pop culture commentary—it's a deep dive into the political and philosophical meaning behind America’s most iconic superhero. Dan explores the film’s liberal messaging, James Gunn’s take on Superman as an immigrant, and why the...

In Episode 5 of Modern Age with Dan McCarthy, Dan looks beyond today’s headlines about the “big beautiful bill” and asks: what can history teach us about big, ambitious legislation? To answer that, he turns to Tocqueville’s The Old Regime and the French Revolution, exploring how the French monarchy’s misguided policies—long before the Revolution—set the stage for collapse. Along the way, he draws...

In Episode 4 of Modern Age with Dan McCarthy, we take a closer look at the misunderstood philosophy behind the Declaration of Independence. Dan explains how generations of Americans have been taught a flattened version of the Declaration’s ideas—especially the notion that government exists only to serve unlimited individual rights. This episode explores the deeper political philosophy of the Decla...

In Episode 3 of Modern Age with Dan McCarthy , we explore a long-running debate within the conservative movement: how involved should America be in reshaping other nations? From Cold War fault lines to the Iraq War and now the growing tensions between Israel and Iran, conservatives have often pushed back against interventionist policies—though not always for the same reasons, and not always in agr...

In this episode of Modern Age, Dan McCarthy takes a historical lens to one of today’s most volatile geopolitical flashpoints: the conflict between Israel and Iran. Drawing from a range of historical moments—including post-WWII Japan and Germany—he explores patterns of war, peace, and national transformation that may offer insight into the present.

Drawing on the legacy of Modern Age and the great books tradition, Dan McCarthy introduces a framework for understanding three core kinds of intellectuals. More than an academic sketch, this episode lays the groundwork for how a principled elite can speak to—and for—the American working class.