Chris talked Sohrab Ahmari about his new book The Unbroken Thread. They discuss how Sohrab became a Roman Catholic, how having a son made more acutely aware of his responsibilities to his posterity, the problems of liberalism, and the kind of America he'd like to see.

Helen Andrews new book, Boomers: The Men & Women Who Promised Freedom & Delivered Disaster is a tour de force. She joins me to discuss who they were, what they did, and how we rebuild after the madness.

Anna joins me to discuss how modernity broke civilization, denatures and degrades humanity, and how nice she is IRL. We also discuss the state of art and architecture, the desirability and necessity of religious revival, and living in a tiny house in Google's parking lot.

Malcom Kyeyune joins me to discuss the decay evident in America's political system, where class analysis is insufficient and why understanding cultural divisions as caste divisions may be more helpful. We also discuss the increasing fragility in the system and the perceived (but not real) lack of agency built into process-based politics.

Blake Masters joins me to discuss the great stagnation, lessons learned since the beginning of the Trump era, and how to build a political movement focused on improving the lives of the middle and working class. Blake is the CEO of Thiel Capital and co-author with Peter Thiel Zero to One.

Hillbilly Elegy, the Ron Howard directed biopic based on JD Vance's best-selling memoir is out in theatres & on Netflix. JD and I talk about what he learned about family, friendship, loyalty, and faith and how that informs his view of building a better America.

Michael Anton joined me to discuss what's at stake for America. Are all politics regime level politics now? Can American as we understand it survive Blue Caesar? And why, as always, California shows the potential for a future, one-party American dystopia that provides luxury for the few and decay for the many. We begin with a discussion of his new book, called The Stakes: America at the Point of No Return. Available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/35iqFRy

Matt Towery sees the race tightening and favoring President Trump's re-election. He's polled for Politico, ABC affiliates, Fox affiliates, and candidates across the country. And he got 2016 right. Now he explains what he thinks most polls are missing, how pollsters are getting it wrong and why that yields misleading results. And he explains what he thinks is going right for Trump including some areas of unexpected strength.

Robert Cahaly thinks Trump will win the election. We talk about why and what he's seeing in polls that makes him go against the grain. We also talk about what's gone wrong with polling, what are the challenges pollsters face, how to get accurate polls, and what average people should look for when reading polls.

Alex Kachuta joins me from Transylvania to discuss what's wrong with liberalism and how she became "post-liberal". She's lived and worked all over Europe working in tech and media as quintessential high-achieving "anywhere" but she found that she's really been a "somewhere" all along and returned home. We also discuss her favorite anonymous accounts on Twitter and why that's where the most interesting conversations are happening. Her book recommendations are Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick Deneen and The True Believer by Eric Hoffer.

A powerlifting lawyer and an NFL agent devoted to MMA join me to talk about woke capital in sports and the strength of strength.

Description: The man once known as Mencius Moldbug has a new project called The Gray Mirror. What is it? It starts with understanding the true nature of power; what it is, how to use it, how to recognize where it lies. And of course, what to do with it. But the question is where are we now and what comes next?

Books mentioned in this episode:
The Machiavellians - James Burnham - https://amzn.to/3n9Gi4T
Suicide of the West - James Burnham - https://amzn.to/33ejCIy
On Power - Bertrand de Jouvanl - https://amzn.to/349LjkV

The Right thinks it understands the Left - it's motivations and how it thinks about itself - but Malcom and Angela explain how the Right gets it all wrong and how that misunderstanding makes the Right less effective. Having spent years on the Left before being thrown out for unapproved thoughts, Malcom and Angela offer an insider's perspective full of fascinating insights. Pay special attention to the discussion of the Left's essential union with corporate power, it's implicit sadism, it's ritual desecration of relationships, and it's war on beauty.

AImee and I discuss the school to OnlyFans pipeline. If only I'd thought of that phrase while we were talking. Liberalism has brought us to the point where all relationships must be considered in economic terms. It's poisoned relations between men and women and no one is happy. Is this essential to liberalism? Aimee also describes what happened to Bernie and I wonder about a new political coalition.

Matt & I discuss the idea of his new book One Billion Americans. Can America do that? Should we? Matt says yes, but I remain unconvinced. But if we even contemplate the idea how do we do it? Immigration? Increased birth rates? How do we rebuild families and increase middle class wages to support a trebling of our population? And the big question: Why do it?

Christopher has made several award-winning documentaries. His latest, America Lost, is the story of three failing American cities and the people who live in them. He profiles the forgotten people in the forgotten cities of Youngstown, Ohio, Memphis, Tennessee, and Stockton, California. Jobs are gone, families are stretched to the breaking point, and people are often trapped in machinery of a system that's supposed to help but too often tears people down. The film took Rufo 5 years. We discuss why he made it and what he learned.

What does a civilization's idea of beauty say about it's health? When did the project to destroy beauty & promote ugliness begin and why? We had a wide ranging discussion of Christian and Classical beauty, art, architecture, and ideal human forms.

Malcom Kyeyune joins me to discuss what he describes as the neoconfederate economics of technofeudalism and how the latent power of the American middle class has yet to be tapped.

Liberal institutions are failing. PEG & I discuss why and then look at the collapse of Russian in the 1990s to see if we can learn anything. Every institution of government failed leading to millions dead, rampant alcoholism, abandoned children, and rampant crime.

Julio Gonzalez is a tax expert. He explains why some tax policies, like accelerated depreciation, are not just bad policy, they're bad politics because they benefit very few people and lead to dangerous malinvestment.