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The Saving Elephants Podcast
The Saving Elephants Podcast features engaging conversations about conservative values and ideas with a mercifully modern twist. Tired of political shock-talk and rank punditry? Curious about what conservative thinkers of yesteryear had to say but don't have time to read some terribly long, boring book they wrote? Join us!
New episodes every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month.
Listen to individual episodes below or subscribe by clicking on these platforms:
2 days ago
172 – The History of American Conservatism with George Nash
In 1976 historian George H. Nash wrote The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945 , a celebrated historical accounting...
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Feb 4
171 – Reality Therapy Redux
At the end of 2024, Ryan Rogers joined the show to share his experiences with fanatical wokism as a graduate student. He later had...
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Jan 21
170 – Tribalism is Dumb with Andrew Heaton
Comedian, author, and political satirist Andrew Heaton joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to explore where our political tribalism...
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Jan 7
169 – Unsolicited Advice with Blake Fischer
With the 2024 elections in rearview both parties are trying to grapple with what lessons they should learn. Who better to offer...
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Dec 17, 2024
168 – The Perennial Burke with Daniel Klein
As Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is wont to do, here is yet another episode exploring the political and philosophical brilliance of...
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Dec 3, 2024
167 – The Woke Mind with Ryan Rogers
“I do not believe,” wrote F. A. Hayek in his book The Fatal Conceit , “that the widely held conception of ‘social justice’ either...
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Nov 19, 2024
166 – Independent Idiosyncrasies with Brett Loyd
“The biggest takeaway from the 2024 election,” writes Justin Longo of the Independence Center , is that “independents have officially...
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Nov 5, 2024
165 – Take Courage
Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis flies this election day episode solo to offer his thoughts on how your vote is more likely to impact...
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Oct 15, 2024
164 – What is a Woman with Kimberly Ross
Saving Elephants meticulously avoids many cringeworthy tropes in today’s “conservative” media and opts instead for deeper conversations...
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Oct 1, 2024
163 – Where Does the Conservative Go from Here?
In a world where both political parties are moving away from free market oriented policy solutions, a robust defense of our international...
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Sep 17, 2024
162 – Harmonizing Sentiments with Hans Eicholz
The Declaration of Independence audaciously declares certain “truths” to be “self-evident”. And, in so doing, offered a justification...
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Sep 3, 2024
161 – American Covenant with Yuval Levin
In this era of polarization and partisan bickering, Americans of all political persuasions are calling for the nation to come together. ...
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Aug 20, 2024
160 – FreeCons with Avik Roy
The great fusionist project of ordered liberty advocated by Frank Meyer, William F. Buckley, and M. Stanton Evans is defended and...
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Aug 6, 2024
159 – The Prudential Lincoln with Allen Guelzo
Was Abraham Lincoln a racist? Were his efforts at emancipation the mere cold calculations of a politician whose sole aim was to win the...
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Jul 16, 2024
158 – Fashionable Fusionists with Samuel Goldman
In an age of rampant informalities, shoddy attire, and the kind of milieu that makes People of Walmart a possibility, conservatives stand...
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Jul 2, 2024
157 – Fifty Conservative Thinkers
In an age where what passes for the archetype conservative are the likes of Candace Owens, Bill Mitchell, Sean Hannity, Matt Gaetz, Tomi...
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Jun 18, 2024
156 – Reappraising the Right’s Foreign Policy with Michael Lucchese
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...
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May 21, 2024
155 – Melodic Musings with Barney Quick
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...
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May 7, 2024
154 – That Old Burkean Saw with Cal Davenport
After a stint of episodes taking deep dives into obscure topics, Josh returns to some conservative first-principles by inviting long-time...
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Apr 16, 2024
153 – Full-Time with David Bahnsen
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...
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Apr 2, 2024
152 – Humanist Conservatives with Jeffery Tyler Syck
Fusionism—the viewpoint advocated by the likes of William F. Buckley and Frank Meyer of order and liberty mutually reinforcing each...
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Mar 19, 2024
151 – The God of This Lower World
What is the single most important virtue for a leader to possess? What quality can make the run-of-the-mill politician into a...
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Mar 5, 2024
150 – We Don't Need No Indoctrination with Luke Sheahan
What is the purpose of higher education? Is it primarily to prepare us for the jobs of the future? Is it to ensure the leaders of...
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Feb 20, 2024
149 – The Legacy of Roger Scruton with Fisher Derderian
Having published more than forty books on an astoundingly wide range of topics and holding noteworthy positions at the British Academy...
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Feb 6, 2024
148 – Conservatism in Practice with Gov Mitch Daniels
The Saving Elephants podcast has welcomed a wide array of incredible guests who are on forefront of the conservative political movement. ...
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Jan 16, 2024
147 – Where the Religious Right Went Wrong with JB Shreve
One of the strangest political developments over the past several decades has been the devolution of the Religious Right and large swaths...
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Jan 2, 2024
146 – The Myth of Nationalism with Samuel Goldman
What does is mean to be an American? And why do we Americans obsess so much over the question of what it means to be an American? This...
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Dec 19, 2023
145 – Smoking Yule Logs and Donning Gay Apparel
In 2021, Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis joined three other veteran podcasters on a new podcast endeavor: Are We Right? Cal Davenport,...
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Dec 5, 2023
144 – Conservative Historian Redux with AD Tippet
Earlier this year Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis was on AD Tippet’s podcast, Conservative Historian. This episode is a re-podcast of...
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Nov 21, 2023
143 – The Conservative Mind at 70 with Michael Lucchese
In 1953 a little-known political theorist Russell Kirk repurposed his doctoral dissertation as a book for publication. His book, The...
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Nov 7, 2023
142 – Jiving with Jaffa with Seth Root
While Leo Strauss was famous for influencing men and women who became intellectual heavyweights in the conservative movement—names like...
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Oct 17, 2023
141 – The Soul of Civility with Alexandra Hudson
Everyone supports civility, in theory, when the “other side” is behaving themselves. But what is the role of civility in an era of...
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Oct 3, 2023
140 – Back to Burke
The name Edmund Burke is used quite liberally on the Saving Elephants podcast as host Josh Lewis makes no bones about being a “Burkean”...
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Sep 19, 2023
139 – Perspectives from Across the Pond with Sarah Stook
The United States and United Kingdom have enjoyed and, at times, endured a symbiotic history, culture, politics, and global relationship....
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Sep 5, 2023
138 – The Conservative Historian with Belisarius Aves
“History offers not simply a chronicle of events but, more importantly, opportunities to gain insights about the human condition from the...
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Aug 15, 2023
137 – Political Theology with Jonathan Cole – Part 2
Christian or not, it’s undeniable that Western civilization, and the United States in particular, has deep historical roots in...
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Aug 1, 2023
136 – Political Theology with Jonathan Cole – Part 1
“I never discuss anything else except politics and religion,” English writer, philosopher, and Christian apologist G. K. Chesterton once...
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Jul 18, 2023
135 – Cool Ellul with Jason Thacker
Modern views on how future technology is likely to change our lives range from bloviatingly aspirational visions of utopia to musings on...
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Jul 4, 2023
134 – Gilding a Mess with Avi Woolf
In the aftermath of the Civil War and prior to the first World War lies an often overlooked era in American history known as the Gilded...
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Jun 20, 2023
133 – Grappling with Hate Speech with Brooke Medina
In this brave new digital world, opportunities for hate speech seem ubiquitous and increasingly dangerous. How should a conservative...
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Jun 6, 2023
132 – Classical Period Non-Perverts with Jack Butler
Among the very-online, relatively young, and mostly male cohorts of the Right is a movement growing in popularity and intensity that...
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May 16, 2023
131 – Witnessing Whittaker with Sam Tanenhaus
In 1948 Whittaker Chambers shocked the nation when, while testifying before Congress, he gave the names of individuals he claimed were...
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May 2, 2023
130 – Cultivating Kirk with Jeff Nelson
Perhaps no other individual (or person, for the benefit of the Kirkian insider) was more responsible for resuscitating intellectual...
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Apr 18, 2023
129 – Epistemological Musings with Bonnie Kristian
Our digital world is saturated in “facts” but there’s little agreement on what constitutes “truth”. If we can no longer agree on what...
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Apr 4, 2023
128 – Reconciling Kirk and King with John Wood Jr
What do Russell Kirk and Martin Luther King Jr. have in common? Though they’re traditionally depicted as coming from opposing political...
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Mar 21, 2023
127 – 40 Must-Read Conservative Books – Part 2
The conservative tradition embodies centuries of accumulated wisdom from some of the brightest and most inspiring thinkers you’ll find. ...
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Mar 7, 2023
126 – 40 Must-Read Conservative Books – Part 1
The conservative tradition embodies centuries of accumulated wisdom from some of the brightest and most inspiring thinkers you’ll find....
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Feb 21, 2023
125 – Braver Angels with Elizabeth Doll
In response to America’s rapidly polarizing political divide a number of organizations have developed to try and turn down the heat....
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Feb 7, 2023
124 – The Unpopulists and the New Right with Shikha Dalmia
Populism is on the rise today—or so we’re told. But what is populism? Is it something to be feared or should it only be concerning to...
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Jan 17, 2023
123 – Judging Lord Acton with Dan Hugger
1st Baron Acton, 13th Marquess of Groppoli, John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton who, for obvious reasons, is more commonly referred to as...
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