Why Conservatives Need Culture, Harold Innis, and National Cohesion (w/ Prof. John Bonnett) #102

Why Conservatives Need Culture, Harold Innis, and National Cohesion (w/ Prof. John Bonnett) #102

Most civilizations prioritize space or time. They either choose empire and expansion (space) or permanence (time).  Durable civilizations choose both. Harold Innis was a giant in Canadian academia in the early 20th century, but most people have never heard of him. He offers deep and helpful insights on civilization, progress, and culture. Professor John Bonnett wrote his thesis on Innis and introduces us to his work. We discuss a draft article Bonnett has written on Innis. Once it's published, I'll try to update this with a link. Thanks for checking this out! Shawn   Chapters and AI summary:   The host interviews Brock University professor and Innis scholar John Bonnett about an upcoming article arguing that conservatives are renewing a focus on culture as essential to Canadian national cohesion, especially as digital technology and AI disrupt society much like the printing press did. Bonnett explains Harold Innis’s importance to Canadian thought (influencing McLuhan and praised by George Grant), his “staples” analysis of Canada’s development, and his communication theory that technologies shape cognition and impose costs. Drawing on Innis, they discuss historical anxieties about new media, the dangers of information overload destabilizing politics, and “monopolies of knowledge” created by space- or time-biased media that can trap cultures and reduce innovation. Bonnett outlines adaptations—expressive and cognitive diversity, combinatorial thinking, democratizing cultural institutions like the Canada Council, and using digital/augmented-reality landscape art to renew culture. 00:00 Why Culture Matters 01:19 Meet Professor Bonnett 05:00 Which Conservatives 08:08 Why Innis Matters 13:17 Where To Start Reading 16:05 This Happened Before 22:07 Too Much Information 26:02 Monopoly Of Knowledge 33:41 Three Ways To Adapt 40:42 Democratizing Culture Policy 48:14 Digital Landscapes Project 57:17 Conservatism And Social Glue 01:00:11 Closing Thoughts And Thanks

Free Expression, Beauty, State Control. Christine Van Geyn on Maple’s Garden & Pandemic Panic #101

Christine Van Geyn captured the central debate around freedom of expression vs state control and put it into a children's book.  As Interim Executive Director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation, Van Geyn has the deep knowledge and experience required to explain the essential elements of free expression in a short book titled, Maple's Garden: A Canadian Freedom of Speech Story [https://amzn.to/4g5hQzv]. We also discuss her other books, Pandemic Panic [https://amzn.to/4oIgRap], and Free Speech in Canada [https://amzn.to/44pJyQa]. Thanks for checking this out! Shawn Chapters and AI summary Shawn Whatley interviews Christine Van Geyn, interim executive director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation, about her children’s picture book Maple’s Garden, inspired by the Mississauga case involving Wolf Ruck and Ontario rulings that a naturalized garden can be protected expression reflecting subjective views of beauty. They discuss how governments and bylaws can overreach by enforcing aesthetic standards, the difference between harmful invasive or dangerous plants and taste-based complaints, and why free expression protects disagreement. Van Geyn also explains her co-authored book Pandemic Panic as a documented record of civil liberties impacts, cases, and “memory-holed” incidents from COVID-19, including the Freedom Convoy and the Emergencies Act challenge. The conversation ends with a primer on Charter Section 2(b), Section 1’s Oakes test, and concerns about human rights tribunals being used to penalize speech, citing cases in BC and Ontario’s Emo flag dispute. 00:00 Parents vs State Power 00:36 Why Free Speech Matters 01:30 Meet Christine Van Geyn 04:20 Why She Wrote Maples Garden 06:23 The Garden Case Explained 09:43 Kids And The Hidden Animals 11:37 Beauty Versus Weeds Debate 18:53 Invasive Plants And Real Harm 21:25 Where The State Draws The Line 29:33 Teaching Beauty Without Force 30:46 Kids and Creativity 31:29 Who Decides Beauty 33:03 What Is Beauty 34:25 Why This Kids Book 37:56 Illustrator and AI Art 41:14 Pandemic Panic Overview 42:59 Recording Pandemic Abuses 46:44 Charter and Human Rights 48:43 Oakes Test Explained 52:00 Human Rights Overreach Cases 01:01:08 Forced Endorsement by Tribunal 01:05:34 Defending Disagreement 01:08:43 Closing and Call to Action

Conservatism as a Coalition: NatCons, Trump, Media, & Bright Lines w Liberalism | Josh Lewis #100

How do we unify the very different voices on the non-Left? Do our differences mean we are doomed to a soft tyranny of centralized messaging? Josh Lewis has been wrestling with this, and many other issues, for the last 9 years on his podcast, Saving Elephants [https://www.savingelephantsblog.com/podcast]. He's hosted many of the biggest influencers in American conservatism, including a number of voices from Canada and Europe. The conservative movement is a jigsaw puzzle. Conservatives need to distinguish themselves from all the factions on the Left, while also retaining the distinct shapes of each puzzle piece. For conservatives, this is a conversation without end. If we grow tired of it, the coalition will fracture. Of course, we can't talk about American politics without talking about Trump -- plenty of that in this episode too. Thanks so much for checking this out! Let me know what you think. Shawn   Chapters and AI summary:  In the 100th episode of Concepts, host Shawn Whatley welcomes back Josh Lewis, founder of the Saving Elephants podcast, to discuss the coalitional nature of American (and Canadian) conservatism and how to handle disagreements within the movement. Lewis outlines enduring conservative factions—libertarians, traditionalists, and anti-communists—while exploring the rise and uncertainty of NatCon and post-liberal currents, Trump’s role as both aberration and lasting influence, and what Trump reveals about leadership, courage, and cultural “rot.” They also talk about why Lewis chose podcasting, where millennials and younger generations get information, how “bridge” institutions translate ideas, and competence as a key voter demand. The conversation culminates in proposed bright lines between liberalism and conservatism and reflections on how to appropriately mark America’s 250th anniversary. 00:00 Can Ideas Fix Politics 00:22 Episode 100 Welcome 02:06 Conservatism Is A Coalition 02:53 Nash Three Legged Stool 04:47 NatCon Moment And Trump 09:20 Avoiding Sectarian Purges 10:25 Handling The Crazy Uncle 13:49 Why Josh Chose Podcasting 18:34 Millennials News Habits 23:51 Scaling Ideas Beyond Nerds 29:42 Why I Stay Calm 31:02 What Voters Want 32:57 Competence Before Culture 34:35 Populism Versus Leadership 35:34 Trumpism After Trump 39:09 Courage And Character 42:16 Integrity And White Collar Crime 43:24 Ideas Versus Reality 45:22 Liberalism And Conservatism 50:36 Freedom Has A Purpose 54:48 America At 250 58:01 How To Celebrate A Nation 59:40 Closing Thanks

Identity Politics as an Incomplete Religion | Joshua Mitchell: American Awakening #99

Professor Joshua Mitchell is courageous. He argues for his positions even when they go against the grain of politically acceptable thought. Mitchell says conservatives have done a good job at addressing the debt and tradition economies. We are strong on fiscal policy, and we stand up for the debts we owe to our fathers. But we are almost completely blind to the more profound, urgent, and critical debt of guilt. Conservatives are blind to spiritual debt. The Left understands guilt and spiritual debt. It's their main focus. Criticize them for having bad data or for emotionalizing things, but the Left addresses an inescapable issue that the Right seems to miss entirely. I'd love to hear what you think of this episode. It's deep in places but also pointed and provocative. Thanks again for listening! Shawn Links: American Awakening [https://amzn.to/4ea9GnK] https://americanreformer.org/2026/03/whither-the-reformation-in-america/ [https://americanreformer.org/2026/03/whither-the-reformation-in-america/] Chapters and AI summary: Shawn Whatley interviews Georgetown political theorist Joshua Mitchell about his book American Awakening: Identity Politics and Other Afflictions of Our Time and his article on the Reformation in America. Mitchell argues the West’s turmoil is fundamentally a religious crisis, with identity politics functioning as a quasi-Christian, “incomplete religion” seeking purity and redemption without a Christian solution. He contrasts a “regime of competence” with a post-1989 suspension of history, critiques the feminization of public life as mercy detached from justice, and outlines three “economies” humans inhabit: payment, tradition, and spiritual debt. He contends conservatives focus on the first two while lacking language for the third, leaving the left to politicize guilt, stain, and redemption. Mitchell offers three futures—endless incomplete religions, Nietzschean rejection of Christian categories, or a return to Christianity—and emphasizes America’s covenantal Protestant imagination as key to overcoming identity politics. 00:00 Religious Crisis Frame 00:34 Show Intro Guest Setup 02:05 Is Woke Dead 03:02 Competence After 1989 04:53 Mercy Justice Feminization 07:09 Manliness Debate 09:20 Incomplete Religions Thesis 14:24 Nietzsche Tocqueville Futures 19:20 Three Economies Explained 24:00 Identity Politics As Religion 27:09 Tocqueville Self Interest 33:04 America Protestant Catholic Moment 34:53 Covenantal America Returns 35:56 Protestant Revival Warning 37:41 Host Rapid Fire Topics 41:16 Burke Simplicity Trap 43:37 Purity Stain Politics 47:43 Spiritual Economy Turn 50:20 Religion That Fits 55:00 France Religion Showdown 58:51 Aristotle Versus Plato 01:02:47 Covenant Beyond Nietzsche 01:03:45 Next Book Farewell

Conservatism’s Drift Toward Battle | Elizabeth Corey on Culture and the Contemplative Life #98

Professor Elizabeth Corey says conservatism is about far more than fighting. In fact, its major emphasis lies outside politics altogether. Corey offers a thick view of intellectual conservatism. She invites us into something challenging and deep.  I tried to push her on whether she was asking too much. Was her approach practicable? Should we never ever fight? What role does conflict play in a conservative philosophy? Professor Corey does not shy from these issues. She sees them as real questions for her students, but also in her own life. Let me know what you think of this episode! Thanks so much for checking it out. Shawn Links: https://lawliberty.org/podcast/conservatisms-lamentable-drift/ [https://lawliberty.org/podcast/conservatisms-lamentable-drift/] https://lawliberty.org/a-quiet-refusal-to-compromise/ [https://lawliberty.org/a-quiet-refusal-to-compromise/] Beautiful Losers [https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2026/03/100463/] https://essays.quotidiana.org/hazlitt/pleasure_of_hating/ [https://essays.quotidiana.org/hazlitt/pleasure_of_hating/] Michael Oakeshott on Religion, Aesthetics, and Politics [https://amzn.to/4e6Qvvc] Chapters and AI summary:   Host Shawn Whatley welcomes Baylor University honors program director and political science professor Elizabeth Corey to discuss her concerns that modern conservatism has become increasingly adversarial, reducing politics to winners and losers and neglecting culture, education, and the “realm of experience” beyond the friends-enemies dichotomy. Drawing on thinkers such as Oakeshott, Scruton, Pieper, Kirk, and Aristotle, Corey argues for understanding tradition as learned “practices” and for balancing the active and contemplative lives, resisting the urge to instrumentalize knowledge. They address internal conservative pluralism and the Philadelphia Society’s big-tent approach, the role of humility and charity in debate, and Corey’s reading of Laura Field’s Furious Minds on MAGA-linked institutions like Hillsdale and Claremont. Corey also discusses Hazlitt’s “pleasure of hating,” her First Things piece on admiring, and her forthcoming book The Heart of Learning. 00:00 Modern Conservatism as Battle 00:31 Meet Professor Elizabeth Corey 04:18 A Drift Toward Conflict 10:07 Hot Button Politics vs Real Life 12:03 Is Culture Enough 14:51 Tradition as Practices 20:54 Active Life vs Contemplation 26:29 Oakeshott on History and Modes 29:37 Defining Conservatism Today 33:25 Big Tent Debates and Economics 36:14 Life Beyond Economics 37:01 Avoiding Sectarian Right 39:04 Humility and Big Tent 41:02 Pluralist Conservative Case 44:32 Do Ideologies Still Matter 48:24 Furious Minds and MAGA 50:46 Hillsdale and Claremont 54:21 Pleasure of Hating 58:52 Heart of Learning 01:02:24 Can Admiration Survive