Best James Wilson Institute Podcasts (2025)

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Parental Rights from the Natural Law Tradition to Skrmetti and Mahmoud: Foundations and Applications with Professor Melissa Moschella 53:47

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11d ago53:47

53:47

Professor Melissa Moschella of the University of Notre Dame joins us to discuss the contents of her recently published book titled, "Ethics, Politics, and Natural Law: Principles for Human Flourishing." A rich yet cogent articulation of New Natural Law Theory (NNLT), Moschella's work has been described as "the clearest, most readable exposition and…

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From Professor Barrett to Justice Barrett with Michael A. Fragoso 41:03

25d ago41:03

41:03

Join the Anchoring Truths Podcast for an in-depth dive into the career and jurisprudential mind of Justice Amy Coney Barrett. The occasion for doing so is the publication in September of Justice Barrett's new book, Listening to the Law. Anchoring Truths featured an exclusive review of the book by Michael A. Fragoso. Fragoso joins the podcast to dis…

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The Golden Thread with Prof. Allen Guelzo 38:14

1M ago38:14

38:14

Think back to when you were in high school or even middle school. Do you remember the history textbook you used? Perhaps that’s the problem: what passed for your reading material was so forgettable. Or if you do remember it, do you remember it being so ideologically slanted you were constantly fighting the story you were presented with? Indeed rein…

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Everson Must Fall with Timon Cline 36:47

2M ago36:47

36:47

Lawyer and legal scholar Timon Cline joins the podcast to share his ambitious proposal to revisit and overturn the Supreme Court’s 1947 ruling on the Establishment Clause in Everson v. Board of Education. Drawing on his recent Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy article, "Everson Must Fall," co-authored with Josh Hammer (James Wilson '21) and Yo…

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Judicial Nominations in President Trump’s Second Term: Form and Substance with Robert Luther 39:33

3M ago39:33

39:33

Join us for this episode as Professor Robert Luther anticipates judicial nomination selection in Trump's second term. Professor Luther asks two types of questions: formally, "How will the Senate composition impact Judicial Nominations?" "How many seats will be open to fill? Will blue slips still apply for district courts?" "Will any circuit seats b…

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Our Natural Law Moment(s) with Dennis Wieboldt 1:04:10

3M ago1:04:10

1:04:10

As a loose tie in to the launch of our sister podcast, Natural Law Moment, we could not think of a better guest to have on the Anchoring Truths Podcast than Dennis Wieboldt, the author of a new article forthcoming in the Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy titled "Our Natural Law Moment(s).” The article argues that in the last 100 years, Amer…

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Judicial Courage with Judge Janice Rogers Brown 44:10

4M ago44:10

44:10

Join us for this special episode featuring Judge Janice Rogers Brown (U.S. Circuit Court for D.C, ret.). Her remarks, given in 2023 as she received the James Wilson Leadership & the Law Award, comment on the need for judicial courage and fortitude, especially for those who take the Natural Law seriously.…

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Natural Property Rights with Prof. Eric Claeys 47:29

4M ago47:29

47:29

What are the pre-political grounds of property rights? What are the just uses of property according to natural rights and the natural law? In this Anchoring Truths Podcast episode, Prof. Eric Claeys, presents his research on these questions inspired by his new book Natural Property Rights. Claeys, discusses the ways a natural right to property is j…

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Lincoln's Prophetic Statesmanship with Edward Erler 50:53

5M ago50:53

50:53

In the pantheon of intellectual giants of modernconservatism, standing first among equals is the late professor Harry Jaffa. Jaffa, who influenced generations of students from his academic perch at Claremont Graduate University, might have been the 20th century’s greatest scholar on the thought of Abraham Lincoln. Jaffa, who along with JWI Founder …

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Best of Times & Worst of Times for Pro-Life Movement? Featuring Jennie Bradley Lichter 53:46

5M ago53:46

53:46

Could it possibly be the best of times as well as the worst of times for the pro-life movement? This has been a topic we have visited before on this show. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs case, immediate celebration met the harsh realities of how divided the country remains on abortion. The political reaction to the Dobbs decisio…

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Fixing Nationwide Injunctions with GianCarlo Canaparo 43:11

6M ago43:11

43:11

Can one federal district court judge, even temporarily, be more powerful than the President of the United States? That’s the issue at the heart of the critical debate over the legal remedy known as the nationwide injunction. The deployment of this legal remedy by federal district court judges has increased significantly in the past ten years, most …

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Restoring the Classical Legal Tradition in Practice and Education with Julia Mahoney 1:02:12

6M ago1:02:12

1:02:12

For a special episode of the Anchoring Truths Podcast, we bring you a presentation featuring Prof. Julia Mahoney of the University of Virginia School of Law. Prof. Mahoney examines how the Classical Legal Tradition has been making a return in American law. She discusses some recent opinions that provide a hopeful opportunity for its return to legal…

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Combatting Wokism & Utopianism with Daniel Mahoney 1:00:02

7M ago1:00:02

1:00:02

Join the Anchoring Truths Podcast for an episode featuring a scholar quite near and dear to us at the James Wilson Institute, Daniel Mahoney. Mahoney is an affiliated scholar with the James Wilson Institute, and with his latest book he applies his gift of prose to perhaps our most pertinent cultural issue, the rise and possible fall of wokism with …

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Restoring Congress to the Center of Politics & Law: Recap of UMich Fed Soc Student Symposium 35:24

7M ago35:24

35:24

Join Anchoring Truths Podcast hosts Garrett Snedeker & Daniel Osborne for a discussion of bringing Congress back to the center of our legal and political life. The backdrop for their discussion was their visit to the University of Michigan Law School in March for the annual Federalist Society Student Symposium. This year, the Symposium was titled "…

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Israel & Civilization with Josh Hammer 52:15

8M ago52:15

52:15

Josh Hammer returns to the Anchoring Truths Podcast for a discussion of his first book Israel The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West. The book is a powerful, next-generation manifesto declaring that the future prosperity and ultimate fate of Western civilization is dependent upon the security and thriving of the Jewish people and…

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Securitization and the Hungarian Experience 43:55

8M ago43:55

43:55

We’re pleased to have as our guest Daniel Whitehead. Daniel was a 2022 James Wilson Fellow. He served in the General Counsel’s Office of Governor Ron DeSantis and has clerked on two federal courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. He was also a John Marshall Fellow of the Claremont…

1
A More Luminous Beacon with Prof. Will Kamin 1:01:20

8M ago1:01:20

1:01:20

As part of our ongoing webinar series between the James Wilson Institute and the Center on Religion, Culture, and Democracy, Professor William Kamin discusses the debates over Federal post-conviction Habeas Corpus. Whether one looks towards the Judicial Right or the Judicial Left, there are serious issues plaguing both perspectives on this topic. P…

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IVF & Future of Federal Policy with Steve Aden 26:50

9M ago26:50

26:50

Blink and you may have missed it. President Trumpsigned into law another executive order, this one touching on a significant concern for pro-life Americans: in-vitro fertilization. The President’s latest EO reinserts us back into a debate over what legal protections should be afforded to embryos and the attendant public policy ramifications. But th…

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Trump's Executive Orders on DEI & Sex with Mary Rice Hasson 31:24

9M ago31:24

31:24

The opening weeks of the Trump presidency have featured a flurry of Executive Orders aimed not only to reverse the policies and priorities of the Biden Administration but also to advance the Trump administration’s vision of the good. Indeed, on the day of President Trump’s inauguration he placed himself in the middle of the Capital One Arena indown…

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Natural Law & Labor Law with Alex MacDonald 45:51

9M ago45:51

45:51

Alex MacDonald, a DC-based labor lawyer, touches on the historical roots of the right to work, the right’s connection with natural-law principles, and its return to modern jurisprudence. Informed by JWI Co-Director Hadley Arkes's Mere Natural Law, Alex examines how that return could transform modern labor law, especially the concept of exclusive re…

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Natural Law and Government by Consent with Paul DeHart 48:21

9M ago48:21

48:21

For the latest Anchoring Truths Podcast, JWI Affiliated Scholar Paul DeHart joins for a fascinating in-depth discussion on themes from his latest book, The Social Contract in the Ruins: Natural Law and Government by Consent. DeHart is a distinguished professor of political science at Texas State University. Topics include the limits of the consent …

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The Rights of Women: A Natural Law Approach with Erika Bachiochi 48:18

9M ago48:18

48:18

This episode features a webinar discussion on Natural Law and Women's Rights with Erika Bachiochi, a legal scholar and current fellow with the Ethics and Public Policy Center. This webinar was part of our ongoing series of legal education webinars with the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy. Erika Bachiochi examines, both philosophically a…

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Lawless: the Miseducation of America's Elites with Ilya Shapiro 46:22

10M ago46:22

46:22

Returning Anchoring Truths Podcast guest Ilya Shapiro has written a new book Lawless: the Miseducation of America’s Elites that is part indictment of how the legal academy has succumbed to the worst excesses of illiberalism but also part memoir of his own experience at Georgetown Law at the hands of administrators who run the legal academy. His boo…

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Ed Meese & the Revolution of Originalism with Steven Calabresi 46:39

11M ago46:39

46:39

Join the Anchoring Truths Podcast for both a look back and a look ahead for originalism. Our guest, Steven Calabresi, is the co-author of a new intellectual history “The Meese Revolution” that describes the rise of originalism, which necessitates telling the story of Ed Meese, without whom it surely does not happen. Calabresi, who was part of that …

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Rightful Understanding of Freedom with Dr. Brad Littlejohn 54:30

11M ago54:30

54:30

Join host Garrett Snedeker for an exciting discussion with author Brad Littlejohn, Ph.D., about his new book Called to Freedom: Retrieving Christian Liberty in an Age of License. The conversation explored conflicting definitions of liberty, the issue of expressive individualism, and misperceptions of the freedom secured by the Constitution. Pre-ord…

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A Religious Liberty Right to Abortion? with Frank Beckwith 49:56

11M ago49:56

49:56

JWI Affiliated Scholar & Professor of Philosophy Frank Beckwith confronts a troubling trend among some legal scholars who, in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, have constructed and advocated for a right to abortion rooted in religious liberty. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade and Casey in Dobbs, an increasing number of scholars argue that th…

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Minisode 11: Federalist Society 2024 National Lawyers Convention 27:15

12M ago27:15

27:15

A recap of the largest annual gathering of the Right's lawyers, the Federalist Society's National Lawyers Convention, is the topic of discussion this week. Garrett Snedeker joins JWI Programs Director Daniel Osborne for a high-level account of the 2024 NLC. Snedeker shares his thoughts with Osborne on the convention's theme of group identity and th…

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The Ads that Shaped the 2024 Election with Jon Schweppe 40:34

12M ago40:34

40:34

Who was for they/them versus who was for you? Join host Garrett Snedeker for a fascinating discussion with Jon Schweppe, Director of Policy for the American Principles Project (APP), on the power of the most influential political ads that shaped the 2024 presidential election. Jon Schweppe is the Director of Policy for APP. He advances the organiza…

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Tragedy of "Progressive" Prosecution with Gerry Bradley 1:01:05

12M ago1:01:05

1:01:05

JWI Co-Director Gerry Bradley delivers remarks on what he calls the tragedy of "progressive" prosecution. Since George Floyd's death on May 25, 2020, the U.S. has undergone a significant reevaluation of its criminal justice system and has moved towards a more "progressive" prosecution. Professor Bradley explores the legal and societal implications …

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Litigating Second Amendment & Natural Right to Self-Defense with Ed Wenger 34:51

1y ago34:51

34:51

We are excited to be dive into Second Amendment jurisprudence and the Natural Right to Self Defense. Our entry into that topic is collection of opinions in Hanson v. United States from a divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from October 29, 2024. In that case, the majority upheld the District’s ban on the possess…

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Sex & the Citizen with Conn Carroll 41:51

1y ago41:51

41:51

Join Anchoring Truths Podcast host Garrett Snedeker and journalist Conn Carroll for an exciting discussion about Carroll's new book Sex and the Citizen and the importance of marriage. In Sex and the Citizen, Conn Carroll shows how the assault on marriage conducted by cultural and political elites is undermining the very foundations of our democracy…

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Minisode 10: Technology & Education with Mark Bauerlein 21:57

1y ago21:57

21:57

In this minisode, host Garrett Snedeker speaks with returning guest Mark Bauerlein about the current decline in educational quality at universities, and the challenges that technology poses to the intellectual development of youth. Mark W. Bauerlein is an English professor emeritus at Emory University and a senior editor of First Things. He also se…

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Threat of Scientism with Spencer Klavan 36:41

1y ago36:41

36:41

The world is not a machine. Humanity is not a mistake. Those should not be such bold words and yet, according to this week’s guest, Spencer Klavan, they need to be repeated as often as possible today. For centuries, a grim anti-human outlook has taken hold of the public imagination, teaching us all to view ourselves as random products of a cruel an…

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Minisode 9: Visiting Harvard & ND Law for Seminars 27:18

1y ago27:18

27:18

Join host Garrett Snedeker and JWI Programs Director Daniel Osborne for special look inside JWI's Law School Seminar program. Highlighting their trips to Harvard Law and Notre Dame Law, Snedeker and Osborne provide an overview of the seminars JWI hosts on campuses across the country and the impact of these seminars on law students.…

1
Predictability, AI, and Judicial Futurism with Jack Kieffaber 51:23

1y ago51:23

51:23

JWI Deputy Director, Garrett Snedeker, and 2023 James Wilson Fellow Jack Kieffaber discuss the impact of impending AI developments on the judiciary. Kieffaber's new article "Predictability, AI, and Judicial Futurism: Why Robots Will Run the Law and Textualists Will Like It," forthcoming in 2025 in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, is a st…

1
American Leviathan with Ned Ryun 36:48

1y ago36:48

36:48

As Constitution Day approaches, we feature a forthcoming book that tackles how far we’ve come in the Progressives’ quiet regime change over the last century, replacing our constitutional republic with rule by the administrative state. That book is American Leviathan: the birth of the Administrative State and Progressive Authoritarianism by Ned Ryun…

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Minisode 8: Will Lower Courts Preserve the Administrative State? 38:51

1y ago38:51

38:51

After the Supreme Court's blockbuster decision in Loper Bright/Relentless on administrative law, the question remains what will happen next in the effort to rein in the administrative state. Host Garrett Snedeker discusses a recent essay he wrote in which he urges close attention to the lower courts wrestling with the precedent in a post-Loper Brig…

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The Classical Understanding of Natural Law with Michael Pakaluk 52:47

1y ago52:47

52:47

Join JWI Deputy Director Garrett Snedeker and Intern Catherine Hickam for a discussion with Prof. Michael Pakaluk about Natural Law and the traditional Thomistic and New Natural Law perspectives.

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Revealing America's Censorship Industrial Complex with Ben Weingarten 54:27

1y ago54:27

54:27

Guest Ben Weingarten, the Editor at Large at RealClearInvestigations, joins host Garrett Snedeker to document how public and private actors (government, academia, media, and tech) have acted to curtail our natural right to speak freely in a concerted effort that Weingarten calls "The Censorship Industrial Complex." Mr. Weingarten has also testified…

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Minisode 7: Live from James Wilson Fellowship 23:15

1y ago23:15

23:15

For Minisode 7, host Garrett Snedeker along with JWI Program Manager Daniel Osborne offer a live update from the 2024 Summer James Wilson Fellowship for Young Lawyers. Snedeker and Osborne discuss JWI's flagship program, the lessons on law and morality taught at the Fellowship, the broader experience for young lawyers, and how the Fellowship has gr…

1
Restoring Constitutional Unity with Yuval Levin 59:19

1+ y ago59:19

59:19

Join the Anchoring Truths Podcast team and Dr. Yuval Levin for a deep-dive into how the Constitution may unify us again. In his new book American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation and Could Again, Levin gives us a thorough analysis of both the written and unwritten constitution and why that structure that theAmerican Founders gave u…

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Idaho v. United States: DIG'd, Ducked, and Demurred with Josh Turner 59:35

1+ y ago59:35

59:35

Listen as Joshua Turner, Chief of Constitutional Litigation and Policy for the State of Idaho and James Wilson Fellowship Alumnus, unpacks the ramifications of the Court's decision to return the case of Idaho v. United States back to the 9th Circuit, dismissing it as improvidently granted. Josh outlines some of what we may expect from this case as …

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Overcoming Protestant Fears of Natural Law: Prof. Andrew Walker 47:22

1+ y ago47:22

47:22

Host Garrett Snedeker and JWI intern Isaac Michael speak with Prof. Andrew Walker of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary about his new book Faithful Reason: Natural Law Ethics for God’s Glory and Our Good. Professor Walker discusses his intended audience for the book, its main ideas, and his hopes for a revival of the Natural Law in American …

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Minisode 6: National Conservatism Conference Scenes 30:13

1+ y ago30:13

30:13

For a special minisode, Hadley Arkes and Garrett Snedeker, who attended the 2024 National Conservatism Conference July 8-10, share impressions of both the public panel discussions and how the conference fits within our larger political and cultural moment. Edmund Burke Foundation, Organizer of NatCon 4 Video of NatCon 4 speeches and panels…

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Making an American Originalist: Prof. Randy Barnett 57:21

1+ y ago57:21

57:21

Esteemed constitutional scholar and gifted law professor Randy Barnett joins the Anchoring Truths Podcast for a discussion of his new memoir A Life for Liberty: the Making of an American Originalist (Encounter). Prof. Barnett shares vignettes spanning his entire life from his deeply personal memoir on scholarship and practice, mentorship, his recon…

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Minisode 5: Chevron's End with John Vecchione 28:58

1+ y ago28:58

28:58

June 28, 2024 will be remembered as a historic day in U.S. Supreme Court history. The Court reversed its forty year old precedent in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, a precedent that was the most important and most cited decision in all of administrative law. The Court’s Chevron precedent established a forty year practice of broad judi…

1
Minisode 4: Arkes Abroad! Scenes from Budapest 25:05

1+ y ago25:05

25:05

Minisode 4 features JWI Founder & Co-Director Hadley Arkes, who shares scenes from his recent trip to Budapest, Hungary where he keynoted a conference on the rule of law. With host Garrett Snedeker, they discuss how the Hungarian government is offering an alternative to the reigning orthodoxies and policy prescriptions of the European Union. He als…

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Bucking Gender Ideology: Detransitioners with Mary Margaret Olohan 43:07

1+ y ago43:07

43:07

Daily Signal reporter Mary Margaret Olohan devoted book-length treatment to shed light on the little-known stories of detransitioners, those individuals who undergo hormone therapies and often transgender surgeries and then reject the path they went down. In this latest Anchoring Truths Podcast episode, Olohan shares her perspective on writing this…

1
Next-Gen Marxism with Mike Gonzalez 36:41

1+ y ago36:41

36:41

2020 represented an inflection point for what some refer to as the Marxist "long march through the institutions." However, this inflection point was not spontaneous. Rather, according to our Anchoring Truths Podcast guest Mike Gonzalez, Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, it was evidence of what he and his co-author call NextGen Marxism. We d…

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Exposing the Hidden Behemoth Funding the Left with Scott Walter 47:34

1+ y ago47:34

47:34

Arabella Advisors is the largest network advising and steering billions of dollars to left-of-center causes. All but a tiny percentage of Americans is unaware of its influence. Scott Walter, president of the Capital Research Center, and author of a new book about Arabella, joins host Garrett Snedeker to explore what is Arabella and how it drives so…