Halfway to the Midterms

Halfway to the Midterms

Author: The Claremont Institute January 24, 2026 Duration: 1:11:25

As anti-ICE protests escalate in Minneapolis, agitators storm a church mid-service. But Trump’s deportation efforts are combining with economic pain to drive his poll numbers down. Uncertainty about Greenland doesn’t seem to be helping matters, though the breakdown of NATO may be unavoidable or already happening in all but name. With midterms looming, how should the administration approach this delicate moment? Plus: the discipline of classics, and with it the prestige institutions of the American academy, seem determined to self-destruct. Ryan, Mike, and Spencer survey the landscape and offer up a few cultural recommendations.



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Behind the daily headlines and political noise, there's a deeper current of ideas shaping the nation. The American Mind Podcast, from The Claremont Institute, digs into that foundational layer. It moves beyond surface-level debate to examine the philosophical assumptions and historical principles that actually drive American life. In each episode, hosts sit down with Claremont scholars and a range of thoughtful critics to untangle the real causes of our cultural moment. These conversations aren't about quick takes or partisan scoring; they're sustained explorations of how concepts from history, philosophy, and political theory manifest in our society, news cycles, and personal lives. Tuning in, you'll hear rigorous but accessible discussions that connect timeless thought to contemporary upheaval. This podcast provides a space for listeners to step back from the frenzy and consider the underlying forces-the enduring ideals and the new challenges-that are continually remaking the American experiment. It’s for anyone who suspects there’s more to the story and wants to engage with the substantive ideas, not just the symptoms, of our political and cultural reality.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 429

The American Mind Podcast
Podcast Episodes
War Gaming November | The Roundtable Ep. 29 Segment 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:41
Lefty all-stars, including John Podesta and some remnants of the NeverTrump cohort, gathered to run war games to try and predict what will likely happen in November. Spoiler alert: it’s ugly. Potentially civil war ugly.…
Person, Woman, Man, Camera, TV | The Roundtable Ep. 29 Segment 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:13
The media has been running cover for Joe Biden in an attempt to prevent him from being fed (barely) alive to President Trump on the debate stage. On the flip side, President Trump is amusingly quite proud of himself for…
Identity, Nationalism, and Road Trips | The Roundtable Ep. 28 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:37
Join the editors for a frank discussion about black American nationalism, and nationalism more generally. Then: Matt reports on his road trip through several red states, highlighting some important phenomena going on in…
Race and the Founding | The Roundtable Ep. 28 Segment 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:39
Under the relentless assault on American values from the 1619 project and other racially divisive leftist tactics, some conservatives are flailing as they try to find a way to reconcile a troubled past with lofty ideals.…
The Feds and White Fragility | The Roundtable Ep. 27 Segment 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:15
The hyper-woke “bias training” that has been ravaging corporate America is now being installed in the federal government. Ryan and Spencer discuss a shocking report from City Journal’s Chris Rufo, examining the underlyin…
Forced Hormone Therapy | The Roundtable Ep. 27 Segment 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:16
In a horrifying turn of events reminiscent of chemical castration in 1940s Britain, doctors and nurses in Los Angeles’ juvenile detention system have been injecting teenage boys with estrogen against their will and witho…
The Battle of Portland | The Roundtable Ep. 27 Segment 3 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:36
Portland is the new ground zero for insurrectionist sentiments in America. Insurgents have targeted a federal courthouse for more than 50 consecutive days, attempting to burn it down multiple times with people still insi…