The Claremont Review of Books Podcast
News & Politics Podcasts
For 20 years, the Claremont Review of Books has been the gold standard for conservative criticism and political analysis. Now the CRB comes to the podcast world with a new interview show hosted by Dr. Spencer Klavan, the magazine's assistant editor. As each new issue comes out, Spencer phones up authors whose essays have prompted deeper reflection and discussion. Over a drink and a copy of the latest CRB, he'll chat with the leading minds on the Right about what's going on in politics and literary culture. New interviews appear once a month, and--as a bonus--Spencer will sit down once per issue with his boss and friend Dr. Charles Kesler, editor of the CRB, to discuss the major themes that have arisen in the news cycle and their deeper implications for the state of the nation.
Location:
United States
Genres:
News & Politics Podcasts
Description:
For 20 years, the Claremont Review of Books has been the gold standard for conservative criticism and political analysis. Now the CRB comes to the podcast world with a new interview show hosted by Dr. Spencer Klavan, the magazine's assistant editor. As each new issue comes out, Spencer phones up authors whose essays have prompted deeper reflection and discussion. Over a drink and a copy of the latest CRB, he'll chat with the leading minds on the Right about what's going on in politics and literary culture. New interviews appear once a month, and--as a bonus--Spencer will sit down once per issue with his boss and friend Dr. Charles Kesler, editor of the CRB, to discuss the major themes that have arisen in the news cycle and their deeper implications for the state of the nation.
Language:
English
Email:
jgannon@claremont.org
Episodes
William Voegeli on How Woke Broke the Democrats
4/21/2025
On the heels of a dramatic Trump victory in the 2024 election, Democrats scramble to get their bearings. Spencer is joined by senior editor William Voegeli to conduct a wellness check on the blue and battered Left, discussing both Voegeli’s recent cover essay and the eventful months of Trump 2.0 that have unfolded since it was published. Democrats remain uncomfortably yoked to their progressive wing; meanwhile, Trump spends political capital to accomplish any and every goal he’s ever harbored in his heart of hearts—ignoring shots fired from opponents. What will the parties look like once he’s done?
Duration:00:26:12
Winter 2024/25 Review with Charles Kesler
3/24/2025
Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan discuss the winter issue, hot off the press. William Voegeli’s cover essay delivers a bleak prognosis for a Democratic party unable or unwilling to cut loose woke deadweights. Kesler observes the terror struck in the heart of the administrative state by Elon Musk’s DOGE. Christopher Caldwell and Andrew Busch offer insightful analyses of populism’s rise and pitfalls in France and at home, while Daniel Mahoney and Gary Saul Morson explore Russia’s history of oppression and dissidence. Plus much more from the latest issue!
Duration:00:25:11
Fall 2024 Review with Charles Kesler
12/18/2024
Duration:00:45:25
William Voegeli on Shifting Party Allegiances
8/16/2024
With election day creeping ever closer, political predictions are everywhere already. Spencer takes the opportunity to sit down with Dr. William Voegeli, senior editor of the Claremont Review of Books, to survey the history and prospects of realignment. Voegeli gives an incisive explanation of the current electoral landscape and what both parties need to do to capitalize on the opportunities before them.
Duration:00:33:34
Spring 2024 Review with Charles Kesler
7/5/2024
Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan meet the afternoon before the first 2024 presidential debate to discuss the new Spring CRB. Kesler and Spencer spin insightful short-term prophecies--and Kesler calls Biden's flop in advance--using the editor's note as a starting point. Meanwhile, Lee Edwards' tribute to Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago does honor to an epochal work of dissident literature. There's a surfeit of great content in the latest issue, from National Conservatism to George Orwell.
Duration:00:45:27
Jeffrey H. Anderson on the Real COVID Catastrophe
5/31/2024
Now that COVID is effectively behind us, it's increasingly easy to throw the hazy blur that was late 2019-2022 down the memory hole. Jeffrey Anderson's latest CRB essay shines a light on the COVID craze: government overreach, popular complacency, and collective amnesia. Spencer sits down with Anderson to continue the post mortem analysis and ask how we can prevent the same extreme policies from coming to pass again.
Duration:00:33:07
Dan Mahoney on Russian Politics, Past and Future
4/19/2024
For a country that features so prominently in the news and so wildly in many conspiracy theories, Russia is a country that many Americans—especially many in the press—scarcely understand. Dan Mahoney’s new review essay in CRB gives a clarifying survey of major trends, challenges, and attitudes in Russian politics since the days of the Tsars. Without emotional theatrics but with moral clarity, Mahoney equips readers with resources for a fuller understanding of Russia’s past and its possible future.
Duration:00:37:02
Winter 2023/24 Review with Charles Kesler
3/22/2024
Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan meet to discuss the winter CRB. Kesler’s cover essay covering the intellectual differences between national conservatism and Trump's brand of nationalism takes top billing. Michael Knowles's insightful review of Chris Rufo's new book invites us to consider where Rufo's project may be headed. Plus lots of other excellent material from the winter CRB, and a hint at the best subtitle ever.
Duration:00:33:34
Charles Moore on Conservatism in England and America
2/16/2024
Celebrated journalist Lord Charles Moore joins Spencer to discuss his CRB essay on the history and prospects of Thatcherism and its implications for modern conservative movements on both sides of the pond. On the one hand, the forces arrayed against Thatcher's legacy have never been stronger. On the other hand, the attitudes she represented--including the "commonsense view that people would probably be better at running their own affairs than governments would"--just won't go away. In the age of Trump and Brexit, but also of globalist bureaucrats and Conservative ineptitude, what is Thatcherism's future?
Duration:00:29:39
Fall 2023 Review with Charles Kesler
1/26/2024
Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan meet to peruse the fall CRB. Kesler’s editor’s note about the intellectual legacy of Henry Kissinger considers whether foreign policy realism is gaining steam on the world stage as multiple wars rage on. Mark Helprin’s essay on the grinding conflict in Israel takes a practical look at the situation, and Bill Voegeli’s essay articulates the predicament of the modern Left since October 7. Plus much more from the fall CRB.
Duration:00:38:39
Christmas Special: Algis Valiunas on The Enduring T.S. Eliot
12/22/2023
Algis Valiunas, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and contributing editor at The New Atlantis, joins Spencer to discuss the great modernist and Anglican convert T.S. Eliot. In the spirit of the season, Valiunas explores how a mixture of tragedy, heartache, and providence led Eliot gradually from the sorrow and discontent expressed in his jarring masterpiece, The Waste Land, on through to conversion and the searing brilliance of Christian poems like Four Quartets.
Duration:00:28:35
The Future of AI in Hollywood
12/1/2023
Martha Bayles, frequent contributor to the CRB and prolific author and essayist, joins Spencer to discuss the perils and pitfalls presented by AI, especially as it pertains to the entertainment industry. Bayles elucidates the challenge of AI in entertainment as it emerged during the SAG-AFTRA strike. Will the strike’s goals be met in the long term, or is an AI future inevitable? Plus: reflections on how digital delivery systems have changed the media landscape, for better and for worse.
Duration:00:34:44
Summer 2023 Review with Charles Kesler
10/20/2023
Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan convene to survey the summer CRB. Kesler's editor's note about the decline of West Virginia University proves timely as universities across the country reveal their funding priorities. Christopher Flannery’s cover essay on President James A. Garfield introduces a neglected American statesman, while analyses of everything from affirmative action to modernist poetry round out the issue. Plus: some new authors make their CRB debut.
Duration:00:37:33
Wilfred McClay on Understanding the Midwest
8/18/2023
Wilfred M. McClay, the Victor Davis Hanson Chair of Classical History and Western Civilization at Hillsdale College, joins Spencer to discuss the virtues and the public perception of the Midwest. Professor McClay illuminates the "reservoir of idealism" hidden away in the Midwest's often unexplored but fascinating history. Plus: a deep dive into why the Midwest is so misunderstood.
Duration:00:29:14
Spring 2023 Review with Charles Kesler
7/21/2023
Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan sit down to rifle through the Spring CRB. There's lots to unpack, including but not limited to: Kesler's editor's note on the growing ideological divide among the states, Christopher Caldwell's investigation of unrest in France, and a new biography of MLK, Jr. Plus: incisive commentary on the Supreme Court's history with affirmative action, and a whistle-stop tour through the greatest hits of country music's first ladies.
Duration:00:32:44
Jesse Merriam on The Affirmative Action Machine
6/30/2023
Spencer is joined by Jesse Merriam, a Washington Fellow at The Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life who specializes in anti-discrimination and affirmative-action law, for a very timely episode. The two discuss the playing field of affirmative action and how diversity came to define our constitutional order, as well as possible solutions. Merriam outlines what is likely to come next in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision.
Duration:00:30:08
Michael Knowles on Trans Ideology & Our Uncertain Future
5/26/2023
Spencer is joined by Michael Knowles, celebrated host of “The Michael Knowles Show” at the Daily Wire, “The Book Club” at PragerU, and “Verdict with Ted Cruz.” They discuss the manic decline of the West and its long history, as well as its present manifestation in the form of trans radicalism. Fortunately, Knowles and Spencer also talk about how to cure what ails us, using selected portions from Knowles’ review of Spencer's book, “How to Save the West: Ancient Wisdom for 5 Modern Crises.”
Duration:00:36:49
Winter 2022/23 Review with Charles Kesler
4/21/2023
Editor Charles Kesler and Associate Editor Spencer Klavan discuss the stimulating new winter 2022/23 CRB. Listen in for reflections on Dr. Kesler's own editor's note and the speech from which it was adapted, discussing the continuity between today's "New Right" and the young conservative movement of the 1950s and '60s. Plus: a survey of ten more CRB essays, covering topics from Benjamin Netanyahu's autobiography to the LGTQQIAAP2S+ movement, and a teaser for the next can't-miss episode of The Close Read.
Duration:00:36:18
Theodore Dalrymple on the History of Mental Health Treatment
3/17/2023
To close out the Fall 2022 issue, Spencer is joined by Anthony Daniels (pen name Theodore Dalrymple), a British physician, psychiatrist and prolific author of excellent books. They discuss the history of psychiatric treatment in the West, particularly its blatant barbarism until recently, where we've moved from barbarism to aggressive apathy as the mentally ill have been emptied from asylums to the city streets, where they languish, untreated. Daniels and Spencer talk about solutions to this unfortunate situation. Plus: a brief COVID retrospective from a sane medical professional.
Duration:00:29:45
Charles Murray on Diversity & Democracy
2/24/2023
Dr. Charles Murray, F. A. Hayek Chair Emeritus in Cultural Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Spencer to expand on his most recent essay for the CRB on how diversity and ethnic differences affect large democratic countries like the U.S. Dr. Murray discusses some of the evidence for his argument, as well as some ways in which these difficult truths can be applied to politics today. Plus: a reflection on the need to speak out in troubled times.
Duration:00:27:08