In his recent book, Religious Freedom: A Conservative Primer, John Wilsey looks back to the writing of Peter Viereck and other great conservative minds to understand what it means to live a worthy life in a culture gone mad. On the Law & Liberty Podcast, he joins James Patterson to discuss the difference between that kind of conservatism and a more reactionary extremism, as well as the centrality of free exercise to the American constitutional tradition.

When environmental policies were first enacted, they were often supported by staunch conservatives like Richard Nixon and then-governor Ronald Reagan. Why do so many today now view environmental conservation as belonging outside the scope of conservatism? In his recent October forum lead, "A New Environmentalism?" Steven Hayward traces how conservation efforts quickly became hijacked by extremists and what a conservative approach to environmental policy could look like. He joins the podcast to talk about this piece and why he is hopeful for the future.

October forum: "A New Environmentalism?" by Steven F. Hayward

What is Christian Zionism? Is it, as figures like Tucker Carlson claim, a relatively recent development in America's cultural history, or does a general support for the Jewish state have a longer history in America? The answer partly depends on how "Christian Zionism" is defined, but in this conversation, Sam Goldman explains to host James Patterson why support for Jewish political aspirations is part of a long tradition of Christian philosemitism that reaches back even to America's colonial period.

"Tucker Carlson Is Wrong About Christian Zionism," Compact, Samuel Goldman
God's Country by Samuel Goldman
Tri-Faith America by Kevin Schultz

The English-speaking world has long enjoyed free speech rights unheard of in other parts of the world. But where did this legal regime come from? And as partisan strife becomes more heated on both sides of the Atlantic, what does free speech's future hold? In his new book, Law & Liberty contributing editor Adam Tomkins argues that understanding the history of our rights is essential to maintaining a free constitution. He joins James Patterson on the podcast to discuss his book, On the Law of Speaking Freely, as well as several pressing current free speech cases in the United Kingdom.

On the Law of Speaking Freely by Adam Tomkins
"The UK's Speech Problem," by Adam Tomkins
"From Heresy to Hate Speech," a book review by Helen Dale
Cato's Letters by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon
Areopagitica by John Milton
Adam Tomkins's Law & Liberty author page
GB News v. OfCom

For most of the twentieth century, conservatives argued for a strong Congress whose closer connection to voters could check the grand delusions of presidential administrations. Now, however, everyone seems to have opted for Wilsonian, top-down executive leadership. Philip Wallach explains how we got here, why Congress remains indispensable for republican self-government, and what sort of structural reforms could help it reclaim its place in our constitutional system.

Philip Wallach, Why Congress (2023)
Philip Wallach, "Choosing Congressional Irrelevance," Law & Liberty
Yuval Levin, "Congress Is Weak Because Its Members Want It to Be Weak," Commentary (2018)

Especially since the controversies of 2020, the commanding heights of American culture have been dominated by left-wing moral panic. In his new book, Adam Szetela analyzes this toxic mentality's influence on the publishing industry specifically. Many writers are either drafted into ideological crusades–or else become their victims. In this episode of the Law & Liberty Podcast, Szetela joins James Patterson to discuss his book and the sorry state of American literature.