Luke Nichter is a professor of History and the James H. Cavanaugh Endowed Chair in Presidential Studies at Chapman University. Luke joins Adam to discuss his latest book, “The Year that Broke Politics:Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election of 1968” which was named one of the top books of 2023 by the Wall Street Journal.

Nichter shows 1968 to be a pivotal year in American politics, but not for the reasons we’ve come to accept. The conventional wisdom of the Republican and Democratic Party rivalry is redrawn to reveal sunrising insights about the cast of presidential candidates in the ‘68 election. It’s been said that history may not repeat but it does rhyme, and “The Year That Broke Politics” is both an astute reassessment of 1968 and something of a cautionary tale for 2024.

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White rural voters hold the greatest electoral sway of any demographic group in the United States, yet rural communities suffer from poor healthcare access, failing infrastructure, and severe manufacturing and farming job losses. Rural voters believe our nation has betrayed them, and to some degree, they’re right. In White Rural Rage, Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman explore why rural Whites have failed to reap the benefits from their outsize political power and why, as a result, they are the most likely group to abandon democratic norms and traditions. Their rage—stoked daily by Republican politicians and the conservative media—now poses an existential threat to the United States.

Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman join Adam to discuss their book White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy, which has been received with equal parts acclaim and blowback. The New York Times Bestseller has been called a searing portrait and damning takedown of America’s proudest citizens—who are also the least likely to defend its core principles.

Reed Galen is a co-founder of The Lincoln Project, host of the Lincoln Project podcast and author of The HomeFront Substack, and a self-proclaimed Cassandra. Reed is an independent political strategist who has spent years advising Fortune 500 companies, and has also worked on several prominent republican campaigns. He joins Adam to assess the Never Trump movement( of which they are both part) from 30,000 feet and the precariousness of democracy. How will Trump’s legal predicaments affect his electoral fate? What percentage of independent/Haley voters does Biden need to win re-election? Is to easier to run against Trump when he is the incumbent than when he is a challenger? Has Biden lost the center over his policies on the border, campus protests and inflation? It’s America or Trump and you can’t have both as Adam and Reed discuss and drive home. Subscribe to Reed's Substack The Home Front here: https://reedgalen.substack.com/ Follow Reed on Social: Twitter/X @reedgalen All things Lincoln Project here: https://lincolnproject.us/

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William Inboden is Professor and Director of the Alexander Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida, and Peterson Senior Fellow with the Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He joins Adam in a discussion centering around his latest book “The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan in the White House and the World.”

Inboden’s masterly book provides a definitive account of Reagan’s strategic approach to diplomacy, his nuanced statecraft, and the impact of his decisions on the global stage. This compelling book is a must read especially for its analysis of Reagan’s policies of peace through strength. An examination of Reagan’s military buildup and tough rhetoric towards the Soviet Union are central to Reagan’s legacy, but Inboden goes beyond the surface to explore how Reagan the “cowboy” became Reagan the diplomat, and emerged as arguably the most consequential 20th century president next to FDR.

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Alana Newhouse is an American writer and editor. She is the founder of Tablet magazine, a dynamic hub of Jewish life, which features news, essays, podcasts and opinion pieces.

In November 2022, Alana wrote an essay for Tablet called “Brokenism.” The essay remains deeply compelling because, as Alana argues, that “the real debate today isn’t between the left and the right . It’s between those invested in our current institutions, and those who want to build anew.”

This is a must read essay and Alana and Adam use this piece as a springboard to discuss our political and cultural divides , but -also to examine the implications of “Brokenism” for Jewish people at a time of rising antisemitism.

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Mona Charen is a conservative American journalist, columnist, commentator and best selling author. She is the Policy Editor of The Bulwark, and host of the Beg to Differ podcast, which you need to subscribe to immediately. Mona fell hard for William F. Buckley as a teenager, and her first job was as editorial assistant at his National Review. She went on to write speeches for first lady Nancy Reagan and then for the Gipper himself. Looking toward the 1988 race, Vice President George H.W. Bush wasn’t conservative enough for her. Fast forward through 4 best selling books (see below for links) and much prestige to CPAC-2018, where she got booed and seemingly harassed enough by the MAGA crowd for her views that security chose to escort her out of the building for her own safety. Folks, this is NOT Lincoln's, Reagan's or Mona's Republican party. Adam talks to Mona about her career as a conservative thinker, what being a “Never Trumper” means and about whether or not a new center right party might emerge and what that would mean for a potential post-Trump era conservative movement.

Mona's books: Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got it Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First (2003) Do-Gooders: How Liberals Hurt Those They Claim to Help (and the Rest of Us) (2005), Sex Matters: How Modern Feminism Lost Touch with Science, Love, and Common Sense (2018) Hard Right: The GOP's Drift Toward Extremism (2023) Mona's New York Times Op-Ed about her CPAC experience: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/25/opinion/im-glad-i-got-booed-at-cpac.html

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