Podcast
The Close Read Podcast
Hosted by The Claremont Institute · EN
Associate editor Spencer Klavan phones up authors whose CRB essays have prompted deeper reflection and discussion. Over a drink, he'll chat with the leading minds on the Right about what's going on in politics and literary culture.
claremontinstitute.substack.com
claremontinstitute.substack.com
28episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Melville at Sea
4d ago00:23:06Tap to summarizeAssociate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “Melville at Sea,” Algis Valiunas’s essay featured in the Claremont Review of Books’ Summer 2026 issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe
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How America Taught China to Build ft. Emmet Penney
3w ago00:40:47Tap to summarizeExcited by the prospect of capitalizing on China’s rise in the 2010s, American firms—notably Apple—funneled billions of dollars of capital and masses of infrastructure into the nation without regard for geopolitics. Today, China has realized its opportunity to rival the U.S. as a regional power, using our investments as a springboard. This week, Claremont Lincoln Fellow Emmet Penney joins Spencer Klavan to evaluate how, as America reaches an inflection point at 250, it can recover a sense of national agency and avoid the creeping "historical nihilism" that threatens to infect both the Left and the Right. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe
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“We Shall Not Fight on the Beaches,” by Theodore Dalrymple
Jun 800:18:03Tap to summarizeAssociate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “We Shall Not Fight on the Beaches,” Theodore Dalrymple’s review of The Camp of the Saints, featured in the spring 2026 issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe
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The American Military at 250 ft. Will Thibeau
Jun 800:34:46Tap to summarizeThe U.S. Military is the mightiest fighting force in history. Yet its evolution has been long and complex, and today it is suffering from the damage done by decades of social justice initiatives. Continuing a celebration the U.S.’s 250th year, American Military Project Director Will Thibeau joins Spencer Klavan to examine the pre-revolutionary origins of the Army and consider Donald Trump's efforts to correct Civil Rights-era deviations from its founding design. Plus: the significance of decorum, the often-overlooked implications of the second amendment, and more!A Distant TrumpetThe Soldier and the State This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe
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"The Renegade Academy," by Spencer Klavan
May 1800:33:02Tap to summarizeAssociate Editor Spencer Klavan his piece, “The Renegade Academy,” featured in the spring 2026 issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe
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America 250: Harry Jaffa and the Declaration ft. Glenn Ellmers
May 1100:36:54Tap to summarizeAs America continues to celebrate its 250th year in existence, Glenn Ellmers, Salvatori Research Fellow in the American Founding, sits down with host Spencer Klavan to illuminate the life, teaching, and significance of Harry Jaffa, godfather of the Claremont Institute. Jaffa gave new life to, among other things, Abraham Lincoln’s rich understanding of Declaration’s principles. Ellmers and Klavan contrast Lincoln’s statesmanship with the Marxism of John C. Calhoun, discuss the continuity of ancient and modern political thought as represented by the U.S., and consider what must be done to weed out corrupted political thought from higher education. Plus: the significance of Straussian teaching.Watch with video on YouTubeRecommended:The Soul of Politics A New Birth of Freedom Crisis of the House Divided This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe
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Spring 2026 Review with Charles Kesler
May 500:32:51Tap to summarizeEditor Charles Kesler hails the arrival of the Spring 2026 issue with Associate Editor Spencer Klavan. The issue, which went to press just after war broke out in Iran, features Charles's editor's note about Reagan's Cold War strategy and Trump's high-stakes new venture in the Middle East. Can he avoid recycling past mistakes? Elsewhere in the pages, the New Criterion’s Sam Schneider kicks off a new wine column, uncorking the favorite drinks of the founders. Plus, Harvey Mansfield and the realignment of the Ivies in Ralph Hancock's review; the rise of competing, renegade academies in Spencer's; Michael Anton on the Left’s misinterpretation of the Right—and more! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe
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"The Founders' Cups," by Sam Schneider
Apr 2700:15:16Tap to summarizeAssociate Editor Spencer Klavan reads “The Founders’ Cups,” Sam Schneider’s piece featured in the spring 2026 issue. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe
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America 250: Lincoln and Equality ft. Lucas Morel
Apr 2000:43:18Tap to summarizeTo inaugurate a special podcast series celebrating the American Founding’s 250th anniversary, host Spencer Klavan and professor of politics at Washington and Lee University Lucas Morel discuss Abraham Lincoln’s history-making interpretation of the Declaration of Independence. All men are created equal. Drawing on a tradition that went right back to the founding, but making it vitally urgent for a moment of crisis, Lincoln made equality the golden life-source of the nation from which all other things must proceed. Now, Americans must endeavor to keep that principle alive through future generations. Plus: Frederick Douglass’s comments on Lincoln and the criticisms he faced from radical abolitionists.Recommended:Lincoln and the American FoundingMeasuring the ManJohn Quincy Adams and the Fourth of JulyAn Oration: John Quincy Adams’ Christian America This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe
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Lane Scott on Stranger Things
Apr 1300:31:49Tap to summarizeLane Scott, author of the Substack Matriarch Goals, and editor Spencer Klavan sit down to discuss the Netflix hit, Stranger Things, one of the biggest television sensations in the last decade. In an era of “despair porn," the show illustrated why good defeats evil and gave viewers a way to reflect on the bittersweet significance of growing up. Its analog, 1980s world stands in contrast to our muted, digital one: the men are confident, the mainstream culture proud, American heroes permissible. What does this say of us now?Matriarch GoalsAnalog Kids This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claremontinstitute.substack.com/subscribe
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