Approach the Bench

Approach the Bench

Two Christian Conservative Bachelors at Harvard Law take on the world's most difficult problems — on a bench. New episodes every Thursday. Send in your questions to approachthebenchquestions@gmail.com or record a voice memo at https://www.speakpipe.com/approachthebench. You can also submit anonymous questions and comments through https://forms.gle/qxmFi2y5DAnsbnBv8.

  1. 3d ago

    We Asked a Rear Admiral What Makes America Great | ATB #38

    WEEK 38: What Makes America Great — w/ Rear Admiral Putnam Browne We recorded this one at the Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington, DC, in front of the flag-raising — because if you're going to ask whether America is actually great, you should have to answer it standing somewhere that raises the stakes. And we brought backup. Rear Admiral Putnam Browne has done things only Americans can do: over 450 carrier landings, command of a fighter squadron, command of a ship, and command of a nuclear aircraft carrier with thousands of souls aboard. He's flown the jet, run the reactor school, and led the Carl Vinson's humanitarian response to the Haiti earthquake. When he talks about what this country is, he's not theorizing. We open with THE MOST AMERICAN — rapid-fire, no hedging. Most American movie, food, sport, achievement, and the single most American thing a person can do. The Admiral does not equivocate. Then the main event: what actually makes America great? We refuse the easy version. Great and good are not the same word — the whole question is whether America earns both. From there we work through the real case: a nation founded on an idea instead of blood and soil, a Constitution built by men who assumed you're not an angel, religious liberty as America's most original gift to the world, and the biblical grammar running underneath the whole secular frame. We take Tocqueville seriously — greatness from the bottom up, the little platoons of neighbors and churches and volunteer fire brigades — and we ask the hard question about whether that America is fading. And we don't dodge the ledger: slavery, the gap between creed and conduct, and the remarkable fact that every reformer who fixed America — Douglass, Lincoln, MLK — appealed to the founding, not against it. The idea contained its own cure. The Admiral brings the last pillar himself: power spent on something. Most empires conquered and stayed. America liberated and went home. We close with Girl Problems — real listener questions, real answers: What is the most American date possible? What are the essential American traits in a spouse? Submit your questions at approachthebenchquestions@gmail.com, leave a voice memo at https://www.speakpipe.com/approachthebench, or submit anonymously via the Google Form: https://forms.gle/9Zjxzkpwajivx19z8 Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 02:47 Getting to Know the Rear Admiral 38:47 Most American Rankings 50:49 What Makes America Great? 01:31:23 Girl Problems America Edition

    1h 43m

  2. Jun 25

    The DEFINITIVE Guide to Men's Fashion. | ATB #37

    Congratulations, you've stumbled across a treasure trove of men's fashion wisdom. Consider this your lucky day. WEEK 37: The DEFINITIVE Guide to Men's Fashion. This is a semi-serious, fully opinionated breakdown of what a man should actually wear — and why. We start with the one principle that runs underneath everything: fit beats brand beats price. A $40 shirt that fits will always beat a $400 shirt that doesn't. From there we build out the whole vocabulary most guys were never taught — shoulder seams, the trouser break, slim vs. tailored vs. classic, and why a $15 trip to the tailor is the best money in menswear. Then we get into the canon. The core wardrobe every man should own. The classics that have worked for fifty years and will work for fifty more — the navy suit, the OCBD, the navy blazer, the dress-shoe family nobody can name. Then the modern stuff — quiet luxury, dad sneakers, the tech vest, athleisure creeping into every room — and the hard NO pile we're prepared to die on. Square-toe shoes, you've been warned. We land it where we live: dressing for the moment that matters. The interview, the courtroom, the wedding dress codes nobody explains, the first date, and the Sunday morning principle — that showing up deliberately dressed is a quiet way of honoring the room and the people in it.Before all that, the Good vs. Bad tier list — rapid-fire, no hedging. Crocs and socks. Cargo shorts. Fedoras. Each of us gets one sentence to defend the indefensible. We close with Girl Problems:- Ladies: what's the instant ICK a guy can wear, and the instant green flag?- How do you fix a grown man who dresses like a teenager — without crushing his ego? Submit your questions at approachthebenchquestions@gmail.com, leave a voice memo at https://www.speakpipe.com/approachthebench, or submit anonymously via the Google Form: https://forms.gle/9Zjxzkpwajivx19z8 00:00 Introduction 02:57 Why We're Doing This and Other Background 07:06 Style Tier List 19:28 A Comprehensive Discussion of Men's Fashion 34:11 Occasion-Based Fashion 40:37 Closing Takes on Fashion that Don't Actually Close out the Discussion 44:27 What's In and What Should be Out52:26 Girl Problems

    1h 1m

  3. Jun 18

    We Asked a Celibate Priest How to Date | ATB #36

    WEEK 35: We Asked a Dominican Priest How to Date (ft. Father Max, O.P.) We're at a resort with a guest who brings the theology heavy: Father Max, a Dominican priest of the Order of Preachers — the order of Aquinas himself. We start with the man behind the collar: what the Dominican Order actually is, how he discerned a vocation to the priesthood, what celibacy looks like from the inside, and what an ordinary day in the life of a priest really involves. Then we get into the heart of it — love. This is a full conversation about how men and women are meant to relate, and why so few of them seem to manage it anymore. We cover the Christian vision of the sexes, dating as the cultivation of virtue rather than consumption, and the marriage question where Protestants and Catholics genuinely split — sacrament or covenant. Then the diagnosis: a dating recession, collapsing relationships among the young, marriage wanted but downgraded, and a generation that swiped its way into more options and less love. We close with Girl Problems: - How do you know someone is right for you?- Can Men and Women be Friends? Submit your questions at approachthebenchquestions@gmail.com, leave a voice memo at https://www.speakpipe.com/approachthebench, or submit anonymously via the Google Form: https://forms.gle/9Zjxzkpwajivx19z8 00:00 Introduction 04:00 How Father Max Became Father Max 06:59 What is it like to be a Dominican Priest? 26:49 The Sexes and Marriage (rough audio)55:41 The Problems with the Dating Market (normal audio) 01:15:56 More Problems with Dating Market (rough audio) 01:25:02 How to Date Well (normal audio) 01:32:16 Girl Problems w/ Father Max

    1h 42m

  4. Jun 11

    10,000 Baptized — Something Is Happening to Gen Z (ATB #35)

    WEEK 35: Something Is Happening to Gen Z | The Campus Revival w/ Josh Moran We're coming to you from Lansdowne, Virginia — outside, golden hour, with a guest whose story we've been wanting to tell for a while. Josh Moran played football for the Georgia Bulldogs. Then he went to law school. Now he's helping lead one of the most remarkable stories in America that almost nobody in the mainstream is covering: the UniteUS movement — a campus revival that started at Auburn in September 2023 and has since swept across more than a dozen college campuses, drawing over 100,000 students to mass worship gatherings and seeing some 10,000 baptized. At Georgia, they were baptizing students out of the backs of pickup trucks outside Stegeman Coliseum. This is a full faith episode. Josh shares his testimony — the identity-in-performance pressure of SEC football, what changed, and how a guy goes from the gridiron to gospel ministry. Then we go inside the movement itself: what actually happens at these gatherings, what's driving an entire generation that was supposed to be the most secular in American history back toward Christ, and the question hanging over all of it — is this the next Great Awakening, or a moment of emotional hype? Josh answers the skeptics head-on, including the one question that matters most: what happens to 30,000 new believers the morning after? We close with Girl Problems — the segment where real listener questions get real answers: - How should a brand-new Christian approach dating? - Is a bikini-clad Instagram post a red flag? - Why aren’t men asking women out? Submit your questions at approachthebenchquestions@gmail.com, leave a voice memo at https://www.speakpipe.com/approachthebench, or submit anonymously via the Google Form: https://forms.gle/9Zjxzkpwajivx19z8 00:00 Introduction 02:03 Getting to Know Josh 06:17 UniteUs Campus Revival 34:24 Sports Rankings 37:57 Worship Song Rankings 41:00 The Toughest Thing Josh Has Ever Done 42:41 Girl Problems

    54 min

  5. Jun 4

    The Strange, Sweaty, Totally American Ritual of "DC Summer"

    WEEK 34: DC Summer Is Miserable. We Wouldn't Be Anywhere Else. We're coming to you live from a bench in Washington, DC — and before we get into the summer episode, we have some unfinished business. A New York City influencer said something about DC that we can't let slide. We respond. Briefly. But firmly.Then: the DC Summer Episode. We recorded this one outside, in the heat, surrounded by tourists, and we have thoughts. We open with the full DC Summer breakdown — the vibe, the institutions, the intern invasion, and whether any of this is actually enjoyable. We run the DC Summer Power Rankings (best monument, worst Metro experience, most underrated spot in the city) and make our cases. Then we go deep: what makes DC summer genuinely unlike any other American city in summer — 20,000 interns, 24 million Mall visitors a year, 19 free Smithsonian museums, and a political infrastructure so enormous it's almost impossible to wrap your head around. We also build out the official DC Summer Survival Guide for locals and first-timers alike. We close with Girl Problems — the segment where real listener questions get real answers: - Is never having been in a long-term relationship actually a red flag? - At what age should you settle? Submit your questions at approachthebenchquestions@gmail.com, leave a voice memo at https://www.speakpipe.com/approachthebench, or submit anonymously via this Google Form: https://forms.gle/9Zjxzkpwajivx19z8 00:00 Introduction 03:24 Our First Internet Drama 12:14 Claude Reviewed Our Takes on Men vs. Women 14:19 Feedback 15:28 DC SUMMER 44:22 Girl Problems 51:18 Closing Out

    54 min

  6. May 28

    Harvard Business School Has a Morality Problem

    WEEK 33: Harvard Business School Has a Morality Problem This week, we're joined by Edward Doan — Harvard Business School student and devout Catholic. And we're once again at Harvard Divinity School, just this time, we're discussing the morally questionable nature of some of HBS's recent activities. Here's what happened: HBS's startup competition — one of the most prestigious student startup hotspots in the country — ranked a sex toy company at the top of the field. They brought an OnlyFans star to campus as part of the promotion. They handed out Plan B. And Ashley Madison was hosted on campus.  So we ask the obvious question: what does that say about Harvard Business School? The real problem isn't bad taste. It's the total absence of any moral vocabulary — a framework where the only question worth asking is whether the market will bear it. We walk through what Christian ethics, natural law, and the concept of vocation actually say about economic life: that wealth is a means, not an end, and that a business can be profitable and still be destructive. HBS has no category for that second clause. We also take on the pretense of neutrality. Handing out Plan B isn't a neutral act. Throwing a party for an OnlyFans creator isn't a neutral act. Choosing not to make moral judgments is itself a moral position — one with real consequences, especially when the institution making it sends 85,000 graduates into positions of serious institutional power. In the interlude, we run a rapid-fire "Holy or Unholy?" game — DraftKings, Juul, McKinsey, CoreCivic, Polymarket, OpenAI, and more. Highly recommend. We close with Girl Problems: how do you navigate big career decisions with your wife, and does it actually matter if you make less money than she does? Email approachthebenchquestions@gmail.com with your questions/comments or submit a voice memo at https://www.speakpipe.com/approachthebench for a chance to be featured on the show! You can also submit anonymous comments through this Google Form: https://forms.gle/9Zjxzkpwajivx19z8 00:00 Introduction 01:57 Harvard Business School vs. Morality 29:35 Holy or Unholy Businesses 32:08 Girl Problems

    40 min

  7. May 21

    Are Protestants Going to Heaven? | 2 Protestants Debate a Catholic (ATB #32)

    WEEK 32: Are Protestants Going to Heaven? Welcome to Harvard Divinity School. This week, we sit down with Edward Doan to take on one of the oldest and most consequential questions in Western Christianity: can Protestants be saved? We start by refusing to treat this as one question when it's really three. Soteriology — can non-Catholics be saved? Ecclesiology — what actually constitutes the Church? And eschatological judgment — can any human being even know who's saved? Keeping those distinct turns out to matter a lot. From there, we walk through the Catholic position in full. Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus — "outside the Church, no salvation" — is 1,800 years old and has never been formally repealed. The Council of Trent explicitly condemned sola fide and sola scriptura. Vatican II's Lumen Gentium opened the door to Protestant salvation without walking any of that back. We press into that internal tension directly. Then we take up the Protestant case: Romans 3, Ephesians 2, Galatians 2, Abraham justified before circumcision. We work through the sola scriptura debate — including the Catholic counter that the Church gave you the canon in the first place — and we spend real time on justification, the theological heart of the whole dispute. Infused vs. imputed righteousness. Whether the 1999 Joint Declaration on Justification actually resolved anything. And the doctrine of invincible ignorance — Catholicism's escape hatch, and why it creates some uncomfortable implications for evangelism. We also get into purgatory, indulgences, the Eucharist, and Mary — covering what actually started the Reformation and where the live disagreements still sit today. We're in Boston for this one, which feels appropriate. The interludes: a Catholic-or-Protestant trivia game, and a deep dive into the Penitential of Finnian — 6th-century Irish Christianity's answer to the question of how much bread and water a sinning cleric deserves. We close with Girl Problems: how do you know what flowers to get her, and how do you actually decide how many kids to have? Email approachthebenchquestions@gmail.com or submit a voice memo at https://www.speakpipe.com/approachthebench to be featured on the show. Anonymous submissions: https://forms.gle/9Zjxzkpwajivx19z8 00:00 Introduction 2:02 Getting to Know Ed 04:50 Are Protestants Going to Heaven? 34:49 Catholic or Protestant? 37:59 The Penance Game 41:08 Girl Problems

    46 min

  8. May 17

    Everybody is Wrong About Men | ATB #31

    WEEK 31: Are Men Useless? (REUPLOAD) Welcome to Harvard Stadium. This week, we bring in Daniel Nivens and take on one of the most charged questions in modern culture: are men actually useless? We walk through Olivia Barbulescu's viral Substack piece/IG post arguing that men are no longer needed — only wanted — and that they're struggling to adapt to the difference. We engage the comment section, which is exactly what you'd expect. We briefly address AnaMarte's viral claim that marriage is statistically the worst thing a woman can do. Then we turn to the right — Tate's thesis that male self-optimization is the answer, and Fuentes's argument that the whole problem is women were never supposed to be deciding what they want in the first place. We flag the internal contradictions in both. Then we ask the question nobody in this conversation is asking: not what men do — but who men are. We wrap that in the Gospel, and it gets deep. In the interludes: the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is now blue. We have thoughts. Also — Trump's 250-foot triumphal arch modeled on the Arc de Triomphe. We have more thoughts. We close with Girl Problems. - Should relationships ever have breaks? - How liberal is too liberal? And we're officially on a mission to find Dan a girlfriend. Email approachthebenchquestions@gmail.com or submit a voice memo at https://www.speakpipe.com/approachthebench to be featured on the show. Anonymous submissions: https://forms.gle/9Zjxzkpwajivx19z8 00:00 Introduction 07:09 Are Men Useless? 53:03 DC is Getting a Makeover - good or bad? 1:06:23 Influencer vs. Influencer 1:14:54 Girl Problems

    1h 28m
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4.3
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

Two Christian Conservative Bachelors at Harvard Law take on the world's most difficult problems — on a bench. New episodes every Thursday. Send in your questions to approachthebenchquestions@gmail.com or record a voice memo at https://www.speakpipe.com/approachthebench. You can also submit anonymous questions and comments through https://forms.gle/qxmFi2y5DAnsbnBv8.

Information

  • Creator
    Approach the Bench
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    39
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Approach the Bench
  • Show Website
    Approach the Bench

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