The National Affairs Podcast The AEI Podcast Channel

If the Supreme Court curtails racial preferences in college admissions, Americans should celebrate the triumph of the truth that people should be treated as individuals rather than as members of racial groups. But we should also recognize that good-faith efforts to uplift economically disadvantaged students of all races help fulfill another cherished American goal: facilitating social mobility.
Guest Richard Kahlenberg joins us to make the case for focusing on class diversity, rather than racial groups, in college admissions.
Richard Kahlenberg is an education and housing researcher and policy consultant as well as a non-resident scholar at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. He served as an expert witness for Students for Fair Admissions in its lawsuits against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina regarding those schools’ affirmative-action policies.
This podcast discusses themes from Richard’s essay in the Spring 2023 issue of National Affairs, “A Middle Ground on Race and College.”

The Federalist was written more than two centuries ago with a particular purpose: persuading Americans to back the Constitution. Yet far from being a period piece, it initiated nothing less than a revolution in political thought — one that fundamentally redefined how we understand popular government. Grasping this point could help today’s Americans make better sense of our society’s contemporary challenges.
Guest Steven Smith joins us to discuss how the authors of The Federalist defined the republic we know today, but also their silence on important matters of moral education and statesmanship.
Steven Smith is the Alfred Cowles Professor of Political Science at Yale University. His scholarship has focused particularly on the problem of the ancients and moderns, the relation of religion and politics, and theories of representative government. He is the author of numerous books, most recently Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes.
This podcast discusses themes from Steven’s essay in the Winter 2023 issue of National Affairs, “Learning from Publius.”
For more on this topic, see Steven’s essay in the journal Liberties, “What is a Statesman.”

This spring, in the case of Moore v. Harper, the Supreme Court will decide whether and when state judges can step in to draw congressional district maps. The case takes up the so-called “independent state legislature” theory. At issue is nothing less than the traditional model of American redistricting, in which the people’s representatives, not partisan activists and courts, craft district maps.
Guest Andrew Taylor joins us to discuss ISL theory as a “final, even desperate, salvo” to save legislative redistricting.
Andrew Taylor is professor of political science at North Carolina State University, and he was an expert witness for the legislative defendants in NC League of Conservation Voters v. Hall and in Harper v. Hall. The issues in those state redistricting disputes are now before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Moore v. Harper.
This podcast discusses themes from Andrew’s essay in the Winter 2023 issue of National Affairs, “The Future of Redistricting.”

Neither free-speech absolutism nor censorship will solve the problems that surround political speech today. Instead, we need a renewed commitment to the citizen’s task of finding common ground, even and especially between factions that seem irreconcilable. We need to relearn how to rule and be ruled in turn.
Guests Jenna and Ben Storey join us to discuss how political speech can overcome social division and advance the common good.
Jenna and Ben Storey are both senior fellows in Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), and concurrently are research professors at Furman University, where they ran the Tocqueville Program. At AEI they focus on political philosophy, civil society, and higher education. The Storeys wrote a book together, titled Why We Are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment, and are working on a new one about liberal education and civic life.
This podcast discusses themes from the Storeys’ essay in the Fall 2022 issue of National Affairs, “Political Speech in Divided Times.”

Pressuring families to keep both parents in the workforce while their children are young may be beneficial for GDP, but it often harms families. Both policymakers and employers should recognize that many families want one parent to stay home with the kids in their early years, and should find ways to make that possible.
Guest Ivana Greco joins us to discuss policy reforms that would encourage and aid families with a breadwinner and a homemaker.
Ivana Greco practiced as an attorney specializing in qualified retirement-plan advising and health-care litigation until last year. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she became a stay-at-home mother.
This podcast discusses themes from Ivana’s essay in the Fall 2022 issue of National Affairs, “Reframing Family Policy.”  

The question of the proper role of government once unified the right, but now it divides it. Some conservatives are increasingly open to an assertive role for the state, particularly in supporting family formation. But what rules and standards should define that role? The principle of subsidiarity can be of enormous help in tackling this question and in shaping conservative family policy. Guest Andy Smarick joins us to define subsidiarity and discuss how it might inform policymakers.
Andy Smarick is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, where his work focuses on education, civil society, and the principles of American conservatism.
This podcast discusses themes from Andy’s essay in the Summer 2022 issue of National Affairs, “Subsidiarity and Family Policy.”