Shows
Good Morning LibertyNewsom's Shifting Strategy w/ Joey T McFadden || EP 1526Joey T McFadden joins Josh to discuss the new strategy Governor Gavin Newsom, and other Democrats seem to be using in an attempt to win back key voter demographics that they lost in the last election. With the start of his new podcast with his conservative guests, Governor Newsome plans to win them back by embracing long form podcasts, engaging in conversations to find common ground with conservatives, and pivoting away from unpopular woke cultural policies. Joey's article in the Orange County Register: Gavin Newsom’s strategic unawokening – Orange County Register Follow Joey's In Response Substack and Braver Angels NYC Substack...2025-04-0635 min
In Response...On Liberty - #19 Nick GillespieJoey speaks with Nick Gillespie. We discuss our takes on the state of the arts, conservative art and entertainment, the Kennedy Center, the role of the audience in media, misinformation, political prejudices and polarization, our family backgrounds, understanding the New Right, reactionary Catholicism, anti-wokeness, the Trump administration and DOGE, government spending, and other topics. Nick can be found on X @nickgillespie, Substack @ Nick Gillespie, and at Reason.com
Nick hosts the Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie podcast and is an editor-at-large at Reason magazine. The star libertarian has been with Reason since 1993. He received his Ph.D. in Englis...2025-03-121h 02
In Response...Breaking Bread - #18 Bret Stephens & Chloe ValdaryJoey speaks with Bret Stephens and Chloe Valdary. We discuss DEI, prejudice on the right and left, MAGA, wokeness, social media, polarization, communicating across the aisle, intentions and misunderstandings, graciousness, human uniqueness, understanding one’s political opponents, the media and Trumpism, the crisis of meaning and connection, balancing moral clarity with compassion, antisemitism, pro-Hamas protesters, perceptions of Israel, Daryl Davis, and other topics. Bret can be found on his NYT page. Chloe can be found on Instagram @cvaldary, Substack at Chloé Valdary, and her website.
Bret is an Opinion columnist at the New York Times and Editor-in-chief of Sapir...2025-03-1256 min
In Response...The Certainty Trap - #17 Ilana RedstoneJoey speaks with Ilana Redstone. We discuss her book The Certainty Trap, the state of academia, conservative media, trust in media, reaching across the aisle, polarization around Israel-Palestine, dialogue in Islam, prejudice, democracy, travel, family, Joey’s experience in college, and other topics. Ilana can be found on X @irakresh and her website.
Illana is a professor of sociology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is also co-director of the Mill Institute at UATX. She has a joint Ph.D in demography and sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. She also authored Unassailable Ideas and Why We Disag...2025-03-1257 min
In Response...Art & Ideology - #16 Heather Mac DonaldJoey speaks with Heather Mac Donald. We discuss the state of the fine arts, the need for classical training, modern art, the state of “wokeness,” the Democratic Party, the war in Gaza (this conversation took place before the cease-fire), Western sympathy for Hamas, race politics, antisemitism, other prejudicial attitudes on the populist right, Joey’s concerns about race realism, and other topics. Heather can be found on X @HMDatMI and her MI page.
Heather is the Thomas W. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal, and a former lawyer. She holds a B.A. in E...2025-03-121h 16
In Response...Through Hate's Looking Glass - #15 Dr. Diana BlumJoey speaks with Dr. Diana Blum. We discuss the rise of antisemitism, the ongoing lawsuit against the Sequoia Unified School District, the Ethic Studies curriculum in California schools, Diana’s attempts to reach out to school officials, the climate at the school, the school district’s attempt to silence the film Killing America, Benny Morris and Norman Finkelstein, Abigail Shrier’s piece for The Free Press: The Kindergarten Intifada, the impact of antisemitism on societies that succumb to that infection, the war in Gaza and accusations of genocide against Israel, race-conscious policies, the Democratic party, the future of the far-left, t...2025-03-1259 min
In Response...Sex, Gender, & Politics - #14 Aaron KimberlyJoey speaks with Aaron Kimberly. We discuss Aaron’s work as a pediatric gender nurse, the impact of trans activism on American and Canadian politics, the cultural and political attitudes of trans people, the right-wing reaction to far-left trans activism, Canadian media and LGBT, Joey’s belief that he was trans when he was a child, transgenderism and children, the reality of biological sex and intersex, cancel culture around trans issues and Aaron’s firing, Carole Hooven, the simplicity of far-left ideology, Aaron’s family, the LGBT movement, gender non-conformity, pediatric transgender medicine and the exploratory therapy model, modern childhoo...2025-03-121h 13
In Response...Bridging Divides - #13 Ben KawallerJoey speaks with Ben Kawaller. We discuss how Ben came to bridge divides in his work at The Free Press, humor, LGBT politics, the role of the media in polarization, why Kamala Harris lost, conservative media and audience capture, election discourse, mass deportations, Trump’s norm violations, cross-partisan communication, muscular conservatism & feminine liberalism, why gay guys go to the gym, Ben’s experience with the Democratic Socialists of America, polarization around Israel & Palestine, the war in Gaza, Benny Morris, Israel’s future, antisemitism, The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates, and other topics. Ben can be found on X @benkawaller, Instagram @benkawaller...2025-03-1255 min
In Response...In Response to Fine Arts Education V - #12 Brian T. AllenJoey speaks with Brian T. Allen. We discuss the state of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), the impact of identity politics on art history and fine art pedagogy, the Critical Identity Studies, the impact of COVID on cultural institutions, the decay of art and humanities curricula, the re-emergence of figure painting; galleries, art fairs & museums; presentism, The New Philistines by Sohrab Ahmari, “Queer” art, the Venice Biennale, the Armory Show, and other topics.
Brian is a Senior Fellow at the National Review Institute and National Review’s art critic. He has a BA from Wesleyan...2025-03-121h 22
In Response...A Conversation About Israel Podcast - #11 Naya LekhtToday’s guest is Dr. Naya Lekht. She is a scholar of contemporary antisemitism, Soviet history, and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. We discuss the Arab-Israeli conflict, identity politics in education and its impact on perceptions of Israel, the Bible’s place in modern politics; the history of the region, including the League of Nations plan for Israel and the partition proposed by the UN; radical Islam, jihadism, pan-arabism, Zionism, and the left; Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran; Israel’s security, the future of the West Bank and a two-state solution, the moral complexities and aspirations of Israel and Hamas, a...2025-03-121h 01
In Response...A Conversation with a Reality-Based Conservative - #10 Joe NepomucenoToday, Joey speaks with Joe Nepomuceno. Joe and Joey met through the National Journalism Center, an internship program they completed over the summer. They discuss the state of conservative journalism, the cults of “wokeness” and “anti-wokeness,” the politicization of universities, Christopher Rufo, the state of friendship, being “plugged in” all the time, conspiracy thinking, our response to COVID, democracy, the state of the right, the crisis of masculinity, identity, the impact of psychedelics on Christianity, and other topics.
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In Response...Free Black Thought - #9 Erec SmithToday, Joey speaks with Professor Erec Smith. Smith is a Fellow at the Cato Institute, a Professor of Rhetoric at York College, and the President of Free Black Thought.
Joey and Erec discuss his past role as a DEI officer, Free Black Thought, the ideological stranglehold of “wokeness” on academia, gender and transgenderism, political tolerance, rhetoric, the impact of “wokeness” and “anti-wokeness” on epistemology, political correctness, ghetto culture, the welfare state, Robin DeAngelo, Robert Putnam, the crises of masculinity and loneliness, superordinate goals, political polarization, and other topics.
2025-03-1259 min
In Response...Speech & Controversy - #8 Amy WaxA note from Joey concerning the controversial nature of today’s guest:
I have the right to have anyone I want on my podcast.
-Joey
Today, Joey speaks with Professor Amy Wax. Wax is an American lawyer, legal scholar, and neurologist. She graduated from Harvard, Yale, and Columbia. She is the Robert Mundheim Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Her work deals with social welfare law and policy, and the relationship of the family, the workplace, and labor markets. Wax is the paragon of a conservative professor being persecuted by...2025-03-121h 03
In Response...An Enchanting Conversation - #7 Chloe ValdaryToday, Joey speaks with Chloe Valdary. Valdary is an American writer, entrepreneur, and diversity & inclusion educator. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of New Orleans in 2015 with a BA in International Studies. She runs the DEI program Theory of Enchantment and her new app, Dojo. She has also contributed to The New York Times and The Atlantic. Joey and Chloe discuss Theory of Enchantment, Dojo, Sam Harris, Jordan Peterson, Carl Jung, race, what is wrong with Critical Theory, Chloe’s criticism of Western thought as being mind-body separated, the difference between abstract and participatory knowledge, Joey’s experience...2025-03-121h 03
In Response...Images & Ideas - #6 Stephen HicksToday, Joey speaks with Dr. Stephen Hicks. Hicks is a Canadian-American philosopher and professor of Philosophy at Rockford University in Illinois. Hicks is also the Director of his university’s Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship. Hicks has written several books, including Nietzsche and the Nazis and Explaining Postmodernism. Joey and Stephen discuss the purpose of art, the state of fine arts education and the art world, the relationship between art and philosophy, 20th-century art, the triad of Marx, Freud, and Darwin, the relationship between Postmodernism and Marxism and their impact on art & culture, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, political tolerance, and other...2025-03-121h 08
In Response...In Response to Fine Arts Education IV - #5 Peter ZokoskyToday, Joey speaks with Peter Zokosky. Peter is an American figurative artist working in drawing and painting, a Professor of Drawing & Painting, and Department Chair of Graduate Fine Arts at Laguna College of Art & Design (LCAD) in Laguna Beach, CA. Joey and Peter discuss why LCAD differs from other art schools, the difference between undergraduate and graduate fine arts education, the need for free speech in the fine arts classroom, the theoretical humanities, philosophy, and other topics. Peter and his work can be found on Instagram @zokosky and his website.
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In Response...In Response to Fine Arts Education III - #4 Hope RaileyToday, Joey speaks with Hope Railey. Hope is an American figurative artist working in drawing and painting, a Professor of Drawing & Painting, and Department Chair of Undergraduate Fine Arts at Laguna College of Art & Design (LCAD) in Laguna Beach, CA. Joey and Hope discuss why LCAD is different than other art schools, the difference between LCAD and an atelier, the need for free speech in the fine arts classroom, fragility, self-censorship, reactionary conservatism in the arts, developing one’s work after college, and other topics. Hope and her work can be found on Instagram @hoperailey and her website.
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In Response...Art, Music, & Civil Discourse - #3 Brent MordenJoey’s guest today is Brent Morden. Brent is a music director, composer, arranger, educator, and arts program director. He directs the band at Columbia University, teaches jazz at Hofstra University, is the Red Co-Chair of Braver Angels’ NYC Alliance, Director of FAIR in the Arts, and Chairman of the New York Young Republican Club Arts Caucus. Brent and Joey discuss the state of discourse on college campuses, identity politics, the difference between race and culture, diversity, the value of tradition in the fine and musical arts, and other topics. Brent can be found on his Instagram @extramordenary and his we...2025-03-1255 min
In Response...In Response to Fine Arts Education - #1 Julia Gould & Matthew NapoliJoey is joined by Julia Gould and Professor Matthew Napoli. They discuss the state of fine arts education at the university level in the United States, the broken state of critique, the absence of a core curriculum in the fine arts, and solutions to these problems.
Matthew Napoli is a Providence-based artist working in representational painting and drawing. Napoli is a graduate teaching fellow at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. He earned his undergraduate degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2021 and completed a residency at the New York Academy of Art that same...2025-03-1256 min
In Response...In Response to Fine Arts Education II - #2 Laurie FendrichToday, Joey speaks with Laurie Fendrich. Laurie is an abstract painter, art critic, and professor emerita of fine arts and art history at Hofstra University. They discuss her essay How Critical Thinking Sabotages Painting, the broken state of critique, the impact of identity politics on fine arts education, and other topics.
Fendrich is originally from Paterson, NJ, and studied painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Aside from Hofstra she has taught at the University of Houston, the University of Southern California, the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, and Pratt Institute...2025-03-121h 07