Episode Details

In today's show Chris presents a book review published in First Things. The title of the review is "Postconstitutional America" and the book being reviewed is "The Stakes: America at the Point of No Return" by Michael Anton. The review can serve as an introduction to Leo Stauss and his followers, particularly the west coast Straussians of the Claremont Institute. These thinkers contend that America is experiencing a crisis of two constitutions--the original constitution of 1787 and what has been overlaid on it--the unwritten progressive constitution of expertise. These two constitutions emerge from two different philosophies and understandings of history and the nature of freedom and rights. If you've listened to the show before, you know that the Pugsters had plenty to grumble about--especially about the rise of the cult of expertise.