CATEGORY: HISTORY (7 min)

Can American Exceptionalism survive?

America’s past is under siege. For the past decade, critics have targeted our nation’s aggressive expansion, checkered racial past, and various abuses to paint a picture of an unalterably evil state. The only proper lens for viewing our history, according to these pundits, is self-flagellation.

Is there an alternative?

Wilfred McClay, the author of Land of Hope, ISI’s 2020 Conservative Book of the Year, says there is.

In The Imaginative Conservative, McClay notes that no great country has long survived without a “strong and cohesive historical narrative.” He acknowledges the flaws in our nation’s history but argues they should not replace the tale of America’s successes—the positive national myth.

McClay says that American historians must work together to help the national myth return to prominence. It will not be an easy task, McClay admits, but he believes that striking a balance between telling a true story and telling a truly good story is vital to keeping our nation afloat.

Besides, McClay reminds us… we’ve done it before. Read his article right here.

CATEGORY: MEDIA (49 min)

Give the people what they want

On a fateful day in 2004, Jon Stewart, the host of The Daily Show, appeared on a CNN debate program called Crossfire. He was invited to opine on the news of the day. Instead, he delivered a blistering critique of “unbiased” news sources and their deceptions.

The conservative host of that program, a young, bowtie-clad Tucker Carlson, took the lesson to heart.

In a sprawling, entertaining read, Jon Askonas of The New Atlantis takes us on a journey through the development of the modern TV media scene. His main thesis argues that Jon Stewart’s Daily Show paved the way for the dominance of Tucker Carlson Tonight and today’s other personality-driven cable news shows.

Askonas believes Stewart hit on a brilliant new strategy: simply pick the stories that your audience will enjoy the most and forget talking about what bigwigs say you should.

“The corporate idea that Americans wanted canned news instead of viewpoint journalism and hard-hitting interviews of politicians was a lazy excuse masquerading as a market analysis,” Askonas writes.

Discover how Carlson and other energetic hosts took advantage of Stewart’s revelation here.

Titans of Industry or Crony Capitalists?

Everyday Americans participate in the marketplace without questioning the structure that they have inherited. Recently, however, that structure has been challenged by Left and Right alike, and the inheritance has been questioned as being “corrupt“ and “oppressive.“

Is that the case? With Pittsburgh as a historically important city of industry in American history—pumping out names like Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick—join us as we ask the following questions:

• Who are the Crony Capitalists of America’s past and present, and are they suppressing open competition in a free market?
• Are the many state privileges garnered by Crony Capitalists a threat to a flourishing and free American economy?
• Who are the Titans of Industry or “robber barons” of America’s past and present?
• Does their industrial success “trickle down” over to the American people at large, or does it simply pad their own wallets?

Join some of today’s most brilliant minds in Pittsburgh from November 18-20 to discuss and debate which approach to economics best serves the American interest.

Because our student editors and writers are bravely bringing conservative ideas to their campuses, we’re highlighting their efforts here.
 

CATEGORY: COMEDY (14 min)

Can we laugh anymore?

Comedians like Jon Stewart have been having a rough go of it in recent years. Social media provides instant backlash against any joke that armchair pundits believe is beyond the pale. And college students, once a perfect audience for comedy, have taken to shutting down performers for being too politically correct.

The irony, as Anthony Sacramone notes in the Intercollegiate Review archive, is that progressives have canceled their own comedians.

Sacramone highlights one aspect of liberal ideology that has led to this surprising development. Progressive comedians have long targeted those in power; going after the guy at the top of the ladder scores easy points with audiences. That trick has backfired.

“But now the one perceived as having the power—even as much as the one-percenters, the banks, the NSA—is the celebrity comic himself,” Sacramone writes.

Liberal audiences instead want performers to confirm their bias… and if the comedian fails to do so, it’s curtains.

Could this phenomenon give conservatives a chance to connect with dissatisfied comics? Find out more here.

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