Eighteen months into Donald Trump's second term, more than half of all U.S. ambassadorships sit vacant — including 80% of Africa — leaving America without meaningful representation across most of the world as midterm elections approach. This isn't just bureaucratic neglect; it's a pattern of action without follow-through that [read more]

People in today's age are consuming more words than ever; the problem is, they're empty words. Doomscrolling and short-form content have crowded out great literature, and fewer than half of all American adults read a single book in 2022. While the downward trajectory of long form reading may not [read more]

Most Americans do not have the time nor the interest to open 1,000-page academic tomes on American history. Thus, it's crucial that we find meaningful, enjoyable, and reliable ways to take in our history. For this 250th year of our great nation, Stephen has 3 recommendations of high-quality, inspiring [read more]

Carl von Clausewitz argued that the object of war is always the predetermined end state — not the battle itself. In the midst of peace negotiations with Iran, America has won militarily while fumbling the endgame: no regime change, no Strait of Hormuz renegotiation, no nuclear agreement, and a [read more]

Every nation's history contains both beauty and atrocity — America is no exception. Yet increasingly, the American story is being told through only one lens. Recent data suggests that young Americans are being shaped to view their country with contempt rather than complexity. But the root of our failures [read more]

The Kurds have been loyal American allies for decades — so why are we getting them so wrong? In this episode, Stephen draws on his book "The Miracle of the Kurds" to set the record straight about one of the most misunderstood people in the world: a moderate, resilient [read more]

Ben Sasse — Nebraskan, senator, university president, Harvard and Yale scholar — is dying of stage IV pancreatic cancer, and he is using his remaining time to speak truth to America. Staring death in the face, he's declared that Congress is asleep at the wheel, that our neighborhoods matter [read more]

Names like Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, and Adams have become synonymous with the founding of America. But one name, often forgotten, holds just as much influence if we only read the pages of history. The name? Whitefield. George Whitefield, credited with unifying the colonies in the first intercolonial event, preaching [read more]

To understand the tensions occurring today in Iran, we must first understand the religious background of the nation's Shiite Muslim leadership. While the U.S. State Department may view the Iranian conflict in political, geographic, and military terms, the nation's leaders interpret it through a profoundly religious and even apocalyptic [read more]

As the 250th anniversary of America's founding approaches, it's prudent for us to turn back to the wisdom contained in our founding document. Even in the midst of the hellacious upheavals of our time, the eternal words of the Declaration of Independence serve as a foundation for freedom, faith, [read more]