For the first time in history, the federal government is stepping in to ration water in areas of the western United States. The reality of “dead pools” — when reservoirs drop too low to flow past a dam — is no longer a distant threat: 45 U.S. states are in drought, and 75% of humanity already lives in water-insecure countries. Today, Stephen examines the three ways water powers civilization — drinking, energy, and agriculture — and why its growing[read more]

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 weakens the very diplomatic infrastructure that keeps trade flowing and armies home. America is meant to be a gift shared with the world, but we can’t share what we refuse[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 be as big a crisis as we think in our informational age, reading forms our minds in ways that no other form of media can. Read on the subway. Read[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 works that any American can access and appreciate:

1. “John Adams” on HBO
2. “America’s God and Country” by William J. Federer
3. “The[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 $300 billion rebuild check on the table. The same strategic clarity we demand of individuals has to govern superpowers — and right now, it doesn’t. Unless negotiations take a different[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 isn’t oppression along lines of race, gender, religion, or class. It’s something more fundamental: our shared humanity.

There is no perfect system because there is no perfect people. If we’re going to[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 ethnicity spread across the Middle East with no nation to call their own, yet fiercely devoted to their identity and their allies. The Kurds have earned America’s friendship time and[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 more than our political tribes, and that “there are no maverick molecules in the universe.” You may not agree with everything he says — but a dying man speaking this[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 the idea of a God-ordained destiny for the colonies, and warning of Parliament’s encroachments on the colonies’ liberties, was instrumental in tilling the soil for the American Revolution. In this episode,[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 lens. As a result, any U.S. administration—including that of Donald Trump—must recognize that negotiations with Iran are not grounded in Western values, but in an ideological and religious worldview that[read more]