Ep 281: Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of Fusionism with Stephanie Slade

In this episode I talk with Stephanie Slade, senior editor at Reason magazine and author of the forthcoming book Fusionism: Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of the American Right, out September 1, 2026 on University of Notre Dame Press. Slade argues that fusionism is much more than the Cold War coalition between conservatives and libertarians, but is rather a philosophy in which the pursuit of liberty and virtue are bound to one another. Slade explains how a free society is impossible without the cultivation of virtue, and how libertarians and conservatives have often marginalized or even outright rejected the value of virtue in social discourse. Slade explains how fusionism, through the work of F.A. Hayek and Frank Meyer, won out during the Reagan administration but then became a casualty of its own success. She discusses how liberty without virtue leads to cultural degradation and how virtue cannot be properly pursued without liberty, why the right needs to reclaim the mantle of fusionism, and why Christian libertarians should be naturally predisposed to fusionists ideals.  Media Referenced:Fusionism: Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of the American Right: https://a.co/d/01kUhQx6Stephanie on X: @sladesrStephanie at Reason: https://reason.com/people/stephanie-slade/Ep. 58 Slade Interview: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-58-political-expression-civil-rights-and-catholic-libertarianism-with-stephanie-slade/ Sign up for LCI’s 2026 Conference in Cincinnati, OH on Saturday, October 17! Many LCI content creators, including myself, will be speaking at the event, and it will be an excellent opportunity to connect with likeminded, liberty-loving Christians. Check out the event and sign up here: https://libertarianchristians.com/conference/The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at [email protected].  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod, and YouTube, @ProLibertyPod, where you will get shorts and other exclusive video content. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the show’s profile! Thanks!