Ep. 89 - The Fusionists

In the fifth installment of our “What is the Right?” summer series, Peter explores the philosophy of Fusionism. As the name implies, Fusionism melds together different strands of conservatism into a single winning coalition. This is often understood as the three-legged stool of conservatism, bringing together traditionalist conservatives, libertarians, and anti-communists into a coalition that ended the Cold War. But as we will hear, that isn't necessarily the right way to think about it. This episode features two great thinkers in the Fusionist movement, Stephanie Slade and Tim Chapman. Stephanie has established herself as perhaps the foremost thinker about Fusionism today, and is careening toward a deadline on a new book exploring the subject that'll be out next year. She is a Senior Editor with Reason Magazine, as well as a fellow in liberal studies at the Acton Institute. Tim Chapman is President of Advancing American Freedom, a newer group started by Mike Pence. He also co-founded Heritage Action, the activism arm of Heritage Foundation, where he worked closely with Jim DeMint, and also ran Nikki Haley's Stand for America organization.