PODCAST · society
Approach the Bench
by Approach the Bench
Two Christian Conservative Bachelors at Harvard Law take on the world's most difficult problems — on a bench. New episodes every Thursday. Send in your questions to [email protected] or record a voice memo at https://www.speakpipe.com/approachthebench. You can also submit anonymous questions and comments through https://forms.gle/qxmFi2y5DAnsbnBv8.
Episodes
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Originalism, Outcomes, & the Next Generation w/ Judge Josh Divine
In our first-ever live taping, Mason and Will sit down with Judge Josh Divine of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri. He talks about his path from Missouri Solicitor General and a clerkship with Justice Thomas to the bench, where originalism goes from here…
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Teddy Roosevelt's Comeback: Inside His New Presidential Library | ATB S2 E3
Will heads out to the Badlands for this one — to Medora, North Dakota, where the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opened its doors on July 4, 2026, America's 250th birthday. He's joined by historian Matt Briney to walk through the newest presidential library in the country and the man it…
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Our Struggles as Christian Guys | ATB S2 E2.5
Most Christian guys won't say this out loud. Mason and Will get honest about where their faith actually feels hard. Mason admits he keeps treating grace like a scorecard, quietly measuring his standing with God by how well he's performing, even though he knows better. Will talks about running…
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We went to Europe. It's Bad. | ATB S2 E2
Mason just got back from the ARC conference in London, where he spent a week at a summit about rebuilding Western civilization and came home mostly annoyed about the plumbing. Will just walked 500 miles across northern Spain on the Camino — the Norte and the Primitivo — through villages with no...
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When and How to Ask a Girl Out | ATB S2 E1.5
We sat down to give some practical advice to our fellow men on this SPECIAL episode of Approach the Bench. If you’ve ever wondered, how should I ask a girl out? Is a girl worth it? When do I know?? Well, well, well, you’ve come to the right place. Two Harvard Bachelors are here to help.And Mason...
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TOTAL BOOMER LUXURY COMMUNISM | ATB Season 2 Ep. 1
Every few months someone declares that the Baby Boomers ruined America — and every few months someone else points out that most Boomers never sat in Congress, never got rich, and lived through Vietnam, stagflation, and 15% mortgages. So which is it?This week on Approach the Bench, Mason and Will...
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Feminist AND Christian: Can You Be Both? | ATB Rewind #3
What does it actually mean to call yourself a feminist in 2026?In this 45-minute, single-shot sit-down on a couch (no bench to be found!)), the three of us - as conservative Christians - have the honest conversation most people avoid. And we recorded it.We trace feminism through all four waves…
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The Disturbing Truth about Dating Apps | ATB Rewind #2
Hinge, Bumble, Tinder --- they're supposed to help you find a partner. Right? On this segment from Ep. 21 of Approach the Bench, Harvard Business School student Luis Penichet explains how dating apps are designed to keep you single. He also shares his idea for a dating app startup that…
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Our Democratic Socialism Rant | ATB #43
WEEK 43 The Socialists Are Winning. What Do They Actually Want? We're in a fine Utah hotel for this one, and there's no guest — just the two of us and a stack of DSA's own documents. Zohran Mamdani is the mayor of New York. National DSA called it the biggest socialist electoral win in this…
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OBJECTIVELY Ranking the Best and Worst Presidents | ATB Rewind #1
We sat down with Brian Rath and debated who the best and worst American Presidents are. This was a surprising debate, full of all sorts of twists and turns. Let us know what you thought of it in the comments!And for the rest of the show, look for episode 20!Email…
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We Went Back to Where Charlie Kirk Was K*lled — With a Man Who Saw It Happen
WEEK 42: We Took an Eyewitness Back to Where Charlie Kirk Was Killed We're not on a bench this week. We're on a courtyard at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, standing roughly where three thousand people were standing on September 10, 2025. Our guest is Jeb Jacobi, who was in that crowd. We...
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We Shared Our Full Testimonies (Christian Conversion Stories) | ATB #41
WEEK 41: Our Testimonies We're on a bench in Arlington, Virginia for this one — and we're doing something we've never done in 40 episodes. No guest, no topic, no rapid-fire round. Just the two of us telling our stories in full. How we each came to faith, what we believed before, the parts that…
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Will AI Destroy Gen Z? | ATB #40
WEEK 40: What Happens When AI Replaces Us? We're filming this one on a rooftop overlooking the U.S. Capitol — which felt right, because this episode is about who's still going to have a job when the dust settles. Joining us is Jack Kieffaber, who's spent real time thinking about where AI is...
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Is Feminism Compatible With Christianity? | ATB #39
WEEK 39: Feminism (with Hannah, Concerned Women for America) We sit down with Hannah, who works for Concerned Women for America — the largest conservative Christian women's policy organization in the country — to take on a question that splits both the culture and the church: should you call...
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We Asked a Rear Admiral What Makes America Great | ATB #38
WEEK 38: What Makes America Great — w/ Rear Admiral Putnam Browne We recorded this one at the Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington, DC, in front of the flag-raising — because if you're going to ask whether America is actually great, you should have to answer it standing somewhere that raises the…
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The DEFINITIVE Guide to Men's Fashion. | ATB #37
Congratulations, you've stumbled across a treasure trove of men's fashion wisdom. Consider this your lucky day. WEEK 37: The DEFINITIVE Guide to Men's Fashion. This is a semi-serious, fully opinionated breakdown of what a man should actually wear — and why. We start with the one principle that…
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We Asked a Celibate Priest How to Date | ATB #36
WEEK 35: We Asked a Dominican Priest How to Date (ft. Father Max, O.P.) We're at a resort with a guest who brings the theology heavy: Father Max, a Dominican priest of the Order of Preachers — the order of Aquinas himself. We start with the man behind the collar: what the Dominican Order actually...
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10,000 Baptized — Something Is Happening to Gen Z (ATB #35)
WEEK 35: Something Is Happening to Gen Z | The Campus Revival w/ Josh Moran We're coming to you from Lansdowne, Virginia — outside, golden hour, with a guest whose story we've been wanting to tell for a while. Josh Moran played football for the Georgia Bulldogs. Then he went to law school. Now…
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The Strange, Sweaty, Totally American Ritual of "DC Summer"
WEEK 34: DC Summer Is Miserable. We Wouldn't Be Anywhere Else. We're coming to you live from a bench in Washington, DC — and before we get into the summer episode, we have some unfinished business. A New York City influencer said something about DC that we can't let slide. We respond. Briefly.…
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Harvard Business School Has a Morality Problem
WEEK 33: Harvard Business School Has a Morality Problem This week, we're joined by Edward Doan — Harvard Business School student and devout Catholic. And we're once again at Harvard Divinity School, just this time, we're discussing the morally questionable nature of some of HBS's recent…
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Are Protestants Going to Heaven? | 2 Protestants Debate a Catholic (ATB #32)
WEEK 32: Are Protestants Going to Heaven? Welcome to Harvard Divinity School. This week, we sit down with Edward Doan to take on one of the oldest and most consequential questions in Western Christianity: can Protestants be saved? We start by refusing to treat this as one question when it's…
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Everybody is Wrong About Men | ATB #31
WEEK 31: Are Men Useless? (REUPLOAD) Welcome to Harvard Stadium. This week, we bring in Daniel Nivens and take on one of the most charged questions in modern culture: are men actually useless? We walk through Olivia Barbulescu's viral Substack piece/IG post arguing that men are no longer needed —...
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A Rare Inside Look at the Life of a Harvard Law Professor (w/ Professor Jesse Fried) | ATB #31
WEEK 31: Inside the Life of a Harvard Law Professor. Welcome to Newton, MA. This week, we sit down with Professor Jesse Fried — William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, author of Pay Without Performance, expert witness in major corporate litigation, and a man who has been...
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Are Mormons Christians? | 2 Protestants Debate a Mormon (ATB #30)
WEEK 30: Are Mormons Christians? (Outside an LDS Church) This week, we take the conversation outside—literally. Filmed in front of an LDS church in Cambridge, we sit down with John Warnock for one of the most important questions in modern Christianity: are Mormons Christians? We start with a…
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The War Fracturing the Legal Right (ft. Sarah Isgur) | ATB #29
WEEK 29: Sarah Isgur on the War Fracturing the Legal Right Welcome back to Approach the Bench. This week we sit down with Sarah Isgur — SCOTUSblog editor, Advisory Opinions co-host, ABC News legal analyst, and author of Last Branch Standing. Before all of that: Harvard Law '08, Federalist Society...
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How to Get Into Harvard Law with the LITERAL Dean of Admissions | ATB #28
WEEK 28: How to Get Into Harvard Law (with the Dean of Admissions). Welcome to the Charles River. This week, we sit down with Dean Kristi Jobson—the literal Dean of Admissions—to answer the question everyone wants to know: what does it actually take to get into Harvard Law School? We start with...
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Can the Right Win Women Back? | ATB #27
WEEK 27: Can the GOP Win Women Back? (with Keri Collins). Welcome to the Harvard Salient office. This week, we’re joined by Keri Collins, a freshman at Harvard College, to tackle one of the biggest political questions right now: why are young men and women drifting so far apart—and can the Right...
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Should Gay Marriage Be Legal? | ATB #26
WEEK 26: The Gay Marriage Debate (with Ripken). Welcome back to the bench. This week, we’re joined by Ripken Holt for one of our most direct and controversial conversations yet: should gay marriage be legal—and how should Christians think about it? We jump straight into the deep end. No long...
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You Might Be Single Forever… And That’s Okay | ATB #25
WEEK 25: The Singleness Special Welcome to Will’s house. This week, we slow things down after a run of politics-heavy episodes to ask a different kind of question: what if singleness isn’t just a temporary inconvenience—but actually a meaningful, even good, way to live? We kick things off with…
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Should We Keep Doing This? | ATB #24
Week 24: The Spring Break Special Shooting at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Mason and Will take a bit of a break from the typical content flow to have a heart-to-heart on the bench. They discuss the positives and negatives of podcasting in a social media age and open up about their active...
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Three Interventionists Debate Iran, Progressive Christian Nationalism, and Marriage | ATB #23
WEEK 23: American Empire & Progressive Christian Nationalism. This week, we take the bench to the Radcliffe Gardens across from Cambridge Common and are joined by Frank, another Harvard student with a sharp interest in politics, law, and the role of religion in public life. We open with a quick...
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The Pastor Calling Harvard Law Back to Christianity | ATB #22
WEEK 22: The Pastor Calling Harvard Law Back to Christianity Recorded in Hastings Hall, the oldest dorm at Harvard Law School, this week we sit down with Justin Yim — the pastor serving HLS students — to talk about something that may be quietly happening across American campuses: a renewed hunger...
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Dating is Dead, Short Kings Fight Back, and the American Dream Lives On | ATB #21
WEEK 21: Is Modern Dating Rigged? (With Luis Penichet, HBS & Former Marine) This week we’re joined by Luis Penichet — second-year Harvard Business School student, former U.S. Marine, and founder working on a new kind of dating app. And we go straight at one of the biggest cultural questions…
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The Secret Lives of Protestant Guys | ATB #20
WEEK 20: Inside the Life of Three Protestants at Harvard Welcome to Brian’s apartment. This week, we bring Brian Rath, Harvard Business School student, into the mix and step back from pure politics to talk about something deeper: what it actually looks like to live as Protestants at Harvard. We...
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Can You Love Your Country? | ATB #19
WEEK 19: Can You Love Your Country in a Divided Age? This week, we open by reacting to this year’s Super Bowl commercials — what they reveal about American culture, corporate messaging, and the stories companies think will resonate with young people today. From there, we turn to the Supreme…
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Two Men vs. Birth Control | ATB #18
WEEK 18: In this episode, we sit by the frozen-over Charles River and work through listener feedback, campus reactions to the show, and what it’s been like navigating growing recognition — both positive and negative — at Harvard Law. We respond to a thoughtful listener challenge on free will,...
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Harvard Law Students Grade Trump’s First Year Back | ATB #17
WEEK 17: Welcome to Will’s home. In the snow. This week, we open with a long overdue feedback segment — responding to some of the strongest reactions we’ve gotten all season (including the Israel episodes, Larissa Part 1 & 2, and the Gen Z/Ozempic debate). We read comments ranging from thoughtful...
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One Leftist. Two Conservatives. All at Harvard Law. | Part 2 (ATB #16)
WEEK 15 (PART TWO): We’re back at Harvard Law with Larissa Truchan for part two of our conversation, and the discussion gets even sharper. We start by sketching out our ideal third parties, debating what’s missing from the current political landscape, and whether America is locked into a…
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One Leftist. Two Conservatives. All at Harvard Law. | Part 1 (ATB #15)
WEEK 15 (Part 1): In front of the Harvard Law library, we sit down with Larissa Truchan — a Harvard Law student and viral leftist political influencer — for the first part of a two-part conversation across ideology, faith, morality, and power. We start by getting to know Larissa: her background,...
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What It's Like to Support Israel at Harvard and Beyond┃ATB #14
WEEK 14: Returning from a trip to Israel, we sit down with Shanee Markovitz Kay — an Israeli American and fellow Harvard Law student — for a deeply personal conversation about Israel, identity, and what it has meant to be Jewish at Harvard Law in the aftermath of October 7.We begin by getting to...
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From our Hotel Bed in Tel Aviv: GEN Z IS FALLING BEHIND (and Happy New Year!)┃ATB #13
WEEK 13 (NEW YEAR’S EPISODE): It’s January 1st — a new year, new resolutions, and the usual promises of change. In this episode, we look back at 2025, make rapid-fire predictions about 2026, and ask a harder question underneath all the optimism: Why does it feel like our generation is still…
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We Went to Israel to Find the TRUE Meaning of Christmas┃ATB #12
WEEK 12, THE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: This episode was filmed in Israel, overlooking the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, just steps from where Christianity began. We start by walking through some classic Christmas questions — everything from whether you tell your kids about Santa to our favorite Christmas...
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The Truth about Harvard Law School┃ATB #11
WEEK 11: Harvard carries unmatched prestige — but what is it actually like on the inside? In this episode, two Harvard Law students sit down to give an unfiltered look at the most powerful university in the world: the opportunities it creates, the tradeoffs it demands, and the realities that…
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Treason, Socialism, and Woke Churches┃ATB #10
WEEK 10: Freedom is fragile — and the cultural battles shaping America today aren’t coming from where most people think. In this episode, Mason Laney, Harvard Law ‘26, and Will Johnson, Harvard Law ‘27, sit down with Ryan Keane, Harvard Law ‘26, to break down the ideological confusion of our...
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Is Mass Deportation Immoral?┃ATB #9
WEEK 9: America is in the midst of a historic immigration clash — from a rising foreign-born population to surging ICE removals and detention numbers. In this episode, we sit down in the historic Mount Auburn Cemetery to ask the question many avoid: Is mass deportation moral? And what does...
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We Went to Plymouth to Solve Thanksgiving┃ATB #8
THANKSGIVING SPECIAL: In this episode of Approach the Bench, we travel to historic Plymouth, Massachusetts — the birthplace of the American Thanksgiving tradition — to talk about the Pilgrims, gratitude, politics at the dinner table, and Thanksgiving girl problems. Filmed right by Plymouth Rock…
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Choose ANY Stat → Men Are Behind.┃ATB #7
WEEK 7: Young men in America are struggling — in school, in dating, in work, in purpose, in faith, and in mental health. In this episode, we sit down in Cambridge Common with Lindsay, an Army intelligence officer turned Harvard Law 2L, to talk about the crisis facing modern men and the cultural...
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Why the Girls Have Gone Left┃ATB #6
The women are moving, and so are the men, just not in the same direction. How do we reconcile the gender political divide, if at all? Mason and Will tackle several of these big questions in this episode, but the biggest question of all: who was their childhood celebrity crush? Email...
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Spare the Rod. Spoil the Child.┃ATB #5
Rodrigo Estrada joins Mason and Will to discuss Spanking, MAGA Dating, Conservatism, and some very interesting Girl Problems. Mason has strong opinions on handholding, and Will doesn't --- so the usual! Email [email protected] with your questions/comments or submit a voice memo…
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What if We All Just Stopped Dating?┃ATB #4
In the longest episode to date, Mason and Will debate arranged marriage, tattoos, love for America, and 30 minutes worth of Girl Problems. They also dabble in a bit of role-playing. Email [email protected] with your questions/comments or submit a voice memo at...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Two Christian Conservative Bachelors at Harvard Law take on the world's most difficult problems — on a bench. New episodes every Thursday. Send in your questions to [email protected] or record a voice memo at https://www.speakpipe.com/approachthebench. You can also submit anonymous questions and comments through https://forms.gle/qxmFi2y5DAnsbnBv8.
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Approach the Bench
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How many episodes does Approach the Bench have?
Approach the Bench currently has 53 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Approach the Bench about?
Two Christian Conservative Bachelors at Harvard Law take on the world's most difficult problems — on a bench. New episodes every Thursday. Send in your questions to [email protected] or record a voice memo at https://www.speakpipe.com/approachthebench. You can also submit...
How often does Approach the Bench release new episodes?
Approach the Bench has 53 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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