PODCAST · society
Concepts with Shawn Whatley
by Shawn Whatley
Uncovering the concepts behind politics and current events
Episodes
-
Canadian Healthcare, Cambie/Chaoulli Legacy | Prescriptions for Health Reform Conference w Josh Dehaas 118
Healthcare is the headline that keeps on giving in Canada. As Canadians, we have redefined ourselves as the people who get free care. We live with two medicares: one that we imagine will be there for us when we get sick, and another medicare that actually exists. Josh Dehaas has a deep...
-
Bruce Pardy on Alberta’s Referendum: Independence & Canada’s “Professional Ruling Class” 117
It's easy to be smug about the Alberta Referendum scheduled for Oct 19th. The questions aren't simple. The Alberta Independence campaign can't match the resources and expertise of the 'remain' voices. And the referendum itself isn't even a referendum on whether or not to leave. Professor Bruce...
-
Liberty, Drugs, and Civil Society: Matt Bufton on Prohibition, Policing, and Post-Liberalism #116
Liberty is a fragile and precious thing. Thoughtful libertarians know that it requires more than simply No Rules! Matt Bufton is a winsome libertarian. Listening to him helps you understand why libertarian thought has such a big influence on the non-Left. He's the Executive Director and…
more -
Carney, Trump, & the Alberta Referendum w Cole Hogan #115
The Conservatives seem lost after Mark Carney stole economic liberalism from the CPC. Trump's tariffs keep voters distracted, while separatism grows in Alberta and Quebec. All of this promises an exciting fall session with the Alberta referendum and elections in Quebec and B.C. Cole Hogan spends...
-
What Is a Red Tory? Mark Graham on Canadian Conservatism, National Sovereignty, and the Monarchy #114
Just when you thought Red Tories had gone extinct, Mark Graham and colleagues start an online journal called the Red Tory Standard. Very few people run around with Tory banners, but then again, Torys aren't the running-around types. But if they were, I suspect we still wouldn't see very many of...
-
Hon. Jason Kenney on Alberta Exceptionalism, Canadian Identity, Immigration Integration, and Facing Trump #113
The Honorable Jason Kenney has spent his life observing, critiquing, and serving in Canadian politics. He offers wisdom you won't find anywhere else. Kenney reflected on how he has changed. He said, "GDP growth...is not a metric of human happiness or fulfillment or necessarily a health society."...
-
Robert Nisbet, Community, and the Growth of the State | Prof. Luke Sheahan #112
Robert Nisbet is not a communitarian in the modern sense. He combines an older view with a resolute concern about state power. Nisbet offers the best and most readable resources for thinking about community from a non-Left perspective. Prof. Luke Sheahan wrote the forward to a re-release of...
-
Post-Liberalism and the Common Good (with Prof. James Wood) #111
Post-liberalism hasn't been tried and found wanting. It's been found confusing and left untouched in Canada. Post-liberalism has been around since the 1980s in theology and at least since the 1990s in politics. It only became popular in the 2010s. Conservatives need to go deep into post-liberal...
-
Is Western Civilization Already Dead? Danny Randell on Secularization, Tradition, and Renewing the West #110
Marshall McLuhan said we were sleepwalking through civilizational change. Danny Randell, PhD student in intellectual history at University of Buckingham, says Western civilization is already dead. Conservatives have been telling us to wake up decades before anyone had heard of being woke. But...
-
Éric Zemmour’s “The Suicide of France” with Dr. Nathan Pinkoski | Progressivism, EU, and Western Decline #109
In France, the progressive Left has invented a new history, identity, and legal framework. French people no longer feel at home. The France they knew has disappeared. Sound familiar? We need to pay attention to other countries, especially those in Europe. A similar process is happening in North...
-
Jonah Goldberg on Populism, Elites, and Why Liberal Democracy Is “Unnatural” #108
Jonah Goldberg never leaves you wondering what he thinks. Clear, bold, and exciting, Goldberg makes politics more fun than should be allowed. Goldberg has been a keen observer of conservative politics for nearly four decades. You might say he was the voice of Republicanism in America before...
-
Country Before Party: Patriotism, Carney, Anti-Americanism, & Conservative Future w Dimpee Brar & Matt Spoke #107
Social media posts about conservative debates aim at the sizzle but miss the substance. Dimpee Brar and Matt Spoke invest a ton of their own time and resources into saving Canada from Leftist nonsense. They aren't just offering opinions devoid of effort. Is patriotism a 'conservative value' that...
-
Rusty Reno on the Crisis of Solidarity, Post-Liberalism, and Quebec’s Bill 21 #106
Rusty Reno offers insight into "our crisis of solidarity" that I haven't found anywhere else. In his book Return of the Strong Gods, he tackles the post-WWII liberal consensus that Karl Popper called The Open Society. It is an essential resource to help you understand our times. Reno is also...
-
Quebec’s Secularism Debate Explained: Bill 21, Laïcité, and Canada’s Two Solitudes w Lisa Richmond #105
Profound political differences exist between national and cultural traditions. This episode is an introduction to the 4-part audio documentary created by Cardus: The Nation and the Veil: Quebec’s Struggle with Secularism and Religion. A few hightlights: 1. French republicanism carries markedly...
-
Eric Kaufmann on Ethical Populism, Woke Extremism, and the Limits of Multiculturalism #104
The data and demographic argument in support of slowing immigration is overwhelming. Even when people enjoy new neighbours, it takes years to build understanding and trust. Canada, especially, has pretended that demography and assimilation don't matter. All that matters is world-leading levels of...
-
Nihilism, Relativism, Western Civilization & Leo Strauss w Dimpee Brar #103
Conservatism is experiencing a renaissance in the West. It is gaining a new self image beyond its historic passion for economics. Dimpee Brar has entered the scene in high gear. Over the last few months she has written provocative pieces at a rate of roughly one every two weeks. She's been on...
-
Why Conservatives Need Culture, Harold Innis, and National Cohesion (w/ Prof. John Bonnett) #102
Most civilizations prioritize space or time. They either choose empire and expansion (space) or permanence (time). Durable civilizations choose both. Harold Innis was a giant in Canadian academia in the early 20th century, but most people have never heard of him. He offers deep and helpful…
more -
Free Expression, Beauty, State Control. Christine Van Geyn on Maple’s Garden & Pandemic Panic #101
Christine Van Geyn captured the central debate around freedom of expression vs state control and put it into a children's book. As Interim Executive Director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation, Van Geyn has the deep knowledge and experience required to explain the essential elements of free...
-
Conservatism as a Coalition: NatCons, Trump, Media, & Bright Lines w Liberalism | Josh Lewis #100
How do we unify the very different voices on the non-Left? Do our differences mean we are doomed to a soft tyranny of centralized messaging? Josh Lewis has been wrestling with this, and many other issues, for the last 9 years on his podcast, Saving Elephants. He's hosted many of the biggest...
-
Identity Politics as an Incomplete Religion | Joshua Mitchell: American Awakening #99
Professor Joshua Mitchell is courageous. He argues for his positions even when they go against the grain of politically acceptable thought. Mitchell says conservatives have done a good job at addressing the debt and tradition economies. We are strong on fiscal policy, and we stand up for the…
more -
Conservatism’s Drift Toward Battle | Elizabeth Corey on Culture and the Contemplative Life #98
Professor Elizabeth Corey says conservatism is about far more than fighting. In fact, its major emphasis lies outside politics altogether. Corey offers a thick view of intellectual conservatism. She invites us into something challenging and deep. I tried to push her on whether she was asking too...
-
Free Speech in Canadian Law Schools? Tim Haggstrom on Runnymede, Rule of Law, and Tim vs U. Sask #97
Tim Haggstrom doesn't just promote theory. He bears the personal scars of legal practice. He leads an organization focussed on legal theory, while fighting (personally) for free speech. This caught me off guard. I thought Tim was simply an exemplary leader of a noteworthy organization. I had no...
-
Conservatism vs. Liberalism (and Neoconservatism) | Shawn Whatley #96
Update on the quest to define conservatism! After almost 100 episodes, I see a way to articulate conservatism coming into view. I hope to capture it all into a short book/long essay later this year. In the meantime, I offer a recap of liberalism and contrast it with conservatism. I also touch on...
-
Supreme Court vs. Provinces | Jodi Bruhn: Notwithstanding Clause & Canadian First Principles #95
Jodi Bruhn offers a sobering take on Canada. Professor Bruhn is an expert on governance and constitutional thought. She says we might not appreciate the significance and potential fallout from the Supreme Court wading in the Notwithstanding Clause. We discuss civics education and whether there's…
more -
#94 Tom Flanagan: Friedrich Hayek, Spontaneous Order, Markets, Justice, and the Limits of the State
Tom Flanagan explains why we need Hayek's ideas about spontaneous order, institutions, and the limits of state control. Hayek will frustrate central planners and also anarchists. Libertarians can't depend on Hayek; he's too supportive of traditional institutions. Professor Flanagan has taught a...
-
#93 Evan Menzies: Alberta Separation. Alberta Should Be Upset, but It Should Stay in Canada
Evan Menzies shows why Albertans should be furious. As an Albertan himself, he understands. And as a political consultant, he sees even more reasons to be upset than most Albertans have heard of. He is frustrated and doesn't hide it. In spite of powerful reasons to be upset, he still thinks…
more -
#92 Ashley Moyse: Techno-Ontology, Bioethics, and the “Provider” Problem in Modern Medicine
Ashley Moyse is a bioethicist and theologian at Baylor University. In America, he hails from the political left. If he was in his native Saskatchewan, he'd be centre-left or perhaps even right-wing to some people. Our conversation tackled technology, ethics, and humanity in professional…
more -
#91 Matthew Rowley: Bill 21, the Notwithstanding Clause, Alberta’s Future & Canada’s Constitutional Crisis
I asked Dr. Matthew Rowley for help with questions on political theology. It turns out he's another big supporter of independence for Alberta. The current Supreme Court hearings last week are pouring fuel on the Alberta separatist movement. The Mark Carney Liberals are intervenors on the SCC...
-
#90 Grant Havers: AI in Education, The Digital Cave, Great Books, and Why Dialogue Matters
Can AI replace teachers? Would students benefit? Should classical schools -- great books curricula -- use AI? I tried very hard to get Dr. Grant Havers into trouble in this episode. But he was too smart to say anything that would offend school administrators. Instead of picking a side in the pro-...
-
#89 Paul Gottfried: Why “Liberal Democracy” Isn’t Liberal—or Democratic
Dr. Paul Gottfried packages his writing in dynamite and grit. He uses an academic style which is now almost extinct on the political right. No one tries to provoke in order to make a point anymore. The Left still uses it all the time, but not the Right. You cannot listen to Gottfried with modern...
-
#88 Sam Duncan: Building a Conservative Counter-Elite: Narrative, Institutions, and Canada’s Identity Crisis
Sam Duncan has worked in government for Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Doug Ford. He is current VP at Wellington Advocacy. We discuss a powerful article Sam wrote titled: Toward a conservative counter-elite. Sam's article almost has enough content to outline a whole book. He...
-
#87 Barry Cooper: Technology, Canadian Myths, and Why Alberta Independence May Be Inevitable
Professor Barry Cooper is an Albertan. This fact transcends location. It speaks to a prairie self-understanding, a prairie myth, that stands apart and distinct from the Laurentian myth. For example, Cooper says bilingual Canada is a "huge myth outside Laurentian Canada." Professor Cooper argues...
-
#86 Ron Dart: Why Philosophy Matters Now. George Grant, the Massey Report, and the Contemplative Life
Ron Dart seems to embody generosity. It's hard to find a hard edge in him. Even when he states an opinion strongly, he always works to understand your side of the issue. Ron and I approach things from different angles, but we both try to embody the same method. Of course, his is far more honed…
more -
#85 Mia Hughes: Gender Medicine, WPATH Files, Ethics, Evidence-Based Medicine
Mia Hughes has no qualms about saying the Emperor has no clothes. She says what the rest of us cannot say, because we must stay within the boundaries of what our licences require. Transgender medicine strikes at the core of what medicine is; at what it means to care for patients. Should doctors…
more -
#84 John von Heyking: America is great! Civics, Constitutions & Liberalism
Professor von Heyking just left Lethbridge Alberta and moved to Arizona to help lead the Civics program at ASU. Our discussion pivoted around differences between USA and Canada, civics education, and how constitutions differ on each side of the border. This episode ran more like a visit between...
-
#83 Dan Pitt: Do Ideas Still Matter in Politics? Intellectual Conservatism, Stanley Baldwin & Winning Elections
Do ideas determine elections? Or should we forget about ideas and focus on issues? Dan Pitt has experience with both theory and practice. He teaches and writes books about political theory. And he's been involved with several election campaigns, including serving as a candidate in a recent...
-
#82 Ferenc Hörcher: Are conservatives afraid of intellectuals? Intellectual Conservatism
We return to a persistent challenge for conservatives. What do we do with intellectuals? Can politicians trust them? What role, if any, do intellectuals play in conservative politics? Dr. Ferenc Hörcher argues that intellectuals have a different job than politicians, but each can benefit from the...
-
#81 Franco Terrazzano: Canadian taxes. Money well spent? Unaccountable waste?
Franco Terrazzano knows taxes. As Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, he's the one in front of media calling on government for accountability on tax spending. But behind the pizzaz lies a deep thinker. Franco loves the nerdy arguments buried in books few people read. They inform his...
-
#80 Barry Bussey: Freedom and Its Limits, Is the Charter Conservative? & Freedom Convoy
Barry Bussey has spent decades thinking about freedom and working around the legal edges of it. Most people don't think about freedom until it's compromised. Barry thinks about it all the time. Canada has led the world as a test case on the limits of freedom with our MAiD (euthanasia)…
more -
#79 Barbara Kay: Understanding Neoconservatism from Norman Podhoretz to Modern Conservatism
Barbara Kay has written professionally about issues on the non left since the 1960s. We might want to say she had a 'front-row seat', but that would be wrong. Her writing went beyond simple observation. She helped shape conservative opinion in Canada for half a century. Barb wrote a piece on…
more -
#78 Debunking Mark Carney: A Critical Review of His Davos Speech
Prime Minister Mark Carney's Davos speech made liberals swoon and conservatives nod in admiration. Are the accolades warranted? Or are we being fooled by eloquence? I couldn't resist recording something about The Speech. In this episode I offer three big points: 1. Carney appears to use a...
-
#77 Cole Hogan: Canada's New Right, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, & the Conservative Party
Cole Hogan is a political strategist who played key roles in the elections of Premier Doug Ford and Premier Jason Kenney. He's a student of Canadian politics past and present and frequent pundit on major media outlets in Canada. Cole explains how Pierre Elliott Trudeau focussed on reshaping…
more -
#76 JJ McCullough: Is the monarchy relevant in Canada? Plus Trump, Iran, and culture.
JJ McCullough offers a window into Canada. JJ keeps his 1 million followers front of mind. He speaks so they will understand. He focusses on what matters to them. In that sense, JJ is a better politician than many politicians: he never forgets his constituency. Don't be fooled by JJ's…
more -
#75 Liberty without liberalism. Balancing Universalism and Particularism in Politics with Jeremy Geddert
This episode was a breakthrough for me. Conservatism is the mediation between the universal and the particular. I know this sounds nerdy, but I think this is an essential challenge that thinkers on the non-left must work through. We believe that some truths are true everywhere, all the time, but...
-
#74 David Leis: Canada at a Crossroads an Urgent Call for Renewal
What's wrong with Canada, and what can we expect to happen next? David Leis has spent decades in Canadian politics, and he's worried. Canada is in decline. We need leadership to change course, not simply a change in government. He packages his concern in terms of data, comparisons with other...
-
#73 Alex MacDonald : Balancing Economic Liberty and Social Tradition, plus Thoughts on Monarchy
Does it makes sense to maximize liberty in the economy and yet limit it at a personal level? Is it even possible? Alex MacDonald says it doesn't make sense. We never make economics the ultimate priority for family decisions, why do we think it's ok to prioritize economy at a national level? This...
-
#72 Merry Christmas! Embracing Intentional Ignorance and the Meaning of Gift Receiving
Christmas greetings plus one big idea. Why read? Better yet, why buy books you will never be able to read? Don't overestimate what you know. Building a personal library of more books that you can ever read will remind you of how much you do not know. It creates a presence in your home of...
-
#71 Michael Bonner: The Crisis of Liberalism: The Origin and Destiny of Freedom.
Many of our most popular ideas today are medieval. We are all, in some way, medieval thinkers. Dr. Michael Bonner applies his experience as a historian and political consultant to the current crisis of liberalism. He explains what's going on by reaching back several thousand years. Although this...
-
#70 Kate Marland: The Conservative Case for High Culture. Engaging Youth Beyond Economic Policies
I'm trying something new: this is a lightly edited transcript from the start of the episode: Thanks for listening! Shawn: What do young people want these days? Do they want total unfettered freedom or do they want to be challenged? Check it out. Kate: This is what I love talking about with young...
-
#69 Sean Speer: Government MUST remain neutral on culture. Will vs Inheritance a core debate
Here's the other half of the Koch-Speer debate. As usual, Sean Speer offers a nuanced response that seeks to learn at least as much as he hopes to inform. This whole conversation is essential for Canadians right now, conservatives especially. Its outcome determines the entire cant of the...
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Uncovering the concepts behind politics and current events
HOSTED BY
Shawn Whatley
CATEGORIES
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Concepts with Shawn Whatley have?
Concepts with Shawn Whatley currently has 100 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Concepts with Shawn Whatley about?
Uncovering the concepts behind politics and current events
How often does Concepts with Shawn Whatley release new episodes?
Concepts with Shawn Whatley has 100 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Concepts with Shawn Whatley?
You can listen to Concepts with Shawn Whatley on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Concepts with Shawn Whatley?
Concepts with Shawn Whatley is created and hosted by Shawn Whatley.
URL copied to clipboard!