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(Please ignore the last email that was sent out to subscribers — that email mistakenly said that we were doing Q&A on ‘The Idiot’ on Dec. 11. We already published a Q&A on ‘The Idiot’ on June 29, 2026, which you can watch here.)

Join me at 7:00pm ET on Dec. 11 for a livestream in which we will discuss Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. I have been teaching the novel this fall to students in the college degree program offered by Rutgers University in a New Jersey prison. Dostoevsky, who was on death row and held in solitary confinement, understood the reality my students endure. Try and read the book before joining. Come with questions to put in the chat.

If you have read the book, we will also pull questions and comments from the comment section of this Substack post. To comment here, you must be a paid subscriber — see you on December 11!

Federal investigators have raided Representative Ilhan Omar’s house and reportedly seized her devices, pursued a dozen subpoenas, including those issued to her family members, and allegedly scrutinized everything from her arrival as a refugee to DNA samples and what appears to be a sham marriage.

The American Mind’s podcast is a weekly conversation with Ryan Williams, Spencer Klavan, and Mike Sabo devoted to uncovering the ideas and principles that drive American political life. Stream here or download from your favorite podcast host.

Has the Nation Lost Its Faith? Divisions and the Future of the Right | The American Mind Podcast

On October 31, as Paris was still dealing with violent demonstrations and unrest, the French government made an extraordinary decision: it prohibited a peaceful political conference on remigration. The contrast was difficult to miss. While protesters were throwing Molotov cocktails at police, an international gathering of politicians, writers, and activists seeking to debate European immigration policy was deemed too dangerous to take place. I was among those scheduled to speak at the conference, which was ironically titled “Remigration: Let’s Open the Debate!”

Organized by Polémia, the event was intended to bring together approximately 800 participants from Europe and the United States to discuss remigration—a term increasingly used to describe the return or deportation of foreign nationals, whether voluntary or compulsory.

Two days before the scheduled gathering, organizers received an official decree prohibiting it. French interior ministry authorities invoked the possibility of public disorder and characterized remigration as a xenophobic and racist ideology. An administrative court subsequently rejected an emergency appeal, forcing the organizers to move the conference online, where it was broadcast on X and YouTube.

Most right-wing politicos expected a loss on Election Night. Some even expected a drubbing, but I don’t know very many of us who expected Republicans to lose seven Senate seats, with two more likely to go to the Democrats—including one in Mississippi.

That kind of generational loss in politics demands some soul-searching. Vice President JD Vance jumped on X to take ownership of the defeat, but also to put it in context: “The reason we lost is the war.” There’s a great deal of truth to that. National exit polling from NBC News found that 74% of voters said the war with Iran was a “crucial or major” factor in their vote in congressional races. Democrats won this cohort 63% to 35%.

This interview is also available on podcast platforms and Rumble.

Congressmembers have returned to the Capitol following the recent midterms and are poised to pass the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would raise the Pentagon budget to an unheard of $1.5 trillion in a lame duck session. Although the NDAA is typically enacted with little fanfare, this year activists are coming to Washington, DC in the Taxpayer’s Uprising, organized by a coalition of groups, including CODEPINK, Doctors Against Genocide and Veterans for Peace, with the sole purpose of blocking what is being called the “Trump-Hegseth $1.5 Trillion War Bill.”

Eric Weinstein, the former managing director of Thiel Capital, recently explained the philanthropic vision Peter Thiel presented to him when they first joined forces:

I don’t want to do the good work that is seen as good. That work can be done by people richer, weaker and more needy of approval than we are. I want us to do only the work that is *deeply* good but somehow confused for being evil, because that is the work of the courageous and the strong.

This statement could easily apply to the Trump Administration’s willingness to take on politically unpopular yet nonetheless just causes. One particularly relevant example is its brave policy toward South Africa, some of the fruits of which I had the opportunity to witness during a recent visit hosted by Sakeliga, a leading Western-oriented business group in the country. I had read a tremendous amount about South Africa, a country of endless fascination to anyone interested in race and politics. But it is one thing to read about it and another thing to see it up close.

This is a Free Piece of Notes on the Crises. There are still tickets on sale for the event with Professor Philip Rocco on Thursday.

For a few years, I’ve become fascinated by counterfactuals, especially why they have so much rhetorical power, even when they are very, very

10 November 2026 – Equality Australia is calling on the Federal Government to strengthen its Digital Duty of Care Bill, warning that online safety cannot be left to individuals to manage while powerful digital platforms profit from content that creates and amplifies harm.

Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown, who appeared before the Senate inquiry on Tuesday, welcomed the introduction of a duty of care but said digital platforms must also be held responsible for a broader range of online harms, including targeted attacks on LGBTIQ+ people and other communities impacted by hate.

“A law designed to make the internet safer will fall short if it fails to address the vilification and dehumanisation of LGBTIQ+ people, who are routinely targeted by hate and abuse,” she said. 

“Digital platforms have enormous power over what people see online and they should be required to take meaningful steps to prevent and reduce serious harm, including homophobic and transphobic abuse.”

Ms Brown said the Bill risked setting expectations too low for platforms already failing to address harmful content.

“Social media companies are already failing to adequately moderate harmful content, and some have openly stepped back from tackling it. The law must not give them another reason to do less,” she said.

The economy is cooked. Let’s talk about who owns the oven. Housing is unaffordable. Inequality is growing. We’re working harder, paying more, and somehow the people who own everything keep getting richer. What if we’ve been thinking about economics all wrong? Join us for a gathering of young Georgists, economic thinkers, curious minds and anyone […]

 After a huge year for Prosper, we are keen to wind down and relax! This year, we have not one, but two, end-of-year parties: Melbourne and Adelaide. Both events are on Wednesday, December 9th. Melbourne: CBD location, details upon registration, 6pm. Adelaide: The Golden Wattle, 5pm. Both events are free for members, and a plus […]

My book 'Requiem for Gaza' is out NOW!

Looking forward to the 2026 midterm elections from a year or two out, Republicans faced a favorable Senate map and seemingly realistic prospects for gains in that chamber. Georgia and Michigan, both of which President Trump had carried in 2024, presented possible pickup opportunities, especially after Michigan Democrat Gary Peters announced in January 2025 that he wouldn’t be seeking reelection. Meanwhile, no Republican seat looked overly challenging to defend. The only one the GOP would need to hold in a state Trump had lost was in Maine, where Susan Collins had already triumphed five times since Republicans last carried the state in a presidential race. With a 53-47 Senate majority and this favorable map, Republican control of the Senate looked quite secure for the duration of Trump’s second term, with a chance to increase that margin.