Listen to the full conversation on the Perspectives Journal podcast, available to subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Amazon Music, and all other major podcast platforms.

America is buried near a shining mausoleum on a hill.

Her grave is simple and white. She is surrounded by veterans of every war from the American Revolution to the Black Hawk Revolt to Vietnam. America lived in Illinois, which became a state when she was two. She died aged 53 in 1873, eight years after the Civil War ended. I wonder what she thought was coming.

The headstones surrounding America Myers are battered and worn. Some bear the scars of repair: patchwork tombs of broken remembrances. Others were long rendered indecipherable.

America is buried in Waterloo on a cliff overlooking the American Bottom.

The American Mind’s ‘Editorial Roundtable’ 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.

Minnesota ICE (ft. Kyle Schideler) | The Roundtable Ep. 300

This interview is also available on podcast platforms and Rumble.

Order Norm’s book, Gaza’s Gravediggers, now.

Lawlessness has been a common theme characterizing the events of the first weeks of the year. The kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the murder of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, the threat of bombing Iran by the Trump administration. Perhaps one of the worst violations of the law has slipped under the radar amidst the chaos — the continued genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the United Nations’ abetting of Israel and the U.S.’s efforts to ethnically cleanse the region.

On this episode of After America, Professor Elizabeth N Saunders from Columbia University joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the “chaotic cruelty” of the Trump administration, its escalation of hostilities over Greenland and whether it will strike Iran.

This discussion was recorded on Tuesday 13 January (AEDT) 2026.

A time for Bravery: what happens when Australia chooses courage is available now via Australia Institute Press. Use the code ‘POD5’ to get $5 off.

Guest: Elizabeth N Sauders, Professor of Political Science, Columbia University // @profsaunders

Host: Emma Shortis, Director, International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @emmashortis

Show notes:

‘What happens now in Venezuela – and the world?’ by Elizabeth N Saunders, Good Authority (January 2026)

‘Imperial President at Home, Emperor Abroad’ by Elizabeth Saunders, Foreign Affairs (June 2025)

Danial Lashkari

It has been a healthy development that parts of the conservative movement over the last decade or so have become increasingly skeptical of the Republican establishment’s slavish devotion to excessive individualism, indiscriminate immigration, and globalism.

In a recent First Things article, R.R. Reno pointed to America’s original Progressives—and to Woodrow Wilson in particular—as sources of inspiration for today’s conservative reassessment, because they too yearned for greater solidarity as they contended against the excesses of individualism. While I sympathize with Reno’s aims, Wilson and his fellow Progressive fathers of our modern state should not serve as guides to escaping our present mess—after all, they were the figures most responsible for bringing it upon us.  

Conservatism is a divided movement today. But if we’re honest, it almost always has been, coming as it did out of the shotgun marriage of traditionalists and individualists. What united the diverse elements of the conservative movement, however, was their opposition to the collectivism and statism foisted on us by the likes of Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt. It is a sign of just how precarious our times have become—and of just how badly establishment conservatism has fallen short—that sensible conservatives should now turn for inspiration to those whose principal mission was to overturn the American political tradition and replace it with the modern state.

For years, AI has been surrounded by extreme predictions of ushering in either catastrophe or paradise, with breakthroughs in machine intelligence repeatedly promised as imminent for well over a decade. Elon Musk has recently stated that artificial general intelligence, where AI matches or exceeds human-level capabilities across tasks, could arrive as early as later this year. A reasonable person might assume that’s optimistic, but it nevertheless merits a serious look at what that means for Americans and our politics.

Many on the Right are correctly concerned about what this transition could look like for our nation. As government spending at all levels exceeds 40% of GDP, the reality is that it will be a political issue with implications for both this year’s midterms and the 2028 presidential election. Figures like Steve Bannon and Ron DeSantis are staking out pro-regulatory positions on AI, emphasizing risk mitigation and regulations that could alter the development of this technology. The regulatory appetite will likely only increase as we see the impact on the economy grow—a fact that must be reckoned with.  

We share a positive vision for the future AI may bring, where it dismantles bloated bureaucracies, unleashes economic growth, and rewards high-agency individuals to build the future we want to live in.

On this episode of Follow the Money, Richard Denniss and Ebony Bennett discuss the political and policy response to devasting Bondi terrorist attacks, the cancellation of Adelaide Writers’ Week, Trump and the Australia-US alliance, and what to look out for in federal politics in 2026.

A time for Bravery: what happens when Australia chooses courage is available now via Australia Institute Press. Use the code ‘POD5’ at checkout to save $5 off the price – available for a limited time only.

Dead Centre: how political pragmatism is killing us by Richard Denniss is also available now.

Guest: Richard Denniss, co-Chief Executive Officer, the Australia Institute // @richarddenniss

Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebonybennett

Show notes:

La historia, tal como se entiende en la mayoría de los países occidentales, a menudo omite capítulos importantes que dejan espacios cruciales en la historia del surgimiento de los países modernos. En Latinoamérica, en el siglo XX, se reconocen episodios de guerrillas y juntas militares, junto con representaciones de la guerra contra las drogas, generalmente representadas en la cultura popular.

Lo que se omite, sin embargo, es la participación clandestina de las agencias de inteligencia estadounidenses, incluidas la CIA y la DEA, y cómo sus operaciones de tráfico de drogas estaban íntimamente ligadas a las brigadas anticomunistas latinoamericanas financiadas por el capital occidental durante la Guerra Fría, y la liquidación a menudo brutal de la izquierda que llevaron a cabo estos narcoterroristas.

Why reducing the 50 per cent discount would improve the tax system 

Capital gains tax (CGT) was introduced in 1985 as part of reforms to broaden the income tax base and reduce the rate. CGT is leviable on the increase in the value of an asset, such as property or shares, and is levied when capital gains are realised (i.e. the asset is sold).  

In 1999, the previous inflation adjustment was replaced with a flat 50 per cent discount, with the goal of stimulating investment in the share market. 

The 50 per cent discount goes beyond the purpose the discount and undermines the progressive nature of Australia’s personal income tax system. The discount should be reduced to 25 per cent to improve equity and fund more effective ways to encourage productive investment.