WEBVTT - Karol Markowicz Show: The Evolution of a Conservative Voice with Erick Erickson 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:05.720 Welcome back to the Carol Markowitz Show on Biheart Radio. 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:09.440 My guest today is Eric Ericson. Eric is a very 0:00:09.480 --> 0:00:12.840 popular conservative talk radio host and author of three books, 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:16.560 most recently Before You Wake, Life Lessons from a Father 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:19.360 to his Children. Hi, Eric, so nice to have you on. 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:20.880 Thanks for having me. 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:21.319 So. 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:24.640 I've known you and of you like a million years. 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:28.680 You're really og in this movement and it's so nice 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:30.880 to talk to you. I'm not sure we've ever done 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:34.320 a show together before, but I've been looking forward to this. 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:37.199 Where did you get your start? How did this all 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:39.720 happen for you? You know? 0:00:41.520 --> 0:00:42.519 So politics. 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:45.880 I grew up overseas and politics was just a way 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:49.000 to connect into American culture, and then went to college, 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:53.559 started college Republicans at my college, started volunteering for campaigns, 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:55.760 kind of fell into it, and went to law school 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:58.800 because the congressman I was working for said a law 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:01.600 degree is an MBA in politics. So I did that, 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:04.200 got married, and my wife was like, I'm not moving 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:07.759 to Washington. So I became a lawyer, start at Red State, 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:10.080 and one thing led to another, and a local radio 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:12.800 show host got arrested in a crack house literally, and 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:15.039 they needed someone to fill in for him. 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:19.800 So I did, Uh so this is yeah exactly. 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:23.520 So Herman Kane was running for president at the time 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:26.840 and his station needed someone, and his boss drove through 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:28.959 my town all the way to Disney World thought it 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:31.960 was my show. I knew Rushland bought the time who 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:34.560 lied and said I was totally a radio pro. So 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.480 they gave me Herman Kane's job. Wow, and here we 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:39.360 are all these years later, now the longest job I've 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:42.520 ever had. It's been a wild ride. I mean, from 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:44.640 Red State in two thousand and four to now talk 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:47.360 radio and kind of doing my own substacking. 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:48.480 But it's been a lot of fun. 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:51.360 That's amazing. I mean, just the fact that it wasn't 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:53.600 even your show and somebody happened to hear it. I 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:59.200 you know, that's really a kismet. So what kind of 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:02.080 lessons do you tell your son in that last book? 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:05.440 I'm interested in the path that you took to get here. 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:06.800 It was sort of I mean, I don't want to 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:09.240 say lucky wasn't you know? Luck played a role? But 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:12.640 so how do you impart lessons when there is that 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:13.440 luck factor? 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:18.160 So the background for the book kind of the genesis 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:23.760 of it was in twenty sixteen. I was, as every 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:26.520 nightmare story begins, I started CrossFit trying to get back 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:30.000 into shape, and I couldn't breathe. I couldn't keep up, 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:32.920 and I thought, God, I've hit forty. I'm old. That's 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:36.320 the problem. And finally my wife was like, you got 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:37.880 to go to the doctor. So I go to the 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:39.360 doctor and. 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:41.519 They send me to the emergency room. 0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:45.320 And literally the guy who does my CT scan freaks out, 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:47.880 straps me to the table and says, sir, you can't 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:50.280 get up. You should be dead right now, which was 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:52.000 kind of like, oh, there's something going on. It turns 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:54.720 out my lungs is filled up with blood clots. They 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:56.800 gave me twenty four hours to live. They told me, 0:02:57.320 --> 0:03:00.360 you've got to call your family. As I'm trying to 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:03.519 call my wife, my wife is calling me and she says, hey, 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:06.640 I got a call from the Mayo Clinic and they 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:10.760 think I have lung cancer. So literally like they're wheeling 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:12.880 me into an ICU of twenty four hours live and 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:14.880 my wife is getting this phone call that they think 0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:16.959 she has lung cancer, which she does. She's got stage 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:19.720 four of a very rare genetic form of lung cancer. 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:22.560 And it was kind of like, you know, if we 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:26.040 both die, I need to write something for my kids. 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:28.520 I got to include their favorite recipes. I've got to 0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:31.000 give them some life lessons. And it also was an 0:03:31.040 --> 0:03:33.720 epiphany as well that my God, if they google me, 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:37.280 they're going to think I'm a horrible person. And so 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:40.480 it was kind of a I want you to believe 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:43.120 in God, because we believe in God, I believe in eternity. 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:44.920 I want you to so we can see each other 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:49.280 again if something happens. And also you need to actually 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:52.520 model your life of good character. Don't worry what other 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:55.680 people think, but also worry what God thinks. That was 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:57.200 kind of the genesis of the book. 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:01.560 Wow, and you survived over the twenty four hours? And 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:02.200 how are you doing? 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:05.240 H You know, I'm fine. My lungs. 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:07.960 I finally several years ago, got the all clear that 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:10.600 there's nothing left. There's some damage in my lungs. But 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:13.160 my wife does have cancer. She was given two years 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:15.800 to live and now almost nine years later she's still here. 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:19.120 Well, I'm so glad to hear that. That's really a miracle. 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:22.520 I mean, how do you when you're dealing with all 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:24.800 your day to day stuff and all the politics and 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:26.960 all the nonsense that we all kind of go through 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:30.080 and living on our lives on the internet. I mean, 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:33.120 how much perspective does what you went through give you? 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:34.760 You know, a lot, you know. 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:38.120 So we're recording this a couple of days after Rush 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:40.279 Limbaugh died. He was actually a good friend of mine 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:44.080 before I got into radio. I remember talking to him 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:47.320 one time and this was before this had happened, and said, 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:49.440 I never wanted to do a national radio show because 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:51.520 there was no chance of being number one as long 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:52.200 as he was around. 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:52.680 And he laughed. 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:54.880 He said, even if I'm dead, You're not going to 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:56.560 be as good as me, So just be yourself. 0:04:57.400 --> 0:04:59.600 And so I had that actually. 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:02.240 Around this time while this happened, and I finally thought, 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:05.600 you know, I really am. I'm pretending to be this 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:12.159 biblical donkey, if you will, and jackass to people on 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:17.080 the internet, and I'm playing someone other than myself. I 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:20.800 should just be myself. And that really was kind of 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:24.200 a life turning moment for me. Was I just the 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:27.359 secret to my success is I am exactly on the 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:29.680 radio and on the internet exactly as I am off 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:32.880 the radio and off the Internet. I'm a middle aged, 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:36.440 fat white dude who's perfectly comfortable being married and enjoys 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:39.479 my kids and lives in Middle Georgia, not in Washington 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:41.800 or New York, and relate to people accordingly. 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:43.760 Do you can recognize a lot? 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:44.919 You know? 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:49.000 I believe yes, it's for a guy who's mostly on 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:51.520 the radio. Yes, And it's very weird. If I go 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:53.479 to a restaurant and I sit and I face people, 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:55.760 no one really pays attention, and the moment they hear 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:59.640 my voice and don't recognize me, it's like, I know 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:03.680 who that guy is. I actually have literally now probably 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:07.159 four times in my life, including right after the election 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:09.720 in November, I've been standing at a urinal in the 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:12.680 airport and someone recognized me and began yelling at me. 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:17.720 Like literally, I'm peen and I'm getting yelled at by someone. 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:20.080 It it's a very weird life. 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:22.560 That's so interesting because how do they know who you are? Like? 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:25.240 Are they listening to conservative radio and they hate it? 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:26.159 It's like hate listening. 0:06:27.400 --> 0:06:28.560 Yeah, to some degree, I think. So. 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:30.640 You know, I've been on I was on CNN for 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:33.599 three years, on Fox for five, and occasionally still do TV. 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:36.520 So I do get recognized, and yeah, man, the people 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:39.240 who recognize me. And right after the election, when emotions 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:42.400 were raw, that guy just I mean, I'm literally just 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:45.320 trying to mind my own business and dude is yelling 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:48.160 at me because Donald Trump won. And then, you know, 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:50.760 the same day, literally someone followed me to my car 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:52.560 when I was leaving the airport. He was so excited 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.039 by the election. And I finally was like, I gotta 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:56.920 like win the lottery so I can find plyer for 0:06:56.960 --> 0:06:57.760 private or something. 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:01.360 What's the best part about being a person. 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:05.360 Oh, you know, the kindness of strangers at the same time, 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:07.280 the number of people who pray for my wife and 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:10.920 for me, who send notes just that pray for you today. 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:14.320 We've got a family, their kids. My wife gets a 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:16.960 note from their church regularly that she's been put on 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:19.880 their prayer list. And it's just the kindness of strangers. 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:22.360 As much as people can kind of get upset and stuff, 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:27.320 just the random kindness from individuals who they're not wealthy people. 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:29.800 They just they're reaching out and they're praying for you 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:32.240 and cheering you honor they see they buy you a beer. 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:36.280 I love that. That's actually, you know, worth all the 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:40.360 people yelling at you as Parnels, I think, yeah, maybe 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:43.080 it's kind of a trade off. You know, yeah, what 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:44.920 would you be doing if not this? What would be 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:46.240 the Eric ericson. 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:50.560 Plan b Oh, you know, probably cooking in a restaurant somewhere. 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:52.480 Really, I love to cook. 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:55.240 In fact, my parents thought I should go to culinary school, 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:57.040 and I was just like, this is this is what 0:07:57.120 --> 0:07:59.360 I love to do. I don't want to turn it 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:01.680 into a profession. But the older I get, the more 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:04.320 I think, if if I wasn't doing radio and conservative politics, 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:07.840 I probably would be a chef somewhere. I genuinely love 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:09.920 to cook for other people. Half the stuff I make 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:10.640 I don't even eat. 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:13.760 I just make it for the Really, I mean, don't 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:15.800 you have to eat it or taste it at least? 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:17.880 I mean, yeah, yeah, you taste a little bit. But 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:20.480 I mean if I'm smoking a brisket for someone, I'm 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:22.320 pretty sure I've got it right so I can give 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:24.680 it to them and or a cake or something. But yeah, 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:27.680 I just I love to cook. On Sundays. Several years ago, 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:29.720 my wife is like, you're live in an isolated existence, 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:32.120 you don't have a lot of friends. Start inviting people over, 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:34.319 so on Sundays, I invite a group of friends over. 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:37.160 We saw on my front porch, watch sports, smoke cigars 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:39.400 and drink bourbon. And I cook every week. This past 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:43.520 Sunday I roasted a pork loin and made Cuban sandwiches, 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:45.880 and the week before I did a brisket, and the 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:48.600 week before that, I did fried shrimp tacos, and I 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:50.000 just I love to do it for people. 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:52.920 That sounds amazing. I mean, your wife had to pressure 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:53.960 you to have friends. 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:55.600 Over though, yeah she really did. 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:57.439 Like all lesbians, I guess. 0:08:57.760 --> 0:08:59.839 Yeah, I just you know, I do. 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:04.720 It is kind of an isolated existence, and I pay 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:07.440 to go to a gym to work out by myself 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:09.960 because I tried going with other people and they're like, oh, 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:12.600 let's talk politics while I'm trying to do a burpie 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:16.080 and not pute my guts up. So I just live 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:18.679 somewhat of a private life. But I enjoy it being 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:21.360 surrounded by friends and being able to cook for people. 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:23.840 A right trip to Georgia. I think it is in 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:26.760 my future some of that. I want to sit on 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:29.320 that front porch. What do you worry about? 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:36.320 I worry about my kids becoming too online. I mean, 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:38.480 we try to get them to not stare at phones 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:40.880 and stuff. But I see this with friends of mine 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:44.440 who they're less and less happy because they're less and 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:46.680 less in the world around them and more in the 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:49.600 world they've created online. I mean, we can all create 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:52.160 communities of interest where everybody thinks like us and looks 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:52.559 like us. 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:55.640 We don't know the homeless. 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:58.320 Guy down the street or our next door neighbor. I 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:00.120 started going to seminary a number of years ago, go 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:04.120 I talk about faith on radio and figured out how 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:05.520 to go back to seminary. And one of the things 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:08.080 that has struck me for years is as a Christian, 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:12.320 Jesus says, you love your neighbors as yourself. And when 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:14.679 I look at that, I try to tell my friends 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:17.959 that even though I may not agree with transgenderism as 0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:20.199 a philosophy or a way of life, I've got to 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:22.800 love my transgender neighbors so much when they go on vacation, 0:10:22.880 --> 0:10:24.600 they leave a key at my house or something just 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:28.240 I mean, we're in a community together, and I want 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:31.600 my kids to understand that you can't just surround yourself 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:33.559 with people who agree with you, because you're going to 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:35.080 be a shallow angry person. 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:37.800 How do you keep them kind of off of that 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:41.320 online existence. I mean, I'm asking for myself because obviously, 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:43.960 I think again, in our world, we're just online so much. 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:46.240 We have to keep up with the latest of what 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:50.000 people are saying and what X is. You know, character 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:51.760 of the Day is all of that. How do you 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:52.760 keep them away from it? 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:55.600 You know, so one, if you come to my house, 0:10:56.520 --> 0:10:59.280 you can't get into Snapchat, you can't get into Twitter 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:01.800 unless you have the password for the WiFi to be 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:04.560 able to access those websites. So my kids aren't on it. 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:09.120 We let them do Instagram and that's about it. But volunteering, 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:13.600 participating in a church community, in a religious community, it's 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:17.280 important to us having my kids involved in sports and music. 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:20.560 My daughter is a great artist. My son has taught 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:22.520 himself how to play the piano and the cello, and 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:25.679 so now we're getting in lessons. But making them get 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:27.800 out of the house and get offline and actually be 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.720 in the world around them is important to us. You know, 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:32.480 we knew we had a problem one time when our 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:35.720 son we would as all I think real parents do, 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:38.720 babysit with an iPad, and we were going to see 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:41.560 my in laws one time, my son loves maps, and 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:44.520 literally we're driving across the Chattahoochie River here in Georgia, 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:47.200 and my son's not even looking out the window. He's 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:49.200 looking at his iPad. He says, we're about to go 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:52.520 over a river. It's like, we need to like take 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:54.840 the devices away, make me look out the car window. 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:57.040 But the problem, of course, is that like I'm on 0:11:57.080 --> 0:11:59.240 my device, and it's kind of you know, my kids 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:01.080 are like look up and talk to me, you know, 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:05.040 when we're trying to tell me something. Obviously I can 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:07.960 give them the advice of like stay offline. But when 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:12.120 I'm myself and so so into it a lot tougher 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:13.360 it is. 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:15.520 And I'm a bit of a hypocrite on this with 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:18.920 my kids all the time. We'll say my kids have 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:22.720 a brilliant sense of humor. It's actually a pretty dark 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:25.480 sense of humor, exactly like their father. And so I 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:29.040 do enjoy sharing memes with my kids on Instagram a lot. 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:31.400 But you know, when we're we have we try to 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:34.840 have dinner together, sit around the table, all devices facing 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:37.199 the table or not at the table, and actually break 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:39.640 bread together like I do with friends. Where we're not 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:42.079 staring at our devices. We're actually talking to each other, 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:45.520 and when my kids start talking, it really is just 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:46.680 the funniest part of the day. 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:48.000 Yeah, I love. 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:50.200 That We're going to take a quick break and be 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:56.440 right back on the Carol Marcowitch Show. What advice would 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:59.040 you give your sixteen year old self if you had to, 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:01.560 you know, offer yourself some. 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:06.520 Thoughts honestly, to exercise. 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:09.240 I was never a big into exercise when I was 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:11.720 growing up and now trying to lose weight to get 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:14.480 back in shape, tell my sixteen year old self just 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:17.720 get out and take a walk. You know, we had it, 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:19.640 I guess to a degree easier. We didn't have the internet, 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:21.320 at least I didn't when I was growing up as 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:24.880 a sixteen year old. But get outside and enjoy nature 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:27.079 is something I would have told myself as a kid 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:30.120 instead of sitting behind my Nintendo playing video games. 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:35.600 That's interesting. I feel like kids just naturally exercise all 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:38.680 the time. I would say, maybe just keep going. But yeah, 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:42.520 I definitely was never a big working out person either, 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:44.800 and it would have been good to start at sixteen 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:46.040 if somebody. 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:47.439 Else you know, so I grew up in Dubai and 0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:49.440 then move back to South Louisiana, So it was either 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:51.480 hot and dry or hot and humid, and either way 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:53.319 it was hot and I just wanted to stay inside. 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:57.840 What are some changes you've seen in the conservative movement 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:00.760 over your career, Like, what do you what do you 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:02.680 think is good about the changes? Let's start there. 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:05.640 Actually, you know, okay, So what I think is good 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:11.000 about the changes is that it is much more communal 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:14.120 in that because of the way the Internet works, there 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:18.200 are a wider swath of people across the nation who 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:19.960 have a say in what it means to be a 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:23.120 conservative in what direction it goes. It's less of an 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:25.080 elitist movement than I think it used to be in 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:27.120 the sixties, seventies and early eighties. 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:29.520 And the worst part. 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:35.640 That also it's conservatives are herding cats more than Democrats 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:38.560 because we are more individualistic. At the same time, I 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:42.800 think probably the worst part is there are a lot 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:45.480 of voices that have invaded the conservative movement that are 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:49.480 more there for profiting off the movement than committed to 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:52.840 the movement. And I think the Internet has caused all 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:55.800 of us, myself included, to lose a level of discernment 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:58.840 we went once had as to the voices we should 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:02.040 listen to and the ideas that we should be fostering 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:03.120 as opposed to festering. 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:05.720 Is it possible for the tech to get too big? 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:10.560 Yeah, I definitely think so. I think there's some people 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:12.880 who want it smaller than it should be. There are 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:15.760 people who definitely want it too big. Not all ideas 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:18.520 are compatible with freedom and liberty, and I think a 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:21.960 conservative movement's got to be family focused and committed to 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:26.680 individual responsibility and individualism. This idea that I think some 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:29.040 people are trying to infect the movement with that we 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:32.000 need to be some level of Christian nationalist deocracy or 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:37.120 Catholic governance in some way. I think there is a 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:41.760 growing disrespect for the individual family within parts of the 0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:42.600 conservative movement. 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:43.400 That's dangerous. 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:45.560 That at the end of the day, the free market 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:48.000 is you and me operating at arm's length to decide 0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:50.920 what's best for our family, and inevitably we wind up 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:53.960 through a series of compromises in the free market doing well, 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:56.800 but having some sort of populous pullet bureau pulling the 0:15:56.880 --> 0:15:59.680 levers and flipping the switches is as doomed to failure 0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:00.680 as it is on the left. 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:03.880 Are you hopeful about the future of the conservative movement. 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:05.160 I am. 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:08.280 I mean, I'm hopeful because I've read the end of 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:10.760 the book. I know how it ends, and I think 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:13.760 people of faith are going to turn out okay in 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:17.840 the end. I do think that there's a danger in 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:21.200 us making an idol of our country and wanting things 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:23.800 to be a certain way. I hear people say all 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:27.000 the time, still, what is conservatism? Conservatives like your first 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:29.520 Amendment right that Jade Vans just lectured Europe about as 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:30.240 a great example. 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:32.840 But at the same time, I do. 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:35.120 Think that there are people who have a vision of 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:38.880 the country that is an idealized vision that never really was, 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:41.440 and the danger is trying to impose that vision on 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:42.320 everyone else. 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:44.800 What do you think Rush would be saying right now? 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:46.680 Would he be excited about. 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:48.040 Where we are? Yeah? 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:50.440 I think he would be having a blash, just just 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:53.360 laughing at both the frenzy on the right. And also 0:16:53.840 --> 0:16:55.640 I do think one thing that Rushed at a very 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:57.920 good job that people in the conservative movement have forgotten 0:16:58.080 --> 0:17:01.200 is the other side is right for laughter. We don't 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:03.200 need to be angry at them. I mean, it's actually 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:06.640 kind of hilarious the insanity that has infected the left. 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:08.440 We should be mocking them and laughing them. 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:12.560 Yeah, I think mockery is actually way underutilized by the right. 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:15.000 I think that that has to be how we attack 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:18.240 the left. I think in a joyful fashion. Making fun 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:20.520 of them is often the way to go. 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:25.720 This anger and even some of the unhealthy anti Semitism 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:28.160 that's just cropping up in parts of the right, that's 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:31.760 doomed to failure, and it should fail. To see some 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:36.440 people voices on the right suddenly sounding very anti Semitic 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:39.200 these days, I think we have to police our movement 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:40.960 and drive those voices out. 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:43.959 I mean, I obviously agree, but I also I'm hopeful 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:47.080 because I think that a lot of that is only online. 0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:50.199 Like when I go the deeper, the red the area 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:54.199 is the more pro Israel, a pro Jew or you know, 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:56.840 just generally not antisemitic. It is I think where you're 0:17:56.840 --> 0:18:00.560 seeing these anti Semitic outbursts or you know, dominantly in 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:03.080 blue areas, and I think on our side it's still 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:05.760 and you know, in my Jewish world, when I say this, 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:08.520 people think I'm being naive or something, but I think 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:12.880 I really do think the more conservative areas are safer 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:13.719 for Jews. 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:16.440 You know, I tend to agree with you as well 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:18.560 in that, and I do think it is mostly online. 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:21.160 And I think the danger for the right right now 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:23.800 is much like the left was in twenty fifteen or so, 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:27.840 that we think that what happens on teter is reality, 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:31.119 and I've seen more and more younger guys on the 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:34.679 right say that, no, actually, what's happening online is a 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:37.920 reflection reality. I don't think it is. And I do 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:41.240 think that in the heartland outside of New York and DC, 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:45.520 people tend to really get along regardless of their politics, 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:48.200