181 – Escaping the Housing Trap with Chuck Marohn

The housing market today is in an increasingly unsustainable paradox: younger Americans need houses to be more affordable so that they can become homeowners.  Meanwhile, homeowners and the entire U.S. economy need houses to rise in price to make them a secure and profitable investment.  Thus, we are trapped between making homeownership increasingly difficult or sinking the economy.  Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is joined by president of Strong Towns Chuck Marohn to discuss his latest book: Escaping the Housing Trap.   About Chuck Marohn From strongtowns.org Charles Marohn (known as “Chuck” to friends and colleagues) is the founder and president of Strong Towns. With decades of experience as a land use planner and civil engineer, Marohn is on a mission to help cities and towns become stronger and more prosperous. He spreads the Strong Towns message through in-person presentations, the Strong Towns Podcast, and his books and articles. In recognition of his efforts and impact, Planetizen named him one of the 15 Most Influential Urbanists of all time in 2017 and 2023.   Marohn grew up on a small farm in central Minnesota. On his 17th birthday, he joined the Minnesota National Guard, which he served in for nine years. During this time, he earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Minnesota. He later returned to his alma mater to complete a master’s in Urban and Regional Planning. As well as being passionate about building a stronger America, he loves playing music, is an obsessive reader, and religiously follows his favorite baseball team, the Minnesota Twins.   Marohn and his wife live with their two daughters in their hometown of Brainerd, Minnesota.  

What if the surest way to reduce the harmful effects of self-serving politicians in Washington D.C. is to have more of them?  Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is Jeff Mayhugh to explain how the artificial “cap” the nation put on the number of representatives in the U.S. House almost a century ago has made government less representative and responsive.  Returning to the Founding Father’s understanding of how people might best be represented by their leaders will require a lot of hard work, but it has the potential to benefit all Americans all across the political divide.   About Jeff Mayhugh Jeff Mayhugh is a Christian, Husband, Father of five, Political Theorist, and Poet. He is the Founding Editor of Politics and Parenting, Vice President of No Cap Fund, and a Contributor to The Hill.  You can follow Jeff on Twitter @Jmayhugh28.  

What if the real division in America isn’t between Republicans and Democrats, Red States vs Blue States, or liberals and conservatives but between the American people and a small group of the political elite whose function is to divide the rest of us?  Tony Woodlief joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to discuss how we may not be as divided as we think and how federalism holds the solution to many of the policy battles of the moment.   About Tony Woodlief Excerpts from Tony’s bio in the State Policy Network and on his author page:   Tony Woodlief is State Policy Network’s Senior Executive Vice President and Senior Fellow for SPN’s Center for Practical Federalism. He helps oversee SPN operations, supports SPN’s president in her guidance of the leadership team, and helps ensure the organization’s projects and programs measure success, evolve as SPN grows, and maintain alignment with our vision and mission.   Tony previously served as president of the Bill of Rights Institute, and before that the Market-Based Management Institute. He has also served as president of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. An alumnus of the University of North Carolina, he has a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan, and an MFA from Wichita State University. Tony has appeared in media outlets including Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, National Review, and C-SPAN’s Washington Journal.   Tony Woodlief is also an author. His short fiction has appeared in Image, Reckon Review, Ruminate, Dappled Things, and elsewhere. His story “Name” received a Pushcart Honorable Mention in 2010, and was included in Image Journal’s 25th anniversary anthology. Tony’s spiritual memoir, Somewhere More Holy, was listed among Image’s top ten works of 2010. His most recent book is the novel We Shall Not All Sleep.   Tony is also the author of I, Citizen: A Blueprint for Reclaiming American Self-Governance. In writing I, Citizen, Tony conducted extensive research on American public opinion to find out what Americans believe and uncover the source of their political animosities. Through his research, Tony discovered that America is more united than divided, despite what the pundits tell us, and traced the source of our perceived animosity to a small minority of dedicated partisans within the political establishment of Washington, DC. I, Citizen tells the story of how these partisans have created the myth of a divided America and how they’ve concentrated power in the hands of unelected bureaucrats and partisan elites, and offers practical solutions for how we can reclaim our right to self-governance by focusing on solutions and commonalities closer to home.  

The 2024 presidential election witnessed a historic number of independent voters—more independents voted than Democrats and they came close to surpassing Republicans.  It would seem that now is the time for those who are dissatisfied with both parties to dismantle the two-party duopoly of American government.  And yet, the Republican and Democratic parties collectively control all branches of governments at all levels.  Why is that?  What would it mean for Americans to embrace an “independent” politics and how likely is that to occur?  What do independent voters actually want?  Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is president of the Independent Center Lura Forcum to explore these questions.   About Lura Forcum Lura Forcum leads the Independent Center, the nation’s go-to organization for information, research, and engagement with independent voters, representing those who are fed up with partisan politics and feel politically homeless.   Lura holds a PhD in marketing and consumer psychology from Indiana University (Kelley School of Business). She’s studied social cognition and brands, focusing on the factors that lead consumers to respond to brands as if they were people and the outcomes of doing so.  Prior to becoming president of the Independent Center, Lura was the Director of Marketing and Communications at the State Policy Network.

Former president Chester A. Arthur is probably best remembered for his mutton chops and as a trivia question.  But he did play a surprising role as a reformer when the nation was in the grips of political corruption.  And the story of how he found the courage to do so holds some lessons for how we might interact with political power today in hopes of a better tomorrow.   Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is Destry Edwards to discuss his new documentary Dear Mr. President: The Letters of Julia Sand, and how a single citizen can have an outsized effect on our political system.   About Destry Edwards Destry Edwards is the Media Production and Studio Manager at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. With a passion for both film and politics, Destry seeks to use storytelling as a way to bridge the gap between people and policy. He is a native of the great state of South Carolina. Before coming on with CEI, Destry’s background includes time at FreedomWorks and Blaze Media. Destry holds a Bachelor of Science in Cinema Production from Bob Jones University.   About the Documentary   In 1881, following President James Garfield’s assassination, the country was in turmoil. Many suspected Vice President Chester Arthur, a long-time beneficiary of the spoils system, to be a party to the plot and dreaded his ascension to the presidency. In the immediate aftermath—and before the height of the women’s suffrage movement—New Yorker Julia Sand wrote to the soon-to-be President. Between August 1881 and September 1883, Sand penned 23 letters to President Arthur imploring him to abandon his corrupt machinations, become the leader the country deserved, and champion civil service reform.  The Competitive Enterprise Institute proudly presents the documentary Dear Mr. President: The Letters of Julia Sand to discover the outsized effect a single citizen can have on our political system.   You can watch the full documentary on the streaming platform SalemNow.  

In this era of information overload it’s easy to join the ranks of the too online, filtering our every thought through the latest thing Trump tweeted or how the resistance is reacting. And it’s just as easy to check out entirely and pretend like the news doesn’t matter or, if it does, it’ll have to be someone else’s problem for now. Are there healthier ways to approach the news? How can we maintain sanity in a seemingly endless supply of hot takes and outrage-of-the-moments?   Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is joined by Avi Woolf, JB Shreve, and Blake Fischer as they discuss how to consume the news responsibly.   About the Panelists   Avi Woolf is a writer, editor, translator, and podcaster whose work has been published in Arc Digital, Commentary, National Review, The Bulwark, and The Dispatch.  He was chief editor of the online Medium publication Conservative Pathways, and he—in his words—"hopes to help forge a path for a conservatism which is relevant for the 21st century while not abandoning the best of past wisdom.”  Avi hosts his own podcast entitled Avi’s Conversational Corner, a podcast on culture, history, and politics in a broad perspective.  You can find Avi on Twitter @AviWoolf   JB Shreve hosts two podcasts and blogs. JB Shreve & Faithful Considerations includes devotionals and bible studies, while JB Shreve & the End of History looks at our generation's current events, history, and socio-political issues.  JB has written two books: How the World Ends: Understanding the Growing Chaos published in 2019 and his latest book Politically Incorrect: Real Faith in an Era of Unreal Politics.   Blake Fischer is a political junkie, so you don't necessarily have to be. A lifelong conservative, Blake covers conservative policies, current politics, and the historical context of today's events. With a unique blend of media critique and a focus on the big issues that often go unaddressed, Blake offers insightful solutions to pressing problems without the fear-mongering or populist outrage used in mainstream political media.  Blake lives in Oklahoma and is the creator of The Homeless Conservative.   Listener Mail Josh responds to listener mail from two fellow podcasters both asking whether it’s time to ditch the GOP for good.   Dennis Sanders is host of the Church and Main podcast, exploring where religion intersects with 21st-century public life with a focus on the story of Mainline Protestantism.  Calvin Moore’s podcast is brand new and follows the historical accounts of the many people who ran for president and came up short.  

James Burnham was one of the most significant intellectual influences on the conservative movement of the twentieth century.  As an anti-Communist hardliner, his views on dealing with the Soviet menace head on ultimately shaped US foreign policy in the Reagan administration.  And his work at William F. Buckley’s National Review gave the fledgling magazine its foreign policy heft.   Throughout his long public career, there emerged two James Burnhams: one who provided the early scaffolding to neoconservative ideas and the other who inspired paleoconservatives.  Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is joined by history professor David Byrne to discuss his latest book James Burnham: An Intellectual Biography.   About David Byrne David Byrne is an adjunct professor of history at California Baptist University and Santa Monica College.  He contributes to the blogs The American Thinker and Crisis: A Voice for the Faithful Catholic Laity.  His previous book Ronald Reagan: An Intellectual Biography analyzes the ideas that informed Reagan’s political philosophy and policies, establishing a rationale for the former president’s motives, and discusses how thinkers such as Plato and Adam Smith influenced him.   Have you heard?  Saving Elephants has joined Substack! Having trouble keeping up with all that Saving Elephants is producing these days?  Join the substack to receive monthly newsletters to your inbox with the latest podcast episodes, YouTube clips and interviews, blog posts, recommended readings, and even the occasional banjo solo (no joke).  

In his perpetual quest to mildly trigger his Straussian pals, Josh invites fellow Millennial and Burkean conservative Greg Collins on to discuss how Leo Strauss misconstrued Edmund Burke’s political views and lasting impact.  Also discussed are Burke’s complex views on natural rights, manners, reform, revolution, social contract theory, classical liberalism, and Rousseau.  Fair warning, dear listener, this one gets nerdy in a hurry!   About Greg Collins From The Kirk Center Dr. Gregory Collins is one of the most celebrated Burke scholars of the rising generation. He is a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Program on Ethics, Politics, and Economics at Yale University. He recently received the Buckley Institute’s 2024 Lux and Veritas Faculty Prize. His first book, Commerce and Manners in Edmund Burke’s Political Economy, examined Edmund Burke’s understanding of the connection between markets and morals. Greg has also published articles on Adam Smith, F.A. Hayek, Frederick Douglass, Eric Voegelin, Leo Strauss, and Britain’s East India Company. His additional writings and book reviews can be found in Modern Age, Law & Liberty, National Affairs, National Review, and University Bookman.  You can follow Greg on Twitter @GregCollins111   About the Russell Kirk Center’s School of Conservative Studies As is noted in the episode, Josh met Greg during a recent virtual course on Burke. In the month of February, the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal hosted two of the nation’s foremost Burke scholars, Ian Crowe and Gregory Collins, as they taught a special class on Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France. This was a pilot course offered in anticipation of the official launch of the Russell Kirk Center’s School of Conservative Studies in the Fall of 2025. For information about the School and future courses, sign up for the Center's e-letter and print newsletter, Permanent Things. https://kirkcenter.org/permanent-things/  

The Right has long had a thing or two to say about the importance of the family and its role in national stability and prosperity.  But there are sharp divisions regarding what political implications can be drawn from this idea, and what policies should be pursued to protect and strengthen families.   Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis welcomes economist Clara Piano to the show to talk about the government’s role in pro-natal and pro-family policies, the ideal population size, the challenges of under/over-population, ethical consumerism, and what some of today’s Right have in common with family policy practiced by the Soviet Union.   About Clara Piano From clarapiano.com   Clara Piano is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Mississippi. Her primary areas of research are family economics, law and economics, and public choice. Sher is also a Senior Fellow in the Family Program at Cardus, a Law & Economics Fellows Advisor for the International Center for Law & Economics, and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Markets & Morality. 

Is civil discourse even possible across the political divide when that divide seems so insurmountable? How do we maintain or even strengthen relationships when we don’t see politics the same? The latest Saving Elephants roundtable brings together panelists who all have experience in communicating across the divide: Eric Kohn (former Acton Institute podcast host), Corey Nathan (Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other), Will Wright and Josh Burtram (Faithful Politics Podcast), Elizabeth Doll (Braver Angels), and Calvin Moore (Leading Questions Podcast).