James Lindsay on the MAGA Civil War | Ep. 11

James Lindsay — author, mathematician, and the man who coined the term "woke right" — joins Jeremy Boreing for a wide-ranging conversation on what's really happening inside the conservative movement. Is the cultural "immune system" of the right holding? Or has a subversive faction — what Lindsay calls the woke right — successfully dressed up leftist methodology in trad clothing and insinuated itself into MAGA? Jeremy and James dig into the methodology, the ontology, and the history: from Marx and Rousseau to Alfred Rosenberg's "Myth of the 20th Century," from Catholic integralism to Carl Schmitt's unbound executive, from the paradox of tolerance to the principle of reciprocal tolerance. Jeremy presses Lindsay on the question dividing the right: is he rooting out subversives, or is he burning down coalitions the movement can't afford to lose? They spar over Matt Walsh, Chris Rufo, Tucker Carlson, and JD Vance — and where the line sits between exposing bad actors and alienating potential allies. They also get into James's positive vision: a high-trust society, Federalist 51, divided powers, stewardship of power rather than the wielding of it, and why loving America — warts and all — is the only foundation a real coalition can be built on. And in a rare personal turn, James opens up about faith, agnosticism, the Book of James, and why he doesn't particularly want to be remembered. A vital conversation for anyone trying to understand the realignment happening on the right in 2026. 00:00 Intro: Has the conservative movement been co-opted? 03:05 What is the "Woke Right"? 11:15 Looking Backward: Marx, the Fascists & the Return to Eden 25:05 Lindsay's Vision: Federalist 51 and the High-Trust Society 42:00 Power, Stewardship, and the Limits of Government 57:00 An Age of Miracles: The Case for American Optimism 01:10:45 The Online War: Matt Walsh, Chris Rufo & Coalition Politics 01:34:19 Tucker, JD Vance, and Building a Positive America 01:41:40 Faith, Legacy, and the Book of James Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices