Frank Meyer, Inventor of Conservatism (w/ Daniel J. Flynn)
Know Your Enemy28 Aug 2025

Frank Meyer, Inventor of Conservatism (w/ Daniel J. Flynn)

Devoted Know Your Enemy listeners will recall that, in November 2021, we released a fairly dense, theory-driven episode on Frank Meyer, the Communist from New Jersey whose exploits on behalf of the Party in the UK got him kicked out of the country and back to the United States, where he eventually turned right and became a key figure in the post-war U.S. conservative movement, both as an editor at National Review and an architect of institutions like the American Conservative Union, Young Americans for Freedom, and the Conservative Party of New York. Of course, we had more to say about Meyer, and we're devoting another episode to him, this time focused on the details of his incredible life, thanks to the publication of an extraordinary new biography of Meyer, Daniel J. Flynn's The Man Who Invented Conservatism: The Unlikely Life of Frank S. Meyer. Flynn discovered a trove of never-before-seen papers of Meyer's that range from personal documents (tax returns, Christmas cards from Joan Didion, his dance card from college) to his correspondence with nearly every conservative writer and intellectual of note in the 1950s and 60s. Armed with these files, Flynn offers a vivid portrait of a brilliant, eccentric political life and mind.

Listen again: "Frank Meyer: Father of Fusionism" (November 10, 2021)

Sources:

Daniel J. Flynn, The Man Who Invented Conservatism: The Unlikely Life of Frank S. Meyer (2025)

Frank S. Meyer, In Defense of Freedom: A Conservative Credo (Regnery, 1962)

F.A. Hayek, "Why I am Not a Conservative," from The Constitution of Liberty: The Definitive Edition (2011)

George H. Nash, The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945 (Basic Books, 1976)

Garry Wills, Confessions of a Conservative (Doubleday, 1979)

"Against the Dead Consensus," First Things, March 21, 2019

...and don't forget to subscribe on Patreon for access to all of our bonus episodes!

Avsnitt(258)

Trump's War Against Iran (w/ Matt Duss)

Trump's War Against Iran (w/ Matt Duss)

On February 28, both the United States and Israel attacked Iran, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the nation's Supreme Leader, along with other political leaders and government officials, destroying va...

6 Mars 1h 16min

Standing Athwart History, Yelling "Slop!" (w/ John Ganz) [Teaser]

Standing Athwart History, Yelling "Slop!" (w/ John Ganz) [Teaser]

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy. On Monday, Manhattan Institute fellow Chris Rufo posted this: "The Right's collective brain is getting melted in...

27 Feb 2min

Leaving MAGA Behind (w/ Pedro L. Gonzalez)

Leaving MAGA Behind (w/ Pedro L. Gonzalez)

When people break with MAGA, most of them walk away and don't look back, whether out of shame or fear or both. So it's a rare thing to talk with someone willing to describe publicly why they joined th...

23 Feb 1h 19min

'Shattered Glass,' Journalism, & the End of History [Teaser]

'Shattered Glass,' Journalism, & the End of History [Teaser]

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy.This episode is about Shattered Glass, the 2003 movie portraying former New Republic writer Stephen Glass's fall ...

16 Feb 3min

Tucker Carlson's Phases & Stages (w/ Jason Zengerle)

Tucker Carlson's Phases & Stages (w/ Jason Zengerle)

Finally, an episode about Tucker Carlson—and at an auspicious time, as his influence on the right seems only to have grown in the first year of Trump's second term. To help us understand him, we turne...

9 Feb 1h 16min

On the Ground in Minneapolis (w/ Lydia Polgreen) [Teaser]

On the Ground in Minneapolis (w/ Lydia Polgreen) [Teaser]

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy.The shocking execution of Alex Pretti occurred after we recorded our last episode for subscribers about Minneapol...

2 Feb 5min

The Donroe Doctrine (w/ David Adler & Matt Kirkegaard)

The Donroe Doctrine (w/ David Adler & Matt Kirkegaard)

Last week, all eyes were on Davos as President Trump unfurled his deranged desire to buy or take Greenland from Denmark—just weeks after the United States kidnapped Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro...

26 Jan 1h 13min

The Killing of Renee Good [Teaser]

The Killing of Renee Good [Teaser]

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy.Matt and Sam discuss the January 7 killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis by an ICE agent, the promising signs that...

19 Jan 4min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

svenska-fall
aftonbladet-krim
p3-krim
rss-krimstad
fordomspodden
flashback-forever
motiv
rss-sanning-konsekvens
aftonbladet-daily
blenda-2
spar
rss-krimreportrarna
svd-ledarredaktionen
olyckan-inifran
rss-frandfors-horna
rss-vad-fan-hande
rss-flodet
dagens-eko
krimmagasinet
politiken