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The Radio Free Hillsdale Hour

Hadley Arkes on the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution

The Radio Free Hillsdale Hour

Hillsdale College

Education

4.8650 Ratings

🗓️ 30 June 2023

⏱️ 54 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Guests: Miles Smith, Hadley Arkes, & Ingrid Jacques

Host Scot Bertram talks with Miles Smith, Assistant Professor of History at Hillsdale College, about his recent Op-ed at Chicago Tribune, "Activism and niches are killing the history profession." Hadley Arkes, Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions emeritus at Amherst College, discusses the natural law tradition and his new book Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution. And Ingrid Jacques, Columnist at USA Today and Hillsdale alumna, talks about the state of journalism and opinion writing and how Hillsdale helped prepare her for her career.

 

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Transcript

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0:00.0

From the historic campus of Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan, where the good, the true, and the beautiful are taught, nurtured, and honored, this is the Radio Free Hillsdale Hour, bringing the activity and education of the college to listeners across the country.

0:24.7

No man is by nature the ruler of other men.

0:28.0

The way that God is by nature of the ruler of men, and men are by nature the ruler of dogs and horses.

0:34.7

So if you find them in the world, some men are governing over others,

0:39.2

it can't arise from nature. It must arise from consent. This is your host, Scott Bertram.

0:45.5

Welcome to the Radio Free Hillsdale Hour, part of the Hillsdale College podcast network.

0:51.1

That was Hadley Arcus, author of the recent book, Mere Natural Hall,

0:55.3

Originalism, and the anchoring truths of the Constitution. We'll go in depth with Hadley Arcus

1:00.3

on the book in just a couple of minutes. First, we're joined by Dr. Miles Smith. He is

1:05.3

assistant professor of history at Hillsdale College. Dr. Smith, thanks so much for joining us.

1:10.2

Thank you, Scott. Talking about an

1:12.0

op-ed that you wrote, published in the Chicago Tribune and elsewhere, activism and niches are

1:18.4

killing the teaching of history at universities. What do the numbers say? What do we know about

1:24.1

the history professor positions across the country, history majors at colleges

1:28.3

across the country.

1:29.4

It's fallen off a cliff.

1:31.4

It was bad even before COVID.

1:35.4

But COVID actually, I think, just kind of put this, or an exclamation point, excuse me,

1:40.2

on what's happening to history as a profession.

1:42.7

People just aren't taking the classes anymore.

1:45.0

One of the easy sort of things to say is, well, it was COVID or that it's mere economic forces.

1:52.2

Those are kind of two easy answers that don't actually provide a complete picture of why people don't

...

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