And the Hi, I'm Bill Crystal. Welcome to Conversations. I'm very glad to be joined today by Robert

George, a long time professor of politics at Princeton University,

director of the James Madison program

on American ideals and institutions.

Did I get that right?

That are right.

Excellent ideals and institutions.

We'll have to talk about that.

But Robbie, obviously, you're one of the most prominent

faculty members of Princeton, but also certainly one of the most prominent conservatives

and not terribly abashed about being conservative, who's a faculty member at a major

American University and just let's just begin with that.

Everyone thinks the universities are bastions of liberalism and worse. What is it like being a outspoken conservative faculty member at Princeton?

Well, you describe me as one of the most prominent, but I have to say it's easy to be

prominent when there are only six of us.

But actually there are more of us than people now. Now some people are in

the closet since you get a good bit of grief at a contemporary academic institution for

being a conservative. Some find it advisable just to keep a low profile about it.

I don't have the personality to do that, Bill, you and I have known each other long enough that you

know that I couldn't keep my mouth shut about things that I really care about and believe in.

So I've been outspoken from the moment I began my academic career I finished graduate school and started

at Princeton and to Princeton's credit I must say they hired me knowing exactly

...