Why are Machiavelli’s ideas still shaping politics, international relations, and American foreign policy nearly 500 years after his death?

In this episode of Roots, Rights & Reason, Lee Smith welcomes back political theorist and former national security official Michael Anton. Together, they examine Machiavelli’s understanding of human nature, power, leadership, and the harsh realities nations face when defending their interests.

Anton also draws upon his experience in the George W. Bush administration and both Trump administrations to discuss President Donald Trump’s approach to foreign policy, the decline of the liberal international order, America’s relationship with Russia, and why leaders must understand the motivations of their adversaries. Are we still living in the political world Machiavelli created, and can America escape it?

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In Episode 65 of Roots, Rights & Reason with Lee Smith, Dr. Robert W. Malone joins Lee to discuss how Americans can take greater control of their food, health, and independence. Drawing from Homesteading for Health, the new book he co-authored with his wife, Dr. Jill Glasspool Malone, he explains why homesteading is not limited to people with farms or large properties. From a window box or raised garden bed to regenerative farming, even small steps can help families produce healthier food and become more self-sufficient.

Smith and Malone also examine the growing influence of Big Food and industrial agriculture, the rise of chronic disease, and the corporate and political forces shaping what Americans eat. Their conversation explores seed oils, chemical farming, the MAHA movement, and how consumer demand may ultimately transform America’s food system. Can a renewed commitment to local food, living soil, and self-sufficiency help Americans reclaim their health and freedom?

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Robert Bork Jr. joins Lee to examine a surprising political development: the growing agreement between the left and right that government should exert greater control over America’s private markets. Bork calls this emerging ideology “conservative socialism,” a populist approach that uses antitrust enforcement and industrial policy to punish adversaries, reward allies, and choose economic winners and losers.

What happens when both political parties turn away from free-market principles? Smith and Bork discuss Big Tech, the legacy of The Antitrust Paradox, the erosion of the consumer welfare standard, and the threat political management poses to innovation, economic growth, and individual liberty.

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Twenty-five years after the September 11th terrorist attacks, Roots, Rights & Reason host Lee Smith welcomes national security expert J. Michael Waller for a candid examination of the choices America made in the years that followed. Smith and Waller discuss the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the absence of clearly defined strategies for victory, America’s reliance on foreign partners, and what Waller describes as the failure of federal agencies to recognize ideological and institutional threats developing within the United States.

The conversation also considers how decades of prolonged conflict have weakened public confidence in America’s ability to defend its interests. Waller argues that the answer is not isolationism or another open-ended war, but clearly defined objectives, decisive action, stronger regional allies, and the courage to confront threats before they become crises. For the millions of Americans born after September 11, the episode offers both a warning and a challenge: learn the lessons of the past, speak out when danger emerges, and help restore the resolve necessary to keep the nation secure.

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For decades, the Muslim Brotherhood has pursued influence in America through a strategy designed to operate gradually and often outside public view. In Episode Sixty-Two of Roots, Rights & Reason, host Lee Smith sits down with Kyle Shideler, Director and Senior Analyst for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism at the Center for Security Policy, to examine how that strategy works and why he believes it represents a serious national security threat.

Shideler explains how Brotherhood-linked organizations have worked to shape public opinion, influence American institutions, cultivate political relationships, and establish themselves as representatives of Muslim communities. He also discusses the Muslim Brotherhood’s 1991 “Explanatory Memorandum,” the significance of evidence uncovered during the Holy Land Foundation trial, and what he describes as the federal government’s failure to investigate how the network has evolved. From political candidates and campus activism to Hamas propaganda and foreign policy, this conversation reveals why the Muslim Brotherhood’s decades-long campaign for influence deserves renewed public scrutiny.

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Episode Sixty-One of Roots, Rights & Reason with Lee Smith, titled “Why Left-Wing Political Violence Goes Unpunished,” features Scott Wheeler, an investigative journalist, national security expert, and U.S. Army veteran who has spent decades investigating terrorist networks, foreign intelligence operations, and threats to the United States.

In this conversation, Smith and Wheeler examine the growth of left-wing political violence, the networks operating behind groups such as Antifa and Jane’s Revenge, and the failure of federal law enforcement to hold perpetrators accountable. Wheeler also discusses his investigation into the 2022 firebombing of a pro-life pregnancy center near Buffalo, New York, and warns that extremist groups will continue escalating their tactics for as long as authorities allow political violence to go unpunished.

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More than a century after the Bolshevik Revolution, communism continues to attract followers despite its legacy of tyranny, economic devastation and more than 100 million deaths worldwide. In Episode 60 of Roots, Rights & Reason, host Lee Smith speaks with Dr. Bradley Thayer, Fellow at the American Freedom Alliance, about why this destructive ideology continues to survive and find renewed support in the United States.

Drawing from his new book, America’s 100 Years’ War: How to Win Against Communism, Dr. Thayer examines how communism exploits grievance, resentment and the desire for political power. He also discusses its influence within American institutions and offers an optimistic message: America can defeat communism by restoring a strong national identity rooted in individual liberty, God-given rights, free markets and the rule of law.

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How did America’s colleges and universities move from teaching the foundations of Western civilization to promoting ideologies increasingly hostile toward the nation’s history, principles, and institutions?

In this episode of Roots, Rights & Reason, Lee Smith speaks with Peter Berkowitz, the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, about the rise of campus antisemitism following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks and its connection to a broader rejection of Israel, America, and the West.

Berkowitz traces the decades-long decline of liberal education, explaining how universities shifted from helping students examine competing ideas to encouraging political activism and ideological conformity. He also discusses his forthcoming book, Reclaiming Liberal Education in America, and outlines how educators can restore intellectual inquiry, constitutional principles, and the study of America’s founding.

The conversation concludes with a call for Americans to rediscover The Federalist Papers and the extraordinary experiment in ordered liberty entrusted to each generation.

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