Hello everybody & welcome back to Notes from the Front -
In this episode, we speak with David French, a New York Times columnist, Iraq War veteran, and constitutional lawyer with nearly two decades of litigation experience. He is also the author of Divided We Fall.
Our conversation focuses on how Americans with profound moral and political disagreements can continue to share a country. We discuss religious virtues, political polarization, the pro-life movement, free speech, same-sex marriage, the case for American pluralism, and more.
I hope you find this conversation as meaningful and fascinating as I did!
~ Michelle
🔗 Listen: [Spotify] | [Apple Podcasts]
📺 Watch: [YouTube]
📍 Chapters:
02:25 — Growing up with church at the center of life
09:48 — The gifts (and dangers) of religious community
13:51 — “Love God, love your neighbor” - and what about the self?
24:49 — What Christians and secular liberals misunderstand about each other
29:37 — The “big sort,” group polarization, and social-media nutpicking
35:10 — Can social media and AI help depolarize us?
41:25 — David’s political homelessness and break with the Republican Party
47:10 — What it means to be socially conservative
50:32 — The pro-life case against abortion
56:07 — IVF, discarded embryos, and snowflake adoption
58:30 — A civil libertarian’s case for pluralism
1:01:01 — Same-sex marriage and religious liberty
1:04:38 — Trump, illiberalism, and threats to free speech
1:14:48 — When campus protest becomes harassment
1:20:23 — Can a secular society sustain civic virtue?
1:26:17 — Humility as an acknowledgment of reality
📚 David’s Work:
Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation
David French at The New York Times
📧 Contact Michelle: michelle@notesfromthefront.com
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