The American Mind

About The American Mind

The American Mind is an online publication of the Claremont Institute devoted to recovering and defending American political thought. Launched in October 2018, it was conceived as an edgier, faster-moving complement to the Institute's flagship quarterly, the Claremont Review of Books, publishing daily essays, editorials and debates on politics, philosophy and culture. Based in Upland, California, where the Claremont Institute is headquartered, it has quickly become one of the leading organs of the young online American right, known for its combative style, its engagement with Trump-era controversies, and its ambition to rethink the ideological framework of American conservatism. Its website is americanmind.org.

The Claremont Institute

The American Mind is published by the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank founded in 1979 by four students of the Straussian political theorist Harry V. Jaffa, a professor emeritus at Claremont McKenna College and Claremont Graduate University. The Institute has no affiliation with the Claremont Colleges despite the shared name. Its stated mission is to restore the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent authority in national life, and for more than four decades it has been a voice in the fight for constitutional government against progressivism and the administrative state. Under Jaffa and Larry P. Arnn, who led the Institute from 1985 to 2000 before becoming president of Hillsdale College, it became a Straussian-influenced center of conservative scholarship on statesmanship, Lincoln and modern political questions.

The Institute is led by president Ryan P. Williams, who has served since 2017 after more than a decade in leadership roles including chief operating officer and director of programs, and by chairman of the board Thomas Klingenstein. Its alumni ranks include national television and radio hosts, a sitting United States senator, numerous federal judges and many conservative activists, and its fellowship programs, including the Publius, Lincoln, John Marshall and Speechwriters fellowships, have trained generations of rising leaders. In 2019 the Institute received the National Humanities Medal from President Donald J. Trump, only the second think tank ever to receive the presidential honor.

Launching The American Mind

The American Mind was launched in October 2018 with the goal, in the words of its founder and editor-in-chief Matthew Peterson, of lighting a spark on the intellectual right. Peterson, who also serves as a vice president of the Claremont Institute, said the publication was meant to provide a forum in which conservatives could hash out their differences vigorously yet civilly and rethink the ideological framework of the American right. The launch came at a moment when the Institute's influence was growing rapidly: the famous September 2016 Claremont Review of Books essay "The Flight 93 Election," published pseudonymously and later credited to Michael Anton of Hillsdale College, had helped define the intellectual case for Donald Trump's candidacy and ushered in a new era of combative conservative politics.

The new publication was designed to be more populist and immediate than the quarterly Review of Books: daily content mixing philosophy and politics, in shorter formats, aimed at a wider audience and at direct engagement with the controversies of the Trump era. James Poulos, a fellow at the Center for the Study of Digital Life with a doctorate in government from Georgetown University, joined as executive editor, tasked with focusing the minds of Americans, left, right and center, on Americanism properly understood in the twenty-first century. The publication established itself quickly as a penetrating and clarifying read for rising and established leaders in politics, policy, the academy and culture.

Content and Formats

The American Mind publishes essays, editorials and debates on a daily rhythm, covering American politics, political philosophy, culture, technology, immigration, education and foreign policy. Its content mixes long-form argument with shorter polemical pieces, and it regularly stages debates between writers who disagree, honoring Peterson's founding vision of a forum for vigorous but civil disagreement within the right. The site's tone is deliberately more combative and accessible than that of the Claremont Review of Books, and its writers engage directly with the news cycle while grounding their arguments in the Institute's founding principles.

The publication's themes cluster around the preoccupations of the Claremont school: the crisis of the American regime, the threat of the administrative state, the influence of progressive ideology in institutions, the defense of Western civilization, critiques of mainstream conservatism as weak or complacent, and the need for muscular, principled leadership. It has published controversial pieces that drew national attention and criticism, and its willingness to court controversy has been central to its identity as the edgier complement to the more erudite quarterly. Supporters describe it as one of the few conservative publications willing to argue from first principles; critics have accused it of drifting toward the political fringe.

The Podcast and The Roundtable

The American Mind extends beyond the written word through its podcast, a production of the Claremont Institute that has released hundreds of episodes. The podcast's flagship program is The Roundtable, a weekly show hosted by the publication's editors and publisher, blending jovial conversation with intellectually serious discussion of the topics shaping the debate over American life, occasionally accompanied by a glass of whisky. Each episode focuses on a handful of topics carrying significant weight in the contest of ideas over the best path for American life, both private and civic.

Alongside The Roundtable, the podcast produces special features on individual topics with commentary from leading thinkers, conceived as succinct audio documentaries on questions of politics and culture. The podcast describes its mission as uncovering the ideas and principles that drive American political life and engaging Institute scholars, allies and critics in discussions of the real causes of the current political and cultural reality, always with an eye toward restoring American civic health. The audio operation has extended the publication's reach to audiences who encounter its arguments through listening rather than reading.

Relationship to the Claremont Review of Books

The American Mind exists in deliberate counterpoint to the Claremont Review of Books, the Institute's flagship quarterly founded in 2000 and edited by Charles Kesler. The Review publishes long-form essays on politics, philosophy and culture in an erudite, philosophical register, with a circulation of around ten thousand and an influence that far exceeds its numbers; its contributors include prominent conservative intellectuals. The American Mind was conceived as the younger, faster, more combative sibling: where the Review is cerebral and quarterly, The American Mind is daily, polemical and oriented toward the online right.

Together the two publications anchor the Claremont Institute's media presence, alongside the American Story podcast and Claremont Books. The Institute's broader publication ecosystem reflects its strategy of operating at multiple speeds and registers: the slow, scholarly quarterly for the world of ideas, and the fast, argumentative daily site for the world of politics. The American Mind's emergence as a leading organ of the young online right has been one of the most significant developments in conservative media of the past decade, and it has amplified the Institute's voice far beyond the readership of the quarterly.

Influence and Controversy

The American Mind's rise coincided with, and helped to define, the ascent of the nationalist and conservative-populist "New Right" as a challenge to the fusionist conservative establishment. Many Claremont alumni filled the ranks of the Trump White House, and the Institute made inroads with figures such as Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Commentators across the political spectrum have noted the Institute's growing clout: the New York Times, the Washington Post and conservative outlets alike have devoted substantial coverage to Claremont's ideas and influence, a level of attention the think tank had not previously commanded.

The attention has not all been admiring. Critics have cited the Institute's fellowship grants to controversial figures, essays questioning the citizenship eligibility of political figures, and publications by authors affiliated with far-right networks as evidence of a drift toward the fringe. National Review columnist Mona Charen criticized the Institute's embrace of what she called the smarmy underside of American politics, and other commentators have used harsher terms. The Institute and its publications have generally treated such criticism as confirmation that they are asking the questions the establishment prefers to avoid, and The American Mind has continued to publish provocative arguments at a daily pace.

Debates and Signature Arguments

The American Mind has made its name not only through individual essays but through staged debates that air disagreements within the right. True to Matthew Peterson's founding vision of a forum where differences are hashed out vigorously yet civilly, the site regularly publishes exchanges between writers who share a broadly conservative orientation but differ sharply on strategy, philosophy or policy. These debates have covered questions of immigration, the administrative state, the proper posture toward the legacy of the Founding, and the relationship between conservatism and the nationalist populism of the Trump era.

The publication's signature arguments return again and again to the Claremont school's core themes: that the American regime faces a crisis rooted in the growth of an unaccountable administrative state, that progressive ideology has captured the country's major institutions, and that conservatism must become more assertive and philosophically grounded if it hopes to reverse the trend. Whether engaging with election controversies, cultural flashpoints or questions of political theory, The American Mind's writers argue from the principles of the Founding as the Institute understands them. The consistency of that framework, applied daily to the news, is what gives the publication its distinctive voice.

Reading The American Mind

The American Mind is published online at americanmind.org, where readers can find its daily essays, editorials and debates alongside information about the Claremont Institute's fellowships, events and other publications. The site is free to read, supported by the Institute's donors, foundations and membership revenue. Its podcast, including The Roundtable and its special documentary features, is available through standard podcast platforms, extending the publication's arguments into audio.

For readers interested in the intellectual currents shaping the American right, The American Mind offers the most direct window into the Claremont school's thinking: its account of the American Founding, its critique of the administrative state, and its vision of a conservatism oriented toward civilizational struggle rather than policy tinkering. Whether one finds its arguments bracing or alarming, the publication has established itself as an unavoidable presence in contemporary American political debate. Visit americanmind.org to read the latest essays and explore the archives.