Theory 2 Action Podcast

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649

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Nov 2026

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We examine and explore the great books, to extract their nuggets of wisdom helping to save you time, and ultimately to take action to FLOURISH in life. Powered by The MOJO Academy.

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November 7, 202626 min

LM#85--Is 2026 Another 1974 Or Another 1874?

FAN MAIL--We would love YOUR feedback--Send us a Text Message A voter stares at the gas pump as the price spins upward and realizes something bigger than a bad day is happening. That small moment can become a political earthquake and I think it explains more about wave elections than most pundit panels ever will. I walk through why so many people keep reaching for 1974 as the easy comparison for 2026: Watergate-era backlash, economic anxiety, and a sweeping defeat that later turned into the Reagan comeback story. But I also challenge the comforting assumption hidden inside that analogy. Yes, Republicans recovered after 1974 and built a winning coalition by 1980, but that recovery was built through years of discipline, arguments, institutions, and leadership, not nostalgia or better ads. I also ask the question we can’t dodge if we want an honest political strategy: why would voters back Trump in 2024 and then elect Democrats statewide in 2026? Then I widen the lens to 1874, when a different Republican wave loss under Ulysses S Grant led to consequences that lasted for generations. Using Michael Barone’s Our Country: The Shaping of America from Roosevelt to Reagan, I dig into what 1975 felt like on the ground and why state-level losses can shape policy, budgets, and maps for a decade. The takeaway is simple and blunt: hope is not a strategy, and a comeback does not happen on its own. Key Points from the Episode: • the gas pump as a political warning signal • why the Republican recovery after Watergate is a fact but not a promise • the hard question of split-ticket voters after 2026 • Michael Barone’s account of 1975 economic pain and public mood • how Watergate-era losses hit statehouses and legislatures, not just Congress • what 1874 suggests about long-term realignment and the stakes after a wave • why comebacks require ideas, institutions, and local effort before the next vote If this episode got you thinking, head over to Substack. Check out the full piece I wrote earlier after the debacle. Watergate costs Republicans a president. The 2026 defeat could cost them the future. Be sure to check out our show page at teammojoacademy.com, where we have everything we discussed in this podcast as well as other great resources. Links: 📩 5 min Book Briefs + Writings on Substack 👇 Substack https://mojoacademy.substack.com/

October 31, 202631 min

It's NOT a New Thing. It's a New York Thing: my trip to NYC.

FAN MAIL--We would love YOUR feedback--Send us a Text Message War reaches New York City first as a headline and a balance-sheet panic. After Fort Sumter is shelled, newsboys tear up Broadway, Walt Whitman watches the commotion, and a room full of businessmen turns pale at one thought: “My God, we are ruined.” That opening scene from City of Sedition: The History of New York City During the Civil War becomes our doorway into a stranger, truer story of the Civil War, one where Manhattan sits on the fault line between Union loyalty and Southern money. We talk through how New York’s prewar economy is wired into cotton, credit, shipping, and insurance, and why that makes Lincoln’s relationship with the city so complicated. The same New York that votes heavily against him also helps launch him through the Cooper Union spotlight and delivers the statewide electoral votes he needs to reach the White House. We also dig into the political personality of the city itself, including Mayor Fernando Wood’s infamous idea that New York should break away and become its own neutral “free city” to protect its trade. Then we follow the contradiction into the war years: Wall Street financing, immigrant regiments, and industrial muscle on one side, and on the other side profiteering, Copperhead agitation, and vicious anti-war rhetoric that helps set the stage for the 1863 New York City Draft Riots, the deadliest rioting in American history. If you care about American history, New York City history, Abraham Lincoln, or how money shapes politics, this one will sharpen how you see both the past and the present. Key Points from the Episode: • a Broadway moment when Fort Sumter news lands and businessmen panic over Southern debt • how New York City develops a stubborn civic character that “moves its own way” • why City of Sedition cracks the myth of a pure and united North • the economic pipeline linking New York banks, shipping, insurance, and Southern cotton • Lincoln’s New York problem and why statewide support matters to his election math • the Cooper Union platform that helps build Lincoln’s national credibility • Mayor Fernando Wood’s proposal for New York to become an independent “free city” • how New York funds the war while also breeding profiteering and anti-war media • the 1863 Draft Riots and what they reveal about the city’s darkest impulses • the practical habit we’re trying to build, reading history before judging headlines Other goodness Check us out over at substack! We are building and have built out a whole library of book briefs, just one pager's five-minute read over at the Mojo Book Academy on Substack, mojoacademy.substack.com. Keep fighting the good fight!

October 17, 202624 min

LM#84--The Cost Of Sitting Out

FAN MAIL--We would love YOUR feedback--Send us a Text Message You can feel justified skipping an election. You can tell yourself it is a protest, a message, a lesson. We challenge that story by walking through a stark thought experiment set in 2031: what happens when frustrated conservatives sit out the 2026 midterms and the Senate flips, the filibuster falls, and judicial confirmations stop cold. Whether you agree with every detail or not, the underlying question is real and urgent: how quickly can the rules change when one side controls Congress and the White House with only 50 votes? We take the viral-style scenario and strip it down to the mechanics of power, focusing on Senate control, the filibuster, and why courts are downstream of elections. We also talk through major proposals that already exist as bills or party priorities, including Supreme Court expansion, statehood pushes that add senators and electoral votes, single-payer health care as a new permanent bureaucracy, and immigration policy that can reshape the electorate over time. The theme is compounding: one institutional change can unlock the next. Then we reach back to history for the clearest warning label we know. The 1912 split between Taft and Theodore Roosevelt helps Woodrow Wilson win with a plurality, and the next few years deliver lasting federal institutions like the income tax system, the Federal Reserve, and new regulatory agencies. The names change, but the lesson sticks: when you hand the other side the pen, what they write can last for generations. If you are angry, disappointed, or tired of politics, this Liberty Minute is built for you, and it ends with a practical voting plan you can execute in minutes. Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who is tempted to stay home, and leave a review with your take: what actually changes your mind to vote? Key Points from the Episode: • a fictional 2031 scenario as a turnout warning • why Senate control drives judges and the filibuster • how court expansion, new states and amnesty can lock in power • the 1912 Taft versus Roosevelt split and the Wilson aftermath • why Congress writes the laws while presidents get the headlines • responding to voter frustration and the temptation to sit out • a simple plan to vote and bring others with you So with 18 days, let me ask that you go check your registration. Go to your Secretary of State's website. It takes two minutes. Make a plan, early vote, absentee vote, election day vote. Pick the day, pick the time, pick put it on your calendar. Bring three people with you. Links: https://x.com/RedEaglePatriot 📩 5 min Book Briefs + Writings on Substack 👇 Substack https://mojoacademy.substack.com/ 🤪 Every single week we publish a newsletter called Crazy versus Common Sense. The crazy versus common sense newsletter. And friends, it's completely free!! So go sign up today. https://crazyvscommonsense.substack.com/

October 8, 202625 min

LM#83--How Democracies Confront A Death Cult

FAN MAIL--We would love YOUR feedback--Send us a Text Message A young man murders a woman, takes her phone, and calls his parents to brag about how many Jews he killed. That single, sickening detail forces a question most people try to dodge: what do you call an ideology that doesn’t just commit murder, but celebrates it without shame? We use Douglas Murray’s “Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization” to walk straight into that question. Murray argues October 7 was not “war” in any normal sense, but a hunt for civilians, followed by hostage taking. We break down the recorded phone call Murray cites and the three telltale signs inside it: excitement instead of remorse, parents who bless the violence, and a culture where killing is treated like a proud achievement. Along the way, we wrestle with a haunting warning from George Weidenfeld, a Jewish refugee from Nazi Austria, who believed some modern antisemitism is worse than what he saw in the 1930s. Then we turn toward what a free society does next. Weidenfeld’s own life offers a path: he repays courage with courage, helping others escape ISIS years later. We also pull in Marco Rubio’s speech in Athens at the cradle of democracy, where he names the “cult of death,” calls the West to stop being ashamed of its history, rebuild strength, and stand together against terror networks and their sponsors. If you care about October 7, Hamas, antisemitism, Israel, Western civilization, and defending democracy with moral clarity, this one is for you. Key Points from the Episode: • recounting the October 7 atrocities and why plain language matters • Douglas Murray’s definition of a death cult and what the recorded call reveals • the three details in the call that expose pride without remorse • George Weidenfeld’s warning about hatred worse than Nazis • why hiding evil versus broadcasting it changes the moral stakes • refusing silence as antisemitism spreads across the West • Rubio’s Athens message: stop being ashamed, choose strength, stand together • rebuilding conviction at home through truth, virtue, and gratitude Links: 📩 5 min Book Briefs + Writings on Substack 👇 Substack https://mojoacademy.substack.com/ 🤪 Every single week we publish a newsletter called Crazy versus Common Sense. The crazy versus common sense newsletter. And friends, it's completely free!! So go sign up today. https://crazyvscommonsense.substack.com/

September 29, 202620 min

LM#82--The RAF Fairford Scare And What It Means For US Security

FAN MAIL--We would love YOUR feedback--Send us a Text Message Three vans. Five men. Two in the morning. And a road that points toward RAF Fairford, one of the most important bomber operating locations tied to US power projection in Europe. When British counterterrorism police make arrests that trigger evacuations and bomb disposal teams, then release the suspects on police bail, it raises a question we can’t ignore: what does a “near miss” around a strategic air base mean for American security, NATO deterrence, and the safety of our people overseas? I walk through what we actually know versus what we don’t, because a suspicious stop is not the same as a confirmed attack, and precision matters if we want to respond wisely. Then we dig into why Fairford matters at all, from heavy bomber access to alliance signaling, and why threats don’t have to breach a gate to be deadly. Bases rely on supply lines, contractors, nearby towns, and a public that’s willing to report what looks wrong. We also tackle the motive question without pretending certainty. We talk about Iran’s long history of proxy warfare and sponsorship of groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, the reality of rapid online radicalization, and the broader civilizational and internal cohesion pressures that can weaken an ally from within. The big takeaway is simple and unsettling: the front line is no longer a place on a map. Key Points from the Episode: • the known facts of the RAF Fairford arrests and what “police bail” means in the UK system • why RAF Fairford serves as a critical US bomber launch pad for Europe and beyond • separating suspicion from certainty while the motive remains unknown • how Iran’s proxy strategy shapes threats even when the links are not proven • why overseas base security depends on roads, towns, contractors, and citizen reporting • the question of allied resilience and internal stability as part of deterrence • “the front line is no longer a place on a map” as the core lesson • the key questions to watch: what was in the vans, was Fairford the target, was a foreign state involved, will charges follow Be sure to check out our show page at TeamMojoAcademy.com, where we have everything we discussed in this podcast as well as other great resources. Read book briefs 44 and 45 on Substack. Go back and listen to Liberty Minute 81. Links? 📩 5 min Book Briefs + Writings on Substack 👇 Substack https://mojoacademy.substack.com/ 🤪 Every single week we publish a newsletter called Crazy versus Common Sense. The crazy versus common sense newsletter. And friends, it's completely free!! So go sign up today. https://crazyvscommonsense.substack.com/

September 22, 202617 min

MM#489--A History Comparison: Two Mornings That Changed America

FAN MAIL--We would love YOUR feedback--Send us a Text Message A normal morning can be the most dangerous setup in history. We look back at two dates that still define American memory December 7, 1941 and September 11, 2001 and ask why they feel so similar at first, yet lead to very different kinds of wars. Using the 9/11 Commission Report as our anchor, we trace how surprise attacks expose something deeper than gaps in weapons or intelligence: a failure of imagination, an inability to picture what an enemy might actually attempt until it’s already happening. From Pearl Harbor’s shock to America’s industrial surge, we pull out an uncomfortable but empowering truth: the United States becomes the mightiest power on earth after it’s caught unprepared, because it chooses to rebuild and outproduce its enemies. That’s not a story about starting strong. It’s a story about refusing to stay weak, and it points to the kind of national character that still matters when the world turns. Then we draw the line where the comparison breaks. Pearl Harbor has a nation-state behind it, something you can find on a map and force to surrender. 9/11 comes from a networked ideology, and you can defeat a country but you cannot invade an idea. That’s where Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations enters the conversation, along with the sobering reality that the War on Terror never offered a clean finish line, and that the threat adapts through proxies, online radicalization, and new theaters of conflict. We close with three lessons worth keeping: don’t confuse eventual victory with early strength, don’t mistake a quiet decade for a solved problem, and prepare for what you haven’t imagined yet because the next Pearl Harbor may come through cyber attacks, disinformation, or a power grid. Key Points from the Episode: We pull lessons from the 9/11 Commission Report and Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations to ask what it means to fight a networked ideology without a clear finish line. • the emotional and historical parallels between December 7, 1941 and September 11, 2001 • why America’s pre-1941 weakness matters more than the later victory story • the “failure of imagination” problem and the cost of not connecting the dots • how Pearl Harbor produces a visible enemy and a definable end state • why the War on Terror differs when the enemy is an ideology and a network • what Huntington predicts about civilizational conflict and why it still resonates • how threats adapt after 2011 through proxies, online radicalization, and instability • why cyber attacks, drones, and disinformation may define the next crisis • three practical lessons: don’t confuse victory with early strength, don’t assume quiet means solved, prepare for the unimaginable If this episode helped you to see the story more clearly, I'd be grateful if you left a review. Click the link if we've earned five stars from you. Other goodness Check us out over at substack! We are building and have built out a whole library of book briefs, just one pager's five-minute read over at the Mojo Book Academy on Substack, mojoacademy.substack.com. Keep fighting the good fight! If this made you think, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

September 7, 202630 min

LM#81--Sept 11th--25 years later: A Western Civilization Defense

FAN MAIL--We would love YOUR feedback--Send us a Text Message A Harvard professor made a prediction in the 1990s that sounded almost rude at the time: the Cold War didn’t end history, it just cleared the stage. Twenty five years after 9/11, we take that prediction seriously and ask what Samuel P. Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations gets right about identity, religion, and culture as forces that shape politics and war. We walk through Huntington’s core ideas in plain language: what a “civilization” is, how each of us carries layered identities, and why those identities don’t disappear when markets grow or borders shift. Then we test the theory against reality. 9/11 wasn’t random violence, and it wasn’t simply a story about poverty or policy mistakes. It was a declaration from a revolutionary strain of Islamist politics, and Huntington’s historical runway helps explain how decades of grievance, power, and memory set the conditions. We also draw a bright line that matters: al Qaeda does not speak for Islam, and many of the victims of jihadism have been Muslims themselves. From there, we turn the lens back on us. We talk about America’s mixed post 9/11 record, the limits of exporting democracy, and the evolving threats that replaced any illusion of a “peace dividend,” from cyber conflict to authoritarian rivals to mass migration used as pressure. Finally, we ask the hardest question: if culture is this durable, why is Western civilization worth defending? We make the affirmative case for rule of law, freedom of conscience, constitutional government, inherent human dignity, and ordered liberty, and we lay out what defense looks like in daily life: education, speech, borders, and strong local institutions. Key Points from the Episode: • marking 9/11 with grief, names, and historical memory • defining “civilization” as the deepest cultural layer • explaining layered identity and how it can change • tracing Huntington’s core claim from ideology to culture • correcting the “civilizations as monoliths” mistake • using the framework to understand jihadism without equating it with Islam • judging America’s post-9/11 record as mixed: strong defense, weak nation-building • naming modern threats after Bin Laden: Iran, migration as a weapon, cyber conflict, China, Russia, Western self-doubt • making the affirmative case for Western civilization: dignity, rule of law, freedom of conscience, ordered liberty • outlining what defending the West looks like: free speech, real education, humane borders, strong local institutions Links? Huntington's 1993 Foreign Policy article 📩 5 min Book Briefs + Writings on Substack 👇 Substack https://mojoacademy.substack.com/ 🤪 Every single week we publish a newsletter called Crazy versus Common Sense. The crazy versus common sense newsletter. And friends, it's completely free!! So go sign up today. https://crazyvscommonsense.substack.com/ 🎙️ Theory 2 Action podcast 👇 Website and other great resources https://www.teammojoacademy.com/

September 1, 202626 min

LM#80--Youtube Channel Banned

FAN MAIL--We would love YOUR feedback--Send us a Text Message Somebody flipped a switch and more than a hundred hours of work disappeared. That’s not a metaphor. Our Mojo Academy YouTube channel gets terminated with a single email citing “impersonation,” no warning, no specific video, and no clear explanation and it forces a blunt question: if a platform can erase your work instantly, what do you actually own? We walk through what the ban feels like, why the appeal process matters, and why this is bigger than one channel. When the rules are invisible and the decision-maker is unaccountable, “platform” starts to look a lot like “landlord.” So we talk practical resilience for creators and builders: backups, diversified distribution, and why Substack and a podcast feed can protect your relationship with your audience when algorithms and policies change. Then we zoom out to politics with Matthew Goodwin’s Suicide of a Nation, the concept of “suicidal empathy,” and the claim that Britain’s institutions have drifted from the people they exist to serve. We connect that UK warning to American concerns about borders, trust, and parties that stop listening to their voters, drawing parallels to books like Douglas Murray’s work and Todd Bensman’s Overrun. We close by explaining what the Mojo Academy Book Brief is, why we built it, and what’s coming next with longer Academy Reviews and narrated audio. If you care about free speech, deplatforming risk, immigration debates, and staying grounded in real arguments instead of hot takes, hit play, subscribe, and share this with a friend. After you listen, leave a review and tell us: where are you building what you can’t afford to lose? Key Points from the Episode: • YouTube channel removal with no warning and no named violation • Why deplatforming feels like erasure of work • The “platform vs landlord” lesson and owning distribution • “Suicide of a Nation” and the idea of suicidal empathy • UK immigration, identity, and institutions drifting from the public • Parallels to US politics, borders, and parties losing voters • What the Mojo Academy Book Brief includes and how to use it • Why Substack becomes the hub and what Academy Review adds Links? 📩 5 min Book Briefs + Writings on Substack 👇 Substack https://mojoacademy.substack.com/ 🤪 Every single week we publish a newsletter called Crazy versus Common Sense. The crazy versus common sense newsletter. And friends, it's completely free!! So go sign up today. https://crazyvscommonsense.substack.com/ 🎙️ Theory 2 Action podcast 👇 Website and other great resources https://www.teammojoacademy.com/

August 26, 202617 min

MM#488--The Five Year Anniversary of Abbey Gate And The Cost Of Hesitation

FAN MAIL--We would love YOUR feedback--Send us a Text Message A single moment at Abbey Gate still captures a whole era of American foreign policy: a Marine identifies a threat, asks for permission to act, and is told no until the danger disappears into the crowd. Hours later, the Kabul evacuation turns into a massacre that kills 13 American service members and scores of Afghan civilians. Five years on, we slow down and tell the story with the weight it deserves, because remembrance means more than silence. It means asking what decisions were made, who owned them, and why accountability never showed up afterward. From there, we zoom out and connect three books that frame the problem in plain terms. We use Michael Mandelbaum’s “The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy” to explain how the United States became a hyperpower and still stumbled through repeated setbacks. We pull in Serhii Plokhy’s writing on the Russo-Ukrainian War to underline a pattern: ambiguity is an invitation, and hesitation is never neutral. When the free world hedges, predators don’t wait politely. We tie those ideas back to Kabul, where America had the tools to secure the evacuation but lacked the competent, decisive leadership to use them. Then we face the present. Afghanistan under the Taliban is a closed emirate, and the crisis for women and girls is among the worst on the planet. We also dig into Iran and the administration’s next move: “Economic D-Day,” a strategy built around aggressive secondary sanctions and maritime pressure designed to squeeze Iran’s cash without launching another shooting war. The big question is enforcement, especially when most Iranian oil reportedly flows to China and the world watches whether Washington has the stomach to follow through. Key Points from the Episode: • Recounting the Abbey Gate timeline and the denied requests to engage a suspected bomber • Arguing that these deaths are not inevitable but tied to incompetent, unaccountable decisions • Explaining the “hyperpower without success” idea and why strength fails without will • Linking Afghanistan, Georgia, and Ukraine through the lesson that ambiguity invites aggression • Asking what Afghanistan looks like under Taliban rule and what happened to women and girls • Debating why the US stayed after 2011 and what “finishing the job” would have required • Assessing Iran pressure after regional strikes and the way allies hedge when costs rise • Breaking down “Economic D-Day,” secondary sanctions, maritime blockade concepts, and the China enforcement problem If this episode helped you to see the story more clearly, I'd be grateful if you left a review. Click the link if we've earned five stars from you. Other goodness LM#37---American Foreign Policy, part 3 Check us out over at substack! We are building and have built out a whole library of book briefs, just one pager's five-minute read over at the Mojo Book Academy on Substack, mojoacademy.substack.com. Keep fighting the good fight!

August 22, 202622 min

CC#47--When The Shepherd Stays Silent

FAN MAIL--We would love YOUR feedback--Send us a Text Message A 94-year-old cardinal walking into a Hong Kong courtroom might be the clearest sermon you’ll hear all week. Cardinal Joseph Zen sits beside Jimmy Lai’s wife as Lai, a 78-year-old Catholic and pro-democracy publisher, is sentenced to 20 years under Hong Kong’s national security law. Then a reporter asks Pope Leo XIV about Lai, and the answer is chilling in its restraint: “I cannot comment on that.” We sit with the contrast, because it raises a hard question about what Catholic leadership looks like when a believer becomes a political prisoner. We connect that moment to the 2018 Vatican-China agreement on bishop appointments, a secretive Vatican-China deal that, in practice, appears to give Beijing leverage while Rome keeps a veto it never uses. We talk about what secrecy prevents: accountability, clarity for ordinary Catholics, and public advocacy for the underground Catholic Church in China as crosses come down, cameras go up, and clergy face detention or “re-education.” When the Vatican’s ability to speak depends on keeping a partner happy, the people who pay first are often the ones already under pressure. We also look backward to look forward. Rome has tried “quiet treaties” with hostile regimes before, and history shows how quickly total-control governments break promises. We compare today’s approach to earlier Vatican diplomacy, the failures of Ostpolitik, and the model of naming evil plainly, even when it comes at a cost. If you care about religious freedom, Catholic persecution, and the moral limits of diplomacy, this conversation is for you. Key Points from the Episode: • Jimmy Lai’s 20-year sentence and Cardinal Joseph Zen’s public witness • Pope Leo XIV’s response and what papal silence signals • The 2018 Vatican-China agreement and why its secrecy matters • Beijing’s leverage over bishops and Rome’s unused veto • The underground Catholic Church in China under surveillance and coercion • Historical parallel with the 1933 treaty and Pope Pius XI’s 1937 warning • Ostpolitik versus public truth-telling and John Paul II’s example • Named bishops detained or disappeared and the question of accountability We have everything we discussed in this podcast as well as other great ways to work. Links? 📩 5 min Book Briefs + Writings on Substack 👇 Substack https://mojoacademy.substack.com/ 🤪 Every single week we publish a newsletter called Crazy versus Common Sense. The crazy versus common sense newsletter. And friends, it's completely free. So go sign up today. https://crazyvscommonsense.substack.com/ 🎙️ Theory 2 Action podcast 👇 Website and other great resources https://www.teammojoacademy.com/