Conversations with David Blankenhorn

In a wide-ranging and free-wheeling discussion, Village Square board member Bill Mattox and David Blankenhorn focus on not just on problems (like hyper-partisanship) but also on solutions (like how to build stronger communities).

In his new book – Thrift: The History of an American Cultural Movement – IAV Fellow Andrew L. Yarrow tells the story of a national movement that promoted an amalgam of values and practices ranging from self-control, money management, and efficiency to conservation, generosity, and planning for the future – all under the rubric of "thrift." Emerging in tandem and in tension with the first flowerings of consumer society, the thrift movement flourished during the 1910s and 1920s and then lingered on the outskirts of American culture from the Depression to the prosperous mid-twentieth century. A post–World War II culture that centered on spending and pleasure made the early-twentieth-century thrift messages seem outdated. Nonetheless, echoes of thrift can be found in currently popular ideas of "sustainability," "stewardship," and "simplicity" and in efforts to curtail public and private debt.

Glenn Loury, Sr., is a big, warm and fiercely intelligent man. His son, Glen Loury, Jr.– in all important respects – is just exactly the same. If you want to spend some fruitful minutes exploring the fraught landscape of sexual identity, class division, racial reality, and generational conflict in America, you have come to the right place. Loury, Sr. was born in Chicago, Illinois. In 1972, he received his bachelor's degree in mathematics from Northwestern University. In 1976 he received his Ph.D. in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is currently the Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences and Professor of Economics, and a research associate of the Population Studies and Training Center. Loury, Jr. was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. He is a graduate of Haverford College. Among his many projects, he reviews movies at "Just A Bloody Blog". And co-hosts "The Glenn Show" with his father at Blogging Heads TV. Watch the video of the complete unedited conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUu5On4sBpY Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/InstAmericanValues

Glenn Loury, Sr., is a big, warm and fiercely intelligent man. His son, Glen Loury, Jr.– in all important respects – is just exactly the same. If you want to spend some fruitful minutes exploring the fraught landscape of sexual identity, class division, racial reality, and generational conflict in America, you have come to the right place. Loury, Sr. was born in Chicago, Illinois. In 1972, he received his bachelor's degree in mathematics from Northwestern University. In 1976 he received his Ph.D. in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is currently the Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences and Professor of Economics, and a research associate of the Population Studies and Training Center. Loury, Jr. was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. He is a graduate of Haverford College. Among his many projects, he reviews movies at "Just A Bloody Blog". And co-hosts "The Glenn Show" with his father at Blogging Heads TV. Watch the video of the complete unedited conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUu5On4sBpY Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/InstAmericanValues

Two prominent Catholic intellectuals, Joseph Bottum and Charles Reid, sit down in our studio in New York City to consider what it is like to change one’s mind as a member of an ancient institution with a complex process of arriving at settled understandings of truth. All three wrestle with what are the important and enduring features of an even older human reality – marriage. Jody Bottom is an editor, speaker and best-selling author, most recently of a book entitled “An Anxious Age” and subtitled “The Post-Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of America”. His article published in Commonweal in August of 2013 – The Things We Share: A Catholic’s Case for Same-Sex Marriage – was an immediate sensation. Charles Reid, Jr. is Professor of Law at St. Thomas University School of Law and a prolific contributor to a variety of law journals, as well as a frequent contributor to “The Blog” over at Huffington Post. He has just recently published a play masquerading as a law review article entitled “The Devil Comes To Kansas: A Story of Free Love, Sexual Privacy, and the Law”. Watch the video of the complete unedited conversation: http://www.americanvalues.org/search/item.php?id=2268 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/InstAmericanValues

For the past thirty years, Charles Murray has authored titles that have sparked the essential debates. "In 1984 - Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950-1980." In 1986 - "In Pursuit: Of Happiness and Good Government." In 1994 with Richard Herrnstein - the controversial - "The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life." In 1996 - "What It Means To Be A Libertarian." In 2001 - "Human Accomplishment." In 2006 - "In Our Hands: A Plan to Replace the Welfare State." In 2009 - "Real Education." "Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010" was published in late 2012 and forms the background of this conversation. Coming Apart helped crystalize a full-throated debate about inequality, beyond mere hand wringing, daring to suggest that there are profound non-economic, as well as economic, forces at play. David Blankenhorn begins with a deft review of the broad impact of Murray's writings, but ends by pressing for real answers - and for Charles' own candid evaluation of what it all means. Their conversation was live-streamed and recorded before an audience at the Center for Public Conversation in New York City, May 16, 2013. Watch the video of the complete unedited conversation: http://www.americanvalues.org/search/item.php?id=1989 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/InstAmericanValues

David and Linda agree on the need for a New Marriage Conversation that tackles inequality head on – and disagree about a few other things. Amy draws out the broad range of interests and insights in Linda's latest collaboration. In this edited conversation we get the best of Linda - first as a public intellectual engaged in civil discourse with David Blankenhorn and then as a teacher helping Amy Ziettlow better understand the chorus of voices and viewpoints in the contemporary discussions about parenthood. Linda C. McClain is a professor of law at Boston University, widely acclaimed for her work in family law and feminist legal theory. She co-edited, with Daniel Cere, "What Is Parenthood". Her latest book, co-authored with her husband James E. Fleming, is a deep engagement with political theory and moral philosophy entitled "Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues" Watch the video of the complete unedited conversation: http://www.americanvalues.org/search/item.php?id=1988 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/InstAmericanValues

David Blankenhorn interviews Larry Mead, one of our foremost experts on poverty and welfare, on the importance of marriage in the current debate about inequality. Lawrence M. Mead teaches politics at New York University and is one of the nation's leading experts on poverty and welfare — arguably more than anyone else, Mead's books and articles provided the theoretical basis for American welfare reform in the 1990s. Watch the video of the complete unedited conversation: http://www.americanvalues.org/search/item.php?id=1987 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/InstAmericanValues

David Blankenhorn sits down with John Corvino to discuss why he signed The Call for a new conversation on marriage – and goes deep into a number of topics that sometimes are avoided at the kitchen table. John Corvino is a scholar, lecturer, and gay rights advocate who teaches philosophy at Wayne State University. He is the author of What's Wrong With Homosexuality? and is the co-author, with Maggie Gallagher, of "Debating Same-Sex Marriage" Watch the video of the complete unedited conversation: http://www.americanvalues.org/search/item.php?id=1986 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/InstAmericanValues

Host David Blankenhorn asks two liberals why they signed "The Call for a New Conversation on Marriage". Steinfels is a professor at Fordham University, a prominent writer and journalist specializing in religious affairs, and a co-director (with Margaret O'Brien Steinfels) of the Fordham University Center on Religion and Culture. His books include “A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America” and “American Catholics and Civic Engagement.” Ziettlow is a scholar at the Institute for American Values and the host of “FamilyScholars Conversations” at the blog FamilyScholars.org. She is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and a leader of the American hospice care movement. Watch the video of the complete unedited conversation: http://www.americanvalues.org/search/item.php?id=1985 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/InstAmericanValues

Host David Blankenhorn welcomes Rusty Reno, theologian and editor, to "The Conversation". Reno is skeptical of the prospects of The Call for a New Marriage Conversation to strengthen the institution of marriage for all. He articulates a traditional perspective which provides clarity and contrast to the issues confronting religious people engaged in strengthen. Blankenhorn challenges him on a number of fronts. Be prepared for an enlightening, entertaining and lively debate between them, as they negotiate over an answer to this timely question. Watch the video of the complete unedited conversation: http://www.americanvalues.org/search/item.php?id=1984 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/InstAmericanValues

Haidt draws upon research and insights from his recent book, The Righteous Mind, as they discuss how we can move beyond the current marriage culture wars. Kathleen Kovner Kline and Elizabeth Marquardt join the conversation as well. Watch the video of the complete unedited conversation: http://www.americanvalues.org/search/item.php?id=1911 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/InstAmericanValues