The Roots of the Republic: Greece, Rome, and the Birth of American Liberty

In this episode of Roots, Rights & Reason, host Lee Smith speaks with Harvard Professor James Hankins about the civilizational roots of the American constitutional republic in “The Roots of the Republic: Greece, Rome, and the Birth of American Liberty.” Hankins explains that America stands within a tradition stretching back to Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem. From Greece came citizenship, self-rule, and the role of reason and persuasion in public life; from Rome came republican institutions, the rule of law, and the principle that political authority must rest on a higher moral order.

Smith and Hankins explore how the Founding Fathers studied classical history, especially the Roman Republic, as they designed American government, mindful of the dangers that ended earlier republics. The conversation also reflects on how classical traditions shaped American civic culture, from civil discourse to a social ethos of civic equality and why preserving civilization requires teaching younger generations to value the artistic, intellectual, and moral achievements that made liberty possible.

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In this episode of Roots, Rights & Reason, host Lee Smith speaks with Professor C. Bradley Thompson, political philosopher at Clemson University and Executive Director of the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism, about the growing ideological assault on capitalism and why the defense of liberty must begin with a moral defense of property rights.

Thompson explains that America’s constitutional order rests on the natural rights tradition articulated by John Locke and embraced by the Founding Fathers — life, liberty, and property. Far from being merely an economic system, capitalism is rooted in the principle of self-ownership and the moral right of individuals to pursue their own happiness without coercion.

The conversation explores how socialism represents not simply an economic alternative, but a fundamentally different moral vision — one that subordinates individual rights to collective claims. Thompson argues that the modern debate over capitalism has been lost on moral grounds, as critics claim the ethical high ground while defenders focus only on economic efficiency. He makes the case that freedom, property, and self-interest rightly understood are inseparable pillars of a just society.

Smith and Thompson also discuss the historical roots of anti-capitalist ideas, from antebellum pro-slavery theorists to modern progressivism, and why today’s ideological battles are deeply connected to America’s universities.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why private property is a moral right, not just an economic principle
• How Locke and Jefferson shaped America’s understanding of liberty
• Why socialism challenges the moral foundations of freedom
• The connection between self-ownership, self-interest, and human flourishing
• Why universities are central to today’s ideological conflicts

Read More: Watch new episodes of Roots, Rights & Reason weekly at http://AmericasFuture.net

Learn more about: Snow Institute: Exploring Capitalism's Morality

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In this episode of Roots, Rights & Reason, host Lee Smith speaks with J. Michael Waller, Senior Analyst for Strategy at the Center for Security Policy, about the return of the Monroe Doctrine and America’s renewed focus on hemispheric defense. Waller explains how the Monroe Doctrine, first articulated in 1823 by President James Monroe and shaped by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, became a defining principle of American national security—warning foreign empires to stay out of the Western Hemisphere. The conversation explores how that doctrine evolved through the twentieth century, from European power struggles in the Caribbean to Cold War conflicts and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Smith and Waller examine why maritime security, trade routes, and strategic chokepoints like the Panama Canal remain vital to U.S. interests today. They also discuss the growing influence of China and Russia in Latin America and the Arctic, including Greenland’s rising strategic importance. The episode argues that the Monroe Doctrine is not an outdated concept, but a permanent pillar of American defense and diplomacy.

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Episode 29- Ordered Liberty: America’s Founding Idea

In this episode of Roots, Rights & Reason, host Lee Smith speaks with Peter Berkowitz, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, about classical liberalism, natural rights, and the philosophical foundations of the American founding.

Berkowitz explains how America’s core principles: human equality, unalienable rights, and limited government, were forged through biblical teaching, classical philosophy, and modern political thought. Drawing on thinkers such as John Locke and Montesquieu, he clarifies the true meaning of classical liberalism and distinguishes it from today’s expansive, bureaucratic model of government.

The conversation explores how freedom developed not only through ideas, but through centuries of social change, including religious reform, commerce, education, and the spread of literacy. Berkowitz challenges the claim that America was inevitable, arguing instead that the American Revolution was a conservative revolution designed to preserve inherited liberties rather than overturn moral and political traditions.

Smith and Berkowitz also examine modern threats to ordered liberty, including administrative overreach, emergency powers, and an education system increasingly hostile to America’s founding principles. Despite these challenges, Berkowitz argues that the United States remains the freest and most pluralistic great power in history, and that preserving it requires renewed civic education and constitutional understanding.

This episode defends the American experiment in ordered liberty and explains why classical liberalism still matters.

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Episode Twenty-Eight: An Inconvenient Study on Vaccines

In this episode of Roots, Rights & Reason, host Lee Smith welcomes investigative filmmaker and former Communications Director for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign, Del Bigtree, for a focused discussion on vaccine safety, public health accountability, and the erosion of trust in American health institutions. Bigtree, founder and CEO of the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), argues that vaccines occupy a unique position in U.S. public health policy, calling them “one of the only products that has no liability in the United States of America,” and traces how federal protections and institutional pressure have reshaped the relationship between regulators, industry, and the public. The conversation centers on Bigtree’s documentary An Inconvenient Study, which investigates an unpublished vaccinated-versus-unvaccinated study completed in 2016 but never submitted for publication. Smith and Bigtree also examine the aggressive COVID-era push for mass vaccination, government messaging that vaccines were “safe and effective,” and mandates that compelled compliance as a condition of public life. Bigtree addresses mask mandates as well, stating that improvised face coverings “had nothing to do with science” and “could not stop a particle as small as the coronavirus,” and situates these policies within what he describes as a broader “toxic soup” of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and regulatory failures — raising urgent questions about transparency, dissent, and what it will take to restore public trust in health authorities.

Info on An Inconvenient Study:

WebLink: http://AnInconvenientStudy.com Following its global premiere on October 12, 2025, _An Inconvenient Study_has reached millions, igniting debate about vaccine safety, scientific transparency, and the chronic disease epidemic affecting over 50% of U.S. children.

An Inconvenient Study, a film by Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN) and Del Bigtree, uncovers a groundbreaking, unpublished vaccinated-versus-unvaccinated study conducted within the Henry Ford Health System. In 2016, Del challenged Dr. Marcus Zervos, head of infectious disease at Henry Ford Health to conduct a rigorous study and publish the results, no matter what they revealed. The study was completed but never submitted for publication. Hidden-camera footage reveals Dr. Zervos admitting, “I think it’s a good study... but publishing something like that, might as well retire. I’d be finished.” The film explores how this research came to be, explores the results and the aftermath, and interweaves critical commentary from some of America’s leading physicians and public health figures. An Inconvenient Study challenges audiences to confront potentially uncomfortable questions, ultimately leaving them to draw their own conclusions.

https://thehighwire.com

https://icandecide.org

https://x.com/delbigtree?s=20

https://www.instagram.com/delbigtree/

https://www.aninconvenientstudy.com

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Spies, Terrorists & the War for Intelligence: A Conversation with Peter Theroux

In this candid episode, Roots, Rights & Reason host Lee Smith sits down with Peter Theroux, a highly decorated veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency, for a rare inside look at how American intelligence truly works and what it takes to protect the nation in an increasingly hostile world.

Drawing from his decades of experience in war zones, foreign stations, counterterrorism centers, and the highest levels of analytic work, Theroux explains the real mission of the CIA: running espionage networks, breaking down institutional stovepipes, and combining analysts, case officers, linguists, and operatives into a unified force capable of outthinking and outmaneuvering America’s enemies.

Theroux walks viewers through the CIA’s three foundational lanes: operations, analysis, and covert action; and describes how the Agency evolved after 9/11 to integrate disciplines, modernize tradecraft, and pursue terrorist networks with unprecedented precision. He details his own experience targeting Hezbollah, penetrating terror cells, and supporting missions that would ultimately help lead to historic counterterrorism successes.

“We write with brevity, precision, and absolute clarity,” Theroux notes, describing the unique craft of intelligence writing. “A spy is someone who thinks like the devil and writes like an angel.”

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In this special Christmas Eve episode of Roots, Rights & Reason, host Lee Smith welcomes political theorist and constitutional scholar Matthew Spalding for a powerful conversation exploring one of the most consequential moments in American history: George Washington’s daring crossing of the Delaware River and the Battle of Trenton.

Spalding explains why Christmas of 1776 marked a decisive turning point in the American Revolution. As Washington led the Continental Army across an icy river and launched a surprise attack against Hessian forces at Trenton, the momentum of a seemingly lost war was reversed. The victories at Trenton and Princeton, Spalding argues, transformed both the strategic direction of the conflict and the spirit of the American people, proving that liberty could withstand the greatest empire on earth.

Smith and Spalding connect this pivotal Christmas moment to the broader story of the American founding, including the Declaration of Independence and the ideas that defined a new nation. Drawing from Spalding’s new book, The Making of the American Mind: The Making of Our Declaration of Independence, they explore how the Declaration was not merely a statement of separation from Great Britain, but a deliberate and reasoned argument grounded in history, natural law, and moral principle.

This Christmas Eve episode reveals how Americans became a people through shared sacrifice, deliberation, and courage—and why the Declaration of Independence remains the defining expression of America’s identity, purpose, and understanding of liberty.

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In this week’s episode of Roots, Rights & Reason, host Lee Smith welcomes constitutional attorney and nationally renowned speaker KrisAnne Hall for an extraordinary discussion that uncovers the hidden legal foundation of America’s independence: the Lee Resolution of 1776.

While most Americans associate July 4 with the nation’s birth, Hall explains that the decisive act that legally separated the colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Lee Resolution declaring the colonies to be "free and independent states.” This, she argues, is the true Independence Day and the key to understanding the sovereignty of the states.

Hall and Smith explore how the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution all reflect a structure in which sovereignty originates with the people, is exercised through the states, and is only delegated in limited measure to the federal government. Their conversation sheds light on how the founders designed a system to protect liberty by preventing centralized power from overshadowing the authority of the states.

This compelling episode challenges long-held assumptions, offering listeners a deeper understanding of the Declaration’s purpose and the constitutional order it helped create. Hall’s insights reveal why restoring America’s founding principles requires revisiting the legal and historical truths that shaped the birth of the Republic.

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