Episodes

The March 2003 issue of Reason Magazine carried an article by Sara Rimensnyder styled as “The Art of Self Defense: Gun Control on Trial,” was about the story of how a 9mm semi-auto handgun, concealed illegally in a backpack, saved Tom Palmer’s life from a dozen thugs in Lost Angeles. His mother gave him the weapon for self-defense. Democrats wanted to take it away. A Republican judge in 2014 applied a set of rulings by Republican justices on the Supreme Court, justices who’d been appointed by Republican presidents and Republicans in the US Senate.

We’re covering Tom Palmer, et. al., v. D.C. (2014)(26 July 2014).

Here’s a link to the Reason article referenced above from 2003: https://reason.com/2003/03/01/the-art-of-self-defense-2/

Here’s a link to the decision in Tom Palmer’s favor: https://michellawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Palmer-v.-District-of-Columbia_Memorandum-Decision-and-Order-re-Plaintiffs-Motion-for-Summary-Judgment-and-Defendants-Cross-Motion-for-Summary-Judgment.pdf

The Republican Professor is a pro-correctly-articulating-and-defending-the-Second-Amendment Podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

We continue Jaffa’s discussion of Aristotle’s Politics, this time Book II and his critique of his own professor Plato, in our discussion of an entry in the 1963 Rand McNally publication, edited by Leonard Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, called “History of Political Philosophy.” This episode contains discussion of pages 80 thru the top of page 89 covering the first part of Book II of the Politics.

That entry on Aristotle is by Harry V. Jaffa, who famously applied his understanding of Political Philosophy to the history of the Republican Party in American politics, and who, as such, influenced me profoundly through my mentors, who were mentored by him. He is thus one of my intellectual grandfathers.

We continue our discussion of Harry Jaffa on Aristotle, pp. 80 thru the top of page 89 covering Book II of Aristotle’s Politics, discussing an entry published the year before the author wrote one of the most infamous (or famous, depending) Aristotelean speeches for 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater (R, AZ). Jaffa also wrote one of the most influential phenomenological comparisons of the Democratic and the Republican parties using classical political philosophy for the political phenomenology in “Crisis of the House Divided” (University of Chicago Press)

The Republican Professor is a pro-getting-political-philosophy right podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

Warmly,

Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

The Republican Professor Podcast
The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack
https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/
https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/
https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRepublicanProfessor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRepublicanProfessor
Twitter: @RepublicanProf
Instagram: @the_republican_professor

Part 2: Last month on the 22nd of December 2025, Republican appointed federal Judge Roger Benitez (Cuban ethnicity) struck down the Democrat mandated lying to parents in the K-12 school system.

Unusual behavior or conduct of a student at school isn’t grounds for a violation of Constitutional rights, Benitez held in Mirabelli v. Olson (Filed 22 Dec 2025), available here : https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/63d954d4e4ad424df7819d46/6949e11ea6bae817c8eaf637_Dkt%20%20307_MSJ%20Order.pdf

Part 2. We cover from page 10, Roman Numeral II, through the first two-thirds of page 18 thru line 23. We’ll continue from there next time.

This episode includes a reading from Psalm 65, in the King James Version of the Bible.

The Republican Professor is a pro-anti-tax-funded-abuse-of-parents podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

This is Part 9 in a series celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Harvard University Press’ 1985 publication of Richard A. Epstein’s “Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain.”

We continue our celebration of this anniversary with a fair use and transformative reading, continuing and now finishing chapter 4 in a new section which Richard calls “”Takings Prima Facia,” which makes the analogy between private law takings in the common law harm tradition and the public law takings where the government is a defendant. He titles chapter “Takings and Torts,” because he’s taking a look at political philosophy and the American constitutional order, how these things interact using argument by analogy with the common law/private law tradition, ensconced as it is in the purpose of the Constitution. That moral purpose is the protection of individual liberty against claims by a simple majority in a democracy, or by the government in a taking of private property.

Today we discuss the subsections of Proximate Causation and Consequential Damages from pp. 47 to the end of the chapter on p. 56.

At the end, this episode concludes with a reading of Psalm 33 in the NASB version.

Excellent stuff here. Excellent.

Every college student should read this book. It’s a superb introduction to the political philosophy of the American regime. Praise the Lord.

We’d like to thank Harvard University Press for making this material available and Richard Epstein for writing it.

Make sure you buy the book and follow along.

It’s very important for you to have your own copy on your own bookshelf, and to begin to master this material. Support your local book dealer. See if they have a copy of it, or if they’d mind keeping an eye out for you.

I always encourage buying physical books, objects you can have, hold, cherish, learn from, display on your bookshelf as a topic of conversation, things you can pass on to the next generation with your notes in them, things that do not depend upon electricity.

Toward that end:

Go to Harvard University Press for more selections available for purchase. Please support the publisher and your local booksellers.

The Republican Professor is a pro-correctly-contemplating-property-rights podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

Warmly,

Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

The Republican Professor Podcast
The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack
https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/
https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/
https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRepublicanProfessor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRepublicanProfessor
Twitter: @RepublicanProf
Instagram: @the_republican_professor

We’re using the slip opinion this time, see below for a link. Why the Court’s majority is wrong in Bostock v. Clayton County Georgia (2020) (part 10 in a series) about the faulty assumption that unexamined and unexplained transgenderism premises about sex and gender are properly included under “sex discrimination” language in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act –This continues to be a real hoot.

Part 10: We continue our in-depth examination of sex, gender, and separation of powers in the US Supreme Court decision Bostock v. Clayton County, GA 590 U.S. 644 (2020): the Republican dispute, how to understand it, and what to do about it.

We continue discussing and we finish with the Republican dissenting opinion of Justice Alito (joined by Thomas) from his II.D through to the end.

Kavanaugh’s dissent is next, and then we’ll be done with this series.

Part 10.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/17-1618_hfci.pdf

The Republican Professor is a pro-separation-of-powers-rightly-construed podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

Warmly,

Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

The Republican Professor Podcast
The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack
https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/
https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/
https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRepublicanProfessor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRepublicanProfessor
Twitter: @RepublicanProf
Instagram: @the_republican_professor

Claremont Review of Books published an issue in Summer 2025 where the question is posed on the cover, decorated by attractive art, “Will there always be an England?”

We’re doing a fair use and transformative reading of an essay in one of my favorite publications. This is an engagement with an essay by Christopher Caldwell, one of my favorite writers on American Politics, entitled “Land’s End” in Summer 2025 Claremont Review of Books pp 8-12.

The piece is accessible to the public at https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/lands-end-2/

It’s the second piece in CRB history to have that title .

Kesler, Editor of the CRB, was one of my Ph.D. professors at Claremont Colleges (4 courses).

We want to thank Claremont Review of Books for making this material available. Go to ClaremontReviewofBooks.com to subscribe for a very reasonable price and get the hard copies with aesthetically pleasing artwork and thoughtful though accessible essays in your physical mailbox.

The Republican Professor is a pro-Claremont-Review-of-Books podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

Part 7: We continue our timely coverage of Pope Leo XIII ‘s Rerum Novarum numbers 32 through the end of 35 in his continued condemnation of Socialism and collectivism against the individual rights of employers, workers and families in 1891, when Socialism was increasingly popular in intellectual circles, setting the stage for the statisms of the 1900s.

The Republican Professor is a pro-getting-theology’s-application-to-public-policy-correct podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

Support the podcast. Buy me a cup of coffee or ten here : https://buymeacoffee.com/lucasj.mather

Warmly,

Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

The Republican Professor Podcast
The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack
https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/
https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/
https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRepublicanProfessor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRepublicanProfessor
Twitter: @RepublicanProf
Instagram: @the_republican_professor

We begin our study of open carry in America’s Constitutional tradition by spending time with Baird v. Bonta (2 Jan 2026, 9th Circuit) thru the top of page 11 (up to Roman Numeral II). The pro-Second-Amendment opinions, both of them that we take a look at, were written by Republican appointees (Trump, Republican US Senate).

We will pick up at page 11 and Roman Numeral II at that time.

This episode and this series is dedicated to the memory of my closest first cousin, Little Dan Mountain Jr, closest in age by just a couple of weeks, who died a week ago today, last Thursday.

I picked a topic that would bring a smile to his face and that would honor the bright spots in our childhood together in Colorado.

This episode includes a reading from Psalm 29 (KJV) and Streams in the Desert January 24th (Cowman Publications, Lost Feliz Station Lost Angeles, Calif, 1925 — non-woke edition).

The Republican Professor is a pro-Second-Amendment-in-California podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

We’re continuing from 11 Nov 2025, discussing the first subsection in his next chapter, chapter 5 (The Relation of Ideological Tyranny to the Authoritarian State), called “Revelation 13 as a Model of Ideological Tyranny” based on the insights from a master observer of both types of totalitarian socialisms on the Left, national socialism — sometimes called fascism — and the kind of socialism that the Communists in East Germany and Russia had during the 1900s, during the life of Dr. Thielicke. (USSR meant Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). We go from pp. 53 thru the top of 62. (See 11 Nov 2025, “Ideologies as Idolatry” for the last episode in this series).

Our return guest today on The Republican Professor Podcast is the former professor of Theology at the University of Hamburg in West Germany, Dr. Helmut Thielicke, Ph.D., D.Theol. (Philosophy and Theology).

Professor Thielicke once again joins us through his teaching in his Theological Ethics, Vol. 2: Politics. My copy was purchased at Old Capitol Books (new location) in Monterey, California, across from Nick the Greek restaurant on Alvarado Street (their old location was 559 Tyler, Monterey, CA, across from the Peet’s Coffee and was formerly Book Haven for many years), and is a hard copy published in 1969 by Fortress Press and edited by William H. Lazareth.

Thielicke died before he was able to come on to The Republican Professor Podcast.

We thank Fortress Press for making the book available. Check out their catalogue for a full listing of their very interesting titles, and buy one. Get a copy of this for yourself and following along in our transformative, performative reading of it as we make fair use on his insights, with fresh scholarly commentary from me, and allow it to shape our understanding of American Politics.

This is part 10 in a series on The Republican Professor Podcast, an introduction to theological reflection on American government.

Here, we continue the topic of the nature and power of “ideology” in Communist Socialist and National Socialist (sometimes called by others fascistic socialism/fascism). Our very special guest today is, once again, the esteemed and long-time Professor of Theology at the University of Hamburg, Helmut Thielicke.

And I’ve invited Professor Thielicke to join us today through my transformative, performative reading (with my scholarly commentary upon) and fair use of his teaching on this topic in his magisterial “Theological Ethics, Volume 2: Politics.” My copy of the book was published in 1969 by Fortress Press.

Please buy a copy of the book and follow along with our study of this material.
Please, please support your brick and mortar used book dealers as well.

Professor Thielicke died before we were able to invite him in person as a guest on the podcast.

Thanks to Fortress Press, the book is still in print and would be a valuable addition, indeed, to your personal library. Please support the work of Fortress Press and buy the book, and check out the other selections that they carry, as well.

The Republican Professor Podcast is a pro-deeply-conversing-on-the-theological-aspects-of-the-nature-of-government podcast.

Therefore, welcome Professor Helmut Thielicke !

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

To financially support this podcast, comment on today’s episode, or to make a suggestion for a topic or guest for the podcast or Substack newsletter, send an email to therepublicanprofessor@substack.com . We’d love to hear from you.

Warmly,

Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

The Republican Professor Podcast
The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack
https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/
https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/
https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/

Part 3 of a series on the history of Israel based on a fair use and transformative reading of “Israel and the Nations: From the Exodus to the Fall of the Second Temple” (Eerdmans, 1963) by FF Bruce.

This episode includes interaction with his chapter III entitled “The Reign of David 1010 to 970 BC” by the Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis, FF Bruce, my intellectual and spiritual grandfather because he mentored my professor Bruce Demarest who himself studied under FF Bruce at the University of Manchester.

We’re going to do a fair use and make a transformative reading of this material. We’d like to thank Eerdmans for making it available and thank FF Bruce for writing it.

It also contains multiple references to Deuteronomy 17.

The Republican Professor is a pro-biblical-literacy, pro-Christmas, pro-quality-mentoring, pro-understanding-the-history-of-Israel podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D