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About Hope J. Leman

Hope J. Leman is a grants researcher in the biomedical sciences. She is particularly interested in the subjects of natural law, religious liberty and history generally.

Hope J. Leman is a grants researcher in the biomedical sciences. She is particularly interested in the subjects of natural law, religious liberty and history generally.

NBN Episodes hosted by Hope J.:

American Studies May 16, 2023

The Classical and Christian Origins of American Politics

Political Theology, Natural Law, and the American Founding

Kody W. Cooper and Justin Buckley Dyer

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
America’s religious and political public forum is no longer confined to debates between liberals (be they Catholics or Protestants) and socially conservative evangelicals and traditional Catholics—with atheists condemning all of …
General History April 28, 2023

Social Conservatism for the Common Good: A Protestant Engagement with Robert P. George

Andrew Walker

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
Robert P. George is the indispensable man of American social conservatism. The Princeton professor is a scholar of such intellectual power that he almost single-handedly rescued the anti-abortion movement from …
Christian Studies February 14, 2023

Jordan Peterson, God, and Christianity

The Search for a Meaningful Life

Chris Kaczor and Matthew Petrusek

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
“The most influential biblical interpreter in the world today is not a pastor, a Scripture scholar, or a bishop. He’s a clinical psychologist with no formal training in biblical studies …
Politics & Polemics February 11, 2023

The Story of Abortion in America

A Street-level History, 1652-2022

Marvin N. Olasky and Leah Savas

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
Abortion is an issue like no other. Our attitudes towards it and how we define when life begins determine the very words we use when discussing abortion. We don’t even …
Law February 3, 2023

The Practice of American Constitutional Law

H. Jefferson Powell

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
What areas of our lives are governed by constitutional law? When asked about what constitutional law is, Americans tend to think of notable Supreme Court cases such as the abortion …
Law January 11, 2023

Religious Liberty and the American Founding

Natural Rights and the Original Meanings of the First Amendment Religion Clauses

Vincent Phillip Muñoz

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
What is religious liberty, anyway? What are its origins? What are religious exemptions? What would a jurisprudence of religious liberty based on the idea of natural rights look like? What …
Psychology December 9, 2022

From Survive to Thrive

Living Your Best Life with Mental Illness

Margaret S. Chisolm

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
The term “mental illness” can itself be anxiety-inducing and depressing. There are words, though, that can counter the fears and stresses that mind-related conditions induce in most of us at …
Politics & Polemics December 5, 2022

Conservatism

A Rediscovery

Yoram Hazony

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
Conservatism needs to be rediscovered. That is, it needs to be differentiated from the post WWII concept of liberal democracy and return to its traditional three pillars of religion, nationalism …
Intellectual History November 3, 2022

Leo Strauss on Democracy, Technology, and Liberal Education

Timothy W. Burns

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
There are few thinkers who engender as much debate about their legacy as Leo Strauss (1899 –1973). His critics and biographers often don’t even agree about what scholarly discipline he …
British Studies October 11, 2022

Parliament the Mirror of the Nation

Representation, Deliberation, and Democracy in Victorian Britain

Gregory Conti

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
Given that we live in an era roiled by concerns about how democratic supposedly democratic countries actually are and when skepticism abounds about how truly representative our electoral systems are …
Law October 10, 2022

The Prophet of Harvard Law

James Bradley Thayer and His Legal Legacy

Andrew Porwancher, Jake Mazeitis, Austin Coffey, and Taylor Jipp

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
Though relatively short, the 2022 book The Prophet of Harvard Law: James Bradley Thayer and His Legal Legacy (UP of Kansas, 2022) by Andrew Porwancher, Austin Coffey, Taylor Jipp, and …
Intellectual History September 21, 2022

Completely Free

The Moral and Political Vision of John Stuart Mill

John Peter DiIulio

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
As we emerge from a period of government-mandated lockdowns and as threats to free speech multiply, we would be wise to re-engage with the work of a seminal thinker on …
Politics & Polemics September 2, 2022

Tearing Us Apart

How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing

Ryan T. Anderson and Alexandra DeSanctis

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
According to political philosopher Ryan T. Anderson and journalist Alexandra DeSanctis, abortion harms everything it touches. It is an act of lethal violence against a child and leaves many women …
Intellectual History June 28, 2022

The Political Writings of Alexander Hamilton

Bradford P. Wilson and Carson Holloway, eds.

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
How much does the average person know about Alexander Hamilton (1755 or 1757-1804)? Would we have guessed that this hero of many fiscal conservatives wrote, “A national debt, if it …
General History March 24, 2022

Our Dear-Bought Liberty

Catholics and Religious Toleration in Early America

Michael D. Breidenbach

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
Here is a fun quiz question. What distinction does Charles Carroll (1737–1832) hold in American History? Answer: he was the longest-surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence and the only …
Politics & Polemics October 20, 2021

America Transformed

The Rise and Legacy of American Progressivism

Ronald J. Pestritto

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
What’s a “progressive?” We hear constantly about the rift in the Democratic Party between its “progressive” wing and its “moderate” one. But what exactly was “Progressivism?” And why do we …
Politics & Polemics October 12, 2021

The Rights of Women

Reclaiming a Lost Vision

Erika Bachiochi

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) was one of the most important moral philosophers and political theorists ever. Her writings on liberty and equality have been embraced by thinkers both in her own …
Politics & Polemics October 4, 2021

Let's Be Reasonable

A Conservative Case for Liberal Education

Jonathan Marks

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
Do we really need universities and colleges anymore? Have they become too politicized? Many conservatives have started to write off American academia. They contend that it is so irremediably, irretrievably …
Medicine September 6, 2021

Losing Our Dignity

How Secularized Medicine is Undermining Fundamental Human Equality

Charles C. Camosy

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
Despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that an enormous proportion of medical care worldwide is provided under the auspices of religious organizations, there has been a sustained and systematic …
Politics & Polemics August 23, 2021

Religious Liberty in Crisis

Exercising Your Faith in an Age of Uncertainty

Ken Starr

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
“Religious liberty” is a phrase that we often hear, particularly in news stories revolving around Supreme Court decisions. But what is religious liberty and why is it often referred to …
Politics & Polemics August 13, 2021

Them Before Us

Why We Need a Global Children’s Rights Movement

Katy Faust and Stacy Manning

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
Children have the right to be raised by both their mother and father. That used to be a noncontroversial idea. But no longer. In their eye-opening 2021 book, Them Before …
Intellectual History June 30, 2021

Why We Are Restless

On the Modern Quest for Contentment

Benjamin Storey and Jenna Silber Storey

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
What makes us happy? What keeps us from being happy? Is restlessness the same thing as unhappiness? Is happiness something we should value or assume we can even find? These …
Politics & Polemics June 2, 2021

American Awakening

Identity Politics and Other Afflictions of Our Time

Joshua Mitchell

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
Brace yourself for a sobering analysis of the state of the body politic and national soul. America is ailing from three main afflictions that are dangerously undermining the nation’s ability …
Jewish Studies May 17, 2021

Founding God’s Nation

Reading Exodus

Leon R. Kass

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
Everything, in the end, comes down to Exodus. Everything that we are as a civilization goes back to Exodus. Every person, religious or not, who wants to consider him or …