The Persistence of the Ideological Lie (Guest: Daniel J. Mahoney)

Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined once again by Daniel J. Mahoney, professor emeritus at Assumption University and senior fellow at the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy, to discuss his latest book, The Persistence of the Ideological Lie: The Totalitarian Impulse Then and Now. They chat about what is the “Ideological Lie,” how the totalitarians from the Jacobins onward have relied on it, and how our failure to learn from the totalitarian tragedy of the twentieth century allowed the ideological virus to metastasize in new and alarming ways.

Get the book here: https://www.encounterbooks.com/books/persistence-ideological-lie/

Show Notes:

The American Mind: Daniel J. Mahoney – “Fighting the Ideological Lie”

https://americanmind.org/salvo/fighting-the-ideological-lie/

City Journal: Daniel DiSalvo – “The Destructiveness of Ideological Thinking”

https://www.city-journal.org/article/daniel-j-mahoney-persistence-ideological-lie

Fusion: Juliana Geran Pilon – “To Lie or Not to Lie”

https://fusionaier.org/2025/to-lie-or-not-to-lie/

Law & Liberty: Theodore Dalrymple – “Diagnosing the Ideological Mind”

https://lawliberty.org/book-review/diagnosing-the-ideological-mind/

Law & Liberty: Daniel J. Mahoney – “The Persistence of the Lie”

https://lawliberty.org/the-persistence-of-the-lie/

National Review: John O’Sullivan – “Lies, Damned Lies, and Ideology”

https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2025/06/lies-damned-lies-and-ideology/

The University Bookman: Jeffrey Folks – “Unmasking the Ideological Lie”

https://kirkcenter.org/reviews/unmasking-the-ideological-lie/