Russell Kirk and the Birth of the Conservative Mind

Before 1953, almost nobody called themselves a "conservative." In this episode of The Economist Next Door, host Paul Mueller sits down with Jeff Nelson, director of the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal, at Kirk's historic home in Mecosta, Michigan. They explore how Russell Kirk's landmark book The Conservative Mind gave shape and name to a tradition that stretched back through the Founding, examine Kirk's friendships and sparring partners — from Hayek and Buckley to T.S. Eliot and Ray Bradbury — and dig into his views on free enterprise, tradition, and the "principle of variety." Along the way, they share personal stories about Kirk's eccentric life in Mecosta, his legendary hospitality, and why his ideas on civil society still matter for anyone thinking about economics, culture, and freedom today.