What the Neocons Got Right | The David Frum Show
January 28, 2026
284,197
7,120
1,752
3.12%
Search the Record
IndexedEvery word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
The Atlantic Episodes Around January 28, 2026
See what was published immediately before and after this episode.
1:03:21Now PlayingWhat the Neocons Got Right | The David Frum Show
Chapters
YouTube Description
as posted by the channelOn this week’s episode of “The David Frum Show,” David opens with his reflections on the recent shootings in Minneapolis. He argues that these killings, alongside ICE’s warrantless home raids and mistaken detentions, and the reports of deaths in custody, are not isolated abuses but signs of a rapidly deepening crisis in American democracy, one in which basic rights and due process are applied unevenly and increasingly contested. David asks whether the country can find a way back from a dangerous moral and political impasse, as a majority of Americans recoil from these actions while a determined minority continue to defend them.
Then, David is joined by the “New York Times” columnist and Atlantic contributor David Brooks. Frum and Brooks discuss the origins of the term “neocon,” what the neocons got right, and why they should be listened to today. Brooks describes how America’s problems long predate Trump, and why elections alone cannot fix what has been lost. Together, Frum and Brooks explore whether the country is capable of moral renewal, what rebuilding would actually require, and why recovery, if it comes at all, will be slow, difficult, and deeply personal.
Finally, David ends the episode with his thoughts on “Death by Lightning,” a television series on Netflix based on the assassination of President James Garfield, and how, when watching historical dramas, we need to look back on the past with a contextual lens, one that we should bring to our present too.
Sign up for David Frum’s newsletter alert to find out when a new story is published
Subscribe to “The David Frum Show” on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe to “The David Frum Show” on Spotify
Follow The Atlantic on Instagram
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzerwinning journalism, from cleareyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple podcasts. Subscribe today at
#davidfrum #thedavidfrumshow #theatlantic
Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube
Guests & Subjects Covered
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.