Episode 53 – Front Porch Civility with Alexandra Hudson

Civility is essential to civil society. It puts the "civil" in civilization and allows for a system of ordered liberty to flourish. But what do we do when political opponents refuse to behave with civility? Can civility become a weakness in the face of those willing to risk incivility to get their way? Is it possible to both fight for what we believe while maintaining civility, or are these ideas in conflict with one another? And what exactly is civility? Is it simply being polite and well-mannered, or is there more to it than that?   Alexandra Hudson joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to discuss the importance of civility, the need to find ways to bolster institutions that strengthen civility and form the individual's character, and the crucial role of front porches (both metaphorically and literally). Josh gets a little carried away and nerds-out on a brief discussion about how these ideas relate to the broader context within conservatism such as the French/Ahmari debates. For a crash course in what the heck he was referring to, check out this post.   Alexandra is a California native raised in Vancouver, Canada and currently living in Indianapolis, Indiana and is currently a fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER). She studied history and political philosphy at Trinity Western University and earned a Masters in Social Policy at the London School of Economics as a Rotary Scholar. Alexandra has held posts at the Federalist Society and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. Most recently, Alexandra served as a Policy Advisor for the US Department of Education, where she worked to administer an annual budget of $16 billion. She left to write her first book, on civility.   Alexandra was among the recipients of the 2019 Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship Award. She has appeared on Fox News, and her work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, The American Conservative, the Washington Examiner, The Claremont Review of Books, The Catholic Herald, Commentary Magazine, and Quillette. You can learn more about Alexandra at her website and follow her on Twitter @LexiOHudson.