A panel discussion with Ross Douthat, William Kristol, and Ana Navarro

The Babcock Lecture Series and the Denison College Republicans present a panel discussion with political analyst Ross Douthat, political analyst William Kristol and political strategist and commentator Ana Navarro.

Political analyst Ross Douthat is a conservative who writes for a primarily liberal readership, and a co-founder of the New York Times podcast The Argument, he is known for his careful, thoughtful style of debate and dialogue, and his ability to engage with audiences across the political spectrum. 

Political analyst William Kristol has been a leading participant in American political debates and a widely respected analyst of American political developments. He is in the midst of the national debate on issues ranging from American foreign policy to the future of the Republican Party and the meaning of American conservatism.

Political strategist and commentator Ana Navarro was born in Nicaragua and immigrated to the United States in 1980 at 8 years of age. She is a Republican commentator with expertise on Latin American, Florida, and Hispanic issues.

The Babcock Lecture brings prominent conservative speakers to campus and thus interpret the genesis, the philosophical undergirding and policy manifestations of the American conservative heritage.

More about the panelists:

Ross Douthat: One of the most provocative and influential voices of his generation, Douthat joined The New York Times in 2009 as the newspaper's youngest-ever op-ed columnist. He writes on Tuesdays and Sundays for the paper, covering American politics, religion, pop culture, and intellectual life, and he is the film critic for National Review. His book The Deep Places, is a memoir of his experience with chronic illness and timely Covid-era exploration of the limits and blind spots of official medicine.

Douthat is the co-author, with Reihan Salam, of Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream (2008), a book widely credited with anticipating the rise of conservative populism in Western politics and even the presidency of Donald Trump. At the same time, as a conservative who writes for a primarily liberal readership, and a co-founder of the New York Times podcast The Argument, he is known for his careful, thoughtful style of debate and dialogue, and his ability to engage with audiences across the political spectrum. His other books include The Decadent Society (2020), To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism (2018), Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics (2012), and Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class (2005). Douthat is a non-resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a media fellow at the Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America, and the writer-in-residence at the Elm Institute. He lives in New Haven with his wife and four children.

William Kristol: For three decades, political analyst William Kristol has been a leading participant in American political debates and a widely respected analyst of American political developments. Having served in senior positions in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush Administrations, Kristol understands government from the inside; as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University, he has studied American politics and society from the outside.

After serving in the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations, Kristol founded the Weekly Standard in 1995 and edited the influential magazine for over two decades. Now, as founding director of Defending Democracy Together, an organization dedicated to defending America’s liberal democratic norms, principles, and institutions, Kristol is in the midst of the national debate on issues ranging from American foreign policy to the future of the Republican Party and the meaning of American conservatism. Kristol frequently appears on all the major television talk shows, and also is the host of the highly regarded video series and podcast, Conversations with Bill Kristol. Kristol received his undergraduate degree and his Doctor of Philosophy from Harvard University.

Ana Navarro is a political strategist and commentator. Born in Nicaragua, she immigrated to the United States in 1980 at 8 years of age. She is a Republican commentator with expertise on Latin American, Florida and Hispanic issues. She also has vast expertise in supporting losing, but principled, Republican candidates. She was the National Hispanic Co-Chair for John McCain’s 2008 Presidential Campaign. She has advised numerous Federal and State campaigns in Florida and nationally.

Navarro is one of the leading Hispanic (long-suffering) Republican political voices in the United States. She is a political commentator on CNN and Telemundo and a Co-host on ABC’s, The View. She is known for her honest and blunt commentary and speaking truth to power. She lives in Miami, FL with her high maintenance Hispanic husband. She has no children, and her house plants tend to die. She has no hobbies or activities, requiring significant attention span or physical exertion.