June 9, 2026 • 34 mins
This episode of the Dan Caplis Show is a must-listen for anyone interested in politics, law, and faith. The conversation is engaging, informative, and thought-provoking, making it a great addition to your podcast playlist.
The episode starts with Dan sharing his thoughts on the importance of truth and justice in the American way. He reflects on his 42 years of experience as a trial lawyer and how it has given him a unique perspective on the limitations of the political process. He highlights the challenges of getting to the truth in politics, especially when compared to the power of subpoena and legal authority in the courtroom.
Dan is joined by two Harvard Law students, Mason Laney and Will Johnson, who host the popular podcast Approach the Bench. They share their experiences as conservative Christian students at Harvard and how they started their podcast to discuss faith, politics, and law. The conversation covers their backgrounds, their podcast's unique approach, and their advice for young conservatives and Christians navigating the challenges of college life.
This episode is a great listen for anyone interested in law, politics, and faith. Dan and his guests offer insightful perspectives on the importance of standing up for one's values and the challenges of navigating complex issues. If you're looking for a thought-provoking conversation that will leave you feeling inspired and motivated, tune in to this episode of the Dan Caplis Show.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Dan Caplis and welcome to today's online podcast
edition of The Dan Caplis Show. Please be sure to
give us a five star rating if you'd be so kind,
and to subscribe, download and listen to the show every
single day on your favorite podcast platform. And my mind
is blown, as I say here right now, and it
has nothing to do with any of the topics we're
(00:21):
talking about, so I won't dwell on it. I'll go
back to the topics we're talking about. But the intro
truth justice in the American way, it makes me so
grateful to do the job I do. I'm a lawyer,
I'm a trial lawyer, and it relates to what we've
been talking about in this GUP primary because a point
I've been making is unless you have subpoena power, or
(00:43):
let's say that you have core o power, which the
Democrats have watered down greatly, and you can use legal
authority in the courts to go in and get documents,
you're often very limited in your ability to get to
an ultimate conclusion. But the reason I'm saying my mind
is blown is I've been doing trial of for forty
two years or so, and a big part of what
I do is use that subpoene of power and use,
(01:07):
you know that the greatness of our court system to
force defendants to turn over documents. And some, not all,
defendants will hide documents for years. And I'm working on
a case now. I won't mention it, allude to it
anything else, or you know, it'd be fine too, but
I won't.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
But we've been fighting for years to drill down.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
We just knew there were documents they weren't producing, and
we just got them, and they're earth shattering. They just
prove everything and change everything, and it just it just
makes me so frustrated that in the political process, the
voters don't have that same ability.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
They don't have that same power to go get to
the truth.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
We're all limited as voters to the information available and
thankfully our instincts. But that's one thing that's so infuriating
about that Democrat BackRub with with Wiser and Bennett and
you know Ryan, they used to do those group backrubs
on the Boulder mall. Did you ever see one of those? Yeah,
there would be a bit, because you know, I was
in law school and Boulder and then lived there and
(02:14):
practiced afterwards, and there'd be a big circle of people,
and then others would come in and join in on
the Pearl Street mall, and then everyone would rub the
back of the person in front of them, and then
while somebody's rubbing your back. Now, I never never got
into one of those circles, but that's what this was.
But that's why it's so frustrating, this Democrat BackRub, you
(02:37):
know that Wiser and Bennett received from the moderators, because
there are so few chances for the voters to even
get a glimpse of the real truth or who these
you know, the real abilities of these candidates who are
so overly managed and protected, and then they did the laydown.
Didn't even ask them about Colorado's failing roads, or crime
rates or mass fenton al death, or sanctuary cities, or
(03:02):
how about boys and girls sports, which is such a
hot issue it's even going to be on the same
ballot as.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
The goubnatorial race.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Or Phil Wiser just getting slapped on repeatedly by the
US Supreme Court for stripping Christians of their constitutional rights. Yeah,
none of that just so frustrating. Three or three someone
three eight two five. Maybe that's just because I've been
fortunate to have a job, a hard job, but a
job where if you do the hard work and you
(03:29):
know what you're doing, you can use these legal powers
to go get the truth. And thank you founders and
thank you courts, you know, for allowing people to get
the truth that way. But in the political process, where
so much is at stake, you get very few opportunities,
and the one we just had with Wiser and Bennett
was thrown away. Texter Dan, you have two point k
(03:50):
likes on your post. Oh here, here it is.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Let's see.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
This relates to sorry I read these out of sequence.
This is from our friend Alexa. We are talking about
the break during the break about okay, who's favored in
this GUFP primary.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
We talked about it in the last segment.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
And I was saying, people who just write off Victor Marx,
I think are making a big mistake because who knows
he might be in the lead right now, they're acting
like he is. But then Alexa text us and she
really pays attention to this stuff. She texts us for
the guy supposedly leading the gov race, he only has
two hundred and fifty one likes on the ex post
he did yesterday where he said he was doing something right.
(04:31):
Victor is not in the lead. That's from Alexa and
then she follows up with Dan. By comparison, you have
two point one thousand likes on your post for Joe's
graduation from that unknown law school.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
That from Alexa.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Thank you Alexa. And oh, speaking of that, We're gonna
have some great guests on. I'm looking forward to this
Ryan because I know one of the great things about
Ryan Show, he does a morning show on six point
thirty kitch A W and Denver, which also covers this show.
Carries this show the afternoons. You have a lot of
podcasters on, and I think that's really cool because you
(05:05):
have a lot of these voices out there and they
have big followings, and it's cool to get that perspective.
Five thirty six Today, we're going to have a couple
of podcasters on from a podcast called Approach the Bench
and it's a Christian conservative podcast done by two Harvard students,
done by two Christian conservative Harvard students, one just graduated
(05:30):
from Harvard Law and one is still in it. So
those two gentlemen, Mason Laney and Will Johnson Approach the
Bench will be with us at five thirty six, and
I just so admire that, because, hey, that's not the
easiest thing to do on any campus, and it's not
the easiest thing to do on the Harvard campus. So
I think what Joe would tell you, and he just
(05:51):
you know, graduated from law school and with very high
honors and all sorts of other awards a short time ago,
is it was never oppressed for standing for his faith.
And he lived his faith, and he spoke his faith,
and he was open about his faith, and he would
go into class discussions argue his conservative positions, argue you know,
(06:11):
his faith, and he never felt depressed for that. And
I respect the school and everybody around for that. And
one of the things that was cool was at his
graduation at several big name, highly respected liberal professors come
up and just talk about how much they loved Joe
and loved having him in the class and loved his
(06:31):
point of view.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Well, having met Joe, Dan, there's a couple of things. One,
it's as if a carbon copy was made of you.
He looks like your younger brother, you know, to be
like he looks exactly like you, and his personality is
similar to yours.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
He may have a little bit more edge to him.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
He's a funny guy. He's eminently likable. Joe is and
I see, you know, the sky is the limit. That's
a cliche, but it really is.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
For Joe.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
This is one cool cat and he is going to
be a success in whatever he does.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
No, and thank you for saying that.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
And as I posted in that tweet, Alexis was kind
of enough to mention, the thing we're most proud of
is he's a great kid.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
He's a great.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Christian kid, and people from all walks of life love him,
and he's fearless about his faith and conservatism.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
And now he's going to go.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
You know, I'm amazed by the honors he achieved and
the awards he won. But as Amy and I were
saying to some friends last night with all of our kids,
and everybody's the same way with their kids, same thing
with Caroline, who's an absolute genius and a natural trial lawyer.
You're grateful for their accomplishments, but what you're proud of
is the people they've become along the way. And that's
(07:41):
the biggest thing.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Again, having met him, he's one of these people. And
I describe actually my dad this way. If somebody were
to say a bad thing about Joe or say they
didn't like Joe or somebody, my immediate question would go
to that person, not to Joe, like what's wrong with you?
Speaker 1 (07:57):
That's right, it's it's really amazing. But and I understand
the criticisms of Harvard and the knock on Harvard and
all of that, and but but I'm just telling you
his experience there and living his faith and his conservatism openly,
and and you know, the fair treatment and the respectful
treatment and everything he got and his ability to achieve there,
(08:20):
my goodness, in in a class that was run by
a very very prominent national, nationally prominent liberal. He got
the Dean Scholar Award as a top student in the
class from this very prominent liberal professor. He real state,
I don't want to fair, I don't want to it's
not dirt. I don't want to get into the name
(08:41):
just because of the privacy the professor. But the professor
stays in touch with him. He texts to me, emails him,
they talk sports and everything else. And the professor is
one of the most prominent, you know, liberal progressives in
the country. Three h three he see three eight two
five five d and five seven seven three nine. Dan
Ruber has it.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Kirkmeyer is a rhino. Do you know the definition of rhino?
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Everybody's a rhino.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
It's your opponent. Yeah, that's the definition of rhino. Whoever
your opponent is.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Phrase.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Here's what I'd say to that.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
You know, I think Barbara Kirkmeyer is one of the
single most qualified people to serve as governor we've had
run in Colorado in the last sixty years.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Literally, is she perfect?
Speaker 1 (09:22):
No? Who is really? Who is perfect? Nobody's perfect. And
of course the moderators in the GOP debate went right to,
you know, her biggest vulnerability, which is a vote to
put the succession issue on the ballot. But they went
right to that, which is fair. They should all candidates
on both sides should be grilled. But somebody like Kirkmeyer,
(09:43):
you know, who's respected across party lines, they go right
to her weakest point, which they should have done. But
with the Democrats, they don't ask Wiser or Bennett anything tough,
anything about.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Their real failures.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Wiser's getting repeatedly hammered by the US Supreme Court for
depriving Christians of constitutional rights.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
They don't ask them about that.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
They don't ask Bennett whether Wiser was writer the Supreme
Court was right.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
That's just one of many examples.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
But yeah, the double standard, it's it's just a disservice
to the state. When we come back, we'll go straight
to the phone lines. I'll start with Bill. We'll talk
more about Iran is what should the president's response be
to Iron now crossing the red line and shooting down
that apache. You're on the Dan Kapla Show.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
And now back to the Dan Kaplas Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
This is really cool.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
He approached the Bench, a very popular podcast hosted by
Christian conservative Harvard law students, and so they really do
tremendous work, and I think you'll find it very interesting
and you may decide to start listening to that podcast
because they're sharp guys, you know, faithful guys, conservative guys,
(10:53):
and they've got that legal perspective. So they will join us.
At five thirty six, let's go to the phone lines.
I'll mix into it's got a beautiful Broomfield, Colorado. You're
on the Dan Caplis Show.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Welcome, Bill, Hey.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
Dan, good to talk to you again.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
And I got a laugh out of Ryan when he
asked me what I wanted to talk to you about.
I just told him I wanted to talk to governor capitalist.
And so he did laugh and and and I checked
while I was waiting, But you graduated a year ahead
of me in seventy six. I thought you were a
little younger, and so still younger. Well you sound younger
(11:31):
and so and so I think in all seriousness, I
paid attention to politics. Thank god. My son in law
is a song to Republican. I've told you before my
first vote was for Ronald Reagan. And and right now,
you know what I'll turn rop quick because I wrote
down my four little things. First of all, Victor Marx
(11:53):
is a fraud. I saw him on TV and he's
talked so slow he couldn't beat a turtle in a race.
And two is in two as. I saw one of
his ads just within the last week, and he didn't
even put his voice to that ad, And that told
me a lot. I paid attention to how people market
(12:15):
and he just, uh, you know, when you start ducking debates,
that tells us who you are. I will be voting
for Barb in the just in the primary and on
the you know, you know, for the governor. But I
hope you do run in four years of feet up
the wation here.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Thank you, my friend. Really appreciate that though.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
Yeah, then I want to go back to Michael Bennett.
There's a guy. Remember his first job was superintendent and
how he became a senator. This guy has no charisma,
no pozass and just you know, it's just amazing word
no accomplishments.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
No, how do you serve in the Senate that long
and have so few accomplishments?
Speaker 5 (12:55):
Well, him and him and Hick Andre Looper are all
hiding out together. Last thing I got for you is
the Iran War. Trump Trumps has backed off too many times.
I'm a big supporter of Trump, but we should have
gone in there and taken carg Island and in just
(13:15):
right now, we would need to put them out of
their misery and uh and and and do what's right.
That's my opinion.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Well, Bill, appreciate the call, and thank you for being
so organized. Appreciate that as well. It and this will
be a topic for another show. But Bill, you know,
he's talking about age and everything else, and and to me,
it's just mind boggling that people get caught up in
that I mean, it's almost totally irrelevant anymore. Right, It's
it's just person to person. And and you know what's
(13:44):
so said to me is the people who they turn
a certain age and then just figure they have to
go downhill. I've just never ever understood that. You know,
who had the best line on that, young Ryan?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
You would know if Ryan.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Knows everything about movies, But who had the best line
on that? He was a truly ok about the goofiness
of this age thing and why anybody puts any stock
in it whatsoever other than okay, you gotta be old
enough to go into a bar, that kind of thing.
But Clint east would hit the best line on it.
And he's now, what mid nineties or so, and Clin
(14:16):
east Wood say the first thing he does every morning
is he says to himself, don't let the old man in. Yeah,
don't let the old man in. Because so many people,
you know, they hit sixty or sixty five or seventy,
and then all of a sudden they let the old
man in, or they let the old woman in, and
(14:37):
they're just old when there's no reason to be none whatsoever.
All you get with these additional years, You know, if
you're blessed with health. All you get with these additional
years is more wisdom. So yeah, that to me, it's
it's so goofy and so self destructive. Three aout three seven,
three eight, two five five and five seven seven three
(14:59):
nine again very popular podcasters joined us. At five thirty six,
the podcast is Approached the Bench a couple of Harvard
students including Mason Lania, Harvard last student, and Will Johnson,
another Harvard law student, and they do a Christian, conservative,
legal oriented podcast. So well worth to listen, but you
(15:20):
can decide for yourself after we talk to the guys.
At five thirty six, Dan says a Texter. Last week
I was in a text re guarding Victor Marx. I'm
like Trump campaign and how much Colorado hates Trump. Then
this morning I get a text saying Victor Marx is
the most anti Trump GOP candidate. There's nothing that adds up.
I have not seen that text. It's hard for me
to imagine the Marx campaign sending out a iman I
(15:43):
Trump text. That's very very hard for me to picture.
I'd want to see that text and make sure that
our texture is interpreting it correctly. Are you familiar young
Ryan with such a text. No, No, it would really
surprise me if Victor took that approach and then Iran
(16:05):
what Bill had to say there? Listen, I personally, President
Trump has I believe earned my trust, I hope yours
when it comes to Iran, when it comes to all
of these military engagements, I think he's earned the trust
based on past performance. Now based on what we can
see publicly, which I think does not include most of
(16:27):
the important information. Yeah, I sit here right now thinking
that if it ended this way, it would be terrible.
It would be a failure. It would be a military
a plus success, but it would be a political diplomatic
failure if it ended this way. If it ended this
way right now, I think this evil regime is even
(16:49):
more empowered, much more powerful around the world than they
were before it started. But again, I trust President Trump,
and I know that there is so much, including probably
all the important stuff we just can't know from the outside.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
But that the idea that you would have this.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Regime shoot down in Apache after the President just laid
down the red line. They cannot kill any Americans. No,
thank god. You know, these pilots survived, but they tried
to kill them. They shot down an Apache, and it
looks like a relative We don't don't have the inside
inful looks like a relative pin prick response. But that's
(17:30):
what brings me back to I do trust Trump, and
it's earned by his performance. Now, the idea that the
US went to war against Iran without a plan in
place to secure the straight of hor moves immediately. I
just don't understand that. I don't understand how you can
do it. But again, I trust Trump based on past performance,
(17:53):
and when the full story's told, it may all make
perfect sense. But based on the limited information we have
right now, yeah, I just don't understand how we can
go to war against Iran without a plan in place
to immediately secure the straight.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
So I'll come back to it. He's earned it. I
trust him.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
I'm waiting to get all the full facts and above all,
how it ends approach the bench.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Podcasters.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Next, you're listening to the Dan Kaplis Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Oh that's a good one, Ryan, perfect lead in. This
is a great podcast. I hope you give it a listen.
I hope you become a regular.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
And it's one of the reasons I'm so optimistic about
the future. There are so many great kids, and there
are so many great smart young conservatives out there, including
conservative Christians. So this popular podcast called Approach the Bench.
It's a Christian conservative podcast done by a couple of
Harvard Law students, one just graduated, Mason Laney, and then
(18:53):
Will Johnson. He's going into his three out year there.
But they tackle faith, politics, and law every week. So
it's really fascinating done by some really smart cats. Who
join us now, Mason, Will welcome to the Dan Kapli Show.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Thanks so much for having us. Dan, We're so stoked
to be here.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
We're really really happy.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Thank you man. Well, guys, thank you and thank you
for what you do. Let me start with Mason seniority.
I guess since you just graduated, Mason, tell everybody how
a couple of conservative Christian Harvard Law students end up
launching a podcast and what the podcast is about.
Speaker 6 (19:32):
Yeah, we kind of stumbled into it, Honestly. Harvard Law
is not a place where you find many Christians or
many conservatives naturally.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
And I kind of realized over time as I.
Speaker 6 (19:41):
Was going about my law school experience that I wanted
to be better known for my faith or my values
for the things that actually mattered to me, and I
didn't think I was doing a good enough job of that.
In class, and I met Will, who was very funny
and chill.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
And it's funny to say that I'm.
Speaker 6 (19:56):
Senior because he definitely always like to flaunt the fact
he's older and more mature than I am, which I
would definitely agree with in many ways.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
But we have a good dynamic. Yeah.
Speaker 6 (20:05):
And we met a random dude at a at a
like a church event, and.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
He said, hey, you guys should start a podcast. We
started a podcast.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
It is awesome and you guys, Will, you got to
be loving it, right. I mean that the fact that
you guys can attract this audience and share your thoughts,
and I would imagine just prepping for the show, you know,
Shakespeare said to write us to think just prepping for
the show has to give you that edge certainly.
Speaker 7 (20:29):
So yeah, I mean it's been a great experience just
even in even just in learning what it takes to
on a podcast and be able to be prepared to
speak for you know, an hour and a half to
two hours at a time, and to sometimes debate different
guests take on topics that I don't know much about
it first and diving into research and just be prepared
to present and hopefully nuanced but interesting perspective to people
(20:51):
that they might not otherwise get on a campus like Harvard.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Yeah, and your guys backgrounds as well.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
I mean, just as as Mason, you know, has worked
for I think DOJ, Civil Rights and the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Becket Fund, you're a former officer in the United States Army, Right,
how does that impact your views and you know how
you project?
Speaker 6 (21:15):
Yeah, so we definitely have unique backgrounds for Harvard, Will
having come directly from the military, and me having come
directly from a Christian private school. I went to a
Wheaton College outside Illin, Ohi for undergrad and I think
coming into an environment like Harvard Law School, you realize
very quickly that you're different, right, and also that a
lot of people have never been exposed to the ideas
(21:35):
that you believe to be true. And that means that
the podcast long form content, it provides us the opportunity
to explain in full form, in a full form two
people exactly what those views are. And many of our
friends who listen to the podcasts, they're liberal and they
kind of got into it initially because we also are bachelor's,
so we talk a lot about girl problems and dating
(21:56):
and stuff.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
So that's kind of like thebate.
Speaker 6 (21:59):
We get you in and then we talk about Christianity.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
I was just that I think does just get your dates? Honestly, yes,
kind of.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (22:10):
It surprisingly, I thought it was going to sink us.
I thought it was totally going to think us as
the dating matter. But amazingly, I think it actually filters
really well.
Speaker 7 (22:17):
Yeah, some of our listeners have recommended, you know, people
to us. Sometimes girls reach out via email or the comment.
Speaker 6 (22:24):
Yeah. Many many think that this was the actual reasons
for the podcast in the first place.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Yes, wow, Well, and I think that's impressive, right, because
I think there are so many people out there who
just who just admire courage, and they may disagree with
somebody on something, even something fundamental like you know, my
wife is is a democrat and and but I think
people respect people who are open about what they believe
and and and they're willing to back it up and
have the conversation. But it sounds like you guys do
(22:50):
that too, right, sounds like you have some lefties on
and you have the big debate.
Speaker 7 (22:55):
Yeah, we we have debated a democratic socialist proudly so,
quite a viral personality at Harvard as well.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
So we've had her on, we talked.
Speaker 7 (23:04):
To her, and yeah, we've debated a lot of different
viewpoints too. We've had a mormonon, we've had Katholic on,
and so, yeah, we don't shy away from the hard conversations.
And I don't think either of us really went into
this with any fear of being canceled or you know,
looked down upon for our views. We just wanted to
speak the truth and hopefully do it courteously and with
(23:26):
a lot of nuances.
Speaker 6 (23:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Well, and the culture has really changed.
Speaker 6 (23:28):
I think that's something that's important to note. I mean,
the dean of Harvard Law Admissions came onto the podcast,
and she's wonderful, so great and awesome. But also the episode,
like two episodes before that episode, we were debating gay
marriage and legality with that, and five six years ago,
I think it would be very hard for many people,
even reasonable people who are friends of ours, to associate
with us publicly having conversations like that. And so the
(23:51):
culture has changed, and it's an opportunity for Christians, for
conservatives to get out there and spread the good news.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Well, I think that's a great point, Mason, because you know,
when you applied his essay, he was very open about
his conservatism and his Christianity, you know, and they invited
him in and so I really respected that and the
fact that they invited you guys in as well. Now
there are going to be a lot of people in
our audience, guys who are thinking, you know what, I'd
(24:18):
love to listen to a podcast where I'm going to
learn more about the law because I think that's value
added for people. And so tell folks about how often
you talk about the law and what form that takes.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Yeah, I think that.
Speaker 6 (24:31):
So the podcast being also a kind of Harvard law
focused podcast by its very nature, we'll have some guests
on that are very legal. We had Sarah Iseger who's
the host of the Advisor Opinions podcast, very very dense,
legal informed podcast subject matter, and we try our hardest
to explain that in detail to our viewers. But we
(24:52):
also have some variety there, and actually we have the
girl Problem segment.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
We also have these debates of religion.
Speaker 6 (24:56):
But our goal is honestly to just present ourselves as
we are. It means that you're going to get a
lot of legal stuff because we're law students are now
for me, about to become a full blown lawyer, and
so definitely you learn a lot about the law. We'll
try our best to explain the concepts of like originalism, textualism,
and the.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Role of the judiciary alongside it. The goal is to
be accessible.
Speaker 6 (25:15):
We're always welcome, well, we always welcome them to try
to make it more accessible.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
And you know what, I love, guys, and I think
my listeners are listeners will too. Is you know, just
like so often younger doctors, you know, they're on the
cutting edge of this or that. I just know from
being around you know, Joe and his buddies, including you, guys.
I just know, and having practiced law for forty two years,
there is a new level of brilliance. You know, You've
(25:42):
got a lot of people your age who are coming
out way ahead of people who've been doing it for decades.
So it's a good chance for people to hear what
you know, these up and coming legal minds, thinks. So
I think that's cool. Now, I got to ask you
for some advice. What advice do you have for a
talk show host who have no girl problems because he's
been married to like a ten plus for thirty three years.
Speaker 7 (26:07):
Yeah, well, I think you have a great perspective to
add you can you know, you should give your guys
your audience marriage advice.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
I would certainly listen in for that. Yeah, yeah, I
need it. Yeah, like I need to help. That's the
biggest thing.
Speaker 6 (26:21):
It's kind of funny that the one's giving the advice
considering that we have not fully gotten married yet. Honestly,
it's it's it's men like you that we need to
be hearing from to learn what we need to do,
maybe differently, to be able to actually get dates.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Well, you don't need my advice, but I'll give it
to you anyway.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
And my advice is wait until you meet the right
lady because I didn't. I didn't marry it until I
was thirty six. But hey, if I had met her
when I was twenty five and I had driven by that,
I would have been out of my mind. So I
just say, you know, wait until you meet the right person.
Speaker 6 (26:56):
What happens If we're a little impatient, though.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
That can happen. You know, I went through that phase
that can happen. Yeah, but that's what it starts.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Oh no, I know, because you know, it's it's at
the heart of life, right. I was just at that
who was it one of the big ones, maybe a
Warren Buffet or whatever, just saying that, Hey, the number
one thing you have to get right in life is
who you marry, and and so yeah, and and so
I think it's a tougher road for you guys out
there right now, because isn't everybody just meeting online?
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Isn't that what they do now? Yeah?
Speaker 7 (27:31):
Yeah, And we've covered that on the podcast. Were actually
had a guest on who is an HBS student Harvard
Business School, and one of his startup ideas is to
sort of reform the online dating community. And we had
a bit of a disagreement there because I I don't
think it can be reformed. I'm pretty skeptical about dating
apps and that's sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
How would he know it's certainly hard to fill people
turn to it.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Will how would he reform the online dating community.
Speaker 7 (27:59):
Through different incentive structure, like kind of getting away from
the you know, I don't want to give the episode away, Dan,
just to tease, Yeah, by just changing up the incentive structures,
so you don't get a picture until you have had
a substantive conversation while no switeism involved, do you kind
(28:20):
of get like a select number of people to choose
from sort of things that make it less of you know,
you're treating people as commodities rather than individuals to get
to know.
Speaker 6 (28:29):
Yeah, the issue of course with that still isn't it
You're really running up against what one of the major
reasons why the dating market is struggling and there's been
this kind of bottoming out of the market is that, like,
as much as you're trying to facilitate these genuine connections
between people, people's expectations that are so aggrandized that by the
time they interact with an image, they have an expectation.
(28:49):
If it doesn't match with it, they'll often not continue
to pursue that person. And so dealing with both the
dating apps kind of incentivizing you to think about image
imagistic stand while also dealing with actual changes in those
standards that make it hard for men and women to
match up.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
See I will listen to this podcast guys, just based
on that, I will listen to the podcast and really
grateful for the time today. I want to before I
let you go, ask you the best place for people
to tune in and listen to Mason Laney and Will
Johnson the podcast Approach the Bench. So what's the best
vehicle for this?
Speaker 6 (29:26):
That's very very kind of you were grateful to come
to the show. People want to listen, the best way
is either over Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
You can find the long form content there.
Speaker 6 (29:35):
We produce a lot of short, fun content on Instagram
and TikTok. And the name is really simple.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
It's Approach the Bench.
Speaker 6 (29:41):
You look it up, you'll find it.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Love what you're doing, Appreciate the time. Guys, thank you
so much for bunning out there.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Dan, thank you good luck out there. That is Yeah,
this is a wonderful podcast. Hope you do listen. You're
on the Dan Capla Show.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
And now back to the Dankapless Show podcast.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
LI.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Wow, that's good. Ryan. Who is that the late great
Toby Keith?
Speaker 6 (30:06):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (30:07):
That is good.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
I wonder if that's where Clint Eastwood got it goes
to this text or Dan, thanks so much for your
thoughts about quote not letting the old man in. I
needed that today because it's my birthday. And old friend
emailed me. She went online and sent me pictures of
my old yearbooks. Still gagging. I think I need a shower.
I prefer the present. I attributed it to Clint Eastwood,
who has this great advice first, and he says to
(30:28):
himself every morning is don't let the old man in
because his goofiness of just thinking because you're a certain number.
Maybe that's numbers twenty five, maybe it's eighty five. But
thinking because you're a certain number you are limited in
certain ways, that's just madness. But yeah, a great one there, Ryan.
I wonder if he got that, if Clint got it
from Toby.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Toby might have written the song based on the Clint quote.
I mean that's not the question either.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Yeah, yeah, could have happened, Dan.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
We often practice the BackRub circle at team building events
and the student leader Ship Institute at See You Boulder.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
We built a great team, pretty relaxed one.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
I would guess I had used the circular backrup thing
in Boulder as a metaphor for the debate between Wiser
and Bennett, because that's what my opinion the moderators did.
They gave him an hour long BackRub while serving as
human shields to protect both candidates from their unpopular positions
and failures in office. So, yeah, when you moderate a
(31:27):
debate and you don't ask about our crumbling roads, you
don't ask about our crumbling roads. You don't ask about
high crime rates. You don't ask about mass fent and
all death. You don't ask about sanctuary cities. You don't
ask about boys and girls sports, even though it's going
to be on the ballot. Yeah, that's human shield time.
Got a text from I think our friend alexas Saint
(31:50):
Dan you should have Joe and Caroline on to talk
about the best advice they ever got from their dad.
Well that's very thoughtful. This ties back to an earlier
conversation on the show. Thank you, Alexa. But I know
what both kids would probably do is quote Abraham Lincoln,
which is all that I am, or hope ever to be.
(32:11):
I get from my mother, and that's just the truth. Listen,
I'm like every dad out there. I've worked hard to
be a good dad. But listen, at the end of
the day, you know, I think it's really easy. You
can look at our kids, and I think a lot
of families can say this. You can look at our
kids who are wonderful and just great humans. It's like
I said earlier, all of us as parents, right, all
(32:31):
of us we celebrate our kids accomplishments, like our daughter
Caroline and Joe. I mean, we celebrate their amazing accomplishments.
But what we're proud of is the people they have
become along the way.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
That's what you're really proud of. That's what matters most.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Ryan, we had a great priest, father Pat who said
at church one day, and whether somebody's Catholic, religious or not,
thought they'll still I think agree with this, Well maybe
not if they're not religious. Point was you got one
job as a parent, he said, He gave these great
homblies go one job as a parent, and that is
raise a kid who God will want to spend eternity with.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
That's pretty good advice, don't you think It's.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
A high bar and a lot of pressure.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
I think that's pretty good advice, but I think it's
the right goal. Hey got a texture here saying, Dan,
finish your thoughts. Last thing you said was if Iran
ended the way it was today, then it would be
a military victory, but a political failure. What do you
mean by the way it is. It's obvious the way
it is today. And my whole point was, I trust
(33:37):
Trump based on past performance. And obviously we can't know.
We don't have access to most of the most important information.
But from what you can tell from the outside, if
this became the status quo, if today became the status
quo moving forward, you know, it would have been a
(33:57):
massive military success, but overall a foreign policy failure because
if this becomes the new normal, that evil straight out
of hell regime is going to be much more powerful
than the word before the war started. Now that's the
reason I don't think it's going to end this way.
(34:18):
I trust Trump based on past performance, but I think
there are some critical days to come, obviously, whether they're
sooner or later.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Ryan, thank you for your great job today. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Ryan as a tremendous show each morning six to ten am,
sixty Kitchen w Denver.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Check it out. God and management Willing and I'm back
tomorrow for on the Dan Kapla Show. Joined me the
This is Dan Caplis and welcome to today's online podcast
edition of The Dan Caplis Show. Please be sure to
give us a five star rating if you'd be so kind,
and to subscribe, download and listen to the show every
single day on your favorite podcast platform. And my mind
is blown, as I say here right now, and it
has nothing to do with any of the topics we're
(00:21):
talking about, so I won't dwell on it. I'll go
back to the topics we're talking about. But the intro
truth justice in the American way, it makes me so
grateful to do the job I do. I'm a lawyer,
I'm a trial lawyer, and it relates to what we've
been talking about in this GUP primary because a point
I've been making is unless you have subpoena power, or
(00:43):
let's say that you have core o power, which the
Democrats have watered down greatly, and you can use legal
authority in the courts to go in and get documents,
you're often very limited in your ability to get to
an ultimate conclusion. But the reason I'm saying my mind
is blown is I've been doing trial of for forty
two years or so, and a big part of what
I do is use that subpoene of power and use,
(01:07):
you know that the greatness of our court system to
force defendants to turn over documents. And some, not all,
defendants will hide documents for years. And I'm working on
a case now. I won't mention it, allude to it
anything else, or you know, it'd be fine too, but
I won't.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
But we've been fighting for years to drill down.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
We just knew there were documents they weren't producing, and
we just got them, and they're earth shattering. They just
prove everything and change everything, and it just it just
makes me so frustrated that in the political process, the
voters don't have that same ability.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
They don't have that same power to go get to
the truth.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
We're all limited as voters to the information available and
thankfully our instincts. But that's one thing that's so infuriating
about that Democrat BackRub with with Wiser and Bennett and
you know Ryan, they used to do those group backrubs
on the Boulder mall. Did you ever see one of those? Yeah,
there would be a bit, because you know, I was
in law school and Boulder and then lived there and
(02:14):
practiced afterwards, and there'd be a big circle of people,
and then others would come in and join in on
the Pearl Street mall, and then everyone would rub the
back of the person in front of them, and then
while somebody's rubbing your back. Now, I never never got
into one of those circles, but that's what this was.
But that's why it's so frustrating, this Democrat BackRub, you
(02:37):
know that Wiser and Bennett received from the moderators, because
there are so few chances for the voters to even
get a glimpse of the real truth or who these
you know, the real abilities of these candidates who are
so overly managed and protected, and then they did the laydown.
Didn't even ask them about Colorado's failing roads, or crime
rates or mass fenton al death, or sanctuary cities, or
(03:02):
how about boys and girls sports, which is such a
hot issue it's even going to be on the same
ballot as.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
The goubnatorial race.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Or Phil Wiser just getting slapped on repeatedly by the
US Supreme Court for stripping Christians of their constitutional rights. Yeah,
none of that just so frustrating. Three or three someone
three eight two five. Maybe that's just because I've been
fortunate to have a job, a hard job, but a
job where if you do the hard work and you
(03:29):
know what you're doing, you can use these legal powers
to go get the truth. And thank you founders and
thank you courts, you know, for allowing people to get
the truth that way. But in the political process, where
so much is at stake, you get very few opportunities,
and the one we just had with Wiser and Bennett
was thrown away. Texter Dan, you have two point k
(03:50):
likes on your post. Oh here, here it is.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Let's see.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
This relates to sorry I read these out of sequence.
This is from our friend Alexa. We are talking about
the break during the break about okay, who's favored in
this GUFP primary.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
We talked about it in the last segment.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
And I was saying, people who just write off Victor Marx,
I think are making a big mistake because who knows
he might be in the lead right now, they're acting
like he is. But then Alexa text us and she
really pays attention to this stuff. She texts us for
the guy supposedly leading the gov race, he only has
two hundred and fifty one likes on the ex post
he did yesterday where he said he was doing something right.
(04:31):
Victor is not in the lead. That's from Alexa and
then she follows up with Dan. By comparison, you have
two point one thousand likes on your post for Joe's
graduation from that unknown law school.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
That from Alexa.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Thank you Alexa. And oh, speaking of that, We're gonna
have some great guests on. I'm looking forward to this
Ryan because I know one of the great things about
Ryan Show, he does a morning show on six point
thirty kitch A W and Denver, which also covers this show.
Carries this show the afternoons. You have a lot of
podcasters on, and I think that's really cool because you
(05:05):
have a lot of these voices out there and they
have big followings, and it's cool to get that perspective.
Five thirty six Today, we're going to have a couple
of podcasters on from a podcast called Approach the Bench
and it's a Christian conservative podcast done by two Harvard students,
done by two Christian conservative Harvard students, one just graduated
(05:30):
from Harvard Law and one is still in it. So
those two gentlemen, Mason Laney and Will Johnson Approach the
Bench will be with us at five thirty six, and
I just so admire that, because, hey, that's not the
easiest thing to do on any campus, and it's not
the easiest thing to do on the Harvard campus. So
I think what Joe would tell you, and he just
(05:51):
you know, graduated from law school and with very high
honors and all sorts of other awards a short time ago,
is it was never oppressed for standing for his faith.
And he lived his faith, and he spoke his faith,
and he was open about his faith, and he would
go into class discussions argue his conservative positions, argue you know,
(06:11):
his faith, and he never felt depressed for that. And
I respect the school and everybody around for that. And
one of the things that was cool was at his
graduation at several big name, highly respected liberal professors come
up and just talk about how much they loved Joe
and loved having him in the class and loved his
(06:31):
point of view.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Well, having met Joe, Dan, there's a couple of things. One,
it's as if a carbon copy was made of you.
He looks like your younger brother, you know, to be
like he looks exactly like you, and his personality is
similar to yours.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
He may have a little bit more edge to him.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
He's a funny guy. He's eminently likable. Joe is and
I see, you know, the sky is the limit. That's
a cliche, but it really is.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
For Joe.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
This is one cool cat and he is going to
be a success in whatever he does.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
No, and thank you for saying that.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
And as I posted in that tweet, Alexis was kind
of enough to mention, the thing we're most proud of
is he's a great kid.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
He's a great.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Christian kid, and people from all walks of life love him,
and he's fearless about his faith and conservatism.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
And now he's going to go.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
You know, I'm amazed by the honors he achieved and
the awards he won. But as Amy and I were
saying to some friends last night with all of our kids,
and everybody's the same way with their kids, same thing
with Caroline, who's an absolute genius and a natural trial lawyer.
You're grateful for their accomplishments, but what you're proud of
is the people they've become along the way. And that's
(07:41):
the biggest thing.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Again, having met him, he's one of these people. And
I describe actually my dad this way. If somebody were
to say a bad thing about Joe or say they
didn't like Joe or somebody, my immediate question would go
to that person, not to Joe, like what's wrong with you?
Speaker 1 (07:57):
That's right, it's it's really amazing. But and I understand
the criticisms of Harvard and the knock on Harvard and
all of that, and but but I'm just telling you
his experience there and living his faith and his conservatism openly,
and and you know, the fair treatment and the respectful
treatment and everything he got and his ability to achieve there,
(08:20):
my goodness, in in a class that was run by
a very very prominent national, nationally prominent liberal. He got
the Dean Scholar Award as a top student in the
class from this very prominent liberal professor. He real state,
I don't want to fair, I don't want to it's
not dirt. I don't want to get into the name
(08:41):
just because of the privacy the professor. But the professor
stays in touch with him. He texts to me, emails him,
they talk sports and everything else. And the professor is
one of the most prominent, you know, liberal progressives in
the country. Three h three he see three eight two
five five d and five seven seven three nine. Dan
Ruber has it.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Kirkmeyer is a rhino. Do you know the definition of rhino?
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Everybody's a rhino.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
It's your opponent. Yeah, that's the definition of rhino. Whoever
your opponent is.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Phrase.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Here's what I'd say to that.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
You know, I think Barbara Kirkmeyer is one of the
single most qualified people to serve as governor we've had
run in Colorado in the last sixty years.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Literally, is she perfect?
Speaker 1 (09:22):
No? Who is really? Who is perfect? Nobody's perfect. And
of course the moderators in the GOP debate went right to,
you know, her biggest vulnerability, which is a vote to
put the succession issue on the ballot. But they went
right to that, which is fair. They should all candidates
on both sides should be grilled. But somebody like Kirkmeyer,
(09:43):
you know, who's respected across party lines, they go right
to her weakest point, which they should have done. But
with the Democrats, they don't ask Wiser or Bennett anything tough,
anything about.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Their real failures.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Wiser's getting repeatedly hammered by the US Supreme Court for
depriving Christians of constitutional rights.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
They don't ask them about that.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
They don't ask Bennett whether Wiser was writer the Supreme
Court was right.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
That's just one of many examples.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
But yeah, the double standard, it's it's just a disservice
to the state. When we come back, we'll go straight
to the phone lines. I'll start with Bill. We'll talk
more about Iran is what should the president's response be
to Iron now crossing the red line and shooting down
that apache. You're on the Dan Kapla Show.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
And now back to the Dan Kaplas Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
This is really cool.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
He approached the Bench, a very popular podcast hosted by
Christian conservative Harvard law students, and so they really do
tremendous work, and I think you'll find it very interesting
and you may decide to start listening to that podcast
because they're sharp guys, you know, faithful guys, conservative guys,
(10:53):
and they've got that legal perspective. So they will join us.
At five thirty six, let's go to the phone lines.
I'll mix into it's got a beautiful Broomfield, Colorado. You're
on the Dan Caplis Show.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Welcome, Bill, Hey.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
Dan, good to talk to you again.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
And I got a laugh out of Ryan when he
asked me what I wanted to talk to you about.
I just told him I wanted to talk to governor capitalist.
And so he did laugh and and and I checked
while I was waiting, But you graduated a year ahead
of me in seventy six. I thought you were a
little younger, and so still younger. Well you sound younger
(11:31):
and so and so I think in all seriousness, I
paid attention to politics. Thank god. My son in law
is a song to Republican. I've told you before my
first vote was for Ronald Reagan. And and right now,
you know what I'll turn rop quick because I wrote
down my four little things. First of all, Victor Marx
(11:53):
is a fraud. I saw him on TV and he's
talked so slow he couldn't beat a turtle in a race.
And two is in two as. I saw one of
his ads just within the last week, and he didn't
even put his voice to that ad, And that told
me a lot. I paid attention to how people market
(12:15):
and he just, uh, you know, when you start ducking debates,
that tells us who you are. I will be voting
for Barb in the just in the primary and on
the you know, you know, for the governor. But I
hope you do run in four years of feet up
the wation here.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Thank you, my friend. Really appreciate that though.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
Yeah, then I want to go back to Michael Bennett.
There's a guy. Remember his first job was superintendent and
how he became a senator. This guy has no charisma,
no pozass and just you know, it's just amazing word
no accomplishments.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
No, how do you serve in the Senate that long
and have so few accomplishments?
Speaker 5 (12:55):
Well, him and him and Hick Andre Looper are all
hiding out together. Last thing I got for you is
the Iran War. Trump Trumps has backed off too many times.
I'm a big supporter of Trump, but we should have
gone in there and taken carg Island and in just
(13:15):
right now, we would need to put them out of
their misery and uh and and and do what's right.
That's my opinion.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Well, Bill, appreciate the call, and thank you for being
so organized. Appreciate that as well. It and this will
be a topic for another show. But Bill, you know,
he's talking about age and everything else, and and to me,
it's just mind boggling that people get caught up in
that I mean, it's almost totally irrelevant anymore. Right, It's
it's just person to person. And and you know what's
(13:44):
so said to me is the people who they turn
a certain age and then just figure they have to
go downhill. I've just never ever understood that. You know,
who had the best line on that, young Ryan?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
You would know if Ryan.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Knows everything about movies, But who had the best line
on that? He was a truly ok about the goofiness
of this age thing and why anybody puts any stock
in it whatsoever other than okay, you gotta be old
enough to go into a bar, that kind of thing.
But Clint east would hit the best line on it.
And he's now, what mid nineties or so, and Clin
(14:16):
east Wood say the first thing he does every morning
is he says to himself, don't let the old man in. Yeah,
don't let the old man in. Because so many people,
you know, they hit sixty or sixty five or seventy,
and then all of a sudden they let the old
man in, or they let the old woman in, and
(14:37):
they're just old when there's no reason to be none whatsoever.
All you get with these additional years, You know, if
you're blessed with health. All you get with these additional
years is more wisdom. So yeah, that to me, it's
it's so goofy and so self destructive. Three aout three seven,
three eight, two five five and five seven seven three
(14:59):
nine again very popular podcasters joined us. At five thirty six,
the podcast is Approached the Bench a couple of Harvard
students including Mason Lania, Harvard last student, and Will Johnson,
another Harvard law student, and they do a Christian, conservative,
legal oriented podcast. So well worth to listen, but you
(15:20):
can decide for yourself after we talk to the guys.
At five thirty six, Dan says a Texter. Last week
I was in a text re guarding Victor Marx. I'm
like Trump campaign and how much Colorado hates Trump. Then
this morning I get a text saying Victor Marx is
the most anti Trump GOP candidate. There's nothing that adds up.
I have not seen that text. It's hard for me
to imagine the Marx campaign sending out a iman I
(15:43):
Trump text. That's very very hard for me to picture.
I'd want to see that text and make sure that
our texture is interpreting it correctly. Are you familiar young
Ryan with such a text. No, No, it would really
surprise me if Victor took that approach and then Iran
(16:05):
what Bill had to say there? Listen, I personally, President
Trump has I believe earned my trust, I hope yours
when it comes to Iran, when it comes to all
of these military engagements, I think he's earned the trust
based on past performance. Now based on what we can
see publicly, which I think does not include most of
(16:27):
the important information. Yeah, I sit here right now thinking
that if it ended this way, it would be terrible.
It would be a failure. It would be a military
a plus success, but it would be a political diplomatic
failure if it ended this way. If it ended this
way right now, I think this evil regime is even
(16:49):
more empowered, much more powerful around the world than they
were before it started. But again, I trust President Trump,
and I know that there is so much, including probably
all the important stuff we just can't know from the outside.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
But that the idea that you would have this.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Regime shoot down in Apache after the President just laid
down the red line. They cannot kill any Americans. No,
thank god. You know, these pilots survived, but they tried
to kill them. They shot down an Apache, and it
looks like a relative We don't don't have the inside
inful looks like a relative pin prick response. But that's
(17:30):
what brings me back to I do trust Trump, and
it's earned by his performance. Now, the idea that the
US went to war against Iran without a plan in
place to secure the straight of hor moves immediately. I
just don't understand that. I don't understand how you can
do it. But again, I trust Trump based on past performance,
(17:53):
and when the full story's told, it may all make
perfect sense. But based on the limited information we have
right now, yeah, I just don't understand how we can
go to war against Iran without a plan in place
to immediately secure the straight.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
So I'll come back to it. He's earned it. I
trust him.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
I'm waiting to get all the full facts and above all,
how it ends approach the bench.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Podcasters.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Next, you're listening to the Dan Kaplis Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Oh that's a good one, Ryan, perfect lead in. This
is a great podcast. I hope you give it a listen.
I hope you become a regular.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
And it's one of the reasons I'm so optimistic about
the future. There are so many great kids, and there
are so many great smart young conservatives out there, including
conservative Christians. So this popular podcast called Approach the Bench.
It's a Christian conservative podcast done by a couple of
Harvard Law students, one just graduated, Mason Laney, and then
(18:53):
Will Johnson. He's going into his three out year there.
But they tackle faith, politics, and law every week. So
it's really fascinating done by some really smart cats. Who
join us now, Mason, Will welcome to the Dan Kapli Show.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Thanks so much for having us. Dan, We're so stoked
to be here.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
We're really really happy.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Thank you man. Well, guys, thank you and thank you
for what you do. Let me start with Mason seniority.
I guess since you just graduated, Mason, tell everybody how
a couple of conservative Christian Harvard Law students end up
launching a podcast and what the podcast is about.
Speaker 6 (19:32):
Yeah, we kind of stumbled into it, Honestly. Harvard Law
is not a place where you find many Christians or
many conservatives naturally.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
And I kind of realized over time as I.
Speaker 6 (19:41):
Was going about my law school experience that I wanted
to be better known for my faith or my values
for the things that actually mattered to me, and I
didn't think I was doing a good enough job of that.
In class, and I met Will, who was very funny
and chill.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
And it's funny to say that I'm.
Speaker 6 (19:56):
Senior because he definitely always like to flaunt the fact
he's older and more mature than I am, which I
would definitely agree with in many ways.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
But we have a good dynamic. Yeah.
Speaker 6 (20:05):
And we met a random dude at a at a
like a church event, and.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
He said, hey, you guys should start a podcast. We
started a podcast.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
It is awesome and you guys, Will, you got to
be loving it, right. I mean that the fact that
you guys can attract this audience and share your thoughts,
and I would imagine just prepping for the show, you know,
Shakespeare said to write us to think just prepping for
the show has to give you that edge certainly.
Speaker 7 (20:29):
So yeah, I mean it's been a great experience just
even in even just in learning what it takes to
on a podcast and be able to be prepared to
speak for you know, an hour and a half to
two hours at a time, and to sometimes debate different
guests take on topics that I don't know much about
it first and diving into research and just be prepared
to present and hopefully nuanced but interesting perspective to people
(20:51):
that they might not otherwise get on a campus like Harvard.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Yeah, and your guys backgrounds as well.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
I mean, just as as Mason, you know, has worked
for I think DOJ, Civil Rights and the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Becket Fund, you're a former officer in the United States Army, Right,
how does that impact your views and you know how
you project?
Speaker 6 (21:15):
Yeah, so we definitely have unique backgrounds for Harvard, Will
having come directly from the military, and me having come
directly from a Christian private school. I went to a
Wheaton College outside Illin, Ohi for undergrad and I think
coming into an environment like Harvard Law School, you realize
very quickly that you're different, right, and also that a
lot of people have never been exposed to the ideas
(21:35):
that you believe to be true. And that means that
the podcast long form content, it provides us the opportunity
to explain in full form, in a full form two
people exactly what those views are. And many of our
friends who listen to the podcasts, they're liberal and they
kind of got into it initially because we also are bachelor's,
so we talk a lot about girl problems and dating
(21:56):
and stuff.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
So that's kind of like thebate.
Speaker 6 (21:59):
We get you in and then we talk about Christianity.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
I was just that I think does just get your dates? Honestly, yes,
kind of.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (22:10):
It surprisingly, I thought it was going to sink us.
I thought it was totally going to think us as
the dating matter. But amazingly, I think it actually filters
really well.
Speaker 7 (22:17):
Yeah, some of our listeners have recommended, you know, people
to us. Sometimes girls reach out via email or the comment.
Speaker 6 (22:24):
Yeah. Many many think that this was the actual reasons
for the podcast in the first place.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Yes, wow, Well, and I think that's impressive, right, because
I think there are so many people out there who
just who just admire courage, and they may disagree with
somebody on something, even something fundamental like you know, my
wife is is a democrat and and but I think
people respect people who are open about what they believe
and and and they're willing to back it up and
have the conversation. But it sounds like you guys do
(22:50):
that too, right, sounds like you have some lefties on
and you have the big debate.
Speaker 7 (22:55):
Yeah, we we have debated a democratic socialist proudly so,
quite a viral personality at Harvard as well.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
So we've had her on, we talked.
Speaker 7 (23:04):
To her, and yeah, we've debated a lot of different
viewpoints too. We've had a mormonon, we've had Katholic on,
and so, yeah, we don't shy away from the hard conversations.
And I don't think either of us really went into
this with any fear of being canceled or you know,
looked down upon for our views. We just wanted to
speak the truth and hopefully do it courteously and with
(23:26):
a lot of nuances.
Speaker 6 (23:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Well, and the culture has really changed.
Speaker 6 (23:28):
I think that's something that's important to note. I mean,
the dean of Harvard Law Admissions came onto the podcast,
and she's wonderful, so great and awesome. But also the episode,
like two episodes before that episode, we were debating gay
marriage and legality with that, and five six years ago,
I think it would be very hard for many people,
even reasonable people who are friends of ours, to associate
with us publicly having conversations like that. And so the
(23:51):
culture has changed, and it's an opportunity for Christians, for
conservatives to get out there and spread the good news.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Well, I think that's a great point, Mason, because you know,
when you applied his essay, he was very open about
his conservatism and his Christianity, you know, and they invited
him in and so I really respected that and the
fact that they invited you guys in as well. Now
there are going to be a lot of people in
our audience, guys who are thinking, you know what, I'd
(24:18):
love to listen to a podcast where I'm going to
learn more about the law because I think that's value
added for people. And so tell folks about how often
you talk about the law and what form that takes.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Yeah, I think that.
Speaker 6 (24:31):
So the podcast being also a kind of Harvard law
focused podcast by its very nature, we'll have some guests
on that are very legal. We had Sarah Iseger who's
the host of the Advisor Opinions podcast, very very dense,
legal informed podcast subject matter, and we try our hardest
to explain that in detail to our viewers. But we
(24:52):
also have some variety there, and actually we have the
girl Problem segment.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
We also have these debates of religion.
Speaker 6 (24:56):
But our goal is honestly to just present ourselves as
we are. It means that you're going to get a
lot of legal stuff because we're law students are now
for me, about to become a full blown lawyer, and
so definitely you learn a lot about the law. We'll
try our best to explain the concepts of like originalism, textualism,
and the.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Role of the judiciary alongside it. The goal is to
be accessible.
Speaker 6 (25:15):
We're always welcome, well, we always welcome them to try
to make it more accessible.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
And you know what, I love, guys, and I think
my listeners are listeners will too. Is you know, just
like so often younger doctors, you know, they're on the
cutting edge of this or that. I just know from
being around you know, Joe and his buddies, including you, guys.
I just know, and having practiced law for forty two years,
there is a new level of brilliance. You know, You've
(25:42):
got a lot of people your age who are coming
out way ahead of people who've been doing it for decades.
So it's a good chance for people to hear what
you know, these up and coming legal minds, thinks. So
I think that's cool. Now, I got to ask you
for some advice. What advice do you have for a
talk show host who have no girl problems because he's
been married to like a ten plus for thirty three years.
Speaker 7 (26:07):
Yeah, well, I think you have a great perspective to
add you can you know, you should give your guys
your audience marriage advice.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
I would certainly listen in for that. Yeah, yeah, I
need it. Yeah, like I need to help. That's the
biggest thing.
Speaker 6 (26:21):
It's kind of funny that the one's giving the advice
considering that we have not fully gotten married yet. Honestly,
it's it's it's men like you that we need to
be hearing from to learn what we need to do,
maybe differently, to be able to actually get dates.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Well, you don't need my advice, but I'll give it
to you anyway.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
And my advice is wait until you meet the right
lady because I didn't. I didn't marry it until I
was thirty six. But hey, if I had met her
when I was twenty five and I had driven by that,
I would have been out of my mind. So I
just say, you know, wait until you meet the right person.
Speaker 6 (26:56):
What happens If we're a little impatient, though.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
That can happen. You know, I went through that phase
that can happen. Yeah, but that's what it starts.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Oh no, I know, because you know, it's it's at
the heart of life, right. I was just at that
who was it one of the big ones, maybe a
Warren Buffet or whatever, just saying that, Hey, the number
one thing you have to get right in life is
who you marry, and and so yeah, and and so
I think it's a tougher road for you guys out
there right now, because isn't everybody just meeting online?
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Isn't that what they do now? Yeah?
Speaker 7 (27:31):
Yeah, And we've covered that on the podcast. Were actually
had a guest on who is an HBS student Harvard
Business School, and one of his startup ideas is to
sort of reform the online dating community. And we had
a bit of a disagreement there because I I don't
think it can be reformed. I'm pretty skeptical about dating
apps and that's sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
How would he know it's certainly hard to fill people
turn to it.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Will how would he reform the online dating community.
Speaker 7 (27:59):
Through different incentive structure, like kind of getting away from
the you know, I don't want to give the episode away, Dan,
just to tease, Yeah, by just changing up the incentive structures,
so you don't get a picture until you have had
a substantive conversation while no switeism involved, do you kind
(28:20):
of get like a select number of people to choose
from sort of things that make it less of you know,
you're treating people as commodities rather than individuals to get
to know.
Speaker 6 (28:29):
Yeah, the issue of course with that still isn't it
You're really running up against what one of the major
reasons why the dating market is struggling and there's been
this kind of bottoming out of the market is that, like,
as much as you're trying to facilitate these genuine connections
between people, people's expectations that are so aggrandized that by the
time they interact with an image, they have an expectation.
(28:49):
If it doesn't match with it, they'll often not continue
to pursue that person. And so dealing with both the
dating apps kind of incentivizing you to think about image
imagistic stand while also dealing with actual changes in those
standards that make it hard for men and women to
match up.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
See I will listen to this podcast guys, just based
on that, I will listen to the podcast and really
grateful for the time today. I want to before I
let you go, ask you the best place for people
to tune in and listen to Mason Laney and Will
Johnson the podcast Approach the Bench. So what's the best
vehicle for this?
Speaker 6 (29:26):
That's very very kind of you were grateful to come
to the show. People want to listen, the best way
is either over Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
You can find the long form content there.
Speaker 6 (29:35):
We produce a lot of short, fun content on Instagram
and TikTok. And the name is really simple.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
It's Approach the Bench.
Speaker 6 (29:41):
You look it up, you'll find it.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Love what you're doing, Appreciate the time. Guys, thank you
so much for bunning out there.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Dan, thank you good luck out there. That is Yeah,
this is a wonderful podcast. Hope you do listen. You're
on the Dan Capla Show.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
And now back to the Dankapless Show podcast.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
LI.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Wow, that's good. Ryan. Who is that the late great
Toby Keith?
Speaker 6 (30:06):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (30:07):
That is good.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
I wonder if that's where Clint Eastwood got it goes
to this text or Dan, thanks so much for your
thoughts about quote not letting the old man in. I
needed that today because it's my birthday. And old friend
emailed me. She went online and sent me pictures of
my old yearbooks. Still gagging. I think I need a shower.
I prefer the present. I attributed it to Clint Eastwood,
who has this great advice first, and he says to
(30:28):
himself every morning is don't let the old man in
because his goofiness of just thinking because you're a certain number.
Maybe that's numbers twenty five, maybe it's eighty five. But
thinking because you're a certain number you are limited in
certain ways, that's just madness. But yeah, a great one there, Ryan.
I wonder if he got that, if Clint got it
from Toby.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Toby might have written the song based on the Clint quote.
I mean that's not the question either.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Yeah, yeah, could have happened, Dan.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
We often practice the BackRub circle at team building events
and the student leader Ship Institute at See You Boulder.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
We built a great team, pretty relaxed one.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
I would guess I had used the circular backrup thing
in Boulder as a metaphor for the debate between Wiser
and Bennett, because that's what my opinion the moderators did.
They gave him an hour long BackRub while serving as
human shields to protect both candidates from their unpopular positions
and failures in office. So, yeah, when you moderate a
(31:27):
debate and you don't ask about our crumbling roads, you
don't ask about our crumbling roads. You don't ask about
high crime rates. You don't ask about mass fent and
all death. You don't ask about sanctuary cities. You don't
ask about boys and girls sports, even though it's going
to be on the ballot. Yeah, that's human shield time.
Got a text from I think our friend alexas Saint
(31:50):
Dan you should have Joe and Caroline on to talk
about the best advice they ever got from their dad.
Well that's very thoughtful. This ties back to an earlier
conversation on the show. Thank you, Alexa. But I know
what both kids would probably do is quote Abraham Lincoln,
which is all that I am, or hope ever to be.
(32:11):
I get from my mother, and that's just the truth. Listen,
I'm like every dad out there. I've worked hard to
be a good dad. But listen, at the end of
the day, you know, I think it's really easy. You
can look at our kids, and I think a lot
of families can say this. You can look at our
kids who are wonderful and just great humans. It's like
I said earlier, all of us as parents, right, all
(32:31):
of us we celebrate our kids accomplishments, like our daughter
Caroline and Joe. I mean, we celebrate their amazing accomplishments.
But what we're proud of is the people they have
become along the way.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
That's what you're really proud of. That's what matters most.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Ryan, we had a great priest, father Pat who said
at church one day, and whether somebody's Catholic, religious or not,
thought they'll still I think agree with this, Well maybe
not if they're not religious. Point was you got one
job as a parent, he said, He gave these great
homblies go one job as a parent, and that is
raise a kid who God will want to spend eternity with.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
That's pretty good advice, don't you think It's.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
A high bar and a lot of pressure.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
I think that's pretty good advice, but I think it's
the right goal. Hey got a texture here saying, Dan,
finish your thoughts. Last thing you said was if Iran
ended the way it was today, then it would be
a military victory, but a political failure. What do you
mean by the way it is. It's obvious the way
it is today. And my whole point was, I trust
(33:37):
Trump based on past performance. And obviously we can't know.
We don't have access to most of the most important information.
But from what you can tell from the outside, if
this became the status quo, if today became the status
quo moving forward, you know, it would have been a
(33:57):
massive military success, but overall a foreign policy failure because
if this becomes the new normal, that evil straight out
of hell regime is going to be much more powerful
than the word before the war started. Now that's the
reason I don't think it's going to end this way.
(34:18):
I trust Trump based on past performance, but I think
there are some critical days to come, obviously, whether they're
sooner or later.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Ryan, thank you for your great job today. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Ryan as a tremendous show each morning six to ten am,
sixty Kitchen w Denver.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Check it out. God and management Willing and I'm back
tomorrow for on the Dan Kapla Show. Joined me the
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