It’s been more than three years since a paid hit man assassinated Slovak investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancé in February 2018. Kuciak was only 27 and had been investigating the Slovak government’s ties to organized crime when he was gunned down in his home. I didn’t know him but, during my time as an American diplomat in Slovakia (2008-2011), I knew many brave journalists like him, as well as the powerful forces he was up against in his struggle to expose the corruption that threatened Slovakia’s nascent democratic institutions.

(16:03) Hoover Institution fellow Victor Davis Hanson talks about anti-American forces that aren't simply protesting outside the government buildings, but they've infiltrated within the systems and organizations they once protested against, and that makes them all the more dangerous to America's constitution, to America's democratic-republic, and to liberty-loving American citizens.

The institutions of civil society are now thoroughly politicized. "Wokeness" is their ideology and religion, and mastering an ever-changing arcane vocabulary is now the key to access to the elite, as well as making sure you're not the next one sent to the proverbial Gulag.

Victor Davis Hanson's new book is The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America. As is typical whenever Dr. Hanson joins us, this interview covers a wide spectrum of topics and references.