August 1st, 2025 | Grant Johnson

The Right Has Lost An Intelligent Voice

Zman's reach may not have been wide, but it was deep.

The Zman has died. 

Most of our readers are Canadian, so I’m sure you may be asking, “Who is Zman?” and “Why should I care?”

The Zman is a prominent figure from the “dissident right” in the United States (he takes credit for coining the term). He wasn’t yet famous… or even e-famous really. He was a member of the grassroots. A down-to-earth kind of guy who started his internet career in the comment sections of mainstream conservative websites. He often trolled from the right on these sites and his sharp observations and easy reading, combined with his vast memory of 50 years of conservatism, made him extremely popular. 

Before long, he decided to start his own blog called The Zman Blog. Check out the link and surf through, not only his writings, but also the links along the left-hand side of the page. His recommendations and eco-system of right-wing wrong-thinkers is fantastic. His overall philosophy can be distilled with My Theory of Everything. 

Eventually, he started a podcast called The Zblog Power Hour. 

I discovered his podcast around 2018 when I was working a very isolated job in Canada’s north. I had a lot of alone time and listened to podcasts voraciously. This was the era when Joe Rogan was blowing up into a massive cultural phenomenon and the Intellectual Dark Web was becoming a thing. Podcasts were cutting edge and with the recent election of Donald Trump and the rise of the Alt-Right, I was looking for some answers.

I found Zman.

Zman is like your wise uncle who has seen and heard it all before and has a knack for meeting you where you’re at and delivering a grassroots, blue-collar education about the ways and whys of the political world. He was funny. He was daring. He was insightful. He changed my worldview.

One big change I experienced from Zman was my perspective on democracy. After running for Mayor in the small town I live in, I was disheartened and thoroughly jaded by my experience. I struggled to really articulate why I felt so bleak about democracy, but like most propagandized Canadians, I felt that it was a flawed system, but hey, it’s the best we’ve got! 

Then I listened to Zman’s Democracy episode. 

Give it a listen. It’s a masterpiece and a testament to how Zman can distill history, politics and culture into a fun, easy listening show, and there’s many more just like them.

One of the most dramatic back and forths in the online right took place between Michael Anton, writer of the infamous Flight 93 Election article and current Trump administration guru, and Zman regarding the existence of “natural rights”. 

If you’re interested in this sort of philosophy debate, you can check out Zman's blog denying inherent human rights and Michael Anton’s article voicing the opposite. I like both these guys, so it was fun watching them square off, but it was Zman who won the day.

This sort of debate took place in the right-wing ecosphere that barely exists in Canada and this is the main thing we as Canadians should learn from ZMan. We can just do things. We don’t need permission. We don’t need to appease the gatekeepers. We can just do things.

There are hints of this happening in Canada. PostCanadian (and the predecessor Poletical) are prime examples of this DIY spirit. Much like Zman, all the authors have real jobs and do the political writing on the side. This gives us a real-world perspective that sorely lacks amongst the CBC class of the media elite. 

Juno News, Rebel News, The Western Standard,and Small Dead Animals are all good Canadian sources of news, but the world of ZMan is next level. We need more voices beyond official Conservatism and the Liberalism it reacts against. We need to step up the infrastructure building and the outreach. We need to step up the quality of production, because when A.I. evolves to the next level, the easily manufactured, standard mainstream slop and variations thereof are going to swamp everything. Groupthink amongst the normies is going to be stronger than ever.

Another thing we can learn from Zman is networking. Both online and in-real-life, conservatives need to create culture. Zman was a guest speaker at an American Renaissance conference and would often attend similar conferences in the U.S. and Europe. He often spoke fondly of being surrounded by like-minded people and communing without needing to camouflage your true self. In Canada, camouflaged conservatism is basically all we have. We need to change this without the “Fuck Trudeau” stickers. We need to be more confident without the angry old man schtick. Zman preached community and community in Canada is sorely lacking. 

A fantastic podcast called, View From The Right did this tribute podcast, and they talk about meeting and knowing Zman face-to-face. Sounds like Zman was on the cusp of getting bigger than ever. He talked often about a book he was working on, which could’ve been a big breakout opportunity for him. Alas, we’re going to have to make do with the body of work he has already left behind. Which itself is also a lesson for everyone. Life is short. Do it now. Focus on what matters. 

Thanks for the impact, Zman.

“For man, possessed of a self-awareness and the capacity to remake his environment, the purpose of life expands to the celebration of life by not only reproducing but leaving a cultural legacy for the next generation. The point of life is for old men to plant trees in whose shade they will never stand.” - ZMan.