The Gentlemen Showcase is in full swing and we are excited to announce an Honorary Gentleman for 2018: Ben Shapiro.

Shapiro is editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com, and host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” the top conservative podcast in the nation. Shapiro is the author of seven books, including The New York Times bestseller, Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America (2012). Shapiro is also a nationally syndicated columnist since age 17, and a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School. Rush Limbaugh says Shapiro isn’t just “content to have people be dazzled by his brilliance; he actually goes out and confronts and tries to persuade, mobilize, motivate people.” Glenn Beck calls Shapiro a “warrior for conservatism, against those who use fear and intimidation to stifle honest debate. I’ve never known him to back down from a fight.” Sarah Palin says that Americans should “consider Ben’s advice about how we must stand up and push back twice as hard against this bullying.” Sean Hannity says to join Ben Shapiro and “fight back!” against liberal bullying. And Michelle Malkin says Shapiro is “infused with the indomitable spirit of his friend and mentor Andrew Breitbart.” Even the liberal Washington Post, in the aftermath of Shapiro’s devastating destruction of Piers Morgan on national television, conceded that Shapiro is a “foe of extraordinary polemical agility.”

We interviewed 2018 Honorable Gentleman Ben Shapiro about what being a gentleman means to him, and we were inspired. Check out our transcribed interview with Ben Shapiro below. How would YOU answer these questions?

What makes someone a gentleman?

Being a gentleman means protecting the innocent, and restricting both your own impulses and checking those of others that threaten the innocent.

Who inspires you to be a gentleman? Who is your favorite gentleman, living or dead?

My father. He’s always taught me the value of being a gentleman — of respecting women and protecting them, of protecting the innocence of children. It’s why I have a good marriage and a good relationship with my children. My favorite gentleman, living or dead, is probably John Adams, who had a loving and respectful and co-equal relationship with his wife.

How do you see NeW’s Gentlemen Showcase as positive program in today’s culture?

It’s not enough to teach men not to be bad; it’s important to teach them to be good. That’s why we need programs actively inculcating virtue.

Why is it important to support gentlemen in today’s culture? With the news breaking about Harvey Weinstein, what difference can The Gentlemen Showcase make?

I’m hoping that we can promulgate a more virtuous set of manly values — and define manliness not as testosterone-fueled aggression, but as a key obligation to protect those who require protection and the institutions and ideas that protect the innocent.

What can men, women and society do to support more gentlemen?

Stop criticizing manliness itself — teach what manliness is. We work hard to tamp down bad instincts among boys, but we must push hard to teach good instincts.

Our chapters are excited to read Shapiro’s book Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America’s Youth during this Showcase.

Learn more about The Gentlemen Showcase and nominate a gentleman at www.gentshowcase.com before February 14. Voting opens on February 15. #GentShowcase