Americans today don't trust each other and their institutions as much as they once did. The collapse of social and political trust has arguably fueled our increasingly ferocious ideological conflicts and hardened partisanship. But, Kevin Vallier explains how all is not hopeless. restores faith in our power to reduce polarization and rebuild social and political trust. What is social trust? Do we still have trust in democracy? How do you develop your sense of trust? What's a democratic norm? Host...
Feb 05, 2021•46 min
Walter Olson, senior fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Constitutional Studies, comes on the show to discuss the fallout of the 2020 election culminating with the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021. They discuss how institutions like congress faired during the Trump administration, how and when election fraud concerns should be addressed, as well as the 'whataboutism' of people comparing the capitol insurrection to 2020 protests. What is objective morality? How could we improve our v...
Jan 29, 2021•50 min
Andy Matuschak joins the show to discuss how different learning models will help students in different ways. They discuss how students best remember material and how we should consider cognitive science when constructing a teaching technique. What is the purpose of primary school? Why do we group children by age for learning in school? What is the best way to learn from flashcards? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jan 22, 2021•52 min
Fan favorite, Peter Van Doren, comes back to the show to discuss how the concept of a monopoly has changed throughout history. People certainly don't like the idea of a monopoly, but before we claim a company as a monopoly we need to make sure we know what market they exist in. There is always competition that exists, but sometimes it's hard to nail down. What is a trust? What are the technical concerns of a monopoly? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jan 15, 2021•50 min
The freedom to explore and exchange - whether it's goods, ideas or people - has led to stunning achievements in science, technology and culture. As a result, we live at a time of unprecedented wealth and opportunity. So why are we so intent on ruining it? Johan Norberg explores these ideas and more throughout this episode. How new is openness? Were early civilizations open? How do open societies progress faster than closed? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jan 08, 2021•47 min
George Selgin joins Aaron and Trevor for a discussion on money and banking in the United States. What is money? How did the government become so deeply ingrained in the production and supply of our money, and why? What is the Federal Reserve, and what does it actually do? What would the U. S. look like with a competitive currency system? And what about Bitcoin? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 01, 2021•1 hr 4 min
In this episode Aaron Ross Powell and Trevor Burrus talk about egalitarianism with Professor Elizabeth Anderson. Should we be concerned about an equal distribution of resources in a society? An equal distribution of outcomes? Is it a bad thing for some people to be worse off than others through no fault of their own? And whose job is it to enforce such distributions—government or markets? This was originally released on May 5th, 2014. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Dec 25, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Ilya Shapiro joins the show to take us through the various eras of the Supreme Court. He also explains how the process of nominating someone to the Supreme Court has changed since the founding. What does the Constitution say about the Supreme Court? Did Marbury v. Madison in 1803 and the rise of judicial review change some of the calculus for confirmation hearings? What is judicial review? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Dec 18, 2020•54 min
C. Bradley Thompson's work is inspired by John Adams and his reflection on the nature of the American Revolution. Adams answered the question “What was the revolution?” by saying, “The Revolution was not the war for independence. The Revolution was in fact a revolution in the minds of the American people". Learning this, Thompson discusses the moral revolution that occurred in the minds of the people in the fifteen years before 1776. How did Isaac Newton and Francis Bacon, two scientists, influe...
Dec 11, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Andrew Heaton is a comedian, author, and political satirist. On this episode he explains how, in the last four years, many funny & talented individuals have stepped away from comedy because they do not feel it is an appropriate moment in time to make jokes. But, the power of laughter is often underestimated. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 04, 2020•53 min
Bart J. Wilson explores how humans acquire, perceive, and know the custom of property, and why this might be relevant to understanding how property works in the twenty-first century. What is experimental economics? How does property work? What chaos ensues when property rights do not exist? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nov 27, 2020•47 min
Daniel Klein explains how on regular issues of policy reform—presupposing a stable integrated polity— Hume, Smith, and Burke were liberal in the original political meaning of “liberal.” Thus, on policy reform, although they accorded the status quo a certain presumption (as any reasonable person must), the more distinctive feature is that they maintained (even propounded, most plainly in Smith’s case) a presumption of liberty in matters of policy reform. How are Hume, Smith, and Burke similar? Ho...
Nov 20, 2020•50 min
Jason Kuznicki describes two common theories of gender, both of which have viable critiques. He goes on to describe a theory of gender that is neither essentialist nor constructivist, but something else entirely – a liberal and individualist account of gender. What is the difference between sex and gender? What’s an essentialist account of gender? What’s a constructionist account of gender? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Nov 13, 2020•46 min
John Thrasher discusses a framework for comparing the economic systems of capitalism, feudalism, and socialism, and their roles in a range of contemporary issues, such as climate change, competitive consumption, unemployment, taxation, social inequality, global trade, and intrusion of markets into taboo areas. Why do people dislike capitalism? Why did people think capitalism was a good idea to begin with? What is the difference of capitalism and free markets? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva...
Nov 06, 2020•54 min
Jonathan Anomaly takes seriously the diversity of preferences parents have, and the limits of public policy in regulating what could soon be a global market for reproductive technology. He argues that once embryo selection for complex traits happens it will change the moral landscape by altering the incentives parents face. What will happen in the next 10-20 years with CRISPR? What is embryo selection? Is there a way to enhance morality genetically? Should there be mandatory enhancements? Hosted...
Oct 30, 2020•51 min
Steven Pittz defines what a free spirit is in addition to detailing how liberalism affects our ability to connect to our spirituality. Some argue that liberalism has detached us from a sense of meaning, but is that true? Has liberalism made us detached from spiritualism? What is spiritual fullness? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 23, 2020•50 min
Two decades into the 21st Century, the U.S. is less united than at any time in our history since the Civil War. We are more diverse in our beliefs and culture than ever before. But red and blue states, secular and religious groups, liberal and conservative idealists, and Republican and Democratic representatives all have one thing in common: each believes their distinct cultures and liberties are being threatened by an escalating violent opposition. How has polarization changed in the last decad...
Oct 16, 2020•54 min
Max Borders is a futurist who believes humanity is already building systems that will “underthrow” great centers of power. He believes that decentralization holds great promise. This decentralization will revolutionize we live and interact with eachother. Was the movement in to hierarchy part of human nature? What is holacracy? What is the social singularity? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 09, 2020•54 min
Chris Freiman addresses new objections to political abstention. Because participating in politics is not an effective way to do good, Freiman argues that we actually have a moral duty to disengage from politics and instead take direct action to make the world a better place. Is abstaining from politics permissible? Is it impossible to ignore politics? Why should we care about the quality of someone's vote if it doesn't matter anyway? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 02, 2020•47 min
We invited Kevin Vallier and Chad Van Schoelandt to the show to talk about their teacher and mentor, Gerald Gaus. Gerry was not like a lot of public reason types who are just trying to identify the conditions for something as abstract and distant as a well‐ordered society. Gaus started very much from where we are in a way that is much more like Hayek than Rawls. How do you justify rules? How do you understand morality in order to make rules? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform...
Sep 25, 2020•52 min
When you drive through any major U.S. city you will notice that there are areas filled with shops, restaurants, and office buildings, but one block over is solely single-family residential housing. Zoning regulations have stopped the redevelopment process in many of the highest demand parts of the country. But cities like Houston are finding that without zoning regulations there is more affordable housing. What is market urbanism? Are people fleeing cities? Why did the interstate highway system ...
Sep 18, 2020•51 min
Renee J. Mitchell is an expert in policing research with a professional background in law enforcement. As a 22‐year member of the Sacramento Police Department, she served in patrol, detectives, recruiting, schools, and the Regional Transit System. Trevor and Aaron ask her about her experience as a police officer and how police culture varies widely throughout the United States. What is the purpose of the police union? What is police culture like and how does it vary across the United States? Ho...
Sep 11, 2020•59 min
Michael Munger, explains the benefits, and in fact the necessity, of capitalism in organizing human cooperation at scale, and urges the consideration of some problems inherent in capitalism. Munger claims every flaw in markets is worse under socialism. Unless you are willing to advocate monarchism, or actual communist dictatorship, markets and democracy are the only two mechanisms we have for organizing society. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 04, 2020•54 min
Murray Rothbard was, at the very least, one the top three libertarian thinkers in the 20th century. He was a prolific writer as the author of dozens of books, articles, and essays. Cory Massimino joins the show to discuss Rothbard's brand of anarchism. What does it mean to be paleoconservative? What is the New Left? What do they believe? Who influenced Murray Rothbard? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 28, 2020•51 min
Classically speaking, freedom of speech refers to freedom from state censorship. There are three distinct questions that the current debate over “free speech” runs together in a sloppy fashion: is the state engaging in acts of censorship? Are social sanctions against speech or beliefs too harsh? Is our media ecosystem sufficiently open? Failure to disentangle these questions has resulted in the current abysmal state of the conversation. What is cancel culture? Why has the free speech debate resu...
Aug 21, 2020•51 min
Postmodernism is a serious view with important implications. Postmodernism can be used to think through questions about nature of morality, science, and social institutions—yielding answers that both challenge and help advance libertarianism and the case for a free society. What is postmodernism? Does postmodernism deny objective reality? How did Kant influence postmodernism? What is consciousness and what is the nature of our experience? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...
Aug 14, 2020•49 min
Climate change is real, but it does not pose the apocalyptic threat that we have all been told time and again. When you use bad science, and even worse economics, it creates a panic and that very panic is a problem we see with global warming. What is the problem with climate alarmism? What’s the scientific value in making a model that assumes nobody will respond to incentives? Are there benefits to global warming in some places? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Aug 07, 2020•56 min
In Randy Barnett and Josh Blackman's latest book, they write about the 100 Supreme Court cases everyone should know. Their hope is that their book will help teachers and professors teach constitutional law in an organized fashion. They cleanly laid out the history of constitutional law to illustrate how doctrine has shifted over time. Could we have ended up in a different place if we did not interpret the Constitution in the way that we have for over 2 centuries? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/p...
Jul 31, 2020•51 min
Emily Ekins comes back on the show to talk about her latest polling work that included many questions about an individuals' locus of control. The discussion ultimately comes down to how can we improve the happiness and meaning in our own lives and those around us. Do you have a favorable view of capitalism or socialism? Are there different types of envy? How does personal responsibility play a role in how you view politics? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 24, 2020•49 min
Most people think of themselves as a largely decent human being. We also think of our friends and family members as at least decent people. No one is a saint, but many people we interact with are honest, kind, and humble. But, Christian Miller discovers in his book that if you look at recent psychological studies closely many people regularly fail to acknowledge significant character flaws. Do you believe yourself to be a virtuous person? What do we expect of virtuous people? What is the differe...
Jul 17, 2020•55 min
