Politics minus bile plus jokes. Comedian and avowed independent Andrew Heaton interviews authors and thought leaders about policy and big thinky stuff.
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Zuby shares insights from growing up in a Saudi Aramco compound, detailing its utopian atmosphere, zero crime, and tight-knit community, largely due to its highly skilled expat population. The conversation then pivots to Dubai, examining how its unique immigration policies, lack of taxes, and strict law enforcement create a diverse, high-trust, and remarkably safe city. This episode challenges traditional Western views on diversity, social trust, and effective governance by presenting alternative, successful models from the Gulf states.
Henry Ford revolutionized manufacturing, built the modern automobile industry, and amassed one of the greatest fortunes in American history. Then he decided to conquer the Amazon. In this installment of our series on company towns, we explore Fordlandia—the bizarre Midwestern utopia Ford attempted to build in the Brazilian jungle. It had golf courses, square dancing, vegetarian cafeterias, anti-soccer policies, and enough cultural arrogance to power a small nation. It also had malaria, jaguars, ...
This episode explores the dark side of corporate paternalism through George Pullman's meticulously built, yet highly controlled, company town and the violent 1894 strike it ignited. It juxtaposes Pullman's rigid approach with Milton Hershey's more benevolent, community-focused model, revealing how differing philosophies shaped their legacies and the fate of their industrial utopias. The discussion delves into themes of labor rights, corporate responsibility, and the fine line between philanthropy and domination in American capitalism.
Robert Owen was a factory owner, a social reformer, the father of British socialism… and possibly the nicest company-town tyrant in history. Long before Karl Marx called for revolution, Owen tried to build a kinder version of capitalism: humane factories, universal education, shorter work days, and workers treated like human beings instead of expendable machinery. His model industrial town at New Lanark became world famous, attracting kings, intellectuals, and even the Tsar of Russia. But succes...
Andrew Heaton and Brian Brushwood delve into the complex history and controversial nature of company towns, from benevolent industrial utopias to corporate feudalism. They explore the critical concept of the 'right of exit' and categorize different types of company towns, including modern examples like cruise ships. A significant focus is placed on Walt Disney's original, unfulfilled vision for EPCOT: a futuristic, socially engineered city-state, and how his death transformed this ambitious project into the amusement park we know today.
This episode features Sergeant Mike, a twenty-year police officer, offering a law enforcement perspective on privacy, surveillance, and the Fourth Amendment. He corrects misunderstandings about subpoenas vs. search warrants, discusses the evolution of privacy law with new technologies like cell phones and ALPRs, and debunks some "dystopian" views of police access to data. The conversation explores the practical realities of investigations, the importance of legally obtained evidence, and the ongoing challenge of balancing public safety with individual liberties.
Host Andrew Heaton and historian Stephen Davies discuss Davies' book, "The Great Realignment," which argues that the defining political division is shifting from economics to a battle between nationalists and cosmopolitans. They explore historical political realignments, the decline of economic issues as a primary divider, and the rise of identity, culture, immigration, and international law as new fault lines. The conversation delves into Trump's consistent ideology, the changing economic views of the New Right, and the future trajectories of political parties, concluding with insights into the structural causes of culture wars and the challenges for classical liberals in this new political landscape.
For decades, intellectuals warned that overpopulation would trigger famine, ecological collapse, and mass death. Instead, humanity may now face the opposite problem. In this episode of The Political Orphanage , Andrew Heaton talks with Dean Spears about his book After the Spike and the surprising reality of global depopulation. Why are birth rates collapsing across the developed world—and increasingly in the developing world too? What happens to economies, innovation, retirement systems, and civ...
Jeffrey Deskovic spent sixteen years in prison, from ages 17 to 32. Wrongfully convicted of raping and murdering a teenager. After obtaining exoneration he became an attorney, and now heads The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, which aims to free similarly falsely imprisoned innocents, while also pursuing policy changes aimed at stopping those injustices from happening in the first place. To hear the full episode, become a patron: www.patreon.com/andrewheaton www.thepoliticalorphanage.com...
How can we make America safer and save money to boot? What approaches don't work and what can we steal from other countries? Jennifer Doleac is the executive vice president at Arnold Ventures in charge of criminal justice, and the author of "The Science of Second Chances, a Revolution in Criminal Justice."
Is it a charity or a tax loophole? That's what Steve Hodge, President Emeritus of the Tax Foundation, is concerned with. And if there are effectively large corporations, which get tax breaks due to superior branding, how much money is the government leaving on the table, and how does that warp the economy?
Naomi Brockwell is the President and Founder of the Ludlow Institute, a non-profit dedicated to advancing freedom through technology. She is a privacy advocate and expert, who has come on to scare us about online privacy, and how the government can bypass the Constitution through private companies' data.
The Supreme Court is significantly less partisan than advertised. And there are three blocs in it, not two parties. In her new book "Last Branch Standing" Sarah Isgur demystifies the Supreme Court, gives a basic primer on everything from certiorari to judicial philosophies, and identifies the threats to the courts independence, and possible solutions.
Why now? Why did the United States go to war with Iran this year, as opposed to last year, or ten years ago? Michael Tint is a data scientist and aerospace expert, and is here to talk about the Iran War–and why it's a different sort of conflict.
The World's Smartest Podcast Network returns to discuss: Universities dumping peripheral majors in favor of practical ones The trials, tribulations, and musical comeback of Afroman Lindy West, and Millennial Feminism TURNER'S COMEDY SPECIAL, "Turner Sparks: Buttoned Up and Unhinged: https://www.angel.com/watch/shared/f0106e78-f95b-4aad-91dd-65c43cf80c38...
Sociopaths and narcissists are both drawn to politics. How do we spot folks with faulty moral compasses before they get elected, and what do we do when they slip by? Bill Eddy is a therapist, lawyer, and mediator. He is the Director of Innovation at the High Conflict Institute. He is the author of over twenty books on high-conflict behavior and how to manage it, but we will be discussing the most pertinent of these works, "Why We Elect Narcissists and Sociopaths and How We Can Stop."...
Randall Liberty is the Commissioner for Maine's Department of Corrections, overseeing the state's entire prison system, after previously serving as a warden, and a sheriff. He's largely responsible for implementing the "Maine Model," and shifting the state's prison resources away from punitive emphases to rehabilitation. Part V of Prison Week SUPPORT THE SHOW! www.patreon.com/andrewheaton www.thepoliticalorphanage.com...
What's prison wine taste like? How's trade work? Where do people get the ink for prison tattoos? If someone sees you cry in the slammer, do you get beaten up? If they beat you up, can you whittle your toothbrush down and shank 'em later? And, crucially, how is prison debate different than high school debate, if at all?
How hard is it to raise kids when you're inside a penitentiary? How do you maintain relationships in general? In this episode, Part III of Prison Week, we head to the Maine Correctional Center's Women Prison to interview a resident. SUPPORT THE SHOW! www.patreon.com/andrewheaton www.thepoliticalorphanage.com
In Part II of Prison Week, we meet prison teachers, visit the computer lab, and check out Anime in the prison library. The "Maine Model" is focused on rehabilitation and trying to get residents prepped for life on the outside. It's a method contrasted to older penitentiary models in the United States, which focus primarily on punishment and deterrence.
In this special, host Andrew Heaton visits the Maine Correctional Center for a day to speak with residents, corrections officers and administrators. About life in prison in general, and the "Maine Model," focused on rehabilitation specifically. Part I of "Prison Week" SUPPORT THE SHOW! www.Patreon.com/andrewheaton www.thepoliticalorphanage.com
Brink Lindsey is the Senior Vice President at the Niskannen Center. He is the author of "The Permanent Problem: The Uncertain Transition from Mass Plenty to Mass Flourishing." You can find it at mightyheaton.com/featured
Brian Brushwood is by trade a magician, but of late has become a security expert. The FBI flew him to Quantico to brief agents on how scams work, and he's become a popular speaker and consultant for large corporations on how to shield against sophisticated scams. The host of "World's Greatest Con" joins to advise Heaton on how not to get screwed. On YouTube at: https://youtu.be/_5PnMjvxTDg
When was the last time the United States actually declared war? Why did it stop officially declaring war, if nonetheless bombing folks? And when is the president authorized to attack another country without explicit congressional authorization? What is the War Powers Act, and why did it piss of Nixon? All that and more in this history and constitutional deep dive.
The Supreme Court just struck down Donald Trump's sweeping emergency tariffs, but this case is about far more than slinkies and sombreros. When Congress passes an ambiguous law, does the president get broad discretion, or only the specific powers clearly granted to him? We unpack the Major Questions Doctrine, Justice Roberts' loaded-gun theory of taxation, Gorsuch's blistering concurrence calling out judicial inconsistency, and the surprising dissents from Kavanaugh and Thomas. This is an episod...
Burning Man is a giant, 80,000-person party in the desert, complete with a crazy amount of neon, bicycles, and narcotics. Grover Norquist is a powerful Republican, alternately famous or infamous for compelling GOP leaders to pledge never to increase spending, who attends Burning Man every year. He joins the podcast to talk about Burning Man, influential secret societies, his foray into standup comedy, and of course, taxes. Original air date Sep 5th, 2019
Jonathan Hillis is the founder and caretaker of Cabin, a network of co-living spaces which link up and vet members in other communities via blockchain technology. His "neighborhood" of intentional living is in beautiful Texas Hill Country an hour outside of Austin, where he lives with friends in a hub-and-spoke model of private accommodation surrounding communal social spaces. He's the former CTO of Coinbase, and you can see how his tech background influences his obsession with scalability (we t...
If you wanted to live with a bunch of buddies in a house, how would you do it? What are the mechanics of setting up, financing, and socially maintaining a commune? Samwise Rodriguez runs a commune—which combines their skills as a philanthropist, entrepreneur (and to some extent, as a polyamorist). This week we explore: how do you build your own commune?
What happens when Trump leaves office? Do the Republicans reform or catalyze? Jeff Flake is the former Executive Director of the Goldwater Institute, Ambassador to Turkey, and representative and then Senator from the great state of Arizona. He is also a Knight of the Kingdom of Sweden. He joins to discuss what a post-Trump Republican Party will look like.
Colin Woodard posits that America is not really a country, it's a dozen or so distinct nations with their own cultures and ideologies which are constantly battling for supremacy. His new book "Nations Apart: How Clashing Regional Cultures Shattered America." In it he argues that argues that deep-seated cultural divisions, stemming from different colonial settlement patterns, are the root cause of modern American political polarization, inequality, and threats to democracy. The book uses historic...
