Free Thoughts

The story of humanity is the story of textiles -- as old as civilization itself. Since the first thread was spun, the need for textiles has driven technology, business, politics, and culture. Virginia Postrel joins the show to discuss how textiles are the most influential commodity in world history.What can the history of textiles teach us about innovation? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The foreign policy establishment in D.C. is stubborn. In fact, there is so much consensus about America's interests' abroad that it's rare that meaningful debate occurs. But, it shouldn't be like that. There should be room for realists and restrainers in foreign policy. Justin Logan comes back on the podcast to discuss how foreign policy should be regularly scrutinized because right now that doesn't happen enough.Who is in the foreign policy establishment? How is the debate on foreign policy different in DC compared to academia? What is realism in foreign policy? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Alternating current electricity systems require that demand equals supply in real-time. Any supply-demand imbalance must be remedied in minutes to avoid collapse of the system that would take weeks to repair. And the Texas system was very close to collapse. So why did the Texas blackouts occur when the weather was bitter cold?Could a free market electricity system work? What is the rate of return on regulated utilities? Why are all power companies monopolies? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In Jason Brennan's new book, Why It’s OK to Want to Be Rich, he shows that the moralizers have it backwards. He argues that, in general, the more money you make, the more you already do for others, and that even an average wage earner is productively “giving back” to society just by doing her job. In addition, wealth liberates us to have the best chance of leading a life that’s authentically our own. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Bassem Youseff joins the show to talk about his experience hosting the show, El-Bernameg (The Show), a satirical news program in Egypt, from 2011 to 2014. Youseff is often described as the Egyptian Jon Stewart because his program garnered over 40 million viewers. In 2013, Time named Youseff one of the 100 most influential people in the world.Why are dictators humorless? Do you think that America has a healthy political satire climate? What caused the Arab Spring? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A stock market professional joins the show to discuss how investors and hedge fund managers work differently. In recent stock market news, we had a front seat to witness the short-selling of small companies, like Gamestop. We discuss why short-selling happens and how technology has changed accessibility to the stock market.What is a stock? What is a corporation? What is a hedge fund? How has the stock market changed in the last 30 years? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The resurgent of “security nationalism" extends far beyond the limited theoretical scenarios in which national security might justify government action, and it suffers from several flaws. “National security” has long been invoked to justify government policies intended to support manufacturing in case of war or another emergency.How are free trade and national security related? What is a trade deficit? How do global supply chains work? Did the U.S. make China in to a dangerous country? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Economic arguments favoring increased immigration restrictions suggest that immigrants undermine the culture, institutions, and productivity of destination countries. But is this actually true? Alex Nowrasteh breaks the economic impact of immigration down for us by pulling data from history as well as from policies that other countries use to control immigration.What happens if we open up immigration? What is a founder effect? Why do people want to come to America? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Carl Hart is one of the world’s preeminent experts on the effects of so-called recreational drugs on the human mind and body. Dr. Hart is open about the fact that he uses drugs himself, in a happy balance with the rest of his full and productive life as a colleague, husband, father, and friend.What is the difference between an illicit drug and medicine? Who decides which drugs are illicit and which are not? Why do we treat drugs users, depending on the drug, differently? How is alcohol different than illicit drugs? And how is it the same? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

George Selgin believes that the New Deal failed to bring recovery because, although some New Deal undertakings did serve to revive aggregate spending, others had the opposite effect, and still others prevented the growth in spending that did take place from doing all it might have to revive employment.What does it mean when the economy shrinks? What were some goals of the New Deal? How did the New Deal fail to reach its goals? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 voting systems? How did our institutions hold up in the face of violence? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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, influence the American Revolution? How do you discover moral laws of nature? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.