The federal government has extended its authority into so many areas, and employed statutory language so vague, that ordinary people have found themselves criminals without having done anything they believed to be unlawful. Harvey Silverglate has observed this trend firsthand over the course of his… Read More
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Ep. 868 Science Fiction, Liberty, and Dystopia
Hillsdale College’s Brad Birzer discusses libertarian themes in some of the great works of science fiction. Special Offer Join Liberty Classroom and get this and all our other on-the-go courses! Use our secret coupon page for a discount. About the Guest Brad Birzer holds the Russell Amos Kirk Chair in… Read More
Ep. 867 The Trump Win and the Hillary Loss: Presidential Historian Doug Wead Breaks It All Down
Historians will be discussing and debating the election of 2016 for a long time to come. Doug Wead’s new book takes us through the history of the Clintons and the Trumps, all the way through the election season and its unlikely outcome. You’ll enjoy this… Read More
Ep. 866 The Truth About Fat, and the Corruption of Nutrition Science
How did the low-fat, high-carb diet become entrenched within nutrition science, to the point that dissenters virtually disappeared? The answer gives us a fascinating glimpse into how nutrition science — far from being dispassionately devoted to whatever conclusions the empirical evidence pointed to — became… Read More
Ep. 865 Taxation Isn’t Theft, Because of the Social Contract
I critique an article trying to disprove the libertarian claim that taxation is theft. The social contract makes it all right, the author says…. Article Discussed “ The Ethics of Taxation, the Imperfection of Voluntaryism, and the Transcendence of the Social Contract ,” by ANdy Zou Related Episode Ep. 545 About That Social Contract I Never Signed… Free Resources! 1) Free guide… Read More
Ep. 864 The Bogus Public Goods Rationale for Government
We’re told we need government because only the public sector can give us “public goods,” which are either impossible to produce privately or are produced in the wrong quantities. In this lesson from my Ron Paul Curriculum course on government I put this claim under… Read More
Ep. 863 Trump and the Budget — More of the Same?
Today I review Donald Trump’s recent speech to Congress — a speech the media loved, I’m sorry to report — in terms of what it’s going to mean for federal spending and the budget. Speech Discussed Donald Trump’s speech to Congress, February 28, 2017 Articles Mentioned “ Stop Bleating About Crumbling Infrastructure ,” by David Stockman “ Why Tariffs Don’t Save Jobs ,”… Read More
Ep. 862 The Alt Right
Paul Gottfried, longtime veteran of the American Right and foe of the yawn-inducing “conservative movement,” discusses the significance of what has become known as the “alt right.” About the Guest Paul Gottfried is professor emeritus of humanities at Elizabethtown College and a Guggenheim recipient. Selected… Read More
Ep. 861 The Anti-Imperialist League and the Struggle Against Empire
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, an ideologically diverse group of people joined together to fight against the drift of the United States into imperialism, particularly in the repression of the independence movement in the Philippines. It’s a great story, which most Americans know… Read More
Ep. 860 Skeptics of Capitalism, and How to Persuade Them
Today I talk to libertarian writer Antony Sammeroff of the Scottish Liberty Podcast, who recently gave a talk against the “basic income guarantee” idea to a crowd that liked the idea, and at the end was cheered. So we discuss capitalism, persuading opponents, and more.… Read More
