Free Thoughts

Kate Sills joins us for a conversation on smart contracts and the future of blockchain technology. We also discuss how Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency platforms are using smart contracts to ensure a more secure network, the DAO implosion and the future of cryptography.More about Kate Sills http://katelynsills.com/Free Thoughts Episode: Your World on the BlockchainEncyclopedia of Libertarianism: Voluntary Contract EnforcementEncyclopedia of Libertarianism: Contractarianism/Social Contract Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cato Institute Vice President of Communications Khristine Brookes joins us to discuss the ever-changing world of news and media. How has social media changed the way we consume news? Are traditional news sources eventually going to die out?Further Readings/References:Cato Institute Media Highlights Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom W. Bell joins us for a Live Free Thoughts to talk about the emerging trend of bottom up governments. Private providers increasingly deliver services that political authorities formerly monopolized, inspiring greater competition and efficiency. We discuss this quiet revolution that is transforming governments with the potential to bring more freedom, peace and prosperity to people everywhere.Further Readings/References:Watch the full Cato Institute event with Tom W. Bell; Your Next Government?: From the Nation State to Stateless NationsFind Tom’s book here; Your Next Government?: From the Nation State to Stateless Nations Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Samples joins us to discuss how the Trump presidency is challenging America’s institutions. Political institutions in America are designed to stop someone like a populist or a demagogue; someone not fit for presidency. We discuss how America’s institutions have fared thus far, with a president that refuses to follow the norms, and if we should expect more celebrity presidents.Show notes and Further ReadingsMatthew mentions that on Friday, January 12th Trump had just said something disparagingRoss Douthat, The Tempting of the Media (2017)The Claremont Institute, The Flight 93 Election (2016) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emma Ashford gives us a primer on Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich Middle Eastern nation that is also one of the last remaining absolute monarchies in the world.We talk about the history of the Saudi royal family, Saudi Arabia’s importance in Islam, the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia after the first World War, the country’s legal system and culture, American-Saudi relations over the years, and what’s next for the kingdom as its rulership passes to a new generation.Show Notes and Further ReadingHere’s the photo Ashford references, of Franklin Delano Roosevelt meeting Ibn Saud in 1945.Here’s Thomas Friedman’s quite obsequious and gushing article about meeting Mohammad bin Salman.Other Free Thoughts episodes on the Middle East, radical Islamic terrorism, and oil-producing nations:“How Much Should We Worry About ISIS?” with Emma Ashford“Is the Iran Deal a Good Deal?” with Emma Ashford and John Glaser“What Are the Risks of Terrorism?” John Mueller and Mark G. Stewart Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Kopel joins us again to discuss firearms, gun violence, mass shootings, and whether a gun-free America is possible or desirable. Are there more mass shootings than ever before? What, if anything, can be done about them?We also discuss the differences between mass shootings and spree killings, popular gun control methods in other countries around the world, the definition of an “assault weapon,” gun storage and safety, and we debunk common myths about gun ownership.Show Notes and Further ReadingDavid B. Kopel, The Truth About Gun Control (2013)John R. Lott, Jr., More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws (2010)Other Free Thoughts episodes on guns, gun control, and the Second Amendment:“The Right to Keep and Bear Arms” with David B. Kopel“The Second Amendment at the Supreme Court” with Alan Gura Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

George Selgin joins us again on Free Thoughts for a conversation about the origins and role of the Federal Reserve.What is the Federal Reserve? What does it do, and what authority does it have? Why was the Fed created, and what was it’s role in the 2008 financial crisis?Show Notes and Further ReadingHere is Selgin’s newest study on the founding of the Federal Reserve.Here are our previous Free Thoughts episodes with Selgin:The Story of Money in the United StatesThe Gold Standard Won’t Be Coming Back Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will Duffield joins us this week to talk about the freedom of speech in the internet era. How has the shift to digital communication changed interpretations of the First Amendment?We discuss the implications of lower barriers to entry for ownership of the mechanisms for distribution of speech, draw a distinction between speech gatekeepers and speech enablers, think about whether big web companies are beginning to act like states, and have a conversation about “fake news.”Show Notes and Further ReadingHere’s the Youtube video Aaron mentions about software that can manipulate mouth and lip movement in video.Our Free Thoughts episode with Brock Cusick on the blockchain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Strong joins us this week to talk about the role that capitalism and social entrepreneurship play in alleviating global poverty.We also discuss special economic zones, startup cities, the right of exit, mechanisms of public choice, and seasteading.Show Notes and Further ReadingStrong is the author of Be the Solution: How Entrepreneurs and Conscious Capitalists Can Solve All the World’s Problems (2009) and The Habit of Thought: From Socratic Seminars to Socratic Practice (1997).Strong’s articles “Naomi Klein, Young Earth Creationist” and “Towards a Hierarchy of Moral Outrage”.Here’s our Free Thoughts episode with Bruce Benson.John Hasnas’s essay “The Obviousness of Anarchy”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brink Lindsey and Steven M. Teles join us to discuss four pathological policy regimes they say are responsible for the slow growth and high inequality that’s plagued the US economy in the twenty-first century.The case studies presented in Lindsey and Teles’s new book highlight how financial regulation, occupational licensing, intellectual property, and zoning and land use policies have been captured by the powerful and politically-connected to enrich themselves at others’ expense.Show Notes and Further ReadingLindsey and Teles’s book is The Captured Economy: How the Powerful Enrich Themselves, Slow Down Growth, and Increase Inequality (2017). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Frank of The Mr. T Experience joins us this week to talk about the politics of punk rock. What is punk rebelling against? Is it inherently political?Why do anti-authoritarian, counter-cultural movements so often reject free markets and libertarianism?Show Notes and Further ReadingThe Mr. T Experience on Spotify, iTunes, and Amazon Music.Dr. Frank’s young adult novels are King Dork (2006), Andromeda Klein (2009), and King Dork Approximately (2014).The song in this episode’s outro is “Institutionalized Misogyny” by The Mr. T Experience from the album Yesterday Rules (2004). Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charles J. Sykes joins us this week for a discussion on the origins of the populist, pro-Trump Right.What happened to the conservative intellectual infrastructure that was so robust in William F. Buckley, Jr.’s time? Why does it seem like politics now is more about attitude and tribal loyalty than ideas and discourse? How do groups like the Tea Party and media personalities like Ann Coulter fit into this narrative?Further ReadingSykes’s new book is How the Right Lost Its Mind (2017).Libertarianism and Trump, Free Thoughts Episode.“Should Twitter Ban Donald Trump?” is Really a Question About Government Legitimacy, written by Aaron Ross PowellTrump’s Assault on America’s Institutions, Free Thoughts Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elizabeth Anderson joins us to talk about her new book, Private Government: How Employers Rule Our Lives (and Why We Don’t Talk About It).How has the nature of employment changed throughout history? Is the typical American workplace a dictatorship? Do we need a worker’s bill of rights?Show Notes and Further ReadingAnderson’s book is available here.Here’s our previous episode with Prof. Anderson, on egalitarianism and the distribution of resources in a society. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brock Cusick joins us this week to talk about the decentralized blockchain technology that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies run on, and about bitcoin itself: how does bitcoin work? What makes it valuable?Why is there a finite amount of bitcoin? What happens when all of the bitcoin is mined? What’s next for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology? Will the government step in to regulate this? Can it?Show Notes and Further ReadingBack in 2014 we invited Timothy Lee on the show to give us a primer on bitcoin. If you bought a single bitcoin the day this episode was released, that bitcoin is worth $6,734.66 more today (as of 11/9/17)! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Van Doren joins us once more on the podcast, this time for a discussion on Richard Thaler’s work in behavioral economics.What’s the difference between behavioral economics and more traditional neoclassical economics? Is the goal of behavioral economics really to implement consumer preferences? Are “nudges” paternalistic and insulting, or do they merely—as behavioral economists would say—create default conditions to correct the influence of cognative biases that stop people from doing what they actually want to do anyway?Show Notes and Further ReadingListeners may be interested in our other Free Thoughts episodes with Peter Van Doren.Van Doren mentions this debate in Regulation between Jonathan Gruber and W. Kip Viscusi.This Crazy Mouse Won’t Leave Me Alone by Dan Deacon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.Shootin Stars by Aero Chord feat. DDARK provided by NoCopyrightSounds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTF5xgT-pm8 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeffrey A. Singer joins us this week to talk about the ongoing opioid overdose epidemic in the United States. Why are there so many opioid users in the US?Specifically, what kinds of drugs are we talking about, fentanyl? Oxycontin? Is the overdose death problem a direct result of doctors over-prescribing opiates to patients for pain management?Show Notes and Further ReadingHere’s a Cato briefing event that features Singer: “A ‘Modern Plague’? How the Federal Government Should Address the Opioid Crisis.””Misdiagnosing the Opioid Crisis”; this article appeared in Inside Sources on September 27, 2017.Trevor mentions Jacob Sullum’s book Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use (2004).Listeners may also be interested in our Free Thoughts episode with Johann Hari, “Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Schoenbrod shares five specific tricks that politicians from both parties use to avoid public accountability. Is Washington more broken than people think?How can we more properly align our elected representatives’ incentives to keep them accountable? Does Congress have the willpower to change the rules of the game?Show Notes and Further ReadingSchoenbrod’s newest book is DC Confidential: Inside the Five Tricks of Washington (2017), and here is the book’s website. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Glaser and Emma Ashford join us this week for a discussion on the “Iran nuclear deal” that’s been in the news lately. What is this deal—what did the US and Iran agree to? How did it happen?Why did Iran agree to limit their nuclear program in the first place? What are their regional goals? Is Iran complying with the deal so far? What will President Trump do?Show Notes and Further ReadingHere’s Ashford and Glaser’s Policy Analysis, “Unforced Error: The Risks of Confrontation with Iran” and some associated content:“Alternatives to the Iran Deal Carry Too Much Risk” appeared in TIME on September 19, 2017.“The Iran Nuclear Deal: Assessing the Impact of Decertification,” a Cato Hill Briefing event.“Are There Alternatives to the Iran Nuclear Deal?,” a CatoConnects live event.“Iran, Decertification, and the Dangerous Alternatives,” a Cato@Liberty blog post by Ashford.“Overwhelming Resistance to Trump’s Plan to Scuttle the Iran Deal,” a Cato@Liberty blog post by Glaser. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richard E. Wagner joins us for a discussion on life and thought of James M. Buchanan, who was one of the founders of public choice theory.Show Notes and Further ReadingWagner’s latest book is James M. Buchanan and Liberal Political Economy: A Rational Reconstruction (2017).A good portion of what we discuss in this episode deals with Nancy MacLean’s account of Buchanan in Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America (2017).Aaron mentions this article by Lee Fang in The Intercept, “Sphere of Influence: How American Libertarians Are Remaking Latin American Politics.” Buchanan and Gordon Tullock co-wrote The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy (1962), considered one of the landmark works of public choice theory.Our other podcast episode with Wagner gives a pretty good introduction to public choice theory, but listeners may also be interested in this episode on the same topic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Malice joins us to give a primer on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. What’s North Korea like? Do the people there really believe the popular legends we’ve heard about the Kim family?Which is Kim Jong-un: a spoiled heir to a political dynasty, a paranoid lunatic with a big gun and 25 million hostages, or a coldly rational devious mastermind? Perhaps some combination of all three?Show Notes and Further ReadingFor more insight on how North Koreans and the Kim family see the world, we highly recommend Malice’s book, Dear Reader: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il (2014). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hans Noel joins us this week to share ten insights into how politics, campaigns, and political parties work.Is there such a thing as “the will of the people?” Why do political parties act the way they do? We also discuss Duverger’s Law, campaign finance, presidential elections, special interests, and grassroots movements.Show Notes and Further Reading“Ten Things Political Scientists Know that You Don’t” in Volume 8, Issue 3 of The Forum. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

William J. Watkins, Jr. joins us for a discussion on the Articles of Confederation and the ideas of the Anti-Federalists.Were the Articles of Confederation a failure? How did the country work under them and how is the US Constitution different? What can we learn from the Anti-Federalists?Watkins is a research fellow at the Independent Institute.Show Notes and Further ReadingWatkins’s book is Crossroads for Liberty: Recovering the Anti-Federalist Values of America’s First Constitution (2016).Trevor mentions this episode of Free Thoughts with Gary Gerstle. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ryan M. Yonk joins us this week for a discussion about how we think about ecology and the environment. We talk about various environmental regulations including the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act.What counts as a “natural balance” in ecology? Is the ideal environment one with no human impact at all? What is “political entrepreneurship” and how do environmentalists use it to push for their policy goals?Show Notes and Further ReadingYonk is coauthor, along with Kenneth J. Sim and Randy T. Simmons, of Nature Unbound: Democracy vs. the Environment (2016).Trevor mentions this Free Thoughts episode, in which Van Doren suggests that the US government gift the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the Sierra Club, effectively assigning them responsibility for any economic benefits that would come from drilling for oil there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grant Babcock joins us this week to talk about an essay he wrote in defense of natural rights-based libertarianism.What are natural rights? Are they intuitive? Is radicalism in defense of rights-based approaches to libertarianism effective? Is it necessary?Show Notes and Further ReadingThis episode of Free Thoughts was inspired by Grant Babcock’s “The Robustness of Natural Rights Libertarianism: A Reply to Lindsey,” which he wrote in response to Brink Lindsey’s essay “The Poverty of Natural Rights Libertarianism.” The episode references the following texts and previous episodes of Free Thoughts:The Late, Great Libertarian Macho Flash by Michael CloudTrevor mentions this Free Thoughts episode where we get into nitty-gritty details of social contract theory.Arguments for Liberty, edited by Aaron Ross Powell and Grant BabcockMurray Rothbard, “Do You Hate the State?”Matt Zwolinski, “Libertarianism and Pollution” (SSRN paper)Order without Law by Robert EllicksonGoverning the Commons by Elinor Ostrom“Why Libertarians and Conservatives Should Stop Opposing the Welfare State” by Brink Lindsey“The Structure of a Set of Compossible Rights” by Hillel SteinerTom Palmer reviewed Steiner’s book, An Essay on Rights.“The Basis and Content of Human Rights” by Alan Gewirth“Ordering Rights Consistently: Or What We Do and Do Not Have Rights To” by Roger Pilon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christopher Freiman joins us to talk about his Arguments for Liberty chapter on utilitarianism. What’s the utilitarian argument for libertarianism?What is utilitarianism? How does utilitarianism interact with rights-based approaches to morality? What are the rhetorical virtues of utilitarianism?Show Notes and Further ReadingYou can read Freiman’s Arguments for Liberty chapter in full here: “A Utilitarian Case for Libertarianism”Arguments for Liberty is available here as a free .pdf and in Kindle and e-Book formats. It’s also available in paperback on Amazon.Here are a few other selections from Libertarianism.org on utilitarianism.Other Free Thoughts episodes on Arguments for Liberty:Rawlsianism with Kevin VallierKantianism with Jason Brennan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our producer, Tess Terrible, interviews Aaron and Trevor for Free Thoughts’s 200th episode. How did Free Thoughts get started, and what have we learned along the way?Show Notes and Further ReadingWe’d like to thank Russ Roberts and his EconTalk podcast for providing some of the inspiration for this show, as well as all of our listeners. We hope you’ve enjoyed the show so far and look forward to another 200 episodes! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Glaser joins us to talk about a policy shift that would save money and make the United States safer: closing some or all of America’s 800 overseas military bases.Where are these bases concentrated? Why does the military think they’re necessary? Would the world be a more dangerous place if the US wasn’t a global hegemon?Show Notes and Further ReadingIf you’re interested in this topic we encourage you to read Glaser’s policy analysis, “Withdrawing from Overseas Bases: Why a Forward-Deployed Military Posture Is Unnecessary, Outdated, and Dangerous” and his op-ed in Time, “Why We Should Close America’s Overseas Military Bases.”Other Free Thoughts episodes on foreign policy:“When Is It Appropriate to Go to War?” with Justin Logan“How Much Should We Worry About ISIS?” with Emma Ashford“America’s Authoritarian Alliances” with Ted Galen Carpenter and Malou Innocent“War Is the Health of the State” with Christopher A. Preble Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bill Emmott joins us this week to talk about his new book, The Fate of the West: The Battle to Save the World’s Most Successful Political Idea (2017).Is the West in decline and if so, can we do anything about it? Is more inequality part of what’s causing this decline? Why aren’t Western economies aren’t as dynamic as they used to be?Show Notes and Further ReadingTrevor mentions these previous Free Thoughts episodes about free speech on college campuses:“Campus Freedom” with Robby Soave“Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate” with Greg Lukianoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam Bowman joins us this week to talk about political trends in the United Kingdom and in Europe more broadly. What’s a neoliberal, and how is that different from American libertarianism?What kinds of reforms are needed in European politics? Is there a connection between Brexit and Donald Trump’s election? What does a Trump presidency mean for the U.K.?Show Notes and Further ReadingHere’s the Adam Smith Institute’s website. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

William Irwin joins us for a discussion about the novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and the movie it inspired. Are consumer choices authentic choices? Where does Tyler Durden go wrong in his thinking?Show Notes and Further ReadingChuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club (1996) is a novel that’s well-worth reading if you haven’t yet. Here’s a link to the David Fincher movie (1999) starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter.Here’s William Irwin’s essay, “Fight Club, Self-definition, and the Fragility of Authenticity.”He’s also written a short column for Libertarianism.org, “Free Market Fight Club.”Our other Free Thoughts episode with Irwin was a discussion on capitalism without consumerism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emily Ekins has identified five different types of voters that elected Donald J. Trump the 45th President of the United States. Do these groups represent a big shift in American politics? In this episode we also discuss polling methodology and analysis. How reliable are public opinion polls and voter surveys?Show Notes and Further ReadingHere is the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group Ekins participated in.And here is her report on “The Five Types of Trump Voters.”Ekins also mentions FiveThirtyEight’s Pollster Ratings project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kevin Vallier joins us to talk about his Arguments for Liberty chapter on the ethical system of John Rawls. Does Rawls have value for libertarians?Show Notes and Further ReadingYou can read Vallier’s Arguments for Liberty chapter in full here: “A Rawlsian Case for Libertarianism”Arguments for Liberty is available here as a free .pdf and in Kindle and e-Book formats. It’s also available in paperback on Amazon.This lecture on distributive justice in our guide to political philosophy is a great place to start for those new to the thought of John Rawls. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Deirdre McCloskey has a few suggestions that she hopes will make libertarians more humane and empathetic. What sort of rhetorical tactics should libertarians use?In this episode, we also talk about the “slow socialism” of the New Left, inequality, whether an affluent liberal society sows the seeds of its own demise, and McCloskey’s personal ideological journey from “Joan Baez-style” Marxism to liberalism.Show Notes and Further ReadingThe essay that inspired this episode, “Manifesto for a New American Liberalism, or How to Be a Humane Libertarian,” can be found here on McCloskey’s website.Here’s a previous Free Thoughts episode with McCloskey on her excellent Bourgeois Era book series, which are linked below:The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce (2007)Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World (2011)Bourgeois Equality: How Ideas, Not Capital or Institutions, Enriched the World (2016) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason Brennan and Peter Jaworski think that anything you’re allowed to do for free, you should be able to do for money. That means things like buying and selling kidneys, children, sex, grades; even waiting in line. Are they right?What should you be able to buy and sell? What does it mean to pay someone for something?Show Notes and Further ReadingBrennan and Jaworski’s book is Markets without Limits: Moral Virtues and Commercial Interests (2015).Markets without Limits is partially a response to this book, What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets (2013) by Michael J. Sandel.One of our very first Free Thoughts podcast episodes was with James Stacey Taylor on this very same topic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shon Hopwood joins us this week to tell about his journey from bank robber to federal prisoner to U.S. Supreme Court practitioner and Georgetown law professor.What’s it like in federal prison? How did Hopwood become a jailhouse lawyer? If people do in fact “age out” of criminal activity, then what should our prison system look like?Show Notes and Further ReadingHopwood’s book is Law Man: My Story of Robbing Banks, Winning Supreme Court Cases, and Finding Redemption (2012).Here’s the New York Times article by Adam Liptak that Hopwood mentions, “A Mediocre Criminal, but an Unmatched Jailhouse Lawyer.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Luddy joins us this week to talk about his ventures as the founder of several successful private schools in and around Raleigh, North Carolina. Could private education supplant public schooling?Show Notes and Further ReadingThales Academy, Franklin Academy, St. Thomas More AcademyHere’s a short video from Reason.tv’s Jim Epstein featuring Luddy and his work.Other Free Thoughts episodes on education and school choice:“Why Schools Haven’t Changed in Hundereds of Years” with Kevin Currie-Knight“Teaching School Choice to the American Education System” wth Jason Bedrick“The Education Apocalypse: How It Happened and How to Survive It” with Glenn Reynolds“The State of State Education in America” with Neal McCluskey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jacob T. Levy says that the collapse of trust in institutional norms is what’s responsible for a new era of Trump-style authoritarian, “closed-society” populist politics here in America and around the globe.What explains the Trump phenomenon? How did we get President Trump? Just an electoral appetite for “shaking things up,” or is it something deeper? How does Trump think? How does he make decisions?Show Notes and Further ReadingOur other episode with Levy on his book “Rationalism, Pluralism, and Freedom” is required listening if you’re interested in what’s being played out in the political sphere these days.Levy also mentions this essay he wrote on identity politics, “The Defense of Liberty Can’t Do Without Identity Politics.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrei Illarionov joins us this week to tell us about growing up and studying economics in the Soviet Union, and about the years he spent as an economic policy advisor to Vladimir Putin.What inspired Illarionov to study economics? What was life in the Soviet Union like? What was it like studying economics in a Communist regime? How did prices work in the USSR? How did he first meet Vladimir Putin, and what does Putin want for Russia? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julian Sanchez joins us this week for a discussion about online privacy in the era of mass data collection. When we’re online, what kind of data are we creating, and who’s watching us?We talk about data mining, ad blockers, the internet of things, developer keys, passwords and fingerprint security, encrypted messaging apps, and more.Further ReadingOther Free Thoughts episodes about online privacy:“Deconstructing the Surveillance State “with Julian Sanchez“The CIA Listens to Free Thoughts “with Patrick EddingtonSanchez mentions the browser ad-ons Ghostery and NoScript and the Tails operating system.He also mentions The Art of Invisibility: The World’s Most Famous Hacker Teaches You How to Be Safe in the Age of Big Brother and Big Data (2017) by Kevin Mitnick. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Pfaff joins us this week to talk about the United States’s unusually high rate of incarceration. How many Americans are in prison or in jail? What did they do to get there?If we have roughly the same crime rate as we did in 1970, but have five times as many people in prison as we did then, what are those extra people in prison for?Show Notes and Further ReadingPfaff’s book is Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration—and How to Achieve Real Reform (2017).Other books mentioned in this episode:Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America (2015) by Jill LeovyLocking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America (2017) by James Forman, Jr.Ordinary Injustice: How America Holds Court (2010) by Amy BachListeners may also be interested in our Free Thoughts podcast episode with Bernard Kerik, “From Jailer to Jailed: Bernard Kerik’s Story.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tyler Cowen joins us this week to talk about the slowing pace of innovation and growth in the United States over the past few decades. Has American society become too complacent? What would a more dynamic society look like?Show Notes and Further ReadingCowen’s book on the subject is The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream (2017).Cowen refers to this study by Enrico Moretti and Chang-Tai Hsieh called “Why Do Cities Matter?,” which claims that “Lowering regulatory constraints in [major] cities to the level of the median city would expand their work force and increase U.S. GDP by 9.5%.”Trevor mentions this episode of Free Thoughts featuring Yuval Levin, “Stuck in Political Nostalgia.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elizabeth Nolan Brown joins us this week for a discussion about sex work. What’s the difference between sex trafficking and prostitution? How much sex trafficking is going on in the United States?Show Notes and Further ReadingMuch of Brown’s work at Reason focuses on sex work, here’s a reverse-chronological list of all the articles she’s written there.We talked in detail about Brown’s September 2016 Reason cover story, “The Truth About the Biggest U.S. Sex Trafficking Story of the Year.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew Turner joins us to talk about his experience being stationed at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in 2009 and 2010.What is working at Guantanamo Bay like? Who are the detainees? How did they end up there? Are we ever going to be able to close the facilities there?Show Notes and Further ReadingHere’s the Vice News article by Jason Leopold that Turner was interviewed in, “Guantanamo’s Untold Trauma,” and the accompanying Vice News Tonight video.Turner’s Reddit AMA. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emma Ashford joins us this week to discuss the rise of the Islamic State. How is ISIS different from Al Qaeda and other terror groups? Does it pose an existential threat to the Western world?Where did the Islamic State come from? What do they believe? Is America responsible for ISIS’s rise to power? What’s their end game? How will Trump “deal with” ISIS, and how is that different from Obama’s policies?Show Notes and Further ReadingAshford mentions the work of Dr. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross on understanding links between terrorist groups and lone-wolf attackers. This op-ed in Foreign Affairs is a good summation of that work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yuval Levin joins us to talk about political nostalgia and American individualism. Why do the political right and left both seem to be stuck yearning for the 1950s and early 60s?Why do baby boomers have such an outsized influence on American culture and politics? Did government work better in the 1950s and 60s? How has the country changed in the last half-century?Show Notes and Further ReadingLevin’s most recent book is The Fractured Republic: Renewing America’s Social Contract in the Age of Individualism (2016). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter T. Leeson joins us this week to discuss rational choice theory as it applies to self-governance. What happens in the absence of government?We discuss the difference between government and governance, what it means to be stateless, and how anarchy is perceived in the world today.Show Notes and Further ReadingLeeson’s book on this topic is Anarchy Unbound: Why Self-Governance Works Better Than You Think (2014).Leeson cites Ludwig von Mises’s Human Action: A Treatise on Economics (1949) as highly influential to his thinking.Here are a few other Free Thoughts episodes having to do with anarchy and self-governance:The Distinction Between Governance and Government with Edward StringhamThe Legacy of Roy A. Childs, Jr. with George H. SmithMust You Obey Government?The Problem of Political Authority with Michael Huemer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patrick G. Eddington joins us this week to tell us about the history of the Central Intelligence Agency, how the CIA operates, and what the new Wikileaks revelations mean for our privacy online.What does the CIA do, and how does it go about that? How close to reality does Hollywood get when portraying the CIA? What’s the difference between the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA? What have these new revelations told us about what the CIA is doing?Correction: Eddington states that the Privacy and Civil Liberites Oversight Board was composed of three Republicans and two Democrats under Obama; it was actually composed of two Republicans and three Democrats. Today, the only remaining board member is a Republican.Show Notes and Further ReadingEddington mentions Glenn Greenwald’s book No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State (2015).He also mentions a new study by our colleague Adam Bates, “Stringray: A New Frontier in Police Surveillance.”Here is the previous Free Thoughts episode we recorded with Eddington on the CIA’s torture program. Listeners may also be interested in this episode with Julian Sanchez, “Deconstructing the Surveillance State,” and this episode with Matthew Feeney and Adam Bates, “How New Technology Is Changing Law Enforcement.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aaron and Trevor have a discussion about the political authority of the state. Should one obey the government? Is there a compelling reason to? Why does it matter?Show Notes and Further ReadingListeners interested in this topic should check out our episode of Free Thoughts with Michael Huemer on this topic, and this Guide lecture with Jason Brennan.Aaron mentions Socrates’ actions in Plato’s Crito, here is our Free Thoughts episode on that dialogue.Trevor talks about his lecture “The Statrix: How Government Warps Our Perception of the World.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Goettler joins us this week to talk about his role at the Cato Institute, Cato’s history of 40 years of advancing liberty, and what’s next for public policy organizations more generally and for Cato specifically.What is a think tank, and what does it do? What does Cato do and how is it different? What’s the difference between being oriented towards politics and being oriented towards ideas and principles? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Van Doren joins us this week to talk about health care economics. We talk about risk aversion, risk neutrality, expected value statements, guaranteed renewable care, the ACA as a health care redistribution program, and health-status insurance. How much should we spend on health care, and how would we know the answer to that question?Show Notes and Further ReadingVan Doren mentions “The Market for Lemons,” (1970) a fascinating concept and paper by George Akerlof.Mark Pauly’s 2003 paper “Incentive-Compatible Guaranteed Renewable Health Insurance” is mentioned several times in the episode.Van Doren also talks about John Cochrane’s writings on health-status insurance. Here is a Cato Policy Analysis from 2009 on the topic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.