Independent Conversations

Californians will be in shock for a long time over the vast firestorms in Los Angeles. We don’t yet know what ignited each fire. But Santa Ana winds are a regular, predictable, feature of regional weather. California environmentalism discourages clearing of public and private land, and stymies upgrades of water delivery systems. And Los Angeles recently trimmed back its firefighting budget by $18...

How will civil liberties survive Syria’s convulsions? Do Trump’s national security appointees form a coherent team? Why is healthcare taking the spotlight now…but in such a sick way? And what about Trump’s economic team? Are these guys primed to deliver low inflation and prosperity? With special experts on deck, we discuss these questions and more on this episode.

Is the upcoming new presidential era finally our opportunity to slay the beast of inflation, shrink federal spending, and stabilize the value of our currency? We talk with Judy Shelton, Senior Fellow with Independent, former Trump nominee to the Fed Board, and author of a new book explaining how money is a “moral contract between government and the citizens”--and how its value can be decoupled fro...

In an election season, there are always personality issues, and everybody has personal favorites. But then there are policy issues—and there are a lot of big ones on the table for the 2024 election: economic populism, inflation, immigration, abortion, higher ed, and more. In this episode, we give you our rough survey—and short analysis—of the policy territory facing voters. Advance warning: policy...

In the wake of hurricanes, we need to ask an uncomfortable question: has federal flood insurance policy made the damage more extensive? The East Coast port workers strike is temporarily settled, but the effort to kill port automation is still on the table; does automation kill jobs? California and Minnesota are outlawing political AI deepfakes. Is this a victory against hate and disinformation? An...

Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, health care in America has not improved in the ways we were promised. In fact, inequalities in care have grown, and for many people health coverage is worse. But the errors can still be reversed. John C. Goodman's new book, Priceless: Curing the Health Care Crisis, maps out a better way, one that frees patients, doctors, and employers from the regulato...

Both our presidential candidates, and their policy teams, seem to be suffering from a bad case of economic illiteracy, in somewhat different ways … or maybe not so different. With two aspiring leaders both saying they want to make things better for middle class and lower-income Americans, it’s pretty discouraging to see them advance economic policies that would actually make everybody worse off.

The Supreme Court has been busy! By the end of June 2024, the Court had issued a welter of decisions ranging from presidential immunity to guns to federal agency regulatory power. In this episode, a variety of Independent Institute experts will give you the scoop, and a quick assessment of the most pivotal recent Supreme Court cases. They’ll even argue with one another about them!

A copy of a secret memo on national security issues has recently come into our hands, and we thought we should bring it to your attention! It tells the national security elite how to keep the public from balking at endless wars, and at the endless costs of the military-industrial complex. Well, actually, we’re publishing it as a book, so it’s not so secret. And, oh, by the way, the book is actuall...

Joe Biden says recent Supreme Court rulings on the Second Amendment are dangerous. Hunter Biden could rely on those rulings to appeal his gun conviction. What’s going on here? Also, will young voters love President Biden because he’s going after Ticketmaster while forgiving their student loans? And is it undemocratic for California voters to get to vote on the tax increases they’ll pay? Graham Wal...

Why are all the campus protests so ideologically one-sided? Was Claudine Gay the tip of the iceberg on plagiarism? Is scientific objectivity passé among the faculty? And will all this educational malpractice lead to financial problems that will put colleges out of business?

Campuses are overtaken by protest encampments, Jewish students are targeted, and higher ed leaders can’t manage to condemn antisemitism while protecting free speech. But the problems go deeper—like the plagiarism that university faculty would never tolerate in their students. On other fronts, what’s up with all these bans on lab-grown meat? And does the Biden administration understand how money wo...

Trump tried tariffs, he wants to try them some more, in order to help workers; what’s wrong with that? California wants to help workers by enforcing a new “fast food” wage law; what could go wrong? Hint in both cases: things can backfire. Did RFK, Jr. get the hint? Probably not, but he’s sure railing loudly against the perils of Big Government. These issues and more animate the conversation among...

When a state, like Texas or Florida, tries to protect people’s free speech rights against biased social media companies, is the state then violating the free speech rights of the social media companies? How’s President Biden doing at shrinking inflation? And what’s going on with Alabama’s IVF laws?

Ever wonder why California gas prices are perpetually higher than in other states? Or why residential real estate in California is overwhelmingly more expensive than elsewhere? Or why wildfires got so out of control in recent years? Or why a visit to a California DMV office has been such an ordeal—but is maybe a bit better in recent years?

What’s behind the ugly antisemitism on campuses and elsewhere that surged up after the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023? The viciousness against Jews took a lot of people by surprise, but it did not surprise Dr. Benjamin Ginsberg, author of The New American Anti-Semitism. He talks with Independent’s Graham Walker about the book in this episode of Independent Conversations.

Can Javier Milei overcome resistance to fulfill his free-market reform vision for Argentina? We find out on this episode, by consulting two Independent Institute experts with extensive knowledge of Latin American affairs: Alvaro Vargas Llosa and Gabriel Gasave.

In this episode of Independent Conversations, historians Amity Shlaes and David Beito discuss FDR's policies of Japanese internment, spying on Americans, and violations of free speech and reveal a troubling portrait of FDR much different from the standard orthodoxy found in today’s historical studies.

Will free speech in America end up being a casualty of the war between Hamas and Israel? What does the domestic American DEI industry’s posture on the war reveal about their ideology? On other fronts, do we need to regulate Artificial Intelligence and how about banning TikTok? And why is Josh Hawley teaming up with Bernie Sanders to attack Citizens United?

When the feds lean on social media firms to take down alleged misinformation, it turns out that’s government censorship—according to the Federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. That ruling is worth celebrating, but there are cautionary side issues. Also, it looks like we’re heading into another round of debt ceiling crisis. Some say the President is constitutionally obliged to ignore any limits an...

Guns are in the news, and nobody’s happy about it. First son Hunter Biden has been indicted on gun charges. Probably more significantly, the Governor of New Mexico has reacted to gun violence in her state by suspending 2nd Amendment gun rights in Albquerque and surrounding areas. Can she do that? We find out, in this episode.

Former President Trump is now the subject of multiple indictments for violation of criminal statutes. Do these indictments raise troubling questions about the nature and use of criminal law, and its place in our public life? Watch this episode of Independent Outlook and find out…and also learn about the Hunter Biden case, and the teaching of slavery in the Florida classroom curriculum, while you’r...

The U.S. Supreme Court has weighed in on racial bias in college admissions, President Biden’s fiat forgiveness of student loans, and the freedom of creative designers to disagree with the state’s view of marriage. Another federal judge has weighed in to put the kibosh on Biden administration efforts to press social media companies to censor on their behalf. That’s a lot of legal heavy-lifting! And...

So we don’t have to worry about the debt ceiling until after the next presidential inauguration in January 2025. What was all the hullabaloo about, and was it worth it? And while we’re talking about money, is it ok to stop worrying about the U.S. banking system now? We will discuss these matters and more in today’s episode of Independent Outlook.

Independent Institute Chairman and CEO Mary L. G. Theroux interviews Senior Fellow Christopher Coyne on his new book, In Search of Monsters to Destroy, including his intellectual journey, the shift in America’s culture post 9/11, preemptive war, the loss of liberty and security at home resulting from such wars, and the viability of a path to peace without a deep state. In Search of Monsters to Des...