Defending Ideas

Divided government is back in Washington, D.C. With Democrats set to take control of Congress, can lawmakers still accomplish meaningful policy reform, or will they spend the next two years positioning themselves for the next election? On this special episode of Defending Ideas , host Nic Dunn makes the case that divided government doesn't have to mean divided policymaking. In fact, there is a rea...

Religious freedom is about more than the freedom to worship. Faith shapes how people understand the world, make decisions, and serve their communities. Despite what is sometimes said in the media, religion plays an important role in any healthy civil society. On this episode of Defending Ideas , Nic Dunn talks with Sutherland Institute President and CEO Todd Weiler and Constitutional Law and Relig...

What messages are boys receiving about what it means to be a man? Today, a lot of boys are receiving mixed signals from our culture about masculinity and how men should behave. The result is a generation of young men who are mentally and emotionally disconnected. The good news is there is hope.   On this episode of Defending Ideas, Andrew Reiner , author of Better Boys, Better Men , joins host Nic...

How are states trying to tackle benefit cliffs? In this episode of Defending Ideas, Josh Bandoch of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP) discusses his new report looking into what states are doing to address the benefit cliff problem. Bandoch and host Nic Dunn also explore what’s missing from the national debate over welfare reform and why a successful safety net should be mor...

Which states have the strongest election policies? And what can they teach us about how elections should really be run? R Street Institute's Chris McIsaac joins Defending Ideas to discuss a new 50-state election scorecard. The ranking judges states on 18 policies, including voter registration, voter verification, how lists are maintained, early voting, and vote-by-mail. McIsaac also dives into how...

Are religious institutions afforded special rights under the Constitution? And what does that mean for religious liberty, the rule of law, and the role of government? On this episode of Defending Ideas, Nic Dunn talks with William J. Haun, nonresident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and Sutherland’s Bill Duncan, about the con...

Is AI really on track to destroy humanity, or are we confusing small risks with science fiction? On this episode of Defending Ideas, Nic Dunn sits down with Chris Koopman, CEO of Abundance Institute, and Ford Copple, tech policy analyst at Sutherland Institute, to discuss the growing debate over AI safety, regulation, data centers, and technological innovation. They look at one of the biggest ques...

Head Start is at the center of a heated public debate over federal regulations and how best to support families. But what exactly should the federal government do, and what should states be empowered to do, to fix America’s social safety net?   On this episode of Defending Ideas, Nic Dunn speaks with Alex Adams, Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S....

What would America look like without strong families, churches, civic organizations and local communities? We're starting to find out and the picture is...not good. But there is a better way to live. Michael Tanner, Senior Fellow at FREOPP, joins host Nic Dunn to explain why civil society is so important and why its decline should concern all Americans. Tanner and Dunn explore how good civil socie...

America’s social safety net is supposed to help families through difficult times, ultimately moving people toward work and independence. But navigating a maze of disconnected programs and agencies can make that goal harder to achieve. The good news is that there is a solution. On this episode of Defending Ideas , host Nic Dunn talks with Daniel J. Erspamer, CEO of the Pelican Institute, about Loui...

Could giving states more freedom to experiment help America find better answers to our toughest challenges?  On this episode of Defending Ideas , Sen. John Curtis of Utah joins host Nic Dunn to discuss how state-level experimentation can lead to better policy on some of the country’s most difficult questions. From AI and data centers to wildfire prevention, forest management, and public lands, Cur...

Thirty years after the landmark welfare reform law, what should the next generation of social safety-net reform look like? Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan joins Defending Ideas to discuss the future of welfare reform and how policymakers can build a system today that helps more families move toward work and economic independence. Speaker Ryan and host Nic Dunn examine RISE pilots, a state-le...

America spends a ton of money on our social safety net, yet many people still feel trapped. That means maybe the biggest problem isn't how much we spend. On this episode of Defending Ideas, Erine Gray, founder and CEO of Findhelp, joins Nic Dunn to explain why navigating America's fragmented network of government programs, nonprofits, churches, and other community organizations can be just as hard...

What can Utah teach America about the future of conservatism?  On this episode of Defending Ideas , Nic Dunn sits down with Todd Weiler, the new president and CEO of Sutherland Institute and a member of the Utah State Senate. They discuss the future of the conservative movement, the importance of principled and evidence-based policymaking, and why states may be better positioned than Washington, D...

No two children learn exactly the same way. So why should families be expected to rely on a one-size-fits-all education system?  In this episode of Defending Ideas , Nic Dunn speaks with Shaka Mitchell of the American Federation for Children and Sutherland Institute education policy fellow Christine Cook Fairbanks about the growing movement for education choice.  They discuss how parents have driv...

We want referees to enforce the rules, not play for one team. Should the same principle apply to county clerks and elections officials?  In this episode of Defending Ideas, host Nick Dunn sits down with Kevin Johnson, Executive Director of the Election Reformers Network, and Davis County Clerk Brian McKenzie to discuss whether county clerk elections should be nonpartisan. They explore the unique r...

Why does the federal government keep expanding into every corner of our lives? It's not always by passing new laws. Guidance documents, letters, handbooks, and informal directives from federal agencies can cause headaches for states, schools, businesses, and regular people.  In this episode of Defending Ideas , host Nic Dunn is joined by Kevin Williamson, National Correspondent at The Dispatch and...

The Supreme Court has spoken. And the internet has some...interesting opinions.  On this episode of Defending Ideas , Utah Valley University's Senior Director of the Center for Constitutional Studies Dr. Matthew Brogdon and Sutherland Institute's Bill Duncan discuss several of the Supreme Court's most talked-about rulings this year.  They unpack the legal reasoning behind the decisions on birthrig...

Is artificial intelligence something to fear—or a tool to help us thrive? In this episode of Defending Ideas, host Nic Dunn talks with Shoshana Weissmann, Digital Director and Policy Advisor at Abundance Institute, about the positive opportunities AI creates for workers, patients, creators, and entrepreneurs. Weissmann shares how AI has helped her navigate complex medical issues, as well as how sh...

Conservatism is at a crossroads. Does it stick with Trump-style populism, or embrace the principles of limited, effective government that led to some of the movement's biggest victories? In this episode of Defending Ideas, Nic Dunn sits down with Tim Chapman, president of Advancing American Freedom, to discuss the future of conservatism, the enduring principles of the American founding, the rise o...

Congress is considering a major anti-poverty reform: giving states more flexibility to redesign welfare and social safety net programs. In this episode, AEI Senior Fellow Angela Rachidi joins host Nic Dunn to discuss benefit cliffs, the Upward Mobility Act, and whether state-led innovation could help more families achieve self-reliance through things like empowerment accounts. Defending Ideas is a...

Election integrity is back in the headlines. But beneath the political arguments lies a more important question: what actually builds trust in elections?  On this episode of Defending Ideas, Nic Dunn is joined by Matthew Weil, Vice President of Governance and Bipartisanship at the Bipartisan Policy Center, along with Sutherland Institute Executive Director Derek Monson. They discuss California’s b...

Debates over election integrity have dominated American politics for years. But beneath many of those disagreements lies a deeper constitutional question: who should be responsible for administering elections?   On this episode of Defending Ideas, Nic Dunn is joined by Ben Ginsberg , Volker Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, election law expert, and former counsel to multiple...

As America marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, an important question remains: what do the nation’s founding principles have to say about the challenges we face today?  On this episode of Defending Ideas, host Nic Dunn is joined by Jay Lapeyre , co-founder of the Free Society Coalition, and Lawson Bader , president and CEO of DonorsTrust, to discuss the enduring ideas th...

What if one of the biggest solutions to America’s political dysfunction isn’t electing better people, but restoring the principles of federalism? In this episode of Defending Ideas , Nic Dunn speaks with two Utah representatives, Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost and Rep. Ken Ivory , about the constitutional balance between state and federal power. They discuss polarization, congressional dysfunction,...