The Rational Policy Podcast

The Rational Policy Podcast is back with Episode 53! In this installment of the show, your hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay spend the duration talking about the United Nations General Assembly and all of the foreign policy happenings that are taking place alongside it. We discuss the overall utility of the UN – spoiler alert: it has none – and how it would be better off if they just relocated to a...

Welcome back to the Rational Policy Podcast! In this installment, our 52nd (!) to date, your stalwart hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay dive into a grab bag of the week in news and politics. We skip over some of the repeat topics that we usually address - Iran, Israel, Ukraine, China - and touch on some other subjects that caught our eye instead. First, we take a listener request from my friend Dr....

The Rational Policy Podcast is back from our late summer break! After a few weeks off, we were champing at the bit to get back in the saddle and record; thankfully, the world of news seemed to slow down a bit while we were off, so we didn’t miss all that much. But now that Labor Day has passed and September has kicked off in earnest, we’re ready to bring you plenty of shows to round out the year,...

Welcome back to the Rational Policy Podcast! Somehow, we’ve been doing this for a whole 50 episodes (!), so we wanted to thank you for listening in and supporting the show; it means a lot. So, in honor of our milestone 50th episode we……did nothing different. As always, your steady hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay break down the (light) week in news, this time hitting a grab bag of topics ranging f...

Hello listener, and welcome back to the Rational Policy Podcast! In this installment, Episode 49, hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay step into the debate Thunderdome and duke it out over a topic that has been back in the news after a (thankfully) long hiatus: Anthony Fauci and, more broadly, the question of accountability for decisions made during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. The subject was re...

Welcome back to Episode 48 of the Rational Policy Podcast! Join your stalwart hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay for another whirlwind tour around the world of news and politics, this time without a stop in the Middle East - we could all use a break at this point. Instead, we talk about three issues where the biggest problems are entirely internal. First, we dive into some rank punditry on the 2026...

The Rational Policy Podcast is back with Episode 47! Join hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay as we discuss the most important events in geopolitics over the past week. We start this episode off with a return to the biggest topic of discussion we’ve had for the first half of this year: the Iran War. We detail the recent return to outright hostilities, the recurring messaging problems of the Trump adm...

Welcome back to Episode 46 of the Rational Policy Podcast! In this installment, your intrepid hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay break down the most recent week of current events, running the gamut from politics to war. We start with some truly sad news: the sudden passing of South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, a stalwart conservative and a true titan of the institution. We lament his death as he...

The Rational Policy Podcast is back with Episode 45! We have returned to our regularly-scheduled programming, with hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay breaking down the week in current events. In this slightly longer than usual episode, we hit on the biggest topics of the past week and the week to come. We lead off with geopolitics, previewing the NATO summit this week in Ankara, Turkey. We use that...

Welcome back to the Rational Policy Podcast! You’re in luck, as this Very Special Episode is our America 250 Extravaganza, a paean to America so awesome that you’ll involuntarily grow a mullet. In all seriousness, though, this is the greatest nation that has ever existed, the greatest triumph for human freedom that mankind has ever created, and the most incredible, dynamic, creative society full o...

Welcome to a Very Special Episode 43 of the Rational Policy Podcast! In this installment, host Mike Coté interviews Dr. Arthur Herman, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling historian, about his new book Founder’s Fire: From 1776 to the Age of Trump . We discuss the idea of the founder’s fire – the risk-seeking, action-oriented, visionary strain in American life – and how it char...

Welcome back to the Rational Policy Podcast! In this installment, Episode 42, your steadfast hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay break down the week in news, touching on policy, politics, and foreign affairs. We start with the latter, delving into the latest updates on the Iran ‘deal’ and how things look a week later. (Spoiler alert: not great!) We talk about the Iranian refusal to comply with the ve...

The Rational Policy Podcast is back! After a weeklong hiatus, we return with Episode 41, in which hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay dive into the latest developments in news and politics over the past fortnight. Unsurprisingly, we spend the lion’s share of the podcast discussing the war (or conspicuous lack thereof) in Iran, breaking down the just-signed Memorandum of Understanding between Tehran a...

Episode 40 of the Rational Policy Podcast is here! In this freewheeling episode, hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay skip the usual news of the week for a series of digressions and tangents that actually ended up being one of our better podcast installments. In this semi-rambling hour or so, we hit on everything from American patriotism and the UFC fight on the White House lawn to the uselessness of...

Episode 39 of the Rational Policy Podcast is here! Join hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay for a breakdown of the most important topics in policy and politics - this time with a focus on everything AI. The subject is nigh-inescapable, impacting essentially all aspects of life today, from the economy to the dinner table. On this episode, we discuss the topic, both in broad and narrow terms. Are the c...

Welcome to Episode 38 of the Rational Policy Podcast! In this installment, hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay break down the news of the week, both foreign and domestic. We start with the latter, discussing the White House’s announcement of a $1.776 billion fund to compensate the purported victims of a politicized, abusive, and vindictive Justice Department – essentially, an unregulated pot of money...

Episode 37 of the Rational Policy Podcast is live! In this installment, hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay dive into the news of the week, touching on global, domestic, and media affairs. We start with an update on the progress (or lack thereof) of the Iran War, exploring how things have changed and what might come next for the conflict. Most of the show, however, is dedicated to a different topic e...

Welcome back to the Rational Policy Podcast! In Episode 36, hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay explore the week in news, delivering our hot takes on the key events of the past seven days. We spend much of the show diving into the seemingly-stable situation in Iran and detailing the developments (or lack thereof) emanating from Washington and Tehran. We explain what it all means, how to think about t...

On Episode 35 of the Rational Policy Podcast, hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay return to our regularly scheduled show format, where we discuss a number of topics in the news this week. Naturally, we spend much of the podcast discussing the latest assassination attempt against President Trump – the fourth such attempt in less than two years. We explore the attempted assassin’s rationale, what it sa...

Welcome back to the Rational Policy Podcast! In this episode, hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay once again plumb the depths of the events in the Middle East. We discuss the latest developments in the Iran War, including the escalating naval conflict and the potential for future negotiations with the regime in Tehran. Is this a lull in the war, or the start of a new phase? We explore the near-global...

Episode 33 of the Rational Policy Podcast sees your hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay deliver a sixth consecutive update on the Iran War. On this installment, we discuss the newly-implemented American blockade of Iranian ports, how it could impact the next steps of the conflict, and how it helps solve the biggest concern of critics thus far: the navigability of the Strait of Hormuz. We also talk ab...

On Episode 32 of the Rational Policy Podcast, hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay talk about something entirely different. Just kidding, we talk about the Iran War, obviously. We catch up on everything that has happened since we last convened, starting with the incredible combat search and rescue feat that our military pulled off over Easter weekend, safely evacuating a downed airman from Iranian ter...

Episode 31 of the Rational Policy Podcast sees your hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay discuss the developments in the Iran War after a month of intense fighting. First, however, we spend some time praising the incredible Artemis II mission and America’s return to the Moon, a beacon of national unity in a time of political strife. In the war update, we break down Trump’s address to the nation, menti...

On Episode 30 of the Rational Policy Podcast, hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay recap another week of developments in the only story really worth discussing: the war against the Iranian mullahcracy. We talk about the current state of play, the possible challenges to come, and the vast successes thus far. We touch on the Strait of Hormuz and whether its temporary closure is as big a deal as it is be...

Welcome back to the Rational Policy Podcast! On episode 29 of the show, hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay discuss the new developments over the past week of the Iran war. We talk about the extraordinary military success of the US and Israel, how the Iranian regime is being battered, and what sort of tactics and strategy we may be seeing in the coming weeks. We touch on the closure of the Strait of...