Forgotten America

Vance Ginn, Ph. D., is chief economist at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. He earned his doctorate in economics at Texas Tech University and has an accomplished career as a policy director and university lecturer with experience in public policy, academia, and government. He joins us today to talk about the growth of Texas as it continues to evolve to face the future while holding onto the char...

Jack LaPant, a farmer, lost over a million dollars in an 8-year legal battle because the Army arbitrarily enforced an environmental law it had no authority to enforce. His huge loss is bad enough but why in the world is the Army even regulating agriculture in the first place?    This week we have Tony Francois from the Pacific Legal Foundation talking to us about the intersection between agricultu...

Is your only cultural reference to the Sooner state the old Rogers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma!? Or maybe you're a sports fan and you're familiar with the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team. Today, Trent England Executive Director of Save Our States and fellow at Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs discusses his journey to living in Oklahoma, the culture and politics of the state, a little...

Kevin Williamson discusses his new book, Big White Ghetto: Dead Broke, Stone-Cold Stupid, and High on Rage in the Dank Woolly Wilds of the "Real America ." He shares with Garrett what he's learned as a roving journalist for the National Review about poor, rural America. He also discusses the interesting ways people talk about events that have happened in their lives and their roles in those events...

Taylor Dawson and Mark Cunningham are empowering Tennesseans to reclaim control of their lives as a communications team at the Beacon Center for Tennessee based in Nashville. They join Garrett today to discuss culture and politics in Tennessee and share their perspectives as transplants from Alabama and Washington, D.C. to the Volunteer State. They also talk about the forgotten Tennesseans who are...

Alex Brill is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he studies the impact of tax policy on the US economy as well as the fiscal, economic, and political consequences of tax, budget, health care, retirement security, and trade policies. He also works on health care reform, pharmaceutical spending and drug innovation, and unemployment insurance reform. Today he joins Ga...

Emma Ayers, Managing Opinion Editor at Young Voices and native of northeast Tennessee, joins Garrett on today's episode to talk about the importance of tradition and religion in Appalachian culture. Together, they also explore the importance of meaningful work to the future prosperity of the Appalachian region, share the history of the mysterious Melungeons of Appalachia, and discuss possible solu...

Casey Pifer is the Director of Institute Relations for the Atlas Network, a nonprofit organization connecting a global network of more than 475 free-market organizations in over 90 countries to the ideas and resources needed to advance the cause of liberty. She's also a native West Virginian. Today she joins Garrett on the Forgotten America podcast to talk about the commonalities between our work...

Bradley Foster is the newest member of our team at the Cardinal Institute - joining us as our Community Engagement Associate. Similar to many mountaineers, his family has ties to mining, but instead of coal, Bradley's family mined iron in Minnesota. Garrett invited Bradley onto the podcast today to share his experiences growing up in Minnesota, going to college in Fargo, North Dakota, the similari...

Joshua & Jared Crenshaw are brothers from Massachusetts who moved to Louisville, Kentucky to found the Pegasus Institute, a free market, state policy think tank. In this episode, Garrett speaks with them about their experience moving from the Bay State to the Bluegrass State, cultural misunderstandings about Kentucky, the New South, and a variety of reforms they believe will make Kentucky a beacon...

Anthony Hennen is a native of southeastern Ohio and the Managing Editor at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. In 2018, he joined with several other friends and Ohio university alumni to found the independent journalism website, Expatalachians. Anthony joins Garrett on today's episode to discuss the future of regional journalism, cultural diversity in Appalachia, J.D. Vance's controve...

Adam Kissel has made a career of helping others and advocating for liberty. He supported civic literacy with the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, fundamental rights at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and philanthropy at the Charles Koch Foundation (CKF) and The Philanthropy Roundtable (TPR). He has even spent time as the deputy assistant secretary for higher education programs...

Have you ever been curious about the intersection between free-market policy and urban issues? Do you wonder if rural America and urban America have anything in common? Today, we dive deep into the Jagged Heart of Appalachia as Garrett interviews Scott Beyer, the founder of Market Urbanism Report. He shares with us how he became interested in this region of the country and what he has learned abou...

This week Garrett interviews Andrew Campanella, President of National School Choice Week about his new book The School Choice Roadmap: 7 Steps to Finding the Right School for Your Child . In this episode, Andrew tells us why he wrote the book, what he thinks about the school choice debates raging across the country, and his experiences helping students, parents, and teachers find the education env...

In today's episode, Garrett interviews Jason Huffman, the State Director of Americans for Prosperity - West Virginia and a native West Virginian. Jason shares with us stories about his family's proud heritage as coal-miners, why he decided to stay in West Virginia, and what he thinks it will take to build the West Virginia Miracle.    You can follow Jason's work with AFP-WV on: Twitter: @AFPWV  Fa...

In this first episode, you'll meet the Cardinal Institute team, learn what we mean by the phrase Forgotten America, and get a peek into what you can expect from the Forgotten America podcast.  You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can support the podcast by becoming a patron on Patreon or you can support the work of the Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy by donating at www...