Free Thoughts

The Color of Law, written by Richard Rothstein, has been described as the “powerful and disturbing history” of how American governments deliberately imposed racial segregation on metropolitan areas nationwide. He helps us understand twentieth-century urban history. A history that provides insight as to why our cities are still facing residential issues today. When the government created segregated...

Patrick G. Eddington’s tenure at the CIA spanned the transition from the Cold War to the new era of American interventionism in the Persian Gulf and the Balkans. In his book, Long Strange Journey: An Intelligence Memoir , he tackles a whole slew of questions; Why was President George H.W. Bush so surprised that Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait? Did America’s intelligence community fail to warn him of...

Bryan Caplan and Zach Weinersmith join the show today to talk about their non-ficton graphic novel; Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration. American policy-makers have long been locked in a heated battle over whether, how many, and what kind of immigrants to allow to live and work in the country. Those in favor of welcoming more immigrants often cite humanitarian reasons, while those...

Catherine Wilson teaches us that there is more to Epicureanism than eating, drinking, and being merry. Epicureanism is not an excuse for having a good time, it stresses the importance of living a good life. Epicureans maintain a philosophy that promotes reason, respect for the natural world, and respect for fellow human beings. What is Epicureanism? Who was Epicurus? How did Epicureans become util...

  The cigarette is the most lethal consumer product in history, but how has smoking changed in the last 30 years? Smoking is banned from many restaurants, bars, parks, and places of work. The moral panic has ensued around smoking and the fear is only increasing. But, what if there is a better way for smokers to have what they want without burdening them with regulations? Why did the cigarette take...

According to Deirdre McCloskey the greatest challenges that humankind faces are tyranny and poverty. McCloskey is a firm believer that if we were to return to true liberal values it would be good for everyone. For examples of true liberal values she refers to philosophers Locke, Smith, Voltaire, and Wollstonecraft. What is the connection between liberalism and democracy? How is liberalism non-coer...

Clay Routledge joined the show today to talk about how our society has become increasingly individualistic, and how we are still learning the consequences of that. It is human nature to look for some sort of meaning in life. We are social animals, but that isn’t what makes us particularly unique. What makes us unique is that we maintain cultures and practices that make us seem, at least in part, l...

David Starkey explains the origins of UK Parliament so that we can understand how it differs from the U.S. government. He claims that Parliament is not too dissimilar from Congress. However, one key difference from the system in the UK and our own is the position of Prime Minister. Unlike our President, the Prime Minister is not subject to a general election for that specific position. Towards the...

After the economic disaster of the Great Leap Forward that claimed tens of millions of lives from 1958–1962, an aging Mao Zedong launched an ambitious scheme to shore up his reputation and eliminate those he viewed as a threat to his legacy. He called this The Cultural Revolution. Trevor and Aaron ask Frank Dikötter about Mao’s legacy and how he came to power, which leads to a larger discussion ab...

Helena Rosenblatt and Daniel Klein debate the origins of liberalism. Rosenblatt believes that Klein misuses Adam Smith. However, there is no way to know how Adam Smith would have acted in today’s political climate. What is liberalism? What is the political meaning of liberalism? How old is the idea of liberty? Was Edmund Burke thought of himself as a conservative? Is it a mistake to think that lib...

It is often assumed that libertarianism depends on thinking that property rights are absolute, or on fetishizing individual liberty. But, Dan Moller argues that the foundations of libertarianism lie in widely shared, everyday moral beliefs, especially regarding restrictions on shifting our burdens onto others. What does it mean to shift burdens? Where do rights come from? Why do some people find r...

Timothy Sandefur comes back to the show to talk about John Bronowksi. Bronowski had a wide array of interests. He invented smokeless coal and was a friend to Leo Szilard, the inventor of the atomic bomb. In fact, he led the mission to assess the aftermath of the atomic bomb in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There was not much this famous scientist, philosopher, and poet didn’t do and Sandefur was th...

We welcome Arnold Kling back on to the show to talk about the new edition of Three Languages of Politics. He hits on how many people talk about politics within certain axes. Progressives operate on a oppressed vs. oppressor axis, conservatives on a barbarism vs. civilization axis, and libertarians on a coercion vs. liberty axis. These axis bind us to a frame of mind that is not conducive to talkin...

There is no doubt that we are in a global tend of authoritarian populism. Tom Palmer joins the show today to discuss how populism comes in many kinds of poison. He points to our disorderly immigration system as one of the reasons that populist rhetoric thrives in the United States. As there is more havoc at the border, it is perceived as an invasion rather than a flaw in our system. Do you think t...

While researching private schools in India for the World Bank, and worried he was doing little to help the poor, James Tooley wandered into the slums of Hyderabad’s Old City. Shocked to find it overflowing with tiny, parent-funded schools filled with energized students, he set out to discover if schools like these could help achieve universal education. Do private schools exist across the world in...

The National Conservatism Movement is trying to continue Trumpism long after Trump is out of the White House. Recently, they held a conference in D.C. in order to streamline their message. The keynote speakers were Tucker Carlson, John Bolton, Josh Hawley, Peter Thiel, and Yoram Hazony, whose speech announced that “today is our independence day”. In this episode, Aaron Ross Powell, Paul Matzko, Ja...

Since the 2016 election, college campuses have erupted in violent protests, demands for safe spaces, and the silencing of views that activist groups find disagreeable. Robby Soave has gone in to the trenches to catalog these young radicals in order to better understand the climate at universities across America. When did college campuses become sites of harsh public discourse? How has the culture...

As social media platforms grow it is apparent that they will never be able to make decisions that will appease everyone. We should also recognize that calls for government-induced content moderation will make these platforms battlegrounds for a perpetual intensifying conflict over who gets to silence whom. What is a moral panic? Why are people panicked over fake news? How addictive is social media...

Steve knows the world has truly gotten better for human beings. Not enough people recognize or appreciate that. We hope that this episode inspires you to help a neighbor or call a friend. How does gratitude compare to resentment? Do we have the mental space to be thinking about the welfare of everyone else? How different are you on social media compared to real life? Why do GoFundMe’s work? Is the...

Kevin Currie-Knight joins our podcast to talk about the libertarian case for markets in education. His book, Education in the Marketplace , explores the variety of arguments that libertarians have made in the past as well as the impact that they each have had on the ever-evolving education system What is the government’s role in education? How decentralized did our school system use to be? When di...

Many Americans believe that foreign military intervention is central to protecting our domestic freedoms. But Christopher J. Coyne and Abigail R. Hall urge engaged citizens to think again. Overseas, our government takes actions in the name of defense that would not be permissible within national borders. Emboldened by the relative weakness of governance abroad, the U.S. government is able to exper...

It’s been almost 6 years since we started recording Free Thoughts. We take today to look back on our 300 hours of recording. Nora Powell hosts Trevor and Aaron to discuss how we are fighting for freedom through podcasting. Are you a libertarian because of our show? Please reach out to us so we can meet you and thank you. We would like to thank all of our listeners for staying loyal and engaged eac...

Daniel Okrent joins the show to talk about his new book, The Guarded Gate, which tells the tells the story of the scientists who argued that certain nationalities were inherently inferior, providing the intellectual justification for the harshest immigration law in American history. Brandished by the upper class Bostonians and New Yorkers—many of them progressives—who led the anti-immigration move...

Universities aim to be centers of learning that find the best and brightest students, treat them fairly, and equip them with the knowledge they need to lead better lives. But Jason Brennan and Phillip Magness join us today to show how American universities fall far short of this ideal. What is the purpose of college? What are academics getting out of university life? What do students want from the...

Hello fellow Stranger Things fans! We have a doozy here for you today, as we launch our exciting new project. If you didn’t think we were hip before, think again! Our first show on pop culture, coincides with the release of Stranger Things Season 3. How convenient! Most of us would much rather be playing Dungeon & Dragons and fighting off demodogs rather than working. Guest, Ellie Hamlett, joins h...