The American Compass Podcast

The CHIPS Act was billed as a once-in-a-generation effort to rebuild America’s manufacturing base in a strategically vital industry. But turning legislation into functioning factories and good paying jobs requires far more than slogans about “onshoring” or wish-casting. It demands a state-sponsored investment outside of America’s typical comfort zone. Mike Schmidt , former director of the CHIPS Pr...

After running on a campaign centered on ending forever wars, the Trump administration has become increasingly aggressive toward Venezuela—and rumors are abuzz that the administration may soon attempt to topple the Maduro regime. Michael Brendan Dougherty , senior writer at National Review , joins Oren to discuss why Venezuela has reemerged as a focal point in Washington and what that says about th...

For decades, antitrust policy rested on the assumption that markets would correct themselves and that consolidation posed little risk to consumers and workers. But across the economy, from housing and healthcare to Big Tech and labor markets, concentration has grown, competition has weakened our economy, and the assumptions that conservatives once held on antitrust are no longer holding. Gail Slat...

The assumptions that once defined global trade are cracking. The United States can no longer absorb the world’s trade surpluses, China has become a near-peer adversary, and allies are facing hard choices about their own dependence on Beijing. This year has made it clear that the era of unquestioned free trade is over—and that America is charting a new course. Mark DiPlacido , policy advisor at Ame...

Globalization was once viewed as economic destiny: it would spread prosperity worldwide, destroy authoritarian regimes, and counterbalance industrial decline with innovation and growth. The reality has been far more negative, with communities hollowed out and a political landscape defined by resentment of elites, strategic rivalry with China, and skepticism that the system was ever meant to suppor...

Heading into the holidays, the hottest gifts on the shelf are AI-powered smart toys, leading parents to confront a troubling question: what happens when machines start reading to our kids, teaching them, and becoming their companions? At the same time, schools, already grappling with record learning loss, are rushing to adopt AI tools with little evidence they help children learn or grow. Brad Lit...

For decades, America told its young strivers that the path to economic security ran through degrees, credentials, and a foothold in the professional class. But as housing costs climb and career ladders shrink, even the “successful” are finding the old promise slipping away. John Carney , economics editor at Breitbart , joins Oren to unpack why today’s economy feels like a winner-take-all contest a...

Artificial intelligence has leapt from speculative theory to everyday tool with astonishing speed, promising breakthroughs in science, medicine, and the ways we learn, live, and work. But to some of its earliest researchers, the race toward superintelligence represents not progress but an existential threat, one that could end humanity as we know it. Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares , authors of...

Western politics has increasingly been shaped by a widening divide between the “Somewheres” and the “Anywheres”—those rooted in place and community versus those defined by education, mobility, and openness to change. This clash has fueled populist revolts, strained national solidarity, and reshaped debates over immigration, work, and identity. David Goodhart , author of The Road to Somewhere and T...

America’s labor laws promise fairness for workers and a level playing field for businesses, but promises mean little without enforcement. Underfunded agencies and administrative failures have allowed bad corporate actors to exploit employees unable to defend themselves. Seema Nanda , the Solicitor of Labor for the Biden administration, joins Oren to discuss why labor enforcement has fallen into cr...

A favorite libertarian parable, I, Pencil , portrays the market as a mystical force beyond human control, an “invisible hand” that government must never try to steer. This conversation tells a different story: how Sharpie manufacturing returned from China to America, and what we can learn about how policy can shape markets in the national interest. Chris Griswold , policy director at American Comp...

While the nation’s cultural curators cluster in a few wealthy zip codes, the voters who decide its elections remain rooted in towns where family, church, and work still bind community together. The result is a political and media class increasingly alien to the country it claims to represent, a dynamic cast in stark relief by the recent memorial for Charlie Kirk. Salena Zito , author of Butler and...

President Trump's second term has brought with it a more combative approach to the American press. Supporters have cheered it as overdue payback for the media's bias, but have the president's recent actions—from threatening broadcast licenses to million-dollar lawsuits against outlets—crossed a line? Emily Jashinsky, DC correspondent for UnHerd and host of the Afterparty podcast, an...

Efforts to modernize labor law have stalled in Washington for decades, leaving workers vulnerable to delayed contracts, retaliation, and corporate maneuvers. Meanwhile, a new challenge looms for workers: rapid advances in automation and artificial intelligence, which could threaten not only blue-collar jobs but also white-collar professions once thought untouchable. Sean M. O’Brien , general presi...

The abundance agenda claims to offer a new path, one centered on housing, energy, and expanded state capacity. But are advocates of abundance offering a genuine political shift? Or are they just repackaging neoliberalism for the Trump era? At the Abundance 2025 Conference, Oren debated Matt Yglesias , editor of Slow Boring , in a session moderated by Marshall Kosloff, host of The Realignment . Dur...

Last Friday, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that President Trump did not have the authority to issue emergency tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), setting up a pivotal Supreme Court battle over the future of the policy tool. Chad Squitieri , professor of law at the Catholic University of America, argues IEEPA’s grant to “regulate importation” clearly...

America’s political elite assumed Wall Street would finance its future. Instead, private capital chased software and speculation, leaving the nation dependent on foreign supply chains for most manufactured goods. The result is a hollowed-out industrial base that no tax credit alone can fix. Julius Krein , editor of American Affairs and president of the New American Industrial Alliance, joins Oren...

In the 1990s, Silicon Valley thought access to China would help open their markets and liberalize the nation. Instead, their engagement ended up empowering the CCP and helped build the Chinese surveillance state. Geoffrey Cain , an investigative journalist and author, joins Oren to explain how some Big Tech firms were captured by China, risking U.S. supply chains by making them vulnerable to Chine...

America once relied on oceans, industrial might, and large stockpiles to give her strategic depth—the ability to maneuver economically, militarily, and technologically during conflict. But those buffers have eroded in the age of drones, cyberattacks, and supply chains controlled by China. Nadia Schadlow , senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and Deputy National Security Advisor during the first T...

Economists and politicians told us that President Trump’s tariffs would spark foreign retaliation and drive up domestic prices. But current economic data are beginning to tell a different story. Anna Wong , chief U.S. economist at Bloomberg Economics, joins Oren to discuss what the post-Liberation Day data are telling us. As tariff rates begin to stabilize due to trade deals, Wong breaks down how...

From working as a welder to taking on BlackRock as West Virginia’s first Republican-elected state treasurer in decades, Riley Moore’s trajectory has been anything but conventional. Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) joins Oren to discuss what a conservatism rooted in the dignity of work, the importance of family, and responsive to the needs of working people looks like. Plus, he and Oren unpack the importanc...

As the Trump administration reshapes how federal dollars flow to universities, reform-minded academics are rethinking how to fix the systemic problems on campus without jeopardizing important research. Simon Johnson , professor of entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan School of Management and Nobel Laureate in Economics, joins Oren to unpack why our nation’s bloated and bureaucratic universities need refo...

Even as the U.S. begins decoupling from our Asian rival, the threat of a second “China shock”—one where the country’s economy dominates key resources and minerals—is rapidly emerging. Brad Setser , senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins Oren to dig into how China’s new wave of industrial overcapacity, currency manipulation, and continued cheap exports could ravage America’s econo...

Are we all post-liberals now?  The leading voice in the debate about what comes after liberalism, Notre Dame professor Patrick Deneen , joins the podcast to discuss where American politics is headed now that the push for a globalized society has failed to survive contact with geopolitical reality. He and Oren unpack the failures of the liberal age, from free trade and open borders to foreign wars...

The United States remains wholly dependent upon China for 95% of rare earth elements, 100% reliant on imports for 15 critical minerals, and over 80% reliant for eleven more. These minerals enable everything from batteries to semiconductors—and without domestic access, America’s technological dominance is at risk. Robert Bryce , a leading energy policy scholar, joins Oren to explore how decades of...