The Libertarian Institute

Lebanon is getting hit every day, and the word “ceasefire” is doing a lot of dishonest work. We sit down with journalist Harrison Berger to map what’s actually happening in southern Lebanon: ongoing Israeli airstrikes, continued occupation, and reports of villages being systematically destroyed. We also dig into the most combustible condition inside the deal, […]

John and I continue to read and discuss Ordinary Men, the elections, and dehumanization.

Foreign policy doesn’t matter at the ballot box until voters feel it in their bills and in their bones. Kyle sits down with returning guest Nick Cleveland-Stout of Responsible Statecraft to unpack why the midterms look like a real-time referendum on the Iran war, and what it means when the “endless war” consensus finally starts […]

The midterms sent a message that Washington will try to bury: foreign wars can still wreck political coalitions at home. We sit down with Dan McAdams, co host of the Liberty Report and director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, to unpack why the Iran war became a major factor in the […]

 Download Audio. Scott interviews author and journalist Stephen Kinzer about his new book on the American interventions that brought about the conditions for the war between Russia and Ukraine. Discussed on the show: Boiling Point: How America Brought War to Ukraine by Stephen Kinzer Stephen Kinzer is an award-winning foreign correspondent and the author […]

 Download Audio. Trita Parsi returns to the show to discuss what will likely happen next after voters made their opposition to Trump’s war clear in the midterm elections. Scott and Parsi dig into the dynamics within the Trump administration and talk about how Israel’s election also affects things. Discussed on the show: “Election was […]

 Download Audio. Scott brings Rich Baris back on the show to discuss the Democrats’ big win in the midterm elections. Baris and Scott reflect on why the Republicans lost and just how tragic the right’s squandered opportunity has been since 2024. Discussed on the show: Burn It Down: What the Polls Say Young Americans […]

The Democrats destroyed the Republicans in the midterms, and finally, for the first time since Netanyahu convinced Trump to start a war with Iran, politics are funny again!

 Download Audio. Scott interviews Grant F. Smith about what he’s learned from his years of studying and collecting documents related to the Israeli government’s operations and activities within the US. They also talk about how terrible Donald Trump has been as president. Discussed on the show: “FBI Files Reveal the History Behind Israel’s US […]

The midterms didn’t just bruise Republicans, they humiliated them, and I think the clearest explanation isn’t a sudden national conversion to Democratic ideology. The vote looks like a blunt punishment of Donald Trump’s second-term priorities, with one issue towering over the rest: the war with Iran and the real, immediate costs Americans feel at home. […]

Election night coverage is usually sold as a scoreboard, but we treat it like a stress test for the whole system. While results roll in, we argue about what a “blue wave” actually means if it’s powered by disappointment, low enthusiasm, and voters choosing to sit out rather than buy another round of party promises. […]

In this episode, I sketch the life and exploits of one of my three Peak Guerrillas from the beginning of the 20th century, German GEN Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck. I want to explore what I consider the next step in guerrilla evolution employing age-old techniques and strategies harnessed to modern technology and employment within the […]

 Download Audio. Scott interviews Emily Jashinsky about the recent report detailing Trump’s activities with Jeffrey Epstein and his circles. They also talk about the likely consequences of next week’s midterm elections. Discussed on the show: SHOCK REPORT: Trump “Active Participant” In Epstein RING By Way of Deception: The Making and Unmaking of a Mossad […]

 Download Audio. Journalist Kevin Gosztola returns to the show to discuss yet another story of the US government using the Espionage Act to protect its own aims and interests from the American people. Discussed on the show: “Judge Grants Bail To CIA Contractor Accused Of Violating Espionage Act” by Kevin Gosztola (The Dissenter) Naza […]

Preemptive pardons used to sound like a fringe fear. Now they’re getting floated like standard operating procedure, and we dig into what that says about the health of the American system. We talk through why “blanket” or “preemptive” pardons feel like an admission of guilt, why they short-circuit the rule of law, and why the […]

 Download Audio. Scott interviews Andrew Day from The American Conservative about what’s happening with the Iran war. They discuss whether Trump will restart the air campaign after the midterms, Israel’s calculated moves that have prevented a lasting negotiated peace from taking hold, how JD Vance plays into all this and more. Discussed on the […]

 Download Audio. Scott brings Daniel Davis back on the show to dig into some of the claims western war hawks are making that the Ukrainians are actually starting to win on the ground in their war against the Russians. Davis explains why these characterizations are misleading and dangerous. Discussed on the show: Daniel Davis […]

War isn’t distant when it’s priced into every gallon of gas. Dave Benner from Liberty Vault joins us for a blunt end-of-week rundown on the war in Iran, the midterm backlash building around it, and why the administration’s promise that it won’t become a forever war is landing with a thud for a lot of […]

Join CJ as he reads the following Halloween-y poems & short stories: “Halloween” by Madison Julius Cawein “The Erl-King” by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe “The Music of Erich Zann” by H.P. Lovecraft “The Vampire” by Madison Julius Cawein “SOCJ!” — Save Our CJ (& the DHP!) Due to events of the past couple months — […]

(*This episode is mostly comprised of DHP Eps. 171 & 174, which were originally made & published back in 2018.) In this DHP Reissue Two-Fer, CJ-in-2018 turns the DHP Heroes spotlight on one of his favorite filmmakers of all time, John Carpenter, best known for the horror & scifi films he made in the last […]

 Download Audio. Scott interviews Patrick Pillow about the series he just started publishing on the regime change in Egypt in 2011. Discussed on the show: “Anatomy of a Regime Change 2011: Egypt, Part One” (Libertarian Overwatch) Patrick Pillow is an independent researcher and writer focused on protest movements, foreign policy, and regime-change case studies. […]

Starlink sounds like a simple story about connectivity, until you ask one question: who gets to decide when a “civilian” network becomes a weapon? We start by digging into Elon Musk’s statement on Ukraine, where he draws a hard boundary around Starlink and offensive drone strikes, and we explain why SpaceX points to Starshield as […]

They’ve spent years telling you an independent vote is a wasted vote. We don’t buy it, and we walk through why the “safe” choice keeps delivering the same disappointment, the same hypocrisy, and the same top-down control. Karen Kotowski sits in for Kyle and talks with producer Chris Leonard about what independent voting actually looks […]

A citywide Russia Ukraine ceasefire tied to a Melania Trump backchannel sounds absurd on its face, which is exactly why it’s worth taking seriously. We walk through what’s actually being reported, why a humanitarian corridor can still count as a diplomatic breakthrough, and how even “small” agreements test whether Moscow and Kyiv can coordinate anything […]

An inch is not a “near miss” in politics, it’s a different timeline. Ken Silva joins me to lay out what we actually know about the Butler, Pennsylvania Trump rally shooting, what still makes no sense, and why the FBI’s slow drip of records feels more like narrative management than transparency. We talk about the […]