The More Freedom Foundation Podcast

Why is everyone in the US talking about invading Mexico all of a sudden? In recent months the New York Times, the Atlantic, and the Wall Street Journal have suggested using the US military to either attack narco cartels or unseat President AMLO. Now the Republican party, from Marjorie Taylor Greene to Vivek Ramaswamy is getting in on the act...  This is insane of course. And in today's video...

For more than eight years, Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition in a war against Yemen's Houthi rebels, with devastating consequences for the Yemeni people. However, recent developments have raised hopes that an end to the international aspects of the conflict may be within reach. In this podcast, we examine the factors that have led to the war and the challenges that have hindered peace effo...

In this podcast, we delve into Seymour Hersh's controversial allegation that the United States was behind the explosion of Nordstream 2, a gas pipeline that has been at the center of political tensions between Europe, the US and Russia. Hersh, a renowned investigative journalist, presents a suspiciously detailed picture of the supposed US operation. We examine the evidence, and run through other p...

In this episode we explore the rapidly evolving energy landscape in the United States and how it is disrupting the traditional dominance of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). From the boom in shale oil and gas production to the increasing adoption of renewable energy sources, to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the podcast delves into the key drivers behind this shift an...

RRR, a product of "Tollywood" in the south of India, is taking the world by storm.  The film, set in the 1920s, explores India's struggle for freedom against the British Empire and showcases aspects of the country's rich culture.  The film's global release has already enhanced India's soft power, and increased the country's visibility on a global scale... though it takes the country's im...

Sweden and Finland's accession to NATO looked like a done deal, until one very geographically important member state decided to get in the way. Rob and Ruairi discuss why Türkiye is really doing this, what it hopes to achieve, and whether this can really prevent the two Nordic nations from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This episode utilizes Rob's half forgotten legal experience t...

While Saudi Arabia appears strong, its future is uncertain due to a diminishing oil price and the ever expanding cost of supporting the royal family. Rob and Ruairi discuss Rob's bias against the country and his conviction its system is doomed. They also game out scenarios for the country's fall and which of its neighbours will benefit the most. Most  importantly they cover that big clock tow...

Hey, anybody remember Radical Islam? From 2001 to 2016 or so it was sold as the world's greatest challenge. 24 hour news was packed with gory details and fevered speculations about religious fundamentalism and its prospects and all manner of figures from the mainstream to cranks built lucrative careers on hating Islam...  and now it all seems to be fading away.  In today's episode Rob &a...

In this episode we discuss how prevalent Libertarianism is across American politics today. It's unacknowledged, but suffuses both the Democratic and Republican parties, and the conventional wisdom. Rob recounts his own journey from eager adherence to the ideology to disillusion. It just got hard to miss the way that none of the Libertarian dreams that benefitted the weak (criminal justice reform,...

This time Rob & Ruairi use Dmitry Medvedev's 2023 predictions to discuss and mock the hopes and bitter jokes of this highly placed Russian official.  It's not entirely clear how much of the former Russian President's Elon Musk endorsed Twitter thread is meant to be serious, and how much is intended as dark self-deprecating humor. The first prediction, an Oil price of $150 a barrel was som...

It's the Holidays! How about a light one? As Rob has watched very little Simpsons, Ruairi thought it would be great to hear his thoughts on a politically focused episode of the long running cartoon.  Season nine, episode 22: Trash of the Titans. Rob & Ruairi reflect on The Simpsons as a weighty example of American soft power. The episode ricochets around topics from the beloved TV show's...

Over the past 76 years the United States has divided the world into six regional jurisdictions known as unified combatant commands. Decade by decade, these commands get more heavily armed, and their commanders wield more power, with a surprising lack of scrutiny.  Today Rob & Ruairi provide that scrutiny.  US intentions can be good, but when you have a hammer every problem can look l...

Could the Republicans taking control of the house, and the growing obsession with Hunter Biden's Laptop be a good thing? Imagine if, for once, a discussion of corruption in one party was allowed to expand into a broader conversation about how corrupt we have allowed all politics to get in our hyper-moneyed age? Rob & Ruairi dive in to this question with a wide-ranging discussion of the recent...

Let everybody else talk about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Today Rob & Ruairi talk about Turkey's invasion of Syria, a smaller, but arguably much more successful crime. We talk about some of the many issues complicating this problem, from refugees and US Sanctions to the Turkish elections.  Music provided by the wonderful Kevin MacLeod.

This week we celebrate Thanksgiving by doing our best to say nice things about US hegemony... We mostly pull it off, by focusing on Sudan and Armenia, with some digressions on Kim Kardashian and Tunisia Democracy along the way. The US State Department, the Sudanese democratic transition, how the Abraham Accords fit in there, and Armenia's conflict with Azerbaijan are all covered at some length, in...

In this episode Rob & Ruairi talk about how monumentally powerful Britain was, as the world’s first global superpower, and how Peter Zeihan really doesn't understand the  history of the 19th century. We also get into how similar the US empire is to the British Empire, and how the US can avoid the mistakes that took the British out.  Music provided by the wonderful Kevin MacLeod.

We talk about China's stunning transformation, from a country assumed to be about to overtake America at any moment, to an aging economic disaster area. We  also cover the cataclysmic effects of Libya's destruction and how it made the world a much more dangerous place. And what good and bad Jimmy Carter got up to. The news report clip used is from the Associated Press it can be found at https...

Robert does his best to talk about the up and coming midterms and media bias, while Ruairi does his best to derail Rob's train of thought. The music was provided by the wonderful Kevin MacLeod.

In our first episode Rob and Ruairi talk about the More Freedom Foundation and some books that Rob's published. The music was provided by the wonderful Kevin MacLeod