The New Liberal Podcast

Congress is considering legislation on credit cards, and the future of your credit card rewards could hang in the balance. Paul Weinstein, a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute and Brian Kelly, founder of The Points Guy website, join the podcast to discuss a proposed bill that would regulate US credit cards.  We discuss the guts of how credit cards work, why Americans are used to get...

The economic picture seems bright - GDP and wages are up, unemployment is low, and inflation is falling. So why is public sentiment about the economy intensely negative? Will Stancil joins the podcast to discuss the 'vibecession'. We cover why economic indicators have divorced from consumer confidence, the role of social media in driving doom narratives, and the politics behind why everything feel...

Joe Biden's polling numbers have Democrats worried. Some commentators have even started publicly wondering - should Joe Biden drop out and not run again in 2024? Nate Silver joins the podcast to discuss the factors around whether or not Biden should run for re-election. How much trouble in Biden in? Is Biden's age really a problem? Would Democrats actually have a better shot at winning if Biden st...

What is integralism, and why is it growing in popularity on the religious right? Kevin Vallier joins the show to discuss his new book, All the Kingdoms of the World , about the new integralist movement. We talk about the history of integralism, why they believe liberalism has corrupted society, and why Dr. Vallier thinks their version of anti-liberalism is doomed to fail even on its own terms. Got...

PEPFAR is widely hailed as one of the most impactful aid programs of all time, with credible estimates as high as 25 million lives saved. Former US Global AIDS coordinator and head of PEPFAR Dr. Mark Dybul joins the show to discuss how it all happened. We talk about the institutional challenges to make a program like this work effectively, how presidential leadership was important to make PEPFAR a...

What should the government be doing to fight the opioid epidemic? In this episode, Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen joins the show to talk about her family history with opioid addiction and how we can make progress on this issue. We talk about how to step up enforcement to stop imported illegal drugs like fentanyl, how we prevent over prescription of opioids through legal channels, and ultimately...

Young people are increasingly pessimistic about climate change, and a narrative around 'climate doom' is becoming more and more common. Should we doom about the climate? And if not, how do we combat the doom narrative? Alex Trembath of the Breakthrough Institute and Jessica Weinkle, professor at UNC Wilmington, join the show to discuss why climate doom exists, the reality of how climate change is...

The US-Mexico border has seen a surge of illegal crossings and apprehensions since the end of COVID-era restrictions. Alex Nowrasteh joins the podcast to talk about the situation at the US's southern border, why the perception of chaos matters more than the actual number of immigrants, and how we can build a less chaotic immigration system while still remaining open to immigration.  Recommended re...

Special episode! Yesterday, in a move unprecedented in American history, the House of Representatives removed Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House in the middle of his term. Eric Garcia has been reporting on this story and he joins the show to break down how we got to this point, who the main players and factions are, why McCarthy was such a weak speaker, and where the House goes from here. Got...

Europe has always taken a harsher approach to regulating the tech sector than the US. They've also always had a tech sector that lags far behind the US, or in some instances barely exists. Has Europe just given up on tech? Politico's Derek Robertson joins the show to discuss the philosophical differences between the EU and the US, how much EU regulation of US firms is principled vs nationalistic,...

Antitrust policy often asks "When are companies too big for the good of society?" But is bigness the only factor we should be looking at? Diana Moss is the Vice President of Competition and Antitrust Policy at the Progressive Policy Institute, and she joins the podcast to discuss how the Biden administration is handling antitrust policy. We talk about the neo-Brandeisian movement, why the consumer...

After the first Republican debate, how is the 2024 race shaping up? Jonathan Chait joins the show to discuss whether or not any of the other Republican candidates have a shot at beating Trump, why Biden's approval numbers are stuck so low, and why exactly Vivek Ramaswamy is rising and getting on people's nerves. Got questions for the New Liberal Podcast?  Send them to mailbag@cnliberalism.org Foll...

New York City is one of the most expensive places in the country. Will they ever build more housing? This week's episode is another in our state-by-state housing series, and we're talking about housing in New York. Joining me are Rachel Fee, executive director of the New York Housing Conference, and Alex Armlovich, Senior Housing Policy Analyst at the Niskanen Center.  We discuss why housing refor...

How do rich people keep poor folks from living in their neighborhoods? Richard Kahlenberg is a senior fellow at PPI and the author of the new book 'Excluded'. We discuss how 'snob zoning' was used to create a class-based discrimination system that replaced race-base discrimination, the benefits of having more class-integrated neighborhoods, and the most important political obstacles to overcome in...

Joe McReynolds, author of the book Emergent Tokyo: Designing the Spontaneous City joins the podcast to talk about the urbanism of Tokyo. We discuss why urbanists love Tokyo so much, the role of markets vs plans and designs, how Tokyo makes use of small and neglected spaces, and what he calls emergent vs corporate led design. Got questions for the New Liberal Podcast?  Send them to mailbag@cnlibera...

Why are writers and actors both striking in Hollywood for the first time since 1960? Television writer and Writer's Guild of America member Jeff Maurer joins the show to discuss the strike. We talk about how technology is changing the entertainment industry, why writers and actors feel like they're getting a raw deal, and how long the strike might last. Got questions for the New Liberal Podcast? ...

In this episode, Jeremiah was invited to the Free The Economy podcast to talk about one of his recent articles "Ugh, Capitalism". Jeremiah details how capitalism became every commentator's favorite punching bag, why things as varied as bad architecture, loneliness, astrology and the color beige are all capitalism's fault, and what's really going on under the surface for the people who blame everyt...

It's the return of the Best Books series! Jeremiah walks through the books he's read in the first half of 2023, including books on political theory, language, urbanism, Georgism, internet culture, technology and more. Plus, reviews of the best sci-fi and speculative fiction from this year! Got questions for the New Liberal Podcast?  Send them to mailbag@cnliberalism.org Follow us at: https://twitt...

What on earth has been going on with social media? Threads is a brand new app with 100 m users. Reddit's moderators have revolted and the site is still feeling the effects. And Twitter continues to set itself on fire regularly. Why is all this happening? Mike Masnick of Techdirt joins the show, and we discuss the most chaotic time for social media in years. We talk about what caused Twitter's outa...

The war to fight Russia's invasion is the most important story in Ukraine. But what comes after the war? Tamar Jacoby, head of The New Ukraine Project, joins the podcast to discuss Ukraine's efforts to build a stronger society. We discuss Ukraine's history of poverty and corruption, what's being done to address issues like corruption, what the Ukrainian people really want, and how much more libera...

It takes far too long to build housing, infrastructure or green energy in America, even in progressive areas that say they want those things. Why?  Jeremiah explores the history of how progressives turned their back on progress in favor of process. This episode covers the myriad of ways in which bureaucratic process is killing America's ability to accomplish its goals, the understandable reasons w...

It's the four year anniversary of Jeremiah's kidney donation, and in this episode he makes the argument that you, the listener, should also consider donating.  Jeremiah discusses why kidney disease is such a large problem, how much good a donated kidney can do, and why the risks of donation are minimal.  He also answers commonly asked questions about the logistics of giving up a kidney, and argues...

Should America have more workers moving through apprenticeship programs? Taylor Maag is the Director of Workforce Development Policy at PPI and joins the show to talk about apprenticeships. We discuss whether apprenticeships make sense for the modern economy, whether our current labor market policies are too focused on 'college for all', and if the government should be in the business of subsidizi...

Technological progress is the ultimate driver of economic progress, but do we need to think about who controls the direction of technological development? Daron Acemoğlu & Simon Johnson join the podcast to discuss their new book Power and Progress, where they argue that without guidance, new technology does not necessarily benefit the masses. We discuss the history of technological development, wh...

In 2023, Estonia's liberal parties had a tremendously successful election - winning power and decisively defeating their far right. But how does Estonian politics work, and what does liberalism mean in Estonia? This week's episode is another episode in our Liberalism Around The World series, and we're focusing on liberalism in Estonia. We're joined by Tarmo Juristo, the founder of SALK, one of Est...