The New Liberal Podcast

The second episode in our state by state YIMBYism series! We're looking at places where YIMBYs have succeeded and places where they haven't - and trying to figure out which approaches to YIMBYism work. Mallory Phillips, Nathan Dugan and Ellie McMann are the founders of ShelterWF, Montana's largest YIMBY organization. They join the show to discuss YIMBYism in Montana. We talk about the history of M...

The first episode in a new series! We're going state by state - looking at places where YIMBYs have succeeded and places where they haven't - and trying to figure out which approaches to YIMBYism work. Ned Resnikoff, policy director of California YIMBY, joins the show to discuss YIMBYism in California. We talk about the history of California's housing crisis, how California YIMBYs battled their wa...

In a matter of weeks, the US might default on its debt. How could the richest and most powerful country in the world end up in that situation? PPI's budget maestro Ben Ritz joins the podcast to discuss the debt ceiling - why it exists, how it turned into a partisan fight, what Democrats and Republicans each want, and how we can get out of this mess. Got questions for the Neoliberal Podcast?  Send...

Newly elected Chief Neoliberal Shill for 2023 Matt Darling joins the show to talk about how he sees politics, posting, and much more! He and Jeremiah discuss how ideas migrate from online discussion and think tanks to the actual halls of power, why he's so focused on educating people via social media, how he thinks about employment and labor policy, and much more.  Got questions for the Neoliberal...

It's time for another mailbag episode!  If you want your questions or ideas featured on the podcast, write in to mailbag@cnliberalism.org.  In this week's episode, Jeremiah answers questions about whether or not Biden should run for President again, how to advocate for foreign policy goals, what we can learn from the civil rights movements, what a neoliberal vision of the future looks like, libera...

How much does land matter in the modern economy? Lars Doucet, author of 'Land is a Big Deal', joins the podcast to talk about land value taxes and why he believes they're a solution to many of our economy's problems. We discuss whether or not land still matters as much as it did in the past, the political barriers to passing land value taxes, how land appraisal actually works, and much more. Got q...

What role did Henry George play in the development of liberalism? Chris England is a lecturer at Georgetown University and author of the new book "Land and Liberty: Henry George and the Crafting of Modern Liberalism", and he joins the show to discuss George's place in American history and the history of liberalism. We discuss George's influence on liberal thought, why George's ideas became a huge...

In a flash episode recorded hours after the news of Donald Trump's indictment in New York, Jeremiah walks through the essentials of what you need to know.  Why is Donald Trump being indicted, and what are the potential charges he may face? What does this mean for the rule of law, and for the stability of the American political system? How will Trump try to fight the charges? And should we feel hap...

How can we understand which charities do the most good?  GiveWell's Managing Director Buddy Shah joins the show to discuss GiveWell's work and all the complications that come with trying to recommend the best charities in the world.  How does GiveWell consider problems like long term growth? What about hard to measure efforts like lobbying, or R&D? Does GiveWell's very mathematical approach ruin s...

Some of our most bitter political fights are about 'wokeness'. But what does it even mean to be woke? Is being woke a force for good or bad? And how can we navigate those battles while holding on to liberal values? In this episode, Jeremiah discusses the principles we should use when discussing culture fights around political correctness, social justice, and woke politics. Got questions for the Ne...

Why is car culture so entrenched in so many places, and what can we do about it? And do we need a 'War on Cars' to try to make our cities less car dependent? Urbanist and activist Aaron Naparstek joins the podcast to discuss car culture, urbanism and why it's so important to push back against car culture.   Recommended Reading: https://thewaroncars.org/   https://www.streetsblog.org/   http://www....

How did Silicon Valley Bank collapse, and what does it mean for the tech sector and the economy?  Founder of apricitas.io Joseph Politano returns to the show to help Jeremiah explain what happened over the last week. How did the largest bank collapse of the last decade happen? What were the technical factors and social factors leading to the bank run? How did the tech industry respond, and how did...

Why is everyone so excited about prediction markets? Stephen Grugett, founder of Manifold Markets, joins the show to discuss all things prediction markets. We talk about why prediction markets are useful, the strange ways in which they might be used in the future, whether or not they're actually as accurate as they claim to be, the ethical considerations in putting everything into a market, and mu...

The internet as we know it depends on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. But if it's so crucial, why do so many people seem to want to change it or kill it entirely? PPI's Malena Dailey and R Street's Shoshana Weissmann join the show to discuss Section 230. What exactly does Section 230 say? Why is it so important for the internet to function? What would happen if it was changed?  And...

Noah Smith joins the podcast for a whirlwind discussion of all things East Asia.  Why did Japan industrialize faster than its neighbors? Why was China so slow to do so? How are current trade tensions affecting China, and what are they doing about it? Should the US do more 'friend-shoring' with allies like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan? And what does the future hold for economies in East Asia? We d...

Will Marshall is the president and founder of PPI, and he joins the show this week to discuss immigration policy.  We discuss how we approach immigration from different angles, and try to find how sensible liberals can find common ground to make immigration reform happen.  To make sure you hear every episode, join our Patreon at  https://www.patreon.com/neoliberalpodcast . Patrons get access to ex...

The holy grail of monetary policy is the 'soft landing' - being able to bring down high inflation without causing a recession. Joseph Politano, author of the substack Apricitas, joins the podcast to discuss whether or not we'll see a soft landing in 2023.  We talk about the Fed's history of trying to control inflation, the causes of inflation after the COVID economic shock, and break down exactly...

Almost one year into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, what is the current state of the war?  And where is the conflict happen?  Oz Katerji is a war correspondent and joins the show to discuss his experiences in Ukraine.  We talk about what he saw on the ground there, why so many people got the invasion wrong, how OSINT is revolutionizing journalism, and what the future holds for Ukraine. Follow Oz...

Jeremiah recaps the best books from 2022. From those books covered on the podcast to the more obscure finds, from fiction to non-fiction, including biographies, academic works, humor, political science, science fiction and more, it's all here as we recap the best books of the year.   Recommended listening:   Best Books of 2022, Part One - https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ESEBmWWlyUhI7d4SgyEaw   I...

How successful was China's 'Zero COVID' policy really?  And what does it mean that the Chinese Communist Party has now abandoned it and COVID is spreading throughout the country?  James Palmer of  Foreign Policy joins the podcast to discuss COVID in China, the CCP's response, and what this means for more than one billion Chinese people. We talk about how zero COVID worked, why people eventually be...

Everybody loves a good social media trainwreck - posts so bad that you can't look away.  But how did we get like this?  Have we always been like this, and social media just gave us a new way to express it?  Vox's Rebecca Jennings joins the show to talk about 'Chronically Online' discourse.  We talk about why people say the insane things they say on Twitter, TikTok, and other platforms, why we can'...

How robust is liberal democracy worldwide? Why do authoritarian countries like China, Iran and Russia seem to be struggling right now? How safe is democracy in the developed world? Francis Fukuyama joins the podcast to discuss how the ideas from his book 'The End of History' apply to what we're seeing in geopolitics today. We discuss what capital-H History is really about, whether neoliberalism is...

The fourth episode in our series on Effective Altruism focuses on fighting malaria.  Jeremiah is joined by Rob Mather, founder and CEO of the Against Malaria Foundation. They discuss why bed nets are such an effective intervention for stopping the spread of malaria, AMF's approach to data and how we can prove our dollars are making a difference, and the future of malaria as we race to develop new...

Coming out of the 2022 midterm elections, what's going to happen as Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump both prepare to run for president in 2024?  Tim Miller of The Bulwark joins the podcast to discuss this upcoming GOP civil war.  What are the issues where Trump and DeSantis might attack each other? Who are the groups they have to appeal to?  What do the midterm results mean for the future of Trump-st...

Elon Musk has owned Twitter for less than a month, and the company is already in chaos.  Is Elon crazy, or crazy like a fox? Joining the show to discuss is Mike Masnick, founder of Techdirt.  Jeremiah and Mike discuss why content moderation is so difficult at scale, debate whether Mastodon can be a real Twitter replacement, discuss Elon's erratic and dumb moves since buying Twitter, as they try to...