The Political Orphanage

Comedy writer Brian Sack joins Heaton for a Friday Release Valve episode to sort the world's better headlines: from the worst use of parking spaces ever, to a great education game about cow tuberculosis, to an effortless but irritating way to get abs.

What's in the DNA of a conspiracy theory, and when does it go from benign to dangerous? Jesse Walker is author of "The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory," which identifies the different types of conspiracy theories and charts them from the Salem witch trials through Barack Obama's birth certificate.  

People don't really like pointing to Venezuela, Cambodia, Cuba, or the Soviet Union when they talk about socialism. (What with the deaths.) They like to mention cute sweater-vest countries, like Denmark, that aren't actually socialist. Justin Haskins, executive editor at the Heartland Institute, joins Heaton to talk about what socialism is and isn't, and also when it occasionally gets out of hand...

Student loan debt has surpassed $1.5 trillion dollars — more than credit card debt — prompting some ascendant Democrats to push for loan cancellation and tax-funded university tuition. Heaton figures out what's making it so expensive with filmmaker and friend Royce Sharp.

Deanna Easley rejoins Heaton to talk about welfare: when it works, when it traps, and her experiences on it. Plus, Heaton explains a Biden vs. Trump election through ostrich racing, and producer Jennings comes on with timely feedback.

Comedian Bridget Phetasy joins Heaton for a Friday Release Valve episode to sort out the week's better headlines, from how the Philippines might trigger World War III, to man-killing birds, to black-market colonoscopies.

Did Trump win the election because economically displaced Rust Belt workers wanted a shake-up, or because old white guys can't handle change? Tim Carney rejects that dichotomy and says that the 2016 election had more to do with the nature of the community you hail from: whether it's connected, upwardly mobile, and optimistic, or pessimistic, disconnected, and lonely. His book, "Alienated America:...

Gene Epstein is the director and moderator of the New York-based debate society the Soho Forum and formerly the economics editor at Barron's. He's also Heaton's mentor in economics. He comes on the program to chastise Heaton for his ideological foibles, then to talk about why the Federal Reserve Board is horrible and we should scrap it entirely.

Stu Burguiere joins Heaton to weigh in on climate change as a conservative — how alarmed we should be and what good and bad policies look like.

Jerry Taylor, formerly of the Cato Institute and now president of the Niskanen Center, joins Heaton to talk about what pro-market solutions to global warming look like. Plus, Heaton spices up the Mueller report, and a new whisky-based sponsor. 

Back by popular acclaim, Andrea Jones-Rooy joins Heaton to sift through the week's better headlines, from Pennsylvania's new state amphibian, to dog catchers in tanks, to the Japanese version of "Breaking Bad." Plus, why comedians don't need to worry about getting replaced by robots anytime soon.

Neil Howe is the historian and demographer who coined the term "millennial." He also developed the Strauss-Howe generational theory — the idea that America has four types of generations which go through cycles of history together. He joins Heaton to explain a different way to look at history and to pinpoint where we are in it.

Hate is big business right now. So is fear. Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, joins Heaton to talk about his book Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt. As well as his new film, "The Pursuit," about the power of markets to solve poverty.

Bernie Sanders just held a town hall with Fox News...and came out on top. Brian Brushwood joins Heaton to slap socialism around, but also point out the surprising policies where Sanders and Trump converge.

Is a U.S. Space Force an inevitable step to protecting satellites and commercial space activities, or just an expensive exercise in shuffling Pentagon bureaucracies? Military and aerospace expert Anthony Colangelo joins Heaton to sort things out.

Comedian Jaron Myers joins Heaton to probe the more obscure headlines of the week, from an incredibly polite Canadian car theft mystery, to robot burglars, to the world's most ominous potatoes.

Poverty and low standards of living are often thought to be the outcome of those at the financial and social top standing on the backs of everyone else. But what are some other possibilities? Theodore Dalrymple, author of "Life at the Bottom: The Worldview that Makes the Underclass," comes on the program to talk to Andrew about the influence of a generational welfare state and its impoverishment o...

We've been to the moon a couple of times to collect rocks and go golfing, but what benefits would we get from building a permanent colony? Robert Zubrin is the author of "The Case for Space," founder of the Mars Society, and president of Pioneer Astronautics. He joins Heaton to talk about how to build a moon base and how to get the private sector to do it cheap.

Comedian and comic book guru Megan Sass joins Heaton on "Alienating the Audience" to talk about superhero politics. How do Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman play out ideologically?

Every election, we're told we can either vote for the lesser of two besuited sociopaths or throw our vote away on a doomed third-party candidate. (At which point, you may well spoil the election for everyone.) Dan Fishman is the incoming executive director of the Libertarian Party, and he has a solution for shifting our elections away from exercises in fear and hate toward logic and values. 

Comedian Jimmy Failla returns to help sort out the week's more obscure headlines: from marathon endurance singing, to football skulls, to why Uri Geller is a threat to us all!

Heaton goes on a melange-fueled sci-fi plunge in this special installment of "Alienating the Audience" about the politics and economics of Frank Herbert's "Dune." He's joined by fellow nerd and possible mentat Benjamin Brockschmidt to discuss feudalism in space, the future of humanity, technology, and the nature of power. 

Can Uncle Joe climb out of the vat of #MeToo he seems to have fallen into? What are his policy priorities, and can he win the Democratic nomination despite being an old white guy? Comedian Negin Farsad of "Fake the Nation" joins Heaton to get the rundown on Uncle Joe.

Heaton invites on BlazeTV's Phil Robertson, of "Duck Dynasty" fame, to talk about how secular and spiritual people can get along and, to a lesser extent, to run Heaton's reality TV show ideas by him.

Poland is part of NATO and an EU member state, but it's veering towards nationalism and populism and some other unsavory developments. Brian Sack, comedian and Polish expert, joins to discuss.