What We Were

America's military and foreign policy elites destroyed one of the greatest intellectuals and patriots of the 20th century. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer forces us to reexamine that time period and its implications for freedom of speech in America and our role as the leading superpower. Double-Slit Experiment explainer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1YqgPAtzho

More In Common's Hidden Tribes study reveals that at least 26% of the voting-eligible population in America is completely up for grabs, and that as much as 67% could be persuaded by a compelling candidate on either side of the political aisle. But for the last several decades, few presidential candidates have been able to get through to either group, and none of have won the White House. We di...

Could RFK Jr. be this election's next molotov cocktail that American voters hurl at their central government?

What I learned from spending a week at the Iowa Caucuses. Are we in trouble? Do the Iowa Caucuses represent a glimmer of hope for our listless Republic? Maybe. Bari Weiss' Dean Phillips interview: https://www.thefp.com/p/can-dean-phillips-pull-off-the-impossible-893?utm_source=%2Fsearch%2Fdean&utm_medium=reader2

Why has America turned away from its heritage as a peace-loving nation and how can we get it back? From Vietnam to Afghanistan and Iraq, when will we finally learn that we can't remake the world into something it's not through bullets and bombs?

Is widespread hacking of social media accounts, email accounts, and computers turning America into the third world?

What can we expect for America's 250th birthday? We discuss why there has been so little news about our upcoming Semiquincentennial and the potential danger of attempting to celebrate such an occasion in a nation so divided as ours. American Semiquincentennial Planning Committee: https://america250.org/

America is more divided than ever, so we're told. But why? In this episode we discuss how corporate advertising is now writing the script of our political discourse and determining what we should be focused on in order to drive profits. Show links: Two in five Americans say a civil war is at least somewhat likely in the next decade: https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/43553-two-in-five-...

What do we accomplish by identifying anti-Semitics? What do we lose by misidentifying anti-Semitics. Articles: Don’t be fooled by the march for peace: https://unherd.com/2023/11/dont-be-fooled-by-the-march-for-peace/

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 led to the creation of the world's most useless and oppressive security apparatus. Americans first, and eventually the whole world surrendered precious freedom to travel in peace, but also lost one of the few communal ceremonies we had left. United Flight 93 heroes: https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3080117 TSA security failures: https://abcnews.go.com/...

Are we being honest about the purpose of the Second Amendment? Does either side really understand its purpose? There is a vast universe of common ground around preventing gun violence, yet we seem unwilling to even discuss it, let alone act on it.

Should we be ashamed of how American citizens and media descended on the family home of a criminal suspect in order to make their lives a living hell? Are we losing our capacity for empathy except in the rare situations where it benefits ourselves? We discuss how, in a rush to find who killed Gabby Petito and bring her killer to justice, American citizens and corporate media ruined the lives of an...