How did the low-fat, high-carb diet become entrenched within nutrition science, to the point that dissenters virtually disappeared? The answer gives us a fascinating glimpse into how nutrition science -- far from being dispassionately devoted to whatever conclusions the empirical evidence pointed to -- became politicized, and how dissenting voices were silenced.

Show notes for Ep. 866

I critique an article trying to disprove the libertarian claim that taxation is theft. The social contract makes it all right, the author says....

Show notes for Ep. 865

We're told we need government because only the public sector can give us "public goods," which are either impossible to produce privately or are produced in the wrong quantities. In this lesson from my Ron Paul Curriculum course on government I put this claim under a microscope.

Show notes for Ep. 864

Today I review Donald Trump's recent speech to Congress -- a speech the media loved, I'm sorry to report -- in terms of what it's going to mean for federal spending and the budget.

Show notes for Ep. 863

Paul Gottfried, longtime veteran of the American Right and foe of the yawn-inducing "conservative movement," discusses the significance of what has become known as the "alt right."

Show notes for Ep. 862

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, an ideologically diverse group of people joined together to fight against the drift of the United States into imperialism, particularly in the repression of the independence movement in the Philippines. It's a great story, which most Americans know little about.

Show notes for Ep. 861

Today I talk to libertarian writer Antony Sammeroff of the Scottish Liberty Podcast, who recently gave a talk against the "basic income guarantee" idea to a crowd that liked the idea, and at the end was cheered. So we discuss capitalism, persuading opponents, and more.

Show notes for Ep. 860

How did federal agencies become unaccountable fiefdoms? The story goes back over 100 years, and I discuss it with the author of a brand new study of this most unfortunate development.

Show notes for Ep. 859

Basing myself on the Harry Browne book of the same name, I discuss how in my own life I've found freedom: from neoconservatism, from academia, and from povertarianism. Fun!

Show notes for Ep. 858

We hear a lot about the opposition of the "deep state" to Trump, and that there's an effort at work to undermine him from within. What is the deep state, and is there anything to this?

Show notes for Ep. 857

Kevin Gutzman returns to explain where historians have gone wrong on Jefferson, why Jefferson was no conservative, the ups and downs of his presidency, and more.

Show notes Ep. 856

I favor speaking up in all kinds of situations, but a college classroom isn't a good one, in my opinion. The other kids don't care what you have to say and resent you for speaking, and the professor can make your life miserable. Marcelo Guadiana, a senior at UMass Boston and treasurer of the Young Americans for Liberty chapter there, begs to differ.

Show notes for Ep. 855

The debates and policies that gave rise to American empire occurred at the very end of the nineteenth century, in conflicts that found Theodore Roosevelt and Mark Twain at odds. Author Stephen Kinzer joins me to discuss the transformation of America away from nonintervention and toward empire.

Show notes for Ep. 854

C-SPAN recently posted the results of a survey of presidential historians, where they were asked to rank the presidents. Good grief, folks. I discuss some of the results.

Show notes for Ep. 853

Thomas Jefferson, says biographer Kevin Gutzman, is the most significant statesman in American history. We discuss Jefferson's views on federalism, education, the University of Virginia, slavery, colonization, American Indians, and freedom of conscience.

Show notes for Ep. 851

Sheriff Richard Mack joins me to discuss the plague of federal bureaucracies charging people with inane offenses and ruining their lives.

Show notes for Ep. 850

Dedra and Brad Birzer, who teach at Hillsdale College, join Tom to discuss the various guidelines issued to teachers of Advanced Placement history, in order to help students prepare for the Advanced Placement exam. It's the usual controversy: two options, neither of which reflects our outlook, are presented as the exhaustive set of possibilities for teaching and interpreting American history.

Show notes for Ep. 849

Comedian, podcaster and television personality Dave Smith offers another perspective on my "leftists are hopeless" position.

Show notes for Ep. 848

Of all the books Thomas Sowell wrote, A Conflict of Visions was his favorite. There he discusses the fundamental ideas, the competing visions of man and the world that constitute the roots of where our political debates come from. Michael Malice and I discuss these ideas.

Show notes for Ep. 847

Nathan Bond, co-founder and CEO of Rifle Paper Company, made the Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2015, and has had explosive success since the company's opening in late 2009. How'd he do it?

Show notes for Ep. 846

There are a bunch of unambiguously good things a secretary of education can do (including, of course, setting her agency up for abolition). We discuss a bunch of them today.

Show notes for Ep. 845

In the aftermath of the 2016 election, I thought it might be worthwhile to discuss the present (and future?) state of the Libertarian Party with a member of the Party's Radical Caucus, Caryn Ann Harlos.

Show notes for Ep. 844

This one's a must-listen, both for the topic and also for the guest: the brilliant Angelo Codevilla. What are the true origins of political correctness? Codevilla traces them to sources you'll find chilling -- but when you hear his explanation, everything starts to make sense.

Show notes for Ep. 843

Is there anything to be gained by pointing out leftist hypocrisy -- that suddenly they favor limited government, or that they're outraged by Trump Action A, and said nothing in the face of Obama Action B? Shouldn't we just be conciliatory and let bygones be bygones? Bob Murphy and I discuss.

Show notes for Ep. 842

#1 New York Times bestselling author Robert Ringer discusses going from zero to having the best-selling book in the country, plus the hackneyed success advice from the "experts," tips for advertising and for life, and more.

Show notes for Ep. 841

In the wake of the violent protests at (and cancellation of) the Milo Yiannopoulos event at the University of California at Berkeley, Daily Caller deputy editor Scott Greer joins me to assess what's gone wrong in the universities and what might be done.

Show notes for Ep. 840

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn suffered tremendously at the hands of the Soviet regime, and suffered exile twice after his release from the gulag. How many people in the rising generation know about him? A new book seeks to fix that.

Show notes for Ep. 839

Eric Peters, the heroic libertarian car expert, joins me to discuss the usual potpourri of car items in the news, including what the new administration may do in the face of the previous administration's regulatory regime for cars (including the classification of CO2 as a pollutant).

Show notes for Ep. 838

Gret Glyer, creator of the extraordinary charitable app DonorSee, updates us on its progress -- as well as the bizarre opposition of the Peace Corps, which is refusing to allow any of its people to cooperate with DonorSee. End the charity monopoly!

Show notes for Ep. 837

Firearms lawyer Dick Clark discusses current issues in gun law: national reciprocity for concealed carry, why black rifles are nothing to be afraid of, the Hearing Protection Act and the difficulty in obtaining silencers, trends at the state and federal level, and more.

Show notes for EP. 836

Entrepreneur and Mises Institute benefactor Bob Luddy grew frustrated trying to work within the system, and eventually established a series of private schools whose results have been outstanding. We get the details in today's episode.

Show notes for Ep. 835

Plenty of folks have reported good results against a variety of ailments by availing themselves of medical cannabis options. Some American states have begun allowing the use of such options, though even some of those states limit the permission to patients who suffer from a small number of maladies. CannaSense, on the other hand, is making medical cannabis available to patients all over the U.S., and how they're doing it is pretty darn amazing.

Show notes for Ep. 834

I just had to discuss current events with someone, so I decided to talk to Jeff Deist, whose judgment I always value. We looked at the left, the right, and libertarianism at the present moment, as unknown four years begin to unfold.

Show notes for Ep. 833

Paul Elam, the controversial founder of A Voice for Men, joins me to discuss family courts, no-fault divorce, feminism, and the state.

Show notes for Ep. 832

Jay Richards responds to arguments we've all had to answer at one time or another as we discuss his book Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem.

Show notes for Ep. 831

Steve Patterson, an independent scholar, recently released a self-published book on logic. A couple of established academics (both libertarians, by the way) scoffed: why, if this book were any good, it would have been submitted to the peer-review process! Is this the right way to think?

Show notes for Ep. 830

Oxfam released a report this week warning about global inequality, and proposing the usual wealth-destroying solutions. Here's why the report ought to be ignored.

Show notes for Ep. 829

There's talk these days about subjecting the Federal Reserve System to certain rules in order to make monetary policy less erratic and opqaue, and to remove much of the discretion that the Fed has enjoyed over the years. Should we get behind this kind of plan, or are there pitfalls?

Show notes for Ep. 828

Libertarian comedian Andrew Heaton joins me to discuss topics ranging from licensing to taxation, as only a comedian can.

Show notes for Ep. 827

Murray Sabrin joins me to discuss the likely features of a Trump presidency, including the best outcomes libertarians might be able to hope for.

Show notes for Ep. 826

It's not just that I've learned more about email marketing from Ben Settle than from anyone else, though I have. (I subscribe to his monthly Email Players newsletter.) I've learned a ton about all kinds of things that have helped me become successful online. He's funny, he's iconoclastic, and he's really smart, so whatever your profession, you'll be glad you listened to our conversation.

Show notes for Ep. 825

Obamacare is back in the news as the prospect of its repeal is discussed in the media. The Los Angeles Times ran seven charts that are supposed to show Obamacare has not been a failure, as Republicans contend, but a great success. Bob Murphy joins me to get to the bottom of it.

Show notes for Ep. 824

Prolific libertarian scholar Walter Block recently reached an almost unheard-of milestone: 500 articles in peer-reviewed journals. We look back on the debates he's had and the topics he's covered, and he offers advice about writing and publication based on his years of experience. Fun!

Show notes for Ep. 823

Thomas Sowell, a prolific scholar who has had a great influence on me, ended his syndicated column a couple of weeks ago. Gene Epstein of Barron's joins me for an overview of Sowell's work on race, economics, and more.

Show notes for Ep. 822

Shawn Ritenour, a professor of economics at Grove City College, has just filled a very important gap: until now, it's been hard to find a really good book for people to get started reading Ludwig von Mises, the great economist. I personally felt his introductory texts were too introductory, while his treatises were too intimidating. With The Mises Reader, this problem is solved. In this episode we discuss Mises on economic method, Keynes and Keynesianism, and much more.

Show notes for Ep. 821

Don Boudreaux, professor of economics at George Mason University, joins me to review some of the more common complaints against markets, as reflected in recent books by well-known authors.

Show notes for Ep. 820

I've spoken to numerous professors who have confronted the campus left, so I thought I'd talk to a current college student who writes about these subjects to find out what's really up and what if anything we can do about it.

Show notes for Ep. 819

Michael Malice comes to libertarianism more from a Randian perspective, and Tom from a Rothbardian one. Michael recently read The Betrayal of the American Right, Rothbard's part-history, part-autobiography. The resulting conversation is really excellent -- possibly my favorite Malice appearance yet.

Show notes for Ep. 818

Human Resources departments have for practical purposes become wings of the federal regime. Instead of seeking out the best employees who also happen to fit the company's internal culture, HR departments have adopted a social work philosophy aimed at boosting particular kinds of candidates. Jeb Kinnison discusses how this came to be in his new book, Death by HR.

Show notes for Ep. 817

We lost Ralph Raico, a great libertarian historian, in December 2016. I spent the first part of this episode discussing his work; see also the link to one of his books below. I also answer several interesting listener questions, then offer to do an escape room with people in two U.S. cities. How could you not listen to this one?

Show notes for Ep. 816