Fresh off his Soho Forum debate victory (as measured by Oxford-style rules) against Jacobin magazine editor Bhaskar Sunkara, Gene Epstein joins me for a review of the event and the arguments that gave his opponent so much difficulty.

Show notes for Ep. 1272

Why, the reason so many college professors have identical thoughts and hold the same political positions is that they are very smart and all these thoughts and positions are just the logical outcomes of sound thinking.

Or that's how left-liberals interpret the situation. I, on the other hand, offer a dissenting voice.

Show notes for Ep. 1271

Here's where we libertarians are most often ridiculed -- why, the monetary system we favor is for cranks, they say, and what's more, it's already been tried! Uh huh. In this episode I make the case for money the state can't control.

Show notes for Ep. 1270

Ten years after the financial crisis, the standard story still dominates: "deregulation" caused it. This is not even slightly true. It's urgent that we get this right, and not let the Fed's apologists (and the simply lazy) get away with this comic-book answer that encourages all the wrong kinds of policy responses.

Show notes for Ep. 1269

Mark Skousen joins me to discuss highlights and lowlights of the history of economic thought, and what we can learn from both.

Show notes for Ep. 1268

The Facebook purges continue, with recent victims including the Free Thought Project (3.1 million likes), Police the Police (1.9 million likes), and V is for Voluntary (165,000 likes). I speak to the folks behind these three pages today.

Show notes for Ep. 1267

Jim Epstein of Reason TV just released a mini-documentary on the effects of the coming $15 minimum wage on one particular sector of the New York economy, and it's devastating.

Show notes for Ep. 1266

Last week I spoke to a small gathering in Orlando of members of the Libertarian Party of Florida. Alex Merced, vice chair of the national party, spoke before me and introduced me. He spoke about his journey to libertarianism. I in turn asked what it is about libertarianism that it typically requires a journey to reach. If I told you my answer in the notes, that would take all the fun out of it. But I'll say that I'm pretty sure you will enjoy my conclusion.

Show notes for Ep. 1265

Note the difference in reaction between telling someone you're going to college (congratulations and warm wishes) and telling someone you're taking a different path (skeptical line of questioning). T.K. Coleman joins me to smack down the typical line of questioning.

Show notes for Ep. 1264

Matt Welch, editor-at-large of Reason magazine, joins me to discuss his background, how his views evolved, the state of the Libertarian Party, his experiences in eastern Europe, and a lot more.

Show notes for Ep. 1263

The great Eric Peters returns with further updates from the world of automobiles. You don't have to be a car aficionado to benefit from Eric's knowledge, and as always we have an entertaining and informative conversation!

Show notes for Ep. 1262

Philosopher Jim Otteson and I discuss his book Actual Ethics (Cambridge University Press), which advances a vigorous moral defense of the classical liberal, or libertarian, political tradition. We also discuss the claims of Peter Singer, who claims it is morally obligatory on each of us to give substantial aid to peoples overseas.

Show notes for Ep. 1261

A recent post on a libertarian Facebook page suggested that only blind ideologues would dispute that the war in Afghanistan has been a success. After all, local polling data finds satisfaction with the U.S. invasion and occupation, and conditions there have certainly improved. Scott Horton, author of Fool's Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan, joins me to assess these claims.

Show notes for Ep. 1260

Neoconservative historian and Council on Foreign Relations fellow Max Boot recently called on Americans, Republicans in particular, to vote a straight Democrat ticket in November. He just released a book called The Corrosion of Conservatism: Why I Left the Right. He's been writing and tweeting his regrets about not perceiving his white privilege sooner. (That's not a joke.) Paul Gottfried joins me to discuss what it all means.

Show notes for Ep. 1259

Janice Fiamengo joins me to discuss the untold stories of how feminism has actually affected society and relationships, and the reality turns out to be rather different from the cartoon.

Show notes for Ep. 1257

Walter Block is one of the world's most prolific libertarian scholars. But recently he's managed to outdo himself. He just reached a milestone that no other scholar anywhere can come close to matching, and it's why Walter is such a treasure to our movement. Listen and be inspired.

Show notes for Ep. 1256

...is that they're government police. Is there a way to insert some good old-fashioned competition into police services?

Show notes for Ep. 1255

Dave Smith, the popular comedian and host of the Part of the Problem podcast, joins me to try to get to the bottom of the situation with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, accused of sexual assault by Christine Blasey Ford.

Show notes for Ep. 1252

Michael Huemer is a professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the author of the outstanding libertarian book The Problem of Political Authority. Today he discusses his work in "ethical intuitionism," which holds that (1) there are objective moral truths; (2) we know these through an immediate, intellectual awareness, or 'intuition'; and (3) knowing them gives us reasons to act independent of our desires.

Show notes for Ep. 1251