One of my goals for this show is to explore the complexities of issues people have strong opinions about and assume are straightforward. And it's difficult to think of one that fits that bill better than guns.

Today I'm joined by my long time friend and Free Thoughts podcast co-host, constitutional lawyer Trevor Burrus. We talk about the causes of and misconceptions around gun violence, and how a free society should approach both the role of guns and the challenges of limiting the harm they do.

Want to listen to new episodes of ReImagining Liberty two weeks early? Become a supporter and get early access and other perks.

Produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re all ideological, even if we don’t admit it. We like to think of everyone else as ideological, but imagine our own views to be “reality-based,” simply a clear-eyed picture of how things really are. That's nonsense, and today's episode is all about why.

My guest is Jason Blakely, a political science professor at Pepperdine University and author of the new book Lost in Ideology: Interpreting Modern Political Life. We discuss what ideology is, what purpose it plays, how it differs from religion, and why we should think of ideology as both a culture and a map.

Want to listen to new episodes of ReImagining Liberty two weeks early? Become a supporter and get early access and other perks.

Produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Populism is a bundle of bad ideas motivated primarily by grievances. Once result is set of economic preferences that will only make the country poorer.

With populism on the ballot in November, I've brought on my friend and old colleague Ryan A. Bourne to talk about the errors of populist economics. Ryan is the R. Evan Scharf Chair for the Public Understanding of Economics at the Cato Institute, and author of one of the best books about the pandemic, Economics in One Virus: An Introduction to Economic Reasoning through COVID-19.

Produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The right has a problem with women. I don't mean in the sense that women are far less likely to vote for right-wing candidates than men are, though it is true that we have women voters to thank for our avoidance, so far, of the country turning fully towards hard-right authoritarianism. Instead, I mean that misogyny is much more openly expressed by the American right than was the case ten years ago, with influencers, politicians, and conservative leaders defending the view that not only are men and women different, but that the only just social hierarchy is one with men at the top.

My guest, Cathy Reisenwitz, has been writing about the diverging politics and ideology of men and women at her newsletter, Sex and the State. She joins me today to talk about why so many men have convinced themselves they're smarter than women, and how that can help us understand our contemporary political scene.

If you enjoy ReImagining Liberty, I encourage you to subscribe to my free newsletter, where I write frequently about the kinds of issues we discuss on the show. And if you want to support my work, you can become a member and get early access to all new episodes. Learn more by heading to reimaginingliberty.com.

Produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Digital expression is weird. When we move our communities and communications into digital spaces, such as social media, the result is an uncertain landscape of new incentives, mechanisms of influence, vectors of information and disinformation, and evolving norms. All of which have profound effects on our personal lives, our culture, and our politics.

Few people have put as much thought into how these platforms function, or dysfunction, as social ecosystems as Renée DiResta, Research Manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory. In today's conversation, we dig into what makes social media distinct, how communities form and interact online, and what evolving technologies mean for the future of digital expression.

Produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Both the short and long term impact of AI technologies is unknown, but it's almost certain to be significant. It will destroy some industries, accelerate others, and revolutionize still more. And, it seems, no one has a lukewarm opinion about AI. You're either excited about its prospects, or convinced it's nothing more than intellectual property theft, or the inevitable end of the market for human creativity.

Worries are particularly acute about what this all means for journalism, and those worries are worth taking seriously, given the importance of quality journalism to a free society and a functioning democracy.

My guest today, writer Julian Sanchez, has worked as a journalist and policy analyst, and thought quite a lot about these issues. He joins me for a conversation about AI, the state of content creation, and the future of journalism as a profession.

Produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The January 6th insurrection demonstrated the Trumpist right's willing to use violence to advance its political interests. My guest today is worried that was just the start.

Patrick Eddington is a former CIA analyst and a senior fellow in homeland security and civil liberties at the Cato Institute. In a series of essays at his newsletter, The Republic Sentinel, he's been exploring the risks of more widespread political violence should Trump be removed from the ballot, convicted of a crime, or lose the November election. Trump's followers sometimes talk of a new Civil War, and it's important to assess their seriousness and what it might mean to see a sudden increase in violent acts from the far-right.

Produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the one hand, we're told we live in a postmodern age. On the other, postmodernism is a notoriously challenging set of philosophical ideas to nail down and understand. But it's worth the effort, because postmodernism, even if it gets some of its arguments wrong or overstates its case, is deeply interesting, with genuinely valuable insights.

To help me tease out just what postmodernism is and what we might learn from it, I'm joined by my good friend, and frequent ReImagining Liberty guest, Matt McManus.

He's a lecturer in political science at the University of Michigan, and author of many books, including and The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism and The Emergence of Post-modernity at the Intersection of Liberalism, Capitalism, and Secularism.

Produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.