Episodes
Friday Feb 28, 2014
Tea Party 5 Year Anniversary - Will It Make It To 10? (PODCAST)
Friday Feb 28, 2014
Friday Feb 28, 2014
5 years after Rick Santelli yelled about having a Tea Party from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange the movement has seen its ups and downs. A lackluster attendance at a rally this week saw proponents of the movement trying to rally enough energy for the upcoming electoral battle at the end of this year for the midterm elections. With the movement seemingly going off the rails, and a message that's being watered down by social issues, can the Tea Party get back on track to defeat the Democrats and flip the senate in the fall?
Thursday Feb 27, 2014
American Atheists Kicked Out Of CPAC - Are Secularism & Conservatism Compatible?
Thursday Feb 27, 2014
Thursday Feb 27, 2014
Secularism & Christianity Working Together For Limited Government
Not So Strange Bedfellows
The big news in Washington this week was the story about the American Atheists being uninvited from doing outreach at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “American Atheists misrepresented itself about their willingness to engage in positive dialogue and work together to promote limited government,” said CPAC spokesperson Meghan Snyder. The group admittedly struck a confrontational tone about their reasons for wanting to attend the gathering, claiming they wanted to demonstrate that conservatism and limited government principles were separable. But even if that's true, it seems that they were going about it in totally the wrong way.
Head of the American Atheists group had stated publicly that “he pledged that he will attack the very idea that Christianity is an important element of conservatism.” With comments like that, why would anyone be surprised that they were disinvited.
“People of any faith tradition should not be attacked for their beliefs, especially at our conference. He has left us with no choice but to return his money,” Meghan Snyder said.
This episode of the Freedom Report features an extended discussion about the history of secularism and conservatism in the tradition of limited government. Associate editor of The Libertarian Republic Ian Huyett, a Christian, talks with editor Austin Petersen, an atheist, about the ideas of faith and politics. Are they compatible? And can a diverse coalition of believers and non-believers work together to challenge those who believe in bigger government, no matter what god, gods, or no gods they believe in?
All that and more, including a special extended discussion on the concepts of natural rights from a theistic and non-theistic worldview only on the Freedom Report podcast!
Tuesday Feb 25, 2014
Tuesday Feb 25, 2014
Token Libertarian Girl Julie Borowski joined the Freedom Report podcast to discuss issues concerning the banning of certain types of dogs, known as Breed Specific Legislation. Borowski is a big dog lover and has been using her platform to bring up issues surrounding the government interfering with property rights.
And do animals have rights? Borowski takes on the question of whether laws that extended certain human rights to animals would do anything to stop people from harming them? What about dog fighting and Michael Vick? Should people be able to burn cats in the public square? How far do we let people go before we say there should be some mechanism from justice to stop them from engaging in maladjusted behavior?
All that and more on the Freedom Report podcast!
Monday Feb 24, 2014
Alec Baldwin vs. The Gay DOJ (PODCAST)
Monday Feb 24, 2014
Monday Feb 24, 2014
Alec Baldwin is reportedly stepping down from public life and could be leaving New York for good according to a 5,000 word essay he wrote for New York Magazine. Baldwin claims he was unfairly characterized as homophobic when a reporter for TMZ claims he called someone a "fa**ot." The actor dishes on his confrontation with actor Shia Labeouf and makes some startling revelations of his views on the liberal media, centralized education and the outrageous taxes in New York City.
Wednesday Feb 19, 2014
Chipotle Takes Aim At GMO - Is GMO Frankenfood, or Fine Eating?
Wednesday Feb 19, 2014
Wednesday Feb 19, 2014
Co-CEO of popular burrito chain Chipotle Steve Ells is saying "No" to GMO foods for ingredients at his restaurants. Ells says that "genetically modified foods hold out promises that are at best untested, and at worst unrealistic." This is despite 20-year-long scientific research studies that have proven GMO foods to be perfectly safe. Is Ells playing on his customer's irrational fears in order to make more money? Or is there really something to be said for eating food that's grown organically?
All that and more on the Freedom Report podcast!
Monday Feb 17, 2014
Monday Feb 17, 2014
One of the sharpest, most astute journalists on Capitol Hill isn't at the Washington Post or Politico, he's a quiet, unassuming character with a camera and a microphone named Jan Helfeld. He's famous for getting Senator Harry Reid to claim that the income tax was voluntary and for flustering Nancy Pelosi so hard that she threatened to call the guards.
And if you thought that Congressman Michael Grimm recently threatening to throw a reporter over the balcony was bad, wait until you see what happens when Pete Stark threatens to throw Helfeld out a window and tries to confiscate his video tape.
Helfeld uses the Socratic Method in order to reveal contradictions in legislator's thinking, and he's damn good at it too. In this episode of The Freedom Report, we go behind the scenes to learn more about what Helfeld does, and how he gets these congress critters fuming after asking them simple questions about their ridiculous big government belief systems.
Sunday Feb 16, 2014
What Can Libertarians Learn From Feminists? Ft. Cathy Reisenwitz
Sunday Feb 16, 2014
Sunday Feb 16, 2014
Cathy Reisenwitz joins the Freedom Report again to talk about Sex and the State. Reisenwitz argues that if libertarians want to take up an issue that will give them the morally high ground over people like Hillary Clinton, maybe we should extend our anti-drug war rhetoric into the birth control debate as well? For instance, why can't everyone just buy birth control over the counter?
Also, Reisenwitz tackles the issues of the problems of gender roles and the difference between women's stated preferences and their real ones. Is it ever OK to be an 'ahole' if it means you'll attract more women? And what does she think about the recent New York Times article that discussed a study which found that men and women in marriage who have traditional gender roles have a happier marriage?
All that and more on the Freedom Report podcast!
Saturday Feb 15, 2014
Is Obama's Lawlessness Creating A Progressive/Libertarian Alliance?
Saturday Feb 15, 2014
Saturday Feb 15, 2014
Jack Hunter joins the Freedom Report to discuss a panel featuring Jeremy Scahill and Oliver Stone at the International Students For Liberty Conference on the issue of national security. Hunter was shocked to hear the opening by the liberal Scahill where he admitted to having more in common with Tea Party types like Rand Paul than President Barack Obama.
Scahill, the author of the book Dirty Wars, chastised MSNBC as being mouthpieces for the Obama regime, and wondered how partisanship could make Democrats so quickly abandon their principles.
Saturday Feb 15, 2014
Private Prisons: Is Justice Best Served For Profit? (Podcast)
Saturday Feb 15, 2014
Saturday Feb 15, 2014
Should prisons run on a profit incentive? Won't that mean that corporations will want more people to be in jail? How do we reconcile a belief in the free market with the principles that lead to less crime? How do we administer justice in a way that provides for the common good? And if we lived in a stateless society, could I lock up someone in my basement if they stole my property?
Assistant Professor of Economics at Loyola University in New Orleans Dan D'Amico joins the Freedom Report to discuss the criminal justice system. D'Amico studies justice systems and he stopped by the media room at the International Students for Liberty conference in Washington D.C. to discuss.
Saturday Feb 15, 2014
Are There Serious Problems With Libertarian Philosophy? (Podcast)
Saturday Feb 15, 2014
Saturday Feb 15, 2014
What's wrong with the non-aggression principle? Is it possible that it doesn't answer every question about problems in human society? For example, if I point a gun at you, but don't fire it, is that an act of aggression? Or do I have to wait until you pull the trigger before I can consider you an aggressor?
And what about the stowaway problem? If you stowaway on my ship and we're in the middle of the ocean, can I dump you overboard even if you'd drown?
Thomas Jefferson once stated, "Question boldly, even the existence of God..." In this podcast we question the most core principles of libertarian philosophy to see if our principle hold up to the toughest scrutiny of the real world.
Here is where the rubber meets the road on the Freedom Report podcast!