The American Compass Podcast

Inflation may have cooled, but Americans still feel squeezed. Groceries are still expensive, housing and health care costs continue to outpace wages, and consumer credit debt continues to balloon, leaving a gap between encouraging economic data and the daily experience of the average American. Voters continue to express concern, and the Trump administration has responded with a flurry of proposals aimed at bringing prices down.Daniel Kishi, senior policy advisor at American Compass, joins Oren to make sense of what’s actually driving the affordability crisis and how policymakers should respond. They examine recent, sometimes unconventional, ideas from the administration to expand housing supply, cap credit card rates, overhaul health care, and empower more aggressive antitrust enforcement. Plus, they discuss the necessary role that Congress must play in codifying workable, populist solutions if the affordability crisis is to be solved.Further Reading:“Trump's New Volcker Shock" by Henry Olsen“Our Concentrated Health Care Markets Are Anything but ‘Free’" by Chris Griswold

The CHIPS Act was billed as a once-in-a-generation effort to rebuild America’s manufacturing base in a strategically vital industry. But turning legislation into functioning factories and good paying jobs requires far more than slogans about “onshoring” or wish-casting. It demands a state-sponsored investment outside of America’s typical comfort zone.Mike Schmidt, former director of the CHIPS Program Office and co-author of Factory Settings, joins Oren to discuss what it actually took to stand up the largest industrial policy initiative in decades. They explore how the government negotiated with global chipmakers, why grants and tax credits were combined, what critics missed in the “everything bagel” debate, and how permitting, labor, and geopolitical risk shaped their efforts. They close by discussing how we'll know if the CHIPS Act ultimately succeeds and the way the U.S. should think about future reindustrialization efforts.Further Reading:"Chipping Away" by Chris Griswold

Michael Brendan Dougherty, a senior writer at National Review and foreign policy commentator, dives into the U.S. government's renewed focus on Venezuela and the implications of potential regime change under the Trump administration. He critiques the aggressive tactics and their unintended consequences, highlighting how sanctions could push Venezuela closer to countries like Russia and China. The discussion also touches on the complexities of backing opposition figures, the historical costs of interventions, and the administration's struggle to communicate its foreign policy to the public.

For decades, antitrust policy rested on the assumption that markets would correct themselves and that consolidation posed little risk to consumers and workers. But across the economy, from housing and healthcare to Big Tech and labor markets, concentration has grown, competition has weakened our economy, and the assumptions that conservatives once held on antitrust are no longer holding.Gail Slater, Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice, joins Oren to discuss the renewed push to police monopoly power and why competition policy has reemerged as a conservative concern. They examine recent DOJ enforcement actions, from challenges to Google’s dominance and RealPage’s rent-setting scheme to increased merger scrutiny in the meatpacking and electricity markets. Finally, they make sense of what these actions signal about a conservative approach to competition that aims to restore market discipline without expanding the regulatory state.

The assumptions that once defined global trade are cracking. The United States can no longer absorb the world’s trade surpluses, China has become a near-peer adversary, and allies are facing hard choices about their own dependence on Beijing. This year has made it clear that the era of unquestioned free trade is over—and that America is charting a new course.Mark DiPlacido, policy advisor at American Compass, joins Oren to discuss why the United States is embracing a new trade paradigm. They also explore the history that led to this turning point, how a results-oriented approach is replacing the old rules-based order, and what a post-WTO world could mean for America’s partners, competitors, and workers.Further Reading:“On Balance“ by Mark DiPlacido

Globalization was once viewed as economic destiny: it would spread prosperity worldwide, destroy authoritarian regimes, and counterbalance industrial decline with innovation and growth. The reality has been far more negative, with communities hollowed out and a political landscape defined by resentment of elites, strategic rivalry with China, and skepticism that the system was ever meant to support American workers.One of the leading architects of globalization, Ernesto Zedillo, former Mexican president and professor at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, joins Oren to make the case that the old international trade system remains sound and that the real failures lie in domestic policy and the lack of institutional reform. During the conversation, Oren presses him on whether those explanations can withstand the reality of deindustrialization, supply-chain vulnerability, and worker displacement.Together, they examine what went wrong, what defenders of the old order still believe, and whether the next technological wave will intensify the debate rather than resolve it.

Brad Littlejohn, Director of Programs and Education at American Compass and a former educator, discusses the implications of AI in education and the rise of smart toys this holiday season. He explores how AI in classrooms often lacks evidence of effectiveness and can undermine essential learning skills. The conversation touches on the growing trend of phone-free schools, the allure of AI tutors, and the risks of emotional dependency on nonhuman companions. Ultimately, Littlejohn emphasizes the importance of human interaction in education and the need for thoughtful tech implementation.

For decades, America told its young strivers that the path to economic security ran through degrees, credentials, and a foothold in the professional class. But as housing costs climb and career ladders shrink, even the “successful” are finding the old promise slipping away.John Carney, economics editor at Breitbart, joins Oren to unpack why today’s economy feels like a winner-take-all contest and why rising productivity—not rising population—must anchor America’s next stage of growth. They explore the collapse of old economic assumptions and narratives, the emergence of a new economic paradigm, and what it will take to rebuild broad-based prosperity.Further Reading: "Zohran's Park Slope Populists" by John Carney.

Artificial intelligence has leapt from speculative theory to everyday tool with astonishing speed, promising breakthroughs in science, medicine, and the ways we learn, live, and work. But to some of its earliest researchers, the race toward superintelligence represents not progress but an existential threat, one that could end humanity as we know it.Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, authors of If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies, join Oren to debate their claim that pursuing AI will end in human extinction. During the conversation, a skeptical Oren pushes them on whether meaningful safeguards are possible, what a realistic boundary between risk and progress might look like, and how society should judge the costs of stopping against the consequences of carrying on.

Western politics has increasingly been shaped by a widening divide between the “Somewheres” and the “Anywheres”—those rooted in place and community versus those defined by education, mobility, and openness to change. This clash has fueled populist revolts, strained national solidarity, and reshaped debates over immigration, work, and identity.David Goodhart, author of The Road to Somewhere and The Care Dilemma, joins Oren Cass to discuss how this cultural split took hold and how to restore balance between these two groups. They also explore how this divide has shaped the rise of populism, the undervaluing of care and family life, and how re-centering dignity, community, and shared purpose could renew modern societies.