
CSPI Podcast
Discussions with CSPI scholars and leading thinkers in science, technology, and politics. www.cspicenter.com
Latest episodes

Jun 7, 2021 • 1h 48min
The Good War? Myths of World War II | Sean McMeekin & Richard Hanania
Sean McMeekin is a professor of history at Bard University and the author of Stalin's War: A New History of World War II. He joins Richard for a wide ranging discussion about the myths of World War II. They touch on the morality of the conflict, moral differences between Nazis and the USSR, the role of Soviet agents in determining US and British policy, and whether the western allies could have prevented communist takeovers in China, Poland and Yugoslavia.Sign up for CSPI’s Substack newsletter: https://cspi.substack.com.Follow CSPI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSPICenterOrg.Subscribe to our YouTube for video podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvs4ugq0xSvbvwArpFJG6gA.Learn more about CSPI: https://cspicenter.org. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cspicenter.com

May 24, 2021 • 1h 3min
Can Psychology Be Fixed? | Jesse Singal & Richard Hanania
Jesse Singal is a contributing writer to New York Magazine and the author of The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can't Cure Our Social Ills. He discusses his book, why bad science ends up having an influence, the possible causes behind the recent uptick in crime, and whether the peer review system can be reformed or needs to be replaced.Sign up for CSPI’s Substack newsletter: https://cspi.substack.com.Follow CSPI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSPICenterOrg.Subscribe to our YouTube for video podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvs4ugq0xSvbvwArpFJG6gA.Learn more about CSPI: https://cspicenter.org. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cspicenter.com

May 10, 2021 • 1h 30min
Too Much Education and Too Few Kids | Bryan Caplan & Richard Hanania
Bryan Caplan is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He is the author of The Myth of the Rational Voter, Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids, The Case Against Education, and Open Borders. He and Richard discuss their experiences in academia and why people get too much education and don't have enough kids. They also go into why parenting might not matter on average but having Bryan Caplan as a parent might, in addition to the ethics and politics of open borders, and how the conversation around the topic has changed.Sign up for CSPI’s Substack newsletter: https://cspi.substack.com.Follow CSPI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSPICenterOrg.Subscribe to our YouTube for video podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvs4ugq0xSvbvwArpFJG6gA.Learn more about CSPI: https://cspicenter.org. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cspicenter.com

Apr 26, 2021 • 1h 15min
Do We Have Too Much Democracy? | Garett Jones & Richard Hanania
Garett Jones is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University. He is the author of 10% Less Democracy and Hive Mind. He joins the podcast to talk about his latest book arguing that some countries may have too much democracy. In the course of the discussion, Richard and Garett discuss experts and the Iraq War, judicial review, the Singapore model, the western response to COVID-19, and whether China can be considered a non-democratic success story.Sign up for CSPI’s Substack newsletter: https://cspi.substack.com.Follow CSPI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSPICenterOrg.Subscribe to our YouTube for video podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvs4ugq0xSvbvwArpFJG6gA.Learn more about CSPI: https://cspicenter.org. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cspicenter.com

Apr 12, 2021 • 1h 26min
War as Product of Human Stupidity | John Mueller & Richard Hanania
John Mueller is a Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University and a Research Fellow at the Cato Institute. His latest book is called The Stupidity of War: American Foreign Policy and the Case for Complacency. He and Richard discuss how to explain the decline of war, why World War I was a cultural turning point, Hitler as a historical outlier, the Cold War, the war on terror, and the rise of China, among other topics. They also talk about Mueller's article "The Banality of 'Ethnic War'", on what people get wrong about civil wars and mass killing. Sign up for CSPI’s Substack newsletter: https://cspi.substack.com.Follow CSPI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSPICenterOrg.Subscribe to our YouTube for video podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvs4ugq0xSvbvwArpFJG6gA.Learn more about CSPI: https://cspicenter.org. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cspicenter.com

Mar 29, 2021 • 1h 45min
Academic Freedom, Part II | Eric Kaufmann & Richard Hanania
Eric Kaufmann joins Richard Hanania to continue the discussion of his report on academic freedom. Eric discusses recent reforms in the UK, and they debate what the policy response to suppression should be in the US. Eric favors a wide scale effort to remake the universities and ultimately change the culture, while Richard calls for encouraging fewer people to go to college and reducing the influence of the academy.Sign up for CSPI’s Substack newsletter: https://cspi.substack.com.Follow CSPI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSPICenterOrg.Subscribe to our YouTube for video podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvs4ugq0xSvbvwArpFJG6gA.Learn more about CSPI: https://cspicenter.org. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cspicenter.com

Mar 15, 2021 • 1h 46min
War on Science | Philippe Lemoine & Richard Hanania
Philippe Lemoine is a PhD candidate in Philosophy at Cornell University and a research fellow at CSPI. He recently started a blog, War on Science, on the CSPI website, and wrote a post arguing that lockdowns do not pass a cost-benefit analysis. An op-ed based on his research was published in the Wall Street Journal. Philippe joins Richard to discuss COVID-19, the differences in performance between East Asia and the West, the problems with modern academia, and how the American culture war is playing out in France.Sign up for CSPI’s Substack newsletter: https://cspi.substack.com.Follow CSPI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSPICenterOrg.Subscribe to our YouTube for video podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvs4ugq0xSvbvwArpFJG6gA.Learn more about CSPI: https://cspicenter.org. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cspicenter.com

Mar 2, 2021 • 1h 37min
Academic Freedom, Part I | Eric Kaufmann & Richard Hanania
Eric Kaufmann is a research fellow at CSPI and Professor of Politics at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is the author of a new CSPI report titled "Academic Freedom in Crisis: Punishment, Political Discrimination, and Self-Censorship." Eric joins Richard to talk about the evidence for discrimination against non-liberal views in academia. They also discuss personal experiences and when and under what circumstances discrimination can be justified.Sign up for CSPI’s Substack newsletter: https://cspi.substack.com.Follow CSPI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSPICenterOrg.Subscribe to our YouTube for video podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvs4ugq0xSvbvwArpFJG6gA.Learn more about CSPI: https://cspicenter.org. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cspicenter.com

Feb 4, 2021 • 1h 30min
US Civil War? | Razib Khan & Richard Hanania
Razib Khan is the host of the Unsupervised Learning podcast. In the days following the Capitol Hill riots, he invited Richard Hanania on to talk about the likelihood of future political violence in the United States, the strength of partisanship, and the future of Trump and his movement. That podcast is rereleased here on CSPI, with a new intro, in which Richard looks back on how well his predictions have help up over the past month.Sign up for CSPI’s Substack newsletter: https://cspi.substack.com.Follow CSPI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSPICenterOrg.Subscribe to our YouTube for video podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvs4ugq0xSvbvwArpFJG6gA.Learn more about CSPI: https://cspicenter.org. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cspicenter.com

Jan 22, 2021 • 2h 4min
The Great Awokening | Zach Goldberg & Richard Hanania
Zach Goldberg is a PhD candidate at Georgia State University and research fellow at CSPI. He is generally credited with discovering the "Great Awokening," the leftward shift on race and identity issues that has occurred in the media and among white liberals over the last decade. Zach joins Richard to talk about his research, the evidence showing that the media caused the shift in public opinion, and his experience in Israel and how that has affected his views on American politics.Sign up for CSPI’s Substack newsletter: https://cspi.substack.com.Follow CSPI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSPICenterOrg.Subscribe to our YouTube for video podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvs4ugq0xSvbvwArpFJG6gA.Learn more about CSPI: https://cspicenter.org. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cspicenter.com