Ideas Having Sex

Michael Huemer makes the case that governments have no legitimate authority.Follow @IdeasHavingSexx on Twitter.Today’s book: Is Political Authority an Illusion? (Little Debates about Big Questions)Michael Huemer’s recommendation: The Problem of Political AuthorityOther books by HuemerMike’s web presence: Fake Noûs Blog, Personal Website, University WebsiteOther discussed books: The Property Species: Mine, Yours, and the Human Mind by Bart J. Wilson, and The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century by Walter Scheidel

Paul Sherman explains how occupational licensing often violates the First Amendment.Follow @IdeasHavingSexx on Twitter.Today’s article: Occupational Speech and the First Amendment by Paul Sherman, as well as Paul’s recommendation: Professional Speech and the First Amendment by Rodney SmollaThe Institute for JusticeLiberty and Law articlesShort Circuit NewsletterFollow @PaulMSherman on Twitter.Topics: First Amendment, freedom of speech, free expression, law, supreme court, Edward Snowden, Fourth Amendment, privacy, civil asset forfeiture, qualified immunity, police brutality, constitution, civil rights

Chris Coyne lays out a powerful critique of American foreign policy.Follow @IdeasHavingSexx on twitter.Today’s book: In Search of Monsters to Destroy: The Folly of American Empire and the Paths to PeaceChris Coyne’s twitter and website.Chris Coyne’s recommendations: Political Capitalism: How Economic and Political Power Is Made and Maintained, by Randall G. Holcombe; Crisis and Leviathan: Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government, by Robert Higgs; books by Andrew J. Bacevich, as well as Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and Gore Vidal.

Matt Ridley describes the processes and preconditions of innovation. Follow @IdeasHavingSexx on twitter.Today’s book: How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom.More books by Matt.Matt’s twitter and website.Matt’s recommendations: Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, and The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous Matt’s Ted Talk: When Ideas Have Sex.

Guest Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, a political scientist, discusses his latest book on the invention of power. Topics include the impact of the Concordat of Verms on secular rulers and the church, wealth disparities in Europe, winning coalitions and power dynamics within the Catholic Church, future research recommendations, game theory models for power dynamics, the concept of a 'cut point' for democracy, and the stability of different countries and theories of stable democracies.

Lauren Hall explains how governments cause birth and death to become over medicalized.Follow @IdeasHavingSexx on twitterToday’s book: The Medicalization of Birth and DeathAlso by Lauren Hall: Family and the Politics of Moderation: Private Life, Public Goods, and the Rebirth of Social IndividualismLearn more about Lauren HallLauren’s recommendations: The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The Rise of a Sovereign Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry, And a Time to Die: How American Hospitals Shape the End of Life, Cut It Out: The C-Section Epidemic in AmericaHow Doctors DieMedicine, healthcare, regulation, certificate of need law, American Medical Association, c-section, hospice, palliative care, over treatment

Bryan Caplan discusses feminism, social justice, colonialism, and more.Today’s book: Don't Be a Feminist: Essays on Genuine JusticeFollow @IdeasHavingSexx on twitterBryan's twitterBryan's blogOther books by BryanBryan’s recommendation: Women Can't Hear What Men Don't Say

Elizabeth Nolan Brown claims sex trafficking numbers are wildly inflated.Follow @IdeasHavingSexx and Elizabeth Nolan Brown on twitter.Today’s articles: The War on Sex Trafficking Is the New War on Drugs, Massage Parlor PanicFeminists for LibertyReason Magazine’s "Reason Roundup"The Feminist War on CrimeIndividualist Feminism: The Lost Tradition

Stephen Kinzer describes the CIA’s morally dubious search for mind control.Follow @IdeasHavingSexx on twitterToday’s book: Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind ControlOther books by Stephen KinzerFollow @StephenKinzer on twitterStephen’s websiteTopics: CIA, MKUltra, mind control, Nazis, science, Cold War, torture, assassination, medical experiments, Imperial Japan, Soviet Union

Michael Huemer tells us why justice should be the central value of the justice system.Today’s book: Justice Before the LawFollow @IdeasHavingSexx on twitterMike’s blog Fake NousMike’s websiteOther books by MikeTopics: justice system, prison, plea bargaining, jury nullification, punishment, war on drugs, immigration, courts, torture