

American Thought Leaders
The Epoch Times
At a time when our nation is portrayed as increasingly polarized, media often ignore viewpoints and stories that are worthy of attention. American Thought Leaders, hosted by The Epoch Times Senior Editor Jan Jekielek, features in-depth discussions with some of America’s most influential thought leaders on pertinent issues facing our nation today.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 9, 2024 • 42min
How Landmark SCOTUS Ruling on Chevron Deference Curbs Federal Agency Power: Philip Hamburger
In a major decision last week, the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron doctrine in a 6–3 vote.Critics called Chevron the “Lord Voldemort” of administrative law. So what was Chevron deference exactly? How did it transform the federal government? And what are the implications of this recent Supreme Court decision?In this episode, I do a deep dive with constitutional law scholar and Columbia Law professor Philip Hamburger. He’s the founder and CEO of the New Civil Liberties Alliance, which argued the two relevant cases in front of the Supreme Court.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Jul 5, 2024 • 59min
Communist China’s ‘Backdoor’ Into America: Cleo Paskal
There is a largely unknown U.S. territory that Chinese citizens can enter legally without a visa.China expert Cleo Paskal argues it’s an “open backdoor into the United States” that the Chinese communist regime can exploit. The area has seen problems with drug trafficking, birth tourism, controversial Chinese casinos, and allegations of corruption.Ms. Paskal is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and an expert on the Indo-Pacific region.In this episode, we dive into the Chinese communist regime’s tactics in the Pacific and its strategies to subvert America.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Jul 1, 2024 • 48min
Hard Truths of the Foster Care Crisis: Neal Harmon and Demetrius Grosse on New Film ‘Sound of Hope’
In 1997, in a small town in East Texas, Bishop W.C. Martin and his wife Donna felt moved to adopt two children from the foster care system.They went on to inspire other families in their church to do the same. In total, 22 families in the community adopted 77 children.This moving true story is depicted in the new Angel Studios film “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot.”In this episode, I sit down with award-winning actor Demetrius Grosse, who depicts Bishop Martin in the film, and Angel Studios CEO and co-founder, Neal Harmon.In America today, there are more than 400,000 children in the foster care system.One study found that about 70 percent of those who age out of the system are arrested at least once by the time they’re 26. Seven out of 10 girls who grow up in the system will become pregnant by the time they turn 21.The film “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot,” will be released in theaters on July 4, with some early screenings on July 3.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guests, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Jun 27, 2024 • 54min
Mark Skousen: America Has Been in a State of Permanent Inflation Since WWII
Sponsor special: Up to $2,500 of FREE silver AND a FREE safe on qualifying orders - Call 855-862-3377 or text “AMERICAN” to 6-5-5-3-2“Within the law, rule of law, and in a robust competitive model, you want to maximize freedom ... Economic freedom, in the context of the rule of law, is the best formula for success and prosperity.”Mark Skousen is said to be one of the top 20 most influential living economists in the world. He’s written over 25 books on personal finance and investing, including two of America’s definitive textbooks on economics.“We have to make the right decisions to encourage, to increase our standard of living. That is the ultimate purpose of economics—to tell us how to do that,” says Mr. Skousen.He’s also the producer of the annual libertarian FreedomFest conference. In anticipation of the event next month, we sat down to discuss some of the major myths and misconceptions about our economy today.“Even the stock market, by the way, is at an all-time high. But in real terms, after inflation, it’s the same [as] it was in 2021,” says Mr. Skousen.He says that since World War II, America has been in a state of permanent inflation, and that returning to the Adam Smith model of economics is the only way to get back to what he calls “enlightened capitalism.”“I judge every economist on whether they are defending and improving upon the Adam Smith model of economic liberty, or are trying to tear it down and build their own system of socialism, Keynesianism, totalitarianism, and so forth,” says Mr. Skousen.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Jun 25, 2024 • 43min
Here’s How America Can Win the New Cold War: Matthew Kreonig and Dan Negrea
When Ronald Reagan was a presidential candidate, he was asked about his strategy for the Cold War. He had a simple answer: “We win, and they lose.”Former President Reagan was crystal clear about the Soviet Union and its intentions, but today, few seem to understand the Chinese Communist Party’s true intentions towards America.“We Win, They Lose” is the title of a new book by Matthew Kroenig and Dan Negrea, both working with the Atlantic Council. They outline what a Reaganesque foreign policy—updated for today—would look like.Mr. Kroenig is vice president and senior director of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, and Mr. Negrea is senior director of the Freedom and Prosperity Center.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guests, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Jun 25, 2024 • 52min
Dr. Ben Carson: There Is a War on the American Family
Sponsor special: Up to $2,500 of FREE silver AND a FREE safe on qualifying orders - Call 855-862-3377 or text “AMERICAN” to 6-5-5-3-2“America used to be the shining city on the hill, and now it’s declining rather rapidly. I was in Europe last year talking to a number of people, and I said, ‘What do you think about America?’ And the answer I got was, ’We think you’ve lost your minds.' And that was very concerning to them, because if America goes, what happens to everybody else?”Dr. Ben Carson is a renowned neurosurgeon, former U.S. presidential candidate, and author of, most recently, “The Perilous Fight: Overcoming Our Culture’s War on the American Family.”“The family is where you derive your identity. And we’ve already had the example with the breakup of the black family, and you see the violence that has ensued. The murder rates in our inner cities are so high. People don’t respect other people’s lives. A lot of that has to do with the missing father, and now, that’s spread to the rest of our society as well,” says Dr. Carson.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Jun 20, 2024 • 44min
Is Hungary a ‘Democratic Backslider?’ Shea Bradley-Farrell Explains
Shea Bradley-Farrell is president of Counterpoint Institute and author of “Last Warning to the West.” In this episode, we dive into Hungary’s atypical policies when it comes to immigration, family, and social issues.“I wanted to find out why Hungary had and how had it retained its unique identity and its love for its national sovereignty,” she says.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Jun 17, 2024 • 1h 5min
The CCP’s 7 Pressure Points and How the US Can Leverage Them: Michael Sobolik
“The fact that America’s foremost geopolitical adversary controls an app that about 170 million Americans use regularly means that the CCP can leverage the app to influence the political debate of Americans, and ultimately … degrade the integrity of our democracy,” says Michael Sobolik, senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council and the author of “Countering China’s Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance.”In this episode, he breaks down why TikTok is a major national security threat and how America can outmaneuver the Chinese Communist Party in the new U.S.–China Cold War.For years, America has been playing defense, he says.“To win cold wars, you have to go on the offensive to figure out: What is my adversary’s strategy? Where am I strong? Where are they weak? And how do I move the competition to that terrain?”Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Jun 17, 2024 • 43min
How to Recover From the ‘Crisis of Meaning’ in the West: John Vervaeke
Sponsor special: Up to $2,500 of FREE silver AND a FREE safe on qualifying orders - Call 855-862-3377 or text “AMERICAN” to 6-5-5-3-2“People don’t know where to go to cultivate wisdom. I will ask my students: ‘Where do you go for information?’ They‘ll hold up their cell phones right away. ‘Where do you go for knowledge?’ And they’re ... a little bit more suspicious. They’ll say, ‘Well, the university, science …’ and then I'll say, ‘And where do you go for wisdom?’ And they don’t have an answer.”John Vervaeke is a professor of cognitive science and Buddhist psychology at the University of Toronto. He is the creator of the internationally acclaimed lecture series “Awakening from the Meaning Crisis.”“There’s no possibility of truth without trust,” he says.Mr. Vervaeke’s work merges science and spirituality, and reaches into the past to understand the history of ideas. He has developed a set of practices to cultivate insight in the quest to regain meaning.“On social media, you have connections, but you don’t have actual social relationships with people. So people pile up the number of connections they have, but they’re not actually connected,” says Mr. Vervaeke. “The deepest truths are not accessed by us. They don’t get disclosed by us unless we’re willing to go through transformation, and unless we’re willing to grow our personhood.”Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Jun 14, 2024 • 29min
We Are Waging War Against Our Own Nature: Mary Harrington
“I would suggest that, actually, we’ve been living in the transhumanist era for 50 years or more. We’re half a century into the transhumanist age, and really, it began with the contraceptive pill.”Mary Harrington is a self-described “reactionary feminist,” contributing editor at UnHerd, and author of “Feminism Against Progress.” We sat down together at the Dissident Dialogues Festival to discuss the intersection of progress, individual freedom, technology, and, ultimately, transhumanism.“What that opens up is a whole theoretically infinite spectrum of engineering of ourselves—if you like—of seeing human nature itself as a set of problems to be solved,” says Ms. Harrington. She believes that believing a “progress narrative” leads to the misguided attempt to create heaven on earth.“It just won’t matter how often we set out trying to wage war on our own nature. It will just find a way of coming back,” she says.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.