This is an audio version of my essay "Social Conservatism is Suffering," originally published on my website on April 7, 2023. The essay discusses how we cannot make permanent what is inevitably impermanent, and so insisting otherwise brings distress. It is better to embrace dynamism and social diversity.If you'd like to receive all of my essays a week early, as well as get access to the community Discord and reading group, consider becoming a supporter. Head to www.aaronrosspowell.com/subscribe to learn more. Get full access to Aaron Ross Powell at www.aaronrosspowell.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Read a transcript of this episode.Deirdre McCloskey is probably my favorite contemporary liberal scholar. Her work ranges widely across disciplines, is always fascinating, and builds its defense of free markets and the open society in a deeply humane and compassionate fashion.I've talked with her on podcasts before, but today's a little different. Our topic isn't economics, but religion. Deirdre is a committed Anglican, and her next book sets out the case that religious faith is an important component of a thriving liberal society—and that those who think Christianity points in a more reactionary, illiberal direction get Christianity wrong.ReImagining Liberty is a project of The UnPopulist, and is produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod. Get full access to Aaron Ross Powell at www.aaronrosspowell.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the one hand, it seems like everyone today is calling everyone else a fascist. On the other, genuine fascism is clearly on the rise, and fascist ideas have found increasing purchase, even mainstream purchase, on the right.Taken together, these two statements mean that not only should we be serious about the work of combating fascism, but we also need to be very clear on what it is, and what it isn’t.To help work through these important questions, I’m joined by Shane Burley. He’s a writer and filmmaker based in Portland, Oregon and is the author of Why We Fight: Essays on Fascism, Resistance, and Surviving the Apocalypse and Fascism Today: What It Is and How to End It.Read the transcript.ReImagining Liberty is a project of The UnPopulist, and is produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod. Get full access to Aaron Ross Powell at www.aaronrosspowell.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It seems like everyone is mad at “Big Tech.” Progressives dislike it because they think it’s too permissive of the spread of mis- and disinformation. Conservatives dislike it because they think it’s biased against them. Both sides agree that government should do something about it. Which, if you care about a free, open, and innovative internet, is a terrible idea.To discuss the state and future of digital expression, I’m joined by my good friend Matthew Feeney, Head of Technology and Innovation at the London-based Centre for Policy Studies.ReImagining Liberty is a project of The UnPopulist, and is produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod. Get full access to Aaron Ross Powell at www.aaronrosspowell.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A liberal society is a tolerant one. It's a society that allows for pluralism in preferences, lifestyles, religions, and approaches to life. But how far does tolerance go, what are the exceptions, and how can we better cultivate it?To discuss these questions, I'm joined today by Andrew Jason Cohen. He is is Professor of Philosophy and Founding Director of the Interdisciplinary Studies Program in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at Georgia State University. He is the author most recently of Toleration and Freedom from Harm: Liberalism Reconceived and is working on a new book on civil discourse.Join the ReImagining Liberty Discord community and book club.ReImagining Liberty is a project of The UnPopulist, and is produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod. Get full access to Aaron Ross Powell at www.aaronrosspowell.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Kevin J. Elliott, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Murray State University. He's the author of the upcoming book, Democracy for Busy People, and that's the jumping off point for today's conversation, which digs into what it means to be a good democratic citizen, and what democracy demands of us.Read a transcript of this episode.ReImagining Liberty is a project of The UnPopulist, and is produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Get full access to Aaron Ross Powell at www.aaronrosspowell.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a show about liberalism, but liberalism is a bit of a contested term, slippery, evolving, and claimed by lots of people with rather diverse views about what it means.My guest offers a helpful framework for clarifying what liberalism is by dividing it in what she's called "The Four Corners of Liberalism": related and overlaping, but still distinct, approaches to the the liberal idea.Emily Chamlee-Wright, the president and CEO of the Institute for Humane Studies, has made a career of defending the liberal tradition, and her insights in our conversation help clarify what liberalism is and how we should approach and respond to those who would seek to overturn it.ReImagining Liberty is a project of The UnPopulist, and is produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte.Join the ReImagining Liberty Discord community and book club.Music: Finding the Balance by Kevin MacLeod | Link | License Get full access to Aaron Ross Powell at www.aaronrosspowell.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the first episode of ReImagining Liberty at its new home with The UnPopulist. This is a show about the emancipatory and cosmopolitan case for radical social, political and economic freedom. With every episode, host Aaron Ross Powell explores and defends liberalism by talking with scholars, activists and others working to build a freer world.For this first episode at The UnPopulist, Aaron offers a monologue about why America's political culture seems so broken, and why this has led to rising illiberalism. He traces the problems to what he calls an “unskillful” approach to politics, and to a widespread lack of the virtues necessary for citizens to be good liberal citizens.ReImagining Liberty is a project of The UnPopulist, and is produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte.Join the ReImagining Liberty Discord community and book club.Music: Finding the Balance by Kevin MacLeod | Link | License Get full access to Aaron Ross Powell at www.aaronrosspowell.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I sometimes hear market anarchists say that "Anarcho-capitalism isn't anarchism." This claim, and the disagreements about the nature and values of a free society underpinning it, raises a lot of fascinating questions about liberty, radical liberalism, the characteristics of capitalism, how you even define that term, and the broader movement for liberty.My guest today is William Gillis (@rechelon). He a fellow at the Center for a Stateless Society and one of the most interesting writers out there on radical politics.We talk about freedom and coercion, the legitimacy of power, the role of privilege in political action and inaction, and the ways the culture and incentive structure of the mainstream liberty movement make it less effective, principled, and radical than it should be, and sometimes even lead liberty advocates to become apologists for the status quo.ReImagining Liberty is a project of The UnPopulist, and is produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte.Join the ReImagining Liberty Discord community and book club.Music: Finding the Balance by Kevin MacLeod | Link | License Get full access to Aaron Ross Powell at www.aaronrosspowell.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Years ago, a then colleague and I pitched the idea of a book called "The Reasonableness of Radicalism," which would've set out the case for an unapologetically radical political liberty and defended it against calls for moderation. The project never went anywhere, though, because we were told by the people making decisions that they didn't like to use the word "radical," because it might turn people off.Clearly, that's not a worry I share, and neither does my guest today. Jason Lee Byas is a PhD Candidate in Philosophy at the University of Michigan and a fellow at the Center for a Stateless Society. He's also the author of the best essay I've read in a long time, "Radical Liberalism: The Soul of Libertarianism," which I strongly encourage you to read.ReImagining Liberty is a project of The UnPopulist, and is produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte.Join the ReImagining Liberty Discord community and book club.Music: Finding the Balance by Kevin MacLeod | Link | License Get full access to Aaron Ross Powell at www.aaronrosspowell.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.