Americans today don't trust each other and their institutions as much as they once did. The collapse of social and political trust has arguably fueled our increasingly ferocious ideological conflicts and hardened partisanship. But, Kevin Vallier explains how all is not hopeless. restores faith in our power to reduce polarization and rebuild social and political trust.What is social trust? Do we still have trust in democracy? How do you develop your sense of trust? What's a democratic norm? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Walter Olson, senior fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Constitutional Studies, comes on the show to discuss the fallout of the 2020 election culminating with the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021. They discuss how institutions like congress faired during the Trump administration, how and when election fraud concerns should be addressed, as well as the 'whataboutism' of people comparing the capitol insurrection to 2020 protests.What is objective morality? How could we improve our voting systems? How did our institutions hold up in the face of violence? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andy Matuschak joins the show to discuss how different learning models will help students in different ways. They discuss how students best remember material and how we should consider cognitive science when constructing a teaching technique.What is the purpose of primary school? Why do we group children by age for learning in school? What is the best way to learn from flashcards? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fan favorite, Peter Van Doren, comes back to the show to discuss how the concept of a monopoly has changed throughout history. People certainly don't like the idea of a monopoly, but before we claim a company as a monopoly we need to make sure we know what market they exist in. There is always competition that exists, but sometimes it's hard to nail down.What is a trust? What are the technical concerns of a monopoly? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The freedom to explore and exchange - whether it's goods, ideas or people - has led to stunning achievements in science, technology and culture. As a result, we live at a time of unprecedented wealth and opportunity. So why are we so intent on ruining it? Johan Norberg explores these ideas and more throughout this episode.How new is openness? Were early civilizations open? How do open societies progress faster than closed? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

George Selgin joins Aaron and Trevor for a discussion on money and banking in the United States.What is money? How did the government become so deeply ingrained in the production and supply of our money, and why? What is the Federal Reserve, and what does it actually do? What would the U. S. look like with a competitive currency system? And what about Bitcoin? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Aaron Ross Powell and Trevor Burrus talk about egalitarianism with Professor Elizabeth Anderson. Should we be concerned about an equal distribution of resources in a society? An equal distribution of outcomes? Is it a bad thing for some people to be worse off than others through no fault of their own? And whose job is it to enforce such distributions—government or markets?This was originally released on May 5th, 2014. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ilya Shapiro joins the show to take us through the various eras of the Supreme Court. He also explains how the process of nominating someone to the Supreme Court has changed since the founding.What does the Constitution say about the Supreme Court? Did Marbury v. Madison in 1803 and the rise of judicial review change some of the calculus for confirmation hearings? What is judicial review? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

C. Bradley Thompson's work is inspired by John Adams and his reflection on the nature of the American Revolution. Adams answered the question “What was the revolution?” by saying, “The Revolution was not the war for independence. The Revolution was in fact a revolution in the minds of the American people". Learning this, Thompson discusses the moral revolution that occurred in the minds of the people in the fifteen years before 1776.How did Isaac Newton and Francis Bacon, two scientists, influence the American Revolution? How do you discover moral laws of nature? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew Heaton is a comedian, author, and political satirist. On this episode he explains how, in the last four years, many funny & talented individuals have stepped away from comedy because they do not feel it is an appropriate moment in time to make jokes. But, the power of laughter is often underestimated.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.