The Curious Task

Sabine speaks with Nathan Goodman about the complexities of border control and domestic policy, focusing on how these issues intersect with libertarian philosophy, the economic implications of immigration, and the ethical considerations of state power in regulating borders. References "The Law of Peoples" by John Rawls Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Law-Peoples-John-Rawls/dp/0674005422 "The Machinery of Freedom: A Guide to Radical Capitalism" by David D. Friedman Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Machinery-Freedom-Guide-Radical-Capitalism/dp/1507785607 "Anarchy, State, and Utopia" by Robert Nozick Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Anarchy-State-Utopia-Robert-Nozick/dp/0465097200 "The Ethics of Liberty" by Murray Rothbard Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Ethics-Liberty-Murray-N-Rothbard/dp/0814775594 "Borders of Justice" edited by Etienne Balibar, Sandro Mezzadra, and Ranabir Samaddar Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Borders-Justice-Etienne-Balibar/dp/1439906858 "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom" by Ilya Somin Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Free-Move-Migration-Political-Freedom/dp/0190054581 "Politics in Plural Societies: A Theory of Democratic Instability" by Alvin Rabushka and Kenneth A. Shepsle Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Politics-Plural-Societies-Democratic-Instability/dp/0205617611 Thanks to our patrons including: Amy Willis, Kris Rondolo, and Christopher McDonald. To become a patron, go to patreon.com/curioustask

Alex speaks with Ignacio Cofone about the intricacies of privacy in the digital era, examining how personal data is collected, inferred upon, and the legal frameworks that govern these practices, as elucidated in Ignacio Cofone's book, "The Privacy Fallacy." Episode Notes: "The Privacy Fallacy: Harm and Power in the Information Economy" by Ignacio Cofone Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Privacy-Fallacy-Power-Information-Economy/dp/1316518116 "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power" by Shoshana Zuboff Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Age-Surveillance-Capitalism-Future-Frontier/dp/1541758005 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Link: https://gdpr.eu/ "Privacy and Freedom" by Alan F. Westin Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Privacy-Freedom-Alan-F-Westin/dp/1935439979 "Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, Version 2.0" by Lawrence Lessig Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Code-Laws-Cyberspace-Lawrence-Lessig/dp/0465039146 "Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness" by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Nudge-Improving-Decisions-Health-Happiness/dp/014311526X "The Right to Privacy" by Samuel D. Warren and Louis D. Brandeis Link: https://www.cs.cornell.edu/~shmat/courses/cs5436/warren-brandeis.pdf Thanks to our patrons including: Amy Willis, Kris Rondolo, and Christopher McDonald. To become a patron, go to patreon.com/curioustask

Matt speaks with Bruce Pardy about the rule of law in Canada, implications of the notwithstanding clause, the evolving interpretation of the Charter, and the balance between individual rights and state power.  References Friedrich Hayek - "The Road to Serfdom" - https://www.amazon.ca/Road-Serfdom-Fiftieth-Anniversary/dp/0226320553 Discussed in relation to emergent order and skepticism of imposed rules. Magna Carta - "The Magna Carta" - https://www.archives.gov/files/press/press-kits/magna-carta/magna-carta-translation.pdf Mentioned as a historical document marking the beginning of limiting the king's power. U.S. Bill of Rights - "The Bill of Rights" - https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights Cited as a document that transferred power from the legislature to the courts in the American context. Section 33 - The Notwithstanding Clause - "Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms" - https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/check/art33.html Discussed as a controversial clause allowing legislatures to override certain rights. Adam Smith - "The Wealth of Nations" - https://www.amazon.ca/Wealth-Nations-Adam-Smith/dp/1505577128 Referenced in discussions on free markets and the role of government. John Locke - "Two Treatises of Government" - https://www.amazon.ca/Two-Treatises-Government-John-Locke/dp/1616190345 His ideas on government and individual rights were mentioned. Milton Friedman - "Capitalism and Freedom" - https://www.amazon.ca/Capitalism-Freedom-Anniversary-Milton-Friedman/dp/0226264211 Cited in discussions about the role of government in economic affairs. Thanks Thanks to our patrons including: Amy Willis, Kris Rondolo, and Christopher McDonald. To become a patron, go to patreon.com/curioustask

Alex speaks with Rosolino Candela about the morality and dynamics of illicit markets, focusing on the transition from central planning to privatization in post-Soviet Russia and the role of property rights in shaping economic behaviors and attitudes. References: Rosolino's Website - https://www.rcandela.com/  Timothy Fry - Property Rights and Property Wrongs - https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316661727  Peter Boettke - Soviet Studies - https://www.peter-boettke.com/soviet-studies  Classical Economics - https://www.britannica.com/money/classical-economics  Constantine Menges - https://www.hudson.org/domestic-policy/an-appreciation-of-constantine-menges  Ayn Rand - Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand - https://aynrand.org/novels/objectivism-the-philosophy-of-ayn-rand/  Ludwig von Mises - Human Action - https://mises.org/library/book/human-action  Milton Friedman - Capitalism and Freedom - https://ctheory.sitehost.iu.edu/resources/fall2020/Friedman_Capitalism_and_Freedom.pdf 

Matt speaks with Matt Zwolinski about Bleeding Heart Libertarianism and the diverse perspectives within libertarian thought, discussing its history, philosophical foundations, and contemporary issues, including debates on social justice, individual rights, and the role of government. References: The BHL blog: https://bleedingheartlibertarians.com/  Hayek on SEP including his thoughts on social justice and libertarianism:  https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/friedrich-hayek/  John Tomasi and Matt Zwolinski's book "The Individualists" - https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691155548/the-individualists  Roderick Long on natural rights and libertarianism - http://freenation.org/a/f42l1.html  Eric Mack's page on Tulane U website, including works - https://liberalarts.tulane.edu/philosophy/people/eric-mack-phd  Ralph Nader on a libertarian alliance with "liberals"/progressives - https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2014/05/21/ralph-nader  Billy Christmas on PhilPeople - https://philpeople.org/profiles/billy-christmas  A summary of American Libertarianism and consequentialism including a reference to Richard Epstein -  https://usapoliticaldatabase.weebly.com/consequentialist-libertarianism.html 

Alex speaks with Chris Coyne about the complexities and ramifications of war, focusing on the interplay between media narratives, propaganda, and the impact on civil liberties, drawing insights from Coyne's book co-authored with Abigail Hall, which is a satirical guide on war strategies and their broader societal implications. Episode Notes: Chris and Abigail's book "How to Run Wars": https://www.independent.org/store/book.asp?id=145    1. Bruce Winton Knight's "How To Run A War": https://www.amazon.com/How-Run-War-Bruce-Knight/dp/B000OMR1KG    2. Herman and Chomsky's "Manufacturing Consent": https://www.amazon.ca/Manufacturing-Consent-Political-Economy-Media/dp/0375714499  3. Noam Chomsky's website: https://chomsky.info/  4. Alexis de Tocqueville's biography, including reference to his distinction between hard and soft despotism: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexis-de-Tocqueville    5. Otto Neurath's "Through War Economy to Economy in Kind" https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-010-2525-6_5  6. Abigail Hall and Christopher Coyne "Manufacturing Militarism: U.S. Government Propaganda in the War on Terror": https://www.amazon.ca/Manufacturing-Militarism-Government-Propaganda-Terror/dp/1503628361   

Sabine speaks with Greta Lynn Uehling about her research on the effects of war on relationships, an underexplored topic in conflict studies. Episode Notes: - Greta's book "Everyday War: Conflict in Donbas, Ukraine": https://a.co/d/09MHkjov  - Homer's "The Illiad": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliad  - Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv: knu.ua  - A primer on the concept of "Understanding Everyday Peace": https://heller.brandeis.edu/news/items/releases/2019/winter-2019-magazine-everyday-peace.html  - The UNICEF report on Mental Health: https://www.unicef.org/topics/mental-health  - The Battle of Ilovaisk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ilovaisk  - The Fullbright program website: https://us.fulbrightonline.org/about  - The Geneva Convention at ICRC: https://www.icrc.org/en/document/geneva-conventions-1949-additional-protocols 

Alex speaks with Marc-William Palen about the evolution of left-wing visions of free trade from the mid-19th century through the Cold War, highlighting key movements and figures like the Anti-Corn Law League, Karl Marx, and the Fair Trade movement, and contrasting these with protectionist and imperialist policies of the era. Episode Notes: Marc-William's book "Pax Economica: Left-Wing Visions of a Free Trade World": https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691199320/pax-economica  Marx on Free Trade: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1888/free-trade/#:~:text=Only%20under%20Free%20Trade%20can,%2C%20wage%2Dlaborers%20there%3B%20hereditary  The Eric Schliesser episode of the Curious Task mentioned by Alex: https://thecurioustask.podbean.com/e/special-episode-5-eric-schliesser-%e2%80%94-what-is-neoliberalism/  Journal of Liberal History's summary of the history of the Anti-Corn Law League: https://liberalhistory.org.uk/history/anti-corn-law-league/  Overview of the history of the Opium Wars: https://asiapacificcurriculum.ca/learning-module/opium-wars-china#:~:text=The%20Opium%20Wars%20in%20the,China%20lost%20both%20wars.  A primer on the origins of Fair Trade and the Haslemere Declaration:  https://imperialglobalexeter.com/2018/05/03/what-fair-trade-was-originally-about-the-haslemere-declaration-of-1968/ 

Matt speaks with Joanna Baron about how government measures during the pandemic undermined civil liberties in North America and beyond.  Episode Notes: - Brian Bird's PhD Thesis: https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/theses/4j03d4180  - Fraser Institute:  https://www.fraserinstitute.org/  - The Forgotten Fundamental Freedoms - Dwight G. Newman https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3803888  - Joanna's book with Christine Van Geyn "Pandemic Panic: How Canadian Government Responses to COVID-19 Changed Civil Liberties Forever" https://a.co/d/0aNNzvLW  - "Let's Declare a Pandemic Amnesty" by Emily Oster https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/10/covid-response-forgiveness/671879/ 

Sabine speaks with Jonathan Blanks about why and how systemic racism exists in society, and what can potentially be done to curb it in various aspects of institutional life.  Episode Notes: - The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity: https://freopp.org/ - An article by Jonathan on defining systemic racism: https://freopp.org/what-systemic-racism-is-and-isnt-1213c1c972ff - Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America (2015) by Jill Leovy https://a.co/d/8f9JGqB  - 13th trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6IXQbXPO3I