Rethinking Politics

77: Project Veritas: Search for Truth vs Right to Privacy

In the last episode, we discussed Joe Rogan in the context of the degradation of news media. In this episode, we look at James O'Keefe, another controversial individual who is challenging the current narratives. We discuss what Project Veritas is doing, why it is necessary, and address some of the concerns raised by their somewhat unusual methods. 

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Bernard Hermant on Unsplash

76: Current Events & The News vs Joe Rogan

In this episode we cover several of the current major news stories, from the Freedom Convoy in Canada to Justice Brayer retiring. Then we focus on the the recent controversy surrounding Joe Rogan. 

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: The Verge theverge.com

75: The Criminal Justice System

The past year we have covered many criminal trials and discussed various flaws with the current system. In this episode, we take time to discuss the current criminal justice system broadly, principles of criminal justice theory, and specific ways they can be applied to improve the system. 

                  

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod.  

Photo: Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

 

74: Crazy Polling Numbers, The Supreme Court, & The Future of the Fourth Branch

The Supreme Court recently ruled on two "agency created'' vaccine mandates. One of them was upheld, the other was struck down. In this episode we delve into why they ruled the way they did and what that means for the future of the largest growing branch of government: The Administrative State. In addition, we also cover some wild polling numbers that demonstrate a major shift in party alignment in 2021. 

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States

73: Why The CDC Messaging Changed

For almost two years we've been told the goal was to prevent as many people as possible from getting. For many, the only acceptable number was zero cases. We were told that preventing even one death was worth almost any cost. Now Fauci says "just about everybody" will get it. Now, the CDC says that the quarantine should be shortened to 5 days out of the blue.  For many, these changes can be explained away by the emergence of Omicron. But the reality is that these policy and messaging changes are the result of politics, not science.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Jennifer Griffin on Unsplash

72: The Year in Review

From the Covid Vaccine to Omicron, George Floyd to Kyle Rittenhouse, and Trump to Biden, we cover some of the biggest stories of this year and how they have progressed over time. We also take a look at some of our past predictions and make some new ones. 

Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Moritz Knöringer on Unsplash

71: Trans Vs Parental Rights

Starting with a discussion of Abigail Shrier and her book Irreversible Damage, Brad and Dan discuss various Trans issues and related political principles. In particular, we focus on the question of of parental authority vs state authority vs the rights of the child. We also touch on all kinds of related issues such as what constitutes abuse.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Caleb Woods on Unsplash

70: Sam Harris & Trust In The Institutions

We've discussed the intellectual Cold War between Sam Harris and Bret Weinstein. Both Bret and Sam have addressed the societal response to Covid and hold opposing positions. The main problem is that Bret wants to get together and discuss the data while Sam doesn't. In the latest salvo from Sam, we were hoping to see a change in tactics. After all, Sam himself admits that his approach hasn't been persuasive. Instead, we saw more of the same: appeals to authority, an unwillingness to treat the opposition as an equal intellectual opponent, and failure to respond to specific data-driven arguments against his position. In this episode, Brad & Dan discuss the modern world of information access and the need for institutions to accept that reality. We also explore various developments in the Covid debates.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo by Christopher Michel on Wikimedia

69: What’s Wrong With The World?

Ask just about anyone and they will agree that something is wrong with the world, but they won't agree on what is wrong or what caused it. The pandemic/response has messed a lot of things up, but that is only a part of the puzzle. In this episode, Brad and Dan have an open ended discussion on what is wrong, how it got that way, and what if anything we can do about it. While doing so we discuss things like Twitter, Abortion, Gun Laws and even Federalism.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Jordy Meow on Unsplash

 

68: The Omicron Variant, Lockdowns, & Mandates

2021 is almost over, but with the spread of Omicron it appears like we have at least a few more months of Covid dominated news cycles ahead of us. The good news is that the new variant appears less deadly. The bad news is that reasonable risk assessments don’t drive news. Fear of the variant is already being channeled into support for vaccine mandates. In this episode, we discuss what this variant actually means as well as several of the illogical and inconsistent Covid narratives. 

Music, Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Chokniti Khongchum from Pexels