You Don't Have to Yell

Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments challenging Section 230, which gives tech companies immunity from content posted on their platforms. At the core of the debate is whether the government should take a more active role in policing how tech platforms moderate content.

In the 1920s, America was in the midst of a similar debate as the radio gained rapid adoption and gave Americans access to an unpre...

In the 19th century, Great Britain found itself saddled with debt after funding the Napoleonic Wars in continental Europe. In this episode, Ben Studebaker and Dan revisit how austerity measures taken by the British government ultimately led to its decline as a world power, how falling into the trap of "sensible spending" often forgoes investments for the future, and how the United States could fall into the same trap.

For additiona...

Last week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced the federal government would hit the debt ceiling limit sooner than expected, and "extraordinary measures" would need to be taken to keep the government functioning.

In this episode, Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget discusses how a lack of congressional oversight has led to unchecked spending, the financial crisis that would follow a default, and th...

CORRECTION: If you happened to download this episode and find the prior week's episode instead, apologies. This is the correct file.

Nathan Lockwood of Rank the Vote discusses his journey from volunteer to Executive Director of a nationwide grassroots organization promoting ranked-choice voting nationwide and the growing momentum the electoral reform movement has seen in recent years.

Gordon Hanson of the Harvard Kennedy School discusses how increasing the number of work visas issued for skilled and unskilled labor could help curb the short-term problem of inflation while ensuring the US economy remains competitive over the long-term.

America Needs More Immigration to Defeat Inflation, an article Gordon co-authored with Matthew J. Slaughter of Dartmouth, can be found here: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-...

Since the election of Donald Trump in 2016, a party once based on free markets and multilateralism pivoted to a more nationalistic approach to immigration, trade, and military alliances. In this episode, Leonie Huddy discusses how - despite the fact nationalist sentiment has declined in the US over the last 20 years - a mix of political opportunism and economic conditions have led to the adoption of nationalist policies by the GOP.

In this rebroadcast (originally published in Feb 2002), Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget discusses how an inherently political process for allocating federal funds combined with an increasingly contentious political climate has put the United States in a fiscally dangerous situation.

You can learn more about the CFRB at https://www.crfb.org/

For commentary on this episode and other issues of the day...

(NOTE: This episode was republished due to a flaw in the original file. Apologies if your were among the afflicted)

Income inequality has been blamed for the rise in populism and political polarization over the last decade, but is the link causal or coincidental? In this episode, Nolan McCarty of Princeton University explains the evidence linking income inequality with polarization, and how this trend began long before the rise of ...

Carey King of the Energy Institute of the University of Texas at Austin discusses how the last 80 years of American history have shown a connection between energy consumption, economic output, and political polarization.

Carey's book, The Economic Superorganism, can be purchased here: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-50295-9

For additional commentary on this episode and other issues of the day, sign up for YDHTY's e...

Almost 80 years ago, the world discovered a carbon-free way to generate vast amounts of energy via nuclear power. While it remains the most reliable source of zero-carbon electricity, it's barely mentioned in conversations around combatting climate change.

In this episode, Mark Nelson of Radiant Energy Group discusses how a mix of market forces, government interventions, and resistance from the environmental movement stopped nuclea...

The removal of Donald Trump and other prominent conservatives from social media platforms prompted cries of censorship from the right. Elon Musk's decision to reinstate these figures on Twitter has prompted similar pushback from the left.

In this episode (originally published in August of 2021) Ben Studebaker discusses the parallels between the current debate over speech on tech platforms and what America saw during the Red Scare, ...

As the Fed raises interest rates to fight inflation, the economic models they use include energy as a small part of the overall picture. Is that model flawed?

Jed Dorsheimer, head of Group Head of Energy & Sustainability at William Blair and former advisor on US Energy Policy to the Obama Administration explains how dependent economic activity is on energy and an innovative framework that takes this into account.

You can learn abo...

Mark Bauer of Rank the Vote joins Dan to discuss the surprising impact independent candidates had in this year's midterm elections, Donald Trump's political future, and what that means for electoral reforms such as ranked choice voting.

All opinions expressed are solely those of Mark and Dan and do not reflect those of Rank the Vote and other affiliated organizations.

You can learn more about the benefits of Ranked Choice Voting an...

Globalization has resulted in higher living standards, cheaper products, and brought many out of poverty. It's also reduced the ability of states to manage their economies and safeguard the well being of their citizens.

Ben Studebaker discusses how nationalist movements and autocraticies have gained strength as a result of states becoming weaker in recent decades.

You can read more of Ben's work on the subject here: https://cosmo...

The discussion around undocumented immigrants often devolves into numbers and statistics, without much thought to the lives of those affected.

In this episode, Dan speaks with David, whose came to the United States from Colombia with his mother at 8 years of age and lived undocumented until his late teens.  David discusses navigating work and school while trying to remain under the radar, and how our current stance on undocumented ...

Reece Jones, political geographer from the University of Hawaii Manoa, discusses how borders across the developed world have become more militarized as the economy has become more interconnected, and how the US has inadvertently created a nationalized police force whose powers extend further into the country than most Americans realize.

Reece's most recent book, White Borders: The History of Race and Immigration from the Chinese Ex...

Julia Young of Catholic University discusses how economic interests competed with nativist fears in America's debate over immigration, how the effort to secure the US border with Mexico was originally out of concern about Chinese immigrants, and how the Irish and Italians once evoked the same fears many express over those crossing our southern border today.

Julia's article, which served as the basis for this conversation, can be ac...