April 4, 2025 • 24 mins
In this episode, Karol speaks with Billy Binion, a reporter at Reason, about the complexities of libertarianism, the challenges of being politically homeless, and the nuances of civil liberties and law enforcement. They explore Binion's unique journey from performing arts to journalism, the importance of friendships, and the impact of worrying on personal well-being. The Karol Markowicz Show is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Wednesday & Friday.
Check out Billy's work HERE
Contact Karol HERE
#libertarianism #civilliberties #journalism #lawenforcement #personalgrowth #friendship #accountability #political #homelessness #media #performance
Follow Clay & Buck on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/clayandbuck
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, and welcome back to the Carol Markowitz Show on iHeartRadio.
A few episodes ago, I challenged mildly something that Clay
Travis said about social media being the reason for unhappiness
for young people. I said, it wasn't social media exactly.
And I know listeners of the show have heard this before,
(00:21):
because there is no social media anymore. Nobody is socializing,
not even on their phones or anywhere, and that is
the bigger problem. A listener named Kurt wrote in to
add to the conversation, and I'll read you part of
his email. Hi, Carol, fan of you and the show
you led with Clay Travis blaming social media for the
decline and the happiness index. You added that scrolling through
(00:45):
videos for hours and hours contributes to Of course, you're
both correct, But why is social media dragging people down
not up? Now? Kurt writes that intersectionality is effectively causing this.
That's the belief that more relevant is attained by those
belonging to more victim groups, he writes, and that politics
(01:05):
is affecting the way people see themselves. He writes, this
mindset and fixation on victims over heroes permeates our culture,
dark pop, categorized by its dark, moody and often melancholic sound,
is now a top genre and home to many cultural
icons like Billie Eilish and Halsey. It's now cool to
(01:25):
be depressed and seek and celebrate victim status. I agree
with that, but I would say I listened to heavy
metal growing up. That didn't mean that, you know, I
became a moody, kind of angry person. That was common
of those bands. I think music a lot of times
is an emotional release and doesn't really represent what people
are doing. But I agree, I agree that it's a
(01:49):
sign of something. He writes, when we celebrate milestones today,
instead of celebrating heroism, we're still celebrating victimhood. Like Pete
but a Judge being the first openly gay Cabinet secretary,
as defined at the top of his Wikipedia page, his
identity to a victim group is celebrated first and foremost intersectionality.
The implicit part of that is it's still a world
(02:10):
in society of oppression. How could you be happy with
our society and status quo because of this bigotry. Our
fixation with victim status is a major problem affecting our
culture and happiness. He writes, we're training kids to look
for victim groups to belong to, and we've supplanted victims
for heroes and role models. Put yourself in the shoes
(02:31):
of a minor in the twenty twenties.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Who are you being.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Told to be as a hero and why is that
person heroic? Now? I agree with all of that, of course,
but I think both things can be true. When you
see yourself as a perpetual victim and you don't have
friends to socialize with, then you never have anyone telling
you to just get over it. An episode earlier in
the show with Kirsten Fleming earlier this year, you know,
(02:55):
she said that one of the best parts of having
friends is learning how to make fun of each other
and learn how to take the humor at you. And
I think when you're a perpetual victim and you don't
have anybody to tell you cut that out, it reinforces
it and you wallow in your loneliness. A lot of
our problems are because of this. People who can't meet
(03:15):
a romantic partner, for example, often don't have a friend
to tell them why that is really truly the case.
I agree that the victimhood era has hurt us all,
but it's much harder to peel yourself out of that
when you have no one to talk to because you're
staring at your phone. Thanks for listening, and I love
getting your emails. Carol Markowitz Show at gmail dot com
(03:37):
would love to hear from you. Coming up next and
interview with Billy Binyon. Join us after the break. Welcome
back to the Carol Markowitz Show on iHeartRadio. My guest
today is Billy Binyon. Billy is a reporter at Reason. Hi, Billy,
is so nice to have you on.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
So, I've had a lot of libertarians on. I consider
myself very libertarian adjacent. You guys have the best parties.
I say that all the time. You know it's true.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I've had definitely true.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah, Matt Welch, Nick Gillespie, you know, Nancy Ramwoman, et cetera.
What is the worst part about being a libertarian? Because
I know what the best part is the best part
is you don't have to be on either lunatic side.
You don't have to support anything you don't want to support.
You could just go your own way. But what's the
worst part?
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Okay, So I would say that the description you gave
is very accurate, but I would also say that that's
kind of the flip side of that same coin is
the worst part, which is that being politically homeless, you
will always find agreement with people, whether you're on the
far left, Democrats, Republicans, whatever the case may be. But
it also means that you will find there will always
(04:50):
be someone who hates everything you have to say or
can nitpick something you have to say. And so I
think the we joke at reason, you know, you when
you look at the common or like the emails we get,
it's it's you know a lot of people are like, wow,
you guys love Trump, or wow, you guys are really
in you know, you guys are all Biden fangirls or whatever.
It's like, well, neither one of those things are true.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Right. It's funny that you refer to yourself as politically homeless,
because I always saw like I see politically homeless, like
Bridget Fetasie, you know, used to be on the left,
can't be on the left anymore, voted for Trump like
that to me is politically homeless. Libertarian was always its
own kind of category. Do you not see it? Like that.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I don't. I've never been a member of the Libertarian Party.
I don't know how familiar you are with it.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I am skin Every once in a while, somebody dies
your skin blue by accident.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
It's a bit of a circus, and it's not really
it's not my thing. I mean, libertarian, like the value,
the basic philosophy is something I very much align with.
But when it comes to a political party, I mean,
the current iteration is a bunch of people who are
just trying to get attention on the internet. They're not
(05:59):
really interested in winning elections.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
And this is different you think from Republicans and Democrats.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Well, I think I think that basically any political party
kind of falls is vulnerable to becoming a bit of
a circus. I mean it's just I think it's you know,
you become beholden to kind of the loudest voices in
the party who are often advocating for things that are
out of touch with the mainstream. I mean, I know
libertarianism is not mainstream in a lot of ways, but
(06:26):
in some ways, you know, the whole like socially liberal,
fiscally conservative is yeah, right exactly. It's an oversimplification in
the philosophy, but that does resonate with a lot of people,
and you have a party apparatus that I think if
most people were to acquaint themselves with, they would be like,
what is this? M M, it's not It's not something
that I really relate with.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
I see.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So even though I was, I'm not really formally at
the left, I actually very much relate with Bridget and
being politically homeless. I feel like there's no there's no
one that really speaks for me and on the mainstream
political stage.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Interesting. Did you always want to be a reporter? No?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
So I have a very weird entry into journalism.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Yeah, let's hear it.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I used to be a performer. I studied voice and
worked at an opera company for a bit after school.
For a couple of years, I did some professional musical
theater and that kind of thing. I know that politics
and media.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
He seemed too good looking for journalism.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Politics and media. I feel like it's full of a
bunch of X theater kids, and I am I don't
want to say, among them, but I hide it. And
I remember I was doing a show actually Red for Madness,
which is a parody of the nineteen twenties that was
meant to the scarecads out of smoking weed and it's
about this teenage boy who smokes weed and descends into madness.
(07:43):
And so that was me and the director's wife. I
remember after one of the shows, was like, well, how
are you feeling about ever read like how life is going?
And I was like, well, not great. And I was
I think twenty two at the time, and she was like, well,
I work at a defense contractor. You want to come
try it?
Speaker 1 (08:03):
So I ended up working Can I act there?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Right? So I'm planning NATO, which randomly is on a
Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, Okay, and then eventually segued
into doing some media stuff for them. Was like, Okay,
I really like this, but I don't know if I'm
really if I really want to do it, like exclusively
for the military. And so eventually made my way to
(08:27):
d S and landed at Reason And I think the
through line, you know, the thing that kind of connects
all those things. I really do love telling stories, and
I'm very interested in people's stories. I cover civil liberties
and criminal justice issues. Stories that are very there's always
you know, people, or at least one person at the
center of a you know, when you look at a
court case or something and it might sound really boring,
(08:50):
and then you dig into the waves, like, oh, this
is actually like there are a lot of moving parts
to this and it's very human. I never actually I
loved rehearsing. I never actually liked performing. Yes, oh my gosh, I'm.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
That performing was the whole thing, Like, yeah, you're totally right.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
When you talk to a lot of professional performers, usually
it's the inverse of what I just said, you know,
going to rehearsals kind of a chore for them, and
then performing is what they're like all about. I found that,
you know, I would kind I just nitpicked everything. And
live performance is thrilling in that way where you never
know what's going to happen, but it's also dreadful in
(09:27):
that way and that you never know what's going to happen,
especially when it's your voice and like it's very physical,
so you just never really know. Sometimes it doesn't, It
just simply does not come out the way you wanted to.
And I really I really had a hard time with that.
I also, I don't know if you've seen Miss Congeniality,
one of the.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Best movies Bullock right, yes.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
And she has this line about how you know, all
the other beauty queens are like hoping the other one
fails because they want the title. And I felt that way.
I felt like even in some rehearsals, you know, you
go and you're still kind of like everyone's kind of
really waiting you and they want your spot. And I
don't know.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
When when celebrities say we were just one big family
on the show, they're.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Lying, Well, I ever did television at least in in
I just did you know theater and like.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Stage stuff, well theater even more so, I think they all.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Say, yeah, ever heard someone say that, Yeah, that's definitely
a lie. But I mean friends with a lot of
these people because it's very intense, it's very social. But yeah,
it's some of the backstabbyists, some of the most backstabbyist
environment I've ever been in.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Interesting not libertarian politics.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Then I guess, well, it's probably up there too, to
be honest, I like with writing and in journalism, you
can like you're still telling a story, but you know,
before I publish an article, I can like put the
finishing touches on it and be happy with what I'm
putting out to the world, whereas like if you walk
on stage and you crack, you can't take that back, right,
that's what people remember that. Yeah, oh yeah, it was
(11:00):
great except for the you know that came out.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Right, So you're right about civil liberties? Do you have
like a beat within that?
Speaker 2 (11:09):
So it used to be I used to like focus
really narrowly on stuff like qualified immunity, things that make
it very hard to hold government accountable. I've kind of
expanded out from that. I'm very interested in the idea that,
you know, people who enforced the law should not be
above it, and I think that is I used to
(11:30):
see that more narrowly, but now I mean it's kind
of widened out. For instance, I Cover I did a
series last year and the year before on people who
felt behind on their property taxes and so the local
governments seize their homes and sold them and kept the profits.
I read that, yeah, right, which is like, I mean,
people wouldn't necessarily think of that as government accountability, but
like to me, it was because it was just like
I mean, like that if you said someone on the
(11:51):
street told someone on the street, they would think that
was theft, right, And I'm just kind of fascinated by
the idea that the government gets to hold itself to
a different standard.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
So hasn't read any movement on that, has anything changed.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
The Supreme Court case. The Supreme Court ruled in favor
of one of the women that I covered, but a
lot of states have responded by trying to write debt
collection statutes to get all out get around the Supreme
Court's ruling, which is both predictable and really perverse. So
still kind of still following stories like that, but I'm
(12:24):
interested sounds like civil forfeiture or the police law enforcement
can seize property without necessarily proving in a court of
law that it was connected to criminal wrongdoing? Right these things?
Speaker 1 (12:37):
How do they get to do that? Like, what's the
what's the law that allows that?
Speaker 2 (12:41):
So the idea is that civil forfeiture is constitutional because
the law enforcement are taking assets that are supposedly connected
to criminal activity, but they could do.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
It even before guilty.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Perfect. Yeah, in most in most case that is the
case where it's it's a conviction isn't required, sometimes not
even an arrest. In a lot of states, you don't
even have to have an arrest required. And since it's
a civil action not a criminal action. You're not entitled
to an attorney, and so a lot of you know,
people would respond on why don't they just go to court?
If they're in they can go prove. So well, if
(13:18):
you don't have any money because law enforcement seized it,
or if you can't afford an attorney, generally the state
doesn't have to appoint you one. People either have to
give up and walk away or they have to represent themselves,
which goes about as well as you would assume. And
to me, I know, criminal justice has, you know, kind
of the conversation on a national level has become a
little unhinged at least in my view, and is another
(13:41):
one of those cases where a lot of you know,
the fringiest voices are hogging the microphone. But this is
an issue that I really think whether you're a Republican, Democrat, libertarian,
whatever I mean. In Congress, that's the case. There's bipartisan
proposals around curtailing this, but it you know, it's not
like an issue that gets a lot of play in
the press, so they always kind of stall. But I
(14:03):
think this is an everyone issue. If the government, the
monopoly uenforce in power is going to take your car,
your cash, your home. I think at the very least
people can agree that they should have to prove in
a court of law, you know, with a conviction that
it was.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Connection to be an easy call. I mean, even if
you agree with the premise, just getting to the guilty
verdict first seems like that we can all agree on that.
Who you know, I consider myself pretty hardcore on crime,
but that's you know, if you're not even convicted of
anything yet, how could they take away you know, your assets.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Is crazy, it is, and it sounds like kind of
like a parody, but it's real. I mean, like I
covered a case a couple of years ago where it
was two women in Alabama, both of whose cars were
seized because they let I think in one case it
was her son, in one case it was her friend.
They let these two men borrow their cars and they
didn't know each other. Two different cases, but just very
similar outcomes where the police pulled them over. I think
(14:59):
in one case the guy had weed. In the other
case that might have been methamphetic mean, not sure exactly which,
but they seized both vehicles despite the fact that the
owners of those cars were not even accused of a crime,
much less arrested or convicted, and just crazy stories like that.
It's something that I think it offends most people's perception
(15:20):
of basic fairness, right.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
It just doesn't seem like that's justice, right.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
And I think people who haven't had this happen to them.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Which is most people, right, It's hard for people to
put themselves in these shoes, but just imagine, like, you know,
having your car seized.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
A lot of people have to drive to work, right.
It makes getting by in life very difficult, makes supporting
yourself hard, and it can have all these domino ripple
effects that are really catastrophic for people who haven't even
been convicted.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
And I think the argument that becomes, you know, people
would say, well, I wouldn't let my car, let my
cards somebody who was doing drugs, And you know, sometimes
you just don't know. Sometimes it is your kids, sometimes
it's a relative, and you just are not aware. It
doesn't mean that you're like, hey, crack user, come take
my car.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
You know, like absolutely, And I'll also say that there
are some cases where police will seize if they just
find someone with like a large share of cash in
their car. This happens at the airport a lot or
federal law enforcement. If you're traveling with a lot of cash,
they will just say, well, people, normal people don't travel
with a lot of cash, so this must be connected
to the drug trade, for instance, even if they don't
(16:29):
find drugs on the person at all, And there are
plenty of cases of this. I'm not just pulling this
out of my ass. This happens. You know, it's well documented,
and I think, you know, maybe some people agree it
is weird to travel with a lot of cash, but
also weird.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
But yeah, I mean, it definitely makes me suspicious if
you're traveling with a bunch of cash. I either yeah,
I just don't. I don't even know where to even get.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Cash, right. But I think at the very least we
should expect the government to prove that it was actually
part of a drug as opposed to you know, the
one case I cover where the guy was like, well,
I was trying to start a business and I was
moving stay and it's always you know, it's there's more
nuanced than people would like to believe.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
I think we're going to take a quick break and
be right back on the Carol Marcowitch show, what do
you worry about?
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Mm? Okay, So I do not mean this as a
cop out, but I'm going to make the case. Yeah
for not worrying.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
I like it.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Let's right, is I suppose plenty to worry about? How
told you I am thirty three?
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Okay, you look like twenty one.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I So I was gonna be like, yeah, of course
you're not worrying. You're like just the good lighting its
twenty years old. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
I recently interviewed a man of Knox, the woman who
was arrested in Italy and barding a roommate and later
exonerated and so uh. In talking to HER's she had
this this little nugget of wisdom where I was basically
just like, how do you go about life? For four years?
Locked up in terrible conditions? She's constantly harassed. I mean,
(18:12):
of course her for people aren't familiar. Her case was
sensationalized in every way. And she said something where she
was just like, the only thing I had control over
was my day to day. So like worrying or panicking
about the position she was in, it wasn't going to
do anything. She just had to make the best of
(18:33):
that situation, and most of us aren't going to end
up in prison for a crime we didn't commit. But
I think that is very transferable to anyone. I mean,
I think that, especially working in the media, there is
a pro panic bias where I mean, because it's a
business model and panic gets people engaged, activated, and I
(18:53):
understand it. I mean, I'm probably guilty of it too sometimes,
But I think it is also object actively true that
panicking or worrying about something doesn't do anything to change
it other than get yours all levels up, you know.
And so even though there is much wrong with the world,
I think if I have one big bias, it's like
an anti panic bias.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
I like it, and I hope you maintain that. I
feel like it gets harder a little bit as you get.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Older, probably, And I also don't have kids, I mean, yeah,
that's kids, right, So yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
A lot of people on the show answer that they
worry about their kids, I mean just general worry, you know.
But Tom Petty said, you know, most things I worry
about never happened anyway, and there's definitely some truth to
that as well. So what advice would you give your
sixteen year old self.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
I would tell myself to stop taking yourself so seriously.
I took myself so seriously, and at that age and
into early adulthood, I just I wanted so badly to
be successful, and I thought that every little decision you
made so consequential. And it's in some cases that's true.
(20:08):
But yeah, I don't know, sounds.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Like you're worried a little when you're younger.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Oh my god. Yeah, yeah, my anti panic bias rather
has not been something that has used to panic a lot.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
I'll say, was it part of the performing life?
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Like I would say that was the main part of it. Actually,
I was so caught up in feeling like that's what
made me special, was that I was a good singer,
especially as a male. You know, people when you're a
guy who can sing in theater and like dance and
act whatever, people are just like you're such a commodity.
(20:44):
Whereas like for women, it's just so much more competitive
because more women, frankly, are just more they're more interested
in doing it. You're talking to a good friend last
night whose daughter is pursuing ballet and she was learning
point for the first time, and it's three men who
they had to bring in from a professional company because
how many boys in their school and like twenty girls.
And it's like, I don't know, you know, as a
(21:05):
guy in the performing arts, it's it's you're just kind
of held up on a pedestal. And I just I
was so neurotic about being perfect, yeah, and having that
be like the thing that defined me. And the thing
is it's not that serious. There are more important things
in life than getting an opportunity on stage.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Or my sixth grade son just tried out for his
school play and we were like, you're not going to
make it, Like not because we're terrible parents or anything.
He's in sixth grade, so you know, bottom of the
totem pole in middle school. He has zero acting or
singing ability. I mean, you know, he's just new to it.
So we were like, you know, prepare yourself to not
(21:44):
not to not get apart, but you're going to be
like truck Driver number twelve, Like, don't don't think you're
getting the lead. He got two speaking parts because there
are just no boys trying for anything, right, Yeah, So
we'll see how that goes. But maybe he'll follow you
to the life on the on the stage.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Hey, I wish us luck. I mean it can be
really great and really fun by Bertie, you know, so,
oh my gosh, that's a classic.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Yeah, he's he's Hugo the boyfriend, and then another, yeah, and.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Then another and that you would usually never be double cast.
So that's how you know, really.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
They really don't have anyone, right, Yeah, So you know
he's he's very happy and he's like excited about being
on the stage and you know, we'll see. I'm not
gonna let him worry about it.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
But do you think you'll be nervous watching from the audience.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
No, I don't think so. He's a he's a performer
in his in his everyday life. So yeah, well, I've
loved this conversation. This has been so much fun. And
us here with your best tip from my listeners on
how they can improve their lives.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Hmm. I don't know if this sounds super corny, and
maybe it sounds super critical if someone works in the media,
But I when my friends come to me and they're like,
I'm so sorry, I can't listen to or I can't
read your stuff right now because I'm just like too strong. Right, Yeah,
it's okay to tune that out, and I think it's
(23:13):
important to like know what's going on. But if there's
one thing in my life when I say earlier, you know,
like don't take things so seriously. That's one thing that
has made my life really fulfilling. It is my friendships.
And that sounds super corny, and I'm more aware of
about corny that sounds. But yeah, I think that's the
most important part of life and fulfilling life is the
people around you. And if you have good people around you,
(23:35):
then that's a that's a pretty good life lived.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Yeah, I love that, And I encourage my friends not
to read my stuff and not to read anything that
pisses them off or enrages them in any.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Way, even if it's totally agree.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
You know, why go through life like angry at things
you can't control?
Speaker 2 (23:51):
And sure not everything in life has to be filtered
through a political lens, you know. I feel like you
and I both know very well that essentially everything in life,
if you're in a certain space, it's political, and we
don't have to be.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
It doesn't. And I would say, all sort of people
who are you know, not in our world, but end
up reading something and it makes them angry and whatever.
A lot of the left and the right at at
you know, at in our world and in let's say,
like in the in the government world as well, they
hang out together, they have friendships, they're able to overlook
all of this. What you see is a lot of
(24:23):
like professional wrestling stuff right now on the internet. Yeah,
it's not it's not really the way it is. I
like to say, you know, and Culture used to hang
out with like lots of MSNBC people, and you know,
if she could do it, the rest of us are.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Okay, that's very true.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
He is Billy Binyon. Check him out at Reason. Thank
you so much, Billy for coming on. Thanks, thanks so
much for joining us on the Carol Marco Wood Show.
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Hi, and welcome back to the Carol Markowitz Show on iHeartRadio.
A few episodes ago, I challenged mildly something that Clay
Travis said about social media being the reason for unhappiness
for young people. I said, it wasn't social media exactly.
And I know listeners of the show have heard this before,
(00:21):
because there is no social media anymore. Nobody is socializing,
not even on their phones or anywhere, and that is
the bigger problem. A listener named Kurt wrote in to
add to the conversation, and I'll read you part of
his email. Hi, Carol, fan of you and the show
you led with Clay Travis blaming social media for the
decline and the happiness index. You added that scrolling through
(00:45):
videos for hours and hours contributes to Of course, you're
both correct, But why is social media dragging people down
not up? Now? Kurt writes that intersectionality is effectively causing this.
That's the belief that more relevant is attained by those
belonging to more victim groups, he writes, and that politics
(01:05):
is affecting the way people see themselves. He writes, this
mindset and fixation on victims over heroes permeates our culture,
dark pop, categorized by its dark, moody and often melancholic sound,
is now a top genre and home to many cultural
icons like Billie Eilish and Halsey. It's now cool to
(01:25):
be depressed and seek and celebrate victim status. I agree
with that, but I would say I listened to heavy
metal growing up. That didn't mean that, you know, I
became a moody, kind of angry person. That was common
of those bands. I think music a lot of times
is an emotional release and doesn't really represent what people
are doing. But I agree, I agree that it's a
(01:49):
sign of something. He writes, when we celebrate milestones today,
instead of celebrating heroism, we're still celebrating victimhood. Like Pete
but a Judge being the first openly gay Cabinet secretary,
as defined at the top of his Wikipedia page, his
identity to a victim group is celebrated first and foremost intersectionality.
The implicit part of that is it's still a world
(02:10):
in society of oppression. How could you be happy with
our society and status quo because of this bigotry. Our
fixation with victim status is a major problem affecting our
culture and happiness. He writes, we're training kids to look
for victim groups to belong to, and we've supplanted victims
for heroes and role models. Put yourself in the shoes
(02:31):
of a minor in the twenty twenties.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Who are you being.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Told to be as a hero and why is that
person heroic? Now? I agree with all of that, of course,
but I think both things can be true. When you
see yourself as a perpetual victim and you don't have
friends to socialize with, then you never have anyone telling
you to just get over it. An episode earlier in
the show with Kirsten Fleming earlier this year, you know,
(02:55):
she said that one of the best parts of having
friends is learning how to make fun of each other
and learn how to take the humor at you. And
I think when you're a perpetual victim and you don't
have anybody to tell you cut that out, it reinforces
it and you wallow in your loneliness. A lot of
our problems are because of this. People who can't meet
(03:15):
a romantic partner, for example, often don't have a friend
to tell them why that is really truly the case.
I agree that the victimhood era has hurt us all,
but it's much harder to peel yourself out of that
when you have no one to talk to because you're
staring at your phone. Thanks for listening, and I love
getting your emails. Carol Markowitz Show at gmail dot com
(03:37):
would love to hear from you. Coming up next and
interview with Billy Binyon. Join us after the break. Welcome
back to the Carol Markowitz Show on iHeartRadio. My guest
today is Billy Binyon. Billy is a reporter at Reason. Hi, Billy,
is so nice to have you on.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
So, I've had a lot of libertarians on. I consider
myself very libertarian adjacent. You guys have the best parties.
I say that all the time. You know it's true.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I've had definitely true.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah, Matt Welch, Nick Gillespie, you know, Nancy Ramwoman, et cetera.
What is the worst part about being a libertarian? Because
I know what the best part is the best part
is you don't have to be on either lunatic side.
You don't have to support anything you don't want to support.
You could just go your own way. But what's the
worst part?
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Okay, So I would say that the description you gave
is very accurate, but I would also say that that's
kind of the flip side of that same coin is
the worst part, which is that being politically homeless, you
will always find agreement with people, whether you're on the
far left, Democrats, Republicans, whatever the case may be. But
it also means that you will find there will always
(04:50):
be someone who hates everything you have to say or
can nitpick something you have to say. And so I
think the we joke at reason, you know, you when
you look at the common or like the emails we get,
it's it's you know a lot of people are like, wow,
you guys love Trump, or wow, you guys are really
in you know, you guys are all Biden fangirls or whatever.
It's like, well, neither one of those things are true.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Right. It's funny that you refer to yourself as politically homeless,
because I always saw like I see politically homeless, like
Bridget Fetasie, you know, used to be on the left,
can't be on the left anymore, voted for Trump like
that to me is politically homeless. Libertarian was always its
own kind of category. Do you not see it? Like that.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I don't. I've never been a member of the Libertarian Party.
I don't know how familiar you are with it.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I am skin Every once in a while, somebody dies
your skin blue by accident.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
It's a bit of a circus, and it's not really
it's not my thing. I mean, libertarian, like the value,
the basic philosophy is something I very much align with.
But when it comes to a political party, I mean,
the current iteration is a bunch of people who are
just trying to get attention on the internet. They're not
(05:59):
really interested in winning elections.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
And this is different you think from Republicans and Democrats.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Well, I think I think that basically any political party
kind of falls is vulnerable to becoming a bit of
a circus. I mean it's just I think it's you know,
you become beholden to kind of the loudest voices in
the party who are often advocating for things that are
out of touch with the mainstream. I mean, I know
libertarianism is not mainstream in a lot of ways, but
(06:26):
in some ways, you know, the whole like socially liberal,
fiscally conservative is yeah, right exactly. It's an oversimplification in
the philosophy, but that does resonate with a lot of people,
and you have a party apparatus that I think if
most people were to acquaint themselves with, they would be like,
what is this? M M, it's not It's not something
that I really relate with.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
I see.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So even though I was, I'm not really formally at
the left, I actually very much relate with Bridget and
being politically homeless. I feel like there's no there's no
one that really speaks for me and on the mainstream
political stage.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Interesting. Did you always want to be a reporter? No?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
So I have a very weird entry into journalism.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Yeah, let's hear it.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I used to be a performer. I studied voice and
worked at an opera company for a bit after school.
For a couple of years, I did some professional musical
theater and that kind of thing. I know that politics
and media.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
He seemed too good looking for journalism.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Politics and media. I feel like it's full of a
bunch of X theater kids, and I am I don't
want to say, among them, but I hide it. And
I remember I was doing a show actually Red for Madness,
which is a parody of the nineteen twenties that was
meant to the scarecads out of smoking weed and it's
about this teenage boy who smokes weed and descends into madness.
(07:43):
And so that was me and the director's wife. I
remember after one of the shows, was like, well, how
are you feeling about ever read like how life is going?
And I was like, well, not great. And I was
I think twenty two at the time, and she was like, well,
I work at a defense contractor. You want to come
try it?
Speaker 1 (08:03):
So I ended up working Can I act there?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Right? So I'm planning NATO, which randomly is on a
Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, Okay, and then eventually segued
into doing some media stuff for them. Was like, Okay,
I really like this, but I don't know if I'm
really if I really want to do it, like exclusively
for the military. And so eventually made my way to
(08:27):
d S and landed at Reason And I think the
through line, you know, the thing that kind of connects
all those things. I really do love telling stories, and
I'm very interested in people's stories. I cover civil liberties
and criminal justice issues. Stories that are very there's always
you know, people, or at least one person at the
center of a you know, when you look at a
court case or something and it might sound really boring,
(08:50):
and then you dig into the waves, like, oh, this
is actually like there are a lot of moving parts
to this and it's very human. I never actually I
loved rehearsing. I never actually liked performing. Yes, oh my gosh, I'm.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
That performing was the whole thing, Like, yeah, you're totally right.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
When you talk to a lot of professional performers, usually
it's the inverse of what I just said, you know,
going to rehearsals kind of a chore for them, and
then performing is what they're like all about. I found that,
you know, I would kind I just nitpicked everything. And
live performance is thrilling in that way where you never
know what's going to happen, but it's also dreadful in
(09:27):
that way and that you never know what's going to happen,
especially when it's your voice and like it's very physical,
so you just never really know. Sometimes it doesn't, It
just simply does not come out the way you wanted to.
And I really I really had a hard time with that.
I also, I don't know if you've seen Miss Congeniality,
one of the.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Best movies Bullock right, yes.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
And she has this line about how you know, all
the other beauty queens are like hoping the other one
fails because they want the title. And I felt that way.
I felt like even in some rehearsals, you know, you
go and you're still kind of like everyone's kind of
really waiting you and they want your spot. And I
don't know.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
When when celebrities say we were just one big family
on the show, they're.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Lying, Well, I ever did television at least in in
I just did you know theater and like.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Stage stuff, well theater even more so, I think they all.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Say, yeah, ever heard someone say that, Yeah, that's definitely
a lie. But I mean friends with a lot of
these people because it's very intense, it's very social. But yeah,
it's some of the backstabbyists, some of the most backstabbyist
environment I've ever been in.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Interesting not libertarian politics.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Then I guess, well, it's probably up there too, to
be honest, I like with writing and in journalism, you
can like you're still telling a story, but you know,
before I publish an article, I can like put the
finishing touches on it and be happy with what I'm
putting out to the world, whereas like if you walk
on stage and you crack, you can't take that back, right,
that's what people remember that. Yeah, oh yeah, it was
(11:00):
great except for the you know that came out.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Right, So you're right about civil liberties? Do you have
like a beat within that?
Speaker 2 (11:09):
So it used to be I used to like focus
really narrowly on stuff like qualified immunity, things that make
it very hard to hold government accountable. I've kind of
expanded out from that. I'm very interested in the idea that,
you know, people who enforced the law should not be
above it, and I think that is I used to
(11:30):
see that more narrowly, but now I mean it's kind
of widened out. For instance, I Cover I did a
series last year and the year before on people who
felt behind on their property taxes and so the local
governments seize their homes and sold them and kept the profits.
I read that, yeah, right, which is like, I mean,
people wouldn't necessarily think of that as government accountability, but
like to me, it was because it was just like
I mean, like that if you said someone on the
(11:51):
street told someone on the street, they would think that
was theft, right, And I'm just kind of fascinated by
the idea that the government gets to hold itself to
a different standard.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
So hasn't read any movement on that, has anything changed.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
The Supreme Court case. The Supreme Court ruled in favor
of one of the women that I covered, but a
lot of states have responded by trying to write debt
collection statutes to get all out get around the Supreme
Court's ruling, which is both predictable and really perverse. So
still kind of still following stories like that, but I'm
(12:24):
interested sounds like civil forfeiture or the police law enforcement
can seize property without necessarily proving in a court of
law that it was connected to criminal wrongdoing? Right these things?
Speaker 1 (12:37):
How do they get to do that? Like, what's the
what's the law that allows that?
Speaker 2 (12:41):
So the idea is that civil forfeiture is constitutional because
the law enforcement are taking assets that are supposedly connected
to criminal activity, but they could do.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
It even before guilty.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Perfect. Yeah, in most in most case that is the
case where it's it's a conviction isn't required, sometimes not
even an arrest. In a lot of states, you don't
even have to have an arrest required. And since it's
a civil action not a criminal action. You're not entitled
to an attorney, and so a lot of you know,
people would respond on why don't they just go to court?
If they're in they can go prove. So well, if
(13:18):
you don't have any money because law enforcement seized it,
or if you can't afford an attorney, generally the state
doesn't have to appoint you one. People either have to
give up and walk away or they have to represent themselves,
which goes about as well as you would assume. And
to me, I know, criminal justice has, you know, kind
of the conversation on a national level has become a
little unhinged at least in my view, and is another
(13:41):
one of those cases where a lot of you know,
the fringiest voices are hogging the microphone. But this is
an issue that I really think whether you're a Republican, Democrat, libertarian,
whatever I mean. In Congress, that's the case. There's bipartisan
proposals around curtailing this, but it you know, it's not
like an issue that gets a lot of play in
the press, so they always kind of stall. But I
(14:03):
think this is an everyone issue. If the government, the
monopoly uenforce in power is going to take your car,
your cash, your home. I think at the very least
people can agree that they should have to prove in
a court of law, you know, with a conviction that
it was.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Connection to be an easy call. I mean, even if
you agree with the premise, just getting to the guilty
verdict first seems like that we can all agree on that.
Who you know, I consider myself pretty hardcore on crime,
but that's you know, if you're not even convicted of
anything yet, how could they take away you know, your assets.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Is crazy, it is, and it sounds like kind of
like a parody, but it's real. I mean, like I
covered a case a couple of years ago where it
was two women in Alabama, both of whose cars were
seized because they let I think in one case it
was her son, in one case it was her friend.
They let these two men borrow their cars and they
didn't know each other. Two different cases, but just very
similar outcomes where the police pulled them over. I think
(14:59):
in one case the guy had weed. In the other
case that might have been methamphetic mean, not sure exactly which,
but they seized both vehicles despite the fact that the
owners of those cars were not even accused of a crime,
much less arrested or convicted, and just crazy stories like that.
It's something that I think it offends most people's perception
(15:20):
of basic fairness, right.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
It just doesn't seem like that's justice, right.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
And I think people who haven't had this happen to them.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Which is most people, right, It's hard for people to
put themselves in these shoes, but just imagine, like, you know,
having your car seized.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
A lot of people have to drive to work, right.
It makes getting by in life very difficult, makes supporting
yourself hard, and it can have all these domino ripple
effects that are really catastrophic for people who haven't even
been convicted.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
And I think the argument that becomes, you know, people
would say, well, I wouldn't let my car, let my
cards somebody who was doing drugs, And you know, sometimes
you just don't know. Sometimes it is your kids, sometimes
it's a relative, and you just are not aware. It
doesn't mean that you're like, hey, crack user, come take
my car.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
You know, like absolutely, And I'll also say that there
are some cases where police will seize if they just
find someone with like a large share of cash in
their car. This happens at the airport a lot or
federal law enforcement. If you're traveling with a lot of cash,
they will just say, well, people, normal people don't travel
with a lot of cash, so this must be connected
to the drug trade, for instance, even if they don't
(16:29):
find drugs on the person at all, And there are
plenty of cases of this. I'm not just pulling this
out of my ass. This happens. You know, it's well documented,
and I think, you know, maybe some people agree it
is weird to travel with a lot of cash, but
also weird.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
But yeah, I mean, it definitely makes me suspicious if
you're traveling with a bunch of cash. I either yeah,
I just don't. I don't even know where to even get.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Cash, right. But I think at the very least we
should expect the government to prove that it was actually
part of a drug as opposed to you know, the
one case I cover where the guy was like, well,
I was trying to start a business and I was
moving stay and it's always you know, it's there's more
nuanced than people would like to believe.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
I think we're going to take a quick break and
be right back on the Carol Marcowitch show, what do
you worry about?
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Mm? Okay, So I do not mean this as a
cop out, but I'm going to make the case. Yeah
for not worrying.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
I like it.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Let's right, is I suppose plenty to worry about? How
told you I am thirty three?
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Okay, you look like twenty one.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I So I was gonna be like, yeah, of course
you're not worrying. You're like just the good lighting its
twenty years old. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
I recently interviewed a man of Knox, the woman who
was arrested in Italy and barding a roommate and later
exonerated and so uh. In talking to HER's she had
this this little nugget of wisdom where I was basically
just like, how do you go about life? For four years?
Locked up in terrible conditions? She's constantly harassed. I mean,
(18:12):
of course her for people aren't familiar. Her case was
sensationalized in every way. And she said something where she
was just like, the only thing I had control over
was my day to day. So like worrying or panicking
about the position she was in, it wasn't going to
do anything. She just had to make the best of
(18:33):
that situation, and most of us aren't going to end
up in prison for a crime we didn't commit. But
I think that is very transferable to anyone. I mean,
I think that, especially working in the media, there is
a pro panic bias where I mean, because it's a
business model and panic gets people engaged, activated, and I
(18:53):
understand it. I mean, I'm probably guilty of it too sometimes,
But I think it is also object actively true that
panicking or worrying about something doesn't do anything to change
it other than get yours all levels up, you know.
And so even though there is much wrong with the world,
I think if I have one big bias, it's like
an anti panic bias.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
I like it, and I hope you maintain that. I
feel like it gets harder a little bit as you get.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Older, probably, And I also don't have kids, I mean, yeah,
that's kids, right, So yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
A lot of people on the show answer that they
worry about their kids, I mean just general worry, you know.
But Tom Petty said, you know, most things I worry
about never happened anyway, and there's definitely some truth to
that as well. So what advice would you give your
sixteen year old self.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
I would tell myself to stop taking yourself so seriously.
I took myself so seriously, and at that age and
into early adulthood, I just I wanted so badly to
be successful, and I thought that every little decision you
made so consequential. And it's in some cases that's true.
(20:08):
But yeah, I don't know, sounds.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Like you're worried a little when you're younger.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Oh my god. Yeah, yeah, my anti panic bias rather
has not been something that has used to panic a lot.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
I'll say, was it part of the performing life?
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Like I would say that was the main part of it. Actually,
I was so caught up in feeling like that's what
made me special, was that I was a good singer,
especially as a male. You know, people when you're a
guy who can sing in theater and like dance and
act whatever, people are just like you're such a commodity.
(20:44):
Whereas like for women, it's just so much more competitive
because more women, frankly, are just more they're more interested
in doing it. You're talking to a good friend last
night whose daughter is pursuing ballet and she was learning
point for the first time, and it's three men who
they had to bring in from a professional company because
how many boys in their school and like twenty girls.
And it's like, I don't know, you know, as a
(21:05):
guy in the performing arts, it's it's you're just kind
of held up on a pedestal. And I just I
was so neurotic about being perfect, yeah, and having that
be like the thing that defined me. And the thing
is it's not that serious. There are more important things
in life than getting an opportunity on stage.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Or my sixth grade son just tried out for his
school play and we were like, you're not going to
make it, Like not because we're terrible parents or anything.
He's in sixth grade, so you know, bottom of the
totem pole in middle school. He has zero acting or
singing ability. I mean, you know, he's just new to it.
So we were like, you know, prepare yourself to not
(21:44):
not to not get apart, but you're going to be
like truck Driver number twelve, Like, don't don't think you're
getting the lead. He got two speaking parts because there
are just no boys trying for anything, right, Yeah, So
we'll see how that goes. But maybe he'll follow you
to the life on the on the stage.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Hey, I wish us luck. I mean it can be
really great and really fun by Bertie, you know, so,
oh my gosh, that's a classic.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Yeah, he's he's Hugo the boyfriend, and then another, yeah, and.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Then another and that you would usually never be double cast.
So that's how you know, really.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
They really don't have anyone, right, Yeah, So you know
he's he's very happy and he's like excited about being
on the stage and you know, we'll see. I'm not
gonna let him worry about it.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
But do you think you'll be nervous watching from the audience.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
No, I don't think so. He's a he's a performer
in his in his everyday life. So yeah, well, I've
loved this conversation. This has been so much fun. And
us here with your best tip from my listeners on
how they can improve their lives.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Hmm. I don't know if this sounds super corny, and
maybe it sounds super critical if someone works in the media,
But I when my friends come to me and they're like,
I'm so sorry, I can't listen to or I can't
read your stuff right now because I'm just like too strong. Right, Yeah,
it's okay to tune that out, and I think it's
(23:13):
important to like know what's going on. But if there's
one thing in my life when I say earlier, you know,
like don't take things so seriously. That's one thing that
has made my life really fulfilling. It is my friendships.
And that sounds super corny, and I'm more aware of
about corny that sounds. But yeah, I think that's the
most important part of life and fulfilling life is the
people around you. And if you have good people around you,
(23:35):
then that's a that's a pretty good life lived.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Yeah, I love that, And I encourage my friends not
to read my stuff and not to read anything that
pisses them off or enrages them in any.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Way, even if it's totally agree.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
You know, why go through life like angry at things
you can't control?
Speaker 2 (23:51):
And sure not everything in life has to be filtered
through a political lens, you know. I feel like you
and I both know very well that essentially everything in life,
if you're in a certain space, it's political, and we
don't have to be.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
It doesn't. And I would say, all sort of people
who are you know, not in our world, but end
up reading something and it makes them angry and whatever.
A lot of the left and the right at at
you know, at in our world and in let's say,
like in the in the government world as well, they
hang out together, they have friendships, they're able to overlook
all of this. What you see is a lot of
(24:23):
like professional wrestling stuff right now on the internet. Yeah,
it's not it's not really the way it is. I
like to say, you know, and Culture used to hang
out with like lots of MSNBC people, and you know,
if she could do it, the rest of us are.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Okay, that's very true.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
He is Billy Binyon. Check him out at Reason. Thank
you so much, Billy for coming on. Thanks, thanks so
much for joining us on the Carol Marco Wood Show.
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show News
Hosts And Creators
Clay Travis
Buck Sexton
Show Links
WebsiteNewsletterPopular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!