Cato Podcast

School choice isn’t just about choosing different schools—it’s about unbundling education itself and trying new things to get kids excited about learning. Cato scholars Neal McCluskey and Colleen Hroncich envision a future where adults educated through innovative institutions bring diverse perspectives to workplaces and communities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Both Republicans and Democrats pressure the Fed toward different agendas, revealing deeper institutional problems. Norbert Michel and Jai Kedia argue that broad discretion and an inflated view of the Fed's influence enable mission creep and capture regardless of who holds power. The solution? Congressional legislation establishing clear rules. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Travis Fisher and Jennifer Huddleston discuss how outdated energy policies created barriers to new generation just as AI data centers began demanding unprecedented amounts of power. They imagine a path forward using free market policies in both AI and electricity to create previously unimaginable levels of human flourishing and prosperity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Trump is taking a victory lap for brokering peace in Gaza—while simultaneously escalating the U.S. proxy war in Ukraine and launching airstrikes against suspected cartel boats. Our panel assesses Trump’s Nobel ambitions, celebrates this year’s actual Peace Prize winner, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. Featuring Ryan Bourne, Gene Healy, Justin Logan, & Ian Vasquez Justin Logan, "The Case for Withdrawing from the Middle East," Defense Priorities, September 2020. Ian Vasquez, “Maria Corina Machado, Venezuelan Champion of Freedom, Wins the Nobel Peace Prize,” Cato at Liberty blog, October 10, 2025. Ian Vasquez and Marcos Falcone, “Liberty Versus Power in Milei’s Argentina,” Free Society, October, 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

According to recent government data, immigration enforcement has become a much more dangerous job. David Bier and Patrick Eddington discuss the policy tradeoffs driving these numbers, previous administrations' efforts at mitigating mass immigration, and how to craft a more just, effective and safe immigration policy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Trump’s new “Compact with Academia” aims to reshape higher ed using the leverage of federal funds. Our panel unpacks the constitutional risks of Washington’s latest salvo in the campus culture wars. Plus, shutdown week two: will the administration deliver on federal job cuts or is it Grim Reaper cosplay? Featuring:Ryan Bourne, Gene Healy, Neal McCluskey and Adam Michel Neal McCluskey, "Higher Ed Compact Is More of the Same, Worse," Cato at Liberty blog, October 7, 2025. Adam Michel, "Six Reasons to Not Extend the Enhanced Obamacare Subsidies," Cato at Liberty blog, October 7, 2025. Neal McCluskey, "Court Rightly Finds for Harvard Against Trump Administration," Cato at Liberty blog, September 4, 2025. Dominik Lett, "Revoking IEEPA Tariffs Will Not “Lead to Financial Ruin,”" Cato at Liberty blog, October 3, 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robby Soave, senior editor at Reason and co-host of The Hill's Rising, join's Cato's Thomas A. Berry and David Inserra to discuss the state of free speech following the Charlie Kirk assassination and Jimmy Kimmel suspension. They examine how recent administrations have engaged in government jawboning to suppress speech and conclude that consistent First Amendment principles must prevail regardless of which party controls government power. Show Notes: https://www.cato.org/blog/kimmel-cancellation-dangerous-sign-free-speech https://www.cato.org/blog/americans-must-remain-committed-free-expression-after-assassination-charlie-kirk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The federal government shuts down as the Supreme Court returns. Our panel looks at the Trump team’s plan to use the shutdown for mass layoffs —and previews a new Supreme Court term packed with big fights over tariffs, emergency powers, and the future of “independent” agencies. Featuring: Ryan Bourne, Gene Healy, Thomas Berry, and Jeffrey Miron Romina Boccia, "Thoughts About The Impending Government Shutdown," The Debt Dispatch, September 30, 2025. Jeffrey Miron, "Some Libertarians Cheer When Government Shuts Down: Here's Why They Shouldn't," Vox, January 21, 2018. Ryan Bourne, "The Libertarian Experiment That Isn't," Cato at Liberty blog, January 11, 2019. Thomas A. Berry, Brent Skorup, and Charles Brandt, "Learning Resources v. Trump," Cato Amicus Brief, July 30, 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will congressional inaction lead to a government shut down? Do shutdowns halt the government in its tracks, and if not, who decides what stays and what goes? What does it mean for President Trump -- or the rest of us? Cato's VP for Government Affairs, Chad Davis, in conversation with Patrick Eddington, senior fellow in homeland security and civil liberties at the Cato Institute. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

FCC chair Brendan Carr’s “easy way or hard way” threat to TV broadcasters lit a censorship firestorm this week. Our Cato panel digs into the government's jawboning, broadcast licensees' “junior-varsity” First Amendment rights, and whether it’s time to scrap the FCC altogether. Plus, the latest on AI regulation and the art of the TikTok deal. Featuring Gene Healy, Ryan Bourne, Brent Skorup and Jennifer Huddleston Brent Skorup, "Jimmy Kimmel, the FCC, and Why Broadcasters Still Have “Junior Varsity” First Amendment Rights," September 19, 2025. Ilya Somin, "Abolish the FCC," September 18, 2025. David Inserra and John Samples, "Kimmel Cancellation a Dangerous Sign for Free Speech," September 24, 202 Jennifer Huddelston, "Trump’s TikTok Reprieve Won’t Fix the Law’s Free Speech Problems," February 3, 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce joins Jennifer Schulp and Cato's Norbert Michel to discuss how government financial surveillance has eroded Americans' constitutional privacy rights through tools like the Consolidated Audit Trail. Peirce advocates for principles-based regulation that protects individual financial privacy while allowing innovation to flourish, arguing that current prescriptive rules create barriers to entry and stifle competition. The conversation explores how new technologies could restore individual sovereignty over personal financial data, enabling Americans to reclaim control over their private information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are Americans becoming dangerously tolerant of political violence? After Charlie Kirk’s assassination, our Cato panel looks at trends in public opinion, past episodes of political terrorism, and new risks to free expression. Plus, Milei’s electoral setback in Buenos Aires province—what now for Argentina's libertarian experiment? Alex Nowrasteh, "Politically Motivated Violence Is Rare in the United States," September 11, 2025. Emily Ekins, "The State of Free Speech and Tolerance in America," October 2017 Survey Report. YouGov, "What Americans really think about political violence," September 12, 2025. Ian Vasquez, "Deregulation in Argentina." Spring 2025. Lorenzo Bernaldo de Quirós, "Argentine President Milei Should Let the Peso Float," September 17, 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Syracuse University forced its social work faculty to partner with a for-profit corporation that takes two-thirds of online tuition revenue, professor Kenneth Corvo began investigating where student money actually goes in higher education. His findings reveal a systemic problem across American universities: more administrators than faculty at the college level, expanding bureaucracies focused on "student experience" and compliance, and minimal transparency about how tuition dollars are spent. The discussion with Cato's Walter Olson traces how federal funding, regulatory requirements, and the erosion of scientific rigor have combined to create institutions that increasingly fail their core educational mission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Congress returns to looming shutdowns and a “pocket-rescission” power grab. Abroad, President Trump pushes “America First” by rebranding the Pentagon as the Department of War—and launching an airstrike on a Venezuelan cartel boat. Our panel asks what all this says about America’s fiscal sanity and its foreign-policy compass. Featuring Ryan Bourne, Gene Healy, Adam Michel, & Brandan Buck Adam N. Michel and Dominik Lett, “Reconciliation 2.0: Fix or Fiasco?,” Cato at Liberty (September 3, 2025) Romina Boccia and [co-author unspecified], “Coming Budget Debates and How Congress Should Navigate Them,” Cato at Liberty (September 2025) Brandan P. Buck, “The Lost Liberalism of America First,” Free Society (June 30, 2025) Brandan P. Buck, “The Cognitive Shift: How the Terrorist Label May Lead to Another Forever War,” Cato at Liberty (March 19, 2025) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Norbert Michel and Dominic Lett square off over whether fiscal or monetary policy is the bigger mess. Lett highlights how entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare are driving unsustainable debt levels, while Michel explains how post-2008 Federal Reserve changes have created risks of “fiscal dominance,” where monetary policy is increasingly shaped by government borrowing needs. Both stress that without structural reforms and political restraint, the U.S. faces uncertain and potentially catastrophic economic consequences. Show Notes: https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/comprehensive-evaluation-policy-rate-feedback-rules# https://www.cato.org/books/crushing-capitalism https://www.cato.org/blog/medicaid-driving-deficits-republicans-are-scarcely-tapping-brakes https://www.cato.org/news-releases/senate-bill-could-increase-debt-6-trillion-cato-analysis# Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What should “public health in a free society” look like, and what limits should courts impose on executive trade powers? This week’s panel covers the shakeup at the CDC, asks whether America really needs asks a Surgeon General—and unpacks a blockbuster ruling from the Federal Circuit declaring most of President Trump’s global tariffs illegal. Featuring Ryan Bourne, Gene Healy, Jeffrey A. Singer, & Scott Lincicome Adam Thierer, “Breaking the Government’s Grip on the Medical Debate,” Cato at Liberty (August 28, 2025) J.A. Singer, “Unnecessary Relics,” Policy Analysis (July 2025) Thomas A. Berry, Brent Skorup, and Charles Brandt, “V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump,” Legal Briefs (July 8, 2025) Brent Skorup, Ilya Somin, and Walter Olson, “Tariffs, Emergencies, and Presidential Power: A Conversation with Ilya Somin and Walter Olson,” Multimedia Event (May 27, 2025) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Cato's Alex Nowrasteh and Travis Fisher as they unpack a pivotal moment in climate policy reform. The duo explores Fisher's tenure at the Department of Energy and the groundbreaking report that could reshape the discourse on greenhouse gases. Travis Fisher, “Why I Helped Organize the Department of Energy’s Climate Report,” Cato at Liberty (August 6, 2025) Travis Fisher and Joshua Loucks, “The Budgetary Cost of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Energy Subsidies,” Policy Analysis (March 11, 2025) Patrick J. Michaels, “Cato Releases Report on EPA Endangerment Finding,” News Releases (October 31, 2012) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Golden shares” at home, grand bargains abroad. In this episode, Cato scholars weigh Trump’s push for equity stakes in U.S. firms under the CHIPS Act and his effort to strike a quick deal with Putin on Ukraine. What does state capitalism at home mean for American liberty—and can deal-making diplomacy abroad actually end the U.S. entanglement in Ukraine? Featuring Ryan Bourne, Gene Healy, Norbert Michel, and Justin Logan Scott Lincicome, “The government’s Intel stake is antithetical to American greatness” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/24/trump-intel-government-marketplace/ Justin (and Dan Caldwell) on security guarantees: https://thefederalist.com/2025/08/26/if-ukraine-wants-security-guarantees-it-should-get-them-from-europe/ Ryan Bourne, “Trump’s cronyism is quietly unravelling American capitalism,” https://www.thetimes.com/us/business/article/trumps-cronyism-is-quietly-unravelling-american-capitalism-jxlwwf7dw Ryan Bourne, Industrial Policy was the Gateway Drug to Cronyism Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cato’s Jennifer Huddleston and Tommy Berry examine the 2024 TikTok divest-or-ban law and what it means for Americans. They explain how the law could reshape the app market, restrict free speech, and expand government power far beyond TikTok itself. Jennifer Huddleston, “Could the Latest TikTok ‘Ban’ Pass Constitutional Muster?,” Cato at Liberty (blog) (March 12, 2024) Jennifer Huddleston, “Competition and Content Moderation: How Section 230 Enables Increased Tech Marketplace Entry,” Policy Analysis no. 922 (January 31, 2022) Jennifer Huddleston and Tommy Berry, “TikTok Users Await Looming US Ban; SCOTUS May Intervene,” Cato Daily Podcast (January 16, 2025) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As President Trump’s “crime emergency” puts troops on D.C.’s streets, socialist Zohran Mamdani surges ahead in the New York mayoral race. On the panel, Cato scholars debate whether America’s capitals of politics and finance are becoming laboratories for failed ideas. Featuring Ryan Bourne, Gene Healy, Clark Neily, and Marian Tupy Ryan Bourne, “Zohran Mamdani’s ‘War on Prices’,” Commentary (June 13, 2025) cato.org Scott Lincicome, “State-Run Supermarkets: A (Bad) Statist Solution in Search of a Problem,” Commentary (July 10, 2025) cato.org Marian L. Tupy, “Marian L. Tupy Discusses His Experiences Living Under Communism on Prager U’s Stories of Us Podcast,” Media Highlights TV (November 14, 2023) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.