Daily Signal

Venezuela used to be a thriving and prosperous Latin American nation. Its citizens enjoyed a quality of life, and immigrants flocked there to better their situation. All of that changed abruptly when socialism took over the Venezuelan government.

The once flourishing country quickly became an example for other nations as to what happens when socialism is allowed to run rampant. Violent crime skyrocketed, people lost their lives and livelihoods, and neighbors began to view each other as rivals for ever-diminishing resources.

Yet, many Americans, blissfully ignorant of the ravages of socialism, want to bring it to the United States. When they hear the word socialism, they think of "free" college and health care, as promised by politicians such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

Venezuelan Daniel Di Martino has seen firsthand the horrors inflicted by socialism in his homeland, and wants to educate people about what it's really like.

"In Venezuela, about 30,000 people get killed every year of murder. My aunt got kidnapped one time, and when she went to report the kidnapping in the police station, one of the police officers was one of the kidnappers," Di Martino said.

"It's a country destroyed by socialist policies, so it's very hard to find food, very hard to find basic necessities," he added. "So, you have to make lines for hours. You have to bribe people. You have to be corrupt. It's not a good place to live. And so, that's why I'm very grateful to have been able to come to America."

Di Martino joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to share his experiences with life in socialist Venezuela, as well as to offer his advice on how to educate Americans about the dangers of the ideology.

We also cover these stories: 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s a topic that few people know about, but that has far-reaching consequences.

Trial lawyers across the country are cozying up to the left, advancing their radical agendas while lining their pockets with government money. The result? The average consumer pays the price.

"It affects [consumers] in part because you've got governments handing out big-deal contracts to politically active people on probably the wrong side of the aisle," says O.H. Skinner, executive director of Alliance for Consumers. "And I think that alone should be something that people pay attention to."

"But on a basic level," Skinner adds, "these contracts are the kind of things where there's millions of dollars that are often not tied to individual cases, not tied to case outcomes, where consumers get money."

Skinner joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss how widespread the relationship between trial lawyers and the left is, as well as offer solutions for conservatives.

We also cover these stories: 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is still little data available on the new omicron variant of COVID-19 but that is not stopping some political leaders from implementing new policies and requirements. 

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has issued a vaccine mandate for employees across the city. The Biden administration is restricting travel from some nations while heavily promoting COVID-19 booster shots.

But what do experts say is the right response to the omicron variant? 

Political leaders “shouldn't respond reflexively with the same old, same old tools that haven't worked all that well in the past,” says Doug Badger, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation, the parent organization of The Daily Signal.

Badger joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss what we do, and do not, know about the new COVID-19 variant and how our elected leaders can respond without restricting freedom. 

We also cover these stories: 

Enjoy the show!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aubrey and Bryan Schlackman say they are just a normal couple who happen to have a unique vision to help pregnant women in crisis. 

“There are lots of women that are in desperate need, that need help,” Bryan Schlackman says. “And it's just devastating that we, that this culture, doesn't think first of how we can help the mom.”

About a year ago, the Texas couple had an idea to create a “maternity ranch”—a term they coined. The mission of the ranch is to create a loving and safe environment for single pregnant women who need a fresh start. 

The vision for their Argyle, Texas-based ministry, Blue Haven Ranch, is to have 15 to 20 homes for mothers on the property of a fully functioning ranch that will produce income that will one day make the nonprofit self-sustaining. 

The couple is currently mentoring five pregnant women and helping them find a fresh start, but they can only house them in apartments until they have the resources to purchase the ranch and build the homes. 

Ultimately, they want to purchase 100 acres or more in the Dallas area to build the ranch. 

The Schlackmans say they think their vision to help women in unplanned-pregnancy circumstances is particularly relevant now in light of enactment of Texas' new heartbeat law, which restricts most abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, and the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court. Roe v. Wade is the 1973 high court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

When “abortion [becomes] illegal, other things have to come and take the place of that,” Aubrey Schlackman says.

The couple joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain how the model of Blue Haven Ranch could be an answer to the challenges some women face during an unplanned pregnancy.

We also cover these stories:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is social-emotional learning?

By now, many Americans are aware of critical race theory, which makes race the focus of all aspects of American life. The philosophy categorizes individuals into groups of oppressors and victims, and is currently making its way through the political sphere, the military, and of course, education.

But less well known is its ideological cousin, social-emotional learning. The program seeks to indoctrinate kids into leftist ideology by reinforcing a series of critical race theory-based morals and values.

Jennifer McWilliams was working as a reading teacher at Frankton Elementary School in Indiana when she noticed that social-emotional learning was being taught as part of the curriculum at her school. When she voiced her concerns about the racist ideology, she was summarily fired.

McWilliams says there’s nothing good about social-emotional learning, and that it’s based in racist critical race theory.

“It is all negative,” she says, “When you understand the program fully, and you understand the framework and the ideology behind it, you will understand that it is not good. The entire social-emotional learning framework is based on the critical race theory ideology.”

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do lockdowns work? Do masks? What have we learned about what government actions help prevent the spread of COVID-19, and which don't?

As public health officials and the media sound the alarm about the omicron variant of COVID-19, the answers to those questions are crucial.

Alex Berenson, a former New York Times reporter and author of the new book "Pandemia: How Coronavirus Hysteria Took Over Our Government, Rights, and Lives," joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to answer all those questions and more, drawing on data from various states and countries. Berenson also unpacks the damage caused by some measures taken against COVID-19.

We also cover these stories:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The days of abortion on demand could be numbered. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a case in which the high court could overturn its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade and send power back to the states to determine their own abortion laws. 

"I feel like the Supreme Court right now has a very clear, intellectually honest blueprint to overturn Roe v. Wade, restore the Constitution to its proper meaning and understanding, and return the issue of abortion back to the people of America," says Denise Harle, a senior attorney at the Christian legal aid group Alliance Defending Freedom. 

The case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization stems from a Mississippi law, passed in 2018 but not in effect, which aims to ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Mississippi’s only remaining abortion clinic immediately challenged the a lawsuit. Now, the Supreme Court again is considering the constitutionality of abortion. 

Harle, who directs Alliance Defending Freedom's Center for Life, joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to break down the oral arguments heard by the nine justices and predict what the future holds for Roe v. Wade. 

We also cover these stories:

Enjoy the show!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Americans are familiar with the idea of a dystopian future, dominated by an inescapable metaverse and ruled over by Big Tech overlords. Films such as “Blade Runner” and “Minority Report” depict a world conquered by technology and the terrifying consequences. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that he wants to take that world from the screen and make it our own.

“Facebook is making itself bigger. It’s basically making an incursion into your everyday life with this metaverse conception,” explains Kara Frederick, research fellow in technology policy at The Heritage Foundation, parent organization of The Daily Signal. “This is going to be, in my mind, a totalization of control of your life in the future.” Frederick joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss Zuckerberg, the metaverse, and how dire the consequences might be if Big Tech is allowed to take over our lives.

We also cover these stories:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The upcoming Supreme Court abortion case could be "the most important" case of "our lifetimes," predicts Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Erin Hawley.

Hawley, mother to three and wife to Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican, discussed Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization during a podcast interview with The Daily Signal.

The Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments in the highly divisive case on Wednesday.

"History is clearly on the pro-life side, and there's no way you can make a historical argument for a deeply-rooted right to abortion," Hawley said.

The Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel explains the Mississippi law at the center of the Supreme Court case, how the justices may decide on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, why most abortion advocates don't properly understand Roe v. Wade, and more.

We also cover these stories:

Enjoy the show!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More and more, it seems big corporations and even banks have become tools of the left.

Americans have been fired from their jobs, deplatformed from social media, and have even seen their bank accounts closed, simply for not bending a knee to the left. This has prompted many conservatives to rethink where they spend and invest their money.

John Coleman, a managing partner of Sovereign's Capital, a values-driven private equity and venture capital firm, joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss a more thoughtful way of investing in the age of "woke corporatism."

"You've got this dynamic where progressives are much more likely to actually act on their political or cultural beliefs against a company than conservatives are," says Coleman. "And so, we've ended up in a situation where if you're a public company, those who hold more progressive values have much greater sway on what you are going to do, because you suffer the consequences more [directly] if you don't listen to that voice."

Enjoy the show!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices