Minority of One

The following is an uncut version of a debate I had on the newest episode of The Genius of Thomas Sowell podcast, which can be found here: https://www.audible.com/pd/Podcast/B08K54LQTL

I also include some special bonus content, including an introduction before the debate and final thoughts at the end. I want to thank Alan Wolan for hosting me and Dr. Wilfred Reilly for agreeing to this debate. Our debate focuses on an essay written by Dr. Thomas Sowell, a right-wing economist, on what Sowell sees as left-wing myths about the history of slavery. I take the position that Sowell got it mostly wrong, Dr. Reilly takes the position that he got it mostly right. In case you aren't sure yet if you want to listen to the whole thing, I have listed time stamps below:

00:-2:34: Introduction

2:35-8:33: Dr. Reilly's opening speech

8:34-11:45: My cross-examination of Dr. Reilly

11:45-19:00: My opening speech

19:01-22:30: Dr. Reilly's cross-examination of me

22:31-26:45: Dr. Reilly's rebuttal

26:46-32:55: My rebuttal

32:56-36:26: Dr. Reilly's Rejoinder

36:27-48:20: Q & A

48:21-54:13: My final thoughts on Dr. Reilly's Rejoinder

In this episode, I take on California's Republican Frontrunner in this month's recall election, Larry Elder. Specifically, I debunk a series of claims he made in a now-viral 2016 interview on a show called The Rubin Report. I demonstrate why Elder is wrong about systemic racism not existing, wrong about the origin of racial disparities in non-nuclear homes, wrong about conservatism and libertarianism being compatible, and wrong about various other things. If you want to listen to the parts that interest most but don't have time to listen to the whole thing right now, I have included below some time stamps that show you what subject matter is covered at various points of the episode.

0:-9:05: Background on who Larry Elder is

9:06-14:53: Background on Dave Rubin and his interview with Elder

15:54-23:25: Discussion of how Elder papers over the drastic differences between libertarianism and conservatism, misrepresents the Founding Fathers, and downplays the importance of gay marriage as a civil liberties issue.

23:26-25:45: How Elder contradicts himself on Democrats and fatherlessness vs systemic racism

25:46-30:53: How Elder uses black-on-black crime as a way to dismiss issues of systemic racism, ignores all the black people on the left who have spoken up about "black on black crime" and is enabled by Rubin.

30:54-34:00: How Elder misrepresents what the concept of systemic racism actually is to support his arguments

34:01-36:52: Why the study Elder cites doesn't show a lack of racial bias in police killings

36:53-49:18: Why Elder's "comply and you won't get killed" narrative is a canard, and how he lied about a police shooting that disproved his claim.

49:19-105: Why, contrary to what Elder says, black people still don't have equal opportunities in America, why the root cause of racial disparities in non-nuclear homes is slavery, NOT federal welfare programs, and how Elder misrepresents data without being fact-checked by Rubin(again.)

105:1-107:12: How Elder gets the Moynihan Report wrong

107:13-110:49: How Elder overstates his case on black voters skewing conservative in the aggregate, completely contradicts himself, and comically overestimates Trump's share of the black vote.

110:50-111:55: How Elder changed his mind about Tim Scott fast

111:56-115:05: How Elder accidentally admits the Democratic and Republican parties have switched on race issues.

115:06-:116:20: How Elder parrots white supremacist talking points about Hispanic Americans and immigration

116:21-119:27: How Elder overstates his case on Dick Cheney being an ally to gay people

119:28-121:00: How Elder makes me defend Tavis Smiley

121:01-122:07: Elder criticizes cancel culture before defending it in 2017

122:08-124:11: How Elder contradicts what he's been saying for almost the entire interview in order to take a potshot against illegal immigrants and what we can do to keep him from becoming governor.

Blue Waves and Blue Walls by Charles Boyd

Here, I continue discussing the presidential election, the takeaways, predictions I got wrong, why rioting likely damaged Trump's already-poor reelection chances, and what fictional villainous breakdowns Trump reminds me of.

This is the first of my 2-part retrospective on the 2020 Presidential Election. I start off by looking at the Capitol Riot some other political issues from the close of 2020--Tulsi Gabbard going back to the well of anti-LGBT advocacy, Edward Snowden not getting the pardoned he deserved--before beginning to analyze the election.

In this episode, my former schoolmate, Josh Cohen, sits down with me to discuss a variety of issues related to Judaism, including problematic Bible passages, salvation, interfaith dating, and Israel.

In this episode, I discuss Donald Trump's narcissism regarding Puerto Rico and NFL protests, some of the latest developments in LGBT rights rights, and women finally being able to drive in Saudi Arabia. I then move on to my main event, a discussion of the musical, Hamilton, in which I talk about why I loved it while also giving a historian's critique.

The first episode of this history and politics podcast looks at fake looting reports, the debt ceiling, DACA, anti-gay discrimination, and the strange desire of many conservatives to defend the actions of dead racist Democrats.