The Aaron Renn Show

America’s development pattern looks like growth, but often doesn’t pay for itself. Urban planner and civil engineer Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns explains the growth Ponzi scheme, why places like Buffalo and Jackson, Mississippi have more infrastructure than wealth, and why he favors thickening neighborhoods over endless outward expansion. Also: how his view differs from the abundance movement, the limits of local government on big industrial projects, and what a successful Strong Town would actually look like.

Visit Strong Towns: https://www.strongtowns.org/
Follow Chuck Marohn on X: https://x.com/clmarohn

CHAPTERS:
(00:00 Why places rise and fall)
(01:56 What is a Strong Town?)
(03:04 The growth Ponzi scheme)
(08:03 Buffalo and Jackson, Mississippi)
(11:12 Stop adding stuff)
(15:06 Incremental growth, not clumps of density)
(23:26 Strong Towns vs. abundance)
(36:31 Data centers and industry)

CONNECT & FOLLOW AARON RENN:
🐦 Twitter/X: https://x.com/aaron_renn
🌐 Newsletter - In-depth cultural analysis: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

Civility is not politeness, compromise, or “finding common ground.” In a polarized country—where fights over immigration, gender, public meetings, and online pile-ons feel existential—Aaron Renn talks with Carmel, Indiana city councilor and civic leader Jeff Worrell about what it actually takes to disagree hard without destroying the relationship.

Worrell, founder of Project Civility, argues that it's possible to "bring the heat," but not burn the house down. They cover internal posture (goodwill, humility, compassion), seeking the larger story in the other person, “do no harm,” civil departure when a relationship is toxic, why institutions so often avoid real dissent, and how leaders can give people permission to disagree without becoming enemies.

Visit Project Civility: https://www.projectcivility.com

CHAPTERS:
(00:00 Introduction)
(01:52 What civility looks like when the country is deeply divided)
(04:01 “How can you talk civility when the stakes are existential?”)
(07:02 Does incivility work—and how do you avoid being a beautiful loser?)
(11:30 How to respond when you’re personally attacked)
(17:53 Disagreement gets a bad rap)
(22:12 The principles: internal posture, the larger story, do no harm)
(30:27 Advice for leaders—and staying positive about your community)

CONNECT & FOLLOW AARON RENN:
🐦 Twitter/X: https://x.com/aaron_renn
🌐 Newsletter - In-depth cultural analysis: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

Aaron Renn talks with technology and media writer James Poulos about Human Forever — and why the real digital disaster is not a future AI apocalypse, but a transformation that has already happened.

Poulos argues that the print-and-television age ran on imagination (“if you can dream it, you can do it”). Computational technology flipped that. Machine memory now dominates: infinite archives, permanent records, surveillance, and a culture of searching and scrolling instead of dreaming. That shift, he says, is why so much of American life feels like fallout — and why older, memory-based forms of life, including traditional Christianity, are suddenly making sense again.

They discuss Marshall McLuhan’s “flip,” the return of the medieval, literacy’s collapse, accelerationism and transhumanism, why Christianity and America are the two things Poulos thinks can still stand, father-to-son rites of passage, practical politics around data centers, and why he published the book on the Bitcoin blockchain.

James Poulos is the author of Human Forever and the forthcoming Golden Age Problems. He is editorial director of Frontier at Blaze Media and a non-resident senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation.

CHAPTERS:
(0:00 Introduction)
(1:20 The digital catastrophe already happened)
(9:07 From imagination to memory)
(12:08 Why the digital age retrieves the medieval)
(15:24 Ancient liturgy and the search for spiritual authority)
(24:18 Accelerationism, cyborgs, and running from responsibility)
(32:31 What if AI outdoes every human faculty?)
(41:39 Why Christianity and America still stand)
(47:39 How to remain human: space, politics, and attainable goals)
(54:38 Father-to-son rites of passage)
(58:28 Why the book is on the Bitcoin blockchain)

JAMES POULOS LINKS:
📖 Buy Human Forever: https://canonic.xyz/p/1YV9yExbmJ9mgBXNM81TouJuDtqxH2PpL
🌐 Frontier Magazine: https://www.blazeunlimited.com/frontier

CONNECT & FOLLOW AARON RENN:
🐦 Twitter/X: https://x.com/aaron_renn
🌐 Newsletter - In-depth cultural analysis: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

Is local leadership declining, even in America’s fastest-growing cities?

Aaron Renn sits down with Mark Barbash, a longtime economic development professional in Columbus, Ohio, to examine the quiet crisis of civic and corporate leadership.  They discuss how generational change, corporate consolidation, shifting philanthropy, and a K-shaped economy are weakening the institutions that once held cities together—while headline growth continues.

Using Columbus, Ohio as a case study, they explore what it will take to rebuild commitment to the common good.  Topics include the decline of place-based corporate leaders, the rise of donor-advised funds, workforce and housing constraints, the limits of economic development incentives, and whether there’s still a “burning platform” for meaningful change. 

CHAPTERS:
(00:00 Introduction: The Leadership Crisis in American Cities)
(02:05 How Civic and Corporate Leadership Has Changed Over the Decades)
(08:15 Generational Shifts and the Decline of Place-Based Leadership)
(15:00 Economic Development in a Globalized, Industry-Focused World)
(17:00 The K-Shaped Economy, Workforce Shortages & Housing Stress)
(24:00 The Transformation of Local Philanthropy and Community Foundations)
(31:40 Is There a Burning Platform for Change in Booming Cities?)
(37:00 What Should We Do? Rebuilding Consensus and Engagement)

ARTICLES DISCUSSED:
🌐 From Titans to Technocrats: https://www.aaronrenn.com/p/from-titans-to-technocrats
🌐 'The Columbus Way' is failing as community, problems grow: https://www.aol.com/articles/columbus-way-failing-community-problems-082827000.html
🌐 Instability at Columbus Partnership sign of broken Columbus Way: https://www.aol.com/articles/instability-columbus-partnership-sign-broken-081533000.html

CONNECT & FOLLOW AARON RENN:
🐦 Twitter/X: https://x.com/aaron_renn
🌐 Newsletter - In-depth cultural analysis: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

In this week's episode, I'm sharing an appearance I made on Faithful Discourse with Chris Henry, the senior pastor of Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis. For more about this church and our conversation, you can see the write up I did on my web site:

https://www.aaronrenn.com/p/the-reckoning-is-here

Economist Arpit Gupta joins Aaron to break down the future of American cities after remote work, office real estate collapse, and the rise of AI.

From the “Urban Doom Loop” — where falling commercial property values crush city tax revenue and trigger a vicious spiral — to surging suburban housing prices, office-to-residential conversions, and the transformative potential of autonomous vehicles, this conversation covers the biggest forces reshaping urban America.

Will AI supercharge white-collar job growth and rescue downtowns, or accelerate the displacement of routine office work? Are superstar cities like New York and San Francisco pulling ahead while second-tier cities struggle? And how will self-driving cars radically expand commuting patterns and city sprawl?

CHAPTERS:
(00:00 – Introduction & The Urban Doom Loop Explained)
(03:20 – Post-COVID Office Market Recovery (or Lack Thereof))
(07:45 – Why Housing Prices Are Soaring While Offices Collapse)
(12:10 – Remote Work’s Lasting Impact on City Centers)
(15:30 – AI’s Dual Effect on White-Collar Jobs & Office Demand)
(22:40 – Can Tourism or “Playground Cities” Replace Commerce?)
(26:15 – Agglomeration Effects in the Age of Zoom & AI)
(31:40 – Advice for Young People Entering the Job Market)
(36:50 – The Game-Changer: Autonomous Vehicles & the Future of Sprawl)
(43:20 – Will Most Cities Decline or Adapt?)

ARPIT GUPTA LINKS:
🐦 Twitter/X: https://x.com/arpitrage
🌐 Arpit Gupta's NYU Homepage: https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/arpit-gupta

CONNECT & FOLLOW AARON RENN:
🐦 Twitter/X: https://x.com/aaron_renn
🌐 Newsletter - In-depth cultural analysis: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

In this powerful conversation, Delano Squires, Director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Human Flourishing at The Heritage Foundation and author of The Vanishing Black Family, breaks down the dramatic collapse of the Black family — from stable two-parent homes in the 1940s-1950s to today’s 70% out-of-wedlock birth rate. Delano explains how slavery deformed but did not destroy the Black family, but how the combination of 1960s welfare policies and new ideologies worked to undermine it.

CHAPTERS:
(00:00 Introduction)
(01:45 The 1986 Bill Moyers Documentary)
(04:20 Why Delano Wrote This Book Now)
(08:10 The Black Family Before the 1960s – Surprisingly Stable)
(13:40 Slavery’s Real Impact vs. Welfare & Feminism)
(19:55 The Economic Argument – Jobs vs. Culture)
(26:40 Why the “Marriageable Men” Theory Falls Short)
(32:15 Restoring the Black Family – The Multi-Generational Plan (Church, HBCUs & More))
(42:50 Final Thoughts)

DELANO SQUIRES LINKS:
📖 Buy The Vanishing Black Family: How Welfare and Feminism Made Marriage Optional and Children Vulnerable: https://www.amazon.com/Vanishing-Black-Family-Feminism-Vulnerable-ebook/dp/B0FRFLFVLH/?&_encoding=UTF8&tag=theurban-20
🐦 Twitter/X: https://x.com/DelanoSquires

CONNECT & FOLLOW AARON RENN:
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🌐 Newsletter - In-depth cultural analysis: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

How did “disinformation” become the all-purpose explanation for American politics? In this eye-opening conversation, journalist Jacob Siegel reveals how a century-old progressive vision of expert rule evolved into today’s censorship-industrial complex — from Woodrow Wilson’s propaganda machine to the Hunter Biden laptop suppression and beyond. Siegel, author of the new book The Information State, traces the hidden history of information control and explains how governments and tech platforms now shape what we see, say, and believe.

CHAPTERS:
(00:00 Introduction)
(00:48 Discovering Disinformation Everywhere in 2016)
(04:00 Misinformation, Disinformation & Malinformation Explained)
(08:23 The Hamilton 68 Censorship Scandal)
(12:15 The Hunter Biden Laptop Suppression)
(18:45 The Progressive Origins: Woodrow Wilson to the Creel Committee)
(35:00 What Should Replace the Information State?)
(41:10 Rebuilding Borders on the Internet)
(45:59 Is the Censorship Apparatus Still a Threat?)

JACOB SIEGEL LINKS:
🐦 Twitter/X: https://x.com/Jacob__Siegel
📖 Buy The Information State: Politics in the Age of Total Control:  https://www.amazon.com/Information-State-Politics-Total-Control/dp/1250363128/?&_encoding=UTF8&tag=theurban-20

CONNECT & FOLLOW AARON RENN:
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🌐 Newsletter - In-depth cultural analysis: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

Is AI the next great labor shock — and are we about to repeat the mistakes of NAFTA? Aaron Renn talks with Brent Orrell, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, about what AI is already doing to the workforce, why this time the disruption is hitting knowledge workers first, and why human formation may be the most valuable asset in an AI-infused world.

Brent Orrell studies the future of work and AI at AEI and previously served for years at the U.S. Department of Labor. He is launching a National Commission on AI and the Future of the American Workforce.

CHAPTERS:
(00:00 Introduction)
(00:55 Why AI Is the New NAFTA)
(04:30 A National Commission on AI and Work)
(07:30 The Labor Effects Already Happening)
(12:20 How "Learn to Code" Became a Trap)
(17:00 Adaptation: The Core Skill for the AI Era)
(24:00 Why Human Formation Matters More Than Ever)
(40:00 The Coming White-Collar Political Disruption)

BRENT ORELL LINKS:
🌐 Brent Orell's AEI Home Page and Articles: https://www.aei.org/profile/brent-orrell/

CONNECT & FOLLOW AARON RENN:
🐦 Twitter/X: https://x.com/aaron_renn
🌐 Newsletter - In-depth cultural analysis: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

Aaron Renn sits down with Seth Barron, Associate Editorial Page Editor at the New York Post and author of Weaponized: The Left's Capture and Destruction of America's Sacred Institutions. They discuss how cherished American myths have been twisted to weaponize key institutions — policing, borders, public safety, housing, education, and civic life itself.

From “defund the police” and anarcho-tyranny in New York City to open borders, the erosion of assimilation, and the battle over American identity, this conversation reveals how the left uses institutions as tools of political power.

CHAPTERS:
(00:00 - Introduction)
(01:36 - What "Weaponized" Really Means)
(03:45 - The Left's War on Policing & Public Safety) 
(09:20 - Anarcho-Tyranny in NYC Under Mamdani)
(15:10 - Police Brutality Myths vs Reality)
(18:40 - Why the Right Lacks a Competing Moral Vision)
(22:15 - Think Globally vs Think Locally)
(28:50 - Immigration, Borders & the Attack on Citizenship)
(36:55 - American Identity & the End of Assimilation)
(43:20 - Israel, Palestine & the Left's Broader Agenda)

GUEST LINKS:
📖 Weaponized: The Left's Capture and Destruction of America's Sacred Institutions: https://www.amazon.com/Weaponized-Lefts-Seizure-State-Power/dp/1630062693/?&_encoding=UTF8&tag=theurban-20
🐦 Twitter/X: https://x.com/sethbarronnyc

CONNECT & FOLLOW AARON RENN:
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🌐 Newsletter - In-depth cultural analysis: https://www.aaronrenn.com/