The American Compass Podcast

In an apples-to-apples comparison of GDP per capita, eight of Canada's ten provinces are poorer than nearly all U.S. states. But how much can GDP really tell us? Is most of Canada really poorer in any meaningful sense than Kansas?

Two writers, Jeff Reimer, a Kansan and senior editor at Comment, and Brian Dijkema, the Ontario-based president of Cardus, journeyed to both locations to find out. They join guest host Chris Griswold to recount their travels, discuss the quality-of-life context that GDP can’t measure, and make sense of the similarities, and key differences, on each side of the border.

Further reading:

• “Is Kansas Really Richer than Canada?” Jeff Reimer, Commonplace
• “Is Canada Really Poorer than Kansas?” Brian Dijkema, Commonplace

Artificial intelligence is often discussed as a threat to human flourishing, undermining everything from jobs to education to literacy. Is there anything that can be done to mitigate that future damage? Is it already too late?

Gregory Conti, associate professor at Princeton University, joins Oren and Chris to discuss whether there's anything to be done to stop AI. The group discusses Conti's recent writing in Compact, where he's an editor-at-large, making the case that we're already living in the wake of the technology's destruction. And they dive into specific policies, from banning tech in the classroom, to age-gating social media, to shutting down AI altogether, and whether they can be accomplished.

Further reading:

• "The AI Apocalypse Is Already Here," by Gregory Conti, Compact
• "Big Tech’s War on Human Achievement," by Gregory Conti, Compact

Few political issues have united Americans the way that a resistance to new data centers to support the development of AI has done in recent months. But is this anger and opposition toward them misplaced, and even a threat to American reindustrialization?

Josh Zoffer, a venture capitalist and Biden administration alum, joins Oren on the podcast to discuss the ongoing fight on data centers. Zoffer explains the thinking from his recent Financial Times piece, "Data centres are a crucial test of US industrial resolve," and why he thinks their construction is vital to America's success in the AI race with China. And he and Oren discuss how data centers fit into the broader, bipartisan push to build up domestic industrial capacity more broadly.

There's a political realignment taking place when it comes to labor law. Republicans from the White House down to the local level are increasingly championing worker rights against corporate interests. But will this change take root in the GOP? And should it?

Roger King, senior labor and employment counsel at the CHRO Association joins Oren on the podcast to make sense of the changes over the last decade, and debate the merits of some of the labor legislation on the table. They discuss the Faster Labor Contracts Act, a bill to speed up initial collective bargaining agreements that recently passed the House of Representatives and is under consideration in the Senate. And they talk bigger picture, about what today's workers really need, and where recent efforts could risk overcorrecting.

Curtailing public chaos and institutional corruption are vital objectives to reclaiming a healthy American citizenship. But what can ordinary people do to rein in corrupt elites? And why have elected officials failed to push back for generations?

Dr. Matt Mehan, associate dean of Hillsdale College's Graduate School of Government, joins Oren and Chris to make sense of what went wrong. They discuss how a fixation on legal rights has crowded out a public commitment to the responsibilities and duties inherent in citizenship, and why that shift has done so much damage. Finally, they discuss Dr. Mehan's new book, The American Book of Fables, and why his work to adapt timeless lessons for the youngest generation is so important at a moment defined by declining educational quality and oversaturation of technology.

Further Reading:

• The American Book of Fables by Matt Mehan

The traditional four-year college degree is dramatically falling out of favor with parents and would-be students. One clear problem is that today's educational offerings don't help students build the skills they really need, both for the jobs of the future and for a meaningful life after graduation.

Dr. Jacob Imam, president of The College of St. Joseph the Worker, joins Oren and policy director Chris Griswold to describe what makes his college so different: a classroom experience matched with an intensive focus on physical skills and learning the trades. They make sense of why blending the intellectual and manual pursuits is so beneficial not just just for students, but to the college's local community, and the world beyond. Finally, they discuss how this alternative approach can be scaled up to address America's lack of skilled workers needed for reindustrialization.

Many men without college degrees have nearly nonexistent social support, and are often one point of failure away from living in isolation, according to a new research report, Nobody to Call. Their lives are perilous: moving to a new town, losing a job, or the death of a friend could leave them fully divorced from their communities.

Sam Pressler, lead author of the paper and a practitioner fellow at the University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute of Democracy, joins Oren and Chris to unpack the risks facing men without college degrees. They make sense of why life has gotten so hard for this group, from reduced working-class job prospects to declining college matriculation and other post-high school pathways, as well as barriers to marriage. And they discuss the kinds of social programs currently available to these men, compared to what they really need.

Further reading:

• Nobody to Call
• “‘The Vibes Are Not Good’,” Oren Cass, Commonplace

Political conversations around tech tend to gravitate toward AI, chips, and advanced robotics, but these topics are far removed from what most Americans think of as the types of technology that power their daily lives. For most, tech is about cable, or streaming, and how they connect to the internet.

Former U.S. senator Cory Gardner, now president and CEO of NCTA, the Internet & Television Association, joins Oren to walk through the political dynamics tied to these issues. They discuss why access to spectrum is so important and make sense of the future of 6G, and explore why China presents a threat to not just Americans' wireless access but also their data security. They close with a discussion on how to keep kids safe on the internet, and how feasible age-gating really is.

At the 2026 New World Gala, American Compass introduced Reclaiming American Citizenship, a new "project for the people" to confront the existential task of revitalizing what it means to be an American citizen, not merely as a matter of who gets to be here, but about the responsibilities inherent in that privilege. Compass policy advisor Chris Griswold joins Oren to make sense of what doing so means in practice on the eve of America's 250th anniversary.

They discuss how a fuller understanding of being a citizen breaks from the libertarian notion that liberty is merely a question of maximizing the freedom to do what one wants, and how a commitment to the latter has done so much damage to our body politic. And they outline the pillars of how to reclaim our citizenship, and what America could look like if we did.

Further reading:

• Reclaiming American Citizenship, American Compass

After decades of sacrificing economic security for the sake of the free market, American policymakers are returning to the wisdom that economic security and national security are inextricably linked. At American Compass’s 2026 New World Gala, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joined Oren to explain why this shift is vital for the national interest.

They talk through how COVID didn’t create but revealed our supply chain crisis for vital resources, and what the Trump administration is doing, from pharmaceuticals to military readiness and beyond, to restore preparedness. Finally, they discuss the “raw deal” so many young Americans have gotten in today’s “lottery economy,” and how to restore hope in the system.

Further reading:

• Reclaiming American Citizenship, American Compass