The Bob Zadek Show

We moderns take pride in the fact that we no longer burn witches. But can

we be so certain that we’ve emerged from the dark ages to a new enlightened

state of mind? Lenore Skenazy joins the show of ideas, not attitude,

Sunday, 2/11, from 8-9am PACIFIC.

We moderns take pride in the fact that we no longer burn witches. But can we be so certain that we’ve emerged from the "Dark Ages" to a new enlightened state of mind? Lenore Skenazy sees some of the markings of a modern-day witch hunt in sex-offender registry laws. There’s no doubt that we need mechanisms to protect potential victims of sexual violence, but Skenazy argues that these registries enact draconian yet ineffective punishments – often branding relatively innocent minors for life, lumping them in with some of the most heinous criminals. It takes bravery to advance this view, given the unpopularity of the cause (don’t expect a March for Sex Offenders’ Rights anytime soon). But demonization hasn’t stopped Skenazy from making common-sense arguments – with a heavy dose of humor – about this and other modern-day witch hunts. She was labeled the “World’s Worst Mom” for allowing her 9-year-old son to ride the NYC subway and writing about it in the New York Post. The controversy led her to start a now-global movement of “Free Range Kids.” She now frequently speaks and writes to debunk myths like the ubiquitous kidnapper, and the incurable sex offender (the most common age of people on the sex offender registry is 14 years old). Skenazy’s latest project encourages parents and schools to grant kids more autonomy – to let go, and Let Grow – as such experiences, and the small risks involved, are essential to learning. She joins Bob this Sunday – fresh off a Cato Institute symposium, titled, “You May Be a Sex Offender if…” – to restore sanity to the conversation around sexual harassment, sex offenders, and over-sensitivity on college campuses.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bobzadek.com/subscribe

The man behind Prop. 1A now says the convention rail is “almost a

crime. Retired Judge and icon of California politics Quentin Kopp joins

The Bob Zadek Show for the full hour, Sunday, 2/4 – 8–9am PACIFIC. Listen

Live on 860AM — The Answer, or check your local listings in Seattle,

Sacramento, Portland and Denver.

California has problems. After years of drought, last year’s deluge caused the Oroville Dam to burst, costing nearly $1 billion. Meanwhile, the welfare rolls are swelling, and the millionaires on whom the state depends for its tax revenues are leaving the state in droves. This would seem to be a time to get back to basics, but proponents of the high-speed rail are plowing ahead with the project despite delays, lawsuits, and cost overruns. The original bond measure — Proposition 1A — passed in 2008, with a slim majority of Californians voting for a state of the art, 220mph, electrified train from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It was to be partly funded by taxpayer money, and partly by private investment. Now, the project has morphed into a patchwork of conventional and high-speed rail, and encountered serious issues at the earliest, and allegedly easiest, stages of construction. There are now big questions for those private investors, who were supposed to emerge to foot the remainder of the bill for what is no longer the high-speed project it was supposed to be. For these reasons and more, one of the proposition’s original most ardent advocates — Judge Quentin Kopp — has turned on the idea. In fact, he now says it’s “almost a crime.” Kopp is a retired judge and former Chairman of the High Speed Rail Authority. He served as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and in the California State Senate and joins the show to explain how the high-speed rail has gotten so far off track.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bobzadek.com/subscribe

How do you grade Trump's first year? It's a mixed bag for libertarians.

Does Bitcoin signal the end of money-printing and inflation by central

banks as we know it, or does it represent something larger and less

predictable?

You’ve seen their tables at libertarian conferences, and heard their radio ads warning of an immanent collapse of the financial system. Goldbugs, who stockpile precious metals, have been stereotyped as paranoid — occupying a fringe of the already-fringe liberty movement. Until recently, the only group further on the fringes than the goldbugs were the “crypto-anarchists”: radical libertarian computer geeks with theories about how to replace central banks and financial institutions with an unregulated online payments system and password-protected "cryptocurrency". Most of these digital cash schemes came to naught — frustrated by the complex problem of getting strangers to trust the validity of online transactions, and guarantee that the “money” — strings of 1s and 0s on a hard drive somewhere — is actually being transferred once, and only once, to another digital location. Bitcoin solved this problem with a decentralized, public ledger (aka, "blockchain"), recording all transfers of bitcoins in real time. A decade after its creation, the elegant protocol for money on the internet is now a topic of household discussion. Last year, Bitcoin appreciated nearly 20 fold, from $1,000 per Bitcoin in January 2017, to almost $20,000 by mid-December.

If you’re still in the dark about cryptocurrencies, tune in to our special hour-long primer with Stan Larimer. Bob and Stan will break down the basics of Bitcoin, as well as the Bitshares competitor, that Stan is helping to build on Bitcoin’s foundations as an alternative blockchain-based financial system. Known as “The Godfather of BitShares,” Stan Larimer has forty years of experience in software, hardware, and systems engineering, program management, business development and even teaching rocket science at the US Air Force Academy. Stan is CEO of Cryptonomex, a leading custom blockchain development company.

Does Bitcoin signal the end of money-printing and inflation by central banks as we know it? Furthermore, does it represent something larger and less predictable?

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bobzadek.com/subscribe

If you bring up the idea of compensating donors of bodily tissues and

fluids at a dinner party, you’re likely to evoke reactions of disgust (and

fewer future dinner party invitations). However, given the importance of

these procedures and shortage of donors, the conversation must be had

somewhere.

When Frank H. Buckley last joined the show, he surprised Bob with a cogent,

intellectual case for the election of Donald Trump. Buckley, a Foundation

Professor at George Mason University’s Scalia School of Law, advised Team

Trump on campaign speeches, and geared his last book, The Way Back,

towards a set of practical solutions to “restore the promise of America.”

When Frank H. Buckley last joined the show, he surprised Bob with a cogent, intellectual case for the election of Donald Trump. Buckley, a Foundation Professor at George Mason University’s Scalia School of Law, advised Team Trump on campaign speeches, and geared his last book, The Way Back, towards a set of practical solutions to “restore the promise of America.” His latest book, The Republic of Virtue: How We Tried to Ban Corruption, Failed, and What we Can Do About It, completes the triptych that began with The Once and Future King, about the return of “crown governance” under the Obama administration. It should come as no surprise to listeners to this show we have drifted from the Founders’ vision of a balance of powers — balance between states and Federal government, and among branches of Federal government. Bob and Frank delve deeper into his arguments in all three books, focusing on the age-old problem of corruption — the quid-pro-quo of money for political influence that plagues every system of government. While everyone agrees that corruption is a problem, Buckley argues that platitudes about campaign finance reform and eliminating “dark money” miss the mark, and often worsen the problem by making the political system less competitive. Instead, he offers a set of solutions that limit the influence of lobbyists, reign in the executive branch’s authority, and break up corrupt judicial rings in the states. They also discuss the recent tax bill, and why Buckley thinks its passage is reason enough to vindicate his support for Trump.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bobzadek.com/subscribe