The Bob Zadek Show

Speak the words "private prison" to the wrong person and you are liable to get an earful about market fundamentalism run amok. Indeed, government's law-and-order functions seem to be among the most difficult to transition to the private sector. But is such alarmism over privately-run prisons really warranted? After all, it was the public sector corrections officers union in California that spent millions in 2004 to defeat an initiative that would have limited the number of life sentences handed down under the three strikes law, ensuring a steady supply of "customers" for their industry. Private prisons only account for a fraction of total corrections facilities in the U.S., so how can we account for the real injustice – the massive increase in the prison population over the last several decades?

To dissect this complicated issue, Bob is joined by prolific writer and podcast host Lucy Steigerwald. Steigerwald, a libertarian "millennial" and frequent contributor to VICE.com on issues of criminal justice, recently wrote an article on private prisons for The Daily Beast, which may straighten out some of the priorities of those who are still focused on the wrong injustices. Steigerwald is also a representative of the Ladies of Liberty Alliance, the premiere ladies organization serving the liberty movement.

My next guest has an unusually good sense of humor for someone with his particular area of expertise. The writings of terrorism expert John Mueller are peppered with both intentional and unintentional humor, as he relates case after case of bungled terrorism and counter-terrorism efforts. His work landed him an appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he argued that government has done more harm than good in reacting to terrorism since 9/11. Only Stewart and Mueller could make such a topic funny.

At the end of the interview, Stewart asked the Ohio State political science professor to reveal a final exam question on air to his students. Mueller replied, “What’s funnier, The Daily Show the Cold War?” This was a reference to Mueller's once-contrarian prediction – in 1989 – that the Soviet Union was on the brink of collapse, and not the threat it seemed to be. Shortly thereafter, Mueller’s colleagues shifted their alarm from Cold War nuclear fears to the threat of terrorism, putting Mueller back in the position of calming exaggerated fears with his rigorous analysis.

But how can we be certain that we don’t end up with another 9/11 – or worse? Mueller begins by looking at the "closest calls" since 9/11, and doing a cost-benefit analysis of the efforts aimed at preventing them. Regardless of whether we turn out to be "on the eve of destruction," you may be surprised by how replete darkly humorous these case studies can be. Tune in tomorrow for my interview, and call in with your questions for Professor Mueller.

My next guest has an unusually good sense of humor for someone with his particular area of expertise. The writings of terrorism expert John Mueller are peppered with both intentional and unintentional humor, as he relates case after case of bungled terrorism and counter-terrorism efforts. His work landed him an appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he argued that government has done more harm than good in reacting to terrorism since 9/11. Only Stewart and Mueller could make such a topic funny.

At the end of the interview, Stewart asked the Ohio State political science professor to reveal a final exam question on air to his students. Mueller replied, “What’s funnier, The Daily Show the Cold War?” This was a reference to Mueller's once-contrarian prediction – in 1989 – that the Soviet Union was on the brink of collapse, and not the threat it seemed to be. Shortly thereafter, Mueller’s colleagues shifted their alarm from Cold War nuclear fears to the threat of terrorism, putting Mueller back in the position of calming exaggerated fears with his rigorous analysis.

But how can we be certain that we don’t end up with another 9/11 – or worse? Mueller begins by looking at the "closest calls" since 9/11, and doing a cost-benefit analysis of the efforts aimed at preventing them. Regardless of whether we turn out to be "on the eve of destruction," you may be surprised by how replete darkly humorous these case studies can be. Tune in tomorrow for my interview, and call in with your questions for Professor Mueller.

This week, instead of the usual encore show, we will be airing a remix of the best segments from previous shows on the topic of illegal immigration. This subject is so dear to Bob's heart (and mind) that he has been compelled to revisit it half a dozen times, and he will continue to do so for as long as it remains an issue. 

Bob's stance on immigration: Let them all in.

In defending this position, he has interviewed former two-term Governor and Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, Cato Institute immigration expert Alex Nowrasteh, Huffington Post reporter Elise Foley, and Sophia Campos, an aspiring professional and undocumented student at UCLA. This one-hour special will include select segments from each of these interviews, along with lively debate between Bob and his numerous callers. Few subjects elicit such strong emotions from across the spectrum as illegal immigration. This is all the more reason to learn the facts and get answers to the questions you've always been too afraid to ask. Are open borders compatible with a welfare state? Why are our border regions so violent? Are the most recent waves of immigrants assimilating like past generations of newcomers to the United States? Find out, this Sunday at the usual time.

This week, instead of the usual encore show, we will be airing a remix of the best segments from previous shows on the topic of illegal immigration. This subject is so dear to Bob's heart (and mind) that he has been compelled to revisit it half a dozen times, and he will continue to do so for as long as it remains an issue. 

Bob's stance on immigration: Let them all in.

In defending this position, he has interviewed former two-term Governor and Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, Cato Institute immigration expert Alex Nowrasteh, Huffington Post reporter Elise Foley, and Sophia Campos, an aspiring professional and undocumented student at UCLA. This one-hour special will include select segments from each of these interviews, along with lively debate between Bob and his numerous callers. Few subjects elicit such strong emotions from across the spectrum as illegal immigration. This is all the more reason to learn the facts and get answers to the questions you've always been too afraid to ask. Are open borders compatible with a welfare state? Why are our border regions so violent? Are the most recent waves of immigrants assimilating like past generations of newcomers to the United States? Find out, this Sunday at the usual time.

What is wrong with our economic system in the year 2015? In the previous show, Bob agreed with his progressive guest – writer and former libertarian Sean McElwee – that cronyism between government and special interests has created an unlevel playing field for the rest of us. Their perspectives only differed on the solution. McElwee sees hope in the equalizing agenda of so-called “inclusive capitalism,” but one might wonder whether certain politicians are merely using this catchy phrase to rebrand the same old wasteful government spending. As usual, the burden of these policies would fall heavily on the most productive members of society – so where is their say in the matter? This weekend, we bring you the counterpoint to McElwee’s eloquent defense of inclusive capitalism. Bob is joined by John Aglialoro, an entrepreneur who has repeatedly leveraged his own successes to create more wealth and prosperity for all. In addition to acting as CEO of fitness equipment manufacturer CYBEX International since 1997, Aglialoro serves as Mayor of the Tavistock Borough in Tavistock, New Jersey. He also bankrolled and co-produced the epic three-part film adaptation of Ayn Rand's famous novel, Atlas Shrugged. Tune in to hear why Aglialoro believes that just plain free-market capitalism is superior to the “inclusive” alternative.

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What is wrong with our economic system in the year 2015? In the previous show, Bob agreed with his progressive guest – writer and former libertarian Sean McElwee – that cronyism between government and special interests has created an unlevel playing field for the rest of us. Their perspectives only differed on the solution. McElwee sees hope in the equalizing agenda of so-called “inclusive capitalism,” but one might wonder whether certain politicians are merely using this catchy phrase to rebrand the same old wasteful government spending. As usual, the burden of these policies would fall heavily on the most productive members of society – so where is their say in the matter? This weekend, we bring you the counterpoint to McElwee’s eloquent defense of inclusive capitalism. Bob is joined by John Aglialoro, an entrepreneur who has repeatedly leveraged his own successes to create more wealth and prosperity for all. In addition to acting as CEO of fitness equipment manufacturer CYBEX International since 1997, Aglialoro serves as Mayor of the Tavistock Borough in Tavistock, New Jersey. He also bankrolled and co-produced the epic three-part film adaptation of Ayn Rand's famous novel, Atlas Shrugged. Tune in to hear why Aglialoro believes that just plain free-market capitalism is superior to the “inclusive” alternative.

Subscribe in iTunes

In his State of the Union address last month, President Obama called economic inequality the “defining issue of our time.” Indeed, America's middle class is stagnating by many measures, but even the President acknowledges that some of the driving forces – such as globalization – are beyond the government’s control. Furthermore, many of these same trends are leading to a decline in global inequality. Nonetheless, Obama is pushing an aggressive agenda for reducing domestic inequality under the banner of so-called “inclusive capitalism.” Part of his proposal is to increase federal spending by more than one trillion dollars over the next ten years, financed by new taxes on the wealthy. Some will see this as the return of “soak the rich,” but others see too much money in the hands of the few as a problem in and of itself. Among the latter group is Sean McElwee, a prolific young journalist and research assistant for Demos, a leading progressive media outlet. In articles for The Atlantic, The New Republic, The Washington Post and Rolling Stone, McElwee has boldly made the case for the progressives' tax-and-spend agenda. He argues that such policies can be effective not only for reducing inequality, but also in boosting U.S. job growth and productivity, and making our democracy more functional. Sean joins Bob to kick off a multiple-part series on a critical question: does inclusive capitalism represent a fix for a broken system or is it merely the same old socialist agenda dressed up in new language?

Subscribe in iTunes

In his State of the Union address last month, President Obama called economic inequality the “defining issue of our time.” Indeed, America's middle class is stagnating by many measures, but even the President acknowledges that some of the driving forces – such as globalization – are beyond the government’s control. Furthermore, many of these same trends are leading to a decline in global inequality. Nonetheless, Obama is pushing an aggressive agenda for reducing domestic inequality under the banner of so-called “inclusive capitalism.” Part of his proposal is to increase federal spending by more than one trillion dollars over the next ten years, financed by new taxes on the wealthy. Some will see this as the return of “soak the rich,” but others see too much money in the hands of the few as a problem in and of itself. Among the latter group is Sean McElwee, a prolific young journalist and research assistant for Demos, a leading progressive media outlet. In articles for The Atlantic, The New Republic, The Washington Post and Rolling Stone, McElwee has boldly made the case for the progressives' tax-and-spend agenda. He argues that such policies can be effective not only for reducing inequality, but also in boosting U.S. job growth and productivity, and making our democracy more functional. Sean joins Bob to kick off a multiple-part series on a critical question: does inclusive capitalism represent a fix for a broken system or is it merely the same old socialist agenda dressed up in new language?

Subscribe in iTunes