The Cato Weekly Podcast

Join Cato's Alex Nowrasteh and Travis Fisher as they unpack a pivotal moment in climate policy reform. The duo explores Fisher's tenure at the Department of Energy and the groundbreaking report that could reshape the discourse on greenhouse gases.

Travis Fisher, “Why I Helped Organize the Department of Energy’s Climate Report,” Cato at Liberty (August 6, 2025)

Travis Fisher and Joshua Loucks, “The Budgetary Cost of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Energy Subsidies,” Policy Analysis (March 11, 2025)

Patrick J. Michaels, “Cato Releases Report on EPA Endangerment Finding,” News Releases (October 31, 2012)

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"Golden shares” at home, grand bargains abroad. In this episode, Cato scholars weigh Trump’s push for equity stakes in U.S. firms under the CHIPS Act and his effort to strike a quick deal with Putin on Ukraine. What does state capitalism at home mean for American liberty—and can deal-making diplomacy abroad actually end the U.S. entanglement in Ukraine?

Scott Lincicome, “The government’s Intel stake is antithetical to American greatness”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/24/trump-intel-government-marketplace/

Justin (and Dan Caldwell) on security guarantees: https://thefederalist.com/2025/08/26/if-ukraine-wants-security-guarantees-it-should-get-them-from-europe/

Ryan Bourne, “Trump’s cronyism is quietly unravelling American capitalism,”

https://www.thetimes.com/us/business/article/trumps-cronyism-is-quietly-unravelling-american-capitalism-jxlwwf7dw

Ryan Bourne, Industrial Policy was the Gateway Drug to Cronyism

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Cato’s Jennifer Huddleston and Tommy Berry examine the 2024 TikTok divest-or-ban law and what it means for Americans. They explain how the law could reshape the app market, restrict free speech, and expand government power far beyond TikTok itself.

Jennifer Huddleston, “Could the Latest TikTok ‘Ban’ Pass Constitutional Muster?,” Cato at Liberty (blog) (March 12, 2024)

Jennifer Huddleston, “Competition and Content Moderation: How Section 230 Enables Increased Tech Marketplace Entry,” Policy Analysis no. 922 (January 31, 2022)

Jennifer Huddleston and Tommy Berry, “TikTok Users Await Looming US Ban; SCOTUS May Intervene,” Cato Daily Podcast (January 16, 2025)

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As President Trump’s “crime emergency” puts troops on D.C.’s streets, socialist Zohran Mamdani surges ahead in the New York mayoral race. On the panel, Cato scholars debate whether America’s capitals of politics and finance are becoming laboratories for failed ideas.

Ryan Bourne, “Zohran Mamdani’s ‘War on Prices’,” Commentary (June 13, 2025) cato.org

Scott Lincicome, “State-Run Supermarkets: A (Bad) Statist Solution in Search of a Problem,” Commentary (July 10, 2025) cato.org

Marian L. Tupy, “Marian L. Tupy Discusses His Experiences Living Under Communism on Prager U’s Stories of Us Podcast,” Media Highlights TV (November 14, 2023)

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Justin Logan and Clark Packard break down the twists and turns of the U.S.-China relationship—from trade liberalization and consumer benefits to lost manufacturing and rising geopolitical tensions. They unpack how economic integration shaped today’s challenges and what it means for America’s future.

Justin Logan, “Liberty at Home, Restraint Abroad: A Realist Approach to Foreign Policy,” Free Society (June 20, 2024) 

Justin Logan, “Uncle Sucker: Why U.S. Efforts at Defense Burdensharing Fail,” Policy Analysis no. 940 (March 7, 2023) 

Clark Packard, Course Correction, Policy Analysis no. 897 (July 21, 2020)

Clark Packard and Scott Lincicome, “Presidential Tariff Powers and the Need for Reform,” Briefing Paper no. 179 (October 9, 2024)

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As President Trump pushes to unwind one proxy war—with Russia in Ukraine—he’s ramping up another in this hemisphere: ordering the Pentagon to ready battle plans against Latin American drug cartels. On our panel, Cato scholars weigh the odds of a Putin deal and the risk of replaying past drug war disasters.

Justin Logan, “Trump Shouldn’t Settle for European Spending Pledges,” Foreign Policy, July 25, 2025

Brandan P. Buck, “Invading Mexico Will Not Solve the Cartel Problem,” The American Conservative, December 17, 2024

Ian Vasquez, “Deregulation in Argentina: Milei Takes “Deep Chainsaw” to Bureaucracy and Red Tape,” Free Society (Spring 2025)

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In this episode, Senior Fellow in Technology Policy Jennifer Huddleston and Technology Policy Research Fellow Matthew Mittelsteadt break down the Trump administration's new AI Action Plan and what it means for American innovation. 

Matt Mittelsteadt, “The AI Action Plan: Taking AI Innovation Seriously,” Cato at Liberty (July 28, 2025)

Matt Mittelsteadt, “The Safety Risks of the Coming AI Regulatory Patchwork,” Cato at Liberty (June 24, 2025)

Jennifer Huddleston, “Content Creators, Entrepreneurial Users, and the Impact of Tech Policy,” Policy Analysis (April 29, 2025)

Jennifer Huddleston, “Is AI a Horse or a Zebra When It Comes to the First Amendment,” Cato at Liberty (July 28, 2025)

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Last week, President Trump ramped up pressure on two favorite targets: elite universities and Fed Chair Jerome Powell. In the “War on Woke U,” the administration landed a $50 million settlement from Brown—the third Ivy to cut a deal—and added Duke and UCLA to the hit list with new civil rights probes and a funding cutoff. Meanwhile, after the Fed held rates steady, Trump escalated his campaign to oust Powell, denouncing him as a “stubborn MORON” on Truth Social.

In this episode, Cato scholars break down the Art of the Forcible Deal. What risks do Trump’s pressure tactics pose for monetary stability? Will they reform broken institutions—or just deepen their politicization? And is Trump’s strongarm approach an aberration, or a preview of the modern presidency’s future?

Show Notes:

• David Beckworth, “The Consolidated Government Budget Constraint Does Not Care About Your Fed Independence Feelings,” Substack (July 25, 2025)
• Ryan Bourne, “A Case for Federal Deficit Reduction,” Cato Policy Analysis no. 973 (April 18, 2024)
• Michael Chapman, “A Win for Liberty: Congress Defunds CPB, NPR, and PBS,” Cato@Liberty (July 23, 2025)
• Jeffrey A. Miron and Jacob P. Winter, “Giving Up Federal Funds Would Do Harvard Good,” Harvard Crimson (April 30, 2025)
• Norbert Michel and Jai Kedia, “A Check-In on the Fed: Why Politically Motivated Monetary Policy Is Dangerous and Counterproductive,” Cato Video (July 22, 2025)

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Peter Van Doren and David Kemp bring libertarian skepticism to the bipartisan political support for nuclear power. They analyze why regulatory reform alone may not solve nuclear's economic problems and discuss how recent U.S. projects have failed to deliver on promises of cost-effectiveness even after a supposed "renaissance" in the late 2000s. They finish up with a discussion on whether small modular reactors (SMRs) are the nuclear silver bullet.

Show Notes:

Peter Van Doren and David Kemp, Nuclear Power in the Context of Climate Change, Cato Institute Working Paper, April 27, 2023. https://www.cato.org/working-paper/nuclear-power-context-climate-change.

David Kemp and Peter Van Doren, "Would a Carbon Tax Rejuvenate Nuclear Energy?" Regulation 45, no. 3 (Fall 2022). https://www.cato.org/regulation/fall-2022/would-carbon-tax-rejuvenate-nuclear-energy.

David Kemp, "Nuclear Power’s Newest Cautionary Tale," Cato at Liberty (blog), January 23, 2024. https://www.cato.org/blog/nuclear-powers-newest-cautionary-tale.

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Cato's Clark Neily and Mike Fox give the most recent SCOTUS term a B- grade on criminal law. While they celebrate some unanimous victories like Barnes v. Felix (requiring courts to consider totality of circumstances in police use-of-force cases) and Martin v. United States (allowing federal tort claims against law enforcement), they express frustration with the Court's repeated refusal to hear cases involving the "petty offense doctrine," appellate waivers in plea bargains, and felon-in-possession gun laws—all issues with clear circuit splits that affect large numbers of people.

The episode concludes with a celebration of Fox's efforts that led to presidential pardons for John Moore and Tanner Mansell, achieving justice where the courts failed.

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