Can Academia be restored to its original purpose? Jacob Howland plans to try. Howland, the director of intellectual foundations at the University of Austin, discusses the goals and the accomplishments thus far from this new start-up in higher education. We discuss how UATX plans to restore full and free debate and discussion, how classical education will guide the curricula, and UATX's ambitious plans to open as a full-scale four-year-plus university by the fall of 2024.

News that the FBI and the Department of Energy both concluded that a lab leak in Wuhan is the likeliest origin for COVID-19 puts bureaucrats and media on the spot. Anthony Fauci appears to have engineered a cover-up from the beginning to shield himself and Francis Collins from the blowback of restarting gain-of-function research. Why did the media actively suppress discussion of the lab-leak theory as disinformation and conspiracy theory? We discuss the death of the daily, or at least on a national-coverage basis. And why is California suffering a critical shortage of U-Hauls?

Yet again, another piece of "misinformation" turns out to be reality. Why did the media suppress the lab-leak theory of COVID-19 origins? Andrew Malcolm and I discuss the impact that has on mainstream media's already crumbling credibility. We also look at whether and when sanctions on Russia will have a significant impact on the war, and discuss Jimmy Carter's decision to enter into hospice -- and how much the world has changed in that regard since his presidency.

Almost exactly one year after Russia invaded Ukraine -- and after every Western leader had gone to Kyiv -- Joe Biden finally made the trip. Is this too little, too late? Andrew Malcolm and I also discuss the malevolent nature of Biden's domestic policies. Also, we both found the new New York Times approach to staff revolts to be a refreshing change. Plus, what does Jimmy Carter's decision to go into hospice show about our cultural struggle to deal with the consequences of aging and extended life?

Yet another Big Tech platform got caught suppressing debate and conservative speech -- and yet again with federal government involvement. Andrew Malcolm and I discuss the Microsoft/GDI scandal, We also take note of the dogs that haven't yet barked in the media over this smear job against hundreds of American conservative and libertarian platforms, including our own. Andrew and I also talk a little about the Super Bowl, and more about Joe Biden's prospects for 2024. If he defies expectations and chooses not to run, who emerges? I explain why I think the answer will come from the Senate rather than the states.

Whose privilege prevails these days in Academia? Follow the money, advises Jennifer Kabbany of The College Fix. Colleges and universities are experiencing a plague of "Pretendians," white women especially claiming Native American heritage for career bursts, while real Native Americans struggle with disenrollment over another set of perverse incentives. Was Rachel Dolezal merely ahead of her time?

What can we expect to see in tonight's State of the Union? Andrew Malcolm and I don't expect much other than the usual: the stomach-churning obsequiousness, the banal droning, the substanceless use of 90 minutes ... and that's just the media coverage of Joe Biden. The actual event will waaay worse! We also discuss Biden's China Spy Balloon fumble, as well as the trial balloon floated by Democrats in the New York Times about dumping Kamala Harris in 2024.

How do efforts to close off film festivals keep you from accessing independent voices and dissent? Ted Balaker, the producer of films such as Little Pink House and Can We Take a Joke?, discusses the insidious ways in which gatekeeping at Sundance and other film festivals has created a "uniculture." Ted is working on his latest documentary, The Coddling of the American Mind, and has concerns as an independent filmmaker over whether wokery and cancel culture has all but eliminated any competing points of view from artistic representation. We also talk about Ted's new Substack, Shiny Herd.

Republicans want to probe the DoJ over its political weaponization. A jury handed them a big target in acquitting Mark Houck in a case Merrick Garland never should have brought. Andrew Malcolm and I discuss the verdict in the abortion-protest case, as well as the Biden administration's efforts in Ukraine. What was the real story behind the transfer of Abrams tanks? The Washington Post tried stirring the pot in Florida, and we look at their woes in both subscribers and relevancy.