The Great Antidote

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Henry C. Clark, professor at Dartmouth College and director of the Political Economy Project, talks to us today about Montesquieu. 

Listen in to learn about his life and the political environment in Europe in the early 18th century, especially in following the death of Louis XIV after a 72-year rule. Learn about Montesquieu’s contributions, such as the idea of separation of powers, and stay a while as Professor Clark talks to us about Montesquieu’s influence on Europe’s political discourse and America’s founding. We also explore the similarities and differences between Montesquieu and Adam Smith! 

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Colin Grabow, a research fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Trade Policy Studies, talks to us today about the Jones Act. He gives us a refresher on what the Jones Act is, but for more details listen to our first episode on the topic, Colin Grabow on The Jones Act.

He talks to us about the recent treason charges against critics of the Jones Act, the effects of the Jones Act in times of emergencies -namely Hurricane Fiona- and the Jones Act for cruise ships, the Passenger Vessel Services Act. 

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Dianne Durante holds a PhD in Classics from the University of Cincinnati and has been a freelance writer, lecturer, and tour guide for the over 30 years. She has written books on many topics, her books Innovators in Sculpture and Financial Programs of Alexander Hamilton are just a few. Today, we talk about art and art history, as well as their significance. She lays out what an innovation in sculpture is and leads us through some innovations in sculpture. We also talk about government involvement in art and the effects of that involvement on the art produced. 

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Phil Magness is the author of multiple books, a scholar at the American Institute for Economic Research, and the intellectual watchdog for academic writing.

Today we talk about Nancy MacLean’s book, Democracy in Chains, and debunks her claims about James M. Buchanan, the father of public choice economics, being a racist. He explains the peer review process and the types of errors made in journalistic malpractice, as well as the current state of academic honesty and integrity in academia. 

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James Kirchick is the author of two books: Secret City and The End of Europe. Today, he talks to us about the intertwined history of gays in Washington DC and the history of the cold war and national security. 

He explains how and why he came to write this book, along with how homosexuality became conflated with communism. Why were there so many gay men in the state department? What is the relationship between the history of the cold war and the history of gay Americans? What’s so significant about that relationship? Listen to find out! 

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Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, talks to us today about Medicare. He provides statistics on the size of Medicare spending and the history of how Medicare came into being. We also discuss the distortions that Medicare creates, and Cannon addresses calls for “Medicare for All”. 

Do you know how much fraud there is in the Medicare system? Listen to find out. 

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Rachel Ferguson is an economic philosopher at Concordia University Chicago and the director of the Free Enterprise Center, as well as an affiliate scholar with the Acton Institute. She is the co-author of Black Liberation Through the Marketplace: Hope, Heartbreak, and the Promise of America.

Today, we talk about her book, which focuses on civil society and the classical liberal approach to many of the problems facing Black America today. We also talk about the history of free market thinkers and abolitionism, and the distinction between libertarians and classical liberalism.  

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Timothy Sandefur, vice president of legal affairs at the Goldwater Institute, talks to us today about his book, Frederick Douglass: Self-Made Man. 

He talks to us about the philosophy behind and the development of American slavery, highlighting Douglass’s escape from it. Listen to learn about Douglass’s journey from slave to abolitionist- as well as to explore the debate about slavery and our Constitution. 

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Matthew Continetti, is a senior fellow and the Patrick and Charlene Neal Chair in American Prosperity at the American Enterprise Institute. Today, we talk about his new book The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism. 
 
Continetti talks to us about the different terminology used to describe right-leaning ideologies, and how they’ve evolved over time. He also gives us a survey of the most important thinkers and events that have contributed to the history of the right. 

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Darren Staloff is a history professor at the City College of New York and the author of two books: Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson: The Politics of Enlightenment and the American Founding and The Making of the American Thinking Class: Intellectuals and Intelligentsia in Puritan Massachusetts.

He talks to us today about the ideas at the core of our Constitution, the people who fought for it, and the results of those political conflicts. What is so special Want to explore more?

• Louis Michael Seidman on the Constitution, an EconTalk podcast.
• Martha Nussbaum on Alexander Hamilton, an EconTalk podcast.
• Is There a Role for a Monarchy in a Free Society? A Liberty Matters forum at the Online Library of Liberty.
• John Bitzan on the Culture at Universities, a Great Antidote podcast.
• Jeffrey Rogers Hummel, Benefits of the American Revolution: An Exploration of Positive Externalities, at Econlib.

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