The Great Antidote

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David Epstein is the author of New York Times #1 bestsellers, Range and The Sports Gene, and an investigative reporter at ProPublica. Today, he talks to us about Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. Listen for generalist success stories! He explains when best to use a generalist approach, in sports, versus a specialist approach, in chess. We talk about how to integrate the generalist approach into schooling and everyday life to improve learning, and he gives me advice on my guitar-learning journey. 

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Michael Cannon, Cato Institute’s director of health policy studies, talks to us today about health and health policy, reminding us of their definitions, goals, and importance. Learn about the origin of our current health care system, the different methods of obtaining health care (direct, government provided, employer-sponsored), and specifically employer-sponsored health care, which is the most common source of health insurance. 
What is “universal health care”? Do we really have a free market for health care? Why is employer-sponsored health care the most common source of heath care in the United States? What are the incentives in that system? What are the effects of the policies that have made this the case? 

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William B. Allen, resident scholar and former chief operating officer of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, talks to us today about the book he recently edited, The State of Black America. He tells us about his upbringing and the current narrative about racism and policy in the United States. Is it a problem? What should we do about it? 

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Your criminal sentence doesn’t necessarily end when you get out of jail. Criminal records prevent many Americans from entering jobs requiring occupational licensing. 66 million Americans have criminal records; 30% of jobs require occupational licensing. Licensed jobs range from electrician to medical professional to hair braider.

Matthew Mitchell is a Senior Research Fellow and the Director of the Equal Liberty Initiative at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Today, we briefly recap occupational licensing, what it is, and its effects. Then, we go on to talk about the unequal burden of occupational licensing, particularly on those with criminal records, and potential reforms.

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Jon Murphy, recent PhD graduate from George Mason University and incoming instructor at Western Carolina University, talks to us today about Adam Smith’s theoretical and practical exceptions to free trade. We explore whether Smith would have endorsed The Jones Act through his endorsement of Britain’s Navigation Acts. 

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Weifeng Zhong, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, talks to us today about the distinction between misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda. He leads us through his story of discovering the Tiananmen Square Massacre and how it led to the Policy Change Index project. We talk about hopes and fears for the future, along with some differences between the United States and China. 

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Jason Fichtner, vice president and chief economist at the Bipartisan Policy Center, talks to us about retirement and saving strategies. He takes us through different types of savings accounts, why you should start saving today, and why you should start saving today. We also talk about starting to save later in life, how to save for and pay off big expenses, and social security considerations.

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Clark Neily, senior vice president of legal studies at the Cato Institute, talks to us about upcoming Supreme Court justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. We explore her unique qualifications and the hopes that this brings, amicus briefs and how they are filed, and her judicial philosophy. 

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Peter Van Doren is the editor of the quarterly journal Regulation and is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, where he specializes in housing, land, energy, and more. Today, he talks to us about what energy independence is, whether America is energy independent, and if that is a good thing. He also talks to us about energy more generally, including nuclear and green energy. 

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Daniel Klein, professor of economics at George Mason University and expert on Adam Smith, talks to us about Smith’s definition of justice. There are three types of justice: commutative, distributive, and estimative. Today we break down the differences between each and their applications in government and private life. 

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