In this episode Jonathan Fortier talks with Lawrence Reed about his essay, "I, Smartphone", which revisits the themes of Leonard Read's famous essay, "I, Pencil" for contemporary audiences. Their conversation explores the incredible complexity and power of free markets and the foundational principles that allow those markets to function most successfully.

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Jonathan Fortier talks with Brad Lips, CEO of Atlas Network, about a network of over 500 liberty-advancing think tanks around the world. Their conversation explores the necessity of decentralized knowledge and local efforts as essential elements in promoting free societies in different cultures with unique circumstances. Jonathan and Brad discuss the recent issue of the Atlas magazine, “Freedom’s Champion”, in which Brad celebrates the legacy of Milton Friedman, his close to connection to Atlas, and his many contributions to promoting liberty around the world.

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Jonathan Fortier talks with Johan Norberg, author of The Capitalist Manifesto: Why the Global Free Market Will Save the World. The conversation explores how a simple coffee shop can illustrate the complexity of international trade, why capitalism is a "double thank you" system in which we may all get what we need more efficiently, and much more. Norberg delves into everyday examples that help us appreciate this economic system that has brought us unprecedented prosperity. 

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Jonathan Fortier talks with Brian Doherty, author of Modern Libertarianism: A Brief History of Classical Liberalism in the United States. The conversation explores some of the main themes in Doherty’s book, including figures like Mises and Hayek, Ayn Rand, Leonard E. Read and many others. Doherty muses on the nature of the libertarian movement and the many strains of thought animated by fractious individuals.

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Jonathan Fortier and Bryan Caplan discuss the reissue of Open Borders a graphic non-fiction novel published by Libertarianism.org. Caplan argues for the tremendous power of open migration to unleash economic potential and generate much greater overall human flourishing. The episode explores some of the common objections to immigration, considering both the American and European context, and concludes with some speculation about how best to modify current regulation to facilitate the movement of people looking for opportunity in the United States.

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In this episode, Jonathan Fortier and Bruce Pardy discuss some of the ways that the government response to COVID (both in Canada and abroad) revealed the fragility of individual freedom in the face of political power and explore the various reasons that political, legal and civic institutions failed to protect individual liberty in a time of apparent crisis. The conversation explores aspects of the Canadian trucker protest as, in a sense, representative of the wider international and democratic opposition to authoritarian governments. Jonathan and Bruce conclude with some reflections on the centuries-long tendency to “move power around” from one place of authority to another, without questioning the legitimacy of exercising power over others. The conversation concludes with some thoughts about the administrative state, and the manner in which it stands in opposition to accountable government and a robust individual freedom.

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Jonathan talks with John Dalton, Professor of Economics at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, about his book, Creative Destruction, published by Libertarianism.org in 2024. Jonathan and John discuss the work of Joseph Schumpeter, an Austrian economist who popularized the idea of creative destruction, and the important ways that Vienna served as a stimulating backdrop for early theorizing about market dynamism and cultural change. The conversation touches on many important themes central to free societies and competitive markets. They conclude with a consideration of case studies that help to illustrate the concept of creative destruction.

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Jonathan Fortier talks with Don Boudreaux, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, about the legacy of F.A. Hayek. Don provides a quick overview of the background and context of Hayek’s Nobel Prize, the intellectual rivalry with Keynes, and a general survey of Hayek’s important insights and their ramifications for understanding free societies.

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In this episode, Jonathan Fortier talks with Matt Zwolinski about his recent book, The Individualists: Radicals, Reactionaries, and the Struggle for the Soul of Libertarianism (co-authored with John Tomasi, Princeton, 2023). They discuss various approaches to understanding the foundational principles of libertarianism, dominant historical differences in the evolution of libertarian thought, and some future challenges to liberty.

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In this episode, Jonathan Fortier talks with Brook Manville and Josiah Ober about their recent book, The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives (Princeton, 2023). Manville and Ober identify essential qualities for robust democracies, and explore how Ancient Athens, Republican Rome, Parliamentary Britain and the American Founding each struggled to develop and maintain key practices and institutions to preserve their political orders. 

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