Continuing our "what is?" series we ask the question: What is a recession? With all the talk about whether the US is heading for a recession it would be good to know just what exactly that is? Is it a bad thing? Are there benefits to a recession? How does a recession relate to the business cycle? All this and more...

On this first Motivational Monday of the year (in May) Mr. Palumbo has a message for parents fighting the good fight. Life is about expectations, consequences and merit. Because of this all parents should place expectations on their kids and there should also be consequences in relation to breaking those expectations. Why? Because that's how life works. If your child (especially teenager) hates you or thinks you're the worst...that probably means you're doing something right. A parent's job is to parent not be a hip, cool friend. 

On a special Friday episode we continue our analysis into the First Amendment and the importance of free speech with a look at Freedom of the Press. What do we do about crazy stories, lies and rogue journalism? According to Alexis de Tocqueville....nothing! That and much more check it out.

What is free speech and why is it so important to a free society? Your favorite obscure social studies teacher comes with a soapbox a littler larger than normal on this episode of the Professor Liberty Podcast as we continue to learn about the first amendment to the Bill of Rights.  

Because Russia and Ukraine keep pushing this series to the side, Mr. Palumbo will address a question he received about sanctions, but then undeterred, he jumps right into the first component of the Bill of Rights, freedom of religion. Enjoy!

Why did Russian invade Ukraine? Putin claims it's NATO's provoked expansion. What is NATO? Continuing the "what is?" series Mr. Palumbo attempts to give some historical context to what is happening in Ukraine. 

How do you give just enough power to a central government that allows it to properly function without sacrificing liberty? That was the question the Framers of the Constitution struggled with in 1787. Ultimately its through compromise between the two major groups that brought us what we now call the Bill of Rights. 

When asked to raise their hand if they know the name Hitler, the entire class raises its hand. When asked to do the same if they know the name Stalin, only a few raise their hand. Why does everyone know who Hitler is, but no one knows who Stalin is? Especially since Stalin killed at least 5X more people? Don't even bring up the heavyweight Champ of mass murder Chairman Mao who's death toll is more than 10X Hitler. Why aren't all ruthless dictators treated equally? Mr. Palumbo attempts to answer that and more.

We deep dive into political philosophy today as Mr. Palumbo asks the question do humans yearn for freedom or security? 

In this first episode of the new year our favorite obscure social studies teacher discusses some similarities between WWI and WWII. One of those similarities was the use of Propaganda. What is propaganda? How can we identify whether the information we're receiving is propaganda? All this and more on today's show.