The Reason Roundtable

One of the most amazing aspects of the 2020 presidential race is that virtually all candidates, including President Donald Trump, have indicated they favor letting individual states decide the legal status of marijuana. That position was unthinkable even a few years ago, Reason Senior Editor Jacob Sullum tells Nick Gillespie in the latest Reason Podcast.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.) is engaging in some mildly awkward conversations about being a millionaire while constantly seeking to soak the rich. Which on this Tax Day, is kind of hilarious, so it's how we start this week's Editors' Roundtable edition of the Reason Podcast, featuring Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, Peter Suderman, and Matt Welch.

The gang talks this year's tax-refund confusions, Democrats' fuzzy tax math, Uncle Milty's greatest #fail, presidential-candidate tax disclosures, and more.

In a special episode of the Reason Podcast, we drink and we know things.

On Sunday night at 9 p.m., Game of Thrones returns to HBO. And here at Reason, we are ready.

Join Reason editors Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and Robby Soave as we rip apart the first seven seasons of Game of Thrones like a hungry baby dragon snacking on a sheep. In this very special episode of the podcast, Reason's resident draconologists ask what Game of Thrones teaches us about political power.

Robby Soave reveals why he's a Daenerys hater, Peter Suderman has some ideas about fiscal discipline in Westeros, and I get excited about what's for dinner in King's Landing. We also shamefully give in to the temptation to draw parallels between 2020 American politics and a quasi-medieval fantasy world invented by George R.R. Martin in the 1990s. What does their wall in the North mean for our wall in the South? Is Pete Buttigieg actually Peter Baelish? Are the white walkers global warming? And does Varys have an office on K Street?

In the end, we drink, we know things, and all agree that we're moving to Braavos.

The Columbia University linguist discusses the Jussie Smollett hoax, Donald Trump, and "antiracism" as a new secular religion.

As Trump cracks down yet again, Reason's editors disagree over labeling in immigration policy.

Reason editors debate the phrases "open borders," "military-industrial complex," and more.

In Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society, Nicholas Christakis says our common humanity outweighs divisive tribalism.

Allison Schrager's An Economist Walks Into a Brothel demystifies sex work, big-wave surfing, horse-breeding, and other high-risk professions.

The Reason Editors' Roundtable takes aim at the poor policy career of Joe Biden, the calamitous Donald Trump idea to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border, and Mark Zuckerburg's transparent attempt to cement his market share through regulation.

Audio production by Ian Keyser.

Music credit: 'Viva Mexico - Viva America' by Pedro Galindo; El Mariachi Tapatio Marmolejo