The Reason Roundtable

On November 3, Reason magazine Editor in Chief Katherine Mangu-Ward and I debated Vivek Chibber and Bhaskar Sunkara of Jacobin magazine in New York City.

The proposition under discussion was "Is capitalism the best way to improve standards of living, ensure political and economic freedom, and provide opportunity? Could socialism do better?"

The event was held in Cooper Union's Great Hall—a historic venue perhaps most famous for Abraham Lincoln's famous anti-slavery speech—and the debate was moderated by New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg.

About 900 people were in attendance—and almost all of them were hostile to capitalism and Reason's arguments in favor of "free minds and free markets." At least that's the way it seemed sometimes from the stage.

Since sexual assault and harassment charges have come to light against film mogul Harvey Weinstein, there's been an outpouring of other, similar charges against male entertainment figures, journalists and politicians. Most recently, comedian Louis C.K. has admitted to masturbating in front on non-consenting women and Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore has been accused of sexual improprieties with a 14 year old girl back in the 1980s.

And at least since the outing of Bill Cosby as an alleged serial predator, the dismissal of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, and the Donald Trump tape where he brags about grabbing women by the genitals, sexual harassment has been a major topic of conversation.

Is what's happening the purging of the last vestiges of the old patriarchy? Or is it a long-delayed equalizing of the sexes that has barely gotten started? And is there a risk that a new puritanism will arise that essentially criminalizes workplace banter and romance?

To discuss all this and more, Nick Gillespie talks with Cathy Young, a contributing editor to Reason and a columnist for Newsday. She's been writing about gender since the 1990s and is the author of the essential book, Cease Fire: Why Women and Men Must Join Forces to Achieve True Equality.

After Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was assaulted by his neighbor while mowing the lawn, a surprising number of commentators have implied that he probably had it coming. In today's podcast, Reason's Matt Welch, Nick Gillespie, and Katherine Mangu-Ward discuss the ire some mainstream pundits have for libertarians.

They also talk about what Tuesday's Democratic sweep means for Trump, Donna Brazile's tell-all book about Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, and the debate over background checks following Sunday's mass shooting in Texas.

In 2006, when Egypt was ruled by strongman Hosni Mubarak, then 22-year-old Cynthia Farahat co-founded the Liberal Egyptian Party, the first secular, classical liberal political party in the country's modern history.

Reason's Justin Monticello spoke with Farahat about her mission to bring a true political alternative to the region, why she vociferously advocates for the Muslim Brotherhood to be labeled a terrorist organization, how Coptic Christians in Egypt are persecuted and blamed for American foreign policy, and why she believes people across the Middle East are hungry for civil liberties and free markets.

Produced by Justin Monticello. Cameras by Meredith Bragg and Zach Weissmueller. Music by Silent Partner.

As the former chief economist for The New York Stock Exchange, a longtime economics editor at Barron's, and author of Econospinning: How to Read Between the Lines When the Media Manipulate the Numbers, Gene Epstein has been locked in an intellectual battle with Keynesians and big-government conservatives for decades.

He remains a fixture of the New York libertarian scene as the co-founder and moderator of the Soho Forum, a monthly debate series designed to hash out pressing issues among libertarians and their ideological opponents on the left and the right. A devotee of the Austrian School of economics who has called Murray Rothbard his "intellectual mentor," Epstein is also an associate of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama.

Reason's Nick Gillespie spoke with Epstein about the curious lack of inflation (so far), why he thinks Donald Trump is a "lunatic" on free trade, how military spending is ruinous to the economy, possible solutions for native workers displaced by immigrants, and whether the general public is more economically literate than in generations past.

On Sunday, November 5, a man identified as 26-year-old Devin Kelley opened fire in a church outside of San Antonio, Texas, killing 26 people and wounding at least another 20. Reason's Nick Gillespie speaks with Robert VerBruggen, the deputy managing editor of National Review and a gun-policy analyst, about what can be done to reduce mass shootings without eviscerating the Second Amendment.

In this new podcast they discuss the changing nature of mass shootings, whether an armed society is actually a safer one, how Kelley was able to obtain guns despite being flagged for domestic abuse and a bad-conduct discharge from the military, and what policies can be put in place to limit mass shootings.

This week Congress began hearings on Russian hackers and trolls' effects on the 2016 election. Meanwhile, Donna Brazille described how the Hillary Clinton campaign took over the Democratic Party from the inside. On today's podcast, Reason's Katherine Mangu-Ward, Matt Welch, and Nick Gillespie discuss the extent of Russia's tampering with American politics and the shadowy threats that don't boil down to paid advertisements and memes.

They also talk about the Republican tax plan, President Nicolas Maduro's stealthy empanada eating as Venezuela starves, authoritarian responses to the latest terror attack in New York City, and (in preparation for a debate Gillespie and Mangu-Ward are participating in) the best argument against capitalism.

The conversation was moderated by Andrew Heaton.

Reason's Nick Gillespie sat down with Caitlin Long, one of Inc. magazine's "10 business leaders changing the world through tech," a former managing director at Morgan Stanley, and the current president of Symbiont, which is bringing blockchain technology to Wall Street.

Interview edited by Mark McDaniel. Introduction edited by Jim Epstein.

"Modum" by Kai Engel is licensed under Creative Commons.

Is former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort the first domino to fall, or just a garden variety money launderer? On today's podcast, Reason's Katherine Mangu-Ward, Matt Welch, and Peter Suderman discuss the ramifications for Donald Trump and the White House.

They also talk about what Senator Jeff Flake's (R-Ariz.) departure will mean for the GOP, the unforeseen consequences of paid family leave, and the best policies to solve the opioid crisis. Finally, where to avoid cocktail parties in the nation's capital. The conversation was moderated by Andrew Heaton.

George Hotz, known online as GeoHot, became one of the world's most famous hackers at 17 when he was the first person to break into the iPhone and reconfigure it to be compatible with providers other than AT&T. He was also the first to jailbreak the PlayStation 3, allowing users to play with unauthorized software.

Now this 28-year-old technical wunderkind is up against Waymo, Tesla, Uber, and most of the auto industry in the race to build the first fully operational autonomous vehicle.

Produced by Justin Monticello. Music by Grégoire Lourme, StrangeZero, Jingle Punks, Topher Mohr and Alex Elena, el_vis, and Elettroliti.