The Reason Roundtable

Will Election 2024 result in an orderly transfer of power—or will the results unleash controversy and chaos that threatens the foundations of our democracy? Before America goes to the polls on November 5, you're invited to join the four hosts of The Reason Roundtable—Reason Magazine's own Nick Gillespie, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and Matt Welch—live from New York City for a no-holds-barred discussion of what this election means for the future of America.

The Reason Roundtable is a rollicking contretemps between these four opinionated journalists as they put their personal "free minds and free markets" filter on the biggest stories of today. During this hour-long live taping of the popular weekly podcast, expect lively roasting and incisive analysis.

This was filmed live in front of a live audience in New York City.

The post Live On Election Eve With The Reason Roundtable! appeared first on Reason.com.

In this week's The Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Peter Suderman convene one week ahead of the election to highlight a few issues where the major-party presidential candidates have significant differences.

01:53—The presidential candidates on tariffs, debt, foreign policy, and education

35:01—Weekly listener question

43:38—Election integrity ahead of next week's election

52:43—This week's cultural recommendations

Mentioned in this podcast:

"How To Avoid Paying Tariffs? Have a Friend in Washington," by Eric Boehm

"Perils of Broad Presidential Power Over Tariffs," by Ilya Somin

"Trump's Destructive Tariff Proposals Will Make Us All Poorer," by J.D. Tuccille

"Where Is Trump's Plan To Cut Spending?" by Eric Boehm

"Trump, Harris Ads Make Clear They Won't Be Cutting Government," by Christian Britschgi

"Democratic Platform Attacks Trump for Not Going to War," by Matthew Petti

"Party of COVID-19 Authoritarianism Improbably Rebrands as 'Party of Freedom'," by Matt Welch

"Show Us Your Votes, Cowards!" by Matt Welch

"How Are Reason Staffers Voting in 2024?"

"American Elections Are a Mess, and They Always Have Been," by Eric Boehm

"Placing Harris and Trump Tax Plans in Historical Context," by Erica York and Nicolo Pastrone

"Why Americans are worried about voter fraud but have faith in their own elections," by Matt Loffman

"Spending is the best measure of the size and scope of government," by Nick Gillespie

"How the World Works Podcast with Nick Gillespie," by Kevin Williamson

"New York abstains, courteously," 1776

1776: Original trailer

Ben Schiller, Coindesk archive

Upcoming Events:

Send your questions to [email protected]. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.

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Audio production by Ian Keyser

The post How Trump and Harris Meaningfully Differ appeared first on Reason.com.

In this week's The Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Nick Gillespie, and Peter Suderman welcome back special guest Stephanie Slade to chat about the latest in polling results and the shape of the electorate two weeks ahead of the presidential election.

02:16—Latest in polling data two weeks out from the presidential election

33:04—Weekly listener question

44:15—Takeaways from Vice President Kamala Harris' interview with Fox News' Bret Baier.

51:23—This week's cultural recommendations

Mentioned in this podcast:

"End Times" by Liz Wolfe

"To Get Through This Election, Get Some Fresh Air" by Joe Lancaster

"How Are Reason Staffers Voting in 2024?"

"Donald Trump and Kamala Harris Keep Making Economically Illiterate Promises" by John Stossel

"Mark Robinson Files Frivolous Lawsuit Against CNN and a Local Musician" by Joe Lancaster

"Will Trump or Harris Win the Working-Class Vote?" by Nick Gillespie

"J.D. Vance Completes Trump's Ideological Takeover of the Republican Party" by Matt Welch

"Patrick Ruffini: Why Blacks and Hispanics Are Turning to Trump" by Nick Gillespie

"Must Libertarians Care About More Than the State?" by Stephanie Slade

"Can Free Markets Win Votes in the New GOP?" by Stephanie Slade

"Is There a Future for Fusionism?" by Stephanie Slade

"Foxy Kamala" by Liz Wolfe

Upcoming Events:

Reason Speakeasy: Musa al-Gharbi, October 24, 2024

Send your questions to [email protected]. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.

Today's sponsors:

Audio production by Ian Keyser

Assistant production by Hunt Beaty

Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve

The post Should We Trust the 2024 Election Polls? appeared first on Reason.com.

In this week's The Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Peter Suderman parse the presidential candidates' latest batch of confounding ideas on tax policy before lamenting their various cringe media appearances over the past week.

05:21—Tax policy proposals

31:44—Weekly listener question

43:38—Candidate cringe media hits

54:18—This week's cultural recommendations

Mentioned in this podcast:

"Trump Panders to Auto Industry, Proposes Making Car Loan Interest Tax Deductible" by Joe Lancaster

"Instead of Vote-Buying Tax Promises, Let's Have Real Plans for Tax Relief" by J.D. Tuccille

"How Much Will the Major Presidential Candidates Steal From You?" by J.D. Tuccille

"Carving Out a Tax Cut Just for Tips Doesn't Make More Sense When Kamala Harris Does It" by Eric Boehm

"Kamala Harris' Plan To Hike Corporate Income Taxes Would Fall on All Americans" by Eric Boehm

"Harris: "Not a thing" she'd have done differently than Biden" by Erin Doherty

"The U.S. Can't Afford To Cut Taxes on Social Security Benefits" by Veronique de Rugy

"Biden and Harris' Record on Spending and Debt Is a Tragedy of Epic Proportion" by Veronique de Rugy

"Where They Stand: The Presidential Candidates on Issues That Matter to Older Americans" by AARP

"Sources of Federal Revenue" by Fiscal Data/Treasury Department

"Vivek Ramaswamy Is Wrong about National Debt: We Can't Grow Our Way Out of Its Ruinous Economic Impact" by Nick Gillespie

"Budget Deficit Hit $1.8 Trillion After Huge Increase in Borrowing Costs" by Eric Boehm

"Trump's Proposals Would Add $5.8 Trillion to the Deficit" by Eric Boehm

"Free the Art! Sell the Art!" by Crispin Sartwell

"How Will Reason Staffers Vote in 2020?"

"Show Us Your Vote!" by Matt Welch

"Neal Stephenson's Past, Present, and Future" by Mike Godwin

"Neal Stephenson Wants To Tell Big Stories" by Tyler Cowen

"Tyler Cowen's Stubborn Attachments To Freedom and Prosperity" by Nick Gillespie

"My biggest concern remains the carburetor-eating" by IowaHawkBlog

The tower has caught the rocket!!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 13, 2024

Upcoming Events:

Reason Speakeasy: Musa al-Gharbi, October 24, 2024

Send your questions to [email protected]. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.

Today's sponsors:

Audio production by Ian Keyser

Assistant production by Hunt Beaty

Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve

The post Harris and Trump's Terrible Tax Ideas appeared first on Reason.com.

In this week's The Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Peter Suderman reflect on last year's October 7 terrorist attack in Israel and the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Helene across the southeastern United States.

02:27—October 7, one year on

20:07—Hurricane Helene aftermath

35:41—Weekly listener question

43:25—Last week's vice presidential debate

53:08—This week's cultural recommendations

Mentioned in this podcast:

"A Year Since the Massacre" by Liz Wolfe

"October 7 Offered a Stark Choice Between Good and Evil" by J.D. Tuccille

"Ayatollah's Antagonism" by Liz Wolfe

"U.S.-Funded Armies Fight Each Other In Lebanon" by Matthew Petti

"What If the U.S. Cuts Off Aid to Israel?" by Matt Welch

"Washington Worsened Hurricane Helene's Destruction" by Jack Nicastro

"After the War" by Matt Welch

"Contra J.D. Vance and Tim Walz, Housing Should Be a 'Commodity,'" by Christian Britscghi

"At V.P. Debate, J.D. Vance and Tim Walz Scapegoat Immigrants, 'Corporate Speculators' for High Housing Costs" by Christian Britschgi

"The Coming Vindication of the Double-Haters" by Katherine Mangu-Ward

"Joker: Folie à Deux* Is a Miserable Musical Slog" by Peter Suderman

"The Government Monopoly on Donated Kidneys Is Killing Americans" by Eric Boehm

Upcoming Events:

Reason Speakeasy: Musa al-Gharbi, October 24, 2024

Send your questions to [email protected]. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.

Today's sponsors:

Audio production by Ian Keyser

Assistant production by Hunt Beaty

Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve

The post Why Federal Disaster Relief Is a Disaster appeared first on Reason.com.

In this week's The Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Peter Suderman gawk at the amusing circumstances surrounding the federal indictment of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, before discussing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's recent in-person visits with both presidential candidates.

02:25—New York City Mayor Eric Adams indicted in a federal corruption investigation

21:58—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump

35:46—Weekly listener question

49:27—This week's cultural recommendations

Mentioned in this podcast:

"Turkish Delight" by Liz Wolfe

"Could Eric Adams' Corruption Charges Sink His Signature Zoning Reform?" by Christian Britschgi

"The "Migrant Crisis" is Caused by Flawed Work and Housing Policies, not Migrants" by Ilya Somin

"NYC Mayoral Frontrunner Eric Adams Talks Conspiratorial Nonsense About 'Voter Suppression,'" by Matt Welch

"Port Authoritarians" by Jim Epstein

"You take someone on heroin, put them in one room, and someone hooked on cheese, put 'em in another room, and you take it away, I challenge you to tell me the person who's hooked on heroin and who's hooked on cheese." New York City Mayor Eric Adams

"NYC paid millions for unnecessary migrant services, comptroller's report says" by Marcia Kramer

"'Vegan' Mayor Eric Adams Under Fire for Repeatedly Ordering Fish at NYC Restaurants" by Luke Fortney

"NYC Mayor Adams' Approval Hit Bottom Even Before Scandal" by Katarina Buchholz

"The War in Ukraine Is Already Over—Russia Just Doesn't Know it Yet" by Paul Schwennesen

"Ukraine Is Safer If It Stays Out of NATO" by Paul Schwennesen

"What If the U.S. Cuts Off Aid to Israel?" by Matt Welch

"Send in the Estonians?" by Liz Wolfe

"U.S. Defense Spending Continues To Spiral Out of Control" by Varad Raingoankar

"What if America Runs Out of Bombs?" by Matthew Petti

"After the War" by Matt Welch

"Rents Fall and Listings Increase After Javier Milei Ends Rent Control In Argentina" by Katarina Hall

"Helen Fisher on COVID's Sexless Summer" by Nick Gillespie

"Dr. Helen Fisher on How Brain Chemistry Determines Personality and Politics" by Ian Keyser

"Helen Fisher, Who Researched the Brain's Love Circuitry, Dies at 79" by Richard Sandomir

Upcoming Events:

Reason Speakeasy: Musa al-Gharbi October 24, 2024

Send your questions to [email protected]. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.

Today's sponsors:

Audio production by Ian Keyser

Assistant production by Hunt Beaty

Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve

The post Eric Adams and New York City's Corruption Problem appeared first on Reason.com.

Hey, Reason Roundtable listeners, we've got a special bonus episode for your Friday afternoon this week!

Why are prescription drugs so expensive in the United States?

"Drug prices in this country are so high because there is zero transparency in the system, and when there's zero transparency in a market, there is no way for it to be efficient," says Mark Cuban, the serial entrepreneur, investor on Shark Tank, and guest on the first episode of the second season of Why We Can't Have Nice Things. 

When a market is inefficient, adds Cuban, "people learn very quickly how to take advantage of those inefficiencies to their own profit, and that's exactly what's happened in the health care and pharmacy side."

Cuban is trying to do something about the lack of transparency in the prescription drug market. In 2022, he launched CostPlusDrugs.com, a website that offers low prices and direct shipping for hundreds of pharmaceuticals and generics. By showing their markup—a standard 15 percent on everything—and encouraging consumers to make their purchases without going through insurance plans, Cuban's project is attempting to inject a bit of capitalism into a health care market that sorely needs it.

It's the perfect story to kick off the new season of Why We Can't Have Nice Things, which focuses on how bad regulations and anticompetitive rules are making Americans poorer and sicker. Over the next six weeks, this limited-run Reason podcast series will dive into some of the acute problems with the American health care system, examining how poor policy making is keeping doctors from treating patients and blocking patients from getting needed treatment.

The lack of transparency in drug pricing is one of those problems. Price signals are essential to a functioning market—but the prescription drug market seems designed to hide those signals as much as possible.

The result is higher prices for everyone. For a lot of Americans, those prices are a source of economic hardship. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 21 percent of adults say they have not filled a prescription because of the cost. Meanwhile, about one in 10 adults say they have cut pills in half or skipped doses of medicine in the last year because of the cost.

Cuban's newest venture could be part of the solution. A Vanderbilt University Medical Center study published last year found that the federal government could save taxpayers up to $2.15 billion annually if insurers operating in the Medicare prescription drug plans purchased seven generic oncology drugs at the prices obtained by Cost Plus Drugs.

More transparent pricing would have a bigger impact if more Americans were in control of their own health care spending, argues Michael Cannon, the director of health policy for the Cato Institute.

"You can show them the prices, but they're not going to care unless it's their money on the line," Cannon says. Unfortunately, close to 90 percent of all health care spending in the United States comes from the government or from private insurance companies, leaving individuals with little influence.

"As a result, we get a health sector that doesn't serve the needs of consumers and patients," says Cannon. "We get a health sector that serves the needs of employers and of the government and whoever controls the government, which ends up being the health care industry."

Written by Eric Boehm; produced and edited by Hunt Beaty; fact-checking by Anthony Wallace.

The post Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Can Mark Cuban Make Prescriptions Affordable Again? appeared first on Reason.com.

In this week's The Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Nick Gillespie, Peter Suderman, and special guest Elizabeth Nolan Brown unpack the charges and implications of the federal sex trafficking case against Sean "Diddy" Combs.

01:45—Sean "Diddy" Combs faces federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges

17:13—CNN unearths North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson's lurid posts on a porn message board

29:49—Weekly listener question

38:09—Government shutdown looms yet again

41:12—Oprah Winfrey interviews Vice President Kamala Harris

56:12—This week's cultural recommendations

Mentioned in this podcast:

"Decoding the Sex Trafficking Case Against Sean 'Diddy' Combs" by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

"Remembering the Mann Act or, How Prostitution Killed the Constitution" by Nick Gillespie

"Sex Slaves and the Surveillance State" by Thaddeus Russell

"Congress 'Can Regulate Virtually Everything,'" by Jacob Sullum

"Backpage's Michael Lacey Gets 5-Year Sentence" by Liz Wolfe

"The War on Sex Trafficking Is the New War on Drugs" by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

"Kamala Harris Is a Cop Who Wants To Be President" by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

"'Yeah, I'm a "Perv" Too!'" by Eric Boehm

Mark Robinson: 'There is no separation of church and state.'

"The GOP's Long Love Affair with Schmucks" by Nick Gillespie

"The 2024 GOP Platform Barely Mentions Gun Rights" by Jacob Sullum

"Neither Harris Nor Her Party Perceives Any Constitutional Constraints on Gun Control" by Jacob Sullum

"Donald Trump Tax Plan and Ideas: Details and Analysis" by Tax Foundation

"Kamala Harris Tax Plan and Ideas: Details and Analysis" by Tax Foundation

"Flip-Flopping Toward Freedom?" by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

"Trump Dodged My Question About the Federal Debt" by Nick Gillespie

"Kamala Harris Is Not an Ideas Candidate" by Christian Britschgi

"Trump Dodged My Question about the Federal Debt" by Nick Gillespie

"Why Did Americans Stop Caring about the National Debt?" by Brian Riedl

"An Evening with Richard Dawkins: The Final Bow Tour"

"How the War of 1812 Eroded U.S. Liberalism" by Sheldon Richman

Upcoming Events:

Send your questions to [email protected]. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.

Today's sponsors:

Audio production by Ian Keyser

Assistant production by Hunt Beaty

Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve

The post Get Your Gross Sex Out of My Sick Politics! appeared first on Reason.com.

In this week's The Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Peter Suderman puzzle over the second assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, and the recent nonsensical claims that Haitians are eating cats in Ohio.

03:15—Second assassination attempt on Trump

13:30—Claims of Haitians eating cats in Ohio

36:40—Weekly listener question

45:51—Last week's presidential debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris

52:15—This week's cultural recommendations

Mentioned in this podcast:

"Another Would-Be Assassin Targets Trump" by Robby Soave

"Prediction: 2024 Will See Deadly Political Violence in the Streets" by Matt Welch

"Trump Rambles About Immigrants Eating Pets, Forgets To Challenge Kamala Harris" by Joe Lancaster

"J.D. Vance Says It Does Not Matter Whether 'Rumors' of Pet-Eating Migrants Are True" by Jacob Sullum

"The Trump-Harris Debate Featured Two Incumbents Afraid To Discuss Their Own Records" by Eric Boehm

"At the Presidential Debate, Trump Again Falsely Claimed Crime Is Rising" by C.J. Ciaramella

"Trump Takes the Bait" by Christian Britschgi

"ABC's Moderators Failed to Fact-Check Kamala Harris" by Robby Soave

"Presidential Blowup" by Nick Gillespie

"Death of the Duopoly" by Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie

"Has the GOP Lost Its Mind Over Donald Trump and Election Fraud?" by Nick Gillespie

"When Biden's 'Bubble Wrap' Burst" by Matt Welch

"Trump Threatens ABC's Broadcast License After Rocky Debate Performance" by Emma Camp

'As Libertarians, we condemn the use of force…' by Chase Oliver

"Why Thousands of Haitians Have Settled in Springfield, Ohio" by Miriam Jordan

"How an Ohio Town Landed in the Middle of the Immigration Debate" by Miriam Jordan

"Remy: Trump vs. Harris Debate Song (I Don't Care Parody)" by Remy

"First Private Spacewalk" by Peter Suderman

Upcoming Events:

Nick Gillespie Interviews Richard Dawkins, September 20, Milwaukee

Send your questions to [email protected]. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.

Today's sponsors:

Audio production by Ian Keyser

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Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve

The post Why Do They Keep Shooting at Donald Trump? appeared first on Reason.com.

In this week's The Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Peter Suderman discuss the Justice Department's press release on Russian "government-directed foreign malign influence campaigns" and reveal which questions they would ask Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in tomorrow's presidential debate.

02:34—Russian "government-directed foreign malign influence campaigns"

22:19—What would the editors ask candidates at the presidential debate?

40:06—Weekly Listener Question

45:58—Hunter Biden pleads guilty

48:10—This week's cultural recommendations

Send your questions to [email protected]. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.

Mentioned in this podcast:

"Russian Influence Operation Allegedly Funded American Media Stars," by Liz Wolfe

"Why You Shouldn't Fret Much Over Russian Election Interference," by J.D. Tuccille

"From Nazi Propaganda to the Pee Dossier, FARA Targets Alien Influence on U.S. Politics," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

"Study: Russian Twitter Trolls Did Not Throw the 2016 Election to Trump," by Robby Soave

"Hillary Clinton, Not Donald Trump or Cambridge Analytica, Is Gaslighting America," by Nick Gillespie

"Leave U.S. Steel Alone," by Eric Boehm

"Why Trump's Child Care Policy Incoherence Matters," by Eric Boehm

"In Defense of Roe," by Nick Gillespie

"Kamala Harris Can't Stick to Her Story," by Liz Wolfe

"Trump and Harris' Economic Plans Are Depressingly Similar," by Veronique de Rugy

"Kamala Harris' Affordability Agenda Is a Good Idea Backed by Terrible Policies," by Peter Suderman

"Kamala Harris' 'Price Gouging' Ban: A New Idea That Has Failed for Thousands of Years," by Jacob Sullum

"Americans' Support for Tariffs Plummets When They See Prices Rise," by Veronique de Rugy

"Trade, Public Opinion, and Political Ignorance," by Ilya Somin

"Eric Boehm: How Protectionist Trade Policies Screw Us All," by Nick Gillespie

"The Free Trade Dream of the '90s Is Dead," by Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and Nick Gillespie

"Survey: 63 Percent of Americans Support Free Trade. Why Don't Our Politicians?" by Joe Lancaster

"'Too Much Law' Gives Prosecutors Enormous Power To Ruin People's Lives," by Jacob Sullum

"Andy Warhol—From A to B and Back Again," by Nick Gillespie

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Audio production by Ian Keyser; assistant production by Hunt Beaty.

Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve

The post What Libertarians Would Ask Trump and Harris at the Debate appeared first on Reason.com.