The Reason Roundtable

"I think Obama has been kind of revolutionary [on criminal justice reform] in that he has said things that no other sitting President has ever said before," says Radley Balko, columnist with the Washington Post. "That said, most of the revolutionary aspects of the administration have been about saying things and not necessarily doing things."

Balko writes a column, The Watch, which covers civil liberties and the criminal justice system and he sat down with Reason TV editor in chief, Nick Gillespie in Nashville to talk about progress made in criminal justice reform.

Edited by Paul Detrick. Interview by Nick Gillespie.

In an unbroken chain of best-selling and page-turning thrillers featuring special-ops agent Scot Harvath, Brad Thor has created a fictional universe that reflects our chaotic contemporary world.

No stranger to stirring the political pot, the "conservatarian" author discusses his discussion with Glenn Beck about the hypothetical removal of a President Donald Trump. Thor's #NeverTrump call to action got him in hot water with Sirius XM after a vociferous exchange last May on Glenn Beck's radio show, with some listeners claiming he was talking about assassination (a charge Thor absolutely rebuts in this interview).

His discussion of his early development as as writer is of interest to his many fans. A writer who can turn the Federal Reserve Bank into a nail-biting thriller – as Thor did in Hidden Order – has valuable lessons to share in the arts of espionage and storytelling.

Produced by Todd Krainin. Hosted by Nick Gillespie.

Obamacare may be "standing on the edge of a death spiral" according to Reason Features Editor Peter Suderman.

Health insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are set to rise dramatically in 2017, an average of 25 percent for middle tier coverage options. What does this increase mean for consumers, taxpayers, and the future of the ACA? Reason TV's Nick Gillespie sat down with Suderman to find out.

Produced by Austin Bragg. Interview by Nick Gillespie.

"[James] Madison warned us about devolving into a two-party system," says Utah state senator Mark Madsen. "And we see why now."

Earlier this year, Madsen announced he was leaving the Republican party to become a Libertarian. This came on the heels of a contentious Republic National Convention wherein Donald Trump supporters and party loyalists shouted down members of the Utah delegation who attempted to cast a first ballot for Sen. Ted Cruz. Cruz later gave a speech and received booes from a crowd angry that he declined to endorse Trump (Cruz eventually did give Trump his endorsement). Madsen refers to this ordeal as the "Cleveland experience" and credits it with spurring him to make the switch he'd been pondering for years.

Reason TV sat down with Madsen in the chambers of Utah's capitol building in Salt Lake City to discuss more about what motivated his switch, what he hopes to accomplish as a Libertarian, and what the future of the Republican and Libertarian parties might look like.

"We think things are bad now. Four years from now might be when the Libertarians have to step up and save the nation," says Madsen.

Produced by Zach Weissmueller. Interview by Weissmueller. Music by Doctor Turtle.

"It used to be college was a place for open dialogue and open debate," says Says Cliff Maloney Jr., Executive Director at Young Americans for Liberty (YAL). "But now we find free speech zones, we find unconstitutional policies. And thats our goal with...our national fight for free speech campaign. How do we tackle them? How do we change them and reform them?"

YAL, the non-profit pro-liberty organization that emerged from the 2008 Ron Paul campaign, encourages college students to understand and exercise their constitutional rights. "We try to reach kids with these ideas. We do that through activism. Real events–which college campuses are supposed to be all about–taking ideas to students and having these discussions." Since its founding, YAL has increased chapters from 100 to over 700 nationwide.

Maloney sat down with Reason's Nick Gillespie to talk about YAL, the state of free speech on campus, and his goal of making politics "sexy."

Edited by Alex Manning. Interview by Nick Gillespie.

What's life like for Mike Rowe without a network television show?

Since CNN dropped Somebody's Gotta Do It, Rowe has had his privacy violated by a drone, the former host of Dirty Jobs survived the rumors of his own death swirling about the internet, and in the home stretch of an ugly presidential election, he worries more than ever about unemployment, the skills gap, and a widespread loss of meaning in American life.

Yet Rowe himself remains more popular than ever. Days after Rowe read a letter from his mother detailing how she lost her purse at Wal-Mart, the post went hyperviral. It was seen by over 100 million people – "a third of the country!" he exclaims. "I've never seen anything like it," Rowe tells Reason TV, "I've talked to people at Facebook who said they've never seen anything like it."

Rowe has also found a way to turn C.R.A.P – that's Collectibles, Rare and Precious – into philanthropy. His auction of a swanky Trump Tower bathrobe, signed by The Donald himself, fetched a cool $16,000 on eBay. The money then trickled down from the alleged billionaire to The Mike Rowe Works Foundation, which funds "work ethic scholarships" that provide out-of-luck workers with valuable skills for the modern economy.

Nick Gillespie caught up with Mike Rowe in Nashville, Tennessee to chat about his affection for the Second Amendment, his adventures in podcasting, the 2016 election, the secret to extracting semen from a prize racehorse, and more.

Produced by Todd Krainin. Hosted by Nick Gillespie.