Three Right Turns

The Post Office is under attack during a time where we may need it the most. A.Ron explores the validity of claims by Trump that our elections are rigged, and that mail in voting is particularly susceptible to fraud, and discusses what we can do to keep our elections democratic, safe, and fair. Then Nova Reid joins the podcast to discuss her work on anti-racist education and race relations in the UK.

Lots of people asked me what I though about the Letter on Justice and Open Debate in Harper's Magazine, the signatories of which is a who's who of famous authors, academics, and intellectuals. Well, I had a lot of thoughts. We examine the phenomenon of "cancel culture" through a historical lens, before looking into the details of two recent examples of attempted cancellations; Lin Manuel Miranda and "Hamilton", and Nick Cannon's controversial comments on a recent podcast.

It's high time for another feedback episode! Listeners chime in on questions, comments, and concerns regarding how to talk with your conservative friends and families, BLM, billionaires, blaxit, and more.

A.Ron attempts to distill what he's learned about how, when, and why people change their minds about deeply held beliefs and how you can arrive at the truth of a thing using formative experiences from his past and tortured video game metaphor.

Joining me this week is Caleb, the producer of the podcast "A Shot of Truth", and proprietor of http://Sudo.Science. Caleb will be talking about his personal political journey, which mirrors much of my own, but that has led to him finding answers in Libertarian tenets.

JK Rowling published a controversial essay last week that some labeled transphobic while others hailed as a a well reasoned defense of women's rights. There is a movement among feminists that want to push back against what they consider radical redefinition of sex and gender. They call their movement "gender critical", while their opponents label them "TERFs", trans exclusionary radical feminists. A.Ron has on Nat from the UK to debate the merits of the gender critical movement and more.

Every few months/years, cops beat or kill unarmed Americans, at far higher rates than our partners and allies in developed countries. While this is cause by itself for question and reform, the data also says that black men are at a particularly high risk. Are American cops using unnecessary violence and brutality or are there just a few bad apples making shaky calls in extreme situations? Are our police forces beholden to systemic racism or worse? If so, what do you do about it? Who watches the watchmen?

This week, A.Ron and Corey from the Moving Forward Podcast talk about Andrew Yang's Universal Basic Income proposal from a progressive point of view. Is $1000/month UBI a good deal for the working class, or are they taking pennies on the dollar, and if so, who's got a better idea? But first, A.Ron spends a couple minutes talking about the nationwide protests over the murder of George Floyd; why they are happening, what can make things better, and how you can help the victims of police brutality be heard.

A.Ron recently had a long conversation with Neoliberal at large Bastiat! Bastiat is a sharp guy with a lot to say, and this was a fun and interesting back and forth that ranges everywhere from Charles Dickens and public executions to Eastern Bloc abortion bans. If you want more Bastiat, check out his Twitch Channel and follow him on Twitter! You can also say hello to his community over on Discord. Check out A.Ron's post discussion performance review for this podcast on Swizzbold's YouTube channel.

Forever voting for the lesser of two evils sucks. So why not vote third party? A.Ron uses an animal kingdom framework developed in a video by CGP Grey to explain why third parties struggle to get off the ground in America, and discusses strategies of how we can change the system to allow us to vote for a candidate that actually represents us and allow third parties the chance to flourish.