This week I am joined by Logan Albright, author of "Our Servants, Our Masters" for a discussion about public service. Albright argues that we place too much valor in roles where power is being exerted over others in the name of service. We have a healthy debate and get into his thesis. Then Fiona Harrigan gets us up to speed on the happenings with Iran. Her new article "The US is not committed to de-escalation with Iran" is out now in The Detroit News.

Jerrod Laber and Zachary Yost join Underscored to review the contents of the Washington Post report on Afghanistan, and the US government's effort to cover-up the failure of the 18-year war.

We are all canceled! That is the takeaway from this weeks episode of Underscored. Former President Obama dipped his foot into the culture war to critique cancel culture, now the left is deriding him with 'OK Boomer'. Dave Chapelle continues his weird ascendancy into the conservative bubble as an anti-PC comic and the FDA is moving against vaping. Brian Ericson and Shaun Cammack of Young Voices join the podcast to get into it.

We need to have a talk, about national conservatism and libertarianism. Populist politics and skepticism on the merits of unencumbered free-market thought has become a flashpoint in a tepid alliance between conservatives and libertarians against the political left. In the age of Trump, the alliance is broken. To talk over this and the road forward, Ross Marchand, Daniel Di Martino ad Alex Muresianu join the podcast.

Welcome back to Underscored! Political writers Shaun Cammack and Haley Smith join the podcast to review the weeks news: Climate strikes, Greta Thunberg at the UN, impeachment begins and Andrew Yang's steady rise.

This week on Underscored, Stephen Kent gets into the weeds of Section 230 with Rob Winterton, amidst growing calls for amendments to the old communications law. Rob sheds some light on the threats to home-sharing services like Airbnb from hotel industry lobbyists if Section 230 undergoes changes.  Then, Abigail Narbe drops by to talk about her recent piece in FEE. It lays out the cost of regulations on the economy and innovation.

This week the Trump administration moved to make minor changes to the legal process of citizenship for children of service members who are born abroad. The response was fast and furious. Then 24 hours later, cooler heads prevailed. Natalie Dowzicky of Young Voices and Libertarianism.org joins to talk about the details here + news that Trump will keep troops in Afghanistan.

Today on Underscored, Stephen Kent interviews Abdulsamod Balogun of Young Voices' Agora Fellowship. He wrote in Business Insider (Sub-Saharan Africa edition) on the struggle to save Nigeria's troubled democracy. 

Abdulsamod Balogun is an African Liberty Writing Fellow, National Coordinator at Student for Liberty Gambia, and Communications Officer at Social Good Lagos. He is excited about discussions in leadership and economic freedom.

Next up in the podcasts taped at FreedomFest 2019 in Las Vegas, Dave Sussman joins Underscored. Dave is the host of Whiskey Politics, a contributor to Ricochet.com and a host with America's Voice News. Stephen Kent and Dave met one morning to talk about Dave's path to new media and how he thinks young people can get ahead in this space.

Social media companies are fighting on all front now with Democrats and Republicans united in the quest to curb their growth and influence. The GOP mostly sees a freedom of speech problem, the Democrats see a privacy and monopoly issue. Then there's the #FightFor15, which has gone totally mainstream in Democratic politics. Would a federal raise be good for all Americans?