There have been no biographies of President Monroe released in the last 70 years, until now. That's according to his latest biographer, Tim McGrath, whose new book is called "James Monroe: A Life." Monroe, the youngest founding father, was still a teenager when he got caught up in the fervor of revolution. And, he fought for small government protections - like the inclusion of a bill of rights - against the federalists, who sought a stronger U.S. government.

Comments, questions, or suggestions?

Email the host: [email protected]

Email the producer: [email protected]

The American founders struggled to design a government that would be small and would keep the federal government small to achieve the goal of liberty. Given that the plunder class has turned that concept upside down, we wonder if it's possible to do what the founders sought to do. Helping us sort through the issues is Antony Davies, an associate professor of economics at Duquesne University and Mercatus Affiliated Senior Scholar at George Mason University. His primary research interests include econometrics and public policy.

Comments, questions, or suggestions?

Email the host: [email protected]

Email the producer: [email protected]

Anarchy is a word that carries lots of negative connotations. So, instead, consider that we're discussing Agorism and Volunteerism with Bill St. Clair, a man who just wants to, and does, live his life free from infringements on his liberty by government. Yes, they take half his paycheck, but otherwise he feels like a free man, and as he rides his bike around his little town in Vermont doing exactly what he wants, perhaps he is living the dream of small government. Visit his website here.

 

Comments, questions, or suggestions?

Email the host: [email protected]

Email the producer: [email protected]

Transparency is the new rage according to Adam Andrzejewski of OpenBooks.com. But, of course, he's in the transparency business. So, while he may have to fight with bureaucrats and file lawsuits to see the documents they're legally required to produce, eventually, the papers are produced and uploaded to Open Books. We talk about the power of transparency and why we need more of it with Adam on this week's What Divides Us.

 

Comments, questions, or suggestions?

Email the host: [email protected]

Email the producer: [email protected]

The great divide isn't getting narrowed by the shared harrowing experience provided by Covid-19. Instead, it's simply providing new weaponry in the emotional and irrational expression of predetermined narratives guiding the ideological warriors on social media and to a large extent in the big, national media. So says Tom Shattuck, Senior Editor for the Lowell Sun newspaper in the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts.

 

Comments, questions, or suggestions?

Email the host: [email protected]

Email the producer: [email protected]

How will the shutdown of the American economy and normal everyday life move over time? Will people continue to accept the restrictions imposed in response to the Covid-19 virus, or will we grow restless and start to view the imposition of government constriction on once routine behavior as untenable? We discuss with Phil Magness, a Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. Phil is the author of numerous works on economic history, taxation, economic inequality, the history of slavery, and education policy in the United States. His latest column at aier.org is on the virus and is entitled "People Adapt, Thwarting Government Plans."

 

Comments, questions, or suggestions?

Email the host: [email protected]

Email the producer: [email protected]

We borrow from our Connecticut radio show to bring you a unique discussion on the Covid-19 virus from Saturday, March 28 for this week's What Divides Us. Here's how we described it for our WTIC.com website. "We discuss The Blaze today. Not the news site that's part of Glenn Beck's media empire, but the one provided by nature every so often to cause forest regeneration to occur. Producer Mike and I contemplate the idea that because modernity depends on the things that man builds lasting forever, the sense of societal dissatisfaction that we've been experience is, perhaps, begging for moments like this virus and the tsunami it represents to be embraced not resisted. Because it could be, to rediscover our sense of economic destruction that runs so deep that it hurts the rich and the poor - we have to let a chunk of what is fall away so that it can be replaced with the unimagined."

It seems that Americans have never been more energized - and emotional - about politics. But are they behaving as political actors, working to move the political system in a direction of achieving specific policy goals? Or are they rooting for one team over another, their policy awareness being used simply to bash those on the opposing side. We talk to Tufts University political science professor Eitan Hersh about the downside of political hobbyism on this week's What Divides Us. Hersh is the author of a new book, "Politics Is for Power: How to Move Beyond Political Hobbyism, Take Action, and Make Real Change."

 

Comments, questions, or suggestions?

Email the host: [email protected]

Email the producer: [email protected]

Dr. John Huber (mainstreammentalhealth.org) joins the What Divides Us conversation to discuss COVID-19. Dr. Huber is a Clinical Forensic Psychologist, and brings an interesting perspective.

Can a black woman, a lifelong Democrat who has only lived in Harlem, also be a conservative who votes Republican and supports Donald Trump? The answer is yes if she is "Barbara From Harlem," author of the book "Escaping the Racism of Low Expectations." Barbara explains why she believes urban blacks make a mistake voting for Democrats on this week's What Divides Us.

 

Comments, questions, or suggestions?

Email the host: [email protected]

Email the producer: [email protected]