When I discovered Kristi Yapp's Substack, "On This Day, Last Year – Six Months of Turbo Cancer", my reaction was something along the lines of "finally! Now we have our Solzhenitsyn!"

Kristi is too modest to accept the comparison, but I think it is apt. We've had mountains of reporting on the effects of the experimental gene therapy for Covid-19, we've seen the excess death numbers, the myocarditis studies, the increased cancer rates. But while all of these facts and numbers tell an important story, they don't touch us in the same way that the intimate details of one person's life do. The statistics don't move us as stories about the suffering, the love, and the spirit, of a single individual do.

"On This Day, Last Year" chronicles the last six months of the life of Kristi's mother, who developed turbo cancer after taking the Covid-19 vaccine. But her account is about much more than the effects of the vaccine. It is a painstakingly detailed accounting – and indictiment – of the inhumanity of institutionalized healthcare. And I believe that it is the kind of writing that is needed now more than ever.

In this interview, I speak with Kristi about her life before her mother's cancer diagnosis, including getting fired from her job because she declined the Covid vaccine. We talk about how she came to write her account; about her mother's powerful spirit, even in her last days; and about how we overcome this inhuman system.

Kristi's Substack, "On This Day, Last Year – Six Months of Turbo Cancer" can be found here.

I speak with Samuel Bornman, author of "Of Wizards and Warriors", the first in a fantasy adventure series written from a Christian perspective, with boys in mind. We talk about what boys need from fiction that they're not getting, some of the problems with modern children's literature, transhumanism and our relationship with technology, and why Samuel has had trouble getting his book into Christian bookstores.

You can find "Of Wizards and Warriors" on Amazon.

Samuel writes on Substack, here.

And if you sign up for his newsletter, here, Samuel will send you a free short story that he has written!

Like most libertarians, The Brownstone Institute's Jeff Tucker has long been a proponent of open borders. So have I. But we both feel that events of the past few years require a more thoughtful response than the standard anti-state-border rhetoric. Including, perhaps, admissions that we've been wrong all along.

Have we?

Jeff and I explore some of the complexities of the current crisis along the southern border of the US, the Texas standoff, and immigration more generally. What's happening at the border goes well beyond what we generally think of as "immigration", and Jeff and I talk about what's behind that, and the ways in which immigrants are being used to further political agendas and disrupt the democratic process. We also talk about ways in which the post-9-11 tightening of immigration restrictions have exacerbated the problem.

I talk a little about my experience living in Japan – a country with strict immigration controls, and a strong, cohesive culture that I don't think many Americans can relate to. And as much as government management of immigration has created problems and allowed for immigration to be weaponized, it's not entirely clear that a stateless society would have the ability to produce or protect cultural cohesion in this way. (Although, to be fair, in most of the world, the state fails at this too.)

SPOILER: We don't come away with any answers. But we both agree that these are questions that need to be wrestled with, and we will continue to wrestle.

Related: My recent conversation with Bob Murphy has some insights on the stateless society that are relevant to this conversation.

"A Paradise for Parents" is not your ordinary assisted-living facility. While the past four years have witnessed elder care descend to what can only be described as abusive levels of isolation and neglect, Hal Cranmer, who heads up "A Paradise for Parents'" five locations in Arizona, does things very differently.

We talk about Hal's approach to giving his elderly residents their best possible lives, including a commitment to dietary and exercise regimes that have helped many to improve both physical and mental health. Hal says they've actually had seven residents go back to their own homes because their conditions improved to the point where they no longer needed supportive care.

We talk about the remarkable effects of a low-carb diet and the promise it holds for those struggling with memory issues, and about Hal's partnership with "A Mind for All Seasons", an organization that is doing groundbreaking work to slow cognitive decline.

We also talk about Hal's recent Twitter spat with former US Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who was not happy to hear that "A Paradise for Parents" was not locking down its residents out of fear of a virus.

The elder-care industry could stand to learn a lot from Hal Cranmer.

Links:

A Paradise for Parents (with the Bohemian Rhapsody parody video).

A Mind for All Seasons.

Apollo Health.

The Bredesen Protocol.

I speak with economist Bob Murphy about what needs to happen in order to heal the deep dysfunction that is healthcare in America. If you think we can "reform" our way out of this mess, you might need to listen to this interview. We unravel the complexities of regulation, the insurance industry, licensing, and what an alternative way might look like.

Bob's book on "surviving the sick-care sinkhole" is here.

The Bob Murphy show is here, and you can find Bob on Twitter here.

My recent episode on medical licensing can be found here, and my September 2021 episode with Keith Smith, of the Surgery Center of Oklahoma, is here.

When newly elected President of Argentina Javier Milei described his anarcho-capitalist position, he referenced economist Bob Murphy's Chaos Theory. So I asked Bob to come on the show and explain to everyone what anarcho capitalism IS.

We cover a lot of ground in this one, discussing how a society could operate with privatized justice, law enforcement, and even defense, and taking on all of the usual objections, from the control of nuclear weaponry to preventing new states from arising. Bob even answers the age-old question: Why should anarcho capitalists move to Somalia?

Prepare to have your perceptions of governance and societal organization challenged.

Bob Murphy is a renowned Austrian economist. His podcast is The Bob Murphy Show, and he is on Twitter. His essays on anarcho-capitalist principles, "Chaos Theory", can be found here and here.

He also speaks about anarcho capitalism here and here.

Hayek's "Law, Legislation, and Liberty" is here.

And the article by Benjamin Powell, "Somalia After State Collapse: Chaos or Improvement?" can be found here.

"Good cops kill Jesus," says Dominic Scarcella, author of "Good Neighbor, Bad Citizen: Reflections on the core social conflict revealed by Jesus Christ's Way of the Cross."

We cover a lot of ground in this interview: Can one be a good neighbor and also a "good citizen"? Or are the two fundamentally at odds? Should Christians put their faith in the authority of the Bible, or religious leaders? Or are they responsible for discerning truth for themselves? When and how did Jesus' church become more aligned with "good citizenship" than with good neighborliness? How does one find a spiritual community that is aligned with the true principles taught by Jesus? And of course... was Jesus an anarchist?

Dom blogs here, and you can find him on Twitter here.

You can find his book, "Good Neighbor, Bad Citizen" at Amazon (paperback), Amazon (Kindle), Barnes & Noble (paperback), Barnes & Noble (ebook), and Lulu (paperback).

It's a fantastic little book, and will make a wonderful Christmas gift for some of the more thoughtful people in your life!

Canadian restaurateur Jesse Johnson had his business taken from him and destroyed by the Candadian government because he refused to discriminate against patrons who had not been vaccinated against Covid-19. The charges against him were later dropped, but the damage had already been done. 

We talk about what happened, what was lost, the reaction of those around him, and the methods the government uses to exert total control over small business owners. We also talk about what's next, including legal action against the government.

What's clear from this story is that we need an awful lot more people like Jesse.

You can read about Jesse's story here, here and here.

And you can keep up with what's going on with him, and with any upcoming legal action - and check out the cool City of Fear posters - at wopizza.ca.

If you think that there's something necessary or good about medical licensing, you might want to tune in to this episode. In it, independent journalist Jeremy R Hammond and I demolish some of the myths around medical licensing. You might be surprised by what you hear.

Jeremy's articles on "Why Medical Licensing Should be Eliminated" can be found here and here.

And here is some of the analysis we referenced:

• Ronald Hamowy, “The Early Development of Medical Licensing Laws in the United States, 1875-1900”, Journal of Libertarian Studies, 1979, . 
• Sue A. Blevins, “The Medical Monopoly: Protecting Consumers or Limiting Competition?” Cato Institute Policy Analysis, December 15, 1995, . 
• Charles H. Baron, “Licensure of Health Care Professionals: The Consumer’s Case for Abolition”, American Journal of Law & Medicine, April 29, 2021, . 
• Jeffrey A. Singer & Richard P. Menger, “The Coronavirus Pandemic Shows the Folly of Medical-Licensing Laws”, National Review, May 29, 2020,

I speak with Jeremy Hammond, independent journalist and author of the book Obstacle to Peace: The US Role in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. We go over some of the history underlying the conflict, untangle some of the myths, and ask the question: When state actors on both sides thrive on continued violence, and are themselves obstacles to peace, is there any hope for peace, and what can ordinary people do to help bring it about?

Jeremy's website is here, and his book can be found here.

His debate with Alan Futerman is here.

The interview with Scott Horton that we mention is here.

The public statement from scholars warning of potential genocide in Gaza is here.