With help from William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, we examine the ominous parallels between the early days of Nazi Germany and America's own creeping totalitarianism.

In this conversation I talk to Senator Nancy Barto, a longtime state legislator in Arizona. We discuss what the job of a state legislator is, why so few people are even aware of our democratic institutions, and the state of politics in the Grand Canyon State.

I sat down with Jeff Taylor to discuss prison reform efforts in Arizona as well as his own harrowing experience in "the system".

While serving as Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, Rusty Bowers found himself at the center of a high-stakes political drama for his decision to hold firm against President Trump and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's pressure to decertify Joe Biden's election victory in Arizona in 2020. We discuss those events and more in this episode.

Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all trace their lineage to the same prophet, Abraham, and share many of the same beliefs and practices. Why, then, has Islam been left out of what should be a tripartite alliance on many of the issues facing the world? I make the case for a renewed effort to unite these three religions by building new institutions that reflect their shared heritage and philosophy in order to make a better world.

Books referenced:

Destiny Disrupted: The World Through Islamic Eyes by Tamim Ansary

Islam: A Short History by Karen Armstrong

In this conversation with Dr. Richard Harris, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Rutgers University, we discuss the upcoming presidential election, the political realignment we're now witnessing, and freedom of speech in the midst of the war in Israel and Gaza.

Arrow's Paradox: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow%27s_impossibility_theorem#:~:text=Say%20there%20are%20three%20choices,A%20and%20C%20to%20B.

Our political representatives have increasingly lost the courage to make unpopular votes, even when it's the right thing to do. Under pressure from forces seen and unseen, they're in need of a new institution that can help them expose what's wrong and what's right in pending legislation. They need Devil's Advocates.

What does the rapid loss of difference and asymmetry in the world portend for us? Does enforced conformity and uniformity clear a path for dangerous contagions to spread unimpeded? We discuss.

America's military and foreign policy elites destroyed one of the greatest intellectuals and patriots of the 20th century. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer forces us to reexamine that time period and its implications for freedom of speech in America and our role as the leading superpower.

Double-Slit Experiment explainer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1YqgPAtzho

More In Common's Hidden Tribes study reveals that at least 26% of the voting-eligible population in America is completely up for grabs, and that as much as 67% could be persuaded by a compelling candidate on either side of the political aisle. But for the last several decades, few presidential candidates have been able to get through to either group, and none of have won the White House.

We discuss how a presidential candidate could activate millions of inactive voters to create a landslide coalition, and whether RFK Jr. or another candidate is best equipped to speak directly to them.

Hidden Tribes Report:

https://hiddentribes.us/

George Kearney's United States of Apathy map:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-05/mapping-the-effects-of-voter-turnout-in-u-s-elections