After nearly three years of enlightening conversations, Gerry Baker’s weekly Free Expression podcast is coming to an end. But you can still read his column every week in the Journal and he may even pop up from time to time in other places! 

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Artificial intelligence has gone from science fiction to an everyday reality in a few years. As the technology advances and transforms almost everything we do, the need to understand its potential - and how to harness it - grows by the day. 

On this episode of Free Expression, Gerry Baker speaks with New York University professor Vasant Dhar, author of a new book “Thinking With Machines: The Brave New World of AI”. They discuss the difference between using AI as an effective tool and becoming over reliant on it and ponder how it may more deeply entrench our economic and social divisions.   

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The time of year when we express our gratitude for our many blessings offer an opportunity to reflect on the importance of giving. 

On this episode of Free Expression, Gerry Baker speaks with financier John Studzinski, who shares lessons learned from his own philanthropy in a new book, “A Talent for Giving, Creating a More Generous Society That Benefits Everyone.” They discuss the projects he started to show the difference between philanthropy and charity, why giving can be a currency for change, and what can be done to broaden what he calls the “community of mankind.”

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Once a defining principle of conservative governing economic policy, supply-side economics has taken some political hits in the last decade. The progressive left has always critiqued laissez- faire economics, blaming the pursuit of smaller government, tax cuts, deregulation and open trade for increasing inequality. But now large parts of the right seem to dislike supply-siders too. Populists oppose free trade and favor more government intervention in the economy, and while Donald Trump has achieved big tax cuts in both his terms in office, his signature economic measure is tariffs and he seems eager to expand government's role in the economy, from telling companies what they should be doing with prices to taking stakes in big American firms and directing foreign investment into favored industrial activities.

Have the supply-siders lost?

On this episode of Free Expression, Gerry Baker speaks with Matthew Elliott, member of Britain's House of Lords, and co-author with Arthur Laffer one of the godfathers of supply side economics and Michael Hintze, a London-based hedge fund founder, of a new book “Prosperity Through Growth.” They discuss the case for reviving conservative economic ideas, especially in the U.K., the risks of Trump's tariffs and trade policies, and whether Brexit, which fired the starting gun for populist economics, was a failure.

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How can the U.S. win the new Cold War against its old Cold War adversaries? Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have come to a truce of sorts in their trade war, with the U.S. reducing tariffs and China agreeing not to block vital commodity exports. Russia’s war against Ukraine rages on, with no signs of any negotiated settlement. President Trump seems to prize his relationships with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, but what is the goal for the U.S. in this age of power rivalry? How can the United States maintain a dominant role in geopolitics, while keeping threats from its adversaries at bay? 

On this episode of Free Expression, Gerry Baker speaks with former Ambassador to Russia and professor at Stanford University Michael McFaul, who details how the U.S. will handle these countries in his new book, “Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder.” They also discuss why Russia is a bigger threat than China to the United States and how China wants to wield its influence through the world economy, unlike Vladimir Putin’s campaign of disruption.

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Reports of the death of the Democratic party appear to have been greatly exaggerated. The party made big gains across the country in Tuesday’s off-year elections. The races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia produced wins for Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani fought off a challenge from Trump-endorsed Andrew Cuomo, and Gavin Newsom’s plan for a Democrat-favorable redistricting in California won big. How big are the warning signs for the Republican Party and how do they respond?

On this episode of Free Expression, Gerry Baker speaks with Joel Kotkin, professor of urban studies and expert on the culture and politics of American cities, about why large cities like New York and Chicago are moving further and further left, why affordability is the largest issue to urban voters, the changing nature of racial politics and how Donald Trump and Republicans need to respond. 

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American society has been transformed in the last half century by the entry into the workforce of large numbers of women. Equal gender opportunity has commanded a large consensus for most of that time, but there are some dissenters. Gerry Baker's guest this week on Free Expression is author and commentator Helen Andrews. She's made waves in this month with an article decrying the "Feminization of America" saying the explosion of woke ideas and cancel culture can be directly attributed to the large numbers of women who now work in the law, academia, and the media. Together they discuss the rise of women, its benefits and perils for society and whether it really means the rule of law in America is in peril.

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For most of the last few centuries, advances in scientific understanding have seemed to undermine arguments for the existence of God. Physical phenomena ascribed to a deity have been discovered to have natural explanations.

But some think that recent scientific discoveries have actually strengthened the case for the existence of at least some supernatural original creator. A new book, by Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies, two French authors, argues for a science-based belief in God. On this episode of Free Expression, Gerry Baker speaks with Bolloré, one of the authors of “God, the Science, the Evidence”. They discuss how the Big Bang and the creation of the universe could be the first sign of a creator, how a belief in God is different from having faith, and whether reason can make the case that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.  

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We may be seeing peace break out in the Middle East, but it’s still trade war elsewhere - especially with China. Donald Trump has threatened a 100% tariff on the rival superpower if Beijing goes through with its plan to impose tough restrictions on exports of the rare earth minerals critical to the U.S. economy. These could well be mere negotiating tactics but they’re a reminder of the wider friction that now dominates global economic relations.  

On this episode of Free Expression, Gerry Baker speaks with Neil Shearing, Group Chief Economist of Capital Economics and author of “The Fractured Age: How the Return of Geopolitics Will Splinter the Global Economy.” They discuss Shearing’s argument that the world is dividing into two giant economic blocs and what that might mean for stability and peace. They also talk about some unusual developments in global markets of late, especially a weakening dollar and a soaring gold price - the last of which Shearing believes is driven by Chinese official policy. 

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In America and much of the West, it's become axiomatic to regard colonialism as a stain on human history. The story told in classrooms and popular culture is one of unrelenting exploitation of hapless people of color by white imperialists. And the narrative has contemporary relevance: demands for reparations for the victims of oppression - But is the modern West's history really a litany of crimes against humanity? Should we pay reparations to the victims?

On this episode of Free Expression, Gerry Baker explores these themes with Nigel Biggar, author of “Reparations: Slavery and the Tyranny of Imaginary Guilt.” They discuss Lord Biggar’s experiences in the “culture wars,” the attempts to silence him, and take a critical look at the belief that a debt needs to be paid to the descendants of slaves.  

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