Benjamin Studebaker of Camrbridge University joins us to discuss how austerity contributed to Great Britain's decline in the 1800s, and what the US can learn as we choose between tax hikes and budget cuts to address our fiscal state.

The idea a country can take out all the debt it wants and not go into default sounds like eating donuts to six pack abs, but it's one of the tenets of Modern Monetary Theory.

Economist Greg Hannsgen joins me to explain the nuances behind MMT, and the things that are scarier than our $24 trillion national debt.

Did you know the State of Mississippi was getting collection calls from foreign debtors for bonds issued in the 1830s?

Professor David Thomson of Sacred Heart University discusses this, the broader history of the US National Debt, and what it can tell us about the issue of government debt today.

You're more likely to change your religion than your political party. People vote more in line with their race than their religion.

The Data Monkey joins us to discuss this, what else the polling data says about religion and voting, and how the Elf on the Shelf is the worst thing going.

How can the Bible both justify and prohibit it gay marriage and slavery?

Professor Mark A Smith of the University of Washington joins me to discuss his book Secular Faith: How Culture Has Trumped Religion in American Politics, which discusses how cultural norms have shaped the interpretation of religious texts, rather than the other way around.