The John Stossel Interviews

I don’t bother interviewing most politicians. But former presidential candidate Andrew Yang is interesting.Unlike most politicians, he has experience as an entrepreneur, he criticizes politicians for their "magical thinking," and he even left his party (the Democrats) to start the "Forward Party."I spoke to him in 2021, soon after its launch. We discuss if a third party could ever succeed, where politicians' magical thinking has failed, entrepreneurship, and I push back on his vision for universal basic income (basically free money).

Are we witnessing the fall of the American empire? Are we doomed to fall, like Ancient Athens, Ancient Rome and others?No. But if we don’t learn the lessons of history, we could be. To avoid collapse, historian Johan Norberg argues we especially need to learn from the rise and fall of past golden ages—like Ancient Athens, Ancient Rome, China’s Song Dynasty, the Italian Renaissance, and more.“What sets these golden ages apart," he explains, "is that they managed to ... give more people more freedoms.” Like freedom to trade. That helped many golden ages prosper.In this podcast, we also discuss what led to their decline. I was surprised to learn that many problems we face today (like inflation and unsustainable entitlement spending) also destroyed societies more than a thousand years ago. “But that doesn't mean that we're doomed,” says Norberg. “There are so many instances where societies faced terrible situations … but bounced back … So there is still time. We can still save this golden age.”

I once reported how great Wikipedia is. But now, it’s manipulated by leftists.That’s a big problem because its bad information corrupts AI and search results.In this podcast, Ashley Rindsberg of NPOV Media explains how, “Wikipedia's information spreads into everything online.”That means when your ask ChatGPT, Google, or your phone a question, it’ll likely to take leftist spin straight from Wikipedia.I also share an excerpt of my conversation with Veteran Wikipedian Jonathan Weiss.Three years ago, he told me how the site, like academia, has been captured by leftists. We cover many examples.

“You can’t put a price on life!” say politicians, pretending to be compassionate, spending other people’s money.But Kenneth Feinberg, Special Master of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, says you CAN put a price on life. He's distributed funds to the victims of 9/11, the Pulse nightclub shooting, the Boston Marathon, the Deepwater Horizon spill, the Virginia Tech shooting, the Aurora movie theater shooting, and now the LA wildfires.In this podcast he explains how he does it, why it's important, but also why (despite the success of the 9/11 fund) paying out money to victims should not be something that government does.

"If your kids went through puberty on a smartphone with social media, they came out different than human beings before” says Jonathan Haidt, author of the bestseller “The Anxious Generation.”He argues that childhood is now phone-based instead of play-based, resulting in anxious and depressed kids. "They know that life would be better if they didn't spend five or six hours a day on social media. They know that, but they can't help it” says Haidt. But not all researcher agree. I challenge Haidt with the criticism. In our podcast, Haidt responds, and lays out his best advice to protect kids from smartphones.

Young people today hate capitalism. They often say socialism would be better.It's absurd. Why would they argue that?Because much of what they're told about socialism and capitalism is just nonsense.So in this podcast, we'll debunk 5 of the biggest myths about socialism, and even more myths about capitalism.

James Lindsay once exposed the woke left’s insanity with a hoax. Now he’s exposed part of the right for bashing liberty and even embracing Marxist ideas.To prove it, he sent a conservative magazine a revised version of "The Communist Manifesto." They published it! He calls them the “woke right" because they "behave like the tyrants of the woke left." In this podcast, Lindsay explains why they’re a problem. We also discuss why capitalism is hated, and how normal people fall for dangerous ideas.

Activist Robby Starbuck got companies like Target, Walmart, and Toyota to drop their woke DEI policies. It sounds hard to believe one man could do that, but he did. From DEI trainings to mandatory "ally" pledges, Starbuck posts videos about absurd woke things that big companies do behind closed doors to please activists. In this podcast, he explains how this fight against corporate America worked, how DEI hurts America, and what made him finally speak up. I also push back on his movie, "The War on Children."

Charles Ryu escaped from North Korea not once, but twice!He experienced starvation, torture, and years of propaganda. North Koreans, even those who escape, fear talking about socialist tyranny because the regime might kill their families. “Not just you, but your entire three generations will be wiped out,” explains Ryu. He is only willing to talk because he has no immediate family left in the country. Now he educates Americans about the horrors of the country on his YouTube channel.In this podcast, he tells me more about the North Korean regime, his incredible escape, and the importance of freedom.

People who run businesses are often smeared. But they shouldn't be.“Making our lives better is what entrepreneurs do. We take it all for granted,” says Yaron Brook, Chair of the Ayn Rand Institute.In this hour-long conversation, Brook defends the marketplace and the self-interest that drives it.He also carves out the path of self-interest through mountains of big issues: war, poverty, immigration, drugs and children--even how self-interest is important for your love life.