Cato Event Podcast

February is Black History Month, so it’s an appropriate time to take a critical look at the way government has treated racial minorities, especially African Americans. Is government more likely to be the friend or adversary of minority groups? Has it been liberals, conservatives, or libertarians like William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass who have been the most consistent defenders of everyone's rights? What does history suggest would be the best public policy for racial minorities in the 21st century? Bruce Bartlett, a former Reagan administration economist with a provocative new book, and Casey Lartigue, coeditor of Educational Freedom in Urban America and a controversial former XM 169 talk show host, will discuss these questions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the U.S. organ donor waiting list nears a record 100,000 and an average of seven Americans die every day waiting for an organ that never comes, solving the U.S. organ shortage takes on new urgency. Matas and Hippen will argue that the shortage could be solved by lifting the U.S. prohibition on the sale of human organs. Delmonico and Crowe will argue that the legalization of organ sales would do more harm than good. Matas will present his model for a regulated organ market described in his recent Cato study "A Gift of Life Deserves Compensation." And Hippen will present his observations on why Iran is the only country in the world without an organ shortage, the subject of his forthcoming study. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Twilight at Monticello is an unprecedented and engrossing personal look at Thomas Jefferson in his final years that will change the way readers think about him. During the years from his return to Monticello in 1809 until his death in 1826, Jefferson dealt with illness and debt, corresponded with the leading figures of the Revolution, and became a radical decentralist and admirer of the New England townships, where, he believed, the real fire of liberty burned bright.Jefferson had witnessed the strength of local governments during his ill-advised, near-dictatorial embargo, which proved to be the great crisis of his political life, not because he placed too much faith in his countrymen's capacity for self-government but because, for once in his life, he placed too little faith in it. During these years, Jefferson also became increasingly aware of the costs to civil harmony exacted by the Founding Fathers' failure to effectively reconcile slaveholding within a republic dedicated to liberty. Right up until his death on the 50th anniversary of America's founding, Thomas Jefferson remained an indispensable man, albeit a supremely human one. Based on new research and documents culled from the Library of Congress, the Virginia Historical Society, and other special collections, including hitherto unexamined letters from family, friends, and Monticello neighbors, Alan Pell Crawford paints an authoritative and deeply moving portrait of Thomas Jefferson as private citizen — the first original depiction of the man in more than a generation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since 1991, federal transportation law has imposed an endless long-range transportation process on states and metropolitan regions. This process has consumed huge amounts of money to little benefit. Few, if any, metropolitan regions are seriously considering alternatives that would reduce congestion. Many have written plans that will lead to major increases in congestion. Repealing the planning requirements would actually make transportation work better. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In his new book, The Mind of the Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics, Michael Shermer examines such questions as: How did we evolve from ancient hunter-gatherers to modern consumer-traders? Why are people so irrational when it comes to money and business? He argues that the new science of evolutionary economics provides an answer to both of those questions. Shermer shows how evolution and economics are both examples of a larger phenomenon of complex adaptive systems. Along the way, he answers such provocative questions as, Do our tribal roots mean that we will always be a sucker for brands? How is the biochemical joy of sex similar to the rewards of business cooperation? How can nations increase trust within and between their borders? Finally, Shermer considers the consequences of globalization and why free trade promises to build alliances between nations. Michael Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, and the author of Why People Believe Weird Things and Why Darwin Matters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John McCain is one of the most familiar figures in American politics, a figure with great appeal to many. However, his concrete governing philosophy and actual track record have been left unexamined. Matt Welch’s new book McCain: The Myth of a Maverick gives a flesh-and-bones political portrait of a man onto whom people project their own ideological fantasies. It is the first realistic assessment of what a John McCain presidency might look like. Welch lays out the root cause of the senator's worldview: his personal transformation from underachieving youth to war hawk, in which he used the "higher power" of American nationalism to save his life and soul. Please join us to discuss this new work on the day that New Hampshire decides the fate of Senator McCain’s enduring aspiration to attain the presidency. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the world's greatest economists, Milton Friedman, passed away on November 16. Friedman did groundbreaking work on the economics of monetary policy, inflation and unemployment, exchange rates, and lifetime savings. He was also one of the 20th century's most vigorous and effective advocates of individual freedom, on issues ranging from school choice to the draft to drug prohibition — which is why the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty was named in his honor. Please join us Monday as Cato executive vice president David Boaz remembers a few of the highlights of Friedman's illustrious career and introduces an episode of his pathbreaking television series, Free to Choose. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since September 11, 2001, there have been no terrorist attacks in the United States, even though a single person with a bomb-filled backpack could carry one out. Why hasn't it happened? Among the possibilities is that the threat of domestic terrorism is not as great as generally assumed. In his provocative book Overblown, national security expert John Mueller argues that the capacity of al-Qaeda or of any similar group to do damage in the United States pales in comparison to the capacity other dedicated enemies have possessed in the past. Our responses to the terror threat may be more costly than any damage terrorists could do. Indeed, they may play into terrorists' hands. Mueller argues that it is time to rethink our approach to terrorism, target resources proportionately to the threat, and avoid the fear-mongering that has been such a staple of post-9/11 public dialogue. Please join us for a lively discussion with this interesting author and a very distinguished commentator. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Although North Korea and the ongoing Iraq operations will likely remain significant foreign policy challenges for years to come, the issue with potentially the gravest consequences for American national security is Iran's nuclear program. Our first panel examines the most widely discussed options available to the United States today: either diplomacy or attempting to undermine the Iranian regime. Which policy holds the best prospect of advancing American interests? Our second panel will look at the options facing the United States in the event that any proactive policy should fail: either preventive war or deterrence. Which of those undesirable policies would yield the "least bad" result for the United States? Please join us for a wide-ranging discussion of these urgent questions.The Cato Institute gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ploughshares Fund in making this event possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the Supreme Court decided the infamous Kelo case nearly a year and a half ago, it lit a fire under a property rights movement that had been growing for years in America. Since then, 31 states have enacted measures to better protect property rights. And in the November elections, voters passed 9 of 12 property rights measures on the ballots, often by overwhelming margins.But there is still a great deal to be done if property rights are to be protected as they were meant to be under the Constitution. In several states government can still take private property for almost any reason it chooses. In far more states government can still strip owners of their rights with impunity. And governments are rapacious in other ways too, as is evidenced, for example, by the "deprivatization" efforts afoot in parts of the nation.To address those issues and reflect on where the property rights movement might go from here, the Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies has drawn together a number of legal experts and movement figures. Please join us for a look at the future of the property rights movement in America. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.