Cato Daily Podcast

FCC chair Brendan Carr’s “easy way or hard way” threat to TV broadcasters lit a censorship firestorm this week. Our Cato panel digs into the government's jawboning, broadcast licensees' “junior-varsity” First Amendment rights, and whether it’s time to scrap the FCC altogether. Plus, the latest on AI regulation and the art of the TikTok deal.Featuring Gene Healy, Ryan Bourne, Brent Skorup and Jennifer HuddlestonBrent Skorup, "Jimmy Kimmel, the FCC, and Why Broadcasters Still Have “Junior Varsity” First Amendment Rights," September 19, 2025.Ilya Somin, "Abolish the FCC," September 18, 2025.David Inserra and John Samples, "Kimmel Cancellation a Dangerous Sign for Free Speech," September 24, 202Jennifer Huddelston, "Trump’s TikTok Reprieve Won’t Fix the Law’s Free Speech Problems," February 3, 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce joins Jennifer Schulp and Cato's Norbert Michel to discuss how government financial surveillance has eroded Americans' constitutional privacy rights through tools like the Consolidated Audit Trail. Peirce advocates for principles-based regulation that protects individual financial privacy while allowing innovation to flourish, arguing that current prescriptive rules create barriers to entry and stifle competition. The conversation explores how new technologies could restore individual sovereignty over personal financial data, enabling Americans to reclaim control over their private information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are Americans becoming dangerously tolerant of political violence? After Charlie Kirk’s assassination, our Cato panel looks at trends in public opinion, past episodes of political terrorism, and new risks to free expression. Plus, Milei’s electoral setback in Buenos Aires province—what now for Argentina's libertarian experiment?Alex Nowrasteh, "Politically Motivated Violence Is Rare in the United States," September 11, 2025.Emily Ekins, "The State of Free Speech and Tolerance in America," October 2017 Survey Report.YouGov, "What Americans really think about political violence," September 12, 2025.Ian Vasquez, "Deregulation in Argentina." Spring 2025.Lorenzo Bernaldo de Quirós, "Argentine President Milei Should Let the Peso Float," September 17, 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Syracuse University forced its social work faculty to partner with a for-profit corporation that takes two-thirds of online tuition revenue, professor Kenneth Corvo began investigating where student money actually goes in higher education. His findings reveal a systemic problem across American universities: more administrators than faculty at the college level, expanding bureaucracies focused on "student experience" and compliance, and minimal transparency about how tuition dollars are spent. The discussion with Cato's Walter Olson traces how federal funding, regulatory requirements, and the erosion of scientific rigor have combined to create institutions that increasingly fail their core educational mission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Congress returns to looming shutdowns and a “pocket-rescission” power grab. Abroad, President Trump pushes “America First” by rebranding the Pentagon as the Department of War—and launching an airstrike on a Venezuelan cartel boat. Our panel asks what all this says about America’s fiscal sanity and its foreign-policy compass.Featuring Ryan Bourne, Gene Healy, Adam Michel, & Brandan BuckAdam N. Michel and Dominik Lett, “Reconciliation 2.0: Fix or Fiasco?,” Cato at Liberty (September 3, 2025)Romina Boccia and [co-author unspecified], “Coming Budget Debates and How Congress Should Navigate Them,” Cato at Liberty (September 2025)Brandan P. Buck, “The Lost Liberalism of America First,” Free Society (June 30, 2025)Brandan P. Buck, “The Cognitive Shift: How the Terrorist Label May Lead to Another Forever War,” Cato at Liberty (March 19, 2025) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Norbert Michel and Dominic Lett square off over whether fiscal or monetary policy is the bigger mess. Lett highlights how entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare are driving unsustainable debt levels, while Michel explains how post-2008 Federal Reserve changes have created risks of “fiscal dominance,” where monetary policy is increasingly shaped by government borrowing needs. Both stress that without structural reforms and political restraint, the U.S. faces uncertain and potentially catastrophic economic consequences.Show Notes:https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/comprehensive-evaluation-policy-rate-feedback-rules#https://www.cato.org/books/crushing-capitalismhttps://www.cato.org/blog/medicaid-driving-deficits-republicans-are-scarcely-tapping-brakeshttps://www.cato.org/news-releases/senate-bill-could-increase-debt-6-trillion-cato-analysis# Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What should “public health in a free society” look like, and what limits should courts impose on executive trade powers? This week’s panel covers the shakeup at the CDC, asks whether America really needs a Surgeon General, and unpacks a blockbuster ruling from the Federal Circuit declaring most of President Trump’s global tariffs illegal.Featuring Ryan Bourne, Gene Healy, Jeffrey A. Singer, & Scott LincicomeAdam Thierer, “Breaking the Government’s Grip on the Medical Debate,” Cato at Liberty (August 28, 2025) J.A. Singer, “Unnecessary Relics,” Policy Analysis (July 2025)Thomas A. Berry, Brent Skorup, and Charles Brandt, “V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump,” Legal Briefs (July 8, 2025)Brent Skorup, Ilya Somin, and Walter Olson, “Tariffs, Emergencies, and Presidential Power: A Conversation with Ilya Somin and Walter Olson,” Multimedia Event (May 27, 2025) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Cato's Alex Nowrasteh and Travis Fisher as they unpack a pivotal moment in climate policy reform. The duo explores Fisher's tenure at the Department of Energy and the groundbreaking report that could reshape the discourse on greenhouse gases.Travis Fisher, “Why I Helped Organize the Department of Energy’s Climate Report,” Cato at Liberty (August 6, 2025)Travis Fisher and Joshua Loucks, “The Budgetary Cost of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Energy Subsidies,” Policy Analysis (March 11, 2025)Patrick J. Michaels, “Cato Releases Report on EPA Endangerment Finding,” News Releases (October 31, 2012) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Golden shares” at home, grand bargains abroad. In this episode, Cato scholars weigh Trump’s push for equity stakes in U.S. firms under the CHIPS Act and his effort to strike a quick deal with Putin on Ukraine. What does state capitalism at home mean for American liberty—and can deal-making diplomacy abroad actually end the U.S. entanglement in Ukraine?Featuring Ryan Bourne, Gene Healy, Norbert Michel, and Justin LoganScott Lincicome, “The government’s Intel stake is antithetical to American greatness”https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/24/trump-intel-government-marketplace/Justin (and Dan Caldwell) on security guarantees: https://thefederalist.com/2025/08/26/if-ukraine-wants-security-guarantees-it-should-get-them-from-europe/Ryan Bourne, “Trump’s cronyism is quietly unravelling American capitalism,”https://www.thetimes.com/us/business/article/trumps-cronyism-is-quietly-unravelling-american-capitalism-jxlwwf7dwRyan Bourne, Industrial Policy was the Gateway Drug to Cronyism Hosted on Acas

Cato’s Jennifer Huddleston and Tommy Berry examine the 2024 TikTok divest-or-ban law and what it means for Americans. They explain how the law could reshape the app market, restrict free speech, and expand government power far beyond TikTok itself.Jennifer Huddleston, “Could the Latest TikTok ‘Ban’ Pass Constitutional Muster?,” Cato at Liberty (blog) (March 12, 2024)Jennifer Huddleston, “Competition and Content Moderation: How Section 230 Enables Increased Tech Marketplace Entry,” Policy Analysis no. 922 (January 31, 2022)Jennifer Huddleston and Tommy Berry, “TikTok Users Await Looming US Ban; SCOTUS May Intervene,” Cato Daily Podcast (January 16, 2025) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As President Trump’s “crime emergency” puts troops on D.C.’s streets, socialist Zohran Mamdani surges ahead in the New York mayoral race. On the panel, Cato scholars debate whether America’s capitals of politics and finance are becoming laboratories for failed ideas.Featuring Ryan Bourne, Gene Healy, Clark Neily, and Marian TupyRyan Bourne, “Zohran Mamdani’s ‘War on Prices’,” Commentary (June 13, 2025) cato.orgScott Lincicome, “State-Run Supermarkets: A (Bad) Statist Solution in Search of a Problem,” Commentary (July 10, 2025) cato.orgMarian L. Tupy, “Marian L. Tupy Discusses His Experiences Living Under Communism on Prager U’s Stories of Us Podcast,” Media Highlights TV (November 14, 2023) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Justin Logan and Clark Packard break down the twists and turns of the U.S.-China relationship—from trade liberalization and consumer benefits to lost manufacturing and rising geopolitical tensions. They unpack how economic integration shaped today’s challenges and what it means for America’s future.Justin Logan, “Liberty at Home, Restraint Abroad: A Realist Approach to Foreign Policy,” Free Society (June 20, 2024) Justin Logan, “Uncle Sucker: Why U.S. Efforts at Defense Burdensharing Fail,” Policy Analysis no. 940 (March 7, 2023) Clark Packard, Course Correction, Policy Analysis no. 897 (July 21, 2020)Clark Packard and Scott Lincicome, “Presidential Tariff Powers and the Need for Reform,” Briefing Paper no. 179 (October 9, 2024) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As President Trump pushes to unwind one proxy war—with Russia in Ukraine—he’s ramping up another in this hemisphere: ordering the Pentagon to ready battle plans against Latin American drug cartels. On our panel, Cato scholars weigh the odds of a Putin deal and the risk of replaying past drug war disasters.Featuring Ryan Bourne, Ian Vásquez, Gene Healy, and Justin LoganLinks for Show NotesJustin Logan, “Trump Shouldn’t Settle for European Spending Pledges,” Foreign Policy, July 25, 2025Brandan P. Buck, “Invading Mexico Will Not Solve the Cartel Problem,” The American Conservative, December 17, 2024Ian Vasquez, “Deregulation in Argentina: Milei Takes “Deep Chainsaw” to Bureaucracy and Red Tape,” Free Society (Spring 2025) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 In this episode, Senior Fellow in Technology Policy Jennifer Huddleston and Technology Policy Research Fellow Matthew Mittelsteadt break down the Trump administration's new AI Action Plan and what it means for American innovation. Matt Mittelsteadt, “The AI Action Plan: Taking AI Innovation Seriously,” Cato at Liberty (July 28, 2025)Matt Mittelsteadt, “The Safety Risks of the Coming AI Regulatory Patchwork,” Cato at Liberty (June 24, 2025)Jennifer Huddleston, “Content Creators, Entrepreneurial Users, and the Impact of Tech Policy,” Policy Analysis (April 29, 2025)Jennifer Huddleston, “Is AI a Horse or a Zebra When It Comes to the First Amendment,” Cato at Liberty (July 28, 2025) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week, President Trump ramped up pressure on two favorite targets: elite universities and Fed Chair Jerome Powell. In the “War on Woke U,” the administration landed a $50 million settlement from Brown—the third Ivy to cut a deal—and added Duke and UCLA to the hit list with new civil rights probes and a funding cutoff. Meanwhile, after the Fed held rates steady, Trump escalated his campaign to oust Powell, denouncing him as a “stubborn MORON” on Truth Social.In this episode, Cato scholars break down the Art of the Forcible Deal. What risks do Trump’s pressure tactics pose for monetary stability? Will they reform broken institutions—or just deepen their politicization? And is Trump’s strongarm approach an aberration, or a preview of the modern presidency’s future?Featuring Gene Healy, Ryan Bourne, Emily Ekins, and Jeffrey MironShow Notes:David Beckworth, “The Consolidated Government Budget Constraint Does Not Care About Your Fed Independence Feelings,” Substack (July 25, 2025)Ryan Bourne, “A Case for Federa

Peter Van Doren and David Kemp bring libertarian skepticism to the bipartisan political support for nuclear power. They analyze why regulatory reform alone may not solve nuclear's economic problems and discuss how recent U.S. projects have failed to deliver on promises of cost-effectiveness even after a supposed "renaissance" in the late 2000s. They finish up with a discussion on whether small modular reactors (SMRs) are the nuclear silver bullet.Show Notes:Peter Van Doren and David Kemp, Nuclear Power in the Context of Climate Change, Cato Institute Working Paper, April 27, 2023. https://www.cato.org/working-paper/nuclear-power-context-climate-change.David Kemp and Peter Van Doren, "Would a Carbon Tax Rejuvenate Nuclear Energy?" Regulation 45, no. 3 (Fall 2022). https://www.cato.org/regulation/fall-2022/would-carbon-tax-rejuvenate-nuclear-energy.David Kemp, "Nuclear Power’s Newest Cautionary Tale," Cato at Liberty (blog), January 23, 2024. https://www.cato.org/blog/nuclear-powers-newest-cautionary-tale. Host

Cato's Clark Neily and Mike Fox give the most recent SCOTUS term a B- grade on criminal law. While they celebrate some unanimous victories like Barnes v. Felix (requiring courts to consider totality of circumstances in police use-of-force cases) and Martin v. United States (allowing federal tort claims against law enforcement), they express frustration with the Court's repeated refusal to hear cases involving the "petty offense doctrine," appellate waivers in plea bargains, and felon-in-possession gun laws—all issues with clear circuit splits that affect large numbers of people.The episode concludes with a celebration of Fox's efforts that led to presidential pardons for John Moore and Tanner Mansell, achieving justice where the courts failed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thomas A. Berry and Brent Skorup analyze five major Supreme Court cases from the recently concluded term, describing it as a "mixed bag" with more government victories than libertarians would prefer. They discuss key decisions including Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton (upholding Texas age verification requirements for adult content), Trump v. Casa Inc. (ending universal injunctions by federal judges), and several other significant rulings on transgender rights and religious liberty in schools. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adam Michel, Michael Cannon, and Dominik Lett break down the One Big Beautiful Bill. Is it $3.4 trillion, or actually $6 trillion? Is Medicaid getting a cut or a trim? With spending cuts pushed to later years and tax benefits front-loaded, the scholars dissect the political calculations and baseline accounting that shaped this massive piece of legislation.Show Notes:Michael F. Cannon, Krit Chanwong, and Dominik Lett, "Congress Must Cut and Reform Medicaid" cato.org, April 28, 2025Domink Lett, "The Senate’s Big Beautiful Blunder Could Increase the Debt by $6 Trillion" cato.org, July 2, 2025Adam Michel, "A Fiscal Hawk’s Defense of the GOP’s Deficit-Busting Budget Bill" cato.org, July 10, 2025 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael F. Cannon and Neal McCluskey let us listen in on their ongoing 20-year debate over who has the more difficult job -- fixing health care or education. McCluskey argues that government's monopolistic control over K-12 education and compulsory schooling creates a more fundamental threat to freedom, while Cannon contends that health care is even more dysfunctional due to cascading government interventions that have created the world's most expensive and gap-ridden health system. Both scholars explore how government subsidies drive up costs in their respective sectors and outline their visions for more libertarian, market-based alternatives.Show Notes:https://www.cato.org/free-society/summer-2025/federal-failure-parental-freedom-story-movement  https://www.cato.org/blog/supreme-court-right-reading-opt-outs-thats-not-enough https://www.cato.org/blog/top-5-reasons-end-us-department-education Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.