The Cato Weekly Podcast - Cato Institute - TopPodcast.com

View Top 200 Chart

Back to Rankings Page

The Cato Weekly Podcast – Cato Institute — Government
The Cato Weekly Podcast – Cato Institute

Every Tuesday on The Cato Weekly Podcast, leading scholars and policy analysts from the Cato Institute delve into the big ideas shaping our world: individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace. Whether unpacking current events, debating civil liberties, exploring technological innovation, or tracing the history of classical liberal thought, we promise insightful analysis grounded in rigorous research and Cato’s signature libertarian perspective. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Copyright: © Cato Institute 2025

Latest Episodes:

The Flaws of Rent Ceilings Mar 26, 2026

Show notes

Massachusetts is weighing a ballot initiative that would cap rent increases at the rate of inflation with no vacancy decontrol, one of the most stringent rent control regimes proposed in the country. Cato's Ryan Bourne and Jeff Miron walk through why economists are nearly unanimous in opposing rent control: it shrinks rental supply, degrades housing quality, and tends to benefit longer-term, higher-income tenants rather than the low-income renters it claims to help. As Cambridge's own history shows, the policy doesn't just fail to solve the affordability problem; it actively makes it worse.

We want to hear from you! Please share your thoughts in a 3-minute anonymous survey to help us refine our programming at Cato.org/PodcastSurvey.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Surf, Speech, and Government Cartels Mar 24, 2026

Show notes

In Newport Beach and along California's state beaches, government-created monopolies have effectively banned independent surf instructors from earning a living, with one instructor fined $40,000 after an undercover sting operation. Stephen Slivinski, Caleb Trotter of Pacific Legal Foundation, and Cato's Tommy Berry explore why First Amendment claims may be the sharpest tool available for fighting back against occupational protectionism. If these cases succeed, the precedent could crack open economic liberty litigation far beyond California's coastline.

We want to hear from you! Please share your thoughts in a 3-minute anonymous survey to help us refine our programming at Cato.org/PodcastSurvey.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Talkin’ ’Bout My Generation (Z) Mar 19, 2026

Show notes

Cato’s new media fellow, Rikki Schlott, joins Ryan Bourne to talk Gen Z: how social media shaped them, why online life has made young people both more anxious and more persuadable, and how the socialist left and the alt-right have each found fertile ground. They discuss the strange incentives of the attention economy, what Mamdani and other online political entrepreneurs get right, and whether libertarian ideas can be made to resonate with a generation raised on algorithms.

We want to hear from you! Please share your thoughts in a 3-minute anonymous survey to help us refine our programming at Cato.org/PodcastSurvey.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who's Watching the $170 Billion? Mar 17, 2026

Show notes

A 30-day DHS shutdown hasn't slowed ICE or Border Patrol, because nearly $170 billion in One Big Beautiful Bill funding keeps them running with minimal transparency and almost no congressional oversight. Cato's Dominik Lett and David Bier break down how the shutdown exposes a deeper dysfunction: both parties have turned spending into a ratchet, growing the government they want while refusing to review what the other side built. The appropriations process isn't just broken; Congress has quietly agreed to stop fixing it.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anthropic, Albany, and the AI Backlash Mar 12, 2026

Show notes

AI policy discussions increasingly hinge on control: who sets the terms for how AI can be used, what it can say, and who gets access. Cato's Ryan Bourne hosts Jennifer Huddleston, Senior Fellow in Technology Policy, to discuss the federal government’s escalating dispute with Anthropic, New York’s proposal to police chatbot advice, and the public fears making restrictive AI policy more politically attractive.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Strait of Hormuz and the Price of War Mar 10, 2026

Show notes

Beyond the immediate crisis, the conversation explores the unintended consequences of military escalation in the Middle East and the limits of U.S. policy responses once global energy flows are disrupted. Cato's Evan Sankey and Colin Grabow examine how great-power politics, alliance commitments, and domestic economic pressures will shape the administration’s next moves as the conflict unfolds.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unlawful Voting Is a Tiny Problem Mar 05, 2026

Show notes

The push for new federal databases and legislation like the SAVE Act is often justified as necessary to stop widespread unlawful voting. But according to election administrators and investigators, confirmed cases are vanishingly rare. Cato's Walter Olson and Stephen Richer explore how voter roll audits actually work, why database matching can produce misleading headlines, and what the evidence reveals about the scale of the problem.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

War Powers and the Road to Iran Mar 03, 2026

Show notes

As the White House signals openness to escalation and murky and conflicting objectives, uncertainty clouds both the legal basis and strategic endgame of U.S. involvement in Iran. The Cato Institute's Justin Logan, Thomas Berry, and Brandan P. Buck examine the constitutional and political questions surrounding the U.S. war on Iran. They explore whether the president has legal authority to initiate hostilities without congressional approval, why President Trump launched the war and how it might end, and why Congress struggles to reclaim its war-making authority.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rhetoric vs. Reality in the State of the Union Feb 26, 2026

Show notes

President Trump’s State of the Union on Tuesday was a full-throated victory lap: America is supposedly “bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever.” Cato’s Ryan Bourne, Clark Neily, and Evan Sankey separate truth from exaggeration—testing the economic claims, unpacking the legal fight over tariff power, and decoding the foreign-policy moves behind the applause lines.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who Decides When America Goes to War? Feb 24, 2026

Show notes

Cato’s Katherine Thompson sits down with Matt Duss of the Center for International Policy to examine the persistent conflict between Congress and the presidency over war powers. From potential military action against Iran to past debates over Yemen and Venezuela, they explore how successive administrations have expanded executive authority and why Congress has struggled to reclaim its constitutional role.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Related Podcasts