The Political Orphanage

Latest Episodes:

Wild Boars on Cocaine - The Week's Underserved Headlines May 08, 2020

Show notes

Jack Helmuth and Brian Sack of the Questionable Material podcast join Heaton to sort out the week's best and least discussed headlines, from boars on cocaine to English catapult crimes to larceny performed by ambitious children.

How Captain Kirk Would Solve the Lockdown (Bonus) May 07, 2020

Show notes

Much of the discussion about the pandemic centers around the lockdown as the exclusive or main policy tool to use against the pandemic: a giant On or Off switch we strategically employ to flatten the curve. What if there are smarter ways of looking at this?

Ep 51

Justin Amash: Spoiler Candidate or Sane Alternative? May 06, 2020

Show notes

Katherine Mangu-Ward is the editor-in-chief of Reason Magazine, the nation's foremost libertarian publication. She joins Heaton to weigh in on Justin Amash's presidential aspirations, and whether he is more apt to hurt Trump or Biden in 2020.

Season 2, Ep 50

When a Government Accidentally Declares You Dead (Friday Release Valve) May 01, 2020

Show notes

(NSKF) As part of my ongoing commitment to providing levity and sanity during quarantine, I am for some length of time resurrecting an old segment: Friday Release Valve, where I grab some comedy buddies to go over the week's undeserved headlines.

Turner Sparks and Andrea Jones-Rooy join me to talk about: when a government accidentally declares you dead, how to fix basketball using firearms, Cambodian machete making, and Canadian gambling ordinances. Season 2, Ep 49

How Vladimir Putin Thinks Apr 29, 2020

Show notes

How does Russian propaganda work now, compared to the Soviet era? What power structures have kept Putin in place for decades? And what does Putin think about democracy, subverting American media, and Trump? Michael Weiss is Director of Special Investigations at the Free Russia Foundation, a columnist for Foreign Policy, and editor-at-large at The Daily Beast. He joins Heaton to peer into the mind of the Russian state.

Season 2, Ep 48

Desperately Needed Optimism from Matt Ridley Apr 22, 2020

Show notes

Matt Ridley is a science writer, member of the House of Lords, and author of the amazing book, "The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves." He joins Heaton to talk about how, overall, life is dramatically and empirically better than the rest of recorded history--and why.

Season 2, Ep 47

Bernie Sanders is the Ron Paul of Socialism Apr 16, 2020

Show notes

Last week Bernie Sanders dropped out, ending the closest bid to an outright socialist presidency in American history. Brian Brushwood and Justin Robert Young join the program to talk about the impact of Sanders, student loan forgiveness, and Medicare for All.

Season 2, Ep 46

What the Hell is Happening with the Economy? Apr 09, 2020

Show notes

Are we sliding into a Great Depression, or just a quarantine-induced slump? What did the stimulus bill do, how big was it, and might it capsize the national debt? Colin Mortimer, director of the Neoliberal Project at the Progressive Policy Institute and host of The Neoliberal Podcast, along with Ben Ritz, Director of the PPI Center for Funding America's Future, join Heaton to explain what's happening with the economy and what the federal government has been doing to help or hinder it.

Season 2, Ep. 45

PSA: What To Expect the Next Two Weeks Apr 02, 2020

Show notes

I want to share a resource that will help frame what to expect in your state as April unfolds: Covid19.healthdata.org . This website will tell you when to expect peak hospital usage in your state, and also what to brace yourself for. But I'll also top of the episode with some of the best quarantine humor I've encountered on the internet.

Season 2, Ep 44

Three Ways to Stop Corrupt Congressmen Apr 01, 2020

Show notes

Senator Richard Burr is catching fire (and possible prosecution) about selling $1.7 million of stock days before the market tumbled. How do members of Congress profit from insider information and power, and what can we do to stop them? Brian Sack and Jack Helmuth join Heaton to discuss.

Season 2, Episode 43

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