The Soho Forum Debates

Latest Episodes:

Is It Time To Break Up Big Tech? Dec 19, 2025

Show notes

Economic researchers Matt Stoller and Geoffrey A. Manne debate the resolution, "The U.S. government should break up large technology companies like Amazon, Meta, and Google to protect workers, suppliers, consumers, and democratic institutions."

Arguing in favor of the resolution is Stoller, the director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project and the author of Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy.

Taking the negative is Manne, the president and founder of the International Center for Law & Economics.

The debate is moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

The post Is It Time To Break Up Big Tech? appeared first on Reason Magazine.

Should Affirmative Action End? Nov 21, 2025

Show notes

Princeton University professor Paul Frymer and Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Riley debate the resolution, "The U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 decision to dismantle affirmative action in American higher education marked a significant regression in the pursuit of racial equality."

Arguing for the affirmative is Frymer, a professor of politics at Princeton. He's the author of Uneasy Alliances: Race and Party Competition in America and Black and Blue: African Americans, the Labor Movement, and the Decline of the Democratic Party.

Arguing against the resolution is Riley, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He's also the author of several relevant titles, including The Affirmative Action Myth: Why Blacks Don't Need Racial Preferences To Succeed and Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed, False Black Power.

The debate is moderated by Soho Forum director Gene Epstein.

The post Should Affirmative Action End? appeared first on Reason Magazine.

Is Oregon Proof That Drug Decriminalization Will Fail? Oct 24, 2025

Show notes

Drug policy scholar Kevin Sabet and Reason's Zach Weissmueller debate the resolution, "The failure of Oregon's experiment in decriminalizing all drugs is compelling evidence that other attempts at complete decriminalization will fail just as badly."

Arguing for the affirmative is Sabet, the director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida, and the co-founder and president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana. He is the author of Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana.

Arguing against the resolution is Weissmueller, a senior producer at Reason, who has been covering the drug war for well over a decade. He recently produced a documentary on why Oregon re-criminalized drugs.

The debate is moderated by Soho Forum director Gene Epstein.

The post Is Oregon Proof That Drug Decriminalization Will Fail? appeared first on Reason Magazine.

Should Paying for Sex Be a Crime? Sep 16, 2025

Show notes

Melanie Thompson of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women and Kaytlin Bailey of Old Pros debate the resolution, "Paying for sex should be a crime."

Thompson is arguing in favor of the resolution. She is the chief advocacy and outreach officer at the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women International, an organization working against the trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and girls.

Bailey is arguing against the resolution and is the founder and executive director of Old Pros, a non-profit media organization that uses storytelling to advocate for sex workers' rights. She is also the host of The Oldest Profession Podcast.

The debate is moderated by Soho Forum director Gene Epstein.

The post Should Paying for Sex Be a Crime? appeared first on Reason Magazine.

Are Trump's Deportations Constitutional? Aug 12, 2025

Show notes

Glenn Greenwald and Anna K. Gorisch debate the resolution, "President Trump's deportation policies generally violate key civil liberties as set forth in the U.S. Constitution."

Arguing in favor of the resolution is Greenwald, a journalist and podcaster who won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for the National Security Agency–Edward Snowden revelations. He left The Interceptin 2020 to become independent and is now the host of System Update nightly on Rumble.

Opposing the resolution is Gorisch, an immigration attorney at Kendall Immigration Law, PLLC, in Austin, Texas, focusing on employment-based immigration.

The debate is moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

The post Are Trump's Deportations Constitutional? appeared first on Reason Magazine.

Should the U.S. Have a Public Health Insurance Plan? Jul 18, 2025

Show notes

Jacob Hacker and David Goldhill debate the resolution: "The government should offer to all Americans a health insurance plan that would compete with private insurance plans."

Jacob Hacker is arguing for the affirmative. He's a professor of political science at Yale University and codirects the Ludwig Program in Public Sector Leadership at Yale Law School. He is a resident fellow at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies.

For the negative is David Goldhill, CEO and cofounder of Sesame, an online marketplace for discounted health services. He is also the author of Catastrophic Care: Why Everything We Think We Know About Health Care Is Wrong.

The debate is moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

The post Should the U.S. Have a Public Health Insurance Plan? appeared first on Reason Magazine.

Was the Cold War a Deception? Jun 19, 2025

Show notes

Hal Brands and Gareth Porter debate the resolution, "The Cold War was a necessary response by the United States to a Soviet and Chinese threat to the global balance of power."

Hal Brands, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, defends the resolution. He has authored multiple books on the Cold War, including The Twilight Struggle: What the Cold War Teaches Us About Great-Power Rivalry Today.

Arguing against the resolution is Gareth Porter, an award-winning journalist and historian who authored The CIA Insider's Guide to the Iran Crisis: From CIA Coup to the Brink of War.

The debate is moderated by Soho Forum director Gene Epstein.

The post Was the Cold War a Deception? appeared first on Reason Magazine.

Dave Smith and Alex Nowrasteh Debate Immigration May 21, 2025

Show notes

Dave Smith and Alex Nowrasteh debate the resolution, "Government restrictions on the immigration of peaceful and healthy people make sense from a libertarian standpoint, especially in present-day America."

Comedian and host of the podcast, Part of the Problem, Dave Smith defends the resolution. Taking the negative is Alex Nowrasteh, the Vice President for Economic and Social Policy Studies at the Cato Institute. He's the coauthor (with Benjamin Powell) of Wretched Refuse? The Political Economy of Immigration and Institutions.

The debate is moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

The post Dave Smith and Alex Nowrasteh Debate Immigration appeared first on Reason Magazine.

Should Libertarians Prioritize Their Own Communities? May 02, 2025

Show notes

Eric Brakey and Andrew Heaton debate the resolution, "Libertarians should focus on building liberty-for-real societies like the Free State Project, rather than reforming an ever-expanding, uncontrollable federal government."

Eric Brakey, executive director of the Free State Project and former Maine state senator, argued in favor of the resolution. Andrew Heaton, comedian, author, and host of The Political Orphanage podcast, argued against it.

The debate was moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.

Because of major technical problems during the recording of this event, the audio quality is well below Reason's standards.

The post Should Libertarians Prioritize Their Own Communities? appeared first on Reason Magazine.

Are the Palestinians Systematically Oppressed? Mar 22, 2025

Show notes

Jewish Currents' editor-at-large Peter Beinart and American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Michael Rubin debate the resolution, "The oppression of Palestinians in non-democratic Israel has been systematic and profound."

Arguing for the affirmative is Beinart, a professor of journalism and political science at the Newmark School of Journalism at the City University of New York. He's a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, editor-at-large for Jewish Currents, and a political commentator for MSNBC. Beinart has authored several books, including Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning, which was released in January of this year.

Arguing for the negative is Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he specializes in the Middle East and Africa, and director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum. He's the author of Dancing with the Devil: The Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes.

The debate was moderated by Soho Forum director Gene Epstein.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction
00:15 The resolution reads…
00:55 Beinart's opening statement
11:36 Rubin's opening statement
28:08 Beinart's rebuttal
32:55 Rubin's rebuttal
39:45 Q&A
1:12:02 Beinart's closing statement
1:15:22 Rubin's closing statement
1:20:23 Announcements
1:25:07 Results

The post Are the Palestinians Systematically Oppressed? appeared first on Reason Magazine.

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