Matt Welch discusses the forgotten reality of the bicentennial, the cultural impact of Roots, and why America doesn't need a single national story.
Why So Many People Feel Lost
06/10/2026 | 58 mins.
Rebecca Goldstein discusses the search for meaning, the roots of modern discontent, and how people build purpose in a secular age.
Was Lincoln More Radical Than We Remember?
06/03/2026 | 52 mins.
Damon Root discusses the path to emancipation, the struggle to secure freedom after the Civil War, and the constitutional changes that remade America.
How Moral Panic Creates Black Markets
05/27/2026 | 1h 20 mins.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Alvin E. Roth discusses the moral limits of markets, how bans create black markets, and why harm reduction often works better than prohibition.
Why Populism Leads to Decline
05/20/2026 | 49 mins.
Johan Norberg discusses what makes societies prosperous, why protectionism and nostalgia keep returning, and how populism feeds cultural decline.
Want to know what comes next in politics, culture, and libertarian ideas? Reason’s Nick Gillespie hosts relentlessly interesting interviews with the activists, artists, authors, entrepreneurs, newsmakers, and politicians who are defining the 21st century.