Reason Podcast

"We have, you may have noticed, in our society, a group of people that call themselves, 'progressives," says Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com. "The hidden assumption is that they are for progress, or that a more powerful government would be progress. Well, I figure that if they can hijack the word 'progress,' I can hijack the word 'freedom.'" This is why Byrne describes himself as "pro-freedom" and also why he's supporting the Libertarian Party presidential ticket of Gary Johnson and Bill Weld in this year's election. In fact, Byrne is not only voting Johnson/Weld this year but has been funding a documentary about their run for the White House that's meant as a critique of the two-party system. Reason TV's Zach Weissmueller sat down with Byrne in Overstock's headquarters in Utah to talk about Byrne's return to the helm of the company after taking a medical leave of absence (0:53 - "I'm actually healthier than I've been in about 30 years."), his enthusiasm for bitcoin and other blockchain-based technology (4:18 - "For five-thousand years, society has accumulated these [centralized] institutions like barnacles on our hull, and now the blockchain lets us scrape those off."), his new venture t0 that brings the blockchain to the financial sector (5:26 - "We now have built a blockchain version of Wall St."), his support of Gary Johnson (11:23 - "He's 'pro-freedom.'"), and his disdain for both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton (15:09 - "I don't consider Donald Trump a businessman."). Produced by Zach Weissmueller. Interview by Weissmueller. Music by Podington Bear.

"Instapundit" Glenn Reynolds on getting suspended from Twitter, how cops get away with crimes, and his fears that unbridled speech has given way to an online world that is every bit as over-policed and regulated as meat space. Reynolds also lays out his case for why a Donald Trump presidency would be less awful than a Hillary Clinton one. But...is he actually voting for Trump? Interview by Nick Gillespie.

"A multi-party system is normal," says Richard Winger, publisher and editor of Ballot Access News. "You only have a two party system if there's repression. It's not natural." With both major parties offering up two of the most unpopular presidential candidates in modern history, many voters (and the media) are paying more attention to third party options such as Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Green Party nominee Jill Stein. But while independent candidates are gaining in popularity, getting them on the ballot to vote for them can be a long and costly process. "There's so many ways in which the United States is near the bottom of democracy," says Winger, an expert in election law and ballot access. "There's been unbelievable hostility in the last few months to minor parties." This hostility has resulted in states changing their ballot access rules—sometimes at the last minute—in an effort to exclude minor parties from the ballot. Produced by Alexis Garcia. Music by Alex Fitch. Interview by Garcia.

The architects of Obamacare could have foreseen today's crisis, says NYU Law Professor Richard Epstein, except they were intellectual "super jocks" with a "superior Ivy-League sneer," who knew so much better than anyone else "how to run this Rube Goldberg contraption" designed to "defeat the law of gravity." Epstein speaks as an insider to elite circles. A graduate of Columbia, Oxford, and Yale Law School, he's the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at New York University, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute, and a professor emeritus at the University of Chicago. A towering figure in his field, Epstein has had a profound impact on libertarian legal theory, especially with his 1985 book, Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain. Throughout his career, Epstein says, he's been surrounded by "people cleverer than myself putting up schemes that are dumber than you can imagine." Reason's Nick Gillespie sat down with Epstein for an extended discussion about the collapse of the Obamacare exchanges (0:43); why cigarette companies don't owe smokers a dime (15:49); the recent legal campaign against Exxon Mobile related to global warming (27:00); Obama's dismal record (35:23); where the U.S. went wrong in Iraq (45:00); why he thinks Gary Johnson is a weak candidate (57:00); Hillary Clinton's criminal offenses (58:26); whether he favors Hillary or Trump (1:04:51); and why he's planning to sit out this election (1:05:34). Interview by Nick Gillespie.

Edward Snowden is possibly "the most influential whistle-blower of our generation," says Trevor Timm, the executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Earlier this week, Timm joined with representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch to formally ask President Obama to pardon the former NSA contractor who brought to light bombshell revelations about mass surveillance in the U.S. The campaign to request a presidential pardon was timed with the release of the new Oliver Stone biopic, Snowden. "It's certainly an outside chance that he is going to get pardoned, but I think it's something Obama can and will consider," Timm said during an interview with Reason's Nick Gillespie. He continued: "As he's winding down his presidency, [Obama] is probably looking at his legacy. And one of the most disappointing aspects of his presidency has been his treatment of whistle-blowers and the fact that they have prosecuted more leakers in history than any other administration. He himself has said that this debate that Snowden sparked has made the country stronger." Timm sat down with Gillespie to discuss the case for pardoning Snowden, the impact the Oliver Stone film will have on the cause, and whether a Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton administration would be more likely to consider Snowden's case. Approximately 8 minutes.

"[The Trans-Pacific Partnership] is a mixed bag," says Daniel Ikenson, director of the Cato Institute's Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies. Ikenson's latest analysis, Should Free Traders Support the Trans-Pacific Partnership? An Assessment of America's Largest Preferential Trade Agreement, offers an in-depth look at the most important trade agreement in decades. He sat down with Reason's Todd Krainin to discuss the report. "Our conclusion is that it's got some baked-in protectionism. There's a lot of liberalization. On par, it's net liberalizing. It will expand our economic freedoms. And my colleagues and I, my co-authors and I, support it."

Nick Gillespie sat down with Mackey at this year's FreedomFest, the annual gathering of libertarians in Las Vegas, to discuss Mackey's veganism and his new 365 grocery chain, which aims to bring customers high-quality products at lower prices. He also discussed the 2016 election and why he thinks Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are crony capitalists, why he supports Gary Johnson for president, and how the growing regulatory burden on American business is stunting innovation and growth.

Reason's Nick Gillespie caught up with Judge Andrew Napolitano at this year's FreedomFest, the annual gathering of libertarians in Las Vegas, to discuss how his traditional Catholicism intersects with his libertarian politics, why electing Trump or Clinton will likely lead to the "demise of the Constitution as we understand it," why he thinks Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson won't win in November, his commitment to open borders, and the philosophical underpinnings to his pro-life stance on abortion.

Reason's Nick Gillespie recently sat down with Penn Jillette backstage at Vegas' Rio casino, where Penn & Teller have been in residence for years. The conversation ranged from the 2016 election to what it's like to eat only potatoes for two weeks straight to why Bob Dylan—"he's a freak, not a cheerleader"—is Penn's artistic hero.

Reason TV's Nick Gillespie sat down with Johnson and Weld at FreedomFest in Las Vegas. In a wide-ranging discussion, the nominees clarified how they would handle balancing the budget, scaling back the war on drugs, reforming entitlement programs, selecting Supreme Court justices, addressing immigration and national security policy, and more.

Reason's Nick Gillespie sat down with Harvey Silverglate, who, in his long career as an attorney and journalist, has seen a rising bureaucratic class enact hundreds of thousands of federal regulations and vaguely-worded statutes. The result has been the criminalization of everyday life. From university campuses to corporate boardrooms, ever more citizens are facing severe punishments for behavior that was once considered harmless. Produced by Todd Krainin. Interview by Nick Gillespie. Cameras by Meredith Bragg and Jim Epstein.

Reason's Zach Weissmueller sat down with Doug Stanhope to discuss comedy, what Alcoholics Anonymous taught him about standup, his time dabbling in Libertarian party presidential politics, and how his mother—for better or worse—shaped him into the man he is today.

Annie Duke sat down with Reason's Nick Gillespie at Reason Weekend 2016, an annual donor event for the nonprofit that publishes Reason.com and Reason magazine, and discussed game theory, life lessons learned from poker, the importance of being belief updaters, and her experience with Donald Trump on 2009’s Celebrity Apprentice.

Camille Paglia—who also offered her take on Beyonce's new album, Lemonade, Prince's career, and why she prefers early Madonna—sat down with Reason's Nick Gillespie at Reason Weekend 2016, the annual donor event for the nonprofit that publishes Reason.com and Reason magazine. The event took place April 28 through May 1, 2016 in Philadelphia.

In late February, George Will sat down with Reason's Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch for an opening-night interview at the International Students For Liberty Conference, which was attended by nearly 2,000 people from all over the world. The official topic was "Is The Libertarian Moment Over?" and the conversation was as wide-ranging as it was at times depressing. "Today, 67 percent of the federal budget is transfer payments," announced the 74-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner. "The sky is dark with money going back and forth between client groups served by an administrative state that exists to do very little else but regulate the private sector and distribute income. Where’s the libertarian moment fit in here?"