The Government Shutdown: What's the Point of Paul Ryan? [Reason Podcast]

Summary: "The European Union was created by France and Germany...which is integral to the French identity," says Reason's Editor at Large Matt Welch. "The flight towards [French presidential candidate Emmanuel] Macron is a way of saying we're not willing yet to [leave all that behind]." In today's podcast, Reason editors Welch, Nick Gillespie, and Katherine Mangu-Ward talk about the likely victory of the moderate Macron in May 7's run-off eelction and what it means for France; the looming U.S. government shutdown (even though Republicans control both houses of congress and the presidency); Howard Dean's idiotic tweet about "hate speech" and Ann Coulter; how campus freakouts prop up the careers of fake conservative intellectuals; and the real meaning of David Brooks' recent column on the crisis of Western civilization (which, minus a few details, could easily have been written 30 years, 50, or even 100 years ago).