Matt speaks with Randy Hicks (CEO of the Georgia Center for Opportunity) about why jobs and social capital matter, how government programs can stabilize but often fail to help people escape poverty, and what reforms might better support work and self-sufficiency. They also discuss the benefits cliff, UBI, the role of civil society (including faith-based organizations), Utah’s “one door” model, and the minimum wage.

References

• The Georgia Center for Opportunity: https://foropportunity.org/ 

• Alliance for Opportunity: https://allianceforopportunity.com/ 

• The "One-Door Path": https://allianceforopportunity.com/focus/safety-nets/one-door-2/ 

• “Benefits cliff”: https://freopp.org/whitepapers/fixing-the-broken-incentives-in-the-u-s-welfare-system/ 

• Milton Friedman and the Negative Income Tax proposal: https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/NegativeIncomeTax.html 

• Mike Rowe’s Dirty Jobs and the dignity/value of work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x17ip3ZwG0Q 

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To support The Curious Task, visit:
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In this conversation from 2024, Alex speaks with Kevin Erdmann about how zoning, the 2008 economic crisis, and the desire to live away from "those people" is effecting the state of housing. 

Episode Notes:

Kevin's page at the Mercatus Centre:

https://www.mercatus.org/scholars/kevin-erdmann

The Erdmann Housing Tracker:

https://kevinerdmann.substack.com/ 

Kevin on X:

https://x.com/KAErdmann?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor 

Kevin's book "Shut Out: How a Housing Shortage Caused the Great Recession and Crippled our Economy" on Amazon Canada: 

https://a.co/d/gIh82Og 

In this episode, Matt speaks with Sean Speer about the rise of the so-called “New Right” and the growing tension between conservatism and classical liberalism. Speer defends a fusionist vision rooted in ordered liberty, pluralism, and institutional restraint, arguing that attempts to use state power to impose cultural outcomes misunderstand how culture actually evolves. Together, they explore elite anxiety, civil society, immigration, and why liberal means remain essential even for those with conservative ends.

References

Sean's author page at The Hub:

https://thehub.ca/author/seanspeer/ 

What Is Conservatism? — edited by Frank S. Meyer
https://a.co/d/5suzcP4 

The Road to Serfdom — F. A. Hayek
https://a.co/d/evGqw3L 

The Crooked Timber of Humanity — Isaiah Berlin
https://a.co/d/4PuAvLB 

Bourgeois Dignity / Bourgeois Equality — Deirdre McCloskey
https://a.co/d/8B7qlQV 

The Anywhere vs Somewhere Divide — David Goodhart (interview)
https://www.commonplace.org/p/somewheres-and-anywheres-with-david 

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Thanks to our patrons, including Kris Rondolo, Amy Willis, and Christopher McDonald.
To support The Curious Task, visit:
https://patreon.com/curioustask 

In this episode, Alex speaks with Abraham Singer about his book Everyone’s Business, exploring why businesses and other private organizations should be understood not only as economic entities but as political communities that shape power, responsibility, and moral life. Singer explains how firms structure our choices, why classical liberals must take internal organizational governance more seriously, and what it means to treat workplaces as sites of real political and ethical significance.

References

Everyone’s Business: Toward a New Understanding of How Organizations Shape Our Lives - Abraham Singer
https://a.co/d/iz5yWEU 

“The Form Of The Firm” - Abraham Singer
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-form-of-the-firm-9780197586860?cc=ca&lang=en& 

Abraham's Scholarly Articles
https://abrahamsinger.weebly.com/research.html 

“The Political Nature of the Firm and the Cost of Norms” - Abraham Singer
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26550924 

Private Government - Elizabeth Anderson
https://a.co/d/gNrwGK2 

The Nature of the Firm - Ronald Coase
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2626876 

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Thanks to our patrons, including Kris Rondolo, Amy Willis, and Christopher McDonald.
To support The Curious Task, visit:
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In this episode, Alex speaks with constitutional scholar Leonid Sirota about the notwithstanding clause—what it does, how it functions within Canada’s constitutional architecture, and why its routine use undermines the very rights the Charter is meant to protect. Drawing on arguments from his National Post piece and earlier writing, Sirota explains why Section 33 was intended as an exceptional political safeguard, not a convenient escape hatch for governments, and why treating it as a routine tool erodes constitutionalism, weakens judicial oversight, and shifts the balance of power away from individuals and toward the state.

References

Leonid Sirota, “Yes, the notwithstanding clause overrides rights. No, it isn’t defensible.” — National Post
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/leonid-sirota-yes-the-notwithstanding-clause-overrides-rights-no-it-isnt-defensible

“The Case Against the Notwithstanding Clause” — Leonid Sirota (Double Aspect)
https://doubleaspect.blog/2018/10/04/the-case-against-the-notwithstanding-clause/

“Notwithstanding Myths” — Leonid Sirota (Double Aspect)
https://doubleaspect.blog/2025/11/10/notwithstanding-myths/ 

Peter W. Hogg, Constitutional Law of Canada 
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/faculty_books/219/ 

The Constitution Act, 1982 (Section 33 — the Notwithstanding Clause)
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/check/art33.html 

Including Kris Rondolo, Amy Willis, and Christopher McDonald. To support The Curious Task, visit: https://patreon.com/curioustask

In this episode, Matt interviews Karen Restoule on the challenge of Indigenous reconciliation in Canada. Restoule stresses that true reconciliation must begin by re-embracing the vision of coexistence enshrined in early agreements such as the Treaty of Niagara — a relationship based on mutual respect and shared sovereignty — and not merely through state apologies or symbolic gestures.

References

• Karen Restoule: Reconciliation requires looking back to move forward — The Hub (2025)
  https://thehub.ca/2025/09/30/karen-restoule-reconciliation-requires-looking-back-to-move-forward/
• Karen Restoule — profile and bio (Macdonald-Laurier Institute)
  https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/cm-expert/karen-restoule/
• “’The best is yet to come’ for Indigenous peoples: Karen Restoule on why reconciliation is a tangible goal and not a romantic notion” — Hub Dialogues (podcast)
  https://thehub.ca/podcast/audio/karen-restoule-on-why-reconciliation-is-a-tangible-goal-and-not-a-romantic-notion/
• “An Overview of the Indian Residential School System” — Union of Ontario Indians / research compiled by Karen Restoule (PDF)
  https://www.anishinabek.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/An-Overview-of-the-IRS-System-Booklet.pdf
• Reconciliation Canada — about the non-profit working on reconciliation history & public awareness
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconciliation_Canada
• “The Baroness von Sketch Show” — sketch series (mentioned in episode)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlG17C19nYo
• Karen’s social media post with the map referred to in the episode: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7394536450693718016/
• Amber Midthunder’s guest appearance on Reservation Dogs (mentioned in episode)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8UpKVImNcU

Thanks to Our Patrons

Including Kris Rondolo, Amy Willis, and Christopher McDonald.
To support The Curious Task, visit: https://patreon.com/curioustask

In this episode, Matt digs into modern Hungarian politics with Zoltan Kesz, exploring how Viktor Orbán evolved from a young liberal reformer into an illiberal, Putin-aligned strongman presiding over a reactionary kleptocracy. Zoltan breaks down how Orbán consolidated power, manipulated institutions, reshaped the media, and abandoned liberalism while Hungary’s economy and democratic norms declined.

References:

Zoltan at LibertyCon: https://libertycon.net/speaker/zoltan-kesz/ 

Zoltan at Emerging Europe: https://emerging-europe.com/author/zoltan-kesz/ 

BBC's Analysis of Viktor Orban: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67832416 

"How Viktor Orban Wins" at Journal of Democracy: https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/how-viktor-orban-wins/ 

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Thanks to our supporters—including Kris Rondolo, Amy Willis, and Christopher McDonald.
To support The Curious Task, visit: https://patreon.com/curioustask

ILS Educational Programs Manager Alex Eames speaks with Moin Yahya about whether the state should run the postal service. They explore the history of Canada Post’s monopoly, competition and innovation in mail delivery, and why Lysander Spooner’s 19th-century rebellion still matters for debates about government-run enterprises today.

References:

• Moin A. Yahya — Faculty Profile (University of Alberta, Law)
  https://apps.ualberta.ca/directory/person/myahya

• Canada Post Corporation Act (Justice Laws, Government of Canada)
  https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-10/

• Lysander Spooner, The Unconstitutionality of the Laws of Congress Prohibiting Private Mails (1844) — full text 
  https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/spooner-the-unconstitutionality-of-the-laws-of-congress-prohibiting-private-mails-1844 

• American Letter Mail Company (Spooner’s private competitor to the U.S. Post) — Overview (Wikipedia)
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Letter_Mail_Company

• Royal Mail — Background & 2013 Privatization (Wikipedia)
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Mail 

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Thanks to our patrons—especially Kris Rondolo—for supporting The Curious Task. To join them: https://patreon.com/curioustask

Matt speaks with Jason Crawford (Roots of Progress Institute) about “technohumanism”—the view that science, technology, and industry are good insofar as they advance human flourishing. They dig into agency vs. accelerationism, why progress creates new problems to solve, and where the next big gains may come from (AI, biotech, nuclear, housing, etc.).

References

Announcing “The Techno-Humanist Manifesto” — Jason Crawford (Roots of Progress)
https://blog.rootsofprogress.org/announcing-the-techno-humanist-manifesto

Technohumanism — Overview & Chapters (official project site)
https://technohumanist.org/

Roots of Progress (main site / institute)
https://rootsofprogress.org/

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Thanks to our supporters—including Kris Rondolo, Amy Willis, and Christopher McDonald.
To support The Curious Task, visit: https://patreon.com/curioustask

In this episode, Matt speaks with Rachel Davison Humphries, Senior Director of Civic Learning Initiatives at the Bill of Rights Institute, about how rituals like Halloween can strengthen democracy by building trust and social capital in communities.

References

• “Halloween Treats for Democracy” — Rachel Davison Humphries (Wall Street Journal)
  https://www.wsj.com/opinion/halloween-treats-for-democracy-c8e861ba 

• Rachel Davison Humphries — Profile (Bill of Rights Institute)
  https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/rachel-d-humphries

• Rachel Davison Humphries on the Bill of Rights Institute and the Importance of Civics Projects — Getting Smart Podcast episode
  https://www.gettingsmart.com/podcast/rachel-davison-humphries-on-the-bill-of-rights-institute-and-the-importance-of-civics-projects/

• Democracy in America — Alexis de Tocqueville
  https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/815

Thanks to Our Patrons

Including Kris Rondolo, Amy Willis, and Christopher McDonald.
To support The Curious Task, visit: https://patreon.com/curioustask

In this conversation from 2020, Alex Aragona speaks with Mustafa Akyol as he explores whether Islam can be compatible with liberalism, and his recent research on freedom in Muslim-majority countries.

References from Episode 70 with Mustafa Akyol

• Mustafa Akyol is the author of Rethinking the Kurdish Question: What Went Wrong, What Next? (Turkish), Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case For Liberty, The Islamic Jesus: How the King of the Jews Became a Prophet of the Muslims, and his book set for release in April 2021, Reopening Muslim Minds: A Return to Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance (all available titles hyperlinked to Amazon Canada store pages).
• You can read Mustafa’s articles featured on his profile on the CATO Institute’s website at this link.
• The concluding segment of this podcast was dedicated to discussing Mustafa’s findings in his study, Freedom in the Muslim World, which was published on the Cato Institute’s website and is available for reading here.
• Mustafa quotes the observation that Islam had compatible socio-legal setups for embracing liberal society early on had it abided by its foundational teachings from Professor David Forte’s article, Islam’s Trajectory. This article can be read on the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s website at this link.
• One of the themes in his upcoming book, Reopening Muslim Minds, Mustafa cites Ash’arism as one of the theological paradigms predating modernity which gave rise to the insularity in Islamic philosophy towards thoughts not originating from revelation. The journal Studia Islamica has an article recounting the religious history of Ash’arism and can be accessed at this link through an active JSTOR account.
• Mustafa briefly mentions the Euthyphro Dilemma (Wikipedia), Divine Command Theory (Michael W. Austin, Eastern Kentucky University), and Ethical Objectivism (Oxford Reference) whilst discussing the different camps in Islamic thought. More can be read about these topics through their respective hyperlinks.
• You can read more about philosopher John Locke’s premises on toleration of religion and heresy here (A Letter Concerning Toleration courtesy of McMaster University), as well as his view on the separation of church and state at this link (Liberty Fund).
• While literature on Islamic liberalism is vast, a good place to start is this article titled What Is Liberal Islam?: The Sources of Enlightend Muslim Thought featured in the Journal of Democracy at this link.
• This article on Deutsche Welle summarizes the domestic and international tensions stemming from the cartoons of religious caricatures that were published in France.
• Mustafa quotes Daniel Philpott’s book, Religious Freedom in Islam: The Fate of a Universal Human Right in the Muslim World (available on Amazon Canada), about how Islam “had seeds of freedom, but those seeds need to be cultivated.”
• You can read the excerpt where the French jurist, Jean Bodin, commended the religious freedom of the Ottoman empire compared to the denominational violence amongst Christians in Europe in Daniel Goffman’s book, The Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe here.
• Here are Wikipedia articles to the controversy of Islamic scarfs in France, policing over the burkini, and Saudi Arabia’s legislation on public head coverings for women.