Today's guest is Amanda Knox, an activist, writer, and host of the podcast Labyrinths. In 2007, while studying abroad in Italy, Knox was accused of murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher, in what the lead prosecutor claimed was a bizarre sex game gone wrong. Despite mishandled DNA, a coerced confession, and a lack of credible evidence, Knox was convicted and spent nearly four years in an Italian prison before being exonerated in 2015. Her case was a media spectacle that sensationalized every aspect of her life.

Reason's Billy Binion talks with Knox about her views on true crime after her story became one of the biggest examples of the modern era. They also discuss the psychological impact of being imprisoned for something she didn't do; what Knox thinks the U.S. criminal justice system gets right and wrong; and how she reacts to people who still believe she's lying. What's more, she shares a fascinating tidbit about her relationship with the lead prosecutor on her case—something that will be featured more in her new book Free, which is available for preorder.

0:00—Introduction
1:10—Coping with a wrongful conviction
6:29—Life in prison
15:28—Knox's coerced confession
19:52—Knox's second conviction and failed retrial
25:55—The attempt to find "normalcy"
31:45—"Foxy Knoxy" and the vicious press
34:40—The need for greater media literacy and transparency
39:54—'The Single Victim Fallacy' and grieving Meredith Kercher
49:19— Italian vs. American criminal justice systems
53:26—The criminal justice reform movement
55:27—Police deception should be banned
58:36—Unrepentant prosecutors and Sandra Hemme
1:04:13—Prosecutor of Knox's case and her new book Free
1:08:11—Knox's relationship to True Crime
1:18:05—Knox's podcast Labyrinths and skeptical approach

• Video Editor: Ian Keyser

The post Amanda Knox: 'I Have Felt Utterly Exploited' by True Crime appeared first on Reason.com.

In the wake of massive victories by Donald Trump and Republicans, here's a question worth asking: What does today's GOP really stand for? Longstanding support for free trade and overseas wars seems to have been replaced with tariffs and non-interventionism.

Hyrum Lewis and Verlan Lewis are the authors of The Myth of Left and Right. They argue that the way we talk about the political spectrum misleads and confuses us because it reduces complex special-interest coalitions to one or two issues that really aren't representative of what the parties actually stand for. As a result, they say that the next four years will be as fractious within the GOP (and the Democratic Party too) as the last four.

Today's Sponsor:

• ZBiotics. ZBiotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic Drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented by Ph.D. scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Make ZBiotics your first drink of the night, drink responsibly, and you'll feel your best tomorrow. Get 15 percent off by going to ZBiotics/TRI and using the code TRI at checkout.

• Video Editor: Ian Keyser

The post Hyrum and Verlan Lewis: Stop Buying the 'Left v. Right' Myth appeared first on Reason.com.

Join Reason's Nick Gillespie live on election night at YouTube, X, and Reason.com, starting at 10 p.m. EST.

Will history be made? Will it end? Joining Gillespie are The Fifth Column's Kmele Foster, Bloomberg economics columnist Allison Schrager, and many more special guests, who will break down the weirdest—and possibly the most consequential—election season in any of our lifetimes.

• Audio Production: Ian Keyser

The post Live on Election Night! <em> The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie </em> appeared first on Reason.com.

Musa al-Gharbi is a sociologist at Stony Brook University and the author of the new book We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite. Al-Gharbi argues that academics, journalists, and other elite professionals that he calls "symbolic capitalists" are disconnected from the marginalized and disadvantaged communities they claim to speak for—and that, by using the rhetoric of class solidarity drawn from the Occupy movement (which pitted the "99 percent versus the 1 percent"), progressive symbolic capitalists actually exploit those communities to maintain a relatively lush lifestyle.

Born and raised in a mixed-race military family in Arizona, al-Gharbi spoke with Reason's Nick Gillespie about wokeness transforming the college experience, his conversion from Catholicism to atheism to Islam, why black and Latino voters appear to be embracing former President Donald Trump in record numbers, and his highly public cancellation in 2014 after he was attacked by Fox News for criticizing U.S. foreign policy.

0:00— Introduction
1:09— New book: We Have Never Been Woke
4:04— Can 'wokeness' be defined?
8:35— The history of 'Great Awokenings'
9:30— Occupy Wall Street was an elite movement
11:02— 'Symbolic Capitalists' pretend not to be elites
15:57— Political splits among 'Symbolic Capitalists'
19:50— The primary function of elite schooling is to grant elite status
23:42— Cultural contradictions of 'symbolic professions'
25:20— Elite overproduction drives status anxiety
27:30— Elite overproduction and popular immiseration equal 'Great Awokening'
31:04— How Occupy Wall Street shifted to identity politics
34:46— Victims like George Floyd only become important to elites after symbolic martyrdom
39:22— Musa al-Gharbi's background
45:00— Being canceled by Fox News
49:00— Engaging with conservatives
53:18— Attending Columbia University
55:11— Working with Heterodox Academy
57:40— The latest 'awokening' is tapering off
1:00:29— Realignments among Black & Latino voters
1:06:42— Better living standards shift politics into 'post-materialist' frames
1:09:08— On not voting in the 2024 elections

Today's sponsor:
The Reason Speakeasy. The Reason Speakeasy is a monthly, unscripted conversation in New York City with outspoken defenders of free thinking and heterodoxy that doubles as a taping of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie. The next one takes place on November 18 and features Mercatus Center visiting fellow and former CIA analyst Martin Gurri, whose decade-old The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium remains one of the most important guides to the 21st century. Go to reason.com/events for information and tickets.

• Video Editor: Ian Keyser

The post Musa al-Gharbi: How Woke Elites Became Out of Touch appeared first on Reason.com.

Today's guest is Faisal Saeed Al Mutar, the co-founder of Ideas Beyond Borders (IBB), a nonprofit that translates books and articles about limited government, freedom of thought, and market economics into Arabic and other languages, and distributes them for free in the Middle East and other parts of the world. (Full disclosure: Reason's Nick Gillespie is on the board of IBB.)

Gillespie talked with Al Mutar about IBB's new book, Untold Stories of the Middle East, which celebrates entrepreneurs in Kurdistan, Afghanistan, and elsewhere whom IBB has given startup grants; how the October 7 attacks on Israel and fighting in Gaza and Lebanon will affect the region for decades; and what it was like to grow up in Baghdad under Saddam Hussein, various Islamic terrorist groups, and the U.S. occupation. This conversation was taped in front of a live audience in New York.

0:00—Introduction

1:26—Untold Stories Of The Middle East

4:20—Micro grants in the Middle East

6:20—The hope of Kurdistan

9:00—Beirut's post-explosion struggles & recovery

11:12—Oil vs. the entrepreneurial spirit in the Middle East

14:20—Building a vocabulary of freedom with Ideas Beyond Borders

18:20—Censorship & internet access in the Middle East

19:39—Hiring Middle Eastern translators

22:16—A brief history of political upheaval in the Middle East

30:12—The 'liberal minority' in Lebanon

33:29—U.S. intervention in the Middle East

39:45—Impact of October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel on peace processes in the region 44:00—Funding schools for girls in Afghanistan

46:05—The tragedy & hope of Afghanistan: The Graveyard of Empires

49:43—'Sanctions Boy': Growing up in 90s Baghdad

59:04—'We don't have the privilege to be depressed (about the Middle East)'

1:01:35—Economic freedom & self-determination restore agency

Previous appearances:
Faisal Saeed Al Mutar, Melissa Chen: Bringing Enlightenment Values to the Middle East, May 25, 2022
Faisal Al Mutar Fights Radical Islam with Western Bestsellers, September 21, 2018

Today's sponsor:
The Reason Speakeasy. The Reason Speakeasy is a monthly, unscripted conversation in New York City with outspoken defenders of free thinking and heterodoxy that doubles as a taping of The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie. Go to reason.com/events for information and tickets to the next one.

• Video Editor: Ian Keyser

The post Faisal Saeed Al Mutar: Peace In The Middle East Through Capitalism appeared first on Reason.com.

Today's guest is Meghan McCain, political commentator, former co-host of ABC's The View, and host of the podcast Citizen McCain.

Reason's Billy Binion talks with her about the changing GOP, bias in corporate media, the 2024 election, and what it's like to be a non-MAGA, nonpopulist member of today's Republican Party.

0:00- Introduction
0:21- Ad: St. John's College
1:36- Libertarians vs. the McCains
3:33- Being a non-MAGA, non-populist conservative
6:56- Obama lecturing black male voters
9:38- Kamala Harris' terrible press strategy
11:07- Meghan McCain does not have TDS
19:14- John McCain also didn't have TDS
25:34- Who wins 2024? Trump or Harris?
27:15- McCain's Republican Party
30:22- Bipartisan Write-A-Check politics
34:10- The gerontocracy & Biden's disastrous debate performance
39:52- The Democratic Party has big problems too
44:14- The CBS Ta-Nehisi Coates/Tony Dokoupil meltdown
51:06- Corporate legacy media is collapsing
55:14- Recovering from The View
1:02:47- Kari Lake traded her principles for failure
1:08:00- Being an early public supporter of gay marriage
1:12:24- 'America, You Sexy Bitch: A Love Letter To Freedom'
1:13:53- 'Nepo babies' contain multitudes!

Today's sponsors:

• St. John's College. Explore 3,000 years of human thought on campuses in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and in Annapolis, Maryland. From the Greek philosophers who are the wellspring of democratic ideals to America's Founding Fathers to contemporary critics who question everything: Each is welcome at St. John's College. In-person and online master's degree courses are offered, too.
• The Reason Speakeasy. The Reason Speakeasy is a monthly unscripted discussion in midtown New York City that doubles as a live taping of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie. The next one is on Thursday, October 24, and features the Stony Brook sociologist Musa al-Gharbi, whose new book is We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite. Tickets are $15 and include beer, wine, soft drinks, and light food. For more information and to buy tickets, go here. To watch or listen to past Speakeasys, go here.

• Video Editor: Ian Keyser

The post Meghan McCain: 'Trump Didn't Break My Brain. What's Your Excuse?' appeared first on Reason.com.

Today's guests are Republican pollster Patrick Ruffini, author of Party of the People: Inside the Multiracial Populist Coalition Remaking the GOP, and American Enterprise Institute fellow Ruy Teixeira, coauthor most recently of Where Have All the Democrats Gone? The Soul of the Party in the Age of Extremes.

Reason's Nick Gillespie talks with them about the presidential election, how the working class has become the most important—yet most neglected—part of the electorate, and whether libertarians have anyone to root for in national politics.

0:00- Ad: St. John's College

1:17- Introduction

2:05- Can Kamala Harris win back the working class?

8:55- Party identification is tanking

11:25– Elite progressive fixations are alienating the working class

15:50- Black & Latino voters are more moderate

17:33- Trump & populism have transformed the GOP

25:05- The Green New Deal was terrible politics

26:23- Does anyone care about overspending anymore?

30:56- The future of unionization

35:49- Populism's appeal to younger voters

39:06- Ad: ZBiotics

40:52- Are we seeing generational realignments?

46:05- Everyone got richer in the last 30 years

47:39- The 'truly disadvantaged' has no real advocates

51:28- Why is neither party working to win big?

55:13- Why has immigration become such a flashpoint?

1:02:49- Why do both parties indulge their nutty fringes?

1:08:17- What about libertarians?

1:18:48- Who will win the 2024 elections?

1:22:00- Are protectionism & heavy spending the new way for both parties?

1:24:09- Have people stopped caring about COVID?

Today's sponsors:

• St. John's College. Explore 3,000 years of human thought on campuses in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and in Annapolis, Maryland. From the Greek philosophers who are the wellspring of democratic ideals to America's founding fathers to contemporary critics who question everything: Each is welcome at St. John's College. In-person and online Master's degree courses are offered, too.
• ZBiotics. ZBiotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic Drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented by Ph.D. scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Make ZBiotics your first drink of the night, drink responsibly, and you'll feel your best tomorrow. Get 15 percent off by going to ZBiotics/TRI and using the code TRI at checkout.
• The Reason Speakeasy. The Reason Speakeasy is a monthly unscripted discussion in midtown New York City that doubles as a live taping of The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie. The next one is on Thursday, October 24, and features the Stony Brook sociologist Musa al-Gharbi, whose new book is We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite. Tickets are $15 and include beer, wine, soft drinks, and light food. For more information and to buy tickets, go here. To watch or listen to past Speakeasys, go here.

• Video Editor: Ian Keyser

The post Will Trump or Harris Win the Working-Class Vote? appeared first on Reason.com.

Today's guest is Billy Binion, who joined Reason's staff in 2019 after stints at an opera company (!) and as a contractor for NATO (!!). He has written blockbuster stories about the abuse of power by cops and courts, and he just produced an incredible documentary about a citizen journalist in Laredo, Texas, who sued the city after they arrested her for reporting on a couple of controversial local stories. It's a case that could have major First Amendment implications for independent reporters.

Nick Gillespie talks with Binion about what drives his interests in such topics as civil asset forfeiture, SWAT teams run amok, and people who get arrested after using unlicensed guns to ward off would-be killers. They discuss how, contrary to most news accounts, today's Supreme Court is less polarized than the country it serves. And they also talk about how Binion's time living in California and Texas back to back gives him a distinct perspective on blue and red America—and insight into what sort of government governs better, if not quite best.

0:00- Ad: St John's College
1:17- Introduction
2:24- Priscilla Villarreal documentary
9:55- James O'Keefe
14:56- Qualified immunity & absolute immunity
21:08- Charles Foehner self defense/gun possession case
23:16- LaShawn Craig self defense case
25:20- Dexter Taylor 'ghost guns' case
28:38- Civil liberties shouldn't be granted based on class
33:46- SWAT damage cases
42:38- Is policing getting better or worse?
46:18- Binion's background
49:48- Are the arts politically homogenous?
53:04- Being disillusioned by Los Angeles
57:08- Leaving California for Texas
1:01:41- Finding libertarianism
1:04:49- The Supreme Court is not 'radical'
1:09:08- The complicated story is more interesting

Today's sponsors:

• St. John's College. Explore 3,000 years of human thought on campuses in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and in Annapolis, Maryland. From the Greek philosophers who are the wellspring of democratic ideals to America's founding fathers to contemporary critics who question everything: Each is welcome at St. John's College. In-person and online Master's degree courses are offered, too.
• The Reason Speakeasy. The Reason Speakeasy is a monthly unscripted discussion in midtown New York City that doubles as a live taping of The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie. The next one is on Thursday, October 24, and features the Stony Brook sociologist Musa al-Gharbi, whose new book is We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite. Tickets are $15 and include beer, wine, soft drinks, and light food. For more information and to buy tickets, go here. To watch or listen to past Speakeasys, go here.

The post Billy Binion: Civil Liberties Don't Just Belong to the Rich appeared first on Reason.com.

You've probably heard some variation of the notion that Millennials and Gen Z are going to be the first generations of Americans to have lower standards of living than their parents. It's too expensive to go to college, to buy a house, to have kids—you name it, goes this line of thinking. Today's guest has good news: Younger Americans are actually doing better than Gen X was at the same stage, and they are in the same ballpark as Baby Boomers when you adjust for inflation and population.

"Millennials and Gen Z have dramatically more wealth than Gen X had at the same age, and it's growing fast!," writes Jeremy Horpedahl, a libertarian economist trained at George Mason University who teaches at the University of Central Arkansas. His work, which draws on the Census, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and other non-controversial sources, shows that young Americans are doing well and that economic mobility is the rule rather than the exception.

Reason's Nick Gillespie talks with Horpedahl about why politicians and media sources get basic economics wrong, why it's vital to always adjust for inflation and population growth, and how growing up in the Dakotas gives him a different, more optimistic perspective on things than many in the academy. Horpedahl also analyzes the economic plans of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. His answers are provocative, to say the least, just like his research.

 

0:00- Introduction

2:46- Adjusted for inflation' & 'per capita'

6:02- Are Millennials & Gen Z really doomed?

12:57- American homeownership rates

15:00- Delayed 'adulting'

18:59- Housing spending trends

22:08- Why is housing so expensive?

29:32- Ad: Lumen

31:10- Why are Millennials so eager to embrace doomerism?

35:20- How economic growth impact living standards

37:09- U.S. economic freedom, growth & living standards compared to Europe

41:40- Measures of mobility

47:50- How post-COVID inflation skewed our perceptions

53:28- Is inflation our new normal?

55:19- Should we be hoping for divided government?

58:00- Attitudes toward immigration in Arkansas

1:01:19- Benefits of living in 'flyover country'

1:05:04- George Mason economics

1:06:44- Do libertarians blame government too much?

1:10:05- Is there room for optimism for the future?

 

Today's sponsors:

• St. John's College. Explore 3,000 years of human thought on campuses in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Annapolis, Maryland. From Greek philosophers who are the wellspring of democratic ideals to America's founding fathers to contemporary critics who question everything: Each is welcome at St. John's College. In-person and online Master's degree courses too.
• Lumen. Lumen is the world's first handheld metabolic coach. You just breathe into the device and it measures your metabolism through your breath. The phone-based app lets you know if you're burning fat or carbs, and it gives you tailored guidance to improve your nutrition, workouts, sleep, and even stress management. Your metabolism is your body's engine—it's how your body turns the food you eat into fuel that keeps you going. Because your metabolism is at the center of everything your body does, optimal metabolic health translates to a bunch of benefits, including easier weight management, improved energy levels, better fitness results, and better sleep. It can help women track their cycles and the onset of menopause, and adjust recommendations to keep your metabolism healthy through hormonal shifts. Take the next step in improving your health: Go to lumen.me/INTERVIEW to get 15 percent off your purchase.

• Video Editor: Ian Keyser

The post Jeremy Horpedahl: Are Millennials and Gen Z Actually Worse Off Than Their Parents? appeared first on Reason.com.

Today's guest is Kat Timpf, whose new book is I Used To Like You Until…:(How Binary Thinking Divides Us). In a totally insane election season, this just might be the most important book of the year. A sequel of sorts to 2023's You Can't Joke About That: Why Everything Is Funny, Nothing Is Sacred, and We're All in This Together, it seeks to show how politics overwhelms common decency and basic logic.

Timpf, who co-hosts the super-popular Gutfeld! late-night show, explains to Reason's Nick Gillespie why she tells some people she works in porn instead of at Fox News, what it's like being libertarian at a conservative network, and how she gets people to engage with each other rather than vilify one another. This podcast was taped in front of a live audience in New York City. For more information on Reason live events, go here.

0:00- Introduction

0:58- Timpf's pregnancy and IVF

2:05- Timpf's new book: 'I Used To Like You Until…'

7:00- 'Hate as a shelter' & binary thinking

17:57- Ad: Zibiotics

19:43- Being a First Amendment absolutist

22:00- Will motherhood change Timpf's views?

24:17- In defense of drag queens

30:12- Using vulnerability to combat binary thinking

33:00- Timpf's husband

36:38- Being a libertarian on Fox News

38:20- Timpf's upbringing

40:49- 2024 presidential election

44:15- Political 'simping' makes Timpf sick

Previous appearance:

• Kat Timpf: Make America Funny Again! June 7, 2023

Today's sponsors:

• ZBiotics. ZBiotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic Drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented by Ph.D. scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Make ZBiotics your first drink of the night, drink responsibly, and you'll feel your best tomorrow. Get 15 percent off by going to ZBiotics/TRI and using the code TRI at checkout.
• The Reason Roundtable live in New York!, Monday, November 4. Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch will conduct a live taping of The Reason Roundtable at The Village Underground the night before the election. Tickets are $25, doors open at 6:00 P.M., Ticket includes admission to an afterparty. Details here.

• Video Editor: Ian Keyser

The post Kat Timpf: An Unapologetic Libertarian at Fox News appeared first on Reason.com.

Today's guest is Mike Pesca, who publishes The Gist podcast every weekday. The Gist, which launched in 2014, is a tight 30 minutes of news, interviews, and opinions on the biggest issues of the day. Pesca is a veteran of NPR and Slate—experiences that have made him an outspoken critic of legacy media, especially its willingness to overthrow longstanding commitments to objectivity and fairness in pursuit of progressive versions of "moral clarity."

Reason's Nick Gillespie talks with him about his controversial 2021 separation from Slate after he defended a New York Times reporter's use of a racial slur, why once-vaunted newspapers such as The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times are rightly losing readers and money, and whether the old world of three broadcast TV networks and heavily gate-kept media had any value.

Today's sponsors:

• Lumen. Lumen is the world's first handheld metabolic coach. You just breathe into the device and it measures your metabolism through your breath. The phone-based app lets you know if you're burning fat or carbs, and it gives you tailored guidance to improve your nutrition, workouts, sleep, and even stress management. Your metabolism is your body's engine—it's how your body turns the food you eat into fuel that keeps you going. Because your metabolism is at the center of everything your body does, optimal metabolic health translates to a bunch of benefits, including easier weight management, improved energy levels, better fitness results, and better sleep. It can help women track their cycles and the onset of menopause, and adjust recommendations to keep your metabolism healthy through hormonal shifts. Take the next step in improving your health: Go to lumen.me/INTERVIEW to get 15 percent of your purchase.
• The Reason Speakeasy: The Reason Speakeasy is a monthly, unscripted conversation in New York City with outspoken defenders of free thinking and heterodoxy that doubles as a live taping of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie. The next event is scheduled for Wednesday, September 11, and features Fox News' Kat Timpf, whose new book is I Used To Like You Until…(How Binary Thinking Divides Us). Tickets are $15 and include beer, wine, soft drinks, and food. Go here for details.
• An Evening with Richard Dawkins, hosted by Nick Gillespie. Nick Gillespie interviews the legendary scientist in Milwaukee on September 20 as part of his "final bow" tour. Details and tickets here.

• Video Editor: Ian Keyser

The post Mike Pesca: How NPR Lost Its Way appeared first on Reason.com.