The Liberty Exchange

In this episode, Jonathan Fortier talks with Matt Zwolinski about his recent book, The Individualists: Radicals, Reactionaries, and the Struggle for the Soul of Libertarianism (co-authored with John Tomasi, Princeton, 2023). They discuss various approaches to understanding the foundational principles of libertarianism, dominant historical differences in the evolution of libertarian thought, and some future challenges to liberty.

In this episode, Jonathan Fortier talks with Brook Manville and Josiah Ober about their recent book, The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives (Princeton, 2023). Manville and Ober identify essential qualities for robust democracies, and explore how Ancient Athens, Republican Rome, Parliamentary Britain and the American Founding each struggled to develop and maintain key practices and institutions to preserve their political orders. 

In this episode, Jonathan Fortier speaks with David T. Beito, Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Alabama. Together they discuss his new book The New Deal’s War on the Bill of Rights, particularly focusing on FDR’s use of censorship and the implementation of Japanese internment camps during World War II. His book is available for order at the Independent Institute or Amazon. Links below. https://www.independent.org/store/book.asp?id=142https://www.amazon.com/New-Deals-Bill-Rights-Concentration/dp/159813356X

In this episode, Jonathan Fortier talks with Jason Sorens, Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute of Economic Research and Founder of the Free State Project. They discuss the origins and purposes of the Free State Project, the question of secession, the lessons that other American states might learn from the FSP, analogues with other secessionist movements around the world, and then turn to a discussion of the Cato-supported publication, “Freedom in the 50 States.”

In this episode, Jonathan Fortier talks with Professor Bruce Caldwell, the general editor of the Collected Works of F. A. Hayek (University of Chicago Press) and Director of the Center for the Study of the History of Political Economy at Duke University. They discuss the challenges and rewards of editing Hayek, reflect on the perennial significance of Hayek’s “Road to Serfdom” and discuss the recent publication of the minutes from the first Mont Pelerin Society meeting in 1947. 

In this episode Jonathan Fortier talks with Gene Healy about the growth in the scope and power of the office of the American President, and some of the ways that this has negative consequences for political accountability and individual liberty. Healy’s book, The Cult of the Presidency, first published in 2008 by the Cato Institute, will be reissued this coming autumn in advance of the American presidential election. The conversation turns partly on what has changed in the intervening 16 years, but also on a number of other topics, such as the delinquency of Congress in the face of Executive over-reach, the growth of the administrative state, the influence of technology in presidential reach, the unintended consequences of the presidential race, and much more. Healy’s research and insights are presented with a unique grace and wit that makes this a compelling account of the changes to the nation’s top political position and associated implications for a free society.

As part of our “Janus Week” in which we look back on 2023 and forward to 2024, Jonathan Fortier and Todd Zywicki discuss the recent high points for liberty and potential threats on the horizon. Zywicki distinguishes between positive wins and defensive moves as they discuss the election of Milei, the rolling back of Covid restrictions, the Supreme Court’s apparent moves to rein in the administrative state, the checks on DEI and ESG and much more. Zywicki encourages us to think more carefully about simplified mental models that libertarians traditionally used to distinguish between public and private violations of individual freedom, and suggests that we are living through a different era, where these two sectors are both more intertwined, but also a period in which, arguably, both the public and private sectors have extremely significant impacts on liberty.

For a philosophy that seeks to allow us the choice in how we pursue our own interests, some argue liberalism leaves us unmoored or adrift. Dan Klein thinks differently. In a wide-ranging conversation with Libertarianism.org Director Jonathan Fortier, they discuss the transcendence of the divine, joy, beauty, community, and virtues such as benevolence and friendship. They also explore the concept of quasi-religious political ideologies and how thinking liberally with “the higher things” in mind can lead to a more equal and just world.

As terms like Christian nationalism and Catholic integralism are bandied about regarding their place (or lack thereof) in modern American politics, it becomes important to ask; what role did Christianity play in the founding and early life of the United States of America? To answer this question, Libertarianism.org Director Jonathan Fortier is joined on this episode of The Liberty Exchange by guest Mark David Hall.Jonathan and Mark discuss the role of Christian belief in the American founding and the early Republic. They highlight the influence of Puritan ideals on the development of democratic institutions and the concept of consent-based political order, as well as the issues of religious liberty and equality, emphasizing the contributions of Christians in advancing religious freedom.Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land: How Christianity Has Advanced Freedom and Equality for All Americans by Mark David Hall