Cato Event Podcast

Six months after Nicolás Maduro was declared a “usurper” by Venezuela’s National Assembly and Juan Guaidó was sworn in as interim president, political gridlock has set in. The ongoing talks in Barbados between the regime and representatives of the democratic forces do not hold the promise of a swift solution to the crisis engulfing Venezuela. Luis Almagro, secretary general of the Organization of American States, will describe what’s at stake and discuss international efforts that can be made to put pressure on Maduro’s regime. María Corina Machado, former member of the National Assembly and prominent leader of the opposition, will assess the process of restoring democracy so far and offer a strategic vision. Pedro Urruchurtu will briefly explain how Venezuela got to this point. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Since the 2016 election, college campuses have erupted in violent protests and demands for safe spaces and the silencing of views that activist groups find disagreeable. Who are the leaders behind these protests, and what do they want? In Panic Attack, libertarian journalist Robby Soave answers these questions by profiling young radicals from across the political spectrum.Soave documents a multitude of competing post-liberal political views among the young, from the Democratic Socialists of America to Turning Point USA. He explicates the ideologies and social conditions that have fostered these nascent movements, paying special attention to the identarian concerns that often animate Generation Z activists. Although these budding radicals are politically inexperienced and often poorly organized, they have already redrawn the lines of political debate around speech and censorship, and their break from the strictures of postwar party politics has the potential to permanently reshape America’s political land

The ancient Greeks believed that the mythical Gorgon could turn those who stared at it to stone. The Pentagon’s surveillance technology named after this creature, Gorgon Stare, has used its aerial near-panopticon surveillance capabilities to turn Salafist insurgents into targets. But should such a powerful, virtually all-seeing aerial spying system be allowed to operate over American communities? Arthur Holland Michel, Deputy Director of the Center for the Study of the Drone, tackles this question in his new book, Eyes in the Sky: The Secret Rise of Gorgon Stare and How It Will Watch Us All. Join us on June 25 at 1:00 p.m. as an expert panel talks with Michel about his book and about Gorgon Stare’s implications for the constitutional rights of Americans. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For many Americans, the distinction between military policy and domestic law enforcement is clear: the U.S. military is deployed abroad and tasked with defense of vital national interests, while at home police officers protect life, liberty, and property by investigating and deterring crimes. But as Christopher Coyne and Abigail Hall explain in their book Tyranny Comes Home: The Domestic Fate of U.S. Militarism, years of policy decisions at home and abroad have eroded this distinction.Military equipment and tactics often find their way to police departments thanks to what Coyne and Hall call the “boomerang effect,” which can result in needlessly aggressive policing and violations of civil liberties. What are the origins of the boomerang effect? Can police militarization be reversed? Does modern policing require military-grade surveillance equipment? Join us for a book forum featuring Coyne and Hall, who tackle these and other pressing questions. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Congress reformed America’s legal immigration system nearly three decades ago. Since that time, the system’s outdated and arbitrary immigration quotas have doubled wait times for green cards for legal immigrants. At the border, a new challenge has emerged in the form of illegal immigration and asylum seekers from Central America. Wide bipartisan agreement exists that both temporary and permanent immigration policies need to be reformed, yet Congress and the administration have failed to settle on the best approach. As the debate continues in Congress, join us as our speakers explain the problems with and solutions for America’s legal immigration system. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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Negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program are at an impasse, and tensions are rising. And while neither side appears to want a war, the path to a diplomatic solution remains unclear. What is obvious, however, is that most U.S. policymakers have little understanding of what the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is or how it operates, a fact that limits America’s ability to peacefully resolve the crisis.Heidi Linton, Randall Spadoni, and Daniel Jasper, by contrast, have firsthand knowledge of the DPRK. Their organizations maintain long-term aid programs in North Korea, and all three have spent time there as part of humanitarian missions, including trips to parts of the country closed to most visitors. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that police officers shoot and kill more than 10,000 pet dogs in the United States every year. From SWAT raids to standard calls for service and police visits to wrong addresses, officers are often too quick to use lethal force against family pets, despite the fact that no police officer has ever been killed in the line of duty by a dog.In the award-winning documentary Of Dogs and Men, director Michael Ozias and producer Patrick Reasonover delve into the culture of violence against dogs by police officers. Of Dogs and Men provides firsthand accounts of families and individuals who have suffered the loss of a dog killed during a confrontation with law enforcement.The powerful film takes audiences on a journey with pet owners in pursuit of policy change in the legal system. The stories told in Of Dogs and Men have prompted cooperation and best-practices guidelines from law enforcement organizations such as the National Sheriffs’ Association.Of Do

Using eagles and flags to rainbows and abstract art, many people have expressed ideas about freedom in art. Are there commonalities among these representations? Do these representations reflect competing values? When do images make a stronger impression than words? What makes some images clichés and some unique and attention-getting successes? Join us to hear a discussion of these questions and more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Jones Act is back in the news, with legislation introduced this year to repeal the law and the White House said to be considering a limited waiver of the law for the transport of liquefied natural gas. It’s about time. For nearly 100 years, the Jones Act has served as a burden on the U.S. economy and has raised transportation costs, damaged the environment, and even harmed U.S. exports. In the course of doing so, it has also manifestly failed to achieve its stated policy goals, with U.S. shipbuilding and the Jones Act fleet itself in a decades-long decline. Questions also abound about the law’s contribution to national security, as illustrated by the shortage of merchant mariners to crew the government-owned vessels in times of war and the Navy unable to afford ships from vastly uncompetitive U.S. shipyards to meet its sealift needs.Learn more about the Jones Act See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When is it appropriate to resist the agents of the state? For many, the answer may be (all too) easy: never. But the United States itself was founded on one such act of resistance, and libertarians have always been deeply skeptical that the agents of the state enjoy any special status in moral philosophy. May an individual legitimately resist state agents? In what cases is such resistance allowed? What methods may be used, and to what ends? Philosopher Jason Brennan argues that sometimes, individuals have not only a right to resist unjust state actions but even an obligation to do so. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Free trade provides enormous benefits to developing countries. Arvind Panagariya will describe its impressive record in promoting growth and reducing poverty at a time when some policymakers in rich and poor countries are turning toward protectionism. He will explain how openness was key to the economic success of countries like South Korea and Taiwan and will refute claims that industrial policy, infant industry protection, or measures that erected barriers to trade have worked better than free trade itself. Anne Krueger will comment on Panagariya’s full-scale defense of free trade and warn about threats to the liberal, global trade regime.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Depending on the type of institution, inflation-adjusted college prices have as much as tripled over the past 30 years. This cost increase has launched vociferous arguments about its underlying causes. Perhaps no theories loom larger than that cuts in direct state funding have forced schools to raise revenue from their students or that federal student aid has enabled colleges to inflate their prices no matter what is happening with their other funding streams. Join a panel of experts as they debate which theory is right, which is wrong, whether even more important factors are at work, and what to do about it all. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How did the modern dynamic economy, filled with wealth and opportunity, come about?In his new book, The Wealth Explosion: The Nature and Origins of Modernity, Stephen Davies examines the surprising, fundamental, and continuing processes of innovation and transformation that have produced the world we live in today.Exploring the academic literature and competing theories, he seeks to answer three questions of fundamental importance to any economist or historian: How and why is the world different today than that faced by our ancestors? What explains why this transformation began in northwestern Europe about 240 years ago? And, given this, can the modern dynamic economy endure? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.