Cato Event Podcast

What are the biggest challenges facing U.S. foreign policy? While much of the current foreign policy debate in Washington and around the world is focused on the Trump administration, policymakers must also look further ahead in order to address potential conflicts and issues that will shape the world in the first half of the 21st century.From the Middle East to Russia to the rise of China, world affairs and the U.S. role in it is constantly changing.  Indeed, the world has changed a great deal since the Cato Institute was founded 40 years ago. This discussion presents an opportunity to explore the next 40 years and how Cato scholars plan to approach these issues.  Emma Ashford, research fellow in the defense and foreign policy studies department, and John Glaser, associate director of foreign policy studies, will join the 40th Anniversary Sponsor e-Briefing Series to offer their thoughts on the biggest challenges and opportunities facing U.S. foreign policy and address your questions.  They loo

North Korea remains a vexing, high-stakes puzzle. With so little known about the “hermit kingdom” leadership, how should the United States respond to North Korea’s growing nuclear capabilities? Doug Bandow provides his insights after a rare visit to the isolated nation. Join us for a live discussion about the North Korea problem.Send your questions and join the conversation with #CatoConnects. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

From Cato University 2017: Summer Seminar on Political Economy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

From Cato University 2017: Summer Seminar on Political Economy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Public choice has emerged to explain behavior in both markets and politics. To what extent do voters and consumers behave rationally, and how can a science largely germinated in the study of market exchange help to explain politics?From Cato University 2017: Summer Seminar on Political Economy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Most of the order in human life wasn't consciously foreseen, designed, or imposed; it just grew. Free societies include many islands of conscious planning, but the overall order of a free society isn't planned. Organizations have purposes, but society has no one purpose.From Cato University 2017: Summer Seminar on Political Economy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Modern widespread prosperity is made possible by respect for individual freedom — to think, to plan, to challenge old ways of doing things, to introduce new products and services, to be enterprising. How are liberty and shared prosperity closely connected?From Cato University 2017: Summer Seminar on Political Economy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

One of the most potent and controversial tools in the American intelligence community’s arsenal is set to lapse at the end of this year. Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 allows the government to intercept the communications of foreign targets as they cross U.S. soil—including conversations with American citizens. Spy agencies claim it’s a vital weapon against terrorists and should not only be reauthorized but also made permanent. Civil libertarians, however, worry that the law’s incredible scope—targeting some 100,000 people and hauling in hundreds of millions, if not billions, of communications each year—makes it ripe for abuse without significant reform.Among the law’s most vocal critics have been two senators from opposite sides of the political spectrum: Ron Wyden and Rand Paul. At this Cato forum, they’ll explore how section 702 works and whether it needs stronger safeguards to protect Americans’ privacy. Should a warrant be required to search for citizens’ communications in the vast 702 da

One of the fundamental historical arguments for traditional public schooling is that compulsory common schools are necessary for a stable democratic society. Horace Mann, the father of American public schooling, argued that common schools would force children from diverse backgrounds, religions, and races to interact with one another and receive instruction on proper virtues. Other people, however, believe that allowing parents to choose the schools they think best for their children could improve essential democratic outcomes by forcing schools to compete and to teach more effectively. Which system is best to strengthen tolerance and civic engagement in our society? Which theories have the most merit? What does the scientific evidence say? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Thomas Jefferson famously wrote that the earth belongs to the living. His letter to James Madison is often quoted for the proposition that we should not be bound to the “dead hand of the past,” suggesting that the Constitution should instead be interpreted as a living, breathing document. Less well known is Madison’s response, in which he said that the Constitution forms a debt against the living, who take the benefit of it. This debt, Madison claimed, could only be discharged by a kind of originalism. Who is right? Thomas Jefferson or James Madison? Please join us for a conversation with Ilan Wurman, author of the forthcoming book A Debt Against the Living: An Introduction to Originalism, to discuss this and many other questions. Stanford law professor and former federal judge Michael W. McConnell has described the book as the first “to explain to the ordinary citizen—free from what the late Justice Antonin Scalia called ‘jiggery pokery’—what it means to understand the Constitution as enduring la

One basis of modern medicine is that low doses of many chemicals are beneficial, while higher ones are toxic. And yet a great disparity has evolved with the regulation of many entities — including carcinogens, ionizing radiation, and toxics. Their regulation is based on the notion that that a single molecule or photon is as capable of inducing cancer as the billionth one. How has this disparity happened — with low, beneficial doses being treated and regulated the same way as higher ones? What is correct?One highly compelling look at this subject has emerged from Dr. Edward Calabrese’s painstaking and voluminous research. Using recently declassified Atomic Energy Commission documents, Calabrese details the establishment of the linear no-threshold model at the height of the Cold War, when thermonuclear bombs were routinely detonated in the atmosphere, resulting in radioactive fallout. His is a spellbinding story of what is often called “noble cause corruption” of science, and of how difficult it is to correct w

Political communication can be described as the use of three separate “languages”: progressive, conservative and libertarian. Each serves to reinforce the validity of the positions of its constituent members while at the same time maligning the views of their opponents.By identifying and understanding the language that each group employs, we can discuss politics while minimizing miscommunication, break down barriers to real connection, and create space for a less fractious exchange of ideas.Join us for a timely introduction to Kling’s new and updated version of this modern classic. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ayn Rand’s first novel, We the Living, is a captivating story set in 1920s Russia about students trapped in a communist state. As Rand said, “We the Living is not a story about Soviet Russia in 1925. It is a story about Dictatorship, any dictatorship, anywhere, at any time.” With new authoritarian challenges to liberal democracy arising throughout the Western world, its ideas are as timely as ever. The theatrical company Austin Shakespeare will present a staged reading from The Unconquered, Rand’s play from the book edited by Robert Mayhew. A panel discussion on its themes of individualism, authoritarianism, and threats to liberty will follow. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

“Discrimination” has a terrible connotation — excluding or treating people differently for ultimately superficial reasons — and fear that choice programs would allow schools to discriminate in admissions has been widespread. But is “discrimination” always and inescapably wrong? Could it reflect a school’s capabilities or sense of mission? Join us for a very open discussion — including opinions from the audience — of this highly sensitive issue. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

According to a recent New York Times analysis, drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death among Americans under age 50. Driving this trend, which shows no sign of abatement, is a surge in opioid-related overdoses. These types of deaths have occurred with such frequency that Maryland, Florida, and now Arizona, have declared medical states of emergencyWhat to do? Solutions range from requiring more federal intervention in the practice of medicine, increasing punishing actions on heroin production in Central America and Afghanistan, and enhancing domestic law enforcement efforts to crack down on street-corner dealers and their supply networks. Other ideas involve an increase in public education, medical intervention, and monitoring, as well as deregulation and legalization.Join us for a clarifying examination of the issues and learn what Congress should and should not do to remedy the situation. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Democracy Fund Voter Study Group, a new research collaboration of nearly two dozen analysts and scholars from across the political spectrum, recently released new data and analysis exploring voter perceptions before and after the 2016 election.During the intense political division of the 2016 presidential campaign, the Voter Study Group began collaborating across ideological lines to examine the underlying values and opinions that influence voter decision-making. The expert group commissioned a new survey of 8,000 adults who had participated in similar surveys in mid-2016, 2011, and 2012. This unique longitudinal data set provides the basis for four new reports analyzing many of the most hotly-debated subjects of the presidential election, including economic stress, trade, race, immigration, and the evolution of the parties. During this special #CatoConnects experts who participated in this Democracy Fund project will be providing analysis and results from this study.The Cato Institute’s Emily Ekins, a me

Following stunning losses by the once hegemonic African National Congress in 2016 local elections, Herman Mashaba, a successful businessman and politician from the opposition Democratic Alliance, became mayor of Johannesburg—South Africa’s economic powerhouse. Over the course of last year, Mashaba started to tackle widespread corruption as well as failing delivery of public services in the city. In addition to speaking about the state of Johannesburg, Mashaba will offer his thoughts on economic stagnation and the potentially explosive political situation in the country. Princeton Lyman, who served as the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa at the time of the transfer of power from white minority to black majority, will discuss America’s original hopes for a new South Africa and the extent to which America’s expectations have been left unfulfilled. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

While there is an ongoing debate about what caused the 2008 financial crisis, there is little disagreement that the housing market was at the heart of the problem. In the years since the crisis, Congress passed a massive new piece of legislation, the Dodd-Frank Act, and federal financial regulators have been actively issuing new regulations. But what about the government-sponsored housing enterprises, known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? What was their role in the crisis, and what has been done to reduce their potential harm in the future? Join us as we discuss these questions with experts from the policy world and the industry itself. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This is an exclusive opportunity for Cato Sponsors to interact with Peter and discuss topics of interest—from policy research to the organization’s operations to Peter’s own involvement with Cato and the broader liberty movement. He looks forward to taking your questions and engaging in a thought-provoking discussion.The 40th Anniversary e-Briefing Series offers Cato Sponsors a special online-only opportunity to directly engage with Cato’s leadership and scholars as the Institute commemorates this milestone while also examining the future of liberty.Forty years ago, the Cato Institute opened its doors as a new public policy research organization dedicated to liberty. Today, through our independent, nonpartisan research, worldwide events, vast online resources, and media outreach, Cato engages millions on the timeless principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace. Cato’s success is a testament to our Sponsors’ commitment to the Institute and our work. Thank you for your continue

Kidney disease kills more than 50,000 people each year—more than auto accidents, drug overdoses, or suicides.There are more than 500,000 people with end-stage renal disease currently undergoing dialysis, the majority of whom are Hispanics, African-Americans, and Native Americans. The only cure is a kidney transplant.However, a severe kidney shortage exists right now: while about 17,000 transplants were performed in 2016, about 100,000 patients remain on the waiting list. Thousands of people will die this year without a kidney becoming available for them.Various methods to increase the supply of available kidneys have proven to be either unworkable or insufficient to significantly allay the shortage.Join our esteemed panel as we explore various ways to alleviate this critical shortage. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.