The Reason Roundtable

This week, editors Peter Suderman, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch are joined by senior editor Stephanie Slade to discuss President Donald Trump's decision to ban CNN, Politico, and MS NOW from the White House over coverage he dislikes. They examine the First Amendment implications of punishing news organizations for their reporting and Trump's broader record on free speech. They also examine the growing willingness of both parties to use government power against media they dislike. Next, the editors discuss why parents continue to leave public schools and what a recent New York Times story reveals about the limits of trying to reform failing schools from within. Then, Slade discusses her new book, Fusionism: Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of the American Right, and how the conservative movement moved away from its traditional commitment to limited government, free markets, and individual liberty. Finally, a listener challenges the panel to explain how libertarians would confront a genuine existential threat from AI or another collective-action problem. 0:00—Trump bans media outlets from the White House. 17:29—New York Times story on the failure of public schools 38:39—Listener question on AI risk 50:56—Fusionism and the conservative movement 1:01:33—Weekly cultural recommendations Upcoming Reason Events The Reason Roundtable's 10th Anniversary—Live in NYC! October 7 The World Premiere of Escaping Venezuela October 13 Mentioned in the Podcast: "Purposely Negative," by Liz Wolfe"May Officials Exclude Journalists from Press Events Based on Disapproval of Journalists' Speech?" by Eugene Volokh"Two D.C. Circuit Judges' Reservations About the Circuit's White House Press Pool / AP / 'Gulf of America' Decision," by Eugene Volokh"Trump's Threats To Yank Broadcast Licenses Are Part of a Speech-Chilling Intimidation Campaign," by Jacob Sullum"The FCC's Paramount/Skydance Decision Aims To Reshape Broadcast Journalism by Bureaucratic Fiat," by Jacob Sullum"By Settling Trump's Laughable Lawsuit Against CBS, Paramount Strikes a Blow at Freedom of the Press," by Jacob Sullum"Pentagon's Foolish Press Policy Might Encourage Tougher Journalism," by J.D. Tuccille"The Pentagon's New Press Policy Is Absurd," by Robby Soave"Why the Courts Will 86 the Flagrantly Unconstitutional Charges Against James Comey," by Jacob Sullum"Trump Is Targeting Media and Chilling Free Speech," by Steven Greenhut "Nikole Hannah-Jones Doesn't Understand 'The Idea That Parents Should Decide' What Schools Teach," by Robby Soave"The New York Times' Nikole Hannah-Jones Inadvertently Makes the Case for School Choice," by Billy Binion"Even Social Engineers Don't Want Their Kids Used as Demographic Pawns," by Matt Welch"Brownstone Brooklyn's Racial Divide: Why Are the Schools So Segregated?" by Jim Epstein "Will AI Destroy Humanity?" by Gene Epstein"Countering the Threat of the Malicious Use of Artificial Intelligence," by Ronald Bailey"Bjorn Lomborg: How Our Climate Fixation Hurts the World's Poor," by Nick Gillespie "Why the Right Is Embracing State Power," by Nick Gillespie and Stephanie Slade"J.D. Vance and the Politics of Victimhood," by Stephanie Slade The post Does CNN Deserve To Be Banned From the White House? appeared first on Reason Magazine.

This week, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch discuss whether warnings from leading artificial intelligence companies that AI could pose an existential threat should be taken seriously. They debate calls to slow the development of frontier AI and question whether regulation would reduce genuine risks or simply protect today's dominant companies from competition. The editors also discuss California's new restrictions on social media and AI and the potential consequences for privacy and free expression. They then turn to President Donald Trump's proposal to give $5,000 to every adult American if Republicans win the midterm elections. Would Trump's proposed "dividend" bear any resemblance to a tax cut? And what would a roughly $1.3 trillion payout mean for a country already $40 trillion in debt? A listener asks what the past decade of American politics says about the future of libertarianism, the Democratic Party, and a post-Trump Republican Party. Finally, the editors remember their friend and longtime Reason fan Andrew Wimsatt, who died last week. Matt reflects on Wimsatt's generosity and selflessness, as well as his years of support for Reason and its community. 0:00–Tech leaders call for a slowdown in frontier AI development. 21:45–California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs social media child safety bills. 30:17–Listener question on the past decade in politics 39:58–Trump promises a $5,000 "dividend." 50:53–Remembering Andrew Wimsatt 54:20–Weekly cultural recommendations Upcoming Reason Events The Reason Roundtable's 10th Anniversary—Live in NYC! October 7 The World Premiere of Escaping Venezuela October 13 Mentioned in the Podcast: "Anthropic CEO Calls for an AI Slowdown, Other Tech Leaders Cosign," by Liz Wolfe "The Age of Stupid—and Self-Serving—AI Regulation Is Here!," by Nick Gillespie "AI Doom Is Misguided, Not a Psyop," by Robby Soave "Is AI Really Taking All the Jobs? Anthropic Co-Founder Reveals the Data," by Nick Gillespie "This California Social Media Law Is a Privacy and Free Speech 'Nightmare'," by Meagan O'Rourke "You're Wrong About Social Media Being Addictive," by Peter Suderman, Nick Gillespie, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Matt Welch "George Will: Brace Yourself for the Authoritarian Moment," by Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch "I Tried To Find Out What Republicans Think of Trump's $5,000 Checks. Then I Got Trapped," by Billy Binion "The Flow," by Andrew Wimsatt The post Is AI Really an Existential Threat? appeared first on Reason Magazine.

This week, editors Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Nick Gillespie are joined by Senior Producer Zach Weissmueller to discuss why public schools have lost 1.4 million students since the pandemic even as their budgets have grown. They examine the rise of school choice, microschools, and other alternatives to traditional public education. They discuss why families are increasingly opting out and whether declining enrollment will finally force public schools to rethink how they operate. The panel then discusses Vice President J.D. Vance's proposal to make federal childcare subsidies available to married couples with a stay-at-home parent. They also reflect on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks and the ways the government's response permanently changed American life, from the formation of the Transportation Security Administration to warrantless surveillance and the growth of the national security state. Finally, a listener asks whether recent food safety scares can be blamed on cuts to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and how markets could keep food safe with a much smaller regulatory role. 0:00—School choice is winning. 25:12—Federal subsidies for stay-at-home parents 39:15—Listener question on the FDA and food safety 46:59—What has changed most since 9/11? 57:20—Weekly cultural recommendations Upcoming Reason Events The Reason Roundtable's 10th Anniversary—Live in NYC! October 7 Mentioned in the podcast: "We Have Already Passed Peak Public School," by Matt Welch "American Public Schools Lost 1.4 Million Students Since COVID. Their Budgets Grew by 34% Anyway," by Tosin Akintola "The Rise of Florida's 'Microschools,'" by Zach Weissmueller "Why I Left California for Florida," by Zach Weissmueller "Does School Choice Help Students Learn? All Signs Point To Yes," by Nick Gillespie "The Decade of Decline in Seattle Public Schools," by Sandeep Kaushik "Trump Officials Draft Plan to Pay At-Home Parents, Using Funds for Working Ones," by Coral Davenport "Storks Don't Take Orders From the State," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown "Make America Fertile Again: The Strange Bedfellows of the New Baby Boom Agenda," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown "J.D. Vance and the Politics of Victimhood," by Stephanie Slade "Study: Even Well-Intentioned Regulators Do More Harm Than Good," by J.D. Tuccille The post Why Public Schools Lost 1.4 Million Students appeared first on Reason Magazine.

On this special edition of The Reason Roundtable, Senior Editor Robby Soave is joined by Associate Editor Liz Wolfe, reporter Reem Ibrahim, and Senior Producer Zach Weissmueller to discuss President Donald Trump's latest threat to use the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against Meet the Press host Kristen Welker. They debate Trump's willingness to use government power against speech he dislikes, whether the FCC has become obsolete in the age of digital media, and what the president's attacks on the press say about the Republican Party's commitment to free speech. The panel also discusses Trump's escalating war with Iran, Meta's $17 billion settlement over alleged harms to children and whether parents or the government should be responsible for limiting kids' social media use, and the deportation of Milo Yiannopoulos amid his feud with Laura Loomer. 0:00—Trump wants the FCC to punish Welker 13:58—U.S. and Iran trade strikes in the Strait of Hormuz 23:56—Meta settles lawsuit for $17 billion 45:15—Yiannopoulos gets deported 52:08—Weekly cultural recommendations Upcoming Reason Events The Reason Roundtable's 10th Anniversary—Live in NYC! October 7 Mentioned in the podcast: "Trump Declared NBC's Kristen Welker Will Be 'Reported To the FCC For Rebuke or Punishment'," by Liz Wolfe "A Liberal Think Tank and an Air Force Major Are Trump's Latest Targets for Speech Policing," by Joe Lancaster "What Craigslist and Backpage Can Tell Us About the Meta Settlement," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown "Haidt's Moment," by Liz Wolfe "9/11 Turbocharged America's Worst Foreign Policy Impulses—but Didn't Change Its Direction," by Emma Ashford "Milo Yiannopoulos Wanted Millions Deported. He Didn't Mean Himself," by Billy Binion The post Trump Wants the FCC To Punish His Enemies appeared first on Reason Magazine.

This week, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Nick Gillespie are joined by Reason Senior Editor Robby Soave to discuss the national debt hitting $40 trillion and whether decades of fiscal irresponsibility are finally beginning to have consequences. They examine how the debt doubled in less than a decade, why federal spending continues to outpace revenue, and whether turmoil in the bond market could force politicians to take deficits seriously. They also consider why both parties abandoned the fiscal restraint that helped produce balanced budgets in the 1990s and what it would take to reverse course. The editors also discuss President Donald Trump's escalating trade war with Canada and his administration's refusal to return tariff revenue collected illegally, the growing bipartisan backlash against AI data centers, and whether economic growth can realistically help America escape its debt problem. They examine the government's case against Meta and the latest effort to blame social media for harms to children, then turn to calls for restrictions on journalists following the death of Cambridge professor Jason Arday. Finally, a listener asks whether AI could shrink the federal workforce and dramatically reduce the cost of government. 0:00—National debt hits $40 trillion 15:26—Canadian trade war intensifies 26:37—Backlash to data centers 41:52—Listener question on AI and the federal workforce 53:27—Jason Arday and speech regulations 1:03:08—Weekly cultural recommendations Upcoming Reason Events The Reason Roundtable's 10th Anniversary—Live in NYC! October 7 Mentioned in the podcast: "$40 Trillion and Parents' Night Out," by Liz Wolfe "Why We Need To Shrink the National Debt, and Fast!" by Nick Gillespie Nick Gillespie on X: "For those of us concerned about national debt, here is federal spending and revenue expressed as pct. of GDP and per capita in 2017 dollars. We are spending too much, not taxing too little." "How many civilian jobs are in the US federal government?" by USA Facts "Trump Imposes Harmful and Illegal Section 338 Tariffs Against Many Canadian Imports," by Ilya Somin "Bad Reasons and Worse Reasons to Hate Data Centers," by Robby Soave "Data Centers Are Doing Your Dirty Work for You," by Christian Britschgi "Sen. Ed Markey doesn't know what AI he is using," by Taylor Lorenz "Censors Seize on Jason Arday's Death as Excuse To Demand More Censorship," by Reem Ibrahim "Tony Is an Anthony Bourdain Origin Story," by Peter Suderman "Travel Shows Were Boring as Fuck. Then Came Anthony Bourdain," by Todd Krainin The post How Did America Get $40 Trillion in Debt? appeared first on Reason Magazine.