The Reason Roundtable

This week, editors Peter Suderman and Katherine Mangu-Ward are joined by Senior Editor Robby Soave and reporter Reem Ibrahim to discuss the rapidly expanding global fight over free speech. The conversation begins with reporting that the Department of Homeland Security is seeking identifying information on Americans who criticize Immigration and Customs Enforcement online. They also examine President Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC and the broader international trend toward regulating social media and criminalizing online speech. The panel then turns to the Federal Communications Commission chair's pressure campaign against Disney and Comcast and calls from Republican officials to investigate Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show, and what those moves say about the state of free expression in the United States. They also unpack the latest developments in the Jeffrey Epstein saga, including new reporting on UCLA professor Mark Tramo, the widening circle of consequences for Epstein's associates, and whether the moment resembles a belated reckoning similar to #MeToo. A listener asks how libertarians should think about free speech in the age of AI-generated deepfakes, before the panel examines Trump's failing tariff strategy and the growing rift between the U.S. and key allies.   0:00—DHS wants to identify online critics 05:37—The global attacks on free speech 14:00—The FCC's soft censorship 25:51—Is the Epstein saga a nothingburger? 42:03—Listener question on AI-generated deepfake nudes 51:10—Trump tariffs fail, cause global rifts 1:02:44—Weekly cultural recommendations Producer: Natalie DowzickyVideo Editor: Ian KeyserThe post DHS Wants To Unmask Online Critics appeared first on Reason.com.

This week, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch discuss Katherine's New York Times op-ed, "Libertarians Tried to Warn You About Trump," which lays out how Trump-era governance has repeatedly vindicated libertarian warnings about executive power, civil liberties, and the risks of trading principle for partisan advantage. The group then turns to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson's defense of warrantless Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) searches as a concrete example of how quickly Republican commitments to constitutional limits can erode once a party is in power, and why libertarian ideas so often get embraced only in opposition. The conversation then shifts to Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show and the now-permanent state of the American culture war, as political figures and influencers on the right, including President Donald Trump himself, weighed in to bash the performance. They discuss whether this cycle of outrage is simply what audiences and politicians now want, and how it crowds out serious debate about governance and the economy. A listener asks when each panelist had their own "aha" moment about the failures of the two-party system, before the editors turn to Trump's decision to continue funding the Department of Education, despite his promises to dismantle it.   0:00—Libertarians warned about Trump 13:56—Johnson complains about the Fourth Amendment 20:30—Bad Bunny and the culture wars 28:35—Trump's racist "Lion King" Obama meme 34:44—Listener question on libertarian lightbulb moments 44:34—Trump continues funding the Department of Education 52:14—Weekly cultural recommendations   Mentioned in This Podcast "Libertarians Tried to Warn You," by Katherine Mangu-Ward "Trump 2.0, Year 1: A Libertarian Nightmare," by Brian Doherty "Claiming Bad Bunny Isn't Successful Is as Foolish As Claiming He Isn't American," by Eric Boehm "Half-Hearted Halftime Outrage," by Christian Britschgi "Mike Johnson Wants To Spare ICE the Hassle of Getting the Right Warrant Before Forcibly Entering a Home," by Damon Root "So Much for Abolishing the Department of Education," by Eric Boehm Producer: Paul AlexanderVideo Editor: Ian KeyserThe post Libertarians Tried To Warn You About Executive Power appeared first on Reason.com.

On this special episode of The Reason Roundtable, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch are live from Washington, D.C., to discuss growing concerns about the Trump administration's rhetoric around elections. They dig into President Donald Trump's call to "nationalize" elections, the administration's pressure on states over voter data, and how those moves fit alongside January 6 and earlier efforts to overturn election results. The group debates how worried Americans should be about centralized election control and what it would mean for democratic legitimacy if one party gained greater authority over the voting process. The discussion then moves on to assess Trump's first year back in office, with each panelist reflecting on what concerns them most and what, if anything, they've liked from this administration. Suderman then turns the federal budget into a live guessing game of "How Much Did That Cost?" From there, the editors discuss Washington, D.C., itself, and the state of city governance, before analyzing the Super Bowl and the culture-war expectations around the halftime show.   0:00—Trump wants to nationalize elections 6:10—Reviewing the first year of Trump's second term 14:47—How much did that cost? 18:54—Governance in Washington, D.C. 27:24—Culture wars and the Super Bowl 36:44—Cultural recommendations Producer: Paul AlexanderAudio Mixer: Ian KeyserThe post Do Republicans Want To Control Elections? appeared first on Reason.com.

This week, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch discuss the political fallout from a shocking Texas special election, in which a Democrat flipped a district that President Donald Trump had won by 17 points in 2024, amid growing backlash to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tactics and hardline immigration enforcement. They discuss what the result says about independent voters, the unraveling of the GOP's 2024 coalition, and why immigration politics now appear to be driving everything from a partial government shutdown to open conflict within the Republican Party over Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller's influence in the administration. The conversation then turns to Trump's decision to tap Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve and what his record suggests about central bank independence. The editors also scrutinize the administration's broader economic messaging, including Trump's Wall Street Journal op-ed defending his tariff policy and claims that inflation has been brought under control, and how those arguments hold up against the data. They then touch on former CNN journalist Don Lemon's arrest and the White House response before turning to a listener question about whether the rhetoric coming out of AI companies points toward a libertarian utopia or a threat to liberty itself. Finally, the editors discuss Moltbook, an emerging platform built around AI systems meant to govern themselves, and why it's stirring so much debate.   0:00—Democrats win special election in Texas 08:30—Partial government shutdown over DHS funding 23:13—Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve 35:13—Don Lemon indicted by the DOJ 43:10—Listener question on AI and liberty 51:54—Moltbook and self-governing AI 57:59—Weekly cultural recommendations   Upcoming Reason Events The Reason Roundtable: Live in Washington, D.C.! February 4   Mentioned in the podcast: "Shutdown Showdown," by Robby Soave "Stephen Miller's Hardline Immigration Tactics Are Backfiring," by Peter Suderman "The Minneapolis Shootings Underline the Advantages of Body Cameras, Which DHS Has Been Slow To Adopt," by Jacob Sullum "Judge Says ICE Violated Court Orders in 74 Cases—See Them All Here," by C.J. Ciaramella "Trump Taps Kevin Warsh To Lead Fed," by Peter Suderman "Trump Claims His Tariffs Have 'Brought America Back.' Here Are 3 Things He Got Wrong," by Eric Boehm "Trump: 'I Want To Drive Housing Prices Up,'" by Jared Dillian "Key Inflation Metric Hits 3 Percent, Despite Trump's Claim That Rising Prices Are 'Solved,'" by Eric Boehm "Bessent Says Construction Jobs Are Booming Under Trump's Tariffs. Government Data Show the Opposite," by Eric Boehm "One Way to Think About the Don Lemon Prosecution," by Eugene Volokh "Government's Theory for Prosecuting Don Lemon as to Disruption of Minneapolis Church Service," by Eugene Volokh "Don Lemon's Bad Day, Looksmaxxing, and King Charles II," by Robby Soave and Christian Britschgi "No, AI Isn't Plotting Humanity's Downfall on Moltbook," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown "Will AI Benefit Everyone?" by Gene Epstein Producer: Paul AlexanderVideo Editor: Ian KeyserThe post Democrats Are Flipping Trump Districts in Texas? appeared first on Reason.com.

This week, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Matt Welch are joined by special guest Emily Jashinsky, host of After Party, to examine the killing of Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis and the Trump administration's shifting narrative about the shooting. The group discusses the Second Amendment and free-speech implications of statements being made by Trump administration officials and the Republican Party's sudden embrace of gun-control talking points, as well as the broader politics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as the administration pushes for escalation while losing public support on immigration. The panel also discusses the upcoming Academy Awards and how political themes are shaping expectations for the awards season. A listener asks how to show up and protest against state violence while navigating the ideological baggage of left-wing protest spaces.   0:00—ICE kills Alex Pretti in Minnesota 20:00—Public support for Trump administration policy 39:07—Listener question on protesting state violence 45:23—The influence of politics at the Oscars 53:01—Weekly cultural recommendations   Upcoming Reason Events The Reason Roundtable: Live in Washington, D.C.! February 4   Mentioned in the podcast: "The Second Shooting," by Liz Wolfe "The Trump Administration Is Lying About Gun Rights and the Death of Alex Pretti," by Robby Soave "DHS Again Promises a Thorough Investigation of a Fatal Shooting After Prejudging the Outcome," by Jacob Sullum "Democrats Plan To Block DHS Funding After Minnesota Killing. Republicans Should Join Them," by Eric Boehm "Leaked ICE Memo Claims Agents Can Enter Homes Without Judicial Warrants," by Autumn Billings "ICE Tells Legal Observer, 'We Have a Nice Little Database, and Now You're Considered a Domestic Terrorist,'" by C.J. Ciaramella "Vance Goes to Minnesota," by Liz Wolfe "ICE Demonstrates Why We Need the Second Amendment," by J.D. Tuccille Producer: Paul AlexanderVideo Editor: Ian KeyserThe post When Did Republicans Stop Caring About Gun Rights? appeared first on Reason.com.