The Reason Roundtable

This week, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch discuss the escalating war with Iran and its growing economic consequences. With oil prices surging past $100 a barrel, the panel examines the risks to global energy markets and the broader economy. They also debate the war's trajectory after Iran elevates a new hardline supreme leader and launches wider counterattacks, raising fears of global escalation, nuclear proliferation, and the White House signaling that Cuba could be the next target. They also discuss the removal of Kristi Noem as secretary of Homeland Security and what her turbulent tenure says about the popularity of hardline immigration tactics. Then, the editors look at new polling showing that Americans dislike artificial intelligence more than Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), continue to view government as the country's biggest problem, and report collapsing levels of social trust. They also answer a listener's question about drug use in libertarian circles.   0:00—Economic fallout of war with Iran 10:12—China and the risk of global escalation 25:04—Noem removed as secretary of Homeland Security 35:36—Listener question on libertarian drug use 44:27—New polling on AI, social trust, and government approval 57:30—Weekly cultural recommendations   Mentioned in the podcast: "Regime Change in Cuba: 'Just a Matter of Time,'" by Matt Welch "What Is Life Like Beneath the Bombs of the Iran War?" by Matthew Petti "Jobs Are Down While the U.S. Spends $2 Billion a Day on War With Iran," byJoe Lancaster "Trump Bragged About Lower Gas Prices. Then He Bombed Iran," by Joe Lancaster "Senate Punts on Iran War Powers as Ground War Grows More Likely," by Matthew Petti "Yes, the Iran War Is a 'War of Choice,' and a Bad One," by Nick Gillespie "The Iran War Is Unconstitutional," by Damon Root "Temporary Doves," by Matt Welch "Kristi Noem's Lies About DHS Shootings Don't Seem To Have Figured in Trump's Decision To Fire Her," by Jacob Sullum "Trump Fires Kristi Noem From DHS," by Robby Soave "In Senate Testimony on DHS Shootings, Kristi Noem Lies About Her Lies," by Jacob Sullum "DHS Spent $220 Million on Ads Featuring Kristi Noem. Both Parties Grilled Her About It in the Senate," by Autumn Billings "Reason's Classic Pot Brownies," by Katherine Mangu-Ward Producer: Paul AlexanderVideo Editor: Ian KeyserThe post Will the War in Iran Crash the Global Economy? appeared first on Reason.com.

This week, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch discuss the U.S. military strikes against Iran, and why the United States repeatedly finds itself pulled into wars in the Middle East. The panel examines the White House's original narrative around the 2025 bombings of Iran's nuclear facilities and what evidence supports claims that Tehran posed an imminent threat to U.S. national security. They debate whether President Donald Trump's approach reflects a coherent strategy or a slide toward another open-ended conflict. The editors also consider Congress' reluctance to assert its war powers, the limited public support for the operation, fractures within Trump's coalition, and the risk of escalation. They also unpack the Pentagon's clash with Anthropic after the AI company was labeled a supply chain risk when it refused to drop safety guardrails on its technology, a move that will shut the firm out of federal contracts. The editors discuss what that authority means in practice, how it shapes the relationship between Silicon Valley and the military, and what it signals about AI's growing role in national defense. They also respond to a listener's question about whether regime change wars are morally distinct from other conflicts and whether preemptive self-defense fits within libertarian principles.   0:00—How does the White House justify bombing Iran? 9:11—Do the strikes on Iran need congressional authorization? 16:21—Trump's mixed messaging on Iran 29:49—Conservative influencers divided over Iran 38:18—Listener question on regime change 48:13—Anthropic gets blacklisted by the Pentagon 1:00:02—Weekly cultural recommendations   Mentioned in the podcast: "Bombed Iran," by Robby Soave "Trump Should Have Made His Case for War to Congress and the American People," by J.D. Tuccille "The Goalposts of the Iran War Keep Shifting," by Matthew Petti "Why Don't Democratic Leaders Want To Vote on the Iran War?" by Matthew Petti "Obama's Doctrine of Preemptive War," by Matt Welch "Anthropic Labeled a Supply Chain Risk, Banned from Federal Government Contracts," by Jack Nicastro Producer: Paul AlexanderVideo Editor: Ian KeyserThe post Trump's War With Iran Is Unjustified and Unpopular appeared first on Reason.com.

This week, Reason reporter Eric Boehm joins editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Nick Gillespie to discuss the Supreme Court's decision striking down President Donald Trump's "emergency" tariffs. They examine the major questions doctrine, Justice Neil Gorsuch's concurring opinion, and whether the ruling meaningfully restrains executive power or just invites years of new litigation. The panel also considers what the decision means for businesses and foreign governments that rushed to cut deals, and they talk about what Trump's irritated response reveals about his next moves. They then turn to the Middle East, where a rapid buildup of U.S. military forces has raised fresh fears of a possible war with Iran and renewed debate over how to respond to hostile regimes pursuing nuclear weapons. A listener asks whether a libertarian dream matchup of Rand Paul versus Jared Polis could ever happen and what it would take to convince reluctant candidates to run. The editors also discuss AI, surveillance, and privacy in light of new reporting on how tech companies handle user data. 0:00–Supreme Court ruling on Trump's tariffs 10:33–Congressional authority over tariff policy 24:22–Are we going to war with Iran? 36:52–The Winter Olympics 46:45–Listener question on Rand Paul vs. Jared Polis 54:22–AI surveillance and privacy concerns 1:05:22–Weekly cultural recommendations Mentioned in This Podcast "Trump's New Tariffs Are Probably Illegal Too," by Eric Boehm "Why Trump's Section 122 Tariffs Are Illegal," by Andrew McCarty "Iran's Nuclear Facilities Have Been Obliterated—and Suggestions Otherwise are Fake News," by the White House "The Hawks Are Lying Us Into Yet Another Middle Eastern War," by Matthew Petti "The Trump Administration Plans To Deport Iranians Amid Deadly Crackdown in Iran," by Matthew Petti Producer: Paul AlexanderVideo Editor: Ian KeyserThe post Trump Replaces Old Illegal Tariffs With New Illegal Tariffs appeared first on Reason.com.

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.