Best selling author Dr. Jonathan Haidt joins us to discuss the psychology of America’s reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic and how to build resilience and thrive in this volatile, uncertain world. Along the way we explore the rise of micro aggression and “safetyism” on campuses, the moral roots of conservatives and liberals, the increasingly toxic polarization on social media and college campuses, and the implications for our democracy. Dr. Haidt is a professor of social psychology at NYU-Stern and author of The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion and co-author of The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure. He is also the co-founder of HeterodoxAcademy.org, a collaboration among nearly 2500 professors who are working to increase viewpoint diversity and freedom of inquiry in universities.

There are early indicators that the coronavirus harms a patient’s lungs, which is why older patients have trouble recovering from the virus – they don’t have the regenerative stem cells which develop naturally in our bodies as children. How does stem cell therapy help patients with coronavirus and other serious diseases and injuries? What are the challenges in getting this treatment to patients who need it? Stem cell innovator Donna Chang joins us to explain how stem cells work, their potential to change medicine forever, and the regulatory hurdles which researchers like her go through to bring this treatment to patients. Donna Chang is the Founder and CEO of Hope Biosciences, a biopharmaceutical company developing adult stem cell based therapeutics located in Sugar Land, Texas.

The Communist Party of China’s initial failings in their reaction to the emergence of the new coronavirus greatly contributed to the global pandemic we are experiencing today. How are the party’s leaders spinning its response to the crisis to spread propaganda, claim a global leadership role, and shift blame to America? China expert Michael Sobolik returns to the podcast to give insight into how the Chinese government thinks and operates.   Michael Sobolik is a Fellow in Indo-Pacific Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council and expert on China.

It has been exactly two months since the first case of coronavirus was detected in the United States. As the stock market continues to fall and businesses temporarily close, questions are mounting as to how to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19. How is the current economic downturn different from the 2008 recession? What should be the overarching aim of our economic policy moving forward? How can Congress target the individuals and businesses that need assistance the most – both in the short-term and the long-term? Dr. Ed Lazear offers answers to these questions and more.   Dr. Ed Lazear is Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and a Professor of Economics at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors under President George W. Bush from 2006 to 2009. Dr. Lazear is a labor economist by trade and is the founder of the field of economics known as “personnel economics.” His extensive research, which has appeared in numerous economic journals, has focused primarily on employee incentive structures and productivity in firms. Dr. Lazear is the recipient of over two dozen awards and fellowships and is a frequent contributor to Wall Street Journal.

We dive into the depths of the student loan debate with higher education expert Beth Akers, co-author of Game of Loans: The Rhetoric and Reality of Student Debt. Progressive politicians have made student loan forgiveness one of their major talking points this election cycle, citing astronomical numbers on student debt. But who really owes that money? Do loan forgiveness programs already exist for people in the worst financial hardship? What alternative tuition financing models are emerging in the free market? Beth also shares invaluable advice for students applying to colleges. Beth Akers is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, where her work focuses on labor economics and the economics of higher education. Previously, she was a fellow at the Brookings Institution and a staff economist with the Council of Economic Advisors under President George W. Bush. Her writing and research have been featured in, among others, The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, Quartz, Newsweek, and The Hill. She has appeared on CNBC, ABC News, Bloomberg TV, C-SPAN, among other TV and radio networks.

Dr. John Lott is an economist and a world-recognized expert on guns and crime. What happens in communities where guns are banned? Do universal background checks really accomplish what advocates say - or are there unintended consequences? How does gun ownership empower the weakest members of society? Dr. Lott has spent decades researching the statistics behind questions like these, and his answers may surprise you. Dr. Lott is Founder and President of the Crime Prevention Research Center. He has published over 100 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals and written nine books, including “More Guns, Less Crime,” “The Bias Against Guns,” and “Freedomnomics.”

Rep. Patrick McHenry is back to offer insight into the left’s approach to governance and the broader implications for everything from your 401k to the cost of housing in California vs Texas. What are their principles? What’s their end goal? McHenry is in a unique position to know, since he serves as ranking member on House Financial Services with Chairwoman Maxine Waters and three members of the ’Squad’ (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and, Rashida Tlaib).

What is carbon capture? Can we really use this technology to turn CO2 into a commodity? It might sound like science fiction, but it’s actually the New Energy Frontier in America. Nigel Jenvey is an industry leader and expert in Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS), having previously held roles such as the chair of the CO2 Capture Project, chair of the North American CCS Association, and program chair of the Society of Petroleum Engineers CCUS Technical Section. He leads the Carbon Management practice at Gaffney-Cline, a global oil and gas consultancy, helping clients understand the wide variety of options available that will ensure continued business success through the energy transition. He has over 23 years of global oil and gas industry experience in technology, exploration, development and production operations with major oil and gas operating companies.

Maya MacGuineas, head of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, stopped by to help us pick apart Modern Monetary Theory, which is trendy again among certain members of Congress and presidential candidates. How are debts and deficits like termites in a basement? What are realistic paths toward a sustainable budget? Maya MacGuineas is the president of the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Her areas of expertise include budget, tax, and economic policy. As a leading budget expert for the past twenty years and a political independent, she has worked closely with members of both parties and serves as a trusted resource on Capitol Hill. MacGuineas testifies regularly before Congress and has published broadly, including regularly in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Atlantic, and numerous other outlets.

The issue of inequality isn’t what many people think it is. Ramesh Ponnuru joins us to explain how to properly think about inequality and income mobility, and why tax increases and massive expansions of federal regulations do less to move people out of poverty and only increase wage stagnation, income immobility, the poverty rate, housing costs, student loan debt, and more. Ramesh and I discuss solutions that could actually benefit people who live in destitution, such as vocational training, occupational licensing reform, and the Earned Income Tax Credit. Ramesh is a senior editor for National Review, a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a senior fellow at the National Review Institute. Follow him on Twitter at @rameshponnuru for more amazing facts and ideas.

How have smart phones and social media shaped the political views of Millennials? What tricks do socialists like AOC and Bernie use to emotionally engage them into supporting programs like Medicare-for-All and the Green New Deal? Kristen Soltis Anderson joined me to delve into these topics and much more, including tips on how to bring young people into the conservative movement with honesty, not talking points.   Kristen is a pollster, speaker, commentator, and author of The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (And How Republicans Can Keep Up). She is co-founder of Echelon Insights, an opinion research and analytics firm that serves brands, trade associations, nonprofits, and political clients.

Jay Faison is a philanthropist and entrepreneur who founded ClearPath in 2013 to develop and advance conservative policies that accelerate clean energy innovation. Jay joins Dan on the podcast to talk about the New Energy Frontier and to discuss why conservatives are (and have been) leading the way on clean energy and reducing emissions. They talk about American ingenuity and why the best way to tackle climate change is not through a carbon tax, but through the American innovation machine. There is also much discussion about "Wet and Sandys". Listen to find out more...

Ajit Pai is Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. We talk about the future of the internet, net neutrality, rural broadband, and, of course, our favorite memes.  We also hit on how government can get out of the way of innovation, allowing for more efficient transportation, telemedicine, and small business creation.

Ray Takeyh is Hasib J. Sabbagh senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). His areas of specialization are Iran, political reform in the Middle East, and Islamist movements and parties. We examined the truth behind the November uprising, how the regime suppresses the will of the Iranian people, how the strike on Soleimani will help restore our deterrence posture and the numerous flaws with the JCPOA nuclear deal. 

Shoshana Weissmann is a Senior Manager and Research Fellow at R Street Institute and the self-declared Senator of Twitter. She has helped elevate the national conversation on the weird world of occupational licensing and the needed reforms. We also discussed the best kind of sloths and the worst kind of sloths (hint: there are no bad sloths).

Patrick McHenry is the U.S. Representative for North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District and the Republican leader of the House Committee on Financial Services. We talked about how blockchain technology and bitcoin works, why it matters, and the future of currency.  This is the authoritative podcast if you want to grasp the intricacies of bitcoin and explain it to your friends. 

Jarred “Landing” Taylor is an Air Force veteran and the President of Article 15 Clothing, the Marketing Director of Leadslingers Spirits, and works in business development for Black Rifle Coffee Company. We had a wide ranging conversation about everything from the latest frontiers in space exploration to the challenges facing soldiers coming home from combat.

Michael Sobolik is a Fellow in Indo-Pacific Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council. There is no doubt that China is our number one geoeconomic competitor, and what happens next in the U.S-China relationship may very well transform your life and how you see the world. We discussed China’s strategic goals and how America can retain its leadership of the global order.  We delved into China’s threatening behavior in the South China Sea, their abusive trade practices, and China’s harsh repression of millions of their own citizens.

Nadine Strossen is the John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law, Emerita at New York Law School. From 1991 through 2008, she served as President of the American Civil Liberties Union, the first woman to head the nation’s largest and oldest civil liberties organization. Topics include the future of free speech and the role of social media companies in censorship. Nadine discussed why censorship so frequently fails and how limits on free speech were used to suppress the civil rights movement. We also debate abortion as it pertains to civil liberties. 

Neil Chatterjee is the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Texas has an abundance of clean, cheap, exportable energy and no one knows that better than Chairman Chatterjee. We discussed Texas’s unique situation with competitive retail markets and the impact of American energy in decreasing global emissions and increasing global standards of living.

Marian L. Tupy is the editor of Human​Progress​.org and a senior policy analyst at the Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity. He specializes in globalization and global well‐​being, and the political economy of Europe and sub‐​Saharan Africa.  Poverty, human rights, education, life expectancy, and virtually every other aspect of our lives has improved dramatically over the last 100 years. We talked about why capitalism made this possible, and the disturbing rise in the popularity of socialism in today’s free societies.

Maria Korsnick is the President and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute. Clean energy is currently one of our most important conversations on Capitol Hill. Maria joined me to debunk some of the myths about nuclear energy, that there really is *no* green slime in nuclear plants, and why nuclear needs to be a critical piece of our clean energy plans.