In this week’s The Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Peter Suderman chime in on the latest developments in Donald Trump’s cabinet appointments and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
00:28—Fred Smith tribute
04:58—Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) takes shape
18:58—Trump’s FCC pick and free speech
31:38—Weekly listener question
38:54—Tulsi Gabbard vs. the Deep State
49:31—This week’s cultural recommendations
Mentioned in this podcast:
“Thank You, Fred Smith,” by Ryan Young
“Fred Smith: ‘The Alternative To Innovation Is Not Stability. It’s Stagnation,'” by Nick Gillespie
“Bullish on DOGE,” by Liz Wolfe
“DOGE Can Succeed by Scaling Back Its Ambitions,” by Brian Riedl
“Incoming FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s Beef With NewsGuard Is Legally Dubious and Empirically Shaky,” by Jacob Sullum
“The New FCC Chairman’s Agenda Contradicts Conservative Principles,” by Jacob Sullum
“Trump’s Pick To Run the FCC Wants To Restrict the Editorial Discretion of Social Media Platforms,” by Jacob Sullum
“We Don’t Need RFK Jr. To ‘Make America Healthy Again,‘” by Kelvey Vander Hart
“Five Phony Public Health Scares,” by Ronald Bailey
“‘Impurifying our precious bodily fluids’: Fear of fluoridation takes a left turn,” by Ronald Bailey
“No, DOJ Shouldn’t Investigate Tulsi Gabbard for ‘False Russian Propaganda,‘” by Robby Soave
“It Will Be a Beautiful Day When the Air Force Bombs All the Schools Having Bake Sales,” by Nick Gillespie
“Tulsi Gabbard Conspiracy Theories Go Mainstream as Hillary Clinton Accuses the Candidate of Being Groomed by Russia,” by Elizabeth Nolan Brown
“Hillary Clinton Says Donald Trump Is an Illegitimate President and Tulsi Gabbard Is a Russian Tool,” by Robby Soave
“Tulsi Gabbard’s Great Moment From Last Night’s Democratic Debate,” by Nick Gillespie by Robby Soave
“Gladiator II* Is a Lavish, Empty Spectacle,” by Peter Suderman
“Dispatch From Trump World: The Spirit of ’24,” by Nancy Rommelmann
Upcoming Events:
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Audio production by Ian Keyser
Assistant production by Hunt Beaty
Music: “Angeline,” by The Brothers Steve
- Video Editor: Ian Keyser
- Producer: Hunt Beaty