Ep 365 | Bitcoin and Dive Bars: The Pillars of Civilization | Guest: Thomas Pacchia

We all know that prices are going up and life is becoming more expensive, and while politicians run on affordability and promise to change things, the problem only keeps getting worse. There's a reason for this, and it's not capitalist greed. Matt Kibbe sits down with J.P. Cortez, executive director of the Sound Money Defense League, to explain that inflation is the consequence of the government's insistence on waging endless wars. Governments can't tax or borrow enough to spend trillions in the Middle East, so instead they just print more money, enriching military contractors while the average worker watches his savings disappear before his eyes. The only way to bring back real affordability is to put a stop to needless foreign conflicts once and for all.

Thomas Sowell is one of the most important economists of the 20th century, but because he refuses to bend the knee to the left-wing establishment, he has largely been ignored and ostracized by the profession and the media. That's why actor Clifton's Duncan's new one-man show celebrating the life and work of Thomas Sowell is such a valuable addition to the culture, popularizing Sowell among a new generation and adding to his already immense legacy. Matt Kibbe sits down with Duncan to discuss his process, his inspiration for the show, and what it was like delving into the mind of one of the nation's greatest intellectuals.

As the November elections approach, the one issue Americans continue to care about more than any other is affordability. Instead of taking these concerns seriously, Republicans are taking potshots at young people for buying $20 burritos. The Democratic Socialists, on the other hand, are at least pretending to care about the cost of living, setting themselves up for big electoral victories next month. Matt Kibbe is joined by Young Voices commentator Maggie Anders to explain why socialist promises to bring prices down and wages up are not to be believed and why the policies of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) and his friends will only make life harder for working Americans.

The mass school closings as a result of the COVID-19 lockdowns gave many parents a window into just how badly government schools were failing their children, and when they tried to do anything about it, they were demonized as "domestic terrorists." Matt Kibbe is joined by Paul Martino, education activist and subject of the PBS docuseries "Bucks County, USA" to discuss how parents are able to have a substantial impact on school board elections by demanding transparency and accountability from the institutions that are supposed to put children first, but which more often cater to the interests of teachers' unions and administrator salaries.

As the November elections approach, the GOP is going to have to reckon with the protracted war that continues to drag on in Iran, in defiance of the president’s “no new wars” campaign promise. Matt Kibbe is joined by Joe Kent, former counterterrorism adviser to the Trump administration, to discuss the state of the Iranian conflict, the resulting high gas prices that Americans are expected to endure, and the increasing discomfort younger voters have with Israel’s connection to American foreign policy.