Podcasts

Steel Manning Steel, Supermarket Nukes and Chlorinated Chickens

June 1, 2019 Nic Elliott Podcasts 00:47:06

This week, we try to steel man the arguments against freeing up the steel industry. Steel is always sold as a strategic industry. We’re often told that we cannot free the market, that we must have tariffs on foreign steel, and that we must protect (subsidise or nationalise) our own steel industry. We conduct a thought experiment on what would actually happen if the steel market was given a little (and a lot)more freedom before moving on to freeing up other industries like nuclear power. And chicken.

Photo by Ant Rozetsky on Unsplash

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The Castor Semenya Controversy: Is it time for competition in competitions?

May 18, 2019 Nic Elliott Podcasts 00:24:59

This week, we discuss Castor Semenya and the controversy surrounding intersex & transgender athletes. We talk about the definition of intersex, the rules around competing against females and if there’s a way forward that can please everyone.

Where should the line be drawn when deciding who can compete in the female category in sport?

Is this even the right question? Should there only be one set of rules?

Is there a way to treat all people fairly?

Are the media telling people everything about this particular, significant case?

Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash

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Is regulating the internet a direct threat to freedom?

April 19, 2019 Nic Elliott Podcasts 00:48:26

Politicians are rushing to regulate the internet with the EU copyright directive, age verification on porn sites and now a new regulator of social media platforms to police so called online harms.

In this edition we look across the globe to Vietnam, who at the turn of the year passed a law banning any criticism of the government online and ask if here in the west we are heading down that same authoritarian path.

Photo by Headway on Unsplash

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UK Houses of Parliament from the air

Could The Current Constitutional Crisis Have Any Benefits?

April 12, 2019 Nic Elliott Podcasts 00:38:50

This week we discuss whether Britain’s current constitutional crisis is actually a good thing. As Classical Liberals & Libertarians, should we delight in people realising that the current system of government isn’t working and cannot cope with incompetent or even sinister Members of Parliament?

Photo by Nik MacMillan on Unsplash

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Portrait of Mao Tse-tung

Why Is It OK To Laugh At Communism?

April 5, 2019 Nic Elliott Podcasts 00:29:59

This week we discuss why we find buying each other communist memorabilia amusing but would not feel the same about fascist merchandise. We also question the rules around humour and what makes one ideology an acceptable target, but another not? Will Nic stop using his treasured Soviet tea set?

Photo by Kirill Sharkovski on Unsplash

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Revealed vs Stated (Including Falsified) Preferences

March 29, 2019 Nic Elliott Podcasts 00:54:13

This week we discuss the difference between stated and revealed preferences. How do economists and politicians use preferences to form policy and should they ignore stated preferences altogether?

We also delve deeply into falsified preferences, a particular type of stated preference, and how we are all threatened by the psychology of this phenomenon and it’s effects on free speech.

Photo by Daniele Levis Pelusi on Unsplash

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No deal but no no deal either

March 13, 2019 Nic Elliott Podcasts 00:53:52

It turns out no deal isn’t better than a bad deal even though the commons has certainly expressed its opinion that the Withdrawal Agreement is very bad indeed.

The Irish Backstop is the clincher, and this week the power was firmly in the hands of Geoffrey Cox, the government’s lawyer in chief, who with one decisive blow, single-handedly ensured that the government would be defeated again.

We discuss the events of the day after, when the commons voted on a motion to take “no deal” off the table, and on the Malthouse compromise amendment.

Will members of the Cabinet resign after abstaining? What about those who voted for the Malthouse version of Brexit?

And finally, we discuss the shenanigans in the Labour Party, and how in “normal” times, this would have been big news.

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The Conservative Party splits. What happens now?

February 20, 2019 Nic Elliott Podcasts 00:47:36

Only two days have passed, yet another Labour MP has quit and, more significantly, 3 Conservatives MPs have too.

Now that the Independent Group has 11 MPs and eclipses the Lib Dems in all the polls, what does this mean for Brexit, the two old parties, and politics in general?

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Reaction to the Labour Party split

February 18, 2019 Nic Elliott Podcasts 00:49:20

It finally happened. More than 3 years after Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour Party and became Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition, 7 Labour MPs have formally left the Labour Party and formed The Independent Group of MPs.

We discuss how they did it, what their motives might be, how they come across, and what it means for Labour, Conservatives, Brexit and more.

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Please visit our website to download or stream all our previous episodes and to read our articles.
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Every day hypocrisy: You cannot have it both ways

February 17, 2019 Nic Elliott Podcasts 01:03:21

In this edition, we recap on what actually happened during & after our last podcast recording, and how it informed the way we discuss & debate issues.

By understanding & agreeing each others points of view, a whole vocabulary & context is created that makes examining issues far easier.

And then we explore a list of popular political, social & cultural contradictions.

Can you really have it both ways? We debate the hypocrisy and stupidity of our favourites.

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Please visit our website to download or stream all our previous episodes and to read our articles.
Remember, you can now subscribe on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWzAT–UxzErq_UU5SCUtFg
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