Where Should Libertarians Stand During the Conservative Circular Firing Squad?
Pondering the right-commentariat's populist-nationalist vs. classical liberal split, on the latest Reason Podcast
If you printed out and stacked up every piece written about the dispute between First Things contributor Sohrab Ahmari and National Review writer David French, it wouldn't quite go up 68,000 miles—that would be the $22 trillion national debt, stacked by ones—but it would be towering nonetheless.
Since libertarianism is often an indicted co-conspirator during the nationalist right's never-ending season of irritable manifestos, we felt it appropriate to dedicate most of this week's Editors' Roundtable edition of the Reason Podcast, featuring Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, Peter Suderman and Matt Welch, to the conservative crack-up and related subplots. (And yes, that includes, hilariously, Game of Thrones.) There are David Brooks sightings, disputes over Trumpism's policy content, and usage-disquisitions on classical liberal and libertinism.
Subscribe, rate, and review our podcast at iTunes.
Audio production by Ian Keyser.
Relevant links from the show:
"David French Is Right: Classical Liberalism Is the Best Framework for Protecting Religious Freedom," by Robby Soave
"Steve Bannon's 'Economic Nationalism' vs. Libertarian Globalism Is the Battleground of 21st Century Politics," by Nick Gillespie
"The Populist Temptation," by Matt Welch
"The Government Can't—and Won't—Give Meaning to Your Life," by Peter Suderman
"How Stunningly Stupid Is Trump's Tariff Threat Aimed at Mexico? Let's Count the Ways," by Eric Boehm
"Larry Hogan Out, John Kasich Half-Out, Bill Weld Talking Abortion with Bill Maher," by Matt Welch
"Where Do Libertarians Belong?: A Debate," by Brink Lindsey, Jonah Goldberg, and Matt Kibbe
"The Simpletons," by Matt Welch