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What We Saw at the Drug Enforcement Administration Museum

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 00:00:00 EDT

Since 1999, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has run a museum in Arlington, Virginia that showcases the agency's "tradition of excellence" and the "impact of federal drug law enforcement on the changing trends of licit and illicit drug use in American history."

Visitors can check out a replica of a '70s-era head shop, jerry-rigged works for shooting up and getting high, exhibits dedicated to the opium wars and cocaine cartels, and good, old-fashioned propaganda such as the classic movie Reefer Madness.

Take a guided tour of the place with ReasonTV correspondent Kennedy. And don't forget to exit through the gift shop and pick up DEA compression shorts by Under Armour or a K-9 plush dog stuffed animal.

Shot by Jim Epstein and Joshua Swain. Edited by Swain.

About 2.30 minutes.

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America's First Rebel: Roger Williams and the Birth of Liberty

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 00:00:00 EDT

"Williams was really America's first individualist, the first contradictor of authority, the first rebel," explains John M. Barry, author of Roger Williams and The Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty. While best known as the founder of Rhode Island and for being a leading proponent of a "wall of separation" between church and state, Barry argues that Williams' imprint on America is deeper than most recognize. "When I started writing the book I quickly realized that I was not simply writing about the emergence of the idea of religious liberty, but liberty itself."

Barry sat down with ReasonTV's Nick Gillespie to discuss the book, the enduring lessons of Roger Williams' life, and why he is not yet a household name.

About 9:10 minutes.

Cameras by Meredith Bragg and Jim Epstein. Edited by Meredith Bragg.

Barry is the author of numerous books, including The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History and Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America.

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James V. DeLong on Ending "Big SIS" (The Special Interest State)

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 00:00:00 EDT

"Obamacare is not, as one judge says, a national solution to a problem," argues James V. DeLong. "It's 2,000 pages...of special-interest-written law."

As such, it exemplifies what DeLong, a long-time Washington insider who has worked for many think tanks and government agencies, denounces as "Big SIS" or the "special-interest state." In his scathing - and utterly convincing - new book, Ending Big SIS and Renewing the American Republic, Reason Contributing Editor DeLong traces how "the political system creates economic advantages for special interests and then demands that part of the profits be fed back into the political system, where they are used to enhance the power of the political incumbents."

Whether the topic is defense spending, agricultural subsidies, health care, or the financial sector, DeLong documents the pervasive rot at the core of Washington's way of doing business - and provides ideas for cutting Big SIS down to size.

For more information on the book and DeLong, go to here. For his Reason archive, go to here.

About 6 minutes. Produced by Joshua Swain. Interview by Nick Gillespie. Camera by Meredith Bragg, Jim Epstein, and Swain.

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"Ideas Having Sex" A Conversation with John Tierney and Matt Ridley

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:00:00 EDT

"Where ideas have sex, is in technologies," says author and biologist Matt Ridley, "we give far too much credit to individuals for innovation...all of them are standing on the shoulders of lots of other people."

Ridley discussed his views on trade, invention and creativity with the New York Times' John Tierney at a Reason Foundation event at the Museum of Sex in New York City on March 8, 2012.

The author of "The Rational Optimist," tells Tierney that "Every technology we possess has ideas that occurred to different people in different times and different places...most innovation happens by perspiration not inspiration, it's tinkering...rather than geniuses in ivory towers."

Tierney and Ridley also discuss how traders and businessmen, much maligned throughout history as exploiters and "social parasites," have actually contributed enormously to the spread of ideas and new technological breakthroughs. Ridley describes how Fibonacci, the son of an Italian trader who lived in North Africa, brought the Indian numeral system (the numbers we all know and love today) to Europe as one of the greatest tangible benefits of trade facilitating the exchange of ideas. Ridley implores the public to "Just stop knocking traders, they're great people, they do wonderful things."

Runs about 20.26 minutes.

Produced by Anthony L. Fisher, shot by Jim Epstein and Fisher.

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Peter Schiff - The Fed Unspun: The Other Side of the Story

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EDT

"Ben Bernake fancies himself as a student of the Great Depression," says renowned investment broker, global strategist, author, and Austrian economist Peter Schiff, "but... if he were my student he would have gotten an F."

During a lecture entitled "The Fed Unspun: The Other Side of the Story", Schiff responded to Bernake’s recent four-part college lecture series, rebutting many of the Federal Reserve Chairman's claims about the cause of the housing crisis, the role of the Federal Reserve, the value of the gold standard, and more.

Cosponsored by the FreedomWorks Foundation and hosted at Reason Foundation’s DC office on March 29, 2012, the lecture was followed by a lively Q&A with the assembled audience, including students who attended Bernanke’s George Washington University lectures.

Shot by Meredith Bragg and Jim Epstein. Edited by Swain. Additional help from Anthony Fisher.

Approximately 1 hour and 26 minutes long.

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Margaret Thatcher, Meryl Streep, & The Iron Lady: Fact vs. Fiction

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

"When I first heard of this movie," says John Blundell, "I immediately was a little worried because of Meryl Streep's own ideas and polices and so on that are very distinctly not Thatcherite."

As a longtime Margaret Thatcher ally, few people are in a better position than John Blundell to assess the veracity of the Oscar-nominated bio-pic, The Iron Lady. The former head of influential free-market organizations such as The Institute of Economic Affairs, The Institute for Humane Studies, and the Atlas Economic Research Foundation , Blundell is also the author of Margaret Thatcher: A Portrait of the Iron Lady (2007) and the new Ladies for Liberty: Women Who Made a Difference in American History .

On the eve of the 2012 Academy Awards ceremony, Blundell sat down with Reason.tv to discuss the controversy surrounding the film (which depicts its titular character in the throes of demenita), Streep's widely praised performance, and the continuing power of Thatcher's social and political legacy.

"I must admit," he says, "to being pleasantly surprised. I think overall Margaret comes out of this process with her reputation enhanced and, of course, Meryl Streep's reputation hugely enhanced."

About 5.30 minutes. Produced and edited by Meredith Bragg.

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Wende Museum: An Archive of the Cold War

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:00:00 EST

"The fall of the (Berlin) Wall only occurred 20 years ago. It's very recent, but it's very important, perhaps one of the most important historical events of our age," says Justinian Jampol, the founder and Executive Director of the Los Angeles-based Wende Museum.

The Wende's mission is to preserve Cold War artifacts and personal histories from the Eastern side of the Iron Curtain, with a special emphasis on the former East Germany. Many of the materials that make up the museum's collection come from former Stasi secret police agents, Berlin Wall border guards, and members of the other Eastern European and Soviet communist regimes that would have otherwise been lost to history.

Jampol describes one of the museum's treasures: the Berlin Wall border guards' log books from the day the Wall fell. These books demonstrate the devotion some guards had for defending the Wall, both as an idea and a physical presence, as they continued to detail the thousands of "illegal border crossings" that took place after the Wall had already fallen.

The museum is also behind the "Wall on Wilshire Project," where 10 pieces of the monstrous Berlin Wall were flown to LA, reconstructed along a stretch of Wilshire Boulevard and painted over by street artists to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall.

Approximately 4.25 minutes. Produced by Anthony L. Fisher. Shot by Sharif Matar.

Music: "Warzaw Express" by Pharaos

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Craig Shirley: How Pearl Harbor - and December 1941 - Made America a Global Power

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:00:00 EST

The bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on December 7, 1941 killed over 2,400 Americans and led directly to the entry of the United States into World War II.

In his powerful, thickly researched new book, December 1941: 31 Days That Changed America and Saved the World, Craig Shirley chronicles the day-by-day shifts in American culture, politics, and national identity through that horrible month. Before December, Shirley tells Reason's Nick Gillespie, a solid majority opposed entry into World War II and the "eminently respectable" America First movement was poised to help select the next president of the United States. Non-interventionism was so universal that Franklin Roosevelt himself had campaigned for his third term as president on a promise to keep "American boys" out of European wars.

By the start of 1942, says Shirley, the long tradition of isolationism was over, never to be seen again. The nation that had rejected the League of Nations after World War I helped create the United Nations and America quickly became not simply a global economic, political, and military power but the dominant player on the globe.

The author of many books, including two biographies of Ronald Reagan and a forthcoming book on Newt Gingrich, Shirley talks with Reason's Nick Gillespie about what was gained - and lost - in the historical hinge point that was December 1941.

Approximately 8 minutes.

Camera by Meredith Bragg and Jim Epstein; produced by Bragg.

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Shipwrecks, Treasure and Cannon Fire: The True Story of an American Privateer

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:00:00 EST

Compared with better-known stories of the Founding Fathers who, author and regular Reason contributor Jackson Kuhl note, "don't do much,” the story of privateer Samuel Smedley is brimming with action. His new book, “Samuel Smedley, Connecticut Privateer,” delves into this true-life tale of revolution, shipwrecks, treasure and cannon fire.

Reason.tv’s Nick Gillespie sat down with the author to talk about Smedley, America’s fascination with Revolutionary War biographies and Kuhl’s desire for a film franchise.

Approx. 6 minutes.

Edited by Meredith Bragg. Camera by Meredith Bragg and Josh Swain.

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CATO's David Boaz on What America Can (and Shouldn't) Learn From the French Revolution

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 11:00:00 EDT

Is America poised for another revolution?

David Boaz, Executive Vice President of The CATO Institute, isn't betting on it.

"35 years ago, when I was a college student," Baoz reminisced, "the first libertarian speaker I ever heard said 'We are going to have hyper inflation. Buy gold and guns. That's the only thing that will save you.' And our political system averted that disaster."

At FreedomFest 2011, Reason's Nick Gillespie sat down with Boaz to discuss revolution (American and French), the way out of the current fiscal crisis and the recent rise of liberty-loving youth.

Held each July in Las Vegas, FreedomFest is attended by around 2,000 libertarians and advocates of limited government. Reason.tv spoke with over two dozen speakers and attendees and will be releasing interviews over the coming weeks. For an ever-growing playlist, go here now.

Approx. 6:50 min. Shot by Zach Weissmueller and Jim Epstein and edited by Meredith Bragg.

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9/11, The World Trade Center, & New York's Next Skyline

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 17:00:00 EDT

On September 11, I’ll be thinking less about the World Trade Center and more about my father and the relentless – probably unique – ability of New York City to bury its dead and move on without a backward glance.

My father was born in Manhattan in 1923, in a tenement building off Columbus Circle. A few years later, he moved to Brooklyn, a borough that was considered the country back then, a place that had more horses than cars. By the time he left there for good in 1966, it wasn’t the country anymore, that’s for sure.

He worked for Sea-Land, a shipping company that was one of the World Trade Center’s original tenants, and one of my very earliest memories is of my older brother and me playing in the company’s unfinished offices in one of the towers before the complex opened to the public in 1973.

Like many, probably most, New Yorkers, my father hated the Twin Towers at first, preferring the Chrysler and Empire State buildings, which had gone up during his childhood.

He’d seen King Kong when it came out in 1933, he explained, and he just couldn’t see the big ape climbing the towers. By the late ‘70s - after Philippe Petit tightrope walked across them, George Willig scaled them, Owen Quinn parachuted from them, and King Kong himself had been shot off them in a 1976 remake - he’d come around.

On a trip to Manhattan around then, he asked me if I wanted to see where he’d been born. He hadn’t been to the old neighborhood since before the war and was feeling nostalgic. We walked toward the Circle only to realize that not only the building he’d been born in was gone, but the entire street - paved over sometime in the ‘50s or ‘60s in the rush to build Lincoln Center, a place he’d never think of entering.

As the realization sunk in, he shrugged, turned to me, and said, “Well, do you wanna go see a movie instead?”

There’s nothing that will lessen the horror of 9/11 or do justice to the murdered souls interred forever at Ground Zero. But in a strange and beautiful and terrible way, New York – and America – will honor them most by pausing only briefly to pay our respects.

Written by Nick Gillespie and produced by Meredith Bragg.

Gillespie is the editor in chief of Reason.tv and Reason.com, and the co-author with Matt Welch of The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong With America. Bragg is a producer for Reason.tv and a 2010 finalist for a digital National Magazine Award for best video.

About 2 minutes. For downloadable versions of this video, links, and other supporting materials, go to Reason.tv.

For more Reason articles and commentary on the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, go here.

Marc Eliot on Reagan in Hollywood

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:00:00 EDT

At FreedomFest this July, Reason's Matt Welch spoke with Marc Eliot, author of Reagan: The Hollywood Years. The book chronicles Ronald Reagan's journey from sportscaster to actor to union president to politician.

Unlike critics who make sport of Reagan's Hollywood output (Bedtime for Bonzo, anyone?), Eliot documents how backlot politics helped transform the once-proud "New Deal Democrat" into the embodiment of Goldwater conservatism. His tenure as head of the Screen Actors Guild was punctuated by episodes such as the time when he received death threats by one of Al Capone's henchmen over a union dispute and his starring role in the negotiations that led to actors receiving residuals. And while Reagan's film career ultimately petered out, he was for a time among the highest-paid contract actors of his day.

Shot by Jim Epstein and Zach Weissmueller. Edited by Anthony L. Fisher. About 9.15 minutes.

Held each July in Las Vegas, FreedomFest is attended by around 2,000 limited-government enthusiasts and libertarians a year. Reason.tv spoke with over two dozen speakers and attendees and will be releasing interviews over the coming weeks.

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Bob Poole and Adrian Moore: Why Highways Beat High-Speed Rail

Fri, 13 May 2011 15:00:00 EDT

What are the best ways to get America moving in terms of transportation?

At Reason Weekend 2011, Reason Foundation's annual donor event, Adrian Moore and Robert Poole spoke about the right ways to create a 21st-century transportation policy. Moore takes heavily documented aim at high-speel rail projects as tax-funded boondoggles that will certainly fail to hit ridership goals. Poole argues that pie-in-the-sky projects such as high-speed rail divert limited federal funds from much-needed infrastructure improvement and fail to tap into private capital funds that could help expand the nation's transportation network.

About 45 minutes. Filmed by Alex Manning and Paul Detrick; edited by Joshua Swain.

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We Don't Need No (Public) Education: Sheldon Richman on the Separation of School and State

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 09:00:00 EDT

Who likes the sound of a school bell? Sheldon Richman certainly doesn't.

"Schools, by their structure, are preparing kids for some sort of authoritarian lifestyle," he says.

Richman is critical of the school choice movement, saying that even in charter schools, money is still being provided by the state.

He edits The Freeman and TheFreemanOnline.org, publications from the Foundation for Economic Education. Richman also is the author of Separating School and State and is a contributor to The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.

Topics include: Unschooling; critiquing charter schools; for-profit private schools; and home schooling.

Shot by Zach Weissmueller and Hawk Jensen. Edited by Weissmueller, Jensen and Paul Detrick

Approximately 5:40 minutes.

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The Spirit of Mount Vernon: The Return of George Washington's Whiskey

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 00:00:00 EST

Many know George Washington as a general and statesman, but few think of America's first president as a preeminent entrepreneur, operating the most successful whiskey distillery in the late 18th century. At its height, Washington's distillery produced over 11,000 gallons of liquor a year, supplying the surrounding area and becoming one of his most lucrative business ventures.

At Washington's former plantation, Mount Vernon , a group of historic interpreters are looking to bring this story to a wider audience. Thanks to a fully functioning replica of Washington's distillery (and special dispensation from the Virginia General Assembly), George Washington's rye whiskey is once again being made and sold to the public.

In November, Reason.tv followed the entire process as Dave Pickerell, Master Distiller and former Vice President of Operations for Maker's Mark, and Steve Bashore, Mount Vernon Distillery Manager, oversaw a two week production run while adhering as strictly as possible to 18th century means and methods. The result is an 80-proof reminder of the nation's first president and the entrepreneurial ideals of colonial America.

Shot, edited and produced by Meredith Bragg. Music by www.audionautix.com. Approx. 6 minutes.

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Attack Ads, Circa 1800

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EDT

Have this year's negative political ads really "taken dirty to a whole new level, as CNN's Anderson Cooper frets? Is a "return to civility...a relic of a bygone era," as President Barack Obama laments?

Er, not exactly.

If anonymous political speech, the other widely decried villain of this political season, helped found the United States, attack ads are as American as apple pie. If you fancy yourself a patriot or a history buff, you will most certainly approve this message, which is taken from statements made by, for, and against the nation's founders. For historical sources, go here.

Approximately 1.45 minutes. Written and produced by Meredith Bragg. Voiced by Caleb Brown, Michael C. Moynihan, and Austin Bragg.

Check out "The Positives of Negative Campaigning," why "Attack Ads Are Good For You." and Reason's 2006 list of the "Top 10 Dirtiest Political Campaigns" in U.S. history.

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Where are the Jobs? The Parallels between Today and the Great Depression

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 11:30:00 EDT

The Great Recession officially ended way back in June of 2009, so why are so many Americans still out of work?

It's not because politicians were twiddling their thumbs. Indeed, from from bailouts to "Cash for Clunkers" to the massive stimulus plan, government has busied itself with trying to fix the economy. And, according to President Obama, this "bold, persistent, experimentation" has brought our country back from the brink.

Obama borrows that phrase from President Franklin Rooselvelt, and today's president has a lot in common with the original bold, persistent, experimenter. Like Obama, FDR was a charismatic Democrat who replaced an unpopular Republican during a time of crisis. And like Obama, FDR championed a slew of policies designed to get America back to work.

Today many Americans credit FDR with rescuing our nation from the Great Depression, but there's plenty wrong with that view, says Lee Ohanian, a UCLA economics professor who specializes in economic crisis. "What's wrong with that view is that private-sector job growth did not come back under Roosevelt," says Ohanian, who notes that Americans often forget how long the Great Depression lasted. Unemployment stood at 17 percent in 1939, a decade after the infamous stock market crash, and, although times were much worse back then, Ohanian sees troubling parallels between the Great Depression and the Great Recession. In both instances our nation emerged from a severe downturn with strong productivity growth and the banking system largely restored. We were poised for a recovery, but didn't get one. "So the key puzzle for both today and the 1930s is why aren't private-sector jobs being created at a much more rapid rate?"

Uncertainty may have something to do with it. "Uncertainty is an enemy of job creation," says Ohanian. "Because in a world with a lot of uncertainty there's a tendency to 'wait and see.'" Our nation's job creators wait and see what Washington's next experiment will be.

CEO Joanne Garneau has spent a year waiting for the Federal Trade Commission to announce a new regulation that will determine whether her company hires more employees or even stays in business. It's just one regulation, a tiny one by Washington standards. How will businesses end up being affected by ObamaCare or the 2,300-page financial overhaul? What if taxes go up? Today, like the 1930s, uncertainty reigns.

According to research conducted by Ohanian and fellow UCLA economist Harold L. Cole, FDR's anti-market policies actually prolonged the Great Depression by seven years . And what about Obama's policies? When the unemployment rate finally does improve will he receive credit for rescuing America from the Great Recession or blame for prolonging the crisis?

Approximately 6.40 minutes.

"Where are the Jobs? The Parallels between Today and the Great Depression" is written and produced by Ted Balaker. Field Producers: Paul Detrick and Zach Weissmueller; Production Associate: Sam Corcos.

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Who is Publius? or, Who's Afraid of Anonymous Political Speech?

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 07:00:00 EDT

To hear the Obama administration tell it, there are few things worse than anonymous political activity. Just recently, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told the Christian Science Monitor:

The untold story of 2010 is not the "tea party" or not the health-care bill, or a number of these issues. It is the amount of money that is flowing in districts around the country and particularly the amount of anonymous money....
I haven’t been any place where there aren’t dozens of ads now being run and nobody knows who is behind them...I am used to a political system where people engage in battles and you know who brought them to the dance.

But is anonymous political speech really that new - or that bad?

Indeed, anonymous political speech isn't just a great American tradition. It helped create the United States of America. The Federalist Papers, the series of essays that influenced the adoption of the Constitution, were published under the pseudonym "Publius" (in reality James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay). The anti-Constitution position was in turn articulated by "the Federal Farmer," whose identity remains a mystery.

Former Federal Election Commission chair Bradley Smith lays out other arguments in favor of anonymous political speech in a contemporary context:

[Election] disclosure regulations are some of the most burdensome. Disclosure limits free speech because it allows the government to retaliate against people. The Supreme Court has consistently held that people do have a right to anonymous speech. The cases speak for themselves.
The most prominent one is probably NAACP v. Alabama (1964), when Alabama wanted to know who was funding the NAACP’s activities. We can see how that would be intimidating. Then there’s McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission (1995). McIntyre was doing anonymous brochures against a school tax, which all the school officials supported. She had children in the schools who needed grades and access to such things as athletic teams and bands. She didn’t necessarily want her name known, even though it was important for her to fight this issue. Another major case was Brown v. Socialist Workers ’74 Campaign Committee (1982). The socialists rightly said, “If we have to reveal our donors, they won’t give us money. They will get harassed. Their businesses will get blackballed and that sort of thing.” Disclosure can be more inhibiting than people think.

Which is something to think about when people already in power push legislation such as The DISCLOSE Act, which would force groups to list donors and reveal their names in advertisements. The DISCLOSE Act is in part a response to this year's controversial Citizen's United v. Federal Election Commission ruling by the Supreme Court. Hyperbolically likened by critics to the infamous Dred Scott decision, Citizen's United dealt with a documentary film censored by the government and broadened the speech rights of corporations, unions, and nonprofits. Far from opening American politics up to undue influence by unspecificed foreigners (as President Obama has charged), the ruling makes it easier for smaller groups and individuals to spread their messages.

As with many political firestorms, the current one about "dangerous" anonymous speech generates more heat than insight. Anonymous speech is fully in the American grain but it also comes at a price. When the source of political speech is not known or disclosed, voters tend to discount it, or at least look for corroboration elsewhere. Which is exactly how it should be. And if you don't in the end trust voters to make informed decisions, then all the mandatory disclosure in the world can't help them.

"Who is Publius?" is written and produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie. Approximately 45 seconds.

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The Relentless Revolution: Joyce Appleby on the History of Capitalism

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 06:00:00 EDT

"Exploitation is not exclusively capitalist, but wealth creation is." So says Joyce Appleby, professor emerita at UCLA and author of the new book, The Relentless Revolution: A History of Capitalism.

Although she criticizes certain aspects of capitalism, Appleby credits it for producing countless marvels of the modern world. "If you want this level of enjoyment," says Appleby, "Science, the arts, food, transportation, information—then you have to realize what's generating the wealth to create it."

Reason.tv's Ted Balaker sat down with one of our nation's most accomplished historians to discuss the history of capitalism, how capitalism stacks up against competing systems, and why Americans should root for a wealthy China.

Approximately 8.00 minutes.

Interview by Ted Balaker; shot by Paul Detrick, Hawk Jensen and Alex Manning; edited by Detrick.

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Never Enough: William Voegeli on America's Limitless Welfare State

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EDT

"The denial of the possibility that there is an endpoint [to the welfare state] is crucial to the liberal enterprise," says Dr. William Voegeli, author of the new book, Never Enough: America's Limitless Welfare State and a visiting scholar at Claremont McKenna College's Henry Salvatori Center for the Study of Individual Freedom in the Modern World.

In this Reason.tv interview, Voegeli traces recent federal government expansions to President Franklin Roosevelt's introduction of a "second Bill of Rights" that included the right to housing, education, and medical care.

Approximately 8.30.

Interview by Sam Corcos; shot by Hawk Jensen; edited by Paul Detrick.

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Yankee Warhorse: Mary B. Townsend on her biography of Maj. Gen. Peter Joseph Osterhaus

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 11:53:00 EDT

Peter Joseph Osterhaus was one of the most accomplished of the wave of "'48ers"—Germans who participated in the 1848-49 Rebellion, then fled their native land—to re-settle in the United States.

Now he is subject of a biography, Mary Bobbitt Townsend's Yankee Warhorse: A Biography of Major General Peter J. Osterhaus, published by the University of Missouri Press.

Townsend, who is Osterhaus' great-great-granddaughter, uses fresh scholarship and never-before-published source material to describe Osterhaus' important battlefield roles in Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and Atlanta, as well as his time as a Major General for the Union Army in the Civil War, military governor of Mississippi during the early days of Reconstruction, and later U.S. consul general in Lyon.

Approximately 3.09 minutes. Shot by Dan Hayes and interviewed by Reason's Matt Welch, who is the Townsend's son. Edited by Josh Swain.

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Experimental Economist Bart Wilson on the Meaning of "Fair"

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:20:00 EDT

Politicians and pundits often use the word "fair" to describe policies they favor. But what does "fair" really mean?

Chapman University experimental economist Bart Wilson argues that fairness should not be construed as equality of outcome, but as a process in which everyone plays by the rules and honors agreements. When lawmakers obscure the definition of this word, it may result in policy that is ineffective, arbitrary, and fundamentally unfair.

Approximately 8:50. Interview by Zach Weissmueller and shot by Austin Bragg. Edited by Weissmueller.

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Mad Men Season 4: A Reason.tv Preview

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

The upcoming season of President Obama's favorite TV show will take place in '64, the year of the Civil Rights Act, Meet the Beatles!, the Stone's debut, Johnson's trouncing of Goldwater, and the Surgeon General's "revelation" that smoking causes cancer.

What will become of the men and women of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce who came of age in the staid '50s?

The producers of AMC's hit show are touting a season packed with "surprises." We think we have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

Here's Reason.tv's guide to what Season 4 of Mad Men will get right—and wrong—about the mid-60s.

"Mad Men Season 4: A Reason.tv Preview" is written and produced by Jim Epstein and Nick Gillespie, who also hosts.

Approximately 5 minutes.

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Paul Revere and His Relevance to Contemporary America with Author Joel Miller

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Is Paul Revere still relevant in contemporary America?

Joel Miller, author of The Revolutionary Paul Revere, says he is. Miller sat down with Reason.tv Editor in Chief Nick Gillespie to discuss the man, his famous ride, and his relationship to the contemporary political landscape.

"There are an awful lot of corollaries to people today who are frusrated with government," says Miller. And that's nothing new: "You go back throughout English history you'll find uprising after uprising about taxes..."

Approximately 10 minutes. Shot by Meredith Bragg, Josh Swain and Dan Hayes. Edited by Swain.

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The Decline of a Once-Great City: Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey, Episode 1

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:00:00 EDT

Sixty years ago, Cleveland was a booming city full of promise, opportunity, and people. Today, the city’s population is less half of what it was in its prime and it ranks as one of the poorest big cities in the United States. Hometown hero Drew Carey reflects on how the city became “the mistake on the lake” and wonders about the city’s future. Is a Cleveland renaissance possible or is the city doomed to long, slow death?

Reason Saves Cleveland with Drew Carey is written and produced by Paul Feine; camera and editing by Roger Richards and Alex Manning; narrated by Nick Gillespie; music by the Cleveland band Cats on Holiday. This is the first of six episodes that will air between March 15-19, 2010.

The next episode, Fix the Schools, will go live at noon ET today.

Approximately 5 minutes long. Scroll down for iPod, HD, and audio versions of this video.

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Damon Root in Fox's Freedom Watch With Judge Napolitano, November 10, 2009

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

Reason's Damon W. Root appeared on Fox News’ Freedom Watch with Judge Andrew Napolitano to discuss how the New Deal eroded liberty and how FDR's policies caused some leading liberals to turn right.

Original airdate: November 10, 2009.

Garrett Peck On "The Prohibition Hangover: Alcohol in America from Demon Rum to Cult Cabernet"

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:00:00 EST

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie sat down with Garrett Peck, author of the new history The Prohibition Hangover: Alcohol in America From Demon Rum to Cult Cabernet (Rutgers University Press).

A wide-ranging social history that begins with the end of Prohibition and runs up to the current craze over great domestic wines and small-batch spirits, The Prohibition Hangover helps explain why Americans continue to have such an ambivalent relationship toward drinking. Engaging, well-written, and packed with an infinite number of fascinating interviews and historical anecdotes, The Prohibition Hangover is required reading for anyone interested in understanding the past 80 years of American business and culture.

For Peck's official site, go here.

To buy the book, go here.

Related Reason.tv videos include Beer: An American Revolution and Jerome Tuccille on "Gallo Be Thy Name."

"Every Day is a Bonus": Veterans Day in Washington, D.C., November 2009

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST

On Saturday November 7, 2009 Reason.tv's Dan Hayes caught up with the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight from Wisconsin. Honor Flight is an organziation that provides World War II vets and terminally ill patients from other conflicts free travel to Washington, D.C. to tour memorials.

Hayes talks with veterans who recognize that this is not only their first visit to the World War II monument, but may well be their last trip away from home. "Every day is a bonus," is the motto of Honor Flight and it's a sentiment that rings true for the men who fought and those of us who continue to benefit from their service and sacrifice.

Thanks to Joe Dean, Jane Dean, Mark Grams, Liane Baranek, The Gebauers, Cindy and Dave Haupt, Nancy and Steve Hayes, and all the guardians and the vets we spoke with Saturday.

Music by Josh Christiansen.

For embed code, go to Reason.tv's YouTube channel here.

The Cold War Never Ended

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST

On November 9, 2009, the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Reason senior editor Michael C. Moynihan discussed his article "The Cold War Never Ended" on the Kremlin-backed television station Russia Today and who—if anyone—deserves credit for killing off the evil empire.

Remembering the Victims of Communism

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:25:00 EST

Twenty years ago today, the Berlin Wall was breached and Soviet communism, at long last, entered its death spiral.

After claiming approximately 100 million victims in the 20th century, communism was dismissed to the ash heap of history. But those who suffered under its boot heel have largely been confined to the history books when not forgotten altogether.

Author and historian Lee Edwards set out to correct this oversight with the creation of the Victims of Communism memorial and online museum, dedicated to those who perished because of Communist regimes between 1917 and 1989.

Reason.tv spoke to Edwards about the importance of historical memory, plans for a forthcoming bricks-and-mortar museum in Washington, DC, and the paintings of Ukrainian gulag survivor Nikolai Gettman, currently on display at the Heritage Foundation, where Edwards is a "Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought."

Produced by Meredith Bragg and Michael C. Moynihan.

Interview by Moynihan. Shot and edited by Bragg. Approximately 4 minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and embed code. This video is also available at YouTube. Subscribe to Reason.tv's channel now.

Michael McMenamin: How Churchill Became Churchill

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:00:00 EDT

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie recently sat down with Reason contributing editor Michael McMenamin, co-author with Curt Zoller of 2007's Becoming Winston Churchill, now out in a paperback edition from Enigma Books. The volume promises "the untold story of Young Winston and his American mentor."

Churchill's mentor was the Irish-born New York orator and politician Bourke Cockran (1854-1923), who served in Congress and advised President Grover Cleveland. Recognized as the one of the greatest public speakers of his day (William Jennings Bryan refused to appear on the same stage with him), the classical liberal Cockran introduced Churchill to the benefits of free trade, anti-imperialism, soaring oratory, and, even more important, says McMenamin, the idea that "government is not the source of wealth...[Cockran] gave Churchill a healthy distrust of government and other organizations (like the Church of England) that could hold power over people."

Approximately 7.15 minutes. Shot by Roger M. Richards and Alex Manning; edited by Roger M. Richards.

Scroll down for embed code and iPod, HD, and audio podcast versions.

For YouTube version, go here.

Robert Higgs on The Decline of American Liberalism

Wed, 13 May 2009 10:00:00 EDT

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie recently sat down with the Independent Institute's Robert Higgs, the author of such classics as Crisis and Leviathan: Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government and Depression, War, and Cold War: Challenging the Myths of Conflict and Prosperity.

The topic at hand was the Independent Institute 's reissuing of Arthur A. Ekirch's The Decline of American Liberalism, a brilliant reading of American history from a libertarian perspective that was originally written in 1955. Ekirch, writes Higgs in his foreword to the new edition, argued that liberalism (in its original 18th and 19th century meaning) "had reached its apogee...at the time of the War of Independence and that despite a certain amount of ebb and flow thereafter, the tendency was toward its decline." The result was an ongoing battle between forces of centralization and decentralization in all aspects of American political, social, and economic life. Despite writing during the 1950s, a time of wide-ranging repression of speech and the individual, Higgs says that Ekirch was far from a pessimist. In fact, his revelation of how the government routinely used crises to amplify its power is the starting point of challenging that very dynamic.

Higgs also talks about the new paperback edition of his own invaluable Depression, War, and Cold War and gives his take on the government reaction to the current financial crisis.

Approximately 10 minutes. Shot by Dan Hayes and edited by Roger M. Richards.

For a YouTube version, or if you have trouble embedding this video, go here.

Wall Street Journal's Jason Riley on Immigrants: Let Them In

Fri, 08 May 2009 11:00:00 EDT

During Reason Weekend, the annual event held by the nonprofit that publishes this website, The Wall Street Journal's Jason Riley, author of the recent book Let Them In: The Case for Open Borders, gave a spellbinding presentation about the myths surrounding immigration.

Riley walks through the history of German, Irish, and Mexican migrants in rich and compelling detail, deflating nativist hype while also complicating easy narratives about the United States as a mythic destination for all the wretched of the world.

Approximately 30 minutes.

Go here for audio podcast.

Shot and edited by Roger Richards.

For more Reason.tv with Riley, go here.

Reason on immigration here.

Return to the Gulag

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST

Jon Utley was two years old in Moscow when his father, Arcadi Berdichevsky, a Russian trade official, was sent to a labor camp by the Soviet secret police. His mother, Freda Utley, escaped with Jon to England and then to America.

In 2004 and 2006, Utley, a well-known journalist, embarked upon a search to learn of his father's fate. This documentary traces Utley's journey through former labor camps and cities in northern Russia and his final uncovering of the horrible truth at the dreaded camp city of Vorkuta within the Artic Circle.

Directed by John J. Michalczyk, Return to the Gulag is a small but revealing window into Russia's turbulent 1930s.

Reason.tv is proud to present this Etoile Production, which was funded by The Freda Utley Foundation and the Jacques Salmanowitz Program For Moral Courage in Film at Boston College. Thanks also to the Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation.

For more information about the documentary, visit http://fredautley.com/Berdichevsky.htm.

For a DVD version of this program ($15 donation, plus shipping), please go to the website of The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation or email vocmemorial@aim.com.

Andrew Ferguson on Abe Lincoln, Twits on Parade, and New Media

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:00:00 EST

In conjunction with The Interactive Media Studies Program at Miami University of Ohio, reason's Nick Gillespie co-taught a class last fall called "Poltics, Culture, and New Media."

The course explored the theory and practice of new media, especially as it relates to cultural and political journalistic outlets. In alternating weeks, the course took place in classroom spaces on the Miami University campus and Reason's D.C. offices, where Gillespie, a Ph.D. in literature and a 20-year veteran of journalism, led web-based videoconferences with journalists, authors, and policy analysts.

On October 29, Gillespie and his class spoke with Andrew Ferguson, author of the highly praised books Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America and Fools' Names and Fools' Faces. He is senior editor of The Weekly Standard and a columnist for Bloomberg News based in Washington, D.C. Before joining the Standard at its founding in 1995, he was senior editor at the Washingtonian magazine. He has been a columnist for Fortune, TV Guide, and Forbes FYI, and a contributing editor to Time magazine. He has also written for the New Yorker, New York, The New Republic, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and other publications. In 1992, he was a White House speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush. Approximately 60 minutes.

Go here for audio podcast.

Watch other discussions in this series:

Legendary political operative Roger Stone on new media and old campaign tricks (September 17, 2008).

reason Editor in Chief and McCain: The Myth of a Maverick author Matt Welch (October 1, 2008).

The Onion's Joe Garden on Bringing the Funny in the Age of Obama (October 15, 2008).

Anarchist Philosopher Does Not Consent To Be Governed!

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST

"Growing up in D.C. will turn you into an anarchist," jokes Against the State: An introduction To Anarchist Political Theory author Crispin Sartwell. "I'm expecting the revolution to emerge from Wheaton (Maryland), high schoolers in the D.C. area who are embroiled in the bureaucracy of the American state." This five-and-a-half-minute-long interview was conducted by Nick Gillespie and shot and edited by Dan Hayes.

Widely published in both popular outlets and academic journals, Sartwell teaches at Dickinson College. For more information on him, go to his website.

For an audio podcast version of this interview, go here.

And check out his October 30, 2008 appearance on the Reason.tv Talk Show, where he discussed anarchy, Darfur, and hip hop with the journalist Eli Lake and hosts Michael C. Moynihan and Nick Gillespie.

The Reason.tv Talk Show, Episode 7

dan.hayes@reason.org (Dan Hayes) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST

On December 16, Reason's Nick Gillespie and Michael C. Moynihan sat down with the journalist Jon Utley, the subject of the excellent new documentary about his father's death in a Soviet labor camp, Return to the Gulag, and economist Michael Munger, head of Duke University's political science department and the surprisingly successful Libertarian Party gubernatorial candidate in North Carolina.

The quartet spent about 25 minutes talking about the bailouts, how the Cold War still matters, whether libertarian ideas are on the march or in retreat, and much more.

For audio podcast, go here.

Obama's New New Deal

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

Nobel laureate economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says he wants President-elect Barack Obama to enact "something like a new New Deal." Historian Douglas Brinkley has said that Obama could come to office with a "sweeping legislative agenda which will be Johnson-like or New Deal-like." An aide close to Obama told New York magazine that "A lot of people around Barack are reading books about FDR's first hundred days."

On the cusp of a deep economic recession, and with a staggering amount of bailout money being offered to struggling industries, pundits and political advisers are advocating that the incoming Obama administration construct a new New Deal.

But is the popular narrative about the old New Deal—that Keynesian economics and top-down planning rescued America from the Great Depression—accurate? Reason.tv's Michael C. Moynihan talks to UCLA economist Lee Ohanian, who argues in work written with colleague Harold Cole, that the New Deal's massive intervention into the economy actually prolonged the economic crisis by seven years.

"Obama's New New Deal" is written and produced by Michael C. Moynihan. Director of Photography is Dan Hayes.

Podcast available here.

Killer Chic

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 06:29:00 EST

Gisele Bundchen wears him on the runway, Johnny Depp wears him around his neck, and Benicio Del Toro becomes him in the new, highly acclaimed, two-part epic film from Steven Soderbergh, Che. Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the revolutionary who helped found communist Cuba, is the celebrity that celebrities adore. And be it Madonna, Rage Against the Machine, or Jay-Z, musicians really dig Che.

It’s something that baffles Cuban jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera. “Che hated artists, so how is it possible that artists still today support the image of Che Guevara?” Turns out the rebellious icon that emblazons countless T-shirts actually enforced aesthetic and political conformity. D’Rivera explains that Che and other Cuban authorities sought to ban rock and roll and jazz.

“Che was an inspiration for me,” D’Rivera tells reason.tv. “I thought I have to get out of this island as soon as I can, because I am in the wrong place at the wrong time!” D’Rivera did escape Cuba, and so far he’s won nine Grammy awards playing the kind of music Che tried to silence. But D’Rivera says Che’s crimes didn’t end with censorship. “He ordered the execution of many people with no trial.” Che served as Castro’s chief executioner, presiding over the infamous La Cabana prison. D’Rivera says Che’s policy of killing innocents earned him the nickname—the Butcher of La Cabana.

“We’re rightly horrified by fascist murderers like Adolph Hitler,” says reason.tv’s Nick Gillespie. “Why aren’t we also horrified by communist killers?” Certainly, Che’s body count isn’t anywhere near Hitler’s. But what about someone Che idolized, someone whom he might have liked to wear on his chest?

“Che, Castro, all the communist regimes idolized only one thing that Mao personifies—violence.” Kai Chen grew up in China under the reign of Mao Zedong. Although he won gold medals for China’s national basketball team, Chen’s was far from the celebrity life of an NBA star. Says Chen, “You have no right to talk, and you have no right to think.”

The punishment for questioning Mao’s authority was often death. The Black Book of Communism estimates that Mao is responsible for the deaths of 65 million people—a figure that dwarfs even Hitler’s body count. “Mao is a murderer,” says Chen. “The biggest mass murderer in human history.”

And yet, like Che, Mao’s image is becoming an increasingly popular way to move merchandise. You can buy Mao t-shirts, mugs, caps—you name it. Near Chen’s Los Angeles home there’s even a restaurant called Mao’s Kitchen. “Can you imagine a restaurant called Hitler’s Kitchen?” asks Gillespie.

Neither D’Rivera nor Chen understands why communist killers are considered Chic, but each finds his own way to have the last laugh on these anti-capitalist icons.

"Killer Chic" is written and produced by Ted Balaker. Director of Photography is Alex Manning.

Closing music, "Che Guevara T-Shirt Wearer," courtesy of The Clap. Listen to the whole song here.

Human History in One Minute

paul.feine@reason.tv (Paul Feine) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:38:00 EDT

University of Pennsylvania historian (and good friend of reason) Alan Charles Kors stuffs all of human history into one minute.

Twilight at Monticello: Author Alan Pell Crawford on Jefferson's Last Years

gillespie@reason.com (Nick Gillespie) dan.hayes@reason.org (Dan Hayes) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:00:00 EST

reason.tv recently sat down Alan Pell Crawford, author of the new book Twilight at Monticello: The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson, which details in meticulous and lively detail the late life of America's third president.

In this 20-minute interview, Crawford, a one-time press secretary to Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and widely published journalist, discusses Jefferson's massive contributions to American political discourse; his role in creating the University of Virginia; his relationship to Sally Hemings, slavery, and manumission; and much, much more.

Discuss this video at reason's Hit & Run blog.