The Libertarian Institute

Election night coverage is usually sold as a scoreboard, but we treat it like a stress test for the whole system. While results roll in, we argue about what a “blue wave” actually means if it’s powered by disappointment, low enthusiasm, and voters choosing to sit out rather than buy another round of party promises.

We dig into the real drivers people feel in daily life: prices, budgets, missed vacations, and the sense that both parties keep feeding the same donor ecosystem. Then we go where most election shows won’t: third party lockouts, ballot a...

In this episode, I sketch the life and exploits of one of my three Peak Guerrillas from the beginning of the 20th century, German GEN Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck. I want to explore what I consider the next step in guerrilla evolution employing age-old techniques and strategies harnessed to modern technology and employment within the new age of mechanized warfare and not so mechanized warfare as the Allies would discover during their four year campaign against the poorly supported but brilliant innovations and TTP of Lettow-Vorbeck and his Schutztruppe (German for “Protection Force”) .

References:

Ed...



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Scott interviews Emily Jashinsky about the recent report detailing Trump’s activities with Jeffrey Epstein and his circles. They also talk about the likely consequences of next week’s midterm elections.

Discussed on the show:

Emily Jashinsky is an American journalist, commentator, and media critic known for her work i...



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Journalist Kevin Gosztola returns to the show to discuss yet another story of the US government using the Espionage Act to protect its own aims and interests from the American people.

Discussed on the show:

Kevin Gosztola is the managing editor of Shadowproof. He also produces and co-hosts the weekly podcast, “Unauthorized Disclosure.” He is the author of Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case Against Julian Assange. Follow him on Twitter...

Preemptive pardons used to sound like a fringe fear. Now they’re getting floated like standard operating procedure, and we dig into what that says about the health of the American system. We talk through why “blanket” or “preemptive” pardons feel like an admission of guilt, why they short-circuit the rule of law, and why the public is so fed up with a political class that seems to treat accountability as optional.

Then the conversation swings to a bigger, more dangerous arena: war with Iran. We break down Axios reporting on a tense Trump-Netanyahu call and the pu...



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Scott interviews Andrew Day from The American Conservative about what’s happening with the Iran war. They discuss whether Trump will restart the air campaign after the midterms, Israel’s calculated moves that have prevented a lasting negotiated peace from taking hold, how JD Vance plays into all this and more.

Discussed on the show:

Andrew Day is...



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Scott brings Daniel Davis back on the show to dig into some of the claims western war hawks are making that the Ukrainians are actually starting to win on the ground in their war against the Russians. Davis explains why these characterizations are misleading and dangerous.

Discussed on the show:

Daniel Davis did multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan during his time in the army. He is a Senior Fellow at Defense Priorities and is the author of the reports “Dereliction of Duty II...

War isn’t distant when it’s priced into every gallon of gas. Dave Benner from Liberty Vault joins us for a blunt end-of-week rundown on the war in Iran, the midterm backlash building around it, and why the administration’s promise that it won’t become a forever war is landing with a thud for a lot of voters.

We react to Vice President JD Vance’s messaging and ask the uncomfortable question: if the public doesn’t “vote on foreign policy,” why do the consequences of intervention keep showing up as inflation, debt, and diesel price...

Join CJ as he reads the following Halloween-y poems & short stories:

“SOCJ!” — Save Our CJ (& the DHP!)

Due to events of the past couple months — including Mrs. CJ undergoing yet another spinal procedure the week before last! — CJ has not only been slowed down on multiple DHP projects, but, unfortunately, this has also caused his family to be in an acute financial emergency!

If you’re not in a financial crisis yo...

(*This episode is mostly comprised of DHP Eps. 171 & 174, which were originally made & published back in 2018.)

In this DHP Reissue Two-Fer, CJ-in-2018 turns the DHP Heroes spotlight on one of his favorite filmmakers of all time, John Carpenter, best known for the horror & scifi films he made in the last 3 decades of the 20th century.

Join CJ as he discusses:



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Scott interviews Patrick Pillow about the series he just started publishing on the regime change in Egypt in 2011.

Discussed on the show:

Patrick Pillow is an independent researcher and writer focused on protest movements, foreign policy, and regime-change case studies. He also writes at Libertarian Overwatch on Substack.   

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Starlink sounds like a simple story about connectivity, until you ask one question: who gets to decide when a “civilian” network becomes a weapon? We start by digging into Elon Musk’s statement on Ukraine, where he draws a hard boundary around Starlink and offensive drone strikes, and we explain why SpaceX points to Starshield as the proper channel for military use. From cost incentives to security blowback, we lay out why this fight is not just technical, it’s strategic.

Then we shift to Israel’s election aftermath and the growing pressure cooker around Iran. We w...

They’ve spent years telling you an independent vote is a wasted vote. We don’t buy it, and we walk through why the “safe” choice keeps delivering the same disappointment, the same hypocrisy, and the same top-down control. Karen Kotowski sits in for Kyle and talks with producer Chris Leonard about what independent voting actually looks like when you’re not trying to fit your life into a red-team or blue-team identity.

We use Matthew McConaughey’s viral case for independent thinking as a jumping-off point, then get specific about power. In a narrowly divided Cong...

A citywide Russia Ukraine ceasefire tied to a Melania Trump backchannel sounds absurd on its face, which is exactly why it’s worth taking seriously. We walk through what’s actually being reported, why a humanitarian corridor can still count as a diplomatic breakthrough, and how even “small” agreements test whether Moscow and Kyiv can coordinate anything at all after years of grinding war.

From there, we get into the story that won’t die: did Ukraine lose access to Starlink, Starshield, or neither, and who made the call? We talk about why the distinction matters, h...

An inch is not a “near miss” in politics, it’s a different timeline. Ken Silva joins me to lay out what we actually know about the Butler, Pennsylvania Trump rally shooting, what still makes no sense, and why the FBI’s slow drip of records feels more like narrative management than transparency. We talk about the death of rallygoer James Copenhaver, the frustrating reality of 75,000 pages sitting behind a monthly trickle, and the simplest unanswered questions that matter most: how security failed, what warnings were missed, and why key decisions like return fire timing still lack clear public explanat...

A president under pressure almost always looks for a villain, and today we’re asking a sharp question: is Zelensky becoming the White House’s favorite scapegoat? We react to Zelensky’s on-camera response, then pull the thread on how blame travels during a long proxy war, especially when diesel prices rise, approval drops, and the Iran war keeps dominating headlines.

We also get into the nuts and bolts that rarely make the talking points. Patriot missile deliveries stall, partners wait on approvals, and even Starlink becomes part of the leverage game. When PAC-3 interceptors are ba...

John and I continue reading and commentary on Ordinary Men.



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Scott interviews Bill Buppert about Iran, the defense industry, the geopolitical delusions of the West, how evolving weapons technology will shape the next few decades and more.

Discussed on the show:

Bill Buppert is the Smedley D. Butler Fellow for Military Affairs at the Libertarian Institute and host of Chasing Ghosts: An Irregular Warfare...

John and I continue reading and commentary on Ordinary Men

A rumored Putin Trump Xi summit sounds like diplomatic fireworks, but the bigger story is what it reveals about power and leverage as Ukraine’s position weakens. Larry Johnson joins me to parse the Reuters report, the shifting tone coming out of Washington, and the growing sense that US leaders are preparing to treat Ukraine as a sunk cost. We also react to Trump’s rhetoric about Zelensky, what it signals to Europe, and why messaging can matter as much as money when alliances start to fray.

From there, we get concrete about capacity. Talk is c...



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Scott brings Larry Johnson back on the show to talk about all the Middle East news they couldn’t get to last week. They discuss the Iran war and the status of Iran’s nuclear program, Israel’s war with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Saudi’s escalating war with the Houthis of Yemen.

Discussed on the show:

Larry C. Johnson is a former CIA officer and intelligence analyst, and a former planner and advisor at the US State Department’s Office of Counte...



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Scott interviews Robert Wright, author of the book The God Test, about how AI will impact our future. They discuss the threats AI poses to our safety and our economies. And they talk about the right and wrong ways to minimize those risks without sacrificing the genuine benefits offered by the technology.

Discussed on the show:

Robert Wright is the New York Times bestselling author of The Evol...



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Scott interviews Libertarian Institute Fellow Joseph Solis-Mullen about what’s happening in Ethiopia. Solis-Mullen gives us the historical context of the escalating conflict, the broader geopolitical context in the region and explains how Washington fits into all of this.

Discussed on the show:

Joseph Solis-Mullen is a political scientist and economist at The Libertarian Institute and a professor of politics and history at SAU. He is the author of The National Debt and You and The Fake China Threat and Its Very R...

Nationwide there has been an epidemic of police officers sexually abusing teens they are meant to mentor through Learning For Life’s Police Explorers Program.

It’s been quite some time since I have responded to “mail” so I have curated these questions to address:.

Events and Ephemera:

The Arcata Summit in Bozeman 13-14 November 2026

Hearts of Space Subscription Service

References:

Why the M7 is Wrong with I...

Trump is turning up the heat on Ukraine and Zelensky, and the timing is impossible to ignore: voters feel foreign policy in their wallets through gas prices and diesel prices. Kyle sits down with Connor Echols of Responsible Statecraft to parse what’s real policy movement versus loud rhetoric, including Trump’s complaints about U.S. aid and the risk of Washington signaling more pressure on Kyiv than on Moscow. We also dig into a concrete headline with big implications: a U.S. purchase of Russian diesel meant to relieve stress on American fuel markets, and what that says abou...

The midterms are fast approaching, as is the “fall back” to Standard Time: that blissful-but-all-too-brief 4-month period in which our clocks & schedules align in a healthy way with our natural circadian rhythms, allowing us to flourish for 1/3 of the year until we “spring forward” back into the earthly hell known as “Daylight Savings.”

With the Orwellian-named “Sunshine Protection Act” (which Marco Rubio has been pushing since he was a Senator back in 2018 & which Donald Trump also vehemently supports) dangerously close to passing — the House has passed it, Trump supports it, & only a few Senators are holding it up at the moment —...

The fastest way to misread a war is to believe one leader can simply declare it over. We dig into President Trump’s claim that the Iran war will end “very soon” and test it against the hard constraints that actually decide timelines: the Strait of Hormuz, shipping attacks in the Persian Gulf, and the kind of leverage that shows up immediately in oil prices and energy costs back home.

We also get into the headline-grabbing idea that the US is considering the MOAB, the so-called mother of all bombs, for Iranian targets. We walk throug...

I went fishing, and many of y’all had suggested I livestream while fishing. During the stream I discuss Sandra Birchmore.

The fastest way a “regional conflict” becomes a global problem is through chokepoints, and we spend this conversation mapping the ones that matter. Dave DeCamp joins me to explain why a US move toward direct intervention in Yemen could trigger the exact kind of escalation Washington says it wants to avoid, including threats to US commercial shipping through the Bab el Mandeb Strait. We also dig into the part most headlines skip: Yemen is not just a proxy story. It has its own timelines, its own internal power balance, and actors making decisions for local advantage, not simply on comm...



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Scott interviews Larry Johnson about the status of Washington’s campaign to weaken the current Russian regime.

Discussed on the show:

Larry C. Johnson is a former CIA officer and intelligence analyst, and a former planner and advisor at the US State Department’s Office of Counter Terrorism. Follow his analysis at Sonar21  

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