Heritage Explains

Last week, Heritage Explains spoke with Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation, Nile Gardiner, about the riots rocking France. In the few days since our interview, things have gotten way worse.

Over the weekend, masked rioters broke into the historic 19th-century Town Hall in Limoges and set it ablaze. There is perhaps no better symbol of the war raging to define the West than a nearly 150 year old building which survived two World Wars burnt to the ground by socialists and Islamists.

Beyond burning buildings, the fight for France has...

It’s a day ending in Y in France, which means rioting.  

Following in the spirit of 1789, the French are burning buildings, fighting the police, and overall behaving very poorly.  

This time, the revolutionaries are highschoolers joined by Islamo-communists and anarchists waving Palestinian flags, but France has seen this style of faux revolution before. The rioters are the proud heirs of May ’68, an event that looms so large in the French psyche, the mere mention of soixante-huitards, or 68ers, is enough to spark furious debate.  

Against the smoke and sirens lies a bigger question over wh...

Washington has spent decades proving the bigger government gets, the more money it wastes and the less accountable it becomes. 

The infamous Minnesota “learing centers,” incident showed how craven many fraudsters are when it comes to stealing federal funds, while the downstream benefits of dismantling USAID show how effective government action can be in saving taxpayer money. 

Waste, fraud, and abuse are the inevitable results of a federal government that measures success not by results, but by the size of budgets. 

The Trump Administration has taken several steps towards remedying America's fraud problem, but many qu...

For the better part of a decade, China has played the role of America’s greatest long-term strategic competitor.
 
American foreign politicos have long advised a pivot to Asia as Washington slaps tariffs on Chinese goods. The CCP has served as America’s bête noire, guilty of repeated intellectual property theft, human rights abuses, and imperial ambitions towards the essential island of Taiwan.
 
And yet, as Bob Dylan once crooned, the times, they are a changin'.
 
President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping recently wrapped up a new round of talks here in Washingt...

I was eight years old when my family got our first home computer. I remember this hulking grey Dell computer taking up massive amounts of space on the desk, and I remember thinking to myself how amazing technology was.

The mood around tech is no longer nearly as cheery. Over the past five years, Americans have grown increasingly concerned over the broadening prevalence of AI. Pew Research reports 52% of Americans say they are more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life, a 15-point jump since 2021.

That’s not to say that AI...

As stories about non-citizen voting and voter fraud become disturbingly common, Americans are beginning to lack confidence in our elections. The debate over the elections process has taken on a renewed urgency given we are just months away from the 2026 midterms and a few years out from what promises to be a contentious 2028 election.

That's why Heritage Foundation recently launched the latest edition of its Election Integrity Scorecard, a tool that evaluates how states are protecting election integrity. The scorecard provides Americans a clear look at where states are making progress and where reforms are still needed.
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Energy is the nucleus of everything. The oil that powers our cars, the natural gas heating out homes, and the nuclear keeping the lights on: it’s all tied back to energy policy.

Reliable energy is essential to both American prosperity and national security.

To help lay out just how essential understanding energy policy is, and what the future holds for it, we spoke to Jack Spencer, Director of the Center for Energy, Climate and Environment at The Heritage Foundation, host of The Power Hour podcast, and author of the book “Nuclear Revolution: Powering the Next Gene...

A few weeks ago, conservative online discourse was focused on the price of a burrito. Yes, the Vice President of the United States, along with the right’s most celebrated minds, were arguing over whether a burrito should cost $20.

Beneath the viral posts was a serious question: why does it feel like the American Dream keeps getting more expensive? Me and my wife certainly feel the squeeze on the cost of groceries, housing, and everyday necessities.

We own a house, but homeownership is increasingly out of reach for young Americans. The problem has become existential, and Co...

New York Times journalist James Reston once quipped that "This is the devilish thing about foreign affairs: they are foreign and will not always conform to our whim."  Never have those words been truer than now.

The world is a very dangerous place at the moment. We are still engaged in Iran, with little sign of things improving. China looms large in Asia, though we have abruptly stopped engaging with regional ally South Korea on military drills. The Ukraine/Russia war continues to rage, all while America’s defensive capabilities are under increased scrutiny.

It’s a lot...

Fertility is often framed as a women's issue, but do men have any place in the conversation? In this episode of Heritage Explains, Heritage Action's Doug Blair sits down with Dr. Marguerite Duane to discuss the realities of fertility, the factors contributing to declining birth rates, and why men play a much bigger role in the fertility conversation than many realize.

The pair also discuss Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's recent revelation that she is planning on freezing her eggs and the truth behind IVF, egg freezing, and all forms of fertility technology.

Check out FACTS About Fertility...

Portland was once held up as a model of urban America: a walkable, vibrant city known for parks, restaurants, breweries, and a thriving downtown.

Today, record office vacancies, rampant homelessness, drug use, and shuttered businesses have turned the City of Roses into a warning for other American cities.

So what happened?

On this episode of Heritage Explains, we’re joined by Heritage Senior Fellow Mike Gonzalez, author of Next Gen Marxism, to examine the ideological forces reshaping Portland and cities like it.

We discuss how political activism can displace basic governance, why fa...

This epsiode originally aired on February 11th, 2026. Enjoy!

Washington is abuzz with talk of the SAVE America act, a piece of legislation that is designed to secure American elections and ensure that only American citizens have the right to vote. The proposed law is experiencing a groundswell of popular support, but also opposition. To understand what makes this law consequential, I sat down with Chip Wyatt and Dan West, both ofHeritage Action for America. --- Thoughts? Questions? Email us at: [email protected].  --- More from Heritage Action for America: https://heritageaction.com/ Chip Wyatt on X: https://x.com/ChipT...

The last Supreme Court term was a very busy and consequential one. With decisions from redistricting to birthright citizenship to boys in girls’ sports, many cases made headlines and there is a lot to talk about.  
That’s why we decided to bring you a very special bonus episode this week. Heritage Action’s Doug Blair sat down with Heritage legal fellows Cully Stimson and Zack Smith to break down the cases and highlight the big takeaways. 
 
--- 
Follow Cully Stimson on X: https://x.com/cullystimson?lang=en 
Follow Zack Smith on X: https://x.com/tzsmit...

For much of the 2024 presidential campaign, Biden supporters as well as legacy media insisted that the president was mentally sharp and fully competent to execute his duties. Most Americans doubted this, and this debate performance confirmed that they were right. 
In the weeks that followed, Biden stepped down from the race, replaced by Vice Presidenet Kamala Harris. But the situation left Americans wondering, if President Biden wasn’t running the White House for much of his presidency, who was? And to whom were they accountable? 
Fortunately, Mike Howell and his colleagues at the Oversight Project are asking these ques...

When President Trump took office in January of 2025, he signed 26 executive orders on the first day. In that pile of executive orders was one entitled: Protecting the Meaning and Value of American American Citizenship.  In it, the president directed that federal officials were not to issue documents recognizing United States citizenship to anyone who is born in the country to illegal immigrants or legal migrants here in a temporary capacity. This practice, known as birthright citizenship, has gathered a lot of attention over the last few years for the immigration chaos it has created. Last month, the Supreme Court, in Trump v...

Who ever heard of a state-based agency that is older than the state itself?  The Texas General Land Office was established in 1836 by the Congress of the Republic of Texas, the sovereign country that became the State of Texas ten years later, in 1846. When that transition happened, Texas retained control of all of its public lands.  That made the General Land Office’s role even more important, and it remains to this day as custodian of things like mineral rights, surveying and maps, disaster relief, immigration enforcement, and a whole host of other missions. Dr. Dawn Buckingham is the elected Commissioner of...

Harriet Tubman’s Shawl and Hymnal. Abraham Lincoln’s Hat. Chuck Berry’s Red Cadillac.  These are just a few of the estimated 157 million items currently held by the Smithsonian Institutions. Spread across 21 museums, 21 libraries, 14 education and research centers, a zoo, and various other facilities, the Smithsonian was created by the federal government in 1846, and named after its founding donor british scientist James Smithson. In Smithson’s bequest, he willed the money “to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian institution, an establishment for the increase & diffusion of Knowledge among men”.  Today, about two thirds of ...

America’s 250th anniversary of independence is being celebrated on the Fourth of July, this very week. And celebrations are taking place across the country. Tractor pulls. Concerts. Competitions. UFC Fights on the white house lawn.  But there’s another, slightly quieter, event happening in Philadelphia this year for America250: the burying of a time capsule.  America’s Time Capsule, as it’s called, has been sealed and will be buried in Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia on the Fourth of July. The hermetically sealed cylinder will be not be opened until July 4, 2276. It will contain memorabilia from the three branches of the...

In July of 1777, gunshots rang out over Philadelphia. At first glance, this may not be surprising, as America was still in the throes of the Revolutionary War. But it was not the redcoats who were firing that night. It was Americans, celebrating the very first anniversary of their independence. The edition of the Philadelphia Evening Post, published on July 15 1777 described the celebration thus:  Yesterday the 4th of July, being the anniversary of the Independence of the United States of America, was celebrated in this city with demonstrations of joy and festivity. About noon all the armed ships and gallies in the rive...

In 2025, data analytics company Gallup asked 144,000 people in 140 countries a survey question they have been asking for decades:  “Ideally, if you had the opportunity, would you like to move permanently to another country, or would you prefer to continue living in this country?” If the respondent says they would like to move, they are then asked which country they would like to move to.  In 2025, the answer to this question was the same as it has always been. Among those who wish to move, the number one response by a wide margin is the United States of America. If you listen to...

In our political climate, it is always nice to have a bit of authentic bipartisanship. The Marshall plan to rebuild Europe following World War 2, the Interstate Highway System under President Eisenhower, and the Apollo Program are all examples of both political parties coming together for a common goal.  The first Trump Administration saw another of these moments in the passage of the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act  or First Step Act in 2018. The bill was designed to reform federal prison policy and reduce the rates of recidivism, meaning criminals returning to incarceration. It had supporters from all...

Graduation season is once more upon us. The long school year has come to a close, and now, in caps and gowns, the nation’s graduates gather to receive their various certifications, diplomas, and degrees, and listen to wisdom from a speaker.  However, many college graduations are not the same tranquil affairs they used to be. FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, reports that attempts by students to disinvite commencement speakers over political beliefs have increased sharply over the last decade or so. To name one example, students at Morehouse School of Medicine are attempting to block the commencement...

Along with Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Massachusetts, Virginia describes itself as a commonwealth. In reality, a commonwealth is no different from a state. But in the English of colonial times, “commonwealth” denoted something along the lines of “a state for the common good”, and had a more revolutionary connotation. The state was for the people, not the people for the state. In some ways, this has been carried through to the present day. In other ways, it has not.  This week, my colleague here at Heritage Christian Lasval, had the privilage of sitting down with former Virginia legislator Nick Freitas to talk about Virginia, h...

The tiny town of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire is located just 20 miles south of the Canadian boarder. Home to an idyllic hotel known for its skiing and golfing, the town itself had a population of four. At the time of the 2020 census.  But if you happen to be one of those residents, your election day experience is a bit different from most. At the stroke of midnight, you enter the polling place, set up in one of the rooms of hotel. New Hampshire law states that polls can close if all registered voter have cast ballots. And so, a few minutes...

During the Second World War, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, joined by Winston Churchill, sat down with Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek. The purpose of the meeting, now known as the Cairo Conference, was to strategize against the Empire of Japan and make preparations for a post-war Asia.  Nearly 30 years later, President Richard Nixon, seeing an opportunity to widen the distance between China (now Communist) and the Soviet Union, paid a visit to China to meet Mao Zedong, the chair of the Communist Party. This opened diplomatic relations between the countries.  Since then, presidents have held meetings with Chinese leaders with some re...

Jim Crow laws are the blanket name given to the the state and local laws that pervaded the American South from the 19th century all the way to the 1960s, which were meant to enforce racial segregation.  They limited the public services and facilities available to Black Americans. They included poll taxes, literacy tests, and other measures designed to limit the ability of Black Americans to exercise their right to vote. Jim Crow laws went the way of the dodo back in 1965, with the passage of the Voting Rights Act.  Now, over eighty years later, the Supreme Court has passed down the...

The Southern Poverty Law Center, founded in 1971, has its roots in the Civil Rights movement. But there’s reason to believe that this American institution, like so many others, has drifted from its original mission.   Here to talk about that is our resident SPLC expert here at the Heritage Foundation, Daily Signal Senior Editor, Tyler ONeil.   Email us with thoughts, questions, or suggestions: [email protected]   Tyler O’Neil on the Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/author/tyler-oneil/ Tyler’s Book on the SPLC: https://amzn.to/3Kmvi0u

The US House and Senate are storied institutions and packed with traditions and procedures like these. Some, like the fabled “candy desk”, are whimsical artifacts of history. Others are more central to the way that government works, and one such is the Budget Reconciliation process. This is a unique mechanism for passing budget and finance related legislation in the House and Senate. In the wake of Democrats refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security, reconciliation is back in the news. Here to talk about why and what we’d like to see happen is Dan Kowalski, Director of the Grover M...

The American press has had high moments and low moments over the years, and it’s safe to say that we’re in a low one. After decades of dishonest reporting and blatant bias, trust in media has cratered. According to a 2025 Gallup poll, the number of Americans who report that they have a “great deal or fair” amount of trust that mass media reports the news “fully, fairly, and accurately has fallen to 28%. Among Republicans, it’s fallen to 8%.  But the worse the situation gets, the more important it is for good journalists (and yes there are good journalists) to fill the void. And...

In some online subcultures, Women have been drawn into a debate between two competing archetypes: the girlboss and the tradwife. The girlboss is an ambitious woman who confidently takes on the business world, which is often dominated by men. The tradwife is a woman who subverts modern expectations by taking on traditional gender roles, prioritizing homemaking and the raising of children. But Heritage Senior Policy Analyst Emma Waters characterizes herself as neither of these. In her new book, Lead Like Jael, she suggests that neiterh side of the debate serves women’s interests, and instead plots a third path. I sat dow...

Over the last few decades, serious concerns have arisen about the fitness of our Navy to counter America’s enemies, most importantly China. This has led the Trump Administration to announce a vision for a "Golden Fleet". Here to talk about that is Brent Sadler, former Naval Officer and a Senior Research Fellow here at Heritage.  ---Have thoughts, questions, or suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. ---Follow Brent on X: https://x.com/brentdsadler"To Build the Golden Fleet" report at Heritage.org: https://www.heritage.org/defense/report/build-the-golden-fleet

Last week, the Trump administration announced major changes to the way that student loan debt will be managed, specifically moving that management from the Department of Education to the Department of the Treasury. I sat down with Jonathan Butcher, Senior Research Fellow in the Center for Education Policy here at the Heritage Foundation, to talk about why this is a huge step in the movement to return education to local control. --- Thoughts? Questions? Email us at: [email protected].  --- Jonathan Butcher on X: https://x.com/JM_Butcher

The refusal of Democrat leaders in the senate to pass funding for the Department of HOmeland Security has had ramifications across the country. It has affected employees of FEMA, the Coast Guard, the TSA, and many other agencies. To explain why this happening and what to expect in the coming weeeks, I sat down with Lora Ries, Director of the Border Security and Immigration Center, here at the Heritage Foundation. --- Thoughts? Questions? Email us at: [email protected].  --- Lora Ries on X: https://x.com/lora_ries

This week, on March 8, people around the world celebrated International Women’s Day. Too often, we’ve been conditioned to see the complementary of the sexes more as a conflict, and that has ramifications for all of society. At the Heritage Foundation, we believe that there is a better way, where the contributions and uniqueness of men and women are recognized and honored. This week, I wanted to introduce you to one of our most experienced team members, Marguerite Bowling, a Senior Communications Manager here at the Heritage Foundation, who is herself a mother of three, including one daughter. We also r...

On Saturday, after a third round of failed negotiation with the aspiring nuclear state of Iran, the United States and Israel launched a joint military operation called Epic Fury. Those strikes were successful in eliminating the majority of Iranian Senior leadership, including Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. War is never a decision to be taken lightly, as lives and nations hang in the balance. I sat down with Victoria Coates, Vice President of the Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy here at Heritage, to talk about what has led up to this conflict in Iran and what she...

The State of the Union Address is one of the most anticipated political events of the year. Of course, it’s surrounded by tradition and ceremony. All three branches of the federal government gather in the House Chamber, the galleries pack with guests from every walk of life, the pundits gather their audiences, and the cameras all focus on one carefully crafted message from the leader of the free world.  But it’s not just custom or tradition that gives rise to this historic event every year. It actually goes all the way back to the American founding, to the Constitution itse...

Business is not just about making money. It’s about making opportunity. Supporting families. Making culture. That’s why the Heritage Foundation is standing up the Free Enterprise Initiative, to support merit and integrity in business. To Explain what the Free Enterprise Initiative is up to these days, I sat down with the Senior Advisor to the project, Allen Mendenhall. --- Thoughts? Questions? Email us at: [email protected].  --- The Free Enterprise Initiative at Heritage: https://www.heritage.org/free-enterprise-initiative Allen Mendenhall on X: https://x.com/allenmendenhall

Washington is abuzz with talk of the SAVE America act, a piece of legislation that is designed to secure American elections and ensure that only American citizens have the right to vote. The proposed law is experiencing a groundswell of popular support, but also opposition. To understand what makes this law consequential, I sat down with Chip Wyatt and Dan West, both ofHeritage Action for America. --- Thoughts? Questions? Email us at: [email protected].  --- More from Heritage Action for America: https://heritageaction.com/ Chip Wyatt on X: https://x.com/ChipTWyatt Dan West on X: https://x.com/Dan_J_West

The ways that human beings exchange value are complicated and often involve tradeoffs. Things you think were a great idea often come with hidden costs. And so it is with federal financial policy. Everything the government does has consequences downstream.  I sat down with Heritage chief Economist EJ Antoni to discuss his outlook on the first year of economic policy from the Trump Administration. --- Thoughts? Questions? Email us at: [email protected].  --- More by EJ at The Heritage Foundation: https://www.heritage.org/staff/ej-antoni-phd Lora Ries on X: https://x.com/realEJAntoni

This audio comes from Minneapolis Minnesota earlier this week, as Anti-ICE protestors mobbed a hotel where they believed ICE agents were staying. Two federal agents were left trying to defend the building and staff as protestors smashed windows and attempted to enter. Normally, local law enforcement would be present to defuse a situation like this, but Minneapolis police were nowhere to be found.  Local authorities in Minneapolis, headed by Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey, seem in no hurry to turn down the rioting in their streets. In the wake of two tragic deaths of protestors impeding federal investigations, un...