The Big Questions with Big John
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S5E10 Andy Smarick: Who Should Control America’s Schools?
In this episode of The Big Questions with Big John, Andy Smarick and Big John discuss public schools, school governance, institutional trust, democratic accountability, and why Americans no longer…
S5E9 The One Freedom Americans Keep Trying to Destroy
Americans say they believe in free speech. Then the speech gets ugly, offensive, dangerous, politically inconvenient, or useful to the other side. In this episode of Big Questions with Big John,…
S5E8 The Richest Society In History Is Miserable
We built the most productive civilization in human history. We’re also the most anxious, the most isolated, and the least trusting of any generation on record. Brink Lindsey spent two decades at the…
S5E7 The Supreme Court Case They Lied About for 120 years
What if one of the most hated Supreme Court cases in American legal history was not the villain you were taught it was? David Bernstein, constitutional scholar at George Mason University’s Scalia Law…
S2E9 Why the Libertarian Party Should Never Compromise
The Libertarian Party has a strategy problem, and Jacob Hornberger says it’s destroying the movement from within. Hornberger is the founder of the Future of Freedom Foundation, a former U.S. Senate…
S5E6 $36 Trillion and Nobody Is Talking About It
Megan McArdle is a Washington Post columnist and trained economist who has spent two decades mapping the fault lines where money, policy, and institutional failure collide. With the national debt…
S5E5 The Real Problem Isn’t Government—It’s Trust | Kevin Vallier
Political philosopher Kevin Vallier, author of Trust in a Polarized Age, joins Big John to map the doom loop connecting social distrust and political polarization — and why COVID may have been the…
S2E7 The System Is Rigged: A Libertarian’s Plan to Fix America | Lars Mapstead
The system isn’t just broken; it was built this way. Lars Mapstead ran for president on one theme: unrig it. Lars Mapstead is a tech entrepreneur and 2024 Libertarian presidential candidate who…
S5E4 Why Americans Can’t Talk to Each Other Anymore | Arnold Kling
Why is it that the left, the right, and libertarians can talk about each other — but never to each other? Dr. Arnold Kling, MIT-trained economist and author of The Three Languages of Politics, breaks…
S3E3 She Escaped Communism TWICE — Now She’s Warning America
What happens when socialism takes everything from your family — not once, but twice? Martha Bueno’s parents escaped Castro’s Cuba, rebuilt their lives in Venezuela, and then watched Hugo Chavez…
S5E3 Why Political Ignorance Is Democracy’s Default Setting
Does your vote actually change anything — or is ignorance the price of admission? Constitutional law professor Ilya Somin argues that political ignorance isn’t a failure of education or media — it’s…
S4E2 You Don’t Have the Rights You Think You Do | Dr. Aeon J. Skoble
“All laws ultimately come down to somebody with guns coming to make you do their bidding.” Is that really how freedom works? Dr. Aeon J. Skoble — Professor of Philosophy at Bridgewater State…
S4E2 “Politicians Have Bad Intent” — A Libertarian Insider Explains Why
What if the people writing our laws aren’t just incompetent — but acting with bad intent? Jim Babka has spent decades inside the libertarian movement — from press secretary for presidential candidate…
S4E3 Why The Government is Lying About Crime Stats
The government says sex trafficking is exploding. The real numbers tell a very different story — and bad data is being used to destroy free speech online. Reason Magazine senior editor Elizabeth…
S5E2 The Brutal Reality of Life in the Soviet Union | Cathy Young
Cathy Young reveals the terrifying reality of growing up in the Soviet Union, from secret police surveillance to her family’s harrowing Gulag survival stories. We discuss the dangers of…
S1E11 Escape the Public School System: The Unschooling Blueprint
Is the public school system designed to educate children or train obedient workers? We break down why “Unschooling” is the ultimate exit strategy for parents who want to raise sovereign, independent…
S3E11 The Blueprint to Crush Establishment Politics (w/ Cliff Maloney)
Is focusing on the White House a waste of time? Political organizer Cliff Maloney reveals the “25% Rule”—a mathematical path to taking over a State Legislature and bypassing federal gridlock…
S5E1 Is Government Obsolete? The Mechanics of Anarcho-Capitalism
Is a centralized state actually necessary for law and order, or is government obsolete? David Friedman (author of The Machinery of Freedom) breaks down the mechanics of Anarcho-Capitalism and…
S1E2 The Casting Decisions That Changed Television
Legendary Casting Director Marc Hirschfeld reveals the untold stories behind TV’s biggest hits. Discover how he found Ed O’Neill for Married with Children when no one else saw the vision, and the…
S3E12 Is Libertarianism Actually Pagan? (w/ Logan Albright)
Does true freedom require a spiritual connection to nature? We explore why the path to anarchy might just be Pagan, and how to separate liberty from the Left-Right paradigm. Logan Albright (Free the…
Frequently Asked Questions
The Big Questions with Big John has published 46 episodes since October 2025, covering topics in Documentary, Society & Culture.
The Big Questions with Big John is currently highly active with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 1h 7m.
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