The Tom Woods Show

Historian Brion McClanahan and I begin by discussing the conservative movement's wary and sometimes hostile reception of his book criticizing Alexander Hamilton. From there, we trace out how Brion went from conventional conservative to Old Right/libertarian. (We love these stories, don't we?) Show notes for Ep. 1073

With Steve Bannon on the outs with Trump and out at Breitbart, David Stockman -- director of the Office of Management and Budget under Ronald Reagan -- returns to discuss Bannonism, the Trump economy, and what's in store. And is he sticking to his claim that Trump won't survive 2018? Show notes for Ep. 1072

Lij Shaw has recorded artists from Adele to John Oates, and for over a decade has operated a home studio out of his detached garage. The city of Nashville came after him for this, and persisted even after his neighbors signed a petition in his defense. Here's what happened, and what he's doing next. Show notes for Ep. 1071

Steve Clayton is a former VP at LabCorp, the Fortune 500 company so many of us use to have blood work done. He left behind this prestigious, very high-paying job to strike out as an entrepreneur. He's now an undisputed master of eCommerce (and he's trained numerous Tom Woods Show listeners who have gone on to be extremely prosperous). We talk about his own story, trends in eCommerce, and what he recommends today. Show notes for Ep. 1070

Nobody knew what to expect in a Trump presidency. Daniel McCarthy joins me for a lively review of the past year. Show notes for Ep. 1069

In this interview with MilLiberty, a podcast for millennials, I cover libertarianism, factional infighting, the book that first changed my thinking, how to use technology to undermine the academic establishment, the little savages who dominate the public schools, the trouble with antidiscrimination law, and a heck of a lot more. Show notes for Ep. 1068

ISIS has been defeated, say the headlines, and perhaps the barbarous wars in Iraq and Syria may at last be drawing to a close. But is that the full story? Scott Horton joins me for a reality check. Show notes for Ep. 1067

Yesterday Michael and I did a year in review, looking at the United States and the world. Today's year in review is about the show itself, and highlights from 2017's hundreds of episodes. As usual, the show will take a break for Christmas. We return on January 3. Show notes for Ep. 1066

Michael Malice joins me for something of a year in review episode. Who were the big winners -- and losers -- of 2017? Who was the biggest villain? What was the biggest surprise? Lots of fun. Show notes for Ep. 1065

Bitcoin Cash, which resulted from a Bitcoin fork, has been championed by its proponents as being more in line with Satoshi Nakamoto's original vision for the cryptocurrency, and as helping to solve some of the problems that Bitcoin currently faces. Critics aren't so sure. Jameson Lopp of BitGo and Roger Ver of Bitcoin.com square off on all this in today's episode. Show notes for Ep. 1064

Gene Epstein returns on the 50th anniversary of William Styron's historical novel The Confessions of Nat Turner, the slave who led a famous revolt in Virginia. Since Styron was a white southerner who wrote a Nat Turner novel in the first person, you can imagine the reception he got in certain quarters. The whole episode tells us a great deal about American society and intellectual life. Show notes for Ep. 1063

Economist Bob Murphy (Ph.D., NYU) and podcaster Todd Lewis square off in the central debate of anarcho-capitalism: is government truly necessary for national defense, or could the free market provide this service? Show notes for Ep. 1062

Dr. Robert Epstein, former editor of Psychology Today, joins me to discuss his research on how various online services, particularly Google and Facebook, can influence the way people think about a great many important things. Show notes for Ep. 1061

I talk to Stefan Molyneux about many of the cliches libertarians find themselves having to answer, involving child labor, labor unions, monopolies, the environment, and more. Show notes for Ep. 1060

J. Gresham Machen, whom many listeners have urged me to do an episode about, taught at Princeton Theological Seminary for many years and was a significant figure in American Presbyterianism who fought against theological liberalism among Protestants. His political views, interestingly enough, were profoundly libertarian. Show notes for Ep. 1059

Christopher Snowdon of London's Institute of Economic Affairs makes the case against paternalistic meddling in individual decisions. Show notes for Ep. 1058

Dave Rubin, host of the hugely successful Rubin Report, alienated former colleagues (e.g., at The Young Turks Network, where he had been an on-air host) when he openly disapproved of what he saw as an authoritarian, anti-free-speech drift among the Left. Today his YouTube channel has nearly 567,000 subscribers and his show reaches an enormous audience.   He and I discuss this and a lot more, including plenty of listener-supplied questions.   Show notes for Ep. 1057

Walter Block, who holds an endowed chair in economics at Loyola University, New Orleans, joins me to cover a smorgasbord of topics: reparations, the environment, whether libertarians may use tax-funded services, the reliability of government statistics, fractional-reserve banking, and more. Show notes for Ep. 1056

We've all heard the usual arguments: the U.S. government entered the Vietnam War because of the domino theory, or because of SEATO treaty obligations, or whatever. The recent Ken Burns PBS series on the war, for example, repeats many conventional arguments about the war. Gareth Porter, on the other hand, joins me to discuss rather a different interpretation of the war. We cover the origins of the war, the nature of the war (were civilians deliberately targeted?), the Cambodian incursion, and a lot more. Show notes for Ep. 1055

Salon is unhappy with my guest: his children's book series teaches libertarian ideas -- and, worst of all, introduces them even to some of the ideas of...AYN RAND! Show notes for Ep. 1054