Marc Andreessen Is a Traitor
It is the tech oligarchs, not young radicals, who have turned against the system that made them.
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Neon Liberalism #34: Are Liberals Losing the Culture War?
Andrew Breitbart argued long ago that "politics is downstream of culture." Is that true? Is there such a thing as liberal culture? Has Trump II revealed its apparent dominance to be hollow? Or is the death of liberalism overwrought? Join Samantha and guest Alex Lefebvre, author of Liberalism
Drawing on Ukrainian Republican Roots
The egalitarian history of Ukrainian identity.
Half the Answer #21: Racist Pseudoscience in Academia and Beyond
Caitlin and Trent talk to anthropologist Rebecca Sear about the troubling trend in academia of allowing scientific racism, or the pseudoscientific belief that humans can be divided into genetically distinct racial groups with discrete measurements for things like IQ, personality traits, and behavior, to persist and present itself as a
Rawls in the Streets
Katrina Forrester's In the Shadow of Justice shows the radical potential—and political limitations—of John Rawls' philosophy.
A Fight Against Impunity: Cooperation in the International Criminal Court
The ICC as a body has important potential for advancing international justice and deserves more extensive support.
Neon Liberalism #33: What Is America?
According to Vice President Vance, America is not an idea: America is a nation. A people. And there are some here who don't belong. Join Samantha and guest Guillaume Attia as they discuss the contrast between America as a nation and America as an idea, the philosophical foundations
Harvard’s Fight Is a Defense of Democracy and Civic Virtue
Harvard’s case will set precedent for every college that relies on federal grants or hosts international students.
Liberalism Needs Liberals
It is precisely because liberalism cannot take sides that liberals must.
Half the Answer #20: Rage Against the ICE Machine
Trent and Caitlin check in with journalist Steven Monacelli, a special investigative correspondent for the Texas Observer, about the evolution and current-day doings of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, the dangers they pose to citizens and noncitizens alike, and the experience of being a journalist observing resistance to
Mass Deportation Is Happening
The Republican Congress has signaled they will do whatever it takes to support the largest population expulsion in history.
Adoption, Belonging, and the Question of Citizenship
Adoptees are proof of the cruelty and carelessness at the heart of Trump’s assault on birthright citizenship.
The Opposition Report #3
A summary of June 2025 in the second Trump term.
The Fixed Theme of American History
The history of America is a long struggle between the drive for domination and the dream of freedom.
neonliberalism
Neon Liberalism #32: A New Nuclear Age
Since the end of the Cold War, it's been easy to see nuclear competition as a thing of the past. As the dust settles over Iran—as Russia rattles the nuclear saber in Ukraine—it's increasingly clear that the question of nuclear weapons has been re-opened.
Birthright Citizenship and Nationwide Injunctions
The Court has suddenly decided to place limitations on injunctions when they were preventing a brazenly unconstitutional executive order.
halftheanswer
Half the Answer #19: Authoritarian Overreach in Texas Libraries
Caitlin and Trent reconnect with librarian and intellectual freedom advocate Katie Talhelm for an update about the legislative attacks on public and school libraries since they last spoke. She provides a window into the procedure libraries follow to decide which books to acquire. Half the Answer can be heard on
editorschat
The Editors' Chat #3
We discuss Mamdani, trade-offs, empathy, internationalism, and the post-Nazi transition.
We Have No Supreme Court
The philosophical incoherence of originalism prevents the Court from performing its core functions as a supreme court.
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Half the Answer #18: Execution in America
Trent and Caitlin talk to their old friend Clay Jackson, a former litigator and current licensed attorney in Texas. They discuss his plans to embrace a life in his new home on the range, recent developments in immigration rights, and the death penalty in the US. They discuss the history
neonliberalism
Neon Liberalism #31: The Inner Philosophy of the Far Right
The reactionary right is in ascendance in the Trump administration. It's easy to dismiss them as a cabal of incoherent fools scrambling for Trump's ear. But there is a deeper philosophy animating their political project: one based on a longing for an imagined aristocratic past, a
The Unitary Executive: A Primer for the People
The basics of a jurisprudence that, much more than originalism, defines the second Trump administration.
When Words Are Stolen
The real stakes of semantic fights.
No Kings Shows Our Power (When We Have Messaging Reach)
Basic, liberal, anti-fascist messaging is energizing and persuasive when media actually amplifies it.