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Building Tomorrow

Building Tomorrow: Under Construction

If voting leaves you feeling tired and vaguely dissatisfied, you're not alone. Over 60% of voters aren't happy with the two party duopoly that dominates US politics; others hate the flood of negative campaign ads or feel that politics is too big or too distant to be able to effect via the voting process.But there is hope! This week, Paul talks to two political scientists, Lee Drutman and Daniel Bowen to talk about how ranked choice voting, multi-member legislative districts, and packing the House of Representatives could save our democracy from its dire situation. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Can We Fix U.S. Politics? (with Lee Drutman & Dan Bowen)

There are some things that even a pandemic cannot stop. One of those things is political pressure to "do something" about Big Tech. Paul checks in with Matthew Feeney and Will Duffield to get an update on the state of the techlash. Furthermore, this year many of the major social media platforms have ramped up their fact-checking operations in an attempt to combat disinformation about the pandemic and partisan politics, but it is possible that they have opened a Pandora's Box of unintended consequences by doing so. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Pandemic Can't Stop, Won't Stop the Techlash

In the 18th century, something sparked a wave of technological innovation and economic growth that has transformed the world for the better. Economists have argued about what that something was ever since. Our guest today, Professor Joel Mokyr, argues that it was a change in western European cultural attitudes that provided that spark. Enlightenment curiosity fomented a belief that practical knowledge could improve the world in tangible and permanent ways.Do we assume that progress will always happen? What threatens the concept of progress? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How Did We Get So Rich?

Spend any time on social media and odds are that you've interacted with at least one bot account; given how advanced they've become, you might not even have noticed. Paul interviews bot programmer Max Sklar about why bots are a big part of the future of online interaction and why that's not necessarily a bad thing. They also discuss machine learning, artificial intelligence, and the deurbanization of New York City.What is a geofence? Do we have an obligation to give data to apps for their user research? What is machine learning? Who or what is a marsbot?? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Learn Like a Machine

It's time to stop politely asking the State to give us our freedoms back. We can just...take them. New technologies like smart contracts, cryptocurrency, and anonymized identification systems are challenging the State's near monopoly on jurisprudence, currency, and trust provision. Two of the authors of The New Technologies of Freedom, economists Chris Berg and Darcy Allen, join the show to discuss the radical transformation that is already under wayWhat is adversarial liberty? Why do even libertarian think tanks get caught in a statist mindset? How do new blockchain based technologies work together to challenge State control? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

New Technologies of Freedom

There's growing, bi-partisan support for government regulation of the internet. The Left wants to censor hate speech while the Right wants to prevent platforms from downvoting conservative speech. Both approaches are filled with free speech landmines. And even a cursory look at the history of government regulation of mass media shows just how even the most well-intended government action can easily turn into suppression of political dissent, regulatory capture, and gross violation of civil liberties. John Samples, from Facebook's independent oversight board, joins the show again to discuss a paper he co-wrote with host Paul Matzko about several of those sordid episodes and the lessons we should have already learned. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

An Internet Fairness Doctrine

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Trump's Brain Drain

If you’re listening to this show, you’re likely an ardent supporter of the First Amendment. Yet at the same time, you probably wouldn’t want your social media feeds filled with pornography and hate speech; removing such content requires tech companies to engage in content moderation. Are those two values in tension? Can content moderation coexist with free speech? John Samples, who is on Facebook’s independent oversight board, joins us to discuss how he tries to balance his obligation to promoting free speech while giving users the moderation that most of them want.How far should we protect free speech online? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Content Moderation vs. Free Speech (with John Samples)

New York City's population dropped by 5% in just two weeks because of COVID-19, a drop concentrated among white collar professionals and Wall Street workers. But it's not just a New York City story as companies across the country have experimented with telework on a massive scale because of the pandemic.The question is what comes next. Will workplace norms snap back into place with knowledge economy workers continuing to cluster in high cost of living urban areas? Or will the future of the workplace remain remote, with a growing number of white collar professionals working from home at least part of the week?But cities rely heavily on high income taxpayers to fund government services and to propel growth; even a small number exiting cities could have vast ripple effects. Cato economist Peter Van Doren joins the show to discuss the possible de-urbanization of America and offer some thoughts on what those effects might be. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Do We Still Need Cities (with Peter Van Doren)

Have you wondered whether a particular public health intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic has actually been worth it? Perhaps you then felt a bit ghoulish for asking the question, given that lives are at stake.Well, you're in luck because this episode of Building Tomorrow asks about that price tag. After all, resources are finite and we all routinely trade risk for convenience; there are some interventions that would not be worth the opportunity cost. Answering the question of how much a human life is worth is the first step to figuring out whether the shutdown and other measures during the pandemic have been worthwhile. Cato economist Peter Van Doren joins the pod to help us think through the topic. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What's a Life Worth During a Pandemic? (with Peter Van Doren)

A generation before the rise of talk radio and hosts like Rush Limbaugh, there was another wave of right-wing radio. But the reason why few remember them is that they were the target of a hugely successful government censorship campaign implemented by President John F. Kennedy using IRS audits and the FCC’s “Fairness Doctrine.”But as our host, Paul Matzko—whose book on the subject comes out next week—this isn’t just a question of history. Today, there is a growing, bi-partisan push for government regulation of the internet that resembles the way the State regulated radio in the 1960s and which could just as easily be hijacked in order to advance partisan interests. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Secret History of Right-Wing Radio

While universities debate whether to re-open on schedule for the fall semester, it’s expected that hundreds of colleges that were in financial distress will shutter their doors. While that might seem like obvious evidence of decline in higher education, economist Bryan Caplan suggests otherwise. In his controversial book, The Case Against Education, he argues that higher ed does relatively little, well, ‘ed.’ COVID-19 might just help expose the systemic failures of higher education in America.Could COVID-19 help us rethink how we do higher-ed? What was wrong with higher education before the pandemic that we could fix now? how is higher education just a signaling mechanism to employers? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

COVID on Campus (with Bryan Caplan)

Because of the COVID-19 shutdown, tens of millions of American households have suddenly been forced to do school at home. Education policy expert and homeschooling aficionado Kerry McDonald joins the show to discuss why she believes this experience will lead many more families to consider educational alternatives even after the shutdowns ease. Additionally, Kerry and Paul discuss the incendiary Harvard Magazine broadside against homeschooling, Tara Westover’s best-selling novel Educated, and why the history of public schooling should make us leery of critics who accuse homeschoolers of failing to be good citizens. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Homeschooling Goes Viral (with Kerry McDonald)

Complaints about the control that social media companies exercise over their platforms has risen over the past couple of years. Some users complain that platforms like Facebook and Twitter should remove more offensive content; others complain that they remove too much, resulting in censorship of politically unpopular views.There is an alternative to this kludgy, top-down model of content moderation. Minds.com is a more decentralized social network with a First Amendment standard for moderation that allows users to appeal bans to a jury of their digital peers. Minds also has a different revenue model from the big platforms, allowing users to boost posts with proprietary cryptocurrency payments. Our interview with Bill Ottman, founder and CEO of Minds, is a reminder that the future of the internet could look very different from the present.What is the most successful social network? Who is innovating in the social media space? Why should you switch social media platforms? How does social media giants come between you and your audience? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Decentralizing Social Media (with Bill Ottman of Minds.com)

Building Tomorrow explores the ways technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship are creating a freer, wealthier, and more peaceful world.

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Building Tomorrow

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