Kibbe on Liberty

When Jimmy Carter legalized home brewing in the 1970s, it unleashed a wave of American innovation that changed the craft beer market forever. Now, there is an opportunity to do the same thing with distilled spirits. Matt Kibbe talks with Robert Alt, president of the Buckeye Institute, about a case making its way to the Supreme Court that would allow Americans to distill their own gin, rum, and whiskey at home, paving the way for a new movement of craft distillers to disrupt the liquor market and bring fresh ideas to a thirsty, thirsty public.

It's the economy, stupid! Rising prices, stagnant wages, and poor job growth affect everyone, and everyone is quick to notice when the economy isn't performing well. But these are not insoluble problems, and in fact, economists have been shouting the solutions from the rooftops for decades, if only somebody would listen. Matt Kibbe is joined by James Harrigan and Antony Davies, hosts of the "Words and Numbers" podcast, to bemoan the fact that every new generation forgets the economic lessons of the past. Like Sisyphus doomed to roll a stone uphill forever, it is the curious task of economists to keep explaining that you can't bring about prosperity through high taxes, restricted trade, deficit spending, and endless money printing. It's not all bad news, however, as "Words and Numbers" will now be distributed by Free the People, giving more people the opportunity to separate economic sense from nonsense!

Six years after COVID-19, the pandemic-industrial complex seems eager for another round of lockdowns, as the media tries to generate fear surrounding the hantavirus that broke out on a cruise ship. Yet the country still hasn't recovered from the disastrous bungling of the last major virus. Matt Kibbe sits down with Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, author of "Dangerous Misinformation," to discuss how the public health establishment did everything in its power to prevent her and other doctors from effectively treating their patients for COVID-19, demonizing and ridiculing ivermectin and outright blocking access to monoclonal antibodies, all in favor of pushing an experimental vaccine that has caused untold harm. While many people would prefer to forget about COVID and move on, it's important that we remember how badly the government reacted so that we can prevent repeating those mistakes when the next virus arrives.

Six years after COVID-19, the pandemic-industrial complex seems eager for another round of lockdowns, as the media tries to generate fear surrounding the hantavirus that broke out on a cruise ship. Yet the country still hasn't recovered from the disastrous bungling of the last major virus. Matt Kibbe sits down with Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, author of "Dangerous Misinformation," to discuss how the public health establishment did everything in its power to prevent her and other doctors from effectively treating their patients for COVID-19, demonizing and ridiculing ivermectin and outright blocking access to monoclonal antibodies, all in favor of pushing an experimental vaccine that has caused untold harm. While many people would prefer to forget about COVID and move on, it's important that we remember how badly the government reacted so that we can prevent repeating those mistakes when the next virus arrives.

Recent testimony from a CIA whistleblower reveals that the agency knew early on that the COVID-19 virus came from a lab, but that finding was suppressed in favor of the natural origin theory at the urging of Dr. Anthony Fauci. Matt Kibbe is joined by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to discuss how Fauci became so powerful within the intelligence community and why secretive agencies like the CIA are able to brazenly flout the law and ignore orders from Congress. A representative democracy can't function when the people have no ability to rein in unelected bureaucrats.

President Trump has taken a lot of criticism lately for going back on his "no new wars" foreign policy promises, but it's been a while since we checked in on one of the issues that has historically been most important to Republican voters: the Second Amendment. Matt Kibbe sits down with Dudley Brown, president of the National Association for Gun Rights, to see what the second Trump administration is doing for American gun owners and whether those who care about their rights should be concerned about the president's rhetoric on this issue.

As the U.S. Congress approves a short-term reauthorization of the FISA 702 surveillance program, it's more important than ever that Americans have a way to safeguard their constitutionally protected data from government spies. Matt Kibbe is joined by Naomi Brockwell, founder and president of the Ludlow Institute, to discuss the need for expanded privacy protections in the digital age. The Fourth Amendment was originally concerned with private papers and possessions, long before the internet existed, but the fact that communications are now digital should not mean that we lose the rights that the founders intended to give us. To that end, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has introduced the Surveillance Accountability Act to rein in government spying and restore basic civil liberties to the American people.

Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket have attracted controversy, as some interests view them as a form of legalized gambling that ought to be outlawed. A better way of looking at them, however, is as a means to harness the wisdom of crowds to improve our understanding of the world around us. Matt Kibbe sits down with BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere, host of the new show “Predictable,” to talk about how prediction markets not only offer a way for knowledgeable people to make money off their insight, but also are replacing traditional opinion polling, which has been notoriously inaccurate at making predictions, with information that is more specific and granular. It turns out that people tend to be more careful in their analyses of current events when there is actual money on the line.

President Trump has been vocal about the deep state using FISA Section 702 to violate his rights and spy on his campaign activities. Now that he is in office, however, he is calling for a reauthorization of this same program, claiming that he is willing to give up his Fourth Amendment protections to support the military, despite not being able to point to a single instance when Section 702 was used to apprehend a terrorist. Matt Kibbe sits down with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to talk about the importance of protecting American citizens from government surveillance and how the complete secrecy with which intelligence agencies operate undermines our democracy.

The inability and unwillingness of young Americans to have conversations across the political aisle has become a major problem, preventing us from having a cohesive and civil society. And it has become clear that a large share of the blame for this can be laid at the feet of institutions like universities. Matt Kibbe sits down with philosopher Peter Boghossian, whose "Street Epistemology" series encourages better discourse between people of different political persuasions. They discuss whether the institutions can be salvaged or whether they need to be completely replaced, whether mass migration is compatible with classical liberalism, and how best to get people to actually listen to each other again.

The U.S. has a history of starting messy wars in the Middle East without a clear exit strategy. By the time the Iraq and Afghanistan wars finally came to an end, there was no easy way for American troops to withdraw without making the situation on the ground worse than it already was. Matt Kibbe and Dave DeCamp, news editor at Antiwar.com, discuss the recent developments in the Iran war — including Trump’s threat to permanently end an entire civilization, the ensuing ceasefire agreement, and the almost immediate collapse of that deal — and question whether there is still a way for Donald Trump to swiftly end the conflict while saving face with voters.

After cops raided his house based on false accusations, rapper Afroman wrote an album about the incident, to which police responded with a defamation lawsuit. Last month, he finally won his case, securing an important victory for freedom of speech. Matt Kibbe caught up with Afroman on tour to discuss his interactions with the police, the value of artistic freedom, and the need to hold the government accountable to its citizens.

As more people started asking questions about the two pipe bombs that were placed around the Capitol on January 6, 2021, the FBI was quick to arrest a suspect and declare the case closed. But does the evidence against alleged bomber Brian Cole hold up under scrutiny? Matt Kibbe is joined by Blaze News journalist Steve Baker to go over the facts of the case, all of which seem to paint Cole as an unlikely perpetrator. Is it possible that this young man with predictable habits and a learning disability is nothing more than a convenient scapegoat?

Three weeks into the Trump administration's war with Iran, the path toward a clean victory is looking narrower and narrower. And with an ever-shifting series of objectives, it's not even clear what such a victory would look like. Matt Kibbe is joined by Scott Horton, executive director of the Libertarian Institute, to discuss where the war goes from here and whether there is even a coherent strategy at play. After failing to enact meaningful regime change and with low public approval ratings for this military action, a best-case scenario would probably involve Trump simply declaring victory and bringing our troops home. However, Iran is unlikely to allow that resolution to happen and is likely to keep inflicting pain on American military bases as a deterrent to future bombings. The good news is that, as was demonstrated in 2013 with Barack Obama's abortive strikes on Syria, the American people have the power to influence foreign policy if they make their voices loud enough, especially on the eve of the midterm congressional elections.

After premising his 2024 campaign on the promise of no new wars, President Donald Trump is taking military action in Iran that has already cost over a thousand civilian lives. Matt Kibbe is joined by Kelley Vlahos, editor in chief of Responsible Statecraft and a senior adviser at the Quincy Institute, to discuss the confusing rationale for this war and the best-case scenario Americans can hope to see. The administration has succeeded in killing the ayatollah, only to replace him with his more radical son, so any pretense of liberating the Iranian people seems farcical. Moreover, there appears to be no strategic plan or exit strategy to avoid turning this war into an Iraq-style quagmire. The best we can hope for is that Trump declares victory and pulls out before more lives are lost, but even in that case the reversal of one of his key campaign promises is likely to cost the Republicans badly in the midterm elections.

Following the removal of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, the cat is out of the bag on the U.S. government’s use of covert energy weapons to stop soldiers dead in their tracks. Matt Kibbe is joined by independent journalist Steve Baker, who has been investigating the history and current status of these weapons, which use subsonic sound waves and microwaves to produce profound physical distress in targets, up to and including stopping a heart. What’s even more concerning is the prospect of these weapons being deployed on American citizens to disrupt peaceful protests without outside observers being able to tell that the attacks are taking place.

As U.S. forces move closer to Iran, it appears more and more likely that the Trump administration is planning military action against the country for the second time in a year. Matt Kibbe is joined by Cato research fellow Jon Hoffman to discuss why the president has turned his back on his campaign promises not to start any new wars, why open conflict with Iran would be a disaster for the U.S., and why the wishes of the Israeli government seem to be more important than putting America first.

The release of millions of formerly classified pages related to Jeffrey Epstein is giving Americans an inside look into a web of collusion and deception that spans multiple countries, agencies, and administrations. Matt Kibbe is joined by Mike Benz, executive director of the Foundation for Freedom Online, to take a deep dive into the links between the military, wealthy individuals like Bill Gates, and the public health apparatus that gave us the COVID-19 pandemic. The deeper you dig, the worse it gets. But there’s a bright spot in all this: The transparency we’re now getting, thanks to the efforts of Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), is allowing the American people to finally see what’s been going on behind the curtain, and that knowledge is the first step toward reform.

The most recent Super Bowl featured a dazzling and expensive display of military patriotism. While this may be pleasing to some viewers, it’s important to realize that such spectacles are a deliberate propaganda effort on the part of the military-industrial complex. Matt Kibbe is joined by Abigail Hall, co-author of "How to Run Wars," to discuss the ways in which the government tries to make its foreign policy palatable to the average citizen, including funneling huge amounts of taxpayer money into Hollywood, music, and the NFL. Consumers of this entertainment are being sold a pro-war agenda without realizing it and are even financing these programs with their taxes.

The Justice Department just dropped another 3 million pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, hoping to satisfy critics who have been demanding transparency on the Epstein files since Donald Trump’s election. There’s just one problem: The documents conceal the only thing people care about — the names of the perpetrators — while recklessly outing innocent victims. Matt Kibbe and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) discuss whether this botched release is the result of incompetence or malice, whether these emails contain any smoking guns, and what can be done to force further releases from the administration that campaigned on being the most transparent in history.

America was built on the idea of limited government and personal freedom, but as the nation has expanded and taken on the role of the world's policeman, these founding ideals have eroded into something resembling the empires of previous eras. Matt Kibbe and Judge Andrew Napolitano discuss how the desire to engage in nation-building, to acquire colonies, and to have a military presence all over the world necessarily entails sacrificing the Constitution, sound money, and our national values. As the U.S. government grows more and more imperial, it becomes less and less American.

In the aftermath of two high-profile shootings related to immigration enforcement in Minnesota, many freedom-loving Americans are concerned about the government's disregard for civil liberties and the cavalier use of deadly force by agents who lack adequate training. Regardless of one's position on immigration, the optics are not good for Republicans, who will soon have to face the midterm elections. Matt Kibbe sits down with investigative journalist Jim Bovard to discuss the conduct of federal agents, as well as the parallels between the recent shootings and the 1992 Ruby Ridge incident, in which the FBI shot and killed several members of the Weaver family.

With the ousting of Nicolás Maduro, the future of the Venezuelan government is an open question. Will we see a mere continuation of the Maduro regime, which left the country economically devastated, or will we instead see the kind of fundamental reforms that have worked so well for Javier Milei in Argentina? Matt Kibbe is joined by Ian Vásquez, Vice President of International Studies at the Cato Institute, to discuss the next steps for the Trump Administration. In a best-case scenario, Trump would work with Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado to bring libertarian reforms to Venezuela, putting the country back on the path towards the kind of freedom and prosperity it enjoyed prior to Hugo Chavez's socialist takeover.

In the wake of President Trump’s sudden military action in Venezuela, ousting Nicolás Maduro and asserting U.S. control over the country, at least temporarily, much of the debate has centered around the wisdom and legality of Trump’s actions. Matt Kibbe argues that while unilateral military action by the president is certainly unconstitutional, the more important question is what happens next. Free the People has a long history of pointing out the evils of the socialist regime led by Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, and yet history teaches us that regime-change wars invariably make things worse rather than better. As Maduro’s vice president assumes control for the time being, there remain many questions about what the plan is going forward, whether it involves installing new leadership or a boots-on-the-ground military occupation by U.S. forces, or whether the country will simply be left to its own devices from here on out. The answers to these questions will determine much about the future faced by the Venezuelan people.

On the eve of 2026, Matt Kibbe takes a look back at the first year of Donald Trump's second term as president of the United States. Trump was swept into office by an extraordinary coalition of tech enthusiasts, disaffected Democrats, and even libertarians, all of whom expected big things in return for their support. Trump promised to drain the swamp, end foreign wars, cut spending, and free Ross Ulbricht. These selected segments from this year's "Kibbe on Liberty" guests trace Trump's progress on all these issues, from the heady days of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to the bitter parting of ways between Trump and conservative lawmakers like Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene, as well as how these issues will affect Republicans in the looming 2026 midterm elections.

One of the most precious things COVID lockdowns took from us was the ability to gather, to socialize, and of course to drink together. Matt Kibbe sits down for a beer with Thomas Pacchia, the founder and CEO of PubKey, a Bitcoin-friendly establishment with locations in New York and Washington, D.C. Pacchia explains the importance of Bitcoin, not as part of an investment portfolio, but as a medium of exchange protected from the government’s manipulation of the money supply. His bars aim to offer a low barrier to entry for new and inexperienced Bitcoin users to start treating the technology as an actual currency, while at the same time encouraging community and friendship among like-minded individuals. You can check out more about PubKey on their website: https://www.pubkey.bar/

You better not shout, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why: The Epstein files are coming to town! Following the near-unanimous passage of Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie's discharge petition, the Trump Justice Department has until midnight on December 19 to finally make the Epstein files public. Will the administration follow through, or will Pam Bondi and pals attempt some last-minute shenanigans? Matt Kibbe sits down with Thomas Massie to discuss what happens next and whether the recently reopened investigation into Epstein's case has a chance of thwarting the will of the people.

With the arrest of a suspect for placing the January 6 pipe bombs, the FBI would like to consider the case closed. But Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) says not so fast! Matt Kibbe sits down with his favorite congressman to discuss the myriad unanswered questions about why law enforcement officers were able to find the bombs so quickly, why they stopped looking after finding two of them, and why the Biden FBI apparently declined to prosecute this suspect for more than four years. Did Kash Patel and Dan Bongino finally get their man, or is he a patsy meant to take the fall and get the public to stop asking questions?

The Supreme Court is currently hearing a case to decide whether the Trump administration has the power to impose tariffs on a whim, without the approval of Congress. Trump wants this power as a negotiating tool, but he fails to consider the fact that future administrations will be able not only to overturn his orders but to impose far more onerous ones of their own. Matt Kibbe talks with John Vecchione, senior litigation counsel for the New Civil Liberties Alliance, about the dangers of executive power overriding the legislative branch of government. Do we really want a system that would allow a future President AOC to unilaterally tax gas-powered cars out of existence or levy selective tariffs on anything she deems bad for the environment? Republicans always seem to forget that they will not be in charge forever, and with the midterm elections fast approaching, their time in the majority may be ending sooner than they think. This is all the more reason why they should use this opportunity to govern responsibly instead of setting dangerous legal precedents that will empower their enemies in just a few years.

The right to keep and bear arms is one of the most sacred and unique features of the American system of government, allowing citizens to defend themselves not only against criminals, but against potential tyranny as well. Yet in spite of this fact, the corporate press is determined to misrepresent the statistics on gun violence in order to push for stricter gun control laws. John Lott, Senior Litigation Counsel NCLA, sits down with Matt Kibbe to tell the real truth about guns and gun owners, such as the fact that almost all mass shootings occur in gun-free zones, that armed citizens prevent thousands of crimes every year, and that gun registries disproportionately impact the poorest Americans. In almost all cases, the attempts to disarm Americans are built on emotion, not data.

When Javier Milei was first elected president of Argentina in 2023, no one was really sure whether his populist, free-market policies would work to fix the nation's struggling economy. Two years later, he has made tremendous strides, as reflected in Argentina's 2025 legislative elections, in which Milei's party received a clear mandate from the masses. Matt Kibbe sits down with Agustin Etchebarne, director-general at Fundación Libertad y Progreso, to discuss why Milei has become so popular and why he has been so successful in presenting the ideas of Austrian economics to his voters.

Freedom of speech may be under assault in America, but that's nothing compared with what's going on in the United Kingdom, where police are arresting 33 people every day for social media posts. Matt Kibbe sits down with Reem Ibrahim, head of media for the Institute of Economic Affairs, to discuss how Britain has become so authoritarian, the difference in attitude between the British and American public, and whether there is any hope for the nation that gave us the Magna Carta to embrace liberty again.

After calling out the neocons like Jeb Bush and John McCain and building his campaign on promises of peace and putting America first, President Trump is now flirting with the idea of intervening in Venezuela to take out Nicolás Maduro, using the specter of drug cartels as a pretense. Matt Kibbe is joined by Cato Institute fellow Brandan Buck to explain why this would be a really bad idea. U.S. intervention is what led to the rise of Chavez and Maduro in the first place. Combine that with our nation's history of catastrophic nation-building experiments and the fundamental impossibility of central planning, and it's clear that America's power would be far better used in trying to improve the lives of our own citizens.

In the second half of his marathon conversation with Rep. Thomas Massie (R), Matt Kibbe asks the Kentucky congressman about his discharge petition to release the Epstein files. It turns out that one of the main reasons why the government remains shut down — and why Speaker Johnson (R-La.) is preventing the House of Representatives from convening — is that Massie has the votes to release the files. Since President Trump has called these files a hoax and FBI Director Kash Patel says the files don't exist, the big question is why Republicans are so determined to prevent Massie's petition from going through.

In this special two-part episode of “Kibbe on Liberty,” Matt Kibbe sits down for a marathon conversation with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to discuss President Trump’s plans to import Argentinian beef, both as a way to lower prices for American consumers and to help out Argentinian President Javier Milei. This is a little puzzling given Trump’s historic hostility toward foreign trade and his campaign promise to put America first. As someone who personally raises cattle, Massie is uniquely positioned in Congress to present the perspective of the American farmer. There is certainly no shortage of beef in our own country, but lowering prices requires relaxing a suite of crony regulations designed to protect Big Agriculture from the competition of local and independent farmers.

Of all the online fights Donald Trump picks, one of the most perplexing is his repeated attacks on Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie. Known for his commitment to the U.S. Constitution and his unfailing habit of putting America first, Massie should be exactly the kind of person Trump wants in Congress, but the fact that he won’t bend the knee to Trump on budget votes continues to nettle the president. Matt Kibbe sits down with Daniel McAdams, executive director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, to talk about how the internet spat, instead of destroying Massie, is actually elevating him to a national figure, helping him raise money, and highlighting his commitment to principle and refusal to sell out.

Cancel culture may be on the wane, but more insidious than social media mobs is the government’s ability to cut controversial figures off from their finances through the process of de-banking. Matt Kibbe sits down with Jorge Jraissati, president of Economic Inclusion Group, to talk about this little-understood means of censorship that is a growing threat to individual liberty. As cash becomes less and less useful, we’ve become increasingly reliant on banks and credit card companies to allow us to conduct basic commerce. When that tool is taken away, it’s the equivalent of being totally banished from society.

In an era when most Americans have put so much of their lives online, it’s easy to be complacent about online privacy. We’ve been told that as long as we have nothing to hide, we have nothing to fear. But in fact, an increasingly powerful surveillance state is a major threat to individual liberty and to the country as a whole. Matt Kibbe sits down with Naomi Brockwell, founder and president of the Ludlow Institute, to talk about why privacy still matters and to outline several ways that ordinary people can easily safeguard their digital data. This is important, because once the government knows everything about you, it can use that information to silence criticism and stifle dissent. Even those who approve of the current administration have to imagine that at some point, someone else is going to be in power, someone who might want to crack down on all the freedoms we hold dear. Without privacy, it becomes almost impossible to push back against oppressive regimes.

Author Matt Ridley is well known for his book "The Rational Optimist," which argued that the world is consistently getting better year after year. In the 15 years since that book was published, however, world events have convinced many people that the opposite is actually true. Matt Kibbe sits down with Ridley to discuss his next book project, in which he will update and reflect on his earlier conclusions to see whether there is still reason to be optimistic or if in fact it is rational to be a pessimist.

In a divided America where various groups, including men and women, are increasingly at each other’s throats, is there a way to set aside hatred and judgment in order to love one another? Matt Kibbe sits down with author and educator Warren Farrell to talk about his new book, “Role Mate to Soul Mate,” which seeks to help couples communicate better and build stronger relationships. The same principles apply to political discourse as well. Instead of listening and understanding, too many people have fallen back on accusations and finger-pointing, to the point where it leads to horrific acts of physical violence, such as the murder of Charlie Kirk. Farrell’s work is crucial if we want to live in a country where individuals are treated with kindness and humanity instead of being demonized for their opinions.

At the Universidad de la Libertad in Mexico City, Matt Kibbe sat down with Pano Kanelos, chancellor of the University of Austin, to talk about how higher education has gone wrong and what can be done to fix it. In the wake of the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk on a college campus, the fact that universities have become increasingly hostile to open discourse and the pursuit of truth has become more obvious than ever. Ideologically driven curricula, combined with rising costs and the student debt crisis, have made higher education a less appealing prospect, which is a shame when you consider that the purpose of universities was always supposed to be the expansion of human knowledge, not just preparing students for the job market.

Economists are united in pointing out that tariffs on foreign goods are really nothing more than a tax on American consumers, but what fewer people understand is that Trump’s policy on trade is not really about revenue or even about economic protectionism. Matt Kibbe is joined by Phil Magness, senior fellow at the Independent Institute, to explain how the tariffs represent a unilateral expansion of executive power that is now being challenged by the courts. It’s important to remember that Trump will not be president forever, and sooner or later, a Democrat is going to occupy the White House again. At that point, Democrats will be more than happy to use these expanded executive powers in ways that will horrify Trump’s base.

Stoicism and libertarianism are two philosophical systems that at first glance may not seem to have much in common, but Matt Kibbe caught up with Ryan Holiday, host of the "Daily Stoic," to attempt to find some common ground. The philosophy created by ancient Romans like Marcus Aurelius not only teaches us how to cope with adversity but also the importance of becoming the best version of ourselves and continuing to learn from others. In an era when everyone is an armchair philosopher with the ability to safely preach views from the comfort of X, it's useful to remember that we actually need to do the hard work, both to improve personally and to make the world a better place.

As more people who traditionally identified with the progressive Left become disenchanted with woke authoritarianism, libertarianism is experiencing a bit of a renaissance, attracting such unlikely voices as RFK Jr. and Nicole Shanahan. Matt Kibbe caught up with evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein, host of “The DarkHorse Podcast,” to talk about how we can cooperate in building a big-tent movement that values personal freedom while not imposing purity tests and alienating this new wave of potential allies.

Some of the biggest names in the liberty movement recently gathered in Texas to celebrate the 90th birthday of Ron Paul, the former congressman and presidential candidate who has inspired so many to become interested in libertarianism. In this special episode of "Kibbe on Liberty," Matt Kibbe sits down with Tom Woods, TEXITcoin founder Bobby Gray, former Rep. Justin Amash (R/I/L-Mich.), and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) to share their memories of Dr. Paul and the impact he has made on their lives. More than any other single individual, Ron Paul is responsible for creating a movement unlike any America has seen before. Even today, more than a decade after his last presidential run, when you ask someone why he cares about liberty, the answer is likely to be Ron Paul.

From school shootings to childhood mental illness and overmedication, it’s clear that something is not right with young boys in America. Yet political correctness, anxiety about racism, and the exaltation of single mothers have prevented many from identifying and trying to correct the problem. Matt Kibbe sits down with Adam Coleman, author of “The Children We Left Behind,” to underline the importance of fathers in raising strong and resilient children. The data on mass shooters shows an almost one-to-one correlation between violent males and boys who grew up without their fathers, with no positive male role models to teach them how to be men, how to protect and provide for others, and how to take responsibility for their own actions. If we want to solve the boy crisis in America, we have to be honest about the fact that strong families are essential and that broken homes lead to broken people.

Public television in the United States has come under fire for its one-sided promotion of leftist ideology, resulting in the recent announcement that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will soon shut down due to funding cuts. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Matt Kibbe sits down with Daniel Harmon, executive producer of “Tuttle Twins,” a show that teaches sound economics to kids, to discuss the exciting fact that President Javier Milei is using the show to replace communist propaganda on Argentinian public television. Milei is already showing the world that free-market economics can quickly revitalize even struggling economies; now he’s showing that public institutions don’t have to be all biased in the same direction. Harmon explains how his media company, Angel Studios, is moving the global conversation toward personal and economic freedom.

At this year’s FreedomFest in Palm Springs, California, Matt Kibbe sat down with Chef Andrew Gruel to talk about food freedom and making America healthy again. Chef Gruel’s philosophy involves cooking simple dishes with quality ingredients to create great-tasting comfort food. However, this is made harder than it needs to be due to government regulations and corrupt unions that raise the prices of food, rely heavily on low-quality imports, and consolidate the industry so that Americans have less competition and choice in what they eat.

At this year’s FreedomFest in Palm Springs, California, founder and CEO of XX-XY Athletics, Jennifer Sey, sits down with Matt Kibbe to defend the radical proposition that boys and girls are different and that men cannot become women simply by putting on a dress. As a former competitive gymnast, Sey has a particular interest in protecting women’s sports from male athletes who have an unfair advantage over female athletes. This issue was recently publicized in a heated online back-and-forth between swimmer Riley Gaines and gymnast Simone Biles, who has since deleted her X account. XX-XY Athletics is a clothing brand Sey started to support female athletes who might otherwise be afraid to speak out to defend themselves against accusations of bigotry or hate from the woke Left.

Typically, Americans on the political Left worry about corporate power while those on the Right worry about government power. But the real danger is when corporations and government collude to dictate how you ought to live. We saw this during COVID, when experimental vaccines were pushed onto the American people, earning pharma companies big profits while they were shielded from any liability for the harm their products may cause. At this year’s FreedomFest in Palm Springs, Matt Kibbe caught up with Del Bigtree, host of “The HighWire,” who has devoted most of his career to researching the vaccine industry. He points out that the pharma lobby is more powerful than the banks or even defense contractors and that they effectively control much of what our government does, meaning that our system is neither as capitalist nor as democratic as we imagine.