Best J. W. Judge Podcasts (2025)

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Daniel J. Samet & Doug Bandow: What Should Be the American Strategy in the Middle East? 33:25

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4d ago33:25

33:25

On this episode of Future of Freedom, host Scot Bertram is joined by two guests with different viewpoints about American strategy in the Middle East. First on the show is Daniel J. Samet, a Jeane Kirkpatrick Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on US-Israel relations and Middle East policy. Later, we hear from Doug Bandow, …

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Daniel K. Sodickson, "The Future of Seeing: How Imaging is Changing the World" (Columbia UP, 2025) 1:09:43

4d ago1:09:43

1:09:43

Over the centuries, we have learned to peer into what was once invisible. Imaging devices like cameras, telescopes, microscopes, and MRI machines map the world around, beyond, and within us in ways the naked eye could never see. In so doing, these technologies have transformed our understanding of our place in the universe and our conception of our…

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Episode 204: Jamie Madrox - More Music You Don't Wanna Hear From Someone You Barely Like 1:57:55

11d ago1:57:55

1:57:55

Four months ago, we reviewed an album that only came out about 2 months before the one we're reviewing today... Yes, we're finally talking about Jamie Madrox's 2025 solo album, MORE MUSIC YOU DON'T WANNA HEAR FROM SOMEONE YOU BARELY LIKE - But moreso, we speak in-depth about the state of Twiztid in 2025, and our relationship with them after spendin…

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Chris Edwards & Jerry Theodorou: Should FEMA Be Eliminated? 33:36

13d ago33:36

33:36

On this episode of Future of Freedom, host Scot Bertram is joined by two guests with different viewpoints about eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). First on the show is Chris Edwards, Kilts Family Chair in Fiscal Studies at the Cato Institute and is the editor of DownsizingGovernment.org. Later, we hear from Jerry Theo…

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Wendell Marsh, "Textual Life: Islam, Africa, and the Fate of the Humanities" (Columbia UP, 2025) 53:46

15d ago53:46

53:46

Textual Life: Islam, Africa, and the Fate of the Humanities (Columbia University Press, 2025), is a groundbreaking book that recasts the role of knowledge in the making of a colonial and postcolonial nation. It makes a case for a new literary and intellectual-historical approach to Islam in Africa. The Senegalese Muslim scholar Shaykh Musa Kamara (…

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Episode 203: Camp Xul 5 - Full Recap! 2:10:02

18d ago2:10:02

2:10:02

In this episode, we talk about our adventures at CAMP XUL 5! Strap in as we disccus our 4-days in Ohio, filled with crazy hillbillies, drug fueled chaos, impromptu wrestling, giant grocery stores, old west ghost towns, car troubles, and tons of awesome underground music - including Siamese Goat God, Keagan Grimm, Somethin Outta Nothin, Super Famous…

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Mark Goble, "Downtime: The Twentieth Century in Slow Motion" (Columbia UP, 2025) 55:11

22d ago55:11

55:11

Slow motion is everywhere in contemporary film and media, but it wasn't always so ubiquitous. How did slow motion ascend to the dubious honor of becoming our culture's least "special" effect? And what does slow motion — a trick secured paradoxically through the camera's ever-racing speeds of capture — tell us about the temporalities and trajectorie…

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Wu Jianren, "New Story of the Stone: An Early Chinese Science Fiction Novel" (Columbia UP, 2025) 51:23

26d ago51:23

51:23

What happens if you took one of the classic characters of Chinese literary fiction and dropped him into early 20th-century China? That’s the premise of Wu Jianren’s novel, New Story of the Stone (Columbia UP, 2025), written in 1905, which takes Jia Baoyu, from the classic Dream of the Red Chamber, and takes him first to Qing China and the Boxer Reb…

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David Dunmoyer & Joe Lancaster: Should a 'Ban' on TikTok Be Enforced? 32:47

27d ago32:47

32:47

On this episode of Future of Freedom, host Scot Bertram is joined by two guests with different viewpoints about enforcing the law that could ban TikTok in the United States. First on the show is David Dunmoyer, Associate Vice President of Campaigns at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Later, we hear from Joe Lancaster, an assistant editor at Reas…

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Katherine Fusco, "Hollywood's Others: Love and Limitation in the Star System" (Columbia UP, 2025) 43:30

1M ago43:30

43:30

We tend to think about movie stars as either glamorous or relatable. But in the 1920s and 1930s, when the Hollywood star system was taking shape, a number of unusual stars appeared on the silver screen, representing groups from which the American mainstream typically sought to avert its eyes. What did it mean for a white entertainment columnist to …

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Santiago Zabala, "Signs from the Future: Philosophy of Warnings" (Columbia UP, 2025) 53:45

1M ago53:45

53:45

Returning to NBN is the philosopher Santiago Zabala, here to introduce his new book Signs from the Future: A Philosophy of Warnings (Columbia University Press, 2025). Warnings, for Zabala, are not synonymous with predictions. They are instead as much about the present as the future. They point towards already present crisis and contradictions. They…

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Stephan Kieninger, "Securing Peace in Europe: Strobe Talbott, NATO, and Russia After the Cold War" (Columbia UP, 2025) 40:25

1M ago40:25

40:25

This deeply researched book offers new perspective on the NATO-Russia relationship through the eyes of Strobe Talbott, a deputy secretary of state for seven years under President Bill Clinton and the key US diplomatic broker for the former USSR. Stephan Kieninger traces the Clinton administration’s efforts to engage Russia and enlarge NATO at the s…

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Episode 202: The Naught (full review) + Gathering of the Juggalos 2025 Recap 3:26:51

2M ago3:26:51

3:26:51

THE SIXTH JOKERS CARD IS UPON US! In this episode, we review ICP's 2025 album THE NAUGHT! We also recap the 2025 Gathering of the Juggalos, and we reveal the future of this show. This is a big episode, becuase it's a BIG episode! If you want to interact with us, send us messages, follow us, support us, or join our community, check out the links on …

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Shennette Garrett-Scott, "Banking on Freedom: Black Women in U.S. Finance Before the New Deal" (Columbia UP, 2019) 41:58

2M ago41:58

41:58

Think running an insurance company or a bank is hard? Try doing it as an African-American woman in the Jim Crow South. Shennette Garrett-Scott's new book, Banking on Freedom: Black Women in U.S. Finance Before the New Deal (Columbia University Press, 2019) tells the fascinating story of just such an endeavor, first the Independent Order of St. Luke…

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Todd Mcgowan, "Pure Excess: Capitalism and the Commodity" (Columbia UP, 2024) 1:05:20

2M ago1:05:20

1:05:20

Todd McGowan forges a new theory of capitalism as a system based on the production of more than what we need: pure excess. He argues that the promise of more—more wealth, more enjoyment, more opportunity, without requiring any sacrifice—is the essence of capitalism. Previous socioeconomic systems set up some form of the social good as their focus. …

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Adriana Carranca, "Soul by Soul: The Evangelical Mission to Spread the Gospel to Muslims" (Columbia UP, 2024) 55:37

2M ago55:37

55:37

US-born Protestant evangelicalism has gone global to an extent of which many of us might be unaware. Soul by Soul: The Evangelical Mission to Spread the Gospel to Muslims (Columbia Global Reports, 2024) tells the story of Americans’ colossal mobilization to proclaim Christianity “to the ends of the Earth,” a movement that triumphed in the Global So…

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Matthew Facciani, "Misguided: Where Misinformation Starts, How It Spreads, and What to Do about It" (Columbia UP, 2025) 30:29

2M ago30:29

30:29

Why are people inclined to believe misinformation? Misguided: Where Misinformation Starts, How It Spreads, and What to Do about It (Columbia UP, 2025) is a wide-ranging and comprehensive book that shines a light on how false beliefs take root and spread, exploring the cognitive, emotional, and social factors that make us all susceptible to misinfor…

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Vijay Selvam, "Principles of Bitcoin: Technology, Economics, Politics, and Philosophy" (Columbia UP, 2025) 58:41

2M ago58:41

58:41

Principles of Bitcoin presents a holistic, first-principles-based framework for understanding one of the most misunderstood inventions of our time. By stripping away the hype, jargon, and superficial analysis that often surrounds the crypto industry, this book uncovers the true ingenuity behind Satoshi Nakamoto’s creation—and its profound implicati…

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David J. Helfand, "The Universal Timekeepers: Reconstructing History Atom by Atom" (Columbia UP, 2023) 1:02:13

2M ago1:02:13

1:02:13

Atoms are unfathomably tiny. It takes fifteen million trillion of them to make up a single poppy seed—give or take a few billion. And there’s hardly anything to them: atoms are more than 99.9999999999 percent empty space. Yet scientists have learned to count these slivers of near nothingness with precision and to peer into their internal states. In…

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J.D. Tuccille & Mark Krikorian: How Should the U.S. Enforce Illegal Immigration Laws? 33:16

2M ago33:16

33:16

On this episode of Future of Freedom, host Scot Bertram is joined by two guests with different viewpoints about the Trump administrations’ handling of immigration enforcement. First on the show is J.D. Tuccille, a former managing editor of Reason.com and current contributing editor. Later, we hear from Mark Krikorian, Executive Director of the Cent…

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M’hamed Oualdi, "A Slave between Empires: A Transimperial History of North Africa" (Columbia UP, 2020) 41:41

3M ago41:41

41:41

In light of the profound physical and mental traumas of colonization endured by North Africans, historians of recent decades have primarily concentrated their studies of North Africa on colonial violence, domination, and shock. The choice is an understandable one. But in his new monograph, A Slave between Empires: A Transimperial History of North A…

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Episode 201: What the EFF is going on!? 1:00:22

3M ago1:00:22

1:00:22

Hey, we've been away for a few weeks, and a lot has happened. We're just checking in with a quick update on us, on the music, and on Bush. If you want to interact with us, send us messages, follow us, support us, or join our community, check out the links on our WEBSITE. Check out DO IT FOR THE UNDERGROUND (DIFTUG), Robbie's underground rap and hor…

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Noëlle McAfee, "Fear of Breakdown: Psychoanalysis and Politics" (Columbia UP, 2019) 57:08

3M ago57:08

57:08

In his classic essay on the fear of breakdown, Donald Winnicott famously conveys to a patient that the disaster powerfully feared has, in fact, already happened. Taking her cue from Winnicott, Noëlle McAfee’s Fear of Breakdown: Psychoanalysis and Politics (Columbia University Press, 2019), explores the implications of breakdown fears for the practi…

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Henry Olsen & Alex Muresianu: Should University Endowments Be Taxed? 27:19

3M ago27:19

27:19

On this episode of Future of Freedom, host Scot Bertram is joined by two guests with different viewpoints about taxing endowments of American colleges and universities. First on the show is Henry Olsen, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and host of the Beyond the Polls with Henry Olsen podcast. Later, we hear from Alex Muresianu,…

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John Yoo & Charles C. W. Cooke: Who Decides When America Goes to War? 35:44

3M ago35:44

35:44

On this episode of Future of Freedom, host Scot Bertram is joined by two guests with different viewpoints concerning when the President needs the approval of Congress to engage in military action. First on the show is John Yoo, the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley, Senior Research Fellow at the Civitas Ins…

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Ali Aslam, David W. McIvor, and Joel Alden Schlosser, "Earthborn Democracy: A Political Theory of Entangled Life" (Columbia UP, 2024) 52:20

3M ago52:20

52:20

Ecological crises threaten all forms of life on earth. Democracy too is endangered, as popular discontent, elite malfeasance, and unresponsive institutions imperil its survival. Present political concepts have proven inadequate to meeting these challenges, and their inadequacies are themselves symptoms of the failures of prevailing political, cultu…

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Tobias Peter & Judge Glock: How Should Zoning Be Viewed & Reformed? 33:05

4M ago33:05

33:05

On this episode of Future of Freedom, host Scot Bertram is joined by two guests with different viewpoints about zoning laws and America’s housing supply. First on the show is Tobias Peter, a senior fellow at AEI and the codirector of the American Enterprise Institute’s Housing Center. Later, we hear from Judge Glock, director of research and a seni…

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EPISODE 200! - Juggalo Judgment judges US! + Robbie scores EVERY ICP release! 2:42:38

4M ago2:42:38

2:42:38

To celebrate 5 YEARS and 200 EPISODES, we've asked our friends Mike and Schmeev from the Juggalo Judgment podcast to come on the show and test our juggalo knowledge, then judge whether we're real juffalos or not. But that's not all! Robbie scores EVERY ICP and HOK album that we reviewed before he joined the show - plus Erik and Aaron have an opport…

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Alison Griffiths, "Nomadic Cinema: A Cultural Geography of the Expedition Film" (Columbia UP, 2025) 1:02:25

4M ago1:02:25

1:02:25

From In Borneo, the Land of the Head-Hunters to The Epic of Everest to Camping Among the Indians, the early twentieth century was the heyday of expedition filmmaking. As new technologies transformed global transportation and opened new avenues for documentation, and as imperialism and capitalism expanded their reach, Western filmmakers embarked on …

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Elizabeth Suzanne Kassab, "Contemporary Arab Thought: Cultural Critique in Comparative Perspective" (Columbia UP, 2025) 27:16

4M ago27:16

27:16

In the last third of the twentieth century, the Arab intellectual and political scene polarized between totalizing doctrines—nationalist, Marxist, and religious—and radical critique. Arab thinkers were reacting to the disenchanting experience of postindependence and a widespread sense of malaise, as well as to authoritarianism, intolerance, injusti…

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Episode 199: Jamie Madrox - The November Brain 2:01:37

4M ago2:01:37

2:01:37

If you want to love us, then darlin' don't refrain, cuz we'll just end up talkin' about THE NOVEMBER BRAIN! Listen, everybody needs some time on their own, and even if you need some time all alone, that time is NOT right now, because you get to hang out with the 3 of us while we yap about Jamie Madrox's 2024 solo mix up CD! Nothin lasts forever, ev…

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Jessica X. Zu, "Just Awakening: Yogācāra Social Philosophy in Modern China" (Columbia UP, 2025) 1:24:02

4M ago1:24:02

1:24:02

Just Awakening: Yogācāra Social Philosophy in Modern China (Columbia University Press, 2025) uncovers a forgotten philosophy of social democracy inspired by Yogācāra, an ancient, nondualistic Buddhist philosophy that claims everything in the perceptible cosmos is mere consciousness and consists of multiple karmically connected yet bounded lifeworld…

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Keith E. Whittington & Charles Fain Lehman: Does Federal Involvement Safeguard or Endanger Free Speech on College Campuses? 33:51

5M ago33:51

33:51

On this episode of Future of Freedom, host Scot Bertram is joined by two guests with different viewpoints about whether federal involvement safeguards or endangers free speech on college campuses. First on the show is Keith E. Whittington, is the David Boies Professor of Law at Yale Law School and founding chair of the Academic Freedom Alliance. La…

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Christopher Hanscom, "Impossible Speech: The Politics of Representation in Contemporary Korean Literature and Film" (Columbia UP, 2024) 1:08:14

5M ago1:08:14

1:08:14

How does art engage with its social context? What does 'the politics of art' even mean? In his new book Impossible Speech: The Politics of Representation in Contemporary Korean Literature and Film (Columbia University Press, 2023), Christopher P. Hanscom takes on these questions in the context of contemporary Korean literature. Moving away from rea…

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Episode 198: Monoxide - The Chainsmoker II 2:22:02

5M ago2:22:02

2:22:02

You waited 20 years to hear Monoxide's second solo album, 2024's THE CHAINSMOKER II, but we won't make you wait that long to hear our thoughts on it. That's right, you can listen to our review RIGHT NOW! If you want to interact with us, send us messages, follow us, support us, or join our community, check out the links on our WEBSITE. Check out DO …

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James B. Haile III, "The Dark Delight of Being Strange: Black Stories of Freedom" (Columbia UP, 2024) 1:15:30

5M ago1:15:30

1:15:30

An ambitious genre-crossing exploration of Black speculative imagination, The Dark Delight of Being Strange: Black Stories of Freedom (Columbia University Press 2024) combines fiction, historical accounts, and philosophical prose to unveil the extraordinary and the surreal in everyday Black life. In a series of stories and essays, James B. Haile, I…

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Oren Cass & Iain Murray: Can the Use of Tariffs Help Improve the U.S. Economy? 37:02

5M ago37:02

37:02

On this episode of Future of Freedom, host Scot Bertram is joined by two guests with different viewpoints about tariffs. First on the show is Oren Cass, Chief Economist at American Compass. Later, we hear from Iain Murray, Vice President for Strategy and senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. You can find Oren on X @oren_cass and Ia…

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Episode 197: Songs of Samhain, vol. 4 - The Liminal Space 2:13:25

5M ago2:13:25

2:13:25

Yo, hold up - there's ANOTHER Songs of Samhain album!? You know there is, and we're reviewing it in this episode! SONGS OF SAMHAIN VOL. 4: THE LIMINAL SPACE. In this episode we also talk about Cryptic Collection 5 and Twiztid's re-recordings of their classic material. If you want to interact with us, send us messages, follow us, support us, or join…

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Howard Chiang, "After Eunuchs: Science, Medicine, and the Transformation of Sex in Modern China" (Columbia UP, 2018) 1:10:47

6M ago1:10:47

1:10:47

Howard Chiang’s new book is a masterful study of the relationship between sexual knowledge and Chinese modernity. After Eunuchs: Science, Medicine, and the Transformation of Sex in Modern China (Columbia University Press, 2018) guides readers through the history of eunuchs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the techniques of visualization t…

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Johan Norberg & Derek Scissors: How Should the U.S. Economically Engage With China? 34:45

6M ago34:45

34:45

On this episode of Future of Freedom, host Scot Bertram is joined by two guests with different viewpoints about trade with and investment in China. First on the show is Johan Norberg, senior fellow at the Cato Institute. Later, we hear from Derek Scissors, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. You can find Johan on X @johanknorberg an…

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Bin Yang, "Discovered But Forgotten: The Maldives in Chinese History, C. 1100-1620" (Columbia UP, 2024) 39:30

6M ago39:30

39:30

Chinese travelers first made their way to the Maldives in the Indian Ocean in the 14th century, looking for goods like coconuts, cowries, and ambergris. That started centuries of travel to the islands, including one trip by famed sailor Zheng He. Then, quickly, the Maldives—and the broader Indian Ocean—vanished as Ming China turned inward. Bin Yang…

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Episode 196: Echoes From Dimension X + Odyssey 2:07:41

6M ago2:07:41

2:07:41

What the crap, these guys are reviewing TWO albums again!? Yeah, we are. This time it's 2023's ECHOES FROM DIMENSION X and ODYSSEY! Spoiler: neither EP has anything to do with TMNT, Greek Mythology, or Godzilla. If you want to interact with us, send us messages, follow us, support us, or join our community, check out the links on our WEBSITE. Check…

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Becky Yang Hsu, "The Extraordinary in the Mundane: Family and Forms of Community in China" (Columbia UP, 2024) 47:00

6M ago47:00

47:00

How do individuals address serious challenges in a context where organized gatherings are subject to strict government control? This new edited volume brings together a diverse group of scholars to explore the many ways people in China self-organize and create varied forms of coordination to solve important problems. Through compelling, detail-rich…

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Bonus: Evil Across America Tour Recap - Seattle! 1:21:32

6M ago1:21:32

1:21:32

Robbie and Erik went to LLE's (Long Live Evil) Evil Across America tour in Seattle last night! Listen in to hear their thoughts on the performances by S.O.N., Super Famous Funtime Guys, and Alla Xul Elu - as well as an extended discussion about LLE and their role in the modern underground horrorcore scene. Check out DO IT FOR THE UNDERGROUND (DIFTU…

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Brian Rankin & Howard Husock: Should the Federal Government Fund Public Broadcasting? 33:27

6M ago33:27

33:27

On this episode of Future of Freedom, host Scot Bertram is joined by two guests with different viewpoints about federal funding for public broadcasting. First on the show is Brian Rankin, an Adjunct Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Later, we hear from Howard Husock, senior fellow in Domestic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise …

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Episode 195: Glyph 1:38:15

6M ago1:38:15

1:38:15

In this episode we round out 2022 with a very mysterious and unexpected Twiztid release, GLYPH! Do you love this album? Well, listen to this episode with tempered expectations. If you want to interact with us, send us messages, follow us, support us, or join our community, check out the links on our WEBSITE. Check out DO IT FOR THE UNDERGROUND (DIF…

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Bin Yang, "Discovered But Forgotten: The Maldives in Chinese History, C. 1100-1620" (Columbia UP, 2024) 48:14

6M ago48:14

48:14

Discovered but Forgotten: The Maldives in Chinese History, c.1100-1620 (Columbia UP, 2024) examines China's maritime activities in the Indian Ocean, especially as they relate to the Maldives. By weaving together the accounts of a 14th-century Chinese traveler (Wang Dayuan) to the archipelago, archaeological analysis of shipwrecks, maps by both the …

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Episode 194: Songs of Samhain, Vol. 3 - Cult of Night 2:07:52

7M ago2:07:52

2:07:52

We just can't get enough Halloween music (that's why we do this podcast)! In this episode we review the conclusion of the Songs of Samhain Trilogy, 2022's Song of Samhain, Vol. 3: Cult of Night! If you want to interact with us, send us messages, follow us, support us, or join our community, check out the links on our WEBSITE. Check out DO IT FOR TH…

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Charles Fain Lehman & Jacob James Rich: Should Online Sports Gambling Be Legal? 35:11

7M ago35:11

35:11

On this episode of Future of Freedom, host Scot Bertram is joined by two guests with different viewpoints about the legalization of internet sports gambling. First on the show is Charles Fain Lehman, fellow at the Manhattan Institute and senior editor of City Journal. Later, we hear from Jacob James Rich, policy analyst at Reason Foundation. You ca…

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Book Chat: "A Taiwanese Eco-Literature Reader" with Ian Rowen 23:50

7M ago23:50

23:50

In this episode, our host, Ti-han, invited one of her co-editors, Dr Ian Rowen, to talk about their forthcoming book publication, A Taiwanese Eco-literature Reader, soon to be published by Columbia University Press. This anthology brings together translations of nine compelling stories from Taiwan, examining Taiwan’s most vibrant literary genre and…