The John Stossel Interviews
The John Stossel Interviews
Stossel TV
After 40+ years of reporting, I now understand the importance of limited government and personal freedom. Subscribe to this show, and you’ll get extended interviews with newsmakers and people who I think are interesting or have something important to say. You can watch my video reports on JohnStossel.com --------- John Stossel is a libertarian journalist who hosted a show on Fox Business and co-anchored ABC’s primetime newsmagazine show, 20/20. He has received 19 Emmy Awards and has been honored five times for excellence in consumer reporting by the National Press Club.
Ep. 46 You Don’t Own Me: Freedom, Responsibility, and the Lies of Collectivism
Who owns you?Government often acts like they own us.But lawyer Tim Sandefur of the Goldwater Institute reminds us, we own ourselves.“People should not have power over other people’s lives,” says Sandefur.His book, You Don’t Own Me, talks about that, and how popular culture often reflects this message.“Ours is a nation where the individual’s right to pursue happiness is written into it’s foundational document” he reminds us.In this podcast, more on Sandefur’s book, libertarianism, Hollywood propaganda, and his fight against government overreach.
Jul 6
49 min
Ep. 45 Hayek’s Warning We Ignored: Government Planning Doesn’t Fix Economies
Politicians say they can “fix” the economy.But economists Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises pointed out how government “fixes" lead to bigger problems.Hayek and Mises predicted the fall of the Soviet Union. They warned that centrally planned economies fail.But today, socialism is popular again. New York and Seattle have elected socialist mayors.Many politicians still believe that government can manage the economy—an idea popularized by economist John Maynard Keynes.Keynes was revered. Politicians love his arguments.But Hayek and Mises warned that government intervention leads to inflation, instability, and boom-bust cycles.They were right.In this podcast, Ryan McMaken of the Mises Institute explains why we should read Hayek and Mises today.
Jun 1
20 min
Ep. 44 Uncomfortable Topics with Heather Mac Donald: Race, Skills Gap, Disparate Impact & the Role of Women
“I'm going to speak the truth here, and this is not pleasant for people to hear.” In my podcast with author Heather Mac Donald, she says uncomfortable things about race, crime, feminism and more.For example, she says, “The reality of our world today is not white privilege. It's black privilege.” She says many jobs and colleges today unfairly favor black candidates with fewer skills. “Harvard until recently had about 16% blacks in its freshman class,” says Mac Donald, “If it admitted based on academic merit, there would be less than 1%.” She’s been repeatedly called “‘racist’ for saying things like that. “Am I a racist for bringing this up? I am not!” responds Mac Donald, “The facts are the facts … They have been completely kept out of the public eye to keep this systemic lie of racism going on.” In this podcast, more facts you won’t hear covered by mainstream media.
May 4
1 hr 42 min
Ep. 43 Jo Jorgensen: What if We Had a Libertarian President?
During the last 5 years our government has imposed lockdowns, caused inflation, increased the deficit, started trade wars, and now a real war.It makes me wonder; how would things have been different if we had a libertarian President?Well, here’s my discussion with 2020’s libertarian Presidential candidate, Jo Jorgensen.We originally spoke 5 years ago, but our conversation covers issues that are still important today.
Apr 6
32 min
Ep 42. Andrew Yang: On UBI, Defunding Police, Cancel Culture, Entrepreneurship
I don’t bother interviewing most politicians. But former presidential candidate Andrew Yang is interesting.Unlike most politicians, he has experience as an entrepreneur, he criticizes politicians for their "magical thinking," and he even left his party (the Democrats) to start the "Forward Party."I spoke to him in 2021, soon after its launch. We discuss if a third party could ever succeed, where politicians' magical thinking has failed, entrepreneurship, and I push back on his vision for universal basic income (basically free money).
Mar 2
51 min
Ep. 41 Johan Norberg: Lessons From Ancient Athens, Rome, the Renaissance & Other Golden Ages
Are we witnessing the fall of the American empire? Are we doomed to fall, like Ancient Athens, Ancient Rome and others?No. But if we don’t learn the lessons of history, we could be. To avoid collapse, historian Johan Norberg argues we especially need to learn from the rise and fall of past golden ages—like Ancient Athens, Ancient Rome, China’s Song Dynasty, the Italian Renaissance, and more.“What sets these golden ages apart," he explains, "is that they managed to ... give more people more freedoms.” Like freedom to trade. That helped many golden ages prosper.In this podcast, we also discuss what led to their decline. I was surprised to learn that many problems we face today (like inflation and unsustainable entitlement spending) also destroyed societies more than a thousand years ago. “But that doesn't mean that we're doomed,” says Norberg. “There are so many instances where societies faced terrible situations … but bounced back … So there is still time. We can still save this golden age.”
Feb 2
56 min
Ep 40. Wikipedia Bias
I once reported how great Wikipedia is. But now, it’s manipulated by leftists.That’s a big problem because its bad information corrupts AI and search results.In this podcast, Ashley Rindsberg of NPOV Media explains how, “Wikipedia's information spreads into everything online.”That means when your ask ChatGPT, Google, or your phone a question, it’ll likely to take leftist spin straight from Wikipedia.I also share an excerpt of my conversation with Veteran Wikipedian Jonathan Weiss.Three years ago, he told me how the site, like academia, has been captured by leftists. We cover many examples.
Jan 5
18 min
Ep. 39 Putting a Price on Life: From 9/11 to the BP Oil Spill and Boston Marathon
“You can’t put a price on life!” say politicians, pretending to be compassionate, spending other people’s money.But Kenneth Feinberg, Special Master of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, says you CAN put a price on life. He's distributed funds to the victims of 9/11, the Pulse nightclub shooting, the Boston Marathon, the Deepwater Horizon spill, the Virginia Tech shooting, the Aurora movie theater shooting, and now the LA wildfires.In this podcast he explains how he does it, why it's important, but also why (despite the success of the 9/11 fund) paying out money to victims should not be something that government does.
Dec 1, 2025
32 min
Ep 38 Jonathan Haidt: on The Anxious Generation: Childhood in Social Media Age & Fragile College Students
"If your kids went through puberty on a smartphone with social media, they came out different than human beings before” says Jonathan Haidt, author of the bestseller “The Anxious Generation.”He argues that childhood is now phone-based instead of play-based, resulting in anxious and depressed kids. "They know that life would be better if they didn't spend five or six hours a day on social media. They know that, but they can't help it” says Haidt. But not all researcher agree. I challenge Haidt with the criticism. In our podcast, Haidt responds, and lays out his best advice to protect kids from smartphones.
Nov 3, 2025
54 min
Ep. 37 Socialism and Capitalism Myths
Young people today hate capitalism. They often say socialism would be better.It's absurd. Why would they argue that?Because much of what they're told about socialism and capitalism is just nonsense.So in this podcast, we'll debunk 5 of the biggest myths about socialism, and even more myths about capitalism.
Oct 6, 2025
24 min
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