In this episode, we discuss the rising backlash to last week’s comments about Nick Fuentes, the distinction between personal judgment and deplatforming, and the broader question of what ideas belong in public discourse. We explore the failures of remedial education across major universities, the collapsing academic standards that allow students to advance without basic literacy and numeracy, and the systemic incentives that push institutions to “get students through” rather than educate them. We examine the roots of the public-school crisis, the role of property-tax funding, the constraints of unionized pay structures, and why market incentives and genuine school choice may be the only workable path forward. We also revisit lessons from the Soviet Union, grocery-store abundance, and what markets reveal about human flourishing in ways central planning never can.
00:00 Introduction and Overview
01:19 The Camino Story and Unexpected Love of Hiking
05:03 Walking Ancient Roman Roads with Modern Tech
07:50 Criticism, Free Speech, and the Nick Fuentes Debate
13:24 Where to Draw the Line on Platforming Extremists
14:49 The Difference Between Preference and Censorship
18:43 Foolishness of the Week: University of Arizona AI Prompting Class
20:13 College Remediation and the Math Skills Crisis
23:08 The Collapse of Writing Standards in Higher Education
24:31 Why Students Aren’t Being Educated Before College
29:08 Public Schools, Property Taxes, and Unequal Outcomes
33:53 Why Money and Teacher Quality Don’t Correlate
35:34 School Choice, Competition, and Market Incentives
37:02 Why Centralized Solutions Don’t Work in Education
39:50 Markets, Feedback Loops, and Real Accountability
46:11 Closing Thoughts and Listener Send-Off
47:33 Aftershow: Khrushchev, Yeltsin, and the Grocery Store Lesson
53:51 The Power of Markets: Food, Abundance, and Freedom
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
