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PODCAST

The Political Orphanage

Politics minus bile plus jokes. Comedian and avowed independent Andrew Heaton interviews authors and thought leaders about policy and big thinky stuff.

news politics

All Episodes

01:00:20

Undeclared Wars

The Political Orphanage ·

2026/03/05

When was the last time the United States actually declared war? Why did it stop officially declaring war, if nonetheless bombing folks? And when is the president authorized to attack another country without explicit congressional authorization? What is the War Powers Act, and why did it piss of Nixon? All that and more in this history and constitutional deep dive.

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38:14

How the Court Neutered Trump

The Political Orphanage ·

2026/02/25

The Supreme Court just struck down Donald Trump's sweeping emergency tariffs, but this case is about far more than slinkies and sombreros. When Congress passes an ambiguous law, does the president get broad discretion, or only the specific powers clearly granted to him? We unpack the Major Questions Doctrine, Justice Roberts' loaded-gun theory of taxation, Gorsuch's blistering concurrence calling out judicial inconsistency, and the surprising dissents from Kavanaugh and Thomas. This is an episode

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01:07:22

Grover Norquist at Burning Man (Rebroadcast)

The Political Orphanage ·

2026/02/19

Burning Man is a giant, 80,000-person party in the desert, complete with a crazy amount of neon, bicycles, and narcotics. Grover Norquist is a powerful Republican, alternately famous or infamous for compelling GOP leaders to pledge never to increase spending, who attends Burning Man every year. He joins the podcast to talk about Burning Man, influential secret societies, his foray into standup comedy, and of course, taxes. Original air date Sep 5th, 2019

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15:27

Governing through Blockchain: Techno-Communes (Preview)

The Political Orphanage ·

2026/02/17

Jonathan Hillis is the founder and caretaker of Cabin, a network of co-living spaces which link up and vet members in other communities via blockchain technology. His "neighborhood" of intentional living is in beautiful Texas Hill Country an hour outside of Austin, where he lives with friends in a hub-and-spoke model of private accommodation surrounding communal social spaces. He's the former CTO of Coinbase, and you can see how his tech background influences his obsession with scalability (we talk

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01:12:13

How to Build a Commune: Samwise Rodriguez

The Political Orphanage ·

2026/02/16

If you wanted to live with a bunch of buddies in a house, how would you do it? What are the mechanics of setting up, financing, and socially maintaining a commune? Samwise Rodriguez runs a commune—which combines their skills as a philanthropist, entrepreneur (and to some extent, as a polyamorist). This week we explore: how do you build your own commune?

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49:45

Jeff Flake Alone on an Island with a Knife

The Political Orphanage ·

2026/02/11

What happens when Trump leaves office? Do the Republicans reform or catalyze? Jeff Flake is the former Executive Director of the Goldwater Institute, Ambassador to Turkey, and representative and then Senator from the great state of Arizona. He is also a Knight of the Kingdom of Sweden. He joins to discuss what a post-Trump Republican Party will look like.

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01:21:48

The Map That Explains Everything About America: Colin...

The Political Orphanage ·

2026/02/04

Colin Woodard posits that America is not really a country, it's a dozen or so distinct nations with their own cultures and ideologies which are constantly battling for supremacy. His new book "Nations Apart: How Clashing Regional Cultures Shattered America." In it he argues that argues that deep-seated cultural divisions, stemming from different colonial settlement patterns, are the root cause of modern American political polarization, inequality, and threats to democracy. The book uses historical

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02:12:33

America is Eleven Different Countries (Rebroadcast)

The Political Orphanage ·

2026/02/03

Rudyard William Lynch is the host of WhatifAlHist, a popular history channel on YouTube. He joins to discuss how the origins and circumstances of America's regions permanently imprinted on its cultures and political outlooks. Colin Woodard's Map: https://www.businessinsider.com/the-11-nations-of-the-united-states-2015-7 Rudyard's Map: https://preview.redd.it/cultural-map-of-america-done-by-whatifalthist-on-youtube-v0-7clddg9nunpa1.jpg?auto=webp&s=663b38b9434bdf7791fac983f0d5e5beb643b779 Relevant

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55:57

I Time Traveled to Talk to Medieval Yokels about...

The Political Orphanage ·

2026/01/28

What did people in the Dark Ages think about economics? Why did poverty exist, and how do you alleviate it? To find out, I took my time machine to 1282 and 1314, to speak to barflies and a priest. Fr. Richard Kirby is a fourteenth century prior of Whitby Abbey and formerly the sacrist of St. Mungo's. He is a specialist in Just Price Theory, and joins the show to discuss how his fellows in the Dark Ages approach economics.

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48:07

MLK and Color Blindness

The Political Orphanage ·

2026/01/19

Clayborne Carson is the Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education institute, and hand-picked by Coretta King to publish the letters of his late husband. He's one of the foremost historians on MLK and his legacy. He joins to discuss King, color blindness, and the three approaches of the Civil Rights movement.

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01:15:41

The Friendship Recession and Cocktail Parties

The Political Orphanage ·

2026/01/14

Or... how to host a party if you have Asperger's. Nick Gray is an entrepreneur and an author living in Austin, Texas. I met him roller skating. He started and sold two successful companies: Flight Display Systems and Museum Hack. His YouTube and short videos have been seen by over 55 million people. He's been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and New York Magazine called him a host of "culturally significant parties." Leading him to write the book, "The 2-Hour Cocktail Party:

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01:00:53

I Explain Venezuela Using Lottery Tickets

The Political Orphanage ·

2026/01/09

How did Venezuela become an economic basket case? Not socialism. Or capitalism. Venezuela is a textbook example of a petrostate in the thrall of the Paradox of Plenty, or "the Dutch Disease." Bonus: Norway's Big Bucket of Oil Money https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/bonus-norways-big-bucket-of-oil-money Why Trump Wants Greenland https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/why-trump-wants-greenland What Happens when the Ayotallah Falls

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01:07:11

Is Everyone Disabled Now? (WSPN)

The Political Orphanage ·

2025/12/31

College students are increasingly registering as disabled–particularly at high-end universities, which often entails longer test times and extensions on papers. Does the growing rate of accommodation mean American universities are simply better at identifying disabilities; evidence of students and their families gaming the system for advantages; or a cultural shift wherein students increasingly believe they are disabled, but aren't? Dr. Andrea Jones-Rooy (a former university educator) and Michael

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59:46

Heaton and Monkey: Yuletide Spysolvers

The Political Orphanage ·

2025/12/23

Our Annual Christmas Comedy Special. In which, our intrepid heroes must save Christmas from a debauched algorithm, navigate treacherous honeypots, and escape a federal penitentiary in this modern yuletide spy epic. Happy Holidays! Starring: Andrew Heaton Josh Jennings Andrew Young Austin Bragg Justin Robert Young Kourtni Beebe Brian Brushwood Anna Gorisch Brett Weaver Brian Sack Jack Helmuth

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01:22:15

Jason Pargin on Internet Addiction and Algorithmic...

The Political Orphanage ·

2025/12/17

Former Cracked.com editor Jason Pargin explores the subject of how social media makes us insane and warps the universe we're in, in his new book "I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom." He joins to discuss.

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59:03

The Secret Map of Supreme Court Justices

The Political Orphanage ·

2025/12/11

Sarah Isgur is a senior editor at SCOTUS Blog, host of the Advisory Opinions podcast, and a contributor at ABC News. She is the author of the forthcoming book "Last Branch Standing," which available for pre-order on Amazon. She joins to discuss the recent oral arguments before the Supreme Court on whether or not the Trump administration can invoke IEEPA to levy emergency tariffs.

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01:09:24

Freddie deBoer: What It's Like to Have a Mental...

The Political Orphanage ·

2025/12/03

Freddie deBoer is a writer, academic, and cultural critic. He is a widely-read author on Substack, an old-school Marxist, who has previously been on the program to explain what Marxists actually think. He's struggled with mental health issues and frequently discusses the intersection of culture and mental health. And he has a new book out which explores those issues, his debut novel, "The Mind Reels." LINK: "What Do Marxists Actually Think?"

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01:32:09

Squanto the Power Broker

The Political Orphanage ·

2025/11/26

The real story of Thanksgiving is stranger, darker, and far more interesting than what you learned in kindergarten (or college). It's a tale of slavery, plagues, ecological engineering, diplomacy, betrayal, and realpolitik—and yes, an actual feast where everyone sucked down eel while negotiating an alliance that would hold for fifty years. We dive into the world of Tisquantum—better known as Squanto—a kidnapped teenager who crossed the Atlantic twice, lived among Spanish friars and English

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01:13:37

Cash for Kidneys

The Political Orphanage ·

2025/11/20

Thousands of people need kidneys, right now. They are either on the precipice of death, or suffering through dialysis and low quality of life. Jeremiah Johnson of the New Liberal Podcast joins to discuss the End Kidney Deaths Act, introduced to the House by Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York, and Democratic Rep. Josh Harder of California.

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55:13

"The Walking Dead" and Pagan Values

The Political Orphanage ·

2025/11/12

Tim Sandefur joins to discuss individualism in American culture. In this fun (but weird) conversation, we go through zombie shows, Westerns, and Star Trek, while invoking Hobbes, Ayn Rand, Epicurus, the Stoics, Plato and Aristotle. He is the author of the new book "You Don't Own Me: Individualism and the Culture of Liberty." Past Sandefur chats: ATA: The Last Policeman https://alienating.libsyn.com/the-last-policeman ATA: Let's Fight About the Undiscovered Country

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612 results

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