Nick Gillespie — The Lou Reed of Libertarianism (EP.123)

Nick Gillespie is the host of the Reason Interview and an editor at large at Reason. Nick is one of the most interesting libertarian thinkers in America, and has been described by the New York Times as being to libertarianism “what Lou Reed is to rock ‘n’ roll, the quintessence of its outlaw spirit". Important Links:

• Nick’s Substack
• Nick’s Twitter
• Nick’s Podcast
• Reason

Show Notes:

• Is libertarianism dead?
• Saying what you think
• The case for rational optimism
• Labels and empathy
• President Nixon, the Great Reshuffle, Bitcoin
• Bureaucracy and responsiveness
• The rapidly changing world
• Prohibition and legalisation
• Why America does not have enough immigration
• The enfranchising power of social media
• Obscenity and moral panics
• Empathy with the dispossessed
• And MUCH more!

Books Mentioned:

• The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong with America; by Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch
• The Rational Optimist; by Matt Ridley
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; by Douglas Adams
• The Population Bomb; by Paul Ehrlich
• The Beginning of Infinity; by David Deutsch
• Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy; by Joseph Schumpeter
• The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism; by Howard Bloom
• One Summer: America, 1927; by Bill Bryson
• The War on Alcohol; by Liza McGirr
• Immigration and Freedom; by Chandran Kukathas
• The Illuminatus! Trilogy; by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea
• What It Means to be a Libertarian: a Personal Interpretation; by Charles Murray
• Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society; by Tipper Gore
• Ulysses; by James Joyce
• The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It; by Will Storr
• Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine; by Derren Brown