Hello friends,
I wanted to give you a couple of updates.
My attendance and attention to the main show will be a little spotty for a month as Matt Wittlief and I begin recording the first episodes of the long-teased history podcast for patrons. Originally called “Ideological Origins,” it is now called the “History of Modern Politics” after Matt pointed out my original title kind of sucked.
We initially recorded two episodes years ago under the title Defined. Listen to episodes one and two on the public podcast feed here: link.chtbl.com/history-of-modern-politics
We will post twice a month, and WAL patrons will have them 6 to 9 months before anyone else. You’ll also have access to our outlines, videos of the episodes, and reading lists. We plan to make it public eventually, but really, this is a thank you for patrons that support the show at $10 and above. Look for the first one next month.
Patrons at the $10 and above level: The content will be posted on Patreon, and you will get it in your Patreon podcast RSS feed. You also get lifetime access to HistoryOfModernPolitics.com. Just shoot me a message with your preferred email, and I will get you set up there if you choose that interface.
Sign up for free emails now and we will alert you when the shows are published to the public feed. – HistoryOfModernPolitics.com
HMP is a show I’ve wanted to do for a long time. As I began reading more in 2017, I noticed the debates raging today are re-hashed arguments from history but with different faces. Matt and I have always talked about defining the libertarian, conservative, and progressive movements while highlighting the important people a person ought to know if they’re going to speak intelligently about politics (which seems more like a hindrance than anything these days). As we talked about where to start, the timeline kept moving away from 1994 AD and more towards 94 AD. So that is where we will begin.
You can see more about the show as well as the very tentative outline of shows at HistoryOfModernPolitics.com/About.
We have four goals for this:
- To understand modern politics, people must have an understanding of how current arguments have developed. One can learn a lot of insight about current events by examing the past.
- To understand the long fight for societal liberty and personal freedom and why it cannot be squandered.
- To define modern libertarianism, conservatism, and progressivism through intellectual history.
- To guide the listener to resources to learn more about the subjects briefly covered in the series.
My podcasting career’s central mission is to create independent thinkers immune from manipulation by politicians and their grifters. Maybe at one point it was to tell people what to think, get people elected, or take over a movement, but I view my role differently after almost 20 years in politics and media.
If we can show an audience how to think by guiding them through our confusing information ecosystem, it liberates them. Once someone knows critical players, where most of them find their ideas and those central arguments are, these informed individuals are harder to control and manipulate.
The We Are Libertarians Podcast Network’s mission statement is to “Sound Smarter” while talking to your friends. Learning about the ideas of liberty enriches a person, and I hope this new vehicle will significantly benefit you.
The second thing is just a general update on what I plan to do now that we can’t do much on social media. I threw myself into doing more shows and interviews, and I have to be honest, I don’t enjoy it nearly as much as researching. I am going to leave that to Brian, Remso, and Tricia.
Patron Tom asked why I haven’t restarted the WAL group or why I am not making an aggressive push towards another social channel? This sounds so sad to say, but it takes a ton of time to run a good meme page. lol. It takes a lot of energy to market a podcast network for free, and do I want to partner with other channels that will dry up? Besides, like the lead water pipes of Rome, social media is slowly making us all crazy. I prefer everyone start a Liberty and Chill to meet their neighbors.
So if I am not arguing with other libertarians on social media while searching for memes, where will I put this extra energy? A solid CSS on Saturdays, the History of Modern Politics, another season of Liberty Explained, and all the reading and writing that goes along with that. Good content that people cannot stop talking about is the best marketing, so I will aim for that. I hope you’ll help us out and share it with friends.
