ReasonTV
Yosemite's Half Dome trail lottery system isn't helping
- Title
- Yosemite's Half Dome trail lottery system isn't helping
- Runtime
- 0:50
- Date posted
- 11 hours ago
- Description
- The year? 2010. The problem? Yosemite National Park's popular Half Dome trail is crowded and people are getting hurt. The solution? Institute a lottery system cutting the number of hikers from 1,000 per day to just 250, reducing congestion on the trail to improve safety.
Sounds like a great idea, with the best of intentions! What could possibly go wrong? #hiking #nationalpark #Yosemite
- Title
- The Socialist Rent Freeze Is Killing New York Housing
- Runtime
- 4:39
- Date posted
- 4 days ago
- Description
- New York City has roughly 57,000 vacant rent-stabilized "zombie apartments," many of which landlords say cost more to repair and maintain than they could legally recover in rent.
To illustrate the growing problem, a group of small property owners had actors dressed as zombies march outside a Rent Guidelines Board hearing in mid-June, warning that rising taxes, insurance, utilities, unpaid rent, and court delays are pushing their buildings toward insolvency.
The board responded by approving a zero-percent rent increase, delivering on socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani's campaign promise to freeze rents while doing nothing to reduce landlords' underlying costs. Rent freeze supporters insist owners remain profitable, but the board's own data show that about 9 percent of buildings with regulated units already have operating expenses greater than their gross income—and that figure excludes debt payments.
New York's price controls are supposed to preserv...
- Title
- What happens when you cap CEO salaries?
- Runtime
- 0:52
- Date posted
- 7 days ago
- Description
- The year? 1993. The problem? Greedy corporate executives make too much money. The solution? Cap corporate tax deductions for executives salaries at $1 million.
Sounds like a great idea, with the best of intentions! What could possibly go wrong?
#taxes #corporations #business
- Title
- Are the Epstein Files a moral panic?
- Runtime
- 1:40:19
- Date posted
- 8 days ago
- Description
- Journalist Michael Tracey debates professor Marcella Szablewicz debate the Epstein scandal and public reaction to the files.
https://reason.com/podcasts/the-soho-forum-debates/
Independent journalist Michael Tracey and Pace University's Marcella Szablewicz debate the resolution, "The Jeffrey Epstein scandal has become a case of moral panic."
Taking the affirmative is Tracey, an independent journalist, political commentator, and media critic known for his skepticism of the Epstein narrative and what he calls the surrounding "mythology" and hysteria.
Taking the negative is Szablewicz, associate professor of communication and media studies at Pace University's Dyson College of Arts and Sciences. Her research focuses on digital media and media moral panics.
The debate is moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.
- Title
- The town on fire for 60 YEARS!
- Runtime
- 1:11
- Date posted
- 9 days ago
- Description
- A Pennsylvania town lit itself on fire and 60 years later it’s still burning. #Pennsylvania #history #historyfacts #mining
- Title
- Police use school buses to spy on you?!
- Runtime
- 1:23
- Date posted
- 10 days ago
- Description
- Should police be able to use school buses to spy on you?
At least 30 states already allow cameras on school buses to help catch and ticket cars that illegally pass. And now one company is taking its stop-arm cameras even further. #police #surveillance #ai
- Title
- Great Moments in Unintended Consequences: Yosemite Permits, Italy Superbonus, Salary Caps (Vol. 22)
- Runtime
- 3:11
- Date posted
- 11 days ago
- Description
- Good intentions, bad results.
Watch the whole series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lUrH4Sbgh8&list=PLBuns9Evn1w9XhnH7vVh_7C65wJbaBECK&index=1
Do you know a great moment in unintended consequences? Leave a comment or email us at comedy@reason.com.
*****
PART 1: Whether Permitting
The year: 2010.
The problem: Yosemite National Park's popular Half Dome trail is crowded, and people are getting hurt!
The solution: Institute a lottery system, cutting the number of hikers from 1,000 per day to just 250—reducing congestion on the trail to improve safety!
Sounds like a great idea, with the best of intentions. What could possibly go wrong?
Turns out: When permits become scarce, caution becomes optional.
Getting a permit became so difficult that when lucky hikers finally got one, many decided they had to go, even if they were sick or exhausted or saw storm clouds moving in. W...
- Title
- The government did WHAT to dogs on this island?!
- Runtime
- 1:39
- Date posted
- 11 days ago
- Description
- Remember that time the U.S. government killed every single dog on this island, and evicted the entire population there to build a military base?
Well, now people may finally get some justice. #history #historyfacts #military #militaryhistory
- Title
- What communist regimes REALLY did to women
- Runtime
- 2:06
- Date posted
- 15 days ago
- Description
- Social media loves to say that communism was great for women and women’s rights. But if we look at what it was like for women to live in some of these countries, it doesn’t seem so great. #communism #history #historyfacts
- Title
- Robert Reich's deceptive data tricks
- Runtime
- 9:15
- Date posted
- 16 days ago
- Description
- The former U.S. labor secretary presents economic data in deceptive ways.
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Join Wrong Number—enter to win the book 👉 https://reason.pub/4pck9mI
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Robert Reich, an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and a former U.S. labor secretary, makes popular economics videos arguing that the U.S. economy is rigged against workers.
One of his recent pieces caught my eye because it makes heavy use of numbers and charts. The video is a great example of how to misuse economic data to support a preconceived narrative—in this case, a fairy-tale account of evil CEOs stealing wealth from their employees.
At the outset of the video, Reich presents a chart showing that in 2024 the "typical worker" earned $36.49 per hour, while CEOs made—"ready for this?" Reich asks viewers—$431.80!
There are lots of problems with this chart, starting with the fact that it's labeled "CEO Salaries," but that's not what ...
- Title
- California's $1 MILLION slab of sidewalk
- Runtime
- 1:39
- Date posted
- 16 days ago
- Description
- Why did San Bernardino spend a million dollars on this slab of sidewalk for climate change? #California #transportation #climatechange
- Title
- Team Red and Team Blue on America 250
- Runtime
- 2:00
- Date posted
- 17 days ago
- Description
- Team Red and Team Blue on America's 250th, Trump, the rise of the DSA, and more. #democrat #republican #comedy
- Title
- Would you get MARRIED for $5,000?
- Runtime
- 1:19
- Date posted
- 18 days ago
- Description
- What if you got paid $5,000 to get married?
All you have to do is survive marriage boot camp and participate in a big communal wedding. How hard could that be?
This is not a reality TV show pitch. It’s a real proposal from the Heritage Foundation. #marriage #family
- Title
- Team Red and Team Blue on America 250
- Runtime
- 2:54
- Date posted
- 21 days ago
- Description
- Team Red and Team Blue on America's 250th, Trump, the rise of the DSA, and more.
- Title
- The last time NYC elected a mayor like Mamdani, it ended in bankruptcy
- Runtime
- 6:12
- Date posted
- 23 days ago
- Description
- New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his supporters are treating the Knicks' championship like proof that socialism has finally learned how to dunk. Kennedy is not buying it, warning that Mamdani's plans for rent freezes, government-run grocery stores, taxpayer-funded daycare, and higher taxes could send New York back toward its 1970s fiscal mess. Richard Farley, author of Drop Dead, compares Mamdani to former NYC Mayor John Lindsay, whose tenure coincided with bankruptcy, decay, and the last Knicks title.
Kennedy also asks New Yorkers about budget gimmicks, deferred pension payments, sky-high school spending, and a city increasingly dependent on rich taxpayers who might decide to pack up and leave. The big question: If New York scares away the people and industries paying the bills, who's left with the check?
Video editor: Danielle Thompson
Graphics: Lex Villena
Producers: Kennedy, Jim Epstein, Meagan O'Rourke, Natalie Dowzicky
Color Correction...
- Title
- World Cup visitors can’t believe U.S. drinking laws
- Runtime
- 1:28
- Date posted
- 23 days ago
- Description
- In most of America, drinking alcohol in public is illegal. So how did the ‘land of the free’ wind up with such restrictive laws? #worldcup #futbol
- Title
- They're trying to cancel the American Revolution
- Runtime
- 27:29
- Date posted
- 25 days ago
- Description
- On the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it's worth asking: What was the American Revolution actually about?
We all remember the broad strokes we learned in school: Independence from the British crown. Taxes on tea. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
But on a deeper level, the American Revolution was—and is—a revolution in political theory, reimagining what a legitimate government is and what its relationship to its citizens should be.
Washington's troops won the ground war 245 years ago at Yorktown, but the ideological battle continues against forces on both the left and the right who are pursuing a ruthless assault on America's core values. The American Revolution isn't over.
Producer: Zach Weissmueller
Video editor: John Osterhoudt
Graphics: Lex Villena
Photo Credits: Horst Galuschka/dpa/picture-alliance/Newscom/ Dennis Flaherty / Jaynes Gallery / DanitaDelimont.com ...
- Title
- Seattle spent $465,000 on FOUR FIFA toilets?!
- Runtime
- 1:30
- Date posted
- 29 days ago
- Description
- Seattle is known for crappy bathroom spending. So in May, when the city announced their partnership with Throne Labs to install four public toilets ahead of the FIFA World Cup, some of us saw the writing on the wall.
They’re part of a one-year pilot program the city calls “cost-efficient” at only $465,000. #Seattle #Washington #fifa
- Title
- Who actually owns your data?
- Runtime
- 1:19
- Date posted
- 1 month ago
- Description
- Is it legal for cops to check your phone location data or Google search history whenever they want? #police #privacy #technology #tech
- Title
- AI school bus cameras rake in millions?!
- Runtime
- 1:34
- Date posted
- 1 month ago
- Description
- How does this AI-powered school bus camera empire rake in millions off the labor of local government?
BusPatrol claims its mission is safer roads, but its founder really created the company after looking for ways to grow his transportation logistics business. #school #tech #technology
- Title
- What is THIS book teaching kids?!
- Runtime
- 0:52
- Date posted
- 1 month ago
- Description
- You probably had Richard Scarry books like this on your shelf as a kid. Cute animals, simple stories. That's what Reason's Elizabeth Nolan Brown thought too — until she actually read it. #parenting #parenthood #books #capitalism
- Title
- Ticketed for texting and driving…with NO hand?!
- Runtime
- 1:34
- Date posted
- 1 month ago
- Description
- Cops pulled over Katie Thomas in Palm Beach County, Florida, and accused her of using her phone with her right hand while driving.
But there’s a problem. Katie doesn’t have a right hand. #Florida #PalmBeach #police
- Title
- Will THIS 3D printer law make you a criminal?
- Runtime
- 1:41
- Date posted
- 1 month ago
- Description
- Reason’s Ali Keplinger and her 3D printer, Alberta, just fled New York because of this new 3D printer law.
This is all after she recently reported on how politicians want to ban Alberta. Well, New York finally did it in their latest budget. But no matter where you are in the U.S. you could still be committing some fresh new crimes. #3dprinting #3dprinter
- Title
- Should Poland DEMOLISH this communist skyscraper?
- Runtime
- 1:09
- Date posted
- 1 month ago
- Description
- This might be the most hated building in Poland! It's the Palace of Culture and Science, a skyscraper built by the Soviet Union and "gifted" by Stalin in 1955. But many Poles never saw it as a gift. #Poland #history #communism
- Title
- Why are people DESTROYING Flock cameras?
- Runtime
- 1:54
- Date posted
- 1 month ago
- Description
- Have Americans finally had it with this mass surveillance system?
Flock Safety cameras are artificial intelligence automated license plate readers and if there’s one thing people in the comments can unite on, it’s their hatred for this.
#tech #technology #car #cars
- Title
- Why is it so hard to build a new hospital?
- Runtime
- 1:31
- Date posted
- 1 month ago
- Description
- In 35 states and D.C., if you want to open up a hospital you have to convince the government that there’s a need for it. And all of the existing hospitals, your potential competitors, get to show up to the hearing and explain why actually, there is no real need. Imagine if grocery stores worked that way. #hospital #medical #healthcare
- Title
- Why Trump can't put himself on a $250 bill
- Runtime
- 1:16
- Date posted
- 1 month ago
- Description
- Why can’t Trump put his face on a $250 bill? It’s because of one guy, Spencer Clark. #history #historyfacts #money
- Title
- Should ICE deport all illegal aliens?
- Runtime
- 1:25:43
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- The Heritage Foundation's Simon Hankinson and George Mason university's Bryan Caplan debate the resolution, "Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should complete its mandate to deport all illegal aliens currently residing in the United States."
Taking the affirmative is Hankinson, a senior research fellow in the Border Security and Immigration Center at the Heritage Foundation and author of The Ten Woke Commandments—You Must Not Obey.
Taking the negative is Caplan, a professor of economics at George Mason University. He is the author of twelve books, including the graphic novel, Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration.
The debate is moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.
- Title
- The Berlin Wall ended up WHERE?!
- Runtime
- 1:16
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- How did a huge chunk of the Berlin Wall end up in a Las Vegas bathroom? #history #Germany #lasvegas
- Title
- Is this the dumbest health care law?
- Runtime
- 6:48
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- If you want to open up a hospital, you have to convince the government that there's a need for it. And all of the existing hospitals, your potential competitors, get to show up to the hearing and explain why, actually, there's no real need.
When you have to ask your competitors for permission to open a business, don't expect to get it.
- Title
- When cavemen discover bureaucrats
- Runtime
- 1:21
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- Caveman calls this "fire."
But does he have a zoning variance for that? An impact study? Is it going to disproportionately impact caves that don't have wood access? #comedy #government #fire
- Title
- Is watering flowers a CRIME in Alabama?
- Runtime
- 2:46
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- Michael Jennings is an Alabama pastor watering his neighbor's flowers when officers suddenly arrived.
They responded to a 911 call about a suspicious person and vehicle at a nearby house. But you won't believe what happens next. #alabama #police #bodycam #garden
- Title
- Ben Franklin fought to SAVE the British Empire?
- Runtime
- 1:32
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- If Benjamin Franklin was such a hero of American independence, why did he once live right here in London, fighting to save the British Empire? #history #historyfacts #london
- Title
- Bureaucratic Caveman
- Runtime
- 1:55
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- Early man discovers fire, bureaucracy
- Title
- Why this sugary drink tax WON’T work
- Runtime
- 1:36
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- Why does Connecticut want to tax root beer, diet coke, and Liquid IV, but not a 6 caramel 18 sugar iced latte? #food #drinks #connecticut
- Title
- Anthropic warned us
- Runtime
- 31:23
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- If we want powerful AI systems to respect liberty, now is the time to train them to be more libertarian.
reason.com
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One of America's top AI companies—Anthropic—refused to sign off on a contract unless the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) promised not to use its technology to power autonomous killer robots or carry out domestic mass surveillance. So, the Pentagon accused it of trying to undermine U.S. sovereignty by dictating how we fight our wars.
Defense Undersecretary Emil Michael put it plainly in a March 2026 interview on CNBC's Squawk Box: "We realized we are dependent on this one provider who wants to insert their policy preferences in the middle of an operation."
Anthropic sued the Pentagon for labeling it a "supply chain threat," a designation that would have forced a slew of major companies (Amazon, Google, and Nvidia among them) to cut off their business ties. This would have been disastrous for one of America's leadi...
- Title
- San Francisco’s $454,000 homeless bar tab
- Runtime
- 1:57
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- Why did San Francisco spend millions to serve beer and vodka to homeless alcoholics during the pandemic? #SanFrancisco #California #alcohol #homeless #homelessness
- Title
- Should Billionaires Pay More Taxes?
- Runtime
- 1:31:17
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- Yale Law School professor Natasha Sarin and the Cato Institute's Adam Michel debate the resolution, "Billionaires should pay a higher share of federal taxes."
Taking the affirmative is Sarin, who is a professor at Yale Law School and the president and co-founder of the Budget Lab at Yale. She is also a former counselor to Secretary Janet Yellen at the U.S. Treasury Department.
Arguing against the resolution is Michel, the director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute. He was formerly deputy staff director at the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee.
The debate is moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.
- Title
- Will AI pull your car over?
- Runtime
- 1:47
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- Starting next year, your new car could be using AI to decide if you should be driving. And if not, your own car might pull you over. #ai #artificialintelligence #cars
- Title
- The feds injected him with PLUTONIUM?!
- Runtime
- 1:05
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- In 1945, Albert Stevens was told he had terminal cancer. So of course the government decided to secretly inject him with plutonium. #history #historyfacts #radiation #science #weirdhistory #facts #radioactive
- Title
- L.A. spends $865,000 PER ROOM for the homeless?!
- Runtime
- 2:47
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- Are California politicians, real estate developers, and a nonprofit using the homeless industrial complex to fraudulently flip properties and pocket your tax dollars at $865,000 per apartment? #california #losangeles #homeless #homelessness
- Title
- AI scan sent an innocent grandma TO JAIL?!
- Runtime
- 1:17
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- A Tennessee grandmother was wrongfully arrested after AI-powered facial recognition falsely identified her as a North Dakota fraud suspect. #artificialintelligence #surveillance #ai #facialrecognition
- Title
- If doctors acted like politicians...
- Runtime
- 2:08
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- This treatment might not help you, but it polls really well with college-educated suburban women. #comedy #parody #politics
- Title
- How wealth taxes backfire
- Runtime
- 1:27
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and others from the anti-math wing of the Democratic Party are pushing for a wealth tax. Europe already tried it, here's what happened. #politics #berniesanders #elizabethwarren
- Title
- Can TikTok users SAVE Spirit Airlines?
- Runtime
- 1:17
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- The Spirit 2.0 campaign is trying to raise enough money to buy the failed airline. Will it work? #spiritairlines #airtravel #tiktok
- Title
- Why is Washington TARGETING ranchers?
- Runtime
- 2:52
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Is Washington state using non-existent environmental rules to fine ranchers and cancel their lease for environmental justice? #farm #farming #farmer #washington #cattle
- Title
- The feds wasted $100 million on...unused trucks?!
- Runtime
- 0:57
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Why did ICE spend $100 million on new trucks they don’t even use? You might remember ads featuring custom trucks emblazoned with the words “ICE” and “Defend the Homeland.”
The trucks in this ad alone cost taxpayers $700,000 and were part of a larger campaign to recruit thousands of new agents. But they didn’t stop at just a couple of trucks and ordered thousands more. #government #cars
- Title
- Is THIS a PONZI scheme?!
- Runtime
- 1:39
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- In many Western countries, including the U.S., the U.K., and most of Europe, public pensions are largely pay-as-you-go. Today’s workers fund today’s retirees. The system only works if there are enough workers to support enough retirees. #retirement #pension #finance
- Title
- Justice Neil Gorsuch: “Aspirations for power need to be checked”
- Runtime
- 35:13
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- This week, Nick Gillespie sits down at the U.S. Supreme Court with Justice Neil Gorsuch to discuss his new children’s book, Heroes of 1776: The Story of the Declaration of Independence, co-authored with Janie Nitze.
Gorsuch and Gillespie examine why the United States is a creedal nation built on shared ideals rather than ethnicity or religion, and why those ideas require constant effort and courage to sustain. They discuss originalism, equal justice under law, the risks of government overreach, and the growing complexity of federal and state regulation.
Finally, Gorsuch considers what it will take for the American experiment to endure another 250 years, from learning history to cultivating the courage needed to defend freedom.
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0:00–America’s 250th anniversary
3:24–Unsung heroes of 1776
4:43–Why America is not an ethnostate
8:00–Originalism and equal justice under the law
11:29–Is America a libe...
- Title
- Eat the rich…then what?
- Runtime
- 9:14
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- California progressives are pushing for a tax on billionaires; so are senators like Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.). But as Andrew Heaton explains, such programs don't work. Just ask France.
