ReasonTV
Sorry, socialists, there's no such thing as a free bus
- Title
- Sorry, socialists, there's no such thing as a free bus
- Runtime
- 4:30
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani wants to make every city bus ride free. The democratic socialist assemblyman says the policy would cost about $700 million a year, which sounds like a lot until you compare it to New York state's $254.3 billion budget. Mamdani argues that when stacked against that number, his plan is practically a bargain—one that would improve transit equity and get more New Yorkers onto public transportation.
But here's the catch: Free buses don't exist—someone has to pay for them. Right now, farebox revenue provides the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) with over $5 billion annually. Losing even a fraction of that revenue would open up a budget hole the state can't easily fill. And with COVID relief money drying up, the timing couldn't be worse.
New York City buses already face a serious fare evasion problem, with nearly half of all riders not paying. But that doesn't mean the system should be free altogether. If ...
- Title
- Why can’t we grow cocoa in the United States?
- Runtime
- 1:03
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- A room at Hershey’s Chocolate World is specifically designed to mimic the natural habitat of plants than can only survive around the Equator. It’s for cocoa trees. But why do they matter so much to Americans? #chocolate #food #travel
- Title
- The dark history of handwashing
- Runtime
- 1:41
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- Here's a not-so-fun fact: The guy who discovered the benefits of hand-washing was bullied by fellow doctors, ended up in an asylum, and died of an infection that probably could have been prevented by washing his hands. #science #healthcare #historyfacts #history
- Title
- Great Moments in Unintended Consequences: Obscenity Blocks, Cooking Oil, DC's Tipped Wage (Vol. 19)
- Runtime
- 3:13
- Date posted
- 11 months 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 One: Bleep Creep
The Year: 1996
The Problem: People on the internet swear too much!
The Solution: A content filter that blocks profane words and naughty letter combinations.
Sounds like a great idea, with the best of intentions. What could possibly go wrong?
Turns out, the English language. The filter started nuking innocent words, like the perfectly respectable town of Scunthorpe, England. When resident Doug Blackie tried to sign up for the service, AOL basically told him to [beep] off.
Their fix? AOL forcibly renamed the town "Sconthorpe," coining a new term: The Scunthorp Problem, which continues to...
- Title
- Why do you need a license for THESE jobs!?
- Runtime
- 1:42
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- There are a lot of jobs which are licensed but don't really need a license, like interior design, fortune telling, psychics, tarot card readers, hair braiding and even shampoo assistants. #jobs #career #job
- Title
- The easiest way to save 175,000 Europeans a year
- Runtime
- 1:15
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- Every year, around 1,300 Americans die from extreme heat. But in Europe, which has about double the population, 175,000 people die from heat. These numbers are shocking. Doesn’t Europe have a milder climate? Well, the divide here comes down to one main factor: air conditioning. #Europe #summer #climate
- Title
- Why Do So Many Jobs Require a License?
- Runtime
- 9:36
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- Becoming a taxidermist or hair braider shouldn't involve costly hurdles.
Around 20 percent of American workers must hold a professional license to do their job. Why?
Andrew Heaton has an answer. And it's infuriating.
- Title
- The problem with Trump’s D.C. police takeover
- Runtime
- 1:09
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- By now there's a strong chance you've heard about a man in Washington, D.C., who stands accused of what is, at the moment, arguably the most highly-publicized crime in the city. Some of this debate has focused on whether or not crime is actually a problem in D.C. It is, but the picture is more complicated than many would like to admit. #police #Trump #WashingtonDC
- Title
- Why is the drinking age 21?
- Runtime
- 1:48
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- Before Prohibition, most states didn’t even have a minimum drinking age. But when Prohibition ended in 1933, most states adopted a drinking age of 21.
All that changed in the 1970s when many states lowered their drinking ages from 21 to 18 or 19 in response to the 26th Amendment, which let 18-year-olds vote. But it wouldn’t last long. #drinks #history #historyfacts
- Title
- ARRESTED for feeding the homeless?!
- Runtime
- 1:20
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- This man was arrested for the heinous, inhumane, and morally repugnant crime of feeding the homeless.
He could have escaped arrest by paying the city up to $1,500 for a picnic permit. And he was willing to do it! What he wasn’t willing to do was let the homeless starve for sixty days while the city government “processed” his application. #homeless #homelessness #arizona
- Title
- Are Trump’s Deportations Constitutional?
- Runtime
- 1:38:25
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- Glenn Greenwald debates Anna Gorisch on Trump's deportation policies.
The resolution reads, "President Trump’s deportation policies generally violate key civil liberties as set forth in the U.S. Constitution."
https://reason.com/podcasts/the-soho-forum-debates/
Arguing in favor of the resolution is Greenwald, a journalist and podcaster who won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for the NSA-Snowden revelations. He left The Intercept in 2020 to become independent, and is now the host of SYSTEM UPDATE nightly on Rumble.
Anna K. Gorisch is the founder and managing partner of Kendall Immigration Law, PLLC, and has extensive experience in employment-based immigration. In addition to her legal practice, she is a regular resource for news outlets such as Bloomberg Law and The Free Press, and is a frequent guest on the Political Orphanage podcast.
- Title
- Why does a toilet cost $1 million!?
- Runtime
- 1:07
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- Can you imagine using a $1 million toilet? If you’ve gone pee in NYC, you just might have. And it's probably not as glamorous as it sounds… #NYC #NewYork #newyorkcity
- Title
- If they were honest about the Epstein Files
- Runtime
- 1:22
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- Why does the White House keep dodging questions about the Epstein Files? Surely if the president wanted to bang a teenager, he would've done it in his own organization rather than outsourcing it to a pervert who is a Mossad agent? Hold on now, don't take that out of context… #comedy #whitehouse #politics
- Title
- Why is New York so bad at building subway lines?
- Runtime
- 1:40
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- This subway system cost $2.6 billion per mile, 8 to 12 times more than it would have cost in Europe. It’s the Second Avenue subway, the newest addition in New York. Oh, and it also took almost 100 years and more than half a billion dollars over budget to build. #NewYork #NYC #subway
- Title
- Why did electric buses burst into flames?
- Runtime
- 1:34
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- In 2019, Philadelphia bought 25 new battery-powered buses that cost $24 million. Even if you don’t live there, you helped pay for them, since the federal government chipped in a $2.6 million grant. Less than a year later, the buses were “mysteriously” removed from city streets. Why? #bus #electric #philadelphia
- Title
- The airplane safety problem almost no one talks about
- Runtime
- 9:16
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Air traffic control is probably something you don't spend much time thinking about—but when you board an airplane, you really want it to work.
Unfortunately, the American air traffic control system is kind of a mess right now. It relies on outdated technology and is beset by staffing shortages. Fixing those problems is essential, but politics keeps getting in the way.
And even though flying is still the safest way to travel, the air traffic control system is now under more scrutiny after 67 people were killed in a midair collision near Washington, D.C., earlier this year. The full investigation of that incident is still ongoing, but the Trump administration wasted little time in promising to improve air traffic control. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump promised to "modernize this decrepit relic and give America the best, most advanced air traffic control system on Earth."
Dorothy Robyn, a senior fellow at the Information Technology & In...
- Title
- Why is the IRS spying on crypto holders?
- Runtime
- 1:09
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- The IRS can spy on you, to determine if they should spy on you. No subpoena, no warrant, and no notice provided to the person whose financial information it’s seizing. #tech #crypto #IRS
- Title
- Who moved this county line?
- Runtime
- 1:32
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- In 2019, the border of Banks County, Georgia appeared to shift, in a direct contradiction of the borders that had existed since 1859—and one sheriff appears to be at the center of it all.
#voting #election #rural #america #georgia
- Title
- Fighting fascism with...gun control!?
- Runtime
- 1:19
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Washington is so anti-fascist that they actually just took another step toward disarming civilians. #washington #law #criminaljustice
- Title
- Can NPR survive without public funding?
- Runtime
- 0:27
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Congress has defunded NPR and PBS. Should you freak out? #television #news #media #npr
- Title
- Remy: I Need a Boat (GOP Spending Version)
- Runtime
- 2:08
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- You can't torpedo spending if you're torpedo spending.
Parody of Morgan Wallen's "Need A Boat," written and performed by Remy. Music tracks mastered by Ben Karlstrom.
LYRICS
This draft bill don't look fine right now
And it ain't doing the trick (No…)
We're so dangerously indebted now
And this adds to the debt.
It adds one, two trillion, that's not great.
But what if we add something manufactured in your state?
Would a bridge change your mind? No, but if anything can
It'd be me on a dock pushing off of dry land.
I need a lake, a ship built in my state.
I'd even take a fleet.
Can one of them be named for me?
Sir, we're running out!
Yeah, what I need right now…
Are some real high ceilings
New-ship feeling
Me on the deck just-a sipping on Darjeeling
Don't need no sad song on my Spotify
Crying "he lost an election to a punk guy"
- Title
- NYC taxpayers just helped pay for my boat ride
- Runtime
- 0:58
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- The New York City ferry ticket is only $4.50, but the ferry costs about $13 per rider to operate, meaning taxpayers fund $9 for every person who rides. #NewYork #NYC #ferry #travel
- Title
- How corn ethanol backfired
- Runtime
- 0:48
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- In 2005, politicians subsidized and mandated corn ethanol as an alternative to oil. Sounds like a great idea, with the best of intentions. What could possibly go wrong? #history #historybuff #environment
- Title
- Should the U.S. Have a Public Health Insurance Plan?
- Runtime
- 1:42:49
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Yale’s Jacob Hacker and Sesame’s David Goldhill debate a government-run health insurance plan.
https://reason.com/podcasts/the-soho-forum-debates/
Yale’s Jacob Hacker and Sesame’s David Goldhill debate a government-run health insurance plan.
———————
Jacob Hacker and David Goldhill debate the resolution: "The government should offer to all Americans a health insurance plan that would compete with private insurance plans."
Jacob Hacker is arguing for the affirmative. He's a professor of political science at Yale University and co-directs the Ludwig Program in Public Sector Leadership at Yale Law School. He is a resident fellow at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies.
For the negative is David Goldhill, CEO and co-founder of Sesame, an online marketplace for discounted health services. He is also author of Catastrophic Care: Why Everything We Think We Know about Health Care Is Wrong.
- Title
- Why Seattle’s mass transit sucks
- Runtime
- 2:21
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Why is Seattle spending $148 billion and cutting down 14,000 trees under the guise of green transportation? #Seattle #transportation #washington #green
- Title
- 2 million tires in the ocean!?
- Runtime
- 0:39
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- In 1972, too many tires piled up in landfills. The solution? Dump over 2 million tires into the ocean, creating an artificial reef to benefit marine life. #history #historyfacts #ocean #environment
- Title
- The global warming rat apocalypse debunked
- Runtime
- 6:40
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- A widely reported study relies on weak data, inaccurate statistics, and misleading references to support its claims.
https://reason.com/video/2025/07/15/theres-no-evidence-that-climate-change-has-increased-the-rat-population/
---
As the earth gets warmer, there's one species that supposedly will really benefit."Climate Change is amazing," reported National Geographic. "If you're a rat."
The horrific prospect of these pizza-dragging, toilet-bathing, plague-spreading, baby-eating, cannibalistic beasts swarming the sweltering streets of our major cities helps to explain why a recent study allegedly demonstrating a global warming-induced increase in the urban rat population received such widespread media coverage. As is often the case, journalists were not sufficiently skeptical, nor did they take the time to read the study closely.
Published in Science Advances with 19 co-authors, this paper contains nothing meaningful about either climat...
- Title
- The city seized their property. So they did this.
- Runtime
- 0:52
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- This is the Hess Triangle. This 100-year-old mosaic is the tiniest, cutest middle finger to city government in all of NYC. How did an angry little mosaic get to this unassuming street in New York City’s West Village? #NewYork #NYC #history #historyfacts
- Title
- A new tariff in town
- Runtime
- 1:48
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Howdy boys. There’s a new tariff in town. One whiskey for $500? Aww… Sounds like 80 percent tariffs on the consequences of my own actions. 🥃💸 #comedy #tariffs #trump #western
- Title
- Snowden was right. Now Trump should pardon him.
- Runtime
- 16:16
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Why Edward Snowden deserves not only a presidential pardon, but a hero's welcome home.
https://reason.com/video/2025/07/08/trump-can-take-revenge-on-the-deep-state-pardon-snowden/
---
Twelve years after facilitating the largest national security leak in American history, Edward Snowden remains exiled in Russia, unable to set foot on U.S. soil without losing his freedom.
A bipartisan consensus denouncing Snowden as a criminal traitor quickly formed in Washington, D.C., following the revelation of his identity in 2013: "I don't think Mr. Snowden was a patriot," President Barack Obama said at a press conference. Hillary Clinton dismissed him as "a lawbreaker," House Speaker John Boehner called him a "traitor," Rep. Mike Pompeo (R–Kan.)—later CIA director—called for his execution.
The U.S. government was illegally surveilling its own citizens, and because of decisions made by Congress and the Bush and Obama administrations after the ...
- Title
- Assaulted for selling hot dogs!?
- Runtime
- 1:24
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- CORRECTION: Sidewalk vending is not legal in some parts of San Diego, despite California passing S.B. 946 in 2018. It is prohibited, where Henry’s Pub was located on Fifth Avenue and Market Street. It is legal on Market Street, one block away.
An employee at Henry’s Pub in San Diego assaulted a hot dog vendor for… seemingly no reason. And of course it was caught on video and seen by 23 million people on one Tweet alone.
That tweet assumes he was angry about “illegal hot dog carts…destroying small businesses”—and 45 thousand people agreed! #sandiego #food #government
- Title
- Should the government run grocery stores?
- Runtime
- 2:32
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- In 1989, Boris Yeltsin visited Randalls Supermarket in Webster, Texas. When confronted with the variety of a private grocer compared to government alternatives in Russia, he put his head in his hands and said, “What have they done to our poor people?”
Despite the entirety of the 20th century proving again and again that the government just doesn’t run grocery stores as as well as private actors, New York City is eyeballing a socialist mayor who wants to do it again. #food #grocerystores #socialism #newyork #newyorkcity #NYC
- Title
- Why can’t I afford a house?
- Runtime
- 1:22
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Right now, the median first-time home buyer is 38 years old. Fifteen years ago, it was more like 30. What is happening here? #house #home #homeownership
- Title
- His world-record time could land him in prison
- Runtime
- 1:29
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- When the federal government decided to prosecute mountain runner Michelino Sunseri for using an unapproved trail while setting a record for ascending and descending Grand Teton in September 2024, it seemed like a good example of overcriminalization. They lowered his punishment from 6 months in jail to 1,000 hours of community service, but is that punishment fair? #runner #running #trailrunning #nationalparks #nps
- Title
- How Texas beat California on housing
- Runtime
- 11:28
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Texas is seeing lower rents and more housing, thanks to pro-building YIMBY policies. But in California? It's the opposite story—sky-high rents and endless red tape. What’s going on?
https://reason.com/video/2025/06/30/how-texas-beat-california-on-housing/
---
San Francisco and Austin are both known for their trendsetting tech sectors and cultural scenes. But while Austin is enjoying the best of times, for San Francisco, it's starting to feel like the worst.
San Francisco's population has dropped for the fourth year in a row. It saw one of the largest percentage declines among major U.S. cities during the pandemic. Meanwhile, Austin's population is exploding while rental prices continue to get cheaper and cheaper.
In Austin, you can rent a gorgeous apartment for about half the price of a similar place in San Francisco that only has about half of the amenities.
"I had a one-bedroom in San Francisco, a lot smaller....
- Title
- The WORST electric vehicle program ever!?
- Runtime
- 2:19
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- On Earth Day last year, Governor Jay Inslee announced $45 million for an Electric Vehicle Instant Rebate Program. It would give low-income shoppers up to $9,000 off an EV. So a year after the program’s announcement, we are finally seeing the results and they are exactly what you would expect. #cars #car #automobile #electricvehicle #EV #electric
- Title
- Tariff Fight: California vs. Texas
- Runtime
- 2:23
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- It's not who ends up worse off, but who ends up worst off.
Performed by Andrew Heaton and Austin Bragg.
- Title
- DEBATE: Should the U.S. Legalize All Drugs?
- Runtime
- 1:35:57
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Reason was joined by City Journal for a lively, thought-provoking discussion. The resolution: "Legalize all drugs."
Reason's Billy Binion and Jacob Sullum argued for the affirmative, while City Journal's Charles Fain Lehman and Rafael Mangual argued for the negative. The debate was moderated by Reason's Peter Suderman.
The discussion was recorded in front of a live audience at the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C.
0:00—Introduction
01:00—Andrew Heaton comedy sketch
9:35—Debate introduction from Peter Suderman
15:20—Jacob Sullum's opening statement
19:45—Charles Fain Lehman's opening statement
24:20—Billy Binion's opening statement
28:16—Rafael Mangual's opening statement
33:28—Moderator questions about the harmfulness of drugs and the harmfulness of prohibition
42:15—Is alcohol bad?
44:00—Should police be...
- Title
- A statement on Iran
- Runtime
- 1:44
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Bob Gilderson, from the threat assessment team at the American CENTCOM, issues a statement on Iran and his potentially healthy new relationship. #Iran #war #middleeast #comedy
- Title
- Privately helping the public
- Runtime
- 1:47
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- The Clark family co-founded the Singer Corporation in 1851—which became the best-selling sewing machine brand worldwide in only four years. And they’ve been investing in their own community ever since. #charity #philanthropy #history #historyfacts
- Title
- Was the Cold War a deception?
- Runtime
- 1:28:51
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- The American Enterprise Institute's Hal Brands and investigative journalist Gareth Porter debate the necessity of the Cold War.
https://reason.com/podcasts/the-soho-forum-debates/
———————
Hal Brands and Gareth Porter debate the resolution, "The Cold War was a necessary response by the United States to a Soviet and Chinese threat to the global balance of power."
Senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Hal Brands, defends the resolution. He has author multiple books on the Cold War, including The Twilight Struggle: What the Cold War Teaches Us About Great-Power Rivalry Today.
Arguing against the resolution is Gareth Porter, an award-winning journalist and historian who authored Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare.
The debate is moderated by Soho Forum director Gene Epstein.
- Title
- We’re hosting a debate
- Runtime
- 0:20
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- For the very first Reason Versus debate, Reason was joined by The Bulwark for a lively, thought-provoking discussion. The resolution: "You Don't Have To Pick a Side in Politics."
On Tuesday, June 24, we invite you to join Reason and our friends at City Journal for our next debate: "Legalize All Drugs.” #debate #discussion #drugwar
- Title
- Is this a monopoly on public land?
- Runtime
- 1:35
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Along the border of Utah and Arizona, a private corporation has maintained a no-bid contract with the National Park Service for over 50 years, effectively granting them a monopoly on public land.
No-bid government contracts mean no competition. And now, the customers of Wahweap Marina are paying the price. #nationalparks #park #nps #government
- Title
- This guy helped end food shortages
- Runtime
- 1:07
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Famines used to kill millions of people, but a guy you’ve probably never heard of helped end them. #food #farming #history #historyfacts
- Title
- The federal government's parade route
- Runtime
- 2:19
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- The federal government's parade route becomes a parade rout. Maybe try different marching orders? #comedy #parade #WashingtonDC #government
- Title
- Did Brown University silence free speech?
- Runtime
- 1:23
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Remember when colleges actually protected free speech? Pepperidge Farm remembers. But Brown University seems to have forgotten.
Alex Shieh published Bloat@Brown, a website that listed all 3,805 administrators and their titles -- so Brown retaliated by accusing him of accessing “proprietary University data,” causing employees “emotional distress,” and misrepresenting himself as a journalist in his emails. #college #freespeech #firstamendment
- Title
- DC's fiscal parade fail
- Runtime
- 2:25
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- The federal government's parade route becomes a parade rout.
Starring Austin Bragg and Andrew Heaton.
Parade footage generated by VideoGen from Envato.
- Title
- Can you get in trouble over a doormat?
- Runtime
- 1:00
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- UC Irvine has a policy banning “any signage in windows or on doors facing outside that have words on them.” But there’s a free speech problem here—while a college could restrict certain kinds of signs or flags for fire safety reasons, it can’t just enact a broad ban on student speech. #college #freespeech #firstamendment
- Title
- Are student loans a scam?
- Runtime
- 1:53
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- It’s nearly $40,000 a year to go to college in the U.S. — and only 3 out of 5 students get a 4-year degree after six years. Why has college gotten so expensive? #college #studentloans #education #collegelife
- Title
- D.C.’s dumbest department
- Runtime
- 1:05
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Washington, D.C. is threatening to arrest the CEO of Empower, a ridesharing company, for making everyday life in the city cheaper. Here's why. #rideshare #travel #washingtondc
