The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie goes deep with the artists, entrepreneurs, politicians, and visionaries who are making the 21st century more libertarian—or at least more interesting—by challenging worn-out ideas and orthodoxies.

Today's guest is Joe Dolce, whose new book is Modern Psychedelics: The Handbook for Mindful Exploration.

Dolce argues that psychedelics aren't just the province of hippies or tech bros anymore. They are powerful and increasingly popular—and legal—tools for therapy, self-discovery, and play.

He talks with Gillespie about everything from the misunderstood role of ketamine in Friends star Matthew Perry's death to why ibogaine may be the only substance on Earth that can stop addiction cold, to how we went from "Just Say No!" campaigns to mail-order magic mushrooms in just a few short decades.

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0:00—Intro

1:25—What do psychedelics teach?

7:02—Psychedelic safety and ketamine myths

13:01—How psychedelics work and ibogaine effects

19:12—Microdosing

23:00—Psychedelics and altered states

28:10—Generational perceptions of psychedelics

30:59—Cultural acceptance of psychedelics

42:22—The future of psychedelics

48:34—Drug legalization and access

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Psychedelics Are Not Just for Hippies and Tech Bros

In this episode of The Reason Interview, Nick Gillespie is joined by Senior Editor Jacob Sullum, author of the new book Beyond Control, to discuss the evolution of gun and drug laws in America. They examine how decades of prohibitionist policies have backfired, undermining liberty and justice without delivering safety.

This was originally recorded live on September 4, 2025.

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Why Banning Drugs and Guns Never Works

Lasting 20 years, the war in Afghanistan was not only the longest conflict in American history—it was a near total failure.

Today's guest is Dan Krauss, whose documentary Bodyguard of Lies is an unflinching look at the Afghan war and the lessons the public desperately needs to learn from it. Krauss shows how officials such as former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld admitted they weren't going to be honest with the American people. He reminds us that within six months of the 9/11 attacks, the United States had essentially destroyed Al Qaeda's capacity to attack us—but instead of leaving, Washington chose two more decades of occupation, nation-building, strategic confusion, and widespread corruption. And he tells how Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama kept doubling down, how trillions of dollars and thousands of lives were wasted, and how a compliant press and Congress let it all happen.

0:00—Introduction

1:14—Donald Rumsfeld and the "bodyguard of lies"

4:59—The Afghanistan War in 2002

7:35—The shifting objectives of the war

18:20—Government corruption in Afghanistan

21:08—Vietnam parallels

29:57—Obama and the Afghanistan War

33:42—The military-industrial complex and tracking the money

36:53—Gen. David McKiernan

43:47—What lessons have Americans learned?

50:30—Did the Afghanistan War make us safer?

1:01:28—What is the message of Bodyguard of Lies?

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How the U.S. Sold Its Longest War with a Bodyguard of Lies

The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie is a libertarian podcast that goes deep with the artists, entrepreneurs, politicians, and visionaries who are defining the 21st century.

Today's guest is Lionel Shriver, the provocative writer best known for novels like We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Mandibles, and, most recently, Mania.

We talked a few days after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, an event whose lasting significance she cautioned against overinterpreting. "We want tragedies to mean something," she said. "And maybe they don't." Shriver offered cutting critiques of Gen Z socialists, Tucker Carlson, Kamala Harris, and President Donald Trump, whom she said is devoid of "any firm principles."

In a New York Times op-ed a decade ago, she thanked Rand Paul for "nominally refurbishing libertarianism so that it is halfway respectable," but now says the term has become tarnished as "far right." She told me that she is one of "those sad people who occasionally still says they would like a smaller government" and isn't "interested in massive social control." Yet she seems to be growing more conservative, making dismissive comments about "the trans thing" and arguing against large-scale immigration, which is also the topic of her next novel, A Better Life, that is set to be released early next year.

This interview was recorded live at an event in New York City.

0:00—Introduction

1:44—Lionel Shriver's health battles

4:06—The danger of overinterpreting events

11:02—Weaponizing identity for conflict

19:06—Shriver's views on libertarianism

22:54—Donald Trump and Kamala Harris

27:51—Shriver's novelist inspirations

32:27—Gen Z's problematic relationship with history

41:59—Concerns about mass immigration

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Are Americans Addicted to Conflict?

The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie goes deep with the artists, activists, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and visionaries who are making the world more libertarian—or at least more interesting—by championing free minds and free markets.

Today's guest is Ben Wizner, deputy legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He says that President Donald Trump's second term has brought an all-out assault on free speech—targeting comedians, immigrants, universities, and even law firms that take the "wrong" cases.

Gillespie and Wizner put Trump's actions in the context of past presidents and discuss whether the ACLU has strayed from the days of defending the free speech rights of American Nazis in Skokie, Illinois, Unite the Right protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the National Rifle Association (NRA) in New York.

They also discuss the legacy of Edward Snowden, with whom Wizner worked, and whether government spying on citizens has gotten better since the whistleblower revealed illegal mass surveillance of Americans during the Obama administration.

0:00—Introduction

1:04—Free speech under Trump

5:33—Comparing Trump to Biden on free speech

9:42—Have Americans become more comfortable with censorship?

16:21—The Federal Communications Commission and Jimmy Kimmel

25:43—What are Trump's standards for protected speech?

28:46—ACLU cases protecting the speech of immigrants

40:12—Why the ACLU defended the NRA

45:02—Has the ACLU remained committed to its mission?

53:52—Protecting the rights of students on college campuses

55:46—Snowden and the state of mass surveillance

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Can the ACLU Serve Progressives and Conservatives?

The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie goes deep with the artists, activists, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and visionaries who are making the world more libertarian—or at least more interesting—by challenging worn-out ideas and orthodoxies.

Today's guest is Jeff Flake, former Arizona senator and U.S. ambassador to Turkey, and now head of the brand-new Institute of Politics at Arizona State University. Flake made national headlines in 2017 when he delivered a searing Senate floor speech announcing he would not seek reelection and declaring he would not be complicit in the "degradation of our politics" under Donald Trump and MAGA.

A lifelong conservative, Flake built his career on defending free markets, free trade, limited government, and pro-immigration policies—positions that put him at odds with a Republican Party drifting toward populism and protectionism. We talk about why he chose principle over power (and how he feels about that now), his time representing the U.S. in Turkey as Russia invaded Ukraine, his push for reforming America's broken political system, and why he believes the fever of grievance politics must—and eventually will—break.

0:00—Introduction

1:29—The state of the GOP under President Donald Trump

8:41—Did Flake's conservative principles irritate Trump?

12:14—The case for more immigration

21:27—The connection between immigration and trade

26:25—Globalism in the era of nationalism

34:26—Ambassador to Turkey

38:05—The importance of Ukraine's independence

40:51—The Trump foreign policy philosophy

44:02—Reacting to political violence

47:57—How to reform the political system

58:33—Arizona State Institute of Politics

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What Happened to the Republican Party?

The Reason Interview goes deep with the artists, activists, entrepreneurs, and policymakers who are making the world a more libertarian—or at least more interesting—place by challenging worn-out orthodoxies and ideas.

Today's guest is Jake Tapper, the host of The Lead on CNN and author of the new book, Race Against Terror: Chasing an Al Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War.

He tells Nick Gillespie why it matters that Donald Trump is following Barack Obama's lead in trying terrorists in criminal courts rather than military tribunals, why he believes the Trump administration is unleashing an all-out offensive against journalists critical of the president, and what the legacy media got way wrong with Joe Biden and COVID.

They also discuss the future of journalism in an age of media consolidation, where Free Press upstart Bari Weiss is heading up CBS News—and possibly CNN, too.

Previous appearance:
Jake Tapper on The Hellfire Club, Donald Trump's Big Lies, and D.C.'s 'Bullshit Waterfall', May 11, 2018

0:00–Introduction

1:34–Race Against Terror

5:25–The Bush administration and the war on terror

8:39–The legality and effectiveness of torture

17:06–President Trump's approach to foreign policy

22:19–Media censorship and the FCC

29:43–CBS News, CNN, and the challenges facing legacy media

40:14–The rise of independent media

52:07–Joe Biden's decline and its impact on the Democratic Party

58:37–What is being underreported in the second Trump administration?

1:06:05–Generational shifts in political views

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Jake Tapper on Censorship, Media Failings, and Presidential Power

The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie goes deep with the artists, activists, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and visionaries who are making the world a more libertarian—or at least more interesting—place by championing free minds and free markets.

Today's guest is Katie Herzog, co-host of the popular Blocked & Reported podcast and author of the paradigm-shattering new book Drink Your Way Sober. Katie writes about her and other people's experiences with The Sinclair Method—a medication-assisted approach to alcoholism where you use one drug to counter problematic use of another. Her story—and the cutting-edge research and treatment she reports on—upends just about everything we think we know about drug use, recovery, and autonomy.

She talks with Nick Gillespie about naltrexone, the drug that helped her retrain her brain, why Alcoholics Anonymous works for some people but not for others, and how modern medicine is finally catching up to the idea that we should treat adults like adults when it comes to what we put in our bodies.

They also get into the insane cancel culture politics that gave rise to her and Jesse Singal launching the Blocked & Reported podcast in 2020, whether we've passed peak woke, and if conservatives are now simply presiding over their own version of cancel culture.

Previous appearance: Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal on Left-Wing Cancel Culture, June 17, 2020.

0:00—Introduction

1:34—What is the Sinclair Method?

6:59—Herzog's experience with alcoholism

15:50—Sexuality, self-identity, and self-loathing

22:22—Recognizing addiction and the myths of willpower

27:43—Alternatives to Alcoholics Anonymous

35:03—Herzog on differences in weed and alcohol use

38:44—Beta-blockers for overcoming anxiety

43:51—Transgenderism in media and cancel culture

58:29—Tolerance vs. agreement

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There’s More Than One Way To Get Sober

The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie goes deep on the thinkers, doers, and artists who are making the 21st century a more libertarian—or at least more interesting place—by challenging outmoded ideas and orthodoxies.

Today's guest is Ken Burns, the filmmaker who has massively reshaped national conversations about everything from the Civil War to baseball to jazz to immigration to national parks with epic documentary series that have aired on public television.

His latest work is The American Revolution, a 12-hour series about the nation's founding that he codirected with Sarah Botstein and David P. Schmidt. As the nation prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary next year, the American Revolution foregrounds the bloodiness of the war for independence from the British and the high levels of disunity among the colonists before and after the conflict, themes especially noteworthy in a society that is increasingly concerned about political violence and polarization. The series can also be seen as a rebuke to recent, overtly ideological attempts to recast the American experiment as morally irredeemable from its origins (The 1619 Project) or as a Disneyfied morality tale (The 1776 Project).

Burns talks with Gillespie about the role of truth in documentaries and why we should embrace contradictions in historical storytelling. They also debate whether PBS, defunded earlier this year by the Trump administration, should continue to receive tax dollars.

0:00—The American Revolution was a global war

7:52—Slavery in the Revolution and competing narratives

21:48—The logic of the Declaration of Independence

29:14—The impact of Native Americans

32:41—Why the Revolution leaves Burns feeling optimistic

39:09—The importance of New York in the Revolution

46:15—Funding for public broadcasting

53:16—What's next for Ken Burns?

56:26—Why understanding history is important for unity

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What We Get Wrong About the American Revolution

The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie goes deep with the artists, entrepreneurs, and visionaries who are making the world a more libertarian—or at least a more interesting—place.

Please donate to Reason's annual webathon, the one time a year when we ask our online audience to support our principled libertarian journalism with tax-deductible donations. Click here for details, swag, and more information.

Today's guest is the science writer Matt Ridley, author of best-selling books such as The Red Queen, The Rational Optimist, and, with Alina Chan, Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19. At a live event filmed in New York City, Ridley tells Nick Gillespie that political and cultural elites had already turned science, our best tool for understanding and improving the world, into a centralized, hyperpoliticized priesthood even before COVID.

He walks through the collapse of public trust in 2020 as experts flipped on masks and transmission, declared Black Lives Matter protests safe but religious services dangerous, and insisted on certainty where none existed. Ridley also explains how the lab leak hypothesis went from being a forbidden conspiracy theory to the most plausible explanation for the pandemic.

He shares his thoughts on why climate alarmism is finally waning, the future of innovation in an age of overregulation, why he's bullish on the future of nuclear power and AI, and how America can spark a new technological renaissance—even when leaders seem determined to smother dissent.

0:00—Introduction

1:59—Bill Gates' climate change reversal

6:15—How COVID diminished public trust

14:27—Centralization and confirmation bias

17:53—Vaccine skepticism

21:29—Sex and evolutionary theory

29:47—Politicization of science

31:34—COVID lab leak theory

37:50—Human progress

46:10—The role of storytelling

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Why Science Lost Its Way

Founded in 1968, Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Our podcast offerings include:

The Reason Roundtable
Every Monday, the libertarian editors of the magazine of “Free Minds and Free Markets”—Matt Welch, Nick Gillespie, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Peter Suderman—discuss and debate the week’s biggest stories and what fresh hell awaits us all.

The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie
Want to know what comes next in politics, culture, and libertarian ideas? Reason’s Nick Gillespie hosts relentlessly interesting interviews with the activists, artists, authors, entrepreneurs, newsmakers, and politicians who are defining the 21st century.

The Soho Forum Debates
Reason presents a libertarian-themed debate series recorded monthly before a live audience in New York City. Moderated by former Barron's Economics Editor Gene Epstein, the Soho Forum features Nobel prize winners, radical thinkers, and other public intellectuals facing off over the future of bitcoin, veganism, sex work, illegal drugs, electric vehicles, abortion, robotics, government debt, and other controversial topics.

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