The American Compass Podcast

Many men without college degrees have nearly nonexistent social support, and are often one point of failure away from living in isolation, according to a new research report, Nobody to Call. Their lives are perilous: moving to a new town, losing a job, or the death of a friend could leave them fully divorced from their communities. Sam Pressler, lead author of the paper and a practitioner fellow at the University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute of Democracy, joins Oren and Chris to unpack the ...

Capitalism has undergone a profound shift, as our financial system has moved away from its primary role of channeling capital into productive investments. Corporate priorities have instead turned toward maximizing short-term shareholder returns and deploying complex financial engineering that boosts firms’ bottom lines. In the process, American communities and long-term economic growth have paid the price. Oren joins guest host Chris Griswold to discuss how this process of financialization i...

America’s welfare programs have long operated on the assumption that states and nonprofits could responsibly steward federal dollars with minimal oversight. But a series of explosive fraud cases—from California to Mississippi to Minnesota—have exposed just how broken that system has become, with lax oversight and minimal accountability leading to billions of dollars stolen from taxpayers. Shad White, Mississippi’s state auditor and author of Mississippi Swindle, joins Oren to explain how his ...

Inflation may have cooled, but Americans still feel squeezed. Groceries are still expensive, housing and health care costs continue to outpace wages, and consumer credit debt continues to balloon, leaving a gap between encouraging economic data and the daily experience of the average American. Voters continue to express concern, and the Trump administration has responded with a flurry of proposals aimed at bringing prices down. Daniel Kishi, senior policy advisor at American Compass, joins Or...

After running on a campaign centered on ending forever wars, the Trump administration has become increasingly aggressive toward Venezuela—and rumors are abuzz that the administration may soon attempt to topple the Maduro regime. Michael Brendan Dougherty, senior writer at National Review, joins Oren to discuss why Venezuela has reemerged as a focal point in Washington and what that says about the state of American foreign policy. They examine how this pressure campaign, ostensibly over fentan...