American Thought Leaders

Episoder

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  How a California Bill Lets Sex Offenders Into Women’s Prisons | Amie Ichikawa 03.10.2026 52min

  It’s been over five years since a California law came into effect that allows biological males to be sent to women’s prisons if they identify as transgender. The law has no requirement for diagnosis, hormones, or surgery.Called the Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act, the law is being exploited by male predators and sex offenders, alleges Amie Ichikawa, an advocate for female inmates.“The first busload of men got to the Central California Women’s Facility,” Amie Ichikawa recounts, “it was scary. It was terrifying. 33.8 percent are registered sex offenders. I can’t think of any worse demographic of people to send into the women’s prison.”Amie Ichikawa, a former inmate herself who served five years for kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon, is now the founder and executive director of Woman II Woman. The nonprofit provides legal resources, education, and re-entry support to women in prison. Ichikawa is now also an ambassador at Independent Women and Independent Women’s Voice.In this episode, Ichikawa unpacks the consequences of allowing males into women’s facilities.How has it profoundly changed the dynamic at these prisons? Why was legislation to exclude registered sex offenders from transfers rejected? Why does she believe some men are exploiting this as a loophole to escape maximum-security male facilities? And why is there a rise in prison clinicians encouraging female inmates to take cross-sex hormones?Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  A Mathematical Challenge to Darwinian Evolution | Douglas Axe 01.10.2026 1t 7min

  Modern biology often presents Darwinian evolution as a settled explanation for the origin and diversity of life.Douglas Axe is chair of molecular biology at Biola University and author of “Undeniable: How Biology Confirms Our Intuition That Life Is Designed.”In this episode, he argues that when you look at the mathematical probabilities that undergird molecular genetics, there are hard limits that random mutation and natural selection cannot overcome.Notably, Axe does not deny the existence of natural selection. Indeed, he argues that minor adaptations—such as virus mutations or dog breed variations—are well established. But can random mutation and selection explain the origin of complex, functional biological systems when the odds of forming a single functional protein fold are a staggering 1 in 10?We explore various questions: If random processes cannot generate complex biological systems, what does that reveal about the origin of life? Why do children intuitively believe that the natural world was intentionally created? And why is the scientific community comfortable searching for intelligence in deep space through the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), yet resistant to detecting it in the origins of biological life?Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  How to Identify a Bad Argument | Warren Smith 29.09.2026 1t 13min

  Modern culture often treats popular consensus and media narratives as settled truth. Warren Smith, author of the new book “A Mind of Your Own: Independent Thinking in the Age of Misinformation,” argues that our society is increasingly convinced by misleading narratives rather than objective reality.He is the creator of the Secret Scholars Society channel on YouTube, and he’s become known for using the Socratic method to introduce people to different viewpoints.He argues that allowing ideas to conflict is essential to intellectual growth.“We recoil often from conflict,” he said, “but that’s where growth occurs.”Smith walked me through a host of questions: How do narrative manipulation and herd psychology compel people to abandon logic? How can one learn to identify fallacious arguments? And why does our culture so easily mistake emotional consensus for moral authority?Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  EXCLUSIVE: Tom Homan Reveals Next Targets and How Many Missing Immigrant Children Have Been Found 26.09.2026 58min

  In this episode, I’m sitting down with Tom Homan. A career law enforcement officer, he’s served as a cop, border patrol agent, federal investigator, and acting ICE chief, and worked under six presidents from both sides of the aisle.Now as the White House border czar, he’s facilitating the most aggressive transformation of immigration enforcement that America has ever seen.Monthly deportations have hit record highs. Enforcement officers are prioritizing high-risk offenders, with over 60 percent of arrests involving individuals with criminal convictions or active felony charges, Homan says.And the pushback has been fierce. Homan says assaults on ICE officers are up 1,600 percent. Threats are up 6,000 percent.We discuss: What new initiatives or priorities can we expect to see in the coming weeks and months? How is the Trump administration dealing with nationwide court injunctions? How is the administration approaching a major China-related loophole on one of its island territories? And how many unaccompanied minors that were unaccounted for in the system have since been found? How many were sex trafficked or used as forced labor?Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  How Over 700 OpenAI Agents Went Rogue and Hacked Another Company | Daniel Kokotajlo 24.09.2026 1t 20min

  What happens when AI agents stop acting like isolated tools and begin collaborating to trick the very systems that evaluate them?Daniel Kokotajlo, executive director of the AI Futures Project and a former OpenAI researcher, describes a recent incident involving AI agents that discovered a way to communicate with one another, share strategies to cheat on their assigned tasks, and organize into a coordinated “swarm” to hack another company.“Over 700 of them,” Kokotajlo recounts, “piled into this attack on Hugging Face.”In this episode, Kokotajlo walks me through how AI agents can operate for long periods, solve complex problems, and even communicate through unexpected channels. He explains why reading an AI’s internal messages offers visibility into the agent swarm’s behavior—and why that visibility may not last as models become more capable.What does the Hugging Face incident reveal about the limits of current AI safety? Why were some agents willing to “sacrifice” themselves to help the wider group evade detection? And as companies race to invent ever more powerful systems, are we prepared for the risks that inevitably follow?This is the first episode in our new American Thought Leaders series on artificial intelligence.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  Here’s What to Know Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit | Grant Newsham 22.09.2026 1t 6min

  Ahead of the Trump–Xi summit in Washington this week, I’m sitting down with retired U.S. Marine Colonel Grant Newsham to understand what’s really at stake here, and what each side stands to win—or lose.“When the Chinese come here, they are very much testing [our] will … to defend ourselves, to defend our principles, to defend our friends,” Newsham says.Newsham is the former reserve head of intelligence for Marine Forces Pacific and author of “When China Attacks: A Warning to America.”In this episode, he breaks down the greatest vulnerabilities of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and how the Trump administration could leverage them to America’s advantage.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  How Palau Resists Beijing’s Pressure Campaign in the Pacific | Kambes Kesolei 19.09.2026 45min

  I recently traveled to the Pacific island nation of Palau, home to one of the deadliest battlefields of World War II. And geography still matters: Today, it’s a security flashpoint for the United States and its closest Pacific allies.Palau is one of 12 countries in the world that maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Because of this and its strategic position, Palau faces continual and mounting pressure from Beijing.Veteran Palauan journalist and Compass Point Institute founder Kambes Kesolei says that China wants “to appear like the good guys.” Indeed, he continues, “they just want to weaken your spirit.”In this episode, he breaks down Palau’s unique history and relationship with the United States—and what’s at stake as Beijing expands its ambitions in the region.Why doesn’t Palau just give in?“Palauans are very loyal people,” Kesolei said. “They—like the allies they have chosen—value democracy, human rights, and freedom of religion.”Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  America’s Beef Shortage Explained | Joel Salatin 17.09.2026 49min

  Centralized agriculture insists that strict federal oversight is essential for food safety and market stability. Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farms, argues that a close look at soaring beef prices, local meat production, and farm economics reveals regulatory hurdles that destroy small slaughterhouses and distort true free-market prices.Salatin addresses why high beef prices persist, noting recent droughts, aging farmers, the length of the cattle cycle, and the closing of Mexico’s borders. Far from opposing market efficiency, he argues that resilient, local production would respond more accurately to market fluctuations and supply shortages.In this interview, Salatin answers critical questions: How do massive corn and soybean subsidies skew beef prices and drive small cattle operations out of business? What do USDA inspection exemptions like the Prime Act reveal about intrastate commerce and food safety? And why is nature’s model of scaling through duplication far more effective than industrial centralization?Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  How These Pilots Became a Lifeline for Remote Pacific Islands | Mark Abbott and Brock Welge 16.09.2026 44min

  In the remote Pacific, emergency medical transport is not a simple call away. Across hundreds of miles of open ocean separating island communities, sudden illness or severe injury can quickly become fatal without rapid intervention.Pacific Mission Aviation pilots Mark Abbott and Brock Welge operate on the front lines of remote search-and-rescue and critical medevac flights, serving remote island peoples.The Christian nonprofit’s mission is to provide free emergency evacuations, rescue and disaster relief, medical and food supplies, and even educational resources across Micronesia and the Philippines.In this episode, Abbott and Welge walk me through the unique reality of aviation in the remote Pacific. How do these self-funded aviators execute lifesaving operations? What are the dangers of landing on short, and sometimes neglected, airstrips? And what drew them from working in corporate America to serving remote island communities?Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guests, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  EXCLUSIVE: How a Tiny Nation Is Defying Beijing and Defending Its Sovereignty | President Surangel Whipps Jr. 12.09.2026 37min

  During World War II, America learned a hard lesson about the strategic importance of the small island nations scattered across the Pacific.Among them is Palau, a nation of 18,000 people in what’s known as the second island chain. It’s home to the bloodiest battlefield of the Pacific theater, on the island of Peleliu.Today, as the Chinese regime prepares for a possible invasion of Taiwan, Palau finds itself on the front lines again. It’s one of only 12 countries that diplomatically recognize Taiwan, and one of only three with a Compact of Free Association with the United States—an agreement that gives the U.S. exclusive military access to Palauan waters in exchange for providing defense, postal service, economic assistance, and other benefits to Palauans.Palau’s strategic position has made it a target. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has ramped up gray-zone tactics and information warfare across the region to pull small Pacific nations away from Taiwan and the United States.In this episode, I’m sitting down with Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr. Half-American and half-Palauan and born in Baltimore, Whipps decided to give up his American citizenship to serve as president of his father’s homeland and chart a new course for its development.In this episode, Whipps explains how Palau is defending its sovereignty against foreign encroachment and shares his vision for the country’s future.We cover how the CCP has threatened Palau, how the Compact of Free Association shapes U.S. regional defense strategy, why the U.S. military is building radar sites on the island, and how Western private sector investment can help secure a free Indo-Pacific.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  The Hidden Costs of a World Without Anything Worth Fighting For | Rusty Reno 10.09.2026 1t 11min

  Rusty Reno is the editor-in-chief of First Things Magazine and author of “Return of the Strong Gods: Nationalism, Populism, and the Future of the West.”In his book, Reno argues that after the World Wars, Western intellectual elites concluded that the “strong gods”—nationalism and intense ideological loyalty, to name a few—were the root causes of violence. In response, figures like Karl Popper promoted an “open society” framework, aimed at diluting strong loyalties.Decades later, Reno argues, we live in an age when the frameworks that gave human beings stability, purpose, and a sense of belonging have been stripped away.In this episode, Reno unpacks questions such as: What about the 1980s is so desirable to people today? Why are young people dissatisfied with endless choices? And why ought questions of meaning, national identity, and truth return to the center of politics?Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  How I Reversed My Near-Fatal Autoimmune Conditions | Sina McCullough 08.09.2026 55min

  Modern medicine in the West often treats chronic and autoimmune conditions as lifelong diagnoses that must be managed rather than cured. Sina McCullough—who has a doctorate in nutrition and is the author of “Hands Off My Food!”—argues that diseases are primarily a state of imbalance, driven by toxicities and deficiencies. These, she says, can often be reversed by restoring “root-level” health.“I refuse to accept the label that disease is a lifelong sentence,” McCullough says. “When you remove the roadblocks standing in the way, the body naturally takes over and heals itself.”McCullough does not, however, dismiss Western medicine entirely—standard diagnostic labs and emergency care remain critical tools. But can modern conventional treatments fully resolve chronic illness without addressing underlying dietary triggers, outdated food labeling, and environmental toxins?In this episode, McCullough tells her story of how she went from near-fatal autoimmune issues to wholly restored health without conventional medicine. She answers critical questions: How do standard blood tests miss severe micronutrient deficiencies? Why are outdated, certified fool labels problematic? And what role do emotional and spiritual health play in physical diseases?Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  Here’s What People Get Wrong About Modern Warfare | John Spencer 05.09.2026 58min

  Underground and urban warfare have become the decisive battlegrounds of modern warfare, yet for a long time, military doctrine has been built to avoid both, said John Spencer, a retired U.S. Army major and chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute.He’s repeatedly embedded himself in active war zones, from Gaza to Ukraine, and personally walked through the nearly two-mile-long Hamas tunnel, wide enough to drive a truck through, that led from Gaza City right up to the Israel-Gaza border wall.A leading expert on urban and underground warfare, he argues that subterranean warfare is spreading globally. He also argues that enemies of the West have deliberately weaponized the laws of war itself, using civilians as shields.How can democratic nations defend themselves when non-state actors intentionally weaponize civilian deaths to create political leverage? How are manipulated statistics and social media disinformation warping the public’s understanding of modern-day battlefield realities? And what do we keep getting wrong about modern warfare?Spencer is the author of the new book “Twenty Times I Almost Died: Life Lessons from the Edge of Survival.”Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  How a Soviet Revolutionary Still Shapes American Politics | Bradley Thayer 03.09.2026 55min

  Modern American politics is commonly framed as a face-off between traditional conservative and contemporary progressive values.Bradley Thayer, author of “America’s 100 Years’ War,” argues that a closer look at the tactics shaping Western institutions reveals a deeper ideological struggle—one whose roots trace back to Vladimir Lenin.In this episode, Thayer argues that what threatens America today extends far beyond traditional Marxist economics. He says that neo-Leninist strategies actively work to subvert democracy by hijacking civil society, destabilizing Western borders, and replacing individual rights with group identity.Thayer addresses a host of critical questions: How did Soviet political warfare evolve into a privatized network operating within the United States? Why is the Chinese Communist Party best understood as an illegitimate colonial export of Soviet imperialism rather than an authentic Chinese polity? And how can Americans draw upon our founding principles to end this century-long war?Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  The War on Privacy—And How to Fight Back | Naomi Brockwell 01.09.2026 41min

  Many people have come to accept pervasive surveillance as the price of modern life: that our phones, browsers, messages, purchases, and movements will inevitably be collected, analyzed, and sold to those with enough money or power.For many, there’s a growing sense that true privacy is irrevocably lost, and resistance is largely futile.Naomi Brockwell disagrees.She is the president of the Ludlow Institute, and with her YouTube channel, she educates people about the many choices they can make to reclaim their privacy—without totally disconnecting from modern life.“I, as an individual, can actually make choices that reclaim basically all of my privacy in the digital age,” she says.She connects the dots between digital privacy and the survival of whistleblowers, investigative journalists, protest movements, and opposition parties—none of which can function without it.Her message is that some things are worth fighting for: “Because submission is its own kind of death.”Her institute recently helped draft a new bill that aims to restore Fourth Amendment protections in the digital era by requiring warrants for the government to access your data online.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  Here’s What Darwin’s Theory Can’t Explain | Michael Behe 29.08.2026 1t 12min

  Modern biology often posits Darwinian evolution and natural selection as a settled explanation for the vast complexity of the natural world. Yet, looking closely at the nanoscale machinery inside the cell reveals molecular systems that seem to defy a gradual, evolutionary unfolding, says Michael Behe, professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University and author of “Darwin’s Black Box,” “The Edge of Evolution,” and “Darwin Devolves.”“I was startled to see that a foundation concept of my worldview had no support; that it was all built on social considerations,” Behe says.Importantly, Behe points out that he is not rejecting Darwinian evolution in its entirety. Minor evolutionary adaptations are well-established, he says. But can Darwin’s theory of evolution adequately explain the origin of complex biological mechanisms that require many interlocking components to function at all?Also, what do recent discoveries in molecular genetics reveal about the boundaries of natural evolution? And why is the scientific consensus on Darwin’s theory far less unanimous than it appears?Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  How a Neglected Plaza Now Immortalizes Forgotten American Heroes | Matthew Taylor 27.08.2026 39min

  It’s rare to see large-scale bronze installations built today. In Washington, D.C., as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebration, Matthew Taylor has transformed the long-neglected Freedom Plaza with a beautiful new memorial celebrating Revolutionary War heroes. He is an artist, filmmaker, and senior adviser at the National Endowment for the Humanities.Among those featured in the new Spirit of ‘76 installation is Samuel Whittemore, who was 78 when he decided to join the Revolutionary War effort against the British.“They bayoneted him 13 times. They shot him in the head and left him for dead, and yet he lived another 18 years to the age of 96,” says Taylor.“The great thing about these soldiers is most of these people either don’t have statues [or] are not very well-known, and this shows that this is the common citizen,” he says.These were “ordinary people doing extraordinary things to help create and build this nation,” he says.The equestrian statue of Caesar Rodney—which had been taken down in Wilmington, Delaware, during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests—is now also on display on a new pedestal in Freedom Plaza.He epitomizes the extraordinary determination of those who secured American independence.“He had facial cancer and emphysema, and he rode 80 miles overnight in a storm to sign and … be the tiebreaker, Delaware, which would ultimately create the Declaration of Independence,” Taylor says.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  The New School Where Teens Will Learn Classics—and Build Airplanes | Ian Rowe 25.08.2026 29min

  Ian Rowe is a charter school founder who believes hard work and accountability—and rejecting victimhood—are the secrets to a good education.His school Vertex Partnership Academies just celebrated its first graduating class, with students moving on to college, the military, and futures that once felt out of reach in an area where only 7 percent of kids typically graduate college-ready.His newest project, Westchester Aerospace and Virtues Academy (WAVA), pairs a classical education with a surprising real-world specialty: aviation and aerospace training.Students will study great books and Western civilization while also learning air traffic control, piloting, aircraft maintenance, airport management, and related trades. The school will sit right next to Westchester County Airport in New York, so students can watch planes and hear real air traffic control, making technical training part of everyday school life.So why aerospace—in an age when AI is upending every industry?“While artificial intelligence is going to affect every industry … there will always be a need for some kind of aircraft to transport people from one location to the other,” Rowe says.“The best defense against the worst excesses of artificial intelligence is to ensure that our students are steeped in the other form of AI—and that is ancient intelligence … virtue, moral formation, character development.”Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  Ralph Norman Outlines Plan for Social Security Reform and Fiscal Overhaul 24.08.2026 27min

  Ahead of the Republican Senate primary runoff tomorrow in South Carolina, I’m sitting down with Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) as he and Sen. Darline Graham make their final appeals to South Carolinian voters.In this episode, Norman dives into his core political priorities, emphasizing fiscal conservatism, securing the integrity of elections through the SAVE America Act, and reforming major entitlement programs.Drawing on his background in the private sector, Norman said Washington needs more business-minded leaders who understand how to balance a budget and tackle national debt.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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  HHS Uncovers Millions in Potentially Fraudulent Billing for Pediatric Gender Care | Asst. Sec. Brian Christine 22.08.2026 46min

  🔥Invest in Frontieras: Opportunity closes August 27. https://ept.ms/4ghvnCoIn this episode, Adm. Brian Christine, assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), joins me to break down a major new HHS report on gender medicine, the unspoken consequences of transgender procedures, the incentives involved, and how investigators uncovered potentially millions of dollars in fraudulent billing.Christine reveals how certain diagnostic codes were used to circumvent both the difficulties of insurance reimbursement and laws in certain states that prohibited transgender procedures. Investigators found that coding for unspecified endocrine disorders accounted for more than $40 million in potentially fraudulent billing for puberty blockers. And a diagnosis of “precocious puberty” was used for over $11 million in billing for patients aged 13 to 17.Financial incentives combined with the ideological capture of medical institutions create a dangerous mix, Christine warns. But this report, he said, is tremendously hopeful in spotlighting the bad science and bad actors that made the alleged abuses possible.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.