Escaping Ideology with Jonathan Church: Recent Episodes
Merion West
In this inaugural episode of the Escaping Ideology podcast series, we are going to talk about liberalism, socialism, and what a society rooted in “liberal socialism” would look like. We also talk about the nature of meritocracy, postmodern conservatism, and other topics that arise along the way.
On September 14, 2022, Henri Mattila was joined by Dr. Jonathan Darrow for a broad-ranging conversation on U.S. drug pricing policy and its tentative relationship with the country's leading status as a biopharmaceutical innovator. Dr. Darrow is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and a faculty member at the school's Center for Bioethics. Prior to that, he served as a senior law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and has worked in private practice at the law firms Cooley LLP and Wiley Rein LLP. 00:00 Intro 06:28 Interview
On August 1st, Merion West editor-in-chief Erich Prince was joined by author Allen Hornblum and activist Adrianne Jones-Alston for a discussion about the legacy of the human experimentation that took place at Holmesburg Prison and, to a lesser extent, at other detention centers in Philadelphia.
The series of experiments, which was carried out from 1951 to 1974, affected prison inmates such as Ms. Jones-Alston's father, Leodus Jones. Led primarily by University of Pennsylvania dermatologist Albert Kligman, the experiments, which caused considerable harm to many study participants, eventually resulted in the creation of pharmaceutical products such as Retin-A. Mr. Hornblum authored the 1998 book Acres of Skin, which details the experiments and was the result of his own observations working as a literacy instructor at Holmesburg during the early 1970s, and he has been previously profiled at Merion West.
Together, he and Ms. Jones-Alston, who has also written about how her father's experience as a test subject impacted their family at Merion West, are now calling on the CIty of Philadelphia to issue a formal apology for its role in the experiments such as how then-President Bill Clinton formally apologized for the United States government's role in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
On February 23rd, Merion West editor-in-chief Erich Prince was joined by philosopher Stephen Hicks for a conversation inspired by the recent trucker demonstrations across Canada in protest of the Canadian government's Coronavirus (COVID-19) policies, particularly vaccine mandates. Dr. Hicks, who is Canadian and holds a Ph.D. from Indiana University, Bloomington, is a professor at Rockford University in Illinois and has authored five books. His forthcoming sixth book is on the subject of education. During their conversation, Dr. Hicks and Mr. Prince discuss the context in which these demonstrations took place, the broader question of what constitutes a liberal society, and historical perspectives on the legitimacy of certain types of protests and demonstrations.
On February 22nd, Merion West editor-in-chief Erich Prince was joined by Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), who represents Pennsylvania's third congressional district.
The conversation was prompted by Rep. Evans' support for the VICTIM Act, which was originally introduced by Rep. Val Demings (D-Fl.) and aims to allocate $1 billion in federal funding over the coming ten-year period to increase the clearance rate of homicide cases and to provide funding for mental health and relocation services for shooting victims and families of homicide victims. Rep. Evans notably expressed his support for the bill in January alongside Reps. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), and Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) at a Philadelphia playground where a 15-year-old child, Simone-Monea Rogers, was killed in August. (Her homicide remains unsolved.)
In their discussion, Rep. Evans and Mr. Prince discuss the particulars of the bill, the idea of addressing crime being a clearly bipartisan issue, possible objections to such an increase in federal funding, and how to address the issue of crime more broadly, both in Philadelphia and across the nation.
On January 24th, former North Carolina Governor and current candidate for United States Senate Pat McCrory joined Merion West editor-in-chief Erich Prince to discuss his candidacy, with a particular focus on the issue of crime. Drawing from his time as Mayor of Charlotte, as well as his governorship, Governor McCrory comments on approaches to addressing homelessness, quality of life issues in cities, as well as gangs and violent crime. Throughout their discussion, Governor McCrory emphasizes the importance of practical past experience and the potential to bring that to Washington, D.C.
Dr. Andy Norman of Carnegie Mellon University―also the author of the recently published book "Mental Immunity"―discusses with Henri Mattila his vision for improving the cognitive immunology of every human being, how science and evidence-based reasoning relate to faith and religion, and what practical steps individuals can take to boost their mental immune systems.