This episode features a compelling case by motivational speaker and spoken word artist Prince Ea from 2016 against compulsory and structured schooling. Listen To This Episode (7m, mp3, 64kbps) Subscribe via RSS here, or in any podcast app by searching for “voluntaryist voices”. Support the podcast at Patreon.com/evc or PayPal.me/everythingvoluntary.
Category: Voluntaryist Voices
Danilo Cuellar: A Message Therapist’s Perspective on Unschooling (5m)
This episode features an audio essay written by massage therapist and podcaster Danilo Cuellar in 2015, as published in Unschooling Dads: Twenty-two Testimonials on Their Unconventional Approach to Education, edited by Skyler J. Collins.
Michael Huemer: The Psychology of Authority (1h17m)
This episode features a talk by philosophy professor Michael Huemer from 2013. Evidence from psychology and history teaches two main lessons about authority: (a) that human beings have a variety of strong, pro-authority biases, and (b) that socially recognized authority is an extremely dangerous phenomenon.
Milton Friedman: Myths That Conceal Reality (54m)
This episode features a talk by economist and Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman from 1977. He explores five economic myths that cloud our perception of both the past and the present. Those myths include the Robber Baron myth, the Great Depression myth (from a Chicago School perspective), the expanding government myth, the “free lunch” myth, and the government as Robin Hood myth.
John Holt: On Seeing Children as “Cute” (17m)
This episode features an audio essay written by education reformer John Holt in 1974, which comprises Chapter 27 of Everything Voluntary: From Politics to Parenting, edited by Skyler J. Collins and published in 2012.
David Feige: The Untouchable Sex Offender Registry (1h28m)
This episode features an interview of lawyer, legal commentator, author, and filmmaker David Feige from 2017 by Thaddeus Russell, host of the Unregistered Podcast. The 800,000 registered sex offenders in the United States live under a totalitarian regime. They are legally barred from living in large portions of the country and denied access to employment, housing, and public spaces. Their movements and even their thoughts are monitored and controlled by law enforcement officers. Their names and faces are reported to the public, and vigilante groups hound them out of their homes. They are considered by nearly everyone in America to be the worst and most dangerous creatures in the world. Feige considers this “the darkest part of the criminal justice system” and made a film about it, which can be seen here.
David Beito: The Voluntary City & Mutual Aid Societies (41m)
This episode features a talk by historian and professor of history David Beito from 2010. He looks at the history of mutual aid and fraternal societies long before the welfare state replaced them.
Lenore Skenazy: Overparenting and Bad Public Policy (48m)
This episode features an interview free range kids activist, author, and syndicated columnist Lenore Skenazy from 2019 by Trevor Burrus and Aaron Powell, hosts of the Free Thoughts podcast. Should children ride the NYC subway by themselves? When did children stop having unsupervised and unstructured time? What did ‘strange danger’ do to change the way we parent? What are the consequences of over‐parenting?
T.K. Coleman: Entrepreneurship As A Theory of Social Change (1h14m)
This episode features a talk by serial entrepreneur and education activist T.K. Coleman from 2016. “I want everyone to leave there feeling convinced that we have a tremendous amount of power to create a freer world without relying solely or primarily on politics. Moreover, I want them to have concrete and inspiring examples of how this is being done and how they can get involved.”
Stephan Kinsella: Intellectual Property and Economic Development (1h0m)
This episode features a talk by libertarian theorist and patent attorney Stephan Kinsella from 2011. Kinsella looks at the effects of patents and copyrights on economic development.