Episodes
On today’s episode of American Wonk, Avik Roy talks to Congressman Jim Banks of Indiana, Chairman of the Republican Study Committee and author of a pathbreaking health care reform bill called the Hospital Competition Act. Should the GOP shed it’s big business reputation to help kitchen table voters? More on the Hospital Competition Act here. […]
Published 05/19/21
The American Jobs Plan has been touted by Vice President Kamala Harris as the biggest jobs investment since World War II. But how exactly will we pay for $2 trillion in new spending on infrastructure, green energy, housing, and education reform? Do the benefits of increased spending outweigh the proposal’s impact on deficits and tax rates? Last week, Avik […]
Published 05/04/21
On May 1st, Texas will hold a special election to fill the seat of late U.S. Congressman Ron Wright, who passed away in February from COVID-19. The contentious, all-party election has 23 candidates vying for the seat, including Rep. Wright’s widow Susan. One of the Republican candidates, Michael Wood, joins Avik Roy, President of FREOPP, to discuss his […]
Published 05/02/21
On today’s episode of Covid in 19, Scott Immergut of Ricochet and Avik Roy talk about a new FREOPP report that ranks the pandemic performance of 31 countries, including the U.S. Which countries have moved up and down in the rankings, which country is number 1, and why is Europe having such a tough time? […]
Published 04/12/21
Can conservative principles adapt to appeal to younger generations and minorities? What are realistic conservative policy goals for the 21st century? Is there a future for an inclusive, equal opportunity-oriented conservative movement? Patrick Ruffini from Echelon Insights, a next-generation polling, analytics, and intelligence firm, joins American Wonk to discuss. Patrick has a background as a […]
Published 03/17/21
On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Scott Immergut of Ricochet and Avik Roy of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity talk about why the vaccines are not a vindication of Big Pharma, but of small, innovative biotech startups. Also, who’s first in line to get the vaccine? And what about the people who […]
Published 12/08/20
On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Scott Immergut of Ricochet and Avik Roy of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity talk about this week’s vaccine news from Pfizer and Biontech. How good is the data? Are more vaccines on the horizon? Will Joe Biden strive to distribute vaccines around the world or prioritize […]
Published 11/14/20
On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Scott Immergut of Ricochet and Avik Roy of FREOPP talk about the World Health Organization’s new guidance that lockdowns are bad. What took them so long? And with the holidays coming up, Avik explains why his kids will be trick or treating and why he’s even looking forward […]
Published 10/27/20
On today’s episode of American Wonk, FREOPP’s Avik Roy talks with Ilya Shapiro, author of “Supreme Disorder,” a new book on the politics of the Supreme Court. They talk about Amy Coney Barrett and ask: what have conservatives gotten right and wrong in their quest to change how the Supreme Court thinks about the Constitution? […]
Published 10/20/20
On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Scott Immergut of Ricochet and Avik Roy of FREOPP talk about President Trump’s recovery from the virus. What really happened, and what do we need to know about the new treatments that Trump has taken?
Published 10/16/20
On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Scott Immergut of Ricochet and Avik Roy of FREOPP talk about Avik’s congressional testimony on data and COVID-19. Why haven’t we been better at measuring deaths in nursing homes? Why are so many lab tests coming back with false positive results, and what can we do about it?
Published 10/16/20
On today’s episode of Power Hungry, FREOPP Visiting Fellow Robert Bryce talks to California Assemblyman Jim Cooper, a Democrat, about a letter he wrote accusing the Sierra Club of fueling environmental racism. What’s going wrong with energy policy in California?
Published 10/09/20
On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Scott Immergut of Ricochet and Avik Roy of FREOPP talk about Joe Biden’s claim that Trump is responsible for all 200,000 COVID deaths in America. Also, how should we think about COVID’s impact on different ethnic groups? And how would the rollout of a vaccine actually work? The […]
Published 09/23/20
On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Scott Immergut of Ricochet and Avik Roy of FREOPP talk about Atlas-gate, the decision of Youtube to censor an interview that Trump coronavirus advisor and Stanford professor Scott Atlas did with the Hoover Institution. What was Youtube thinking?
Published 09/16/20
On today’s episode of Power Hungry, FREOPP Visiting Fellow Robert Bryce talks to Michael Shellenberger, founder of Environmental Progress, about his new book Apocalypse Never. Is nuclear power our best hope for reducing carbon emissions? They discuss that and more! http://robertbryce.com/ https://environmentalprogress.org/ https://freopp.org/
Published 09/15/20
On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Scott Immergut of Ricochet and Avik Roy of FREOPP talk about Los Angeles cancelling and then de-cancelling Halloween, and also the claim that a motorcycle rally in South Dakota led to a massive COVID outbreak. Also, why did Trump downplay the pandemic early on?
Published 09/14/20
On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Avik Roy of FREOPP and Scott Immergut of Ricochet talk Nancy Pelosi’s hair salon crime spree. They also discuss a fascinating New York Times report suggesting as many as 70% of people testing positive under PCR tests for COVID are actually negative. Email
[email protected] with your questions, and […]
Published 09/04/20
On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Avik Roy of FREOPP and Scott Immergut of Ricochet talk CDC conspiracy theories: are we overcounting or undercounting the number of COVID deaths in the US? And why has the CDC stopped recommending testing for people with no symptoms? Email
[email protected] with your questions, and we’ll answer them […]
Published 09/03/20
On today’s episode of COVD in 19, Avik Roy of FREOPP and Scott Immergut of Ricochet talk about the California data debacle: why is it so hard for the tech capital of the world to accurately report its COVID statistics? Will encouraging news on the testing front solve all our problems? Email
[email protected] with your questions, […]
Published 08/27/20
On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Avik Roy of FREOPP and Scott Immergut of Ricochet talk about Day 1 of the Republican National Convention. Joe Biden says that if cases rise again, he would support another shutdown. But what does the science really say about the value of lockdowns? Have a question about the […]
Published 08/26/20
On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Avik Roy of FREOPP and Scott Immergut of Ricochet talk about Biden’s acceptance speech at the Democratic convention. can the federal government force every American to wear a mask? Should you go see Christopher Nolan’s new blockbuster move in a theater? We discuss that and more in under […]
Published 08/25/20
On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Avik Roy of FREOPP and Scott Immergut of Ricochet talk about the latest COVID stats — why is California, a lockdown state, seeing a rise in cases while Texas declines? Why are Democrats mad about President Trump tapping Scott Atlas for his Coronavirus Task Force? Catch Scott Atlas […]
Published 08/19/20
On today’s episode of American Wonk, Avik Roy talks to FREOPP Visiting Fellow Robert Bryce about juice. No, not apple juice, but the juice that powers our smartphones, our homes, and our cars. Can we keep energy affordable for all Americans while reducing carbon emissions? Listen to find out. Watch Bryce’s new documentary, “Juice: How […]
Published 08/17/20
On today’s episode of COVID in 19, Scott Immergut of Ricochet and Avik Roy of FREOPP talk about Avik’s Saturday Essay in the Wall Street Journal on school reopenings, what can we learn from the European experience. Also, can the college football season be saved? Will anyone listen to the players?
Published 08/11/20