Podcasts
The Great Antidote: Extra: Ryan Streeter on Cultural Communities and the Civitas Institute

Anna Leman listens in to a Great Antidote about saying "yes" even when "no" is easy and familiar.
Whatever you do, do not become hyper self-centered. In this episode of The Great Antidote on cultural communities and the Civitas Institute,” Ryan Streeter emphasizes the importance of saying yes.
Ryan Streeter is the executive director of the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. He and the host Juliette Sellgren discuss cities, the importance of mobility and growth, how to foster those characteristics, skepticism of government, and living in and creating a community that fosters social cohesion and critical thinking here:.
At the opening of the episode, Streeter challenges young people to say yes to more experiences. He encourages them to embrace the lessons, perspectives, and relationships that accepting new, risky opportunities brings. His account of his escapades across the country as a semi-truck driver brings this point home. Not only did he learn how to drive big trucks and see America’s wide expanse, but talking with other truckers and living their life gave him a unique appreciation for them and their work. Walking a mile in someone’s shoes teaches you how to value and be grateful for that person.
It also protects you from falling into the trap of intellectual superiority. From his time in D.C., Streeter comments that Washington D.C. is like a group of “first row students” that know all the answers. Rather than asking genuine questions and building impactful organizations and changes, they pontificate about what they know. Streeter observes that “if you spend too much time there, even if you're from the heartland, it's really tempting to gain this kind of posture of self-importance or that you just kind of are ‘in-the-know’ more than your family members back in the heartland or people around the country” (25:31). Rather than falling for the temptation, say yes to engaging with new people. Say yes to trying new things. Say yes to remaining open in heart and humble in mind.
1.) How can intellectual humility be encouraged in the intellectual world of politics, think tanks, and universities?
2.) What crazy experience did you learn life-changing lessons or gain lasting relationships from?
Want more?
Aviral Chawya’s Social Cohesion and Economic Prosperity, at AdamSmithWorks
Richard Gunderman’s Intellectual Pride and the Limits of Theory, at AdamSmithWorks
Thomas Sowell’s Intellectuals and Society
Intellectual Humility: An Introduction to Philosophy and Science, Dr. Ian Church and Peter Samuelson
Aviral Chawya’s Social Cohesion and Economic Prosperity, at AdamSmithWorks
Richard Gunderman’s Intellectual Pride and the Limits of Theory, at AdamSmithWorks
Thomas Sowell’s Intellectuals and Society
Intellectual Humility: An Introduction to Philosophy and Science, Dr. Ian Church and Peter Samuelson
Comments
The Great Antidote: It’s Not Goodbye, It’s See You in September with Amy Willis

In this special episode of The Great Antidote, Amy Willis of Liberty Fund takes the mic to interview Juliette Sellgren, the voice behind the show. Together, they reflect on the evolution of the podcast—from its early days to the hundreds of guests it has featured—and how Juliette herself has grown in the process.
The Great Antidote: The Limits of Liberty: Buchanan’s Case for Constitutional Rules with Edward Lopez

What happens when people stop trusting rules—and start rewriting them?
In this episode, we are joined by economist Edward Lopez about the life and legacy of James M. Buchanan, the Nobel Prize-winning founder of public choice economics. We begin by unpacking Buchanan’s biography and intellectual roots: what shaped his worldview, who influenced his thinking, and why his work remains foundational to understanding government, rules, and freedom.
The Great Antidote: Targeted Incentives: Who Wins, Who Loses, and Why It Persists with Peter Calcagno

Remember the Amazon HQ2 frenzy? When nearly every U.S. state competed to become Amazon’s next home, offering billions in tax breaks and incentives? I do — I grew up right next door to Crystal City, Virginia, the site Amazon ultimately chose.
In this episode, I talk with economist Peter Calcagno about targeted economic incentives—the controversial policy tool that fueled the Amazon HQ2 bidding war and countless other corporate deals.
The Great Antidote: What Monkeys Teach Us About Economics with Bart Wilson

What if modern economics has overlooked what truly makes us human?
In this episode, Bart Wilson joins us to explore humanomics—an approach to economics that reintroduces meaning, culture, and moral judgment into how we understand economic behavior.
The Great Antidote: Douglas Den Uyl and Douglas Rasmussen on Ayn Rand: What She Gets Right and Where She Goes Too Far

We’ve talked about objectivism before on the podcast, but that was fairly introductory. Today, for the first time ever, I host two guests on the podcast to discuss the limitations of objectivism and where it fails to depict the good life. We talk about how they got interested in Rand’s thought, how they philosophically dealt with works that were mostly fiction, and where their philosophy, individualistic perfectionism, diverges from Rand’s and fills in some important blanks.