<![CDATA[The Political Orphanage]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oBmm!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff111aa29-0ac7-422c-8f96-99dc9ce9916b_1280x1280.pngThe Political Orphanagehttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.comSubstackThu, 22 Oct 2026 13:40:34 GMT<![CDATA[Why Corporations Are People]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/why-corporations-are-peoplehttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/why-corporations-are-peopleThu, 22 Oct 2026 11:03:48 GMTCorporate personhood is one of the most misunderstood concepts in American law. From ancient Rome and medieval universities to William Blackstone and the modern Supreme Court, this episode explores why corporations have legal identities, how limited liability works, why companies can be prosecuted for crimes, and whether they can receive the corporate equivalent of the death penalty.

Then, a look at three competing philosophies of corporate personhood—Association Theory, Concession Theory, and Real-Entity Theory. Are corporations simply groups of individuals exercising their freedoms collectively? Artificial creations granted privileges by government? Or institutions with identities and rights of their own? And which constitutional rights should corporations actually possess?

Watch on YouTube:

]]><![CDATA[Bonus: Swedish Opposition Burgers]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/bonus-swedish-opposition-burgershttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/bonus-swedish-opposition-burgersTue, 20 Oct 2026 23:39:52 GMTThe Swedish government once employed topless women to cell cigarettes and liquor at a state-run strip club. It also created a government-owned burger chain in opposition to McDonald’s--which did not work out.

In this episode I share some of the other fun things I have learned about Sweden of late, including their comparatively egalitarian society, my mi…

Read more

]]><![CDATA[How Immigration Broke German Politics]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/how-immigration-broke-german-politicshttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/how-immigration-broke-german-politicsSat, 17 Oct 2026 11:00:47 GMT

Why is Germany’s anti-immigration AfD surging in popularity? And why does immigration seem to work better in America than in Europe? Harris, a Bosnian refugee turned American citizen who now lives and works in Germany, joins us to explore the economic, cultural, and political tensions fueling Europe’s immigration backlash.

We discuss Germany’s sprawling welfare state, bureaucratic obstacles to integration, immigrant crime statistics, the challenges of assimilating refugees, and the difference between civic and ethnic nationalism.

Along the way, we examine whether the AfD’s rise reflects legitimate grievances, xenophobia, economic stagnation, or a growing sense that Germany’s political establishment has lost control.

Discord Server: https://discord.gg/D2uBGknhe

NOTE: This episode has been edited for purposes of brevity and flow. On occasions when I do this, I make the unedited version available as well. The original can be found here

]]><![CDATA[Bonus: Topics I Don't Want to Do]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/bonus-topics-i-dont-want-to-dohttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/bonus-topics-i-dont-want-to-doFri, 09 Oct 2026 23:04:30 GMTA listener asks: are there topics you’re avoid?

Yes.

Read more

]]><![CDATA[Europe is Freeloading on American Healthcare]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/europe-is-freeloading-on-americanhttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/europe-is-freeloading-on-americanThu, 08 Oct 2026 11:00:52 GMTAmericans pay vastly more for medicine than citizens of other wealthy countries, but are those countries getting a bargain at our expense? David Goldhill, author of Catastrophic Care and founder and CEO of the healthcare marketplace Sesame, joins the show to explain why he considers American healthcare a kind of “second NATO”—one in which the United States shoulders a disproportionate share of the costs of medical innovation while the rest of the world reaps the benefits. We discuss why American healthcare is so outrageously expensive, whether adopting a European-style system would undermine medical innovation, why hospitals compete on everything except price, and whether healthcare can ever function like a normal market.

]]><![CDATA[The Spear Industrial Complex]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/the-spear-industrial-complexhttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/the-spear-industrial-complexMon, 05 Oct 2026 13:05:12 GMT

The Political Orphanage is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Nixon Explains the Lesbian Mask Bar Controversy]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/nixon-explains-the-lesbian-mask-barhttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/nixon-explains-the-lesbian-mask-barFri, 02 Oct 2026 19:04:49 GMT

Former President Richard M. Nixon joins the podcast for new segment “What Fresh Hell is This?” to explain the controversy surrounding the Last Ditch lesbian bar in Greenville, Massachusetts about their ongoing mask controversy.

Read more

]]><![CDATA[The Man Who Killed Antitrust]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/the-man-who-killed-antitrusthttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/the-man-who-killed-antitrustThu, 01 Oct 2026 06:38:08 GMT

When does a successful company become a dangerous monopoly? Heaton traces the strange history of American antitrust law, from railroad barons and Standard Oil to Hollywood studios and Big Tech, before diving into the intellectual cage match between Louis Brandeis and Robert Bork. Should regulators worry about corporations getting too big and powerful, or only step in when consumers actually get hurt? Along the way, Heaton encounters natural monopolies, vertical integration, glitter cartels, cowboy boots, suspiciously powerful coffin companies, and the surprisingly difficult question of what even counts as a market.

]]><![CDATA[Mammoths and Neanderthals]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/mammoths-and-neanderthalshttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/mammoths-and-neanderthalsThu, 24 Sep 2026 18:36:33 GMT

Colossal Laboratories and Biosciences is hoping to bring back mammoths by the year 2028 using recovered genes and CRISPR. Should it? How do we balance the cool factor against playing god, and practical considerations?

Jumping ahead, what about… Neanderthals? If we could bring them back, should we?

Josh Jennings rejoins to discuss the ethics of recreating …

Read more

]]><![CDATA[Why Childcare Will Always Be Expensive]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/why-childcare-will-always-be-expensivehttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/why-childcare-will-always-be-expensiveWed, 23 Sep 2026 11:01:14 GMTAlex Mayyasi of NPR’s Planet Money joins me to explore some of the stranger forces shaping the economy. Why did the federal government create a legally mandated raisin cartel? Why are so many American corporations technically from Delaware? Should companies exist solely to make money? And are there times when price controls actually work?

We also dig into Baumol’s cost disease—the counterintuitive reason that as society gets richer, childcare, healthcare, restaurants, haircuts, teachers, and live performances can become increasingly expensive. Plus: how rising labor costs might be contributing to the loneliness epidemic, and how Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz helped invent the modern television business.

His book: "Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life"

]]><![CDATA[How I Use A.I. For Work]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/how-i-use-ai-for-workhttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/how-i-use-ai-for-workFri, 18 Sep 2026 22:01:08 GMTCongratulations! The advent of LLM’s means everyone in America just got promoted--you now get a personal assistant.

In this episode I explain how I use my A.I. personal assistant(s). So far.

We’ll cover:

  • The forthcoming Heaton Humor LLM Library

  • How to use ChatGPT for research and tutoring

  • How to make your own personal robot staff using Codex and Notion age…

Read more

]]><![CDATA[The A.I. Civil War]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/the-ai-civil-warhttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/the-ai-civil-warThu, 17 Sep 2026 10:02:54 GMT

Are we racing toward an AI-powered golden age—or building something we won't be able to control? Justin Robert Young joins to explore the emerging philosophical divide over artificial intelligence: accelerate innovation and reap potentially enormous benefits, or slow down before we unleash risks we don't understand. We discuss OpenAI and Anthropic, the politics of AI regulation, competition with China, whether the AI boom is a bubble, the strongest case for the AI doomers, and the possibility that advances in AI could transform medicine, work, and even human aging. Plus: Justin explains why the best way to prepare for the AI revolution is surprisingly simple—start asking it dumb questions.

]]><![CDATA[Upwingers Fighting Downwingers (Rebroadcast)]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/upwingers-fighting-downwingers-rebroadcasthttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/upwingers-fighting-downwingers-rebroadcastTue, 15 Sep 2026 10:03:14 GMTDr. Steve Fuller of Warwick University says the meaningful split in society is not Leftwing vs. Rightwing, but rather Upwing vs. Downwing. Both have radically different attitudes to both risk and human nature, which informs their policy decisions and the direction they want to steer society.

SUPPORT THE SHOW! www.patreon.com/andrewheaton

Dr. Fuller’s book at: www.mightyheaton.com/featured

Referenced in the show today:

TPO: “Was Abraham Lincoln Leftwing or Rightwing?” https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/hyrum-lewis

“Transcendant Man” – Documentary by Ray Kurzweill about the Singularity https://www.amazon.co.uk/Transcendent-Man-Ray-Kurzweil/dp/B016V7WCLA

ATA: The Bioethics of Gattica – Discussed on Alienating the Audience https://alienating.libsyn.com/gattaca

ATA: How Cryonics Works – Interview on Alienating the Audience https://alienating.libsyn.com/we-can-freeze-you-how-cryonics-works

ORIGINAL AIR DATE: August, 2023

]]><![CDATA[Kirk or Spock for President? Sept AMA]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/kirk-or-spock-for-president-septhttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/kirk-or-spock-for-president-septFri, 11 Sep 2026 14:12:06 GMTSeptember Ask Me Anything! Including:

  • Why Americans feel miserable—and pessimism sells.

  • Which Star Trek captain would make the best president?

  • How my views on government spending have changed.

  • Why I left Washington, DC.

  • My upcoming FEE game show, Abundance.

  • Working from Scotland and the myth of my extended vacation.

  • My favorite podcasts and why I listen.

Read more

]]><![CDATA[How Do Other Countries do Healthcare?]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/how-do-other-countries-do-healthcarehttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/how-do-other-countries-do-healthcareThu, 10 Sep 2026 10:04:20 GMTHealthcare in America is more expensive than anywhere else in the world—but what are other countries actually doing differently? Physician and Slice of Life MD author Sally Primus joins me to tour healthcare systems from Germany and Britain to Japan, Australia, and Estonia. We look at single payer, private insurance, wait times, doctor shortages, drug prices, bureaucracy, and the strange economics of American healthcare—and ask which ideas the United States might actually want to steal.

]]><![CDATA[Ask Heaton Anything?]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/ask-heaton-anythinghttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/ask-heaton-anythingWed, 09 Sep 2026 19:04:32 GMTHello friends, thinking about time I did another AMA for a bonus episode.

What would you like to know, or hear me ramble about? Post in comments.

Thanks!

Read more

]]><![CDATA[How America Improved English]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/how-america-improved-englishhttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/how-america-improved-englishSat, 05 Sep 2026 12:16:00 GMT

Why do Americans pronounce R’s but not spell words with extra U’s? Where did the big split come from?

In this episode we explore how American and British English diverged in terms of pronunciation and spellings, how dictionaries transformed English from a spoken into a primarily written language, and the surprising amount of now standard English words an…

Read more

]]><![CDATA[Guys with Swords Control the French Language ]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/can-trump-rename-lake-ontariohttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/can-trump-rename-lake-ontarioFri, 04 Sep 2026 17:10:37 GMT

Donald Trump has renamed Lake Ontario “Lake America” for federal purposes—but can a president actually rename a place, or only change what the government calls it? Andrew Heaton traces the strange history of who gets to control language, from ancient river names that survived Romans and Normans, to Cardinal Richelieu’s Académie française, to Noah Webster, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and America’s long refusal to appoint an official authority over English. Along the way: French language purism, loanwords, bad translations, official English, and why language usually belongs less to governments than to the people who actually speak it.

]]><![CDATA[I Read the DSA's Platform]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/i-read-the-dsas-platformhttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/i-read-the-dsas-platformFri, 28 Aug 2026 18:09:53 GMT

The DSA recently released a policy platform establishing the goals of their political movement. In this episode we got through the main planks of that document, namely the bits about “socialism” and “democratic.” We likewise go through a few articles and interviews of prominent DSA members to get an idea of what, in their own words, they’re actually up to. (Spoiler: it’s socialism.)

]]><![CDATA[I'm hosting a Gameshow on Economics]]>https://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/im-hosting-a-gameshow-on-economicshttps://www.thepoliticalorphanage.com/p/im-hosting-a-gameshow-on-economicsMon, 24 Aug 2026 13:04:17 GMTHello All,

This fall I’m hosting a game show through the Foundation for Economic Education about the Affordability Crisis.

Someone (not me, but maybe you) is going to win $1 million dollars!

FEE has an online quiz (takes about ten minutes) on why prices are going up in the United States. Just click the link and take the quiz. FEE will randomly select a dozen contestants who took it, and we’ll all meet up in Atlanta for an economics gameshow. The grand prize is a million dollars.

One of my mottos is “keep the money in the family,” so all things being equal, I would love it if someone from our community wound up winning!

I have no say whatsoever in who gets tapped, nor will I have influence on who wins--I’m just the high-energy presenter on the day of. But wouldn’t it be cool if a fellow orphan wound up on stage with me in Atlanta, and particularly nifty if they got the million?!

Applicants must be 18 to 35, legal residents of the United States, excluding New York, Florida and Rhode Island.

Million Dollar Question

]]>