Ep 357 | Mike Johnson Is Holding the Government Hostage over the Epstein Files | Guest: Rep. Thomas Massie

In the second half of his marathon conversation with Rep. Thomas Massie (R), Matt Kibbe asks the Kentucky congressman about his discharge petition to release the Epstein files. It turns out that one of the main reasons why the government remains shut down — and why Speaker Johnson (R-La.) is preventing the House of Representatives from convening — is that Massie has the votes to release the files. Since President Trump has called these files a hoax and FBI Director Kash Patel says the files don't exist, the big question is why Republicans are so determined to prevent Massie's petition from going through.

In this special two-part episode of “Kibbe on Liberty,” Matt Kibbe sits down for a marathon conversation with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to discuss President Trump’s plans to import Argentinian beef, both as a way to lower prices for American consumers and to help out Argentinian President Javier Milei. This is a little puzzling given Trump’s historic hostility toward foreign trade and his campaign promise to put America first. As someone who personally raises cattle, Massie is uniquely positioned in Congress to present the perspective of the American farmer. There is certainly no shortage of beef in our own country, but lowering prices requires relaxing a suite of crony regulations designed to protect Big Agriculture from the competition of local and independent farmers.

Of all the online fights Donald Trump picks, one of the most perplexing is his repeated attacks on Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie. Known for his commitment to the U.S. Constitution and his unfailing habit of putting America first, Massie should be exactly the kind of person Trump wants in Congress, but the fact that he won’t bend the knee to Trump on budget votes continues to nettle the president. Matt Kibbe sits down with Daniel McAdams, executive director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, to talk about how the internet spat, instead of destroying Massie, is actually elevating him to a national figure, helping him raise money, and highlighting his commitment to principle and refusal to sell out.

Cancel culture may be on the wane, but more insidious than social media mobs is the government’s ability to cut controversial figures off from their finances through the process of de-banking. Matt Kibbe sits down with Jorge Jraissati, president of Economic Inclusion Group, to talk about this little-understood means of censorship that is a growing threat to individual liberty. As cash becomes less and less useful, we’ve become increasingly reliant on banks and credit card companies to allow us to conduct basic commerce. When that tool is taken away, it’s the equivalent of being totally banished from society.

In an era when most Americans have put so much of their lives online, it’s easy to be complacent about online privacy. We’ve been told that as long as we have nothing to hide, we have nothing to fear. But in fact, an increasingly powerful surveillance state is a major threat to individual liberty and to the country as a whole. Matt Kibbe sits down with Naomi Brockwell, founder and president of the Ludlow Institute, to talk about why privacy still matters and to outline several ways that ordinary people can easily safeguard their digital data. This is important, because once the government knows everything about you, it can use that information to silence criticism and stifle dissent. Even those who approve of the current administration have to imagine that at some point, someone else is going to be in power, someone who might want to crack down on all the freedoms we hold dear. Without privacy, it becomes almost impossible to push back against oppressive regimes.

Author Matt Ridley is well known for his book "The Rational Optimist," which argued that the world is consistently getting better year after year. In the 15 years since that book was published, however, world events have convinced many people that the opposite is actually true. Matt Kibbe sits down with Ridley to discuss his next book project, in which he will update and reflect on his earlier conclusions to see whether there is still reason to be optimistic or if in fact it is rational to be a pessimist.

In a divided America where various groups, including men and women, are increasingly at each other’s throats, is there a way to set aside hatred and judgment in order to love one another? Matt Kibbe sits down with author and educator Warren Farrell to talk about his new book, “Role Mate to Soul Mate,” which seeks to help couples communicate better and build stronger relationships. The same principles apply to political discourse as well. Instead of listening and understanding, too many people have fallen back on accusations and finger-pointing, to the point where it leads to horrific acts of physical violence, such as the murder of Charlie Kirk. Farrell’s work is crucial if we want to live in a country where individuals are treated with kindness and humanity instead of being demonized for their opinions.

At the Universidad de la Libertad in Mexico City, Matt Kibbe sat down with Pano Kanelos, chancellor of the University of Austin, to talk about how higher education has gone wrong and what can be done to fix it. In the wake of the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk on a college campus, the fact that universities have become increasingly hostile to open discourse and the pursuit of truth has become more obvious than ever. Ideologically driven curricula, combined with rising costs and the student debt crisis, have made higher education a less appealing prospect, which is a shame when you consider that the purpose of universities was always supposed to be the expansion of human knowledge, not just preparing students for the job market.

Economists are united in pointing out that tariffs on foreign goods are really nothing more than a tax on American consumers, but what fewer people understand is that Trump’s policy on trade is not really about revenue or even about economic protectionism. Matt Kibbe is joined by Phil Magness, senior fellow at the Independent Institute, to explain how the tariffs represent a unilateral expansion of executive power that is now being challenged by the courts. It’s important to remember that Trump will not be president forever, and sooner or later, a Democrat is going to occupy the White House again. At that point, Democrats will be more than happy to use these expanded executive powers in ways that will horrify Trump’s base.

Stoicism and libertarianism are two philosophical systems that at first glance may not seem to have much in common, but Matt Kibbe caught up with Ryan Holiday, host of the "Daily Stoic," to attempt to find some common ground. The philosophy created by ancient Romans like Marcus Aurelius not only teaches us how to cope with adversity but also the importance of becoming the best version of ourselves and continuing to learn from others. In an era when everyone is an armchair philosopher with the ability to safely preach views from the comfort of X, it's useful to remember that we actually need to do the hard work, both to improve personally and to make the world a better place.