American Thought Leaders

Some parents are allegedly being investigated by child protective services for refusing gender-based interventions. In some cases, child protective services remove children from their homes. The Yaeli Martinez Child Protection Act, a newly proposed piece of federal legislation, would prevent such removals. In this episode, Laura Hanford, senior policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation’s DeVos Center for Human Flourishing, breaks down this new bill. She answers critical questions: What does the evidence show about suicide rates in children before and after these interventions? How have social workers, judges, and doctors been trained to treat so-called non-affirmation as abuse, and what are the consequences? And how do school secrecy policies and sanctuary-state custody claims work together to separate children from their families? Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

For decades, public health officials have promoted industrial seed oils—corn, canola, soybean, and sunflower, to name a few—as healthy replacements for traditional animal fats. Dr. Cate Shanahan, a family physician and author of “Dark Calories” and “Deep Nutrition,” believes the opposite. Dr. Shanahan argues that these oils are uniquely toxic and the primary drivers of modern metabolic and neurological disease. Seed oils are the “number one source of brain-damaging calories in our food supply,” she says. She unpacks how these oils generate toxic aldehydes when processed and heated. She reveals how the post-2000 trans-fat ban inadvertently made fried foods more unhealthy. And she examines the correlation between the dramatic rise in seed oil consumption and the near doubling of obesity rates. She answers some important questions. Do seed oils lead to mitochondrial dysfunction? Has mainstream nutrition science largely ignored seed oil risks? And what steps can people take to remove seed oils and restore…

In this episode, actor Jim Caviezel reflects on his 35 years in filmmaking and takes us behind the scenes of his latest film, “Ghost Soldier.” Known for his roles in “The Passion of the Christ,” “Deja Vu,” and “Person of Interest,” Caviezel stars in “Ghost Soldier” as a Green Beret defending his neighbor’s land against a corrupt corporation. “The narrative,” Caviezel says, is about “good versus evil. If you’re into that in a movie, bring your popcorn, an iced Coke, and you’re going to have yourself a great day.” Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

With Democrats sweeping the House and Senate in the midterms last night, I’m sitting down with classicist and military historian Victor Davis Hanson to get his take on the results and what they mean for the Trump administration, the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, and the 2028 elections. Hanson is the author of multiple bestselling books, including most recently, “The Counterrevolution: The Fall and Rise of Donald Trump and the MAGA Movement.” Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Is Beijing trying to meddle in the 2026 midterm elections in America? How has Beijing’s strategy against America changed in recent months? How have China’s economic woes and military purges altered the political landscape in Beijing? And will these change Xi Jinping’s calculus around Taiwan? In this episode, I sit down again with China analyst Gordon Chang, author of “Plan Red” and “The Coming Collapse of China.” From Chinese biolabs found in California and Las Vegas to increasing Chinese provocations in the South China Sea and East China Sea, Chang believes the world is growing more dangerous—and Americans are not prepared. Follow Gordon Chang on X: @GordonGChang Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

At FreedomFest, I spoke with actor Kelsey Grammer about why he believes the American founding remains a living source of wisdom. With the nation celebrating its 250th anniversary, he has been building The American Revelation, a project aimed at making American history more accessible, personal, and compelling. What happens when a society teaches its children primarily to see their country through guilt and failure, rather than through the achievements and principles that made reform possible in the first place? What does it mean to be grateful for a country while still recognizing that it is, as Grammer puts it, “a process,” one that depends on each generation choosing to understand, defend, and improve it? Join us for this conversation about history, freedom, and whether Americans can rediscover what made the American experiment worth fighting for. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

There have been eight deaths—six killings and at least two suicides—linked to a radical group known as the Zizians. Investigative journalist Andy Ngo, who has been at the forefront of studying far-left violence, reveals how an extreme version of Silicon Valley rationalist philosophy and effective altruism gave rise to a death cult. His latest book is titled “The Zizians: Inside a Trans Death Cult.” Ngo believes there’s a “clustering” effect at the most extreme fringes of transgender ideology, where psychiatric vulnerabilities, easy access to cross-sex hormones, and a persistent activist narrative of a “trans genocide” have combined to create a deadly feedback loop. In this episode, Ngo unpacks a disturbing landscape. How can online networks recruit and radicalize vulnerable youths? How did the Zizians form, and what have they done across the United States? And why have there been no trials? Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The…

“When you see the recent riots, destruction of stores, looting, burning [of] historic buildings, including churches ... you have to realize these things do not happen spontaneously,” says investigative journalist and bestselling author Richard Miniter. What is the link between what’s unfolding on the streets of France and the Iranian regime? Why might Iran be interested in influencing events in Europe—and is there a broader connection to the Iran war? And what is U.S. President Donald Trump’s end game for the region? “What hasn’t been explained—and is non-obvious to the American public—is that Iran is the gas station of Xi Jinping,” Miniter says. “What’s going on in Iran is designed to prevent a war off the coast of China in Taiwan.” Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

115 Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained have been brought home in the last 20 months—with zero ransoms paid—said Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to President Donald Trump and senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council. In this episode, Gorka takes us inside high-stakes hostage rescues, negotiation efforts, and the Trump administration’s strategy to go after radical jihadism and left-wing terrorism. In this episode, we dive into: A late-night mission to Kabul to meet top Taliban officials. The hostage cases Gorka sees as the most difficult. How many Americans are still being held hostage overseas. The single largest counterterrorism operation since 9/11. How terrorism threats have evolved since 9/11. The State Department’s new China wrongful detention advisory and what Americans should know before traveling. How the administration is targeting money flows to left-wing terrorism. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily…

Modern industrial agriculture relies on heavy chemical inputs and is built around corporate monopolies, leaving many Americans searching for healthier alternatives, say Drs. Robert and Jill Malone. They’re co-authors of the new book, “Homesteading for Health: One Farm Family’s Guide to Food, Land, and Self-Sufficiency.” They argue that true food security and health may begin in our own backyards. Modern homesteading is not a backward-looking lifestyle, they say, but instead a forward-thinking movement aimed at restoring physical health, mental well-being, and intentional community through self-reliance and real food. The Malones walk me through a host of questions: Can young families, in practice, choose homesteading over suburban life? What are the virtues of raw milk? Why are niche markets and diversifying a small farm’s income stream critical? And what practices may ultimately lead to healthier food for Americans? Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily…

In 2022, New York fined three private Amish schoolhouses $118,000 in combined fines for allowing unvaccinated children to attend. This came after New York repealed its longstanding religious exemptions for school vaccination requirements in 2019. New York law allows the state to fine a school up to $2,000 per student per day for noncompliance, which could add up to multi-million-dollar fines for a single school year. In response, the Amish school administrators and parents filed suit against the state, arguing that compulsory vaccination violated their First Amendment rights and the parental right to direct the upbringing and education of children. Now, Miller v. McDonald is on its second appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. In this episode, Aaron Siri, managing partner at Siri & Glimstad LLP, breaks down the profound implications of this case. “If we can’t protect the Amish, if we can’t protect their religious freedom in the United States of America under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, then,”…

In this episode, I sit down with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. He’s the longest-serving sitting governor, having spent 11 years in office, and is running for reelection this November. Abbott has made some major policy bets in America’s second-most-populous state. Last year, he signed a large-scale $1 billion school voucher program after years of effort pushing it through the legislature. Now he wants to eliminate school district property taxes for homeowners by covering the costs with the state’s surplus. Abbott has also made countering foreign infiltration a priority, from effectively barring individuals and companies linked to China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea from buying Texas land to setting up a state cyber command to guard critical infrastructure. We discuss: How can Texas eliminate school property taxes sustainably? What are the plans for the $7.5 billion reimbursement from the Department of Homeland Security for border security costs? And why did Abbott recently put a pause on data center development in…

From security dossiers and advanced aerospace stealth designs to the mundane technology in your living room, virtually no sector of the American economy has remained untouched by the Chinese Communist Party’s intellectual property theft campaign. In this interview, The Epoch Times senior editor Jan Jekielek sits down with David Shedd, former acting director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and co-author of “The Great Heist: China’s Epic Campaign to Steal America’s Secrets.” Shedd describes how China’s economic growth over the past 25 years was bolstered by stealing American intellectual property, technology, data, and know-how. Crucially, Shedd warns that this campaign extends beyond corporate espionage. No target is too small in the CCP’s eyes if it can benefit the Party, he argues. Shedd addresses a host of questions: How does China’s civilian-military fusion strategy turn its citizens into spies on demand? What are some major instances of China stealing information from the United States? What are the…

What does the U.S. government actually know about UFOs or unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), and what aren’t they telling us? Have non-human intelligences visited Earth already? And what do we know about them? There are few people who have interrogated the facts around UAPs as carefully as Dr. Phil. He and his team were given exclusive, early access by President Donald Trump to confidential files on these mysterious objects. “The one thing that I know and can confirm without question is that our government has been lying to us for 79 years. They’ve been telling us that they have no evidence; [that] they have nothing that is unexplainable; that there’s not anything in their files that suggests that there might be something suggestive of non-human intelligence … that’s a lie,” he says. “We’re talking about people that are admirals, generals, experienced lifetime pilots … seeing anomalous aerial phenomena that are doing things that our aircraft can’t do. They’re flying at speeds we can’t fly, doing…

A 2008 update to the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) is increasingly being used to target religious communities, says attorney John Lauro, and raising red flags for experts in constitutional law. The definition of the term “serious harm” in the statute was altered to include psychological and other non-physical harms. And in recent years, “that provision has been weaponized by plaintiffs’ lawyers,” Lauro says. This could affect the many religious communities that involve members voluntarily giving their time or money to religious causes; some of whom may later become disillusioned. “This statute … is like a dagger pointed at the soul of every voluntary religious community in the United States,” Lauro says. An advocate for religious freedom, Lauro has worked as a criminal and civil defense attorney for decades. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Nate Soares is the president of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute and co-author of “If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All.” “One of the critical thresholds here is this point where the AIs exceed the humans at fully automated AI research—or at closed-loop AI research—because that’s where you could start having a machine intelligence that makes a smarter machine intelligence that makes a smarter machine intelligence,” Soares said. This is called recursive self-improvement, and this is where things could quickly get out of hand, Soares added. Recent incidents involving rogue AI swarms breaking out of testing environments to hack other companies and even targeting U.S. government websites have made many worried. “Right now, we are in this window where we can see the AI is misbehaving, and we don’t know how long that window lasts. … If suddenly they all start to seem to behave, it’s going to be hard to tell: is that because we fixed it? Or is that because they started…

Six years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are still uncovering what was really happening behind closed doors. “What [Dr. Anthony Fauci] says many times privately in his diary is so at odds with both his public behavior and public statements,” says Peter Navarro, a senior White House adviser and author of the new book “Why Fauci Must Rot in Prison.” What do Fauci’s private notes reveal about the suppression of the lab leak theory? And why did Fauci initially support exploring hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19 and later change his mind? Fauci did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

In this episode, I sit down with U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche to discuss the Department of Justice’s latest work to combat voting and registration fraud, Chinese espionage, weaponization of the justice system, and scam centers across southeast Asia. With the Supreme Court rejecting the administration’s executive order on birthright citizenship and its emergency request related to mail-in ballots, what is the DOJ’s strategy moving forward? Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

It’s been over five years since a California law came into effect that allows biological males to be sent to women’s prisons if they identify as transgender. The law has no requirement for diagnosis, hormones, or surgery. Called the Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act, the law is being exploited by male predators and sex offenders, alleges Amie Ichikawa, an advocate for female inmates. “The first busload of men got to the Central California Women’s Facility,” Amie Ichikawa recounts, “it was scary. It was terrifying. 33.8 percent are registered sex offenders. I can’t think of any worse demographic of people to send into the women’s prison.” Amie Ichikawa, a former inmate herself who served five years for kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon, is now the founder and executive director of Woman II Woman. The nonprofit provides legal resources, education, and re-entry support to women in prison. Ichikawa is now also an ambassador at Independent Women and Independent Women’s Voice. In this episode,…

Modern biology often presents Darwinian evolution as a settled explanation for the origin and diversity of life. Douglas Axe is chair of molecular biology at Biola University and author of “Undeniable: How Biology Confirms Our Intuition That Life Is Designed.” In this episode, he argues that when you look at the mathematical probabilities that undergird molecular genetics, there are hard limits that random mutation and natural selection cannot overcome. Notably, Axe does not deny the existence of natural selection. Indeed, he argues that minor adaptations—such as virus mutations or dog breed variations—are well established. But can random mutation and selection explain the origin of complex, functional biological systems when the odds of forming a single functional protein fold are a staggering 1 in 10? We explore various questions: If random processes cannot generate complex biological systems, what does that reveal about the origin of life? Why do children intuitively believe that the natural world was…

Modern culture often treats popular consensus and media narratives as settled truth. Warren Smith, author of the new book “A Mind of Your Own: Independent Thinking in the Age of Misinformation,” argues that our society is increasingly convinced by misleading narratives rather than objective reality. He is the creator of the Secret Scholars Society channel on YouTube, and he’s become known for using the Socratic method to introduce people to different viewpoints. He argues that allowing ideas to conflict is essential to intellectual growth. “We recoil often from conflict,” he said, “but that’s where growth occurs.” Smith walked me through a host of questions: How do narrative manipulation and herd psychology compel people to abandon logic? How can one learn to identify fallacious arguments? And why does our culture so easily mistake emotional consensus for moral authority? Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

In this episode, I’m sitting down with Tom Homan. A career law enforcement officer, he’s served as a cop, border patrol agent, federal investigator, and acting ICE chief, and worked under six presidents from both sides of the aisle. Now as the White House border czar, he’s facilitating the most aggressive transformation of immigration enforcement that America has ever seen. Monthly deportations have hit record highs. Enforcement officers are prioritizing high-risk offenders, with over 60 percent of arrests involving individuals with criminal convictions or active felony charges, Homan says. And the pushback has been fierce. Homan says assaults on ICE officers are up 1,600 percent. Threats are up 6,000 percent. We discuss: What new initiatives or priorities can we expect to see in the coming weeks and months? How is the Trump administration dealing with nationwide court injunctions? How is the administration approaching a major China-related loophole on one of its island territories? And how many…

What happens when AI agents stop acting like isolated tools and begin collaborating to trick the very systems that evaluate them? Daniel Kokotajlo, executive director of the AI Futures Project and a former OpenAI researcher, describes a recent incident involving AI agents that discovered a way to communicate with one another, share strategies to cheat on their assigned tasks, and organize into a coordinated “swarm” to hack another company. “Over 700 of them,” Kokotajlo recounts, “piled into this attack on Hugging Face.” In this episode, Kokotajlo walks me through how AI agents can operate for long periods, solve complex problems, and even communicate through unexpected channels. He explains why reading an AI’s internal messages offers visibility into the agent swarm’s behavior—and why that visibility may not last as models become more capable. What does the Hugging Face incident reveal about the limits of current AI safety? Why were some agents willing to “sacrifice” themselves to help the wider group evade…

Ahead of the Trump–Xi summit in Washington this week, I’m sitting down with retired U.S. Marine Colonel Grant Newsham to understand what’s really at stake here, and what each side stands to win—or lose. “When the Chinese come here, they are very much testing [our] will … to defend ourselves, to defend our principles, to defend our friends,” Newsham says. Newsham is the former reserve head of intelligence for Marine Forces Pacific and author of “When China Attacks: A Warning to America.” In this episode, he breaks down the greatest vulnerabilities of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and how the Trump administration could leverage them to America’s advantage. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

I recently traveled to the Pacific island nation of Palau, home to one of the deadliest battlefields of World War II. And geography still matters: Today, it’s a security flashpoint for the United States and its closest Pacific allies. Palau is one of 12 countries in the world that maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Because of this and its strategic position, Palau faces continual and mounting pressure from Beijing. Veteran Palauan journalist and Compass Point Institute founder Kambes Kesolei says that China wants “to appear like the good guys.” Indeed, he continues, “they just want to weaken your spirit.” In this episode, he breaks down Palau’s unique history and relationship with the United States—and what’s at stake as Beijing expands its ambitions in the region. Why doesn’t Palau just give in? “Palauans are very loyal people,” Kesolei said. “They—like the allies they have chosen—value democracy, human rights, and freedom of religion.” Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host…

Centralized agriculture insists that strict federal oversight is essential for food safety and market stability. Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farms, argues that a close look at soaring beef prices, local meat production, and farm economics reveals regulatory hurdles that destroy small slaughterhouses and distort true free-market prices. Salatin addresses why high beef prices persist, noting recent droughts, aging farmers, the length of the cattle cycle, and the closing of Mexico’s borders. Far from opposing market efficiency, he argues that resilient, local production would respond more accurately to market fluctuations and supply shortages. In this interview, Salatin answers critical questions: How do massive corn and soybean subsidies skew beef prices and drive small cattle operations out of business? What do USDA inspection exemptions like the Prime Act reveal about intrastate commerce and food safety? And why is nature’s model of scaling through duplication far more effective than industrial…

In the remote Pacific, emergency medical transport is not a simple call away. Across hundreds of miles of open ocean separating island communities, sudden illness or severe injury can quickly become fatal without rapid intervention. Pacific Mission Aviation pilots Mark Abbott and Brock Welge operate on the front lines of remote search-and-rescue and critical medevac flights, serving remote island peoples. The Christian nonprofit’s mission is to provide free emergency evacuations, rescue and disaster relief, medical and food supplies, and even educational resources across Micronesia and the Philippines. In this episode, Abbott and Welge walk me through the unique reality of aviation in the remote Pacific. How do these self-funded aviators execute lifesaving operations? What are the dangers of landing on short, and sometimes neglected, airstrips? And what drew them from working in corporate America to serving remote island communities? Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guests, and do…

During World War II, America learned a hard lesson about the strategic importance of the small island nations scattered across the Pacific. Among them is Palau, a nation of 18,000 people in what’s known as the second island chain. It’s home to the bloodiest battlefield of the Pacific theater, on the island of Peleliu. Today, as the Chinese regime prepares for a possible invasion of Taiwan, Palau finds itself on the front lines again. It’s one of only 12 countries that diplomatically recognize Taiwan, and one of only three with a Compact of Free Association with the United States—an agreement that gives the U.S. exclusive military access to Palauan waters in exchange for providing defense, postal service, economic assistance, and other benefits to Palauans. Palau’s strategic position has made it a target. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has ramped up gray-zone tactics and information warfare across the region to pull small Pacific nations away from Taiwan and the United States. In this episode, I’m sitting…

Rusty Reno is the editor-in-chief of First Things Magazine and author of “Return of the Strong Gods: Nationalism, Populism, and the Future of the West.” In his book, Reno argues that after the World Wars, Western intellectual elites concluded that the “strong gods”—nationalism and intense ideological loyalty, to name a few—were the root causes of violence. In response, figures like Karl Popper promoted an “open society” framework, aimed at diluting strong loyalties. Decades later, Reno argues, we live in an age when the frameworks that gave human beings stability, purpose, and a sense of belonging have been stripped away. In this episode, Reno unpacks questions such as: What about the 1980s is so desirable to people today? Why are young people dissatisfied with endless choices? And why ought questions of meaning, national identity, and truth return to the center of politics? Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Modern medicine in the West often treats chronic and autoimmune conditions as lifelong diagnoses that must be managed rather than cured. Sina McCullough—who has a doctorate in nutrition and is the author of “Hands Off My Food!”—argues that diseases are primarily a state of imbalance, driven by toxicities and deficiencies. These, she says, can often be reversed by restoring “root-level” health. “I refuse to accept the label that disease is a lifelong sentence,” McCullough says. “When you remove the roadblocks standing in the way, the body naturally takes over and heals itself.” McCullough does not, however, dismiss Western medicine entirely—standard diagnostic labs and emergency care remain critical tools. But can modern conventional treatments fully resolve chronic illness without addressing underlying dietary triggers, outdated food labeling, and environmental toxins? In this episode, McCullough tells her story of how she went from near-fatal autoimmune issues to wholly restored health without conventional…

Underground and urban warfare have become the decisive battlegrounds of modern warfare, yet for a long time, military doctrine has been built to avoid both, said John Spencer, a retired U.S. Army major and chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute. He’s repeatedly embedded himself in active war zones, from Gaza to Ukraine, and personally walked through the nearly two-mile-long Hamas tunnel, wide enough to drive a truck through, that led from Gaza City right up to the Israel-Gaza border wall. A leading expert on urban and underground warfare, he argues that subterranean warfare is spreading globally. He also argues that enemies of the West have deliberately weaponized the laws of war itself, using civilians as shields. How can democratic nations defend themselves when non-state actors intentionally weaponize civilian deaths to create political leverage? How are manipulated statistics and social media disinformation warping the public’s understanding of modern-day battlefield…

Modern American politics is commonly framed as a face-off between traditional conservative and contemporary progressive values. Bradley Thayer, author of “America’s 100 Years’ War,” argues that a closer look at the tactics shaping Western institutions reveals a deeper ideological struggle—one whose roots trace back to Vladimir Lenin. In this episode, Thayer argues that what threatens America today extends far beyond traditional Marxist economics. He says that neo-Leninist strategies actively work to subvert democracy by hijacking civil society, destabilizing Western borders, and replacing individual rights with group identity. Thayer addresses a host of critical questions: How did Soviet political warfare evolve into a privatized network operating within the United States? Why is the Chinese Communist Party best understood as an illegitimate colonial export of Soviet imperialism rather than an authentic Chinese polity? And how can Americans draw upon our founding principles to end this century-long war?…

Many people have come to accept pervasive surveillance as the price of modern life: that our phones, browsers, messages, purchases, and movements will inevitably be collected, analyzed, and sold to those with enough money or power. For many, there’s a growing sense that true privacy is irrevocably lost, and resistance is largely futile. Naomi Brockwell disagrees. She is the president of the Ludlow Institute, and with her YouTube channel, she educates people about the many choices they can make to reclaim their privacy—without totally disconnecting from modern life. “I, as an individual, can actually make choices that reclaim basically all of my privacy in the digital age,” she says. She connects the dots between digital privacy and the survival of whistleblowers, investigative journalists, protest movements, and opposition parties—none of which can function without it. Her message is that some things are worth fighting for: “Because submission is its own kind of death.” Her institute recently helped draft a…

Modern biology often posits Darwinian evolution and natural selection as a settled explanation for the vast complexity of the natural world. Yet, looking closely at the nanoscale machinery inside the cell reveals molecular systems that seem to defy a gradual, evolutionary unfolding, says Michael Behe, professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University and author of “Darwin’s Black Box,” “The Edge of Evolution,” and “Darwin Devolves.” “I was startled to see that a foundation concept of my worldview had no support; that it was all built on social considerations,” Behe says. Importantly, Behe points out that he is not rejecting Darwinian evolution in its entirety. Minor evolutionary adaptations are well-established, he says. But can Darwin’s theory of evolution adequately explain the origin of complex biological mechanisms that require many interlocking components to function at all? Also, what do recent discoveries in molecular genetics reveal about the boundaries of natural evolution? And why is the scientific…

It’s rare to see large-scale bronze installations built today. In Washington, D.C., as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebration, Matthew Taylor has transformed the long-neglected Freedom Plaza with a beautiful new memorial celebrating Revolutionary War heroes. He is an artist, filmmaker, and senior adviser at the National Endowment for the Humanities. Among those featured in the new Spirit of ‘76 installation is Samuel Whittemore, who was 78 when he decided to join the Revolutionary War effort against the British. “They bayoneted him 13 times. They shot him in the head and left him for dead, and yet he lived another 18 years to the age of 96,” says Taylor. “The great thing about these soldiers is most of these people either don’t have statues [or] are not very well-known, and this shows that this is the common citizen,” he says. These were “ordinary people doing extraordinary things to help create and build this nation,” he says. The equestrian statue of Caesar Rodney—which had been taken down in…

Ian Rowe is a charter school founder who believes hard work and accountability—and rejecting victimhood—are the secrets to a good education. His school Vertex Partnership Academies just celebrated its first graduating class, with students moving on to college, the military, and futures that once felt out of reach in an area where only 7 percent of kids typically graduate college-ready. His newest project, Westchester Aerospace and Virtues Academy (WAVA), pairs a classical education with a surprising real-world specialty: aviation and aerospace training. Students will study great books and Western civilization while also learning air traffic control, piloting, aircraft maintenance, airport management, and related trades. The school will sit right next to Westchester County Airport in New York, so students can watch planes and hear real air traffic control, making technical training part of everyday school life. So why aerospace—in an age when AI is upending every industry? “While artificial intelligence is…

Ahead of the Republican Senate primary runoff tomorrow in South Carolina, I’m sitting down with Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) as he and Sen. Darline Graham make their final appeals to South Carolinian voters. In this episode, Norman dives into his core political priorities, emphasizing fiscal conservatism, securing the integrity of elections through the SAVE America Act, and reforming major entitlement programs. Drawing on his background in the private sector, Norman said Washington needs more business-minded leaders who understand how to balance a budget and tackle national debt. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

🔥Invest in Frontieras: Opportunity closes August 27. https://ept.ms/4ghvnCo In this episode, Adm. Brian Christine, assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), joins me to break down a major new HHS report on gender medicine, the unspoken consequences of transgender procedures, the incentives involved, and how investigators uncovered potentially millions of dollars in fraudulent billing. Christine reveals how certain diagnostic codes were used to circumvent both the difficulties of insurance reimbursement and laws in certain states that prohibited transgender procedures. Investigators found that coding for unspecified endocrine disorders accounted for more than $40 million in potentially fraudulent billing for puberty blockers. And a diagnosis of “precocious puberty” was used for over $11 million in billing for patients aged 13 to 17. Financial incentives combined with the ideological capture of medical institutions create a dangerous mix, Christine warns. But…

A trove of newly released documents, colloquially known as the “Fauci Diaries,” offer an unusually revealing window into the decisions and dynamics that shaped the COVID-19 era. Jeffrey Tucker spent days reading all the documents—over 1,100 pages of materials—which were prepared within the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and appear to have been intended, at least in part, as the foundation for an autobiography. Tucker argues that these records offer key insights into what Dr. Anthony Fauci knew, when he knew it, and how that knowledge influenced public messaging and policy. We discuss the early push for an mRNA vaccine, the influential WHO delegation to China in February 2020, the origins and consequences of lockdown policies, and Fauci’s relationship with the media. Why did so many countries adopt elements of China’s COVID response? What do the documents reveal about the debate over the lab-leak theory? And why did the vaccination push intensify even as breakthrough infections became…

Newly released documents reveal how evidence of Chinese penetration of voter registration files and plots to interfere in the election were withheld or downplayed. The new files reveal one of the intelligence officers said they “deliberately massaged” the presidential daily briefing in 2020 to downplay election-related information, with another stating, “I’m basically running a shadow government across the FBI at this point.” John Solomon is chair of the White House Government Transparency Task Force, an award-winning journalist, and founder of Just the News. He breaks down key documents his task force has released—and what more we can expect to see in the coming days and months. Newly declassified documents also upend the prevailing narrative on the Biden–Ukraine story, revealing how the FBI allegedly ran a secret operation known as Round River. According to the documents, it labelled whistleblowers as Russian “conduits” and dismissed the evidence they provided on the Biden family as “Russian…

💰Protect your wealth with precious metals! Call American Hartford Gold today & get up to $20,000 in free silver on your 1st order! Call 855-862-3377 or text AMERICAN to 65532 or click here: https://ept.ms/ATL-AHG The largest Chinese embassy in Europe is set to rise in the heart of London: a 20,000-square-meter complex at Royal Mint Court. Local councilors rejected it twice. But the government approved it, and a High Court challenge from residents was dismissed this summer. Standing against it is Luke de Pulford, founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC)—an international coalition of lawmakers opposing Chinese Communist Party infiltration. Why does this embassy matter, and why should America care? The site sits directly above fiber-optic cables carrying sensitive financial data between the City of London and Canary Wharf, Britain’s two main financial districts. The architectural drawings are also redacted. “Nearly an entire floor is redacted, so we don’t know what the use of those buildings…

Grace Jo was born in North Korea and nearly starved to death as a child during the country’s devastating famine in the 1990s. Her father crossed into China in search of food for his family, only to be tortured and die after returning to North Korea. Her grandmother and two younger brothers died of starvation. And her oldest sister disappeared while searching for food. The family suspects she became a victim of human trafficking in China. Jo still remembers that her grandmother’s dying wish was to eat a baked potato. It was a wish the family could not fulfill. At six years old, Jo first crossed the Tumen River into China with her mother and sister. In China, they lived in hiding—ever fearful of being sent back to North Korea. Jo was repatriated twice before finally escaping North Korea for the last time. Her story is a haunting account of survival, loss, and hope that shows the brutal reality of life under North Korea’s regime and the determination, resilience, and sheer luck it takes to escape it. In 2008,…

Is the end of privacy inevitable? Is programmable money inevitable? Is it inevitable that artificial intelligence will eliminate most of the world’s white-collar jobs? Oxford professor Carissa Véliz argues that such claims are a red flag. She’s the author of the new book “Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future.” Someone who says a future is inevitable is trying to get you to do something and benefit from your belief, she argues. She is convinced that such self‑fulfilling prophecies only work if we believe them and she urges people to defy these narratives by asking: Who is predicting this future? Who benefits? What data supports it—and what missing data might contradict it? Véliz is a philosopher and author who specializes in privacy and the ethics of artificial intelligence. She is an associate professor of philosophy at the Institute for Ethics in AI and a Fellow at Hertford College at the University of Oxford. Prediction, Véliz explains, is a business model: diagnose a problem, promise…

In this exclusive interview with FBI Director Kash Patel, we dive into the FBI’s campaign to take down scam centers around the world, from Burma to the United Arab Emirates. Last year, the FBI launched Operation Blackout, a 16-month campaign that dismantled four of the world’s largest scam centers. Working with international partners—notably including China’s Ministry of Public Security—the FBI seized over $15 billion, arrested more than 300 individuals, and freed thousands of trafficked victims who had been forced to work at these scam compounds. The amount of money Americans have reported losing to fraud has increased over threefold from 2020 to 2025, according to data from the Federal Trade Commission. And nearly half of that in 2025 went to romance cryptocurrency scams—known as pig-butchering scams. Scammers use texts to build trust before luring victims into fake investments that drain their life savings. Then they move and launder the money through crypto wallets. So what can people do to avoid being…

Almost a year after the Washington Declaration, Armenia is trying to turn a hard-won peace with Azerbaijan into something lasting. In this conversation, Armenia’s ambassador to the United States, Narek Mkrtchyan, explains what the agreement means on the ground and why the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity could reshape the region and the country’s future. “We sit in a very tough neighborhood. We sit in a very interesting geography. We are at the crossroads of Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, South Caucasus,” Mkrtchyan says. Mkrtchyan describes how Armenia is trying to turn geography into strategy through the development of diplomacy, new trade routes, and international partnerships. He views this as more than a peace process—it’s a chance to redefine Armenia’s place in the region. “In the center is the concept of crossroads of peace,” Mkrtchyan says. Recently, Armenia also got approval for the biggest artificial intelligence factory in the region—a $4 billion project that officials say…

Americans are ripped off in the billions annually through romance “pig-butchering” scams—the most dominant type. But who’s really behind them? The shocking reality is the vast majority of these scammers are trafficked victims, enslaved across more than 60 countries and forced to scam or face torture. “You’re working 17-hour days. You’re catatonic. You’re not getting sleep. You start to doze. They‘ll electrocute you, and if you refuse to scam, they’ll torture you,” said Timothy Blackwood, an award-winning Canadian-American film director. His film “Scam Slave: From Hell to Home” follows a Ugandan man promised a high-paying job in Thailand, only to be kidnapped by a Myanmar-based crime syndicate. “There’s all different types of scams going on there. There’s villas, there’s strip clubs, there’s clinics to support the staff that are managing and running these compounds,” Blackwood says. These scam centers in Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar generate billions that fund even more advanced operations. “It’s not simply in…

💰Protect your wealth with precious metals! Call American Hartford Gold today & get up to $20,000 in free silver on your 1st order! Call 855-862-3377 or text AMERICAN to 65532 or click here: https://ept.ms/ATL-AHG Since the sexual revolution and the introduction of no-fault divorce in 1969, the institution of marriage in America has undergone a profound transformation. Katy Faust, founder of children’s rights organization Them Before Us and co-author of a book by the same name, argues that marriage has changed from a permanent, child-centered union to a vehicle for adult fulfillment. And now new reproductive technologies—from IVF to surrogacy—are making parenthood possible in ways never seen before. For many, this is progress. But at what cost? Faust argues that for decades, we have prioritized adult desire over a child’s fundamental right to be known, loved, and raised by their biological mother and father. In this episode, she walks me through many complex questions: What makes something a natural right?…

The values Americans hold dear—such as freedom of speech, religious liberty, and democratic elections—are weaponized by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), says Tianliang Zhang, an author, historian, and popular commentator on China affairs. In this episode, he argues that the CCP devised a master plan called “America against America” to exploit those very freedoms and openness in order to undermine U.S. interests. The concept was developed by Wang Huning in 1989, chairman of China’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). “But how to implement that, that’s the unrestricted war,” Zhang says. Unrestricted warfare is a CCP doctrine of leveraging everything as a tool of war, whether it be fentanyl, the media, or election integrity. How is this war waged in practice? The transnational repression targeting Falun Gong practitioners is one such example. The Falun Gong meditation practice was popular in China during the 1990s. An estimated 70 million to 100 million…

🔥IMMERSED: Round closes July 30. Invest before the round closes. Learn more about Immersed here: https://ept.ms/44RDBfk “The Cuban regime has been very successful at portraying itself as harmless,” but in reality, Cuba’s intelligence service is “more formidable than the KGB,” says John Suarez, the executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba. A new 100 page State Department report details the full scope of Cuba’s operations, penetrating all levels of the U.S. government, including the CIA and State Department. How did a country like Cuba become what the State Department describes as the “capital of 21st century communism?” Suarez says the regime’s long-term infiltration operations recruit agents early, especially via university exchanges. For instance, Ana Belén Montes spied for Cuba for 17 years as a senior Defense Intelligence Agency analyst, leaking critical information that compromised U.S. intelligence operations. In another case, a high-ranking U.S. diplomat, Victor Manuel Rocha, shaped American…

🔥Check out Immersed and invest in the future of AI-powered spatial computing. Round closes July 30: https://ept.ms/4fY9c4b Taiwan faces millions of cyberattacks and intrusion attempts every day, as well as a dizzying onslaught of disinformation from Beijing. There are few people who understand what Taiwan is really up against better than Taiwanese legislator Wang Ting-yu, a leader in the Taiwanese Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. He’s been sanctioned three times by Beijing and repeatedly threatened for speaking out. In this episode, he reveals Taiwan’s three-step strategy to withstand the Chinese Communist Party’s psychological onslaught. Winning the battle for truth, he believes, is imperative to preserving the life of any democratic nation. And he also breaks down the importance of this tiny island nation. Taiwan produces two-thirds of the world’s semiconductors—and nearly all of the advanced ones—but its importance stretches far beyond this single product. Wang details Taiwan’s…