The emergence of generative artificial intelligence in the last few years has drawn a growing chorus of advocates offering proposals for how to regulate this new technology. Many of them want to treat AI as an entirely new kind of challenge that calls for entirely new regulatory tools. But starting from scratch is unlikely to lead us to effective regulation. Instead, regulators should begin from our existing tools and take the time to see what new modes of regulation might be needed.

Guest Dean Ball joins us to discuss how to strike a balance between hopeful optimism and candid recognition of the stark challenges posed by AI.

Dean Ball is a research fellow at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, where he focuses on AI. He also writes a Substack called Hyperdimensional.

This podcast discusses themes from Dean’s essay in the Spring 2024 issue of National Affairs, “How to Regulate Artificial Intelligence.”

The textbooks most commonly used in high-school history classes are badly deficient. These books, which shape the rising generation’s perception of the country they are inheriting, often leave out the core ideas that defined the American founding and the nation’s ideals. To recover America’s sense of itself, it’s crucial to teach high-school students the connection between ideas and events.

Guest Dan Currell joins us to discuss the erasure of the founding from high-school history and how we might restore it.

Dan Currell is CEO of the Digital Commerce Alliance and a senior fellow at the National Security Institute at George Mason University’s Scalia Law School. He has served as a senior advisor at the Department of Education and as a fellow in the office of former senator Ben Sasse.

This podcast discusses themes from Dan’s essay in the Winter 2024 issue of National Affairs, “The Invisible American Founding.”

Voting should be straightforward: Figure out which candidate or party best fits one’s political views or interests, and vote accordingly. But the last few elections have shown many Americans that it’s not nearly that simple. We could benefit from a new framework for thinking about voting, and not just for elections in which we find ourselves especially bewildered.

Guest Bryan McGraw joins us to discuss a new philosophy of voting and how to apply it in this year’s elections.

Bryan McGraw is an associate professor of politics and dean of social sciences at Wheaton College. His main areas of research are in contemporary political thought and especially how those traditions intersect with religious belief and practice.

This podcast discusses themes from Bryan and Timothy Taylor’s essay in the Winter 2024 issue of National Affairs, “How to Think about Voting.”