Advertise on podcast: The Independent with Scott Atlas

In this episode of The Independent with Scott Atlas, Scott speaks with Jacques Pitteloud, a veteran Swiss diplomat, intelligence expert, and foreign policy leader who currently serves as Switzerland’s Ambassador to Belgium and Head of Mission to NATO. Jacques explains how Switzerland has built one of the world's most stable and prosperous societies through decentralized governance, direct democracy, strong civic participation, and a culture of national responsibility.

In this episode of The Independent with Scott Atlas, Scott speaks with bestselling author and Senior Editor at The Federalist, Mollie Hemingway, about the lasting influence of Samuel Alito on the modern Supreme Court. The conversation explores Alito’s practical originalism, his commitment to constitutional limits, and how his background shaped his judicial philosophy. Hemingway explains why Alito has become one of the Court’s most consequential voices, the intense political pressure surrounding the Dobbs decision, and how his coalition-building approach differs from fellow originalists Scalia and Thomas while reshaping constitutional law and judicial restraint.

Scott welcomes Iranian-American historian, educator, and author Abbas Milani, who was imprisoned by the Shah of Iran in 1975. He is now a research fellow and co-director of the Iran Democracy Project at the Hoover Institution and the Hamid and Christina Madam Director of Iranian Studies at Stanford University. He was born in Iran, came to California when he was 16 years old, and was educated at UC Berkeley and got a PhD from University of Hawaii. He's published many books including The Myth of the Great Satan: A New Look at America's Relations with Iran and The Shah. They have a fascinating discussion on the state of affairs in Iran and the Middle East.

Scott welcomes Donald Boudreaux, Senior Fellow with the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. They have a conversation about free market economics, especially relating Hayek's fundamental points from almost a hundred years ago to what we see in America today and its relevance to the most important point of economic freedom - that it's the basis for all freedoms in America today.

Scott welcomes Chad Wolf, Executive Vice-President and Chair of Homeland Security and Immigration at the America First Policy Institute. He previously served as acting Secretary of Homeland Security during President Trump's first term. He has received numerous awards and accolades for his service to the nation, including the US Secretary of Transportation 911 Medal, the US Secretary of Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal, and the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal. They have a conversation about immigration, national security issues, and the work being done in the Trump administration to ensure safety and freedom in America today.

Scott welcomes renowned author and scholar Shelby Steele. Steele is an expert on race relations and race-based civil rights policies in America He's formerly the Robert and Marianne Oster Senior Fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. He's received numerous honors and awards for his work, including the Bradley Prize, the National Humanities Medal, an Emmy Award, and the National Book Critic Circle Award in 1990. Perhaps he's best known for his 2006 book, White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era. They have a provocative conversation about the polarizing issue of race relations.

Scott Atlas joins Ben Domenech, Mollie Hemmingway, and Chanel Rion for an in-depth discussion of the state of the American news media. America’s media is rapidly being transformed, and that transformation is accelerating. Beyond technology, the shift to social media was driven by a plummeting of trust in national news outlets, whose reporting was often overtly biased and false. Ironically, after social media platforms emerged as the new town square, they rapidly became tools for censorship, at times in collusion with government, most vividly on display during COVID. This forum will explore the future of social and legacy media in the search for objective information, especially as we enter the era of artificial intelligence.

Scott welcomes back Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice. Prior to that she founded the Dhillon Law Group as well as the Center for American Liberty, a nonprofit dedicated to pursuing civil liberties legal claims. Her private law practice career is focused on free speech, civil rights, and campaign and election law issues. They discuss the important work being done in the Trump administration regarding civil rights and freedom in America today.

Scott welcomes back Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice. Prior to that she founded the Dhillon Law Group as well as the Center for American Liberty, a nonprofit dedicated to pursuing civil liberties legal claims. Her private law practice career is focused on free speech, civil rights, and campaign and election law issues. They discuss the important work being done in the Trump administration regarding civil rights and freedom in America today.

In this second part of his two-part interview, Scott Atlas and Victor Davis Hanson explore misguided progressive policies that disproportionately harm the poor, encouraging crime as lenient judges and prosecutors push alternative sentencing. They discuss New York's socialist electoral trends, fueled mainly by an attitude of entitlement among America's younger generation. They conclude with a discussion of how Trump's authentic, resilient persona drives leftist vitriol, and how the political landscape might change in a post-Trump America.

Scott welcomes back acclaimed author and historian Victor Davis Hanson. They discuss the legacy of Charlie Kirk, and how lenient policies on crime and extreme media hyperbole against conservatives normalizes and even encourages political violence.

Part 4/4 of the Event "Free Speech Today in Free Societies," held September 5–6, 2025 at the Widder Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland. Sponsored by the Global Liberty Institute. Andrew Tettenborn is a Professor and Chair in Law, Swansea University, and writer, United Kingdom. John Yoo is an Emmanuel Heller Prof. of Law, Univ of California-Berkeley; Distinguished Visiting Prof, School of Civic Leadership, University of Texas-Austin, USA. Joachim Steinhoefel is an Attorney, civil rights and media law, and active litigator; Hamburg, Germany.

Part 3/4 of the Event "Europe and the Trump Economic Policies," held September 5–6, 2025 at the Widder Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland. Sponsored by the Global Liberty Institute. Barbara Kolm is the President, Hayek Institute, Vienna; Founding Director, Austrian Economics Center, and former Vice-President of the Österreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank). Reiner Eichenberger is the Professor for Economic and Financial Policy, University of Fribourg, Switzerland Thomas Mayer Founding Director, Flossbach von Storch Research Institute Germany; Former Chief Economist of Deutsche Bank Group and Head of Deutsche Bank Research Germany. Dr. Scott Atlas is a world-renowned expert in health care policy and frequent policy advisor to policymakers and government officials. He investigates the role of government and the private sector in health care quality and access, global trends in health care innovation, and the key economic and civil liberty issues related to health policy. The Independent features Dr. Atlas in conversation with high profile, news-making guests around public health policy, science, civil liberties, censorship and free speech, higher education, the media, and more.

Part 2/4 of the Event "Alliances and Freedom in the Trump Era," held September 5–6, 2025 at the Widder Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland. Sponsored by the Global Liberty Institute. Joshua Rauh is a renowned economist, He is the Ormond Family Professor of Finance at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution. He leads the Hoover Institution State and Local Government Initiative. He formerly served at the White House as principal chief economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers (2019-20). He has testified before House, Joint, and Joint Select Committees of the United States Congress, and he is a member of the Panel of Economic Advisers of the Congressional Budget Office. He has received several awards recognizing his scholarship including the Brattle Prize and the Smith Breeden Prize of the American Finance Association. Prior to his academic career, he was an associate economist at Goldman Sachs. He received a BA from Yale University and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, both in economics.

Part 1/4 of the Event "Alliances and Freedom in the Trump Era," held September 5–6, 2025 at the Widder Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland. Sponsored by the Global Liberty Institute. Chad F. Wolf is America First Policy Institute’s Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer & Chair of the Center for Homeland Security & Immigration. Previously, Wolf served as Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). At DHS, he successfully navigated numerous global and domestic challenges to the nation’s security. He also serves as President and Founder of Wolf Global Advisors. Prior to his service at DHS, he spent over 10 years in the private sector helping clients manage risks and earlier in his career worked on Capitol Hill. He has received the U.S. Secretary of Transportation 9/11 Medal, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal, and the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal.