As Congress heads back to Capitol Hill next week it’s certain that gun legislation will be one of the items that lawmakers will be under pressure to tackle. Lately, the media, lawmakers, and President Trump have talk a lot about “red flag” laws. Today our expert, Amy Swearer, helps explain what these laws are, if they are working, and what concerns currently exist from liberals and conservatives.

The Trump Administration has recently come under intense scrutiny from the left for making revisions to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Liberals says these changes will likely lead to more species becoming extinct. But others say the ESA has actually failed in it’s well-intentioned goal to preserve endangered species. This week, we push back against the left’s narrative, and examine how the Trump Administration’s changes could actually make the Endangered Species Act better. 

President Trump recently mentioned that he had an interest in buying Greenland and the media went nuts. Pundits think it’s a crazy but how crazy is it? Why would Trump want to buy Greenland? And what’s our relationship with Greenland like right now? This week our expert, Luke Coffey, talks about Greenland’s government and history, if the United States should buy Greenland, and more on why Greenland is such an important ally to the United States.

Coffey is the director of Heritage’s Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy and the only analyst from an American think tank that has been to Greenland and written on it.

With the recent report that Osama Bin Laden’s son, Hamza Bin Laden, is dead, we wanted to know what that means for the future of Al Qaeda. This week we talk with Heritage expert Robin Simcox, and dive deep into how the US is doing in the fight against terror both at home and abroad. Hint: more needs to be done.

Show Notes:
https://www.heritage.org/terrorism/commentary/osama-bin-ladens-son-likely-dead-heres-what-it-means

What happens when seeing isn’t believing? Deepfake technology has been around for a long time. It’s used in movies and we use it through apps on our phone. But this type of technology could be devastating if abused. This week, Heritage’s leading expert in tech policy, Klon Kitchen, will explain more on what deepfake media is, examples of deepfakes that already exist, and the risks this type of technology poses to our democracy and national security.

Show Notes:
Deep Fakes: A Looming Challenge for Privacy, Democracy, and National Security
https://www.heritage.org/homeland-security/event/deep-fakes-looming-challenge-privacy-democracy-and-national-security
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3213954
Nancy Pelosi Cheap Fake https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/may/24/facebook-leaves-fake-nancy-pelosi-video-on-site

A lot is happening in the United Kingdom. After more than three years since the vote to leave the European Union, the British still remain. Why? What’s making this process so difficult? Will the UK ever leave the EU? Who is Boris Johnson and why does he give Brexit fresh hope? This week, Nile Gardner brings us up to speed, and breaks down the complex nature of “The Brexiteer.”

To watch Nile’s recent TV appearances, and read his work on Brexit visit: https://www.heritage.org/staff/nile-gardiner-phd

Almost every major study has concluded that Americans use firearms in lawful defense of themselves or others between 500,000 and 3 million times every year. Yet these are not the stories that make their way to the national cable channels. They are small local stories that rarely leave print.

This week, we talk to Amy Swearer, a legal expert at Heritage, who has been highlighting some of the many defensive gun uses that occur every month.

Almost every major study has concluded that Americans use firearms in lawful defense of themselves or others between 500,000 and 3 million times every year. Yet these are not the stories that make their way to the national cable channels. They are small local stories that rarely leave print. This week, we talk to Amy Swearer, a legal expert at Heritage, who has been highlighting some of the many defensive gun uses that occur every month.These are the stories that we must draw attention to in a time when lawmakers and activists around the country move to impose restrictions on the ability of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms.Show notes: Why These Defensive Uses of Firearms Should Disarm Second Amendment Skepticshttps://www.heritage.org/firearms/commentary/why-these-defensive-uses-firearms-should-disarm-second-amendment-skepticsGun Rights Made All the Difference for These Would-Be Victimshttps://www.heritage.org/firearms/commentary/gun-rights-made-all-the-difference-these-would-be-victimsThe Second Amendment Saved These Gun Owners’ Lives in Aprilhttps://www.heritage.org/firearms/commentary/the-second-amendment-saved-these-gun-owners-lives-aprilMore of Amy’s researchhttps://www.heritage.org/staff/amy-swearer

President Trump has always been passionate about making better trade deals. The most significant deal he could make seems to be with China. But what does the word ‘deal’ mean? What does a good deal look like for the US? And what will we need to do to get it? This week, Heritage expert Riley Walters explains.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and their fellow socialists like to pretend that socialism is just another political system, leaving out some of the keystone principles that came from Karl Marx, the founding father of socialism. This week our expert helps us we break down some of the fundamental principles of socialism that are carefully omitted by the mainstream media and the left.

Jordan Peterson event with Heritage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOmJx8mTnm8

Does the United States military have what it needs to protect our interest at home and abroad? This week, Dakota Wood, a senior research fellow in Heritage’s Center for National Defense, walks us through some of the most important findings in Heritage’s 2019 Index of U.S. Military Strength.

Browse the index here www.heritage.org/military-strength

The situation in Iran is constantly changing and the stakes are high. There are a lot of moving pieces, and many say our national security depends on the US response. But to fully understand, we need and accurate timeline, and context. On this week’s episode, Dr. James Carafano breaks it down from the start to present, reading between the lines as to why Iran is behaving the way they are, and gives an honest appraisal of how President Trump is handling the situation.

As mentioned on the show, Dr. Carafano has written several pieces tracking the situation which give incredible insight and analysis, so please check them out if you’d like to learn more:

Recently, about 2 million people flooded the streets of Hong Kong to protest a bill that would allow for the arrest and transfer of Hong Kong residents and foreign visitors to mainland China with very little safeguards. To give you a better idea of how huge this protest was, that’s about 1 in every 4 citizens of Hong Kong participating. This week we explain why this bill is so dangerous and why this could be the beginning of the end of a free Hong Kong.

With so much talk about socialism and programs like Medicare for all, free college, and paid family leave, it’s not hard to see that the left is trying to win people over by offering “free” stuff. But don’t be fooled, this all comes at a big price. This week, we explain exactly how much it would cost if the left got exactly what they want. SPOILER ALERT: Simply taxing the rich isn’t enough. It’s the middle and lower class that will shoulder the burden.

SHOW NOTES:

With so much talk about socialism and programs like Medicare for all, free college, and paid family leave, it’s not hard to see that the left is trying to win people over by offering “free” stuff. But don’t be fooled, this all comes at a big price. This week, we explain exactly how much it would cost if the left got exactly what they want. SPOILER ALERT: Simply taxing the rich isn’t enough. It’s the middle and lower class that will shoulder the burden. SHOW NOTES: A Progressive Roadmap for Soaking the Middle Classhttps://www.heritage.org/taxes/report/progressive-road-map-soaking-the-middle-class

The SAT is a big deal for many American students. The better you do on the exam, the better the school you go to. But with the new “adversity score” being factored in, this could be changing. This week, we break down what this new measure means, why it won’t help students in the long-run, and what needs to happen to fix the problem the adversity score tries to solve.

In the wake of policy proposals from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, it seems that more and more Americans are unaware of not just the importance of earning a wage but the dignity and value in work. How did we get to this point and how can we fix it? This week, Heritage’s Vijay Menon, a research assistant for Domestic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, explains. Show Notes: Listen to our episode on how the marriage penalty Is hurting low income communitieshttps://www.heritage.org/welfare/heritage-explains/how-the-marriage-penalty-hurting-low-income-communities

The Women’s March happened last week, and it looked a lot different than it did when it first stated in 2017. In this week’s episode, Kelsey Harkness explains why the March is not connecting with people like it used to, and how the march was flawed from the start.Video mentioned in the interview: https://youtu.be/IuYnzYL_oGYKelsey’s article: https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/01/18/the-womens-march-is-melting-down-and-it-makes-perfect-sense/

How long could it take to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh? What real roadblocks could he face? This week we talked to Elizabeth Slattery, a Heritage legal fellow and host of Heritage’s SCOTUS 101 podcast, about what the confirmation process for Supreme Court nominees looks like.

Did you know that international waters actually cover 71% of the Earth’s surface? This week, Adm. John Richardson, our nation’s chief of Naval Operations helps us explain why it’s so important that America has a strong Navy.