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Ethics and Public Policy Center
Founded in 1976, the Ethics and Public Policy Center is Washington, D.C.’s premier institute working to apply a true and full account of the human person and the riches of the Jewish and Christian traditions to contemporary questions of law, culture, and politics, in pursuit of America’s continued civic and cultural renewal.
Series
Recent Episodes
We've all been hearing a lot about data centers, and as you might expect, conservatives have different opinions on whether data centers should be encouraged and if so, for what purposes. This week we have two intelligent and very knowledgeable people to talk about that: Debbie Jennings, Senior Policy Manager from the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, will take a generally positive view of center construction, while Joshua Treviño, Chief Transformation Officer at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, says that maybe we should slow down a little bit and wait and smell the roses, so to speak.
- Host:
Henry Olsen
September 2026
Should Congress approve President Trump's $350 billion defense budget request through reconciliation, without requiring any spending cuts to pay for it? The president wants it to come through reconciliation, which can be passed on only a party line vote. And the question conservatives are debating is whether or not that should come with or without offset spending cuts. Here to argue it should come without cuts is Mackenzie Eaglen, Senior Fellow in Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and to argue that it requires some form of domestic or other spending cuts in order to approve is Brittany Madni, Senior Fellow for Fiscal Policy at the National Taxpayers Union.
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The issue this week on Conservative Crossroads: Has the Trump administration done enough to advance a pro-life agenda? Kris Ullman, the President of Eagle Forum, says, "No." Eric Teetsel, CEO and publisher of Chronicles Magazine, says, "Yes." The pro-life agenda and the Trump administration's advocacy coming up...
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August 2026
This week on Conservative Crossroads, the topic is passage of the SAVE Act necessary to ensure election integrity? Here to talk about that are two experts who have, in fact, run election agencies themselves. Don Palmer, Senior Legal Fellow of Election Integrity at the Heritage Foundation, will say it is essential. Stephen Richer, lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School and Legal Fellow at the Cato Institute, will say that it's not.
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Does the president have the sole and unitary authority to wield all tasks inside to the executive branch by the Constitution? Here to talk about this important topic are two excellent scholars and thinkers. John Yoo, the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law at UC Berkeley and perhaps the man who is most known for reviving this theory, and George F. Will, perhaps our nation's most eminent political thinker and columnist (The Washington Post and Newsweek) for many decades. You can also watch this episode on YouTube.
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- Guests:
- GWGeorge WillJYJohn Yoo
July 2026
Should conservatives abandon their opposition to increasing taxes, or should they retain the long standing policy? Here to argue in the affirmative that they should abandon that is Oren Cass, founder and Chief Economist of American Compass and here arguing against changing course and continuing to oppose tax increases is Grover Norquist, founder and president and CEO of Americans for Tax Reform.
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Should there be fewer or more limits on the number of foreign students and staff that are permitted at U.S. universities and encouraged to stay after their education? Jay P Greene, Senior Fellow at the Defense of Freedom Institute, says there should be more limits; Daniel Di Martino, Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, says there should be fewer.
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This week, we'll be talking about the nomination of Todd Blanche to become the permanent Attorney General of the United States. That's controversial in part because of Mr. Blanche's prior role as President Trump's personal attorney before he was sent back to the White House after the 2024 election. Arguing in favor of Mr. Blanche's confirmation is Mike Fragoso, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and arguing against the confirmation is Andrew McCarthy, former prosecutor, Southern District of New York and contributing editor at National Review.
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June 2026
Today's topic is regulation of Artificial Intelligence. It's a big issue and we have two excellent people to discuss it: James Pethokoukis, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, who believes it should be relatively lightly regulated, while Ryan Girdusky from Project 1776 PAC believes in a stronger sense of regulation.
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- Guests:
- JPJames PethokoukisRGRyan Girdusky
Should employers have to verify or confirm the legal status of their workers before offering them a job? That's a contentious issue, along with the question of immigration, and we have many views within the conservative movement on it. To debate the issue this week: Daniel Kishi, senior policy analyst at American Compass who will argue in favor of mandatory employer legal status verification, and David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, who will argue against it. If you would prefer to watch, click here.
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May 2026
This week on Conservative Crossroads: Is the war with Iran in America's best interest? Taking the affirmative is Rebeccah Heinrichs, a senior fellow at Hudson Institute and the director of its Keystone Defense Initiative. She specializes in US national defense policy with a focus on strategic deterrence. Opposing the war is Curt Mills, the Executive Director of The American Conservative.
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April 2026
This week on Conservative Crossroads: How deeply should America be involved in supporting Ukraine? Or should it be involved at all? Luke Coffey says, "Yes," Michael Brendan Dougherty says, "No."
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We've heard a lot about the filibuster, and we've heard a lot about what's called the talking filibuster, the sort of thing you grew up on if you watched "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," where senators actually have to debate on the floor rather than simply file a motion and hold up a bill that way. To debate this we have two people who have gone at it online, and now they'll civilly discuss it for you, Rachel Bovard, Vice President of Programs at the Conservative Partnership Institute, and Dan McLaughlin, senior writer at National Review.
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March 2026
This week's topic: Should the federal government adopt an explicit industrial policy? Arguing in the affirmative is Julius Krein, editor of American Affairs magazine, and arguing against it is Michael Strain, Director of Economic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Henry Olsen hosts.
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February 2026
The topic this week is government policy towards online social media and children. Henry's guests are Ari Cohn, lead counsel for tech policy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and Clare Morell, fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of The Tech Exit: A Practical Guide to Freeing Kids and Teens from Smartphones.
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The Western World is in a demographic crisis. So what can the Federal government do? Or - given the state of the debt - should they do anything at all? Joining Henry Olsen for this week's debate is Patrick T. Brown, a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of the Family Matters substack, and Rachel Greszler, an economist and Senior Research Fellow in the Plymouth Institute for Free Enterprise at Advancing American Freedom.
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January 2026
Welcome to the premiere episode of Conservative Crossroads, a new podcast from Henry Olsen and the folks at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. American politics is at a crossroads. In this series we ask prominent voices inside the conservative movement to debate which path we should pursue on the major issues of the day. This week, Oren Cass, the chief economist at American Compass, and Michael Doran, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, debate the future of American foreign policy towards Israel.
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- MDMichael DoranOCOren Cass