Andrew Heaton
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Politics minus bile plus jokes. Comedian and avowed independent Andrew Heaton interviews authors and thought leaders about policy and big thinky stuff.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Andrew Heaton turns policy questions into lively, plainspoken conversations that connect institutions, incentives and political choices.
Andrew Heaton builds episodes around questions that political discussion often skips past. Why does the Federal Reserve target inflation? What might follow the fall of Iran's government?
Andrew Heaton goes to Finland to ask what you can steal besides oil.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A historically minded look at regime change, anchored by the Shah, SAVAK, and a hard foreign-policy question.
Heaton treats the episode as a steady argument about a question that never really goes away: whether regime change in Iran would solve anything or just trade one set of problems for another.
A former congressman turns a familiar Congress-corruption argument into a sharper debate about incentives.
Andrew Heaton uses this episode of The Political Orphanage to press a familiar Washington corruption argument, while Scott Klug, a former congressman from Wisconsin, keeps pushing back on the idea that every incentive problem is doing the work people think it is.
A lively Finnish field trip that turns happiness into a practical question about what America could borrow.
The episode treats Finland less like a tidy success story and more like a live question. It starts with the country’s habit of topping happiness surveys, then works outward through social trust, public safety nets, and the everyday routines that seem to hold the whole thing…
A lively free speech interview that treats pluralism as a practical necessity.
Andrew Heaton and Greg Lukianoff turn a free speech conversation into a practical argument for deep pluralism. The episode starts light, with hypotheticals, then moves into a sharp comparison between America and Europe.
A clear, occasionally technical primer on the Fed's purpose, independence, and the case for modern banking.
This episode moves from the basics of the Federal Reserve to the harder question of why it should stay insulated from political pressure. Andrew Heaton keeps the tone dry and curious, while Jeremiah Johnson makes the consensus case for the Fed and for modern fractional reserve…
A funny, skeptical look at why Europe keeps looking smaller on the scoreboard.
The episode turns a familiar GDP per capita comparison into a cleaner question: why do Europe and the U.S. keep making Europe look smaller on the economic scoreboard?
A Swedish detour that turns social democracy into questions of plumbing, taxes, and choice.
The episode uses Sweden as a way into a practical question: what a Nordic-style safety net would look like in the United States, who pays for it, who runs it, and what the taxes actually buy.
A compact argument for liberalism, and the fear that it may eat its own foundations.
The Political Orphanage treats liberalism as an open question rather than a fixed label, tracing it back to the Enlightenment and the feudal order it pushed against.
NPR reporters like Tamara Keith and Miles Parks unpack the day's Washington story on a daily panel.
California politics, measured under pressure.
Brazilian politics, explained through consequences.
Nightly news with evidence under pressure.
The Federal Reserve gets the misfit treatment.
Host Andrew Heaton interviews Greg Lukianoff, president of FIRE, about threats to free speech, including campus censorship, European hate speech laws, and new challenges like misinformation.
Andrew Heaton discusses the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, using it as a lens to explore political violence, partisanship, and the dangers of reducing politics to a 'good vs.
Host Andrew Heaton interviews economist Gene Epstein, who argues against the Federal Reserve, claiming it fails to stabilize the economy and secretly funds government spending by printing money.
Host Andrew Heaton interviews former congressman Scott Klug about corruption and incentives in Congress, covering topics like lobbying careers, stock trading by politicians, and campaign finance.
Host Andrew Heaton and guest Cass Sunstein explore the history and defense of liberalism, tracing its roots from the Enlightenment to modern challenges.
Andrew Heaton interviews Adam Brandon about building a centrist independent movement to disrupt the two-party system.
Last June, America nearly wandered into war with Iran.
Europe looks poorer by a blunt yardstick.
Andrew Heaton travels to Finland to investigate why it ranks as the world's happiest country, exploring themes like social trust, the Nordic welfare model, and cultural factors such as sauna usage.
Host Andrew Heaton interviews Swedish author Johan Norberg in Stockholm to explore Sweden's welfare state, taxation, and economic history.
Why wasn't Canada American?
Andrew Heaton interviews a guest about the reasons behind the US invasion of Iran, focusing on military technology and operations rather than moral arguments.
A comedic roundtable discussion on the value of college degrees, free speech, and cultural phenomena.
Comedian Andrew Heaton interviews Bill Eddy about why we elect narcissists and sociopaths, blending humor with political analysis.
The host recounts giving Capitol tours and noticing a statue from the non-existent state of Franklin, leading into a discussion of historical 'almost states' in America.
Host Andrew Heaton humorously discusses the New York City Democratic mayoral primary and socialist candidate Zorhan Mamdani's policies with guests.
A comedic historical analysis of Winston Churchill's role in authorizing the atomic bombings of Japan.
Comedian Andrew Heaton uses a Western analogy to introduce a discussion about President Trump's executive order ending remote work for federal employees.
Host Andrew Heaton introduces Charity Week, interviewing hyper-competent Gordon Hartman about his inspiring charity work.
Host Andrew Heaton humorously explores the ethical dilemma of whether to assassinate a foreign leader to prevent a war, using historical examples.
Andrew Heaton humorously critiques cop show tropes where heroes bypass the legal system, questioning the ethics of extrajudicial justice.