thinkspot Presents

Join the Independent Institute as Founder and President David Theroux, Senior Fellow Dr. Williamson Evers, and Executive Director Dr. Graham Walker discuss Critical Race Theory, Vaccines and more.

Join the filmmakers behind Better Left Unsaid. Curt Jaimungal and Desh Amila are joined by a host of special guests, including Michael Shermer, Rick Smith, Vesper Stamper, and Marshall Herskovitz.

Join Independent Institute Founder and President David Theroux, Senior Fellow Dr. Williamson Evers and Executive Director Dr. Graham Walker for this week's Independent Outlook discussion and Q&A. Our special focus will be on the recall Newsom efforts, woke educators, anti-racism and more.

In this week's episode, Bettina Arndt and Professor Mark Smith discuss the current panic over assumed endemic child sexual abuse in residential care. How and why the moral crusade against child abuse took hold, from the McMartin preschool investigations through to Satanic Ritual Abuse scandals in the UK, to more recent events involving Jimmy Savile, and Carl Beech, who falsely accused members of the British elite of being part of a paedophile ring.

Join the Independent Institute's Founder and President David Theroux, Senior Fellow Dr. Williamson Evers (Director of our Center on Educational Excellence), and Executive Director Dr. Graham Walker for this week's Independent Outlook discussion and Q&A.

Join Bettina Arndt as she speaks with two parents of young teenage sons who suddenly announced they were transgender.

In this week's Independent Outlook, Author and Research Fellow William J. Watkins, Jr., Senior Fellow Dr. Williamson Evers and Executive Director Dr. Graham Walker discuss vaccine passports, corporations involving themselves in politics, educating children during the pandemic, Biden and more.

Join Bettina Arndt and marriage coach Suzanne Venker as they talk about how dangerous women's friends can be in undermining their relationships. Friends often contribute to women's sense of entitlement and inflated expectations regarding the men in their lives, creating instability and destroying new relationships.

In this week's episode of the Independent Outlook, join Founder and President David Theroux, Senior Fellow Dr. Williamson Evers, and Executive Director Dr. Graham Walker as they discuss the recall Newsom efforts, woke educators, anti-racism and more.

Join the filmmakers behind Better Left Unsaid for a Q&A session on thinkspot. Curt Jaimungal and Desh Amila will be joined by Michael Shermer, Rick Smith, Vesper Stamper, and Marshall Herskovitz.

Join Bettina Arndt and Nadine Taylor as they discuss father's rights. Nadine is a former International Campaign Director for the controversial father's rights group, Fathers4Justice (F4J) known for taking direct action to draw attention to their cause. She continues to be an outspoken advocate for fathers, speaking on TV and radio about shared parenting and family law reform.

Join The Independent Institute Founder and President David Theroux, Senior Fellow Dr. Williamson Evers (Director of our Center on Educational Excellence), and Executive Director Dr. Graham Walker as they discuss Biden's border crisis, ethnic studies in California, China and more.

Join Dr. Stephen Blackwood and Erich Prince as they discuss proposed alternatives to higher education, the state of American liberal arts curriculum, and Stephen's burgeoning university project - Ralston College.

Join Rick Smith and Marshall Herskovitz for a Q&A with our thinkspot members.

Cynthia Garrett, co-president of Families Advocating for Campus Equality, returns to thinkspot for her second live chat with Bettina Arndt to discuss the developments by the Biden/Harris administration which are making it clear that their gender policies will be all about advantaging women at the expense of men.

Join Author, Professor, and Independent Institute Research Fellow Jonathan J. Bean, Senior Fellow Dr. Williamson Evers (Director of our Center on Educational Excellence), and Executive Director Dr. Graham Walker for this week's Independent Outlook discussion and Q&A. Our special focus will be on Black History Month and Jonathan Bean's book Race and Liberty in America.

Join Rick Smith and former Congressman/conservative talk show host Joe Walsh for a live Q&A. Rick and Joe will be discussing the first 100 days of the Biden Presidency, the GOP's reality post-Trump, and the state of American governance.

Join our thinkspot Contributor Jeremy from The Aworkening as he dissects what really happened with GameStop, WallStreetBets and Robinhood.

Join The Independent Institute for this week's Independent Outlook discussion and Q&A. This week's special focus will be on Biden's executive orders, border confusion, and California errors going national.

Join Merion West editor-in-chief Erich Prince and musician/journalist Tony Senatore for a look inside the Merion West writer's room.

Join Bettina Arndt, Janice Fiamengo and Diana Davison to discuss Woody Allen's innocence and how mud sticks to falsely accused men. The endless persecution of Woody Allen is a fable for our times, with many in the film world and mainstream media still supporting Mia Farrow's version of events in relation to the sexual abuse allegations – despite all the evidence to the contrary. Please submit your questions prior to the event.

Join James Lindsay and Chloe Valdary as they cover a range of material, from America's DEI/CRT moment to these program's philosophical underpinnings.

Join Founder and President David Theroux, Senior Fellow Dr. Williamson Evers, and Executive Director Dr. Graham Walker of the Independent Institute for this week's Independent Outlook discussion and Q&A. This week's focus is on capitol fallout, censorship, the unfettered Biden agenda, and more. Learn more about their unique Outlook—informed by the principles of liberty and human dignity, and based on scholarly integrity and respect for the facts.

Join Rick Smith for his first thinkspot Q&A of the New Year. On the heals of the riots at the Capitol, hear Rick's responses to the many questions posed by our members.

Merion West editor-in-chief Erich Prince hosts author Heather Mac Donald for a retrospective discussion on the latter's 2016 book The War on Cops. With renewed contextual relevance, Heather will revisit her work and the research that supports her push back against the swelling tide of anti-police rhetoric.

Join us for an Independent Conversation with Dr. Graham H. Walker and Dr. John C. Goodman on Independent Institute's newest book by Dr. John C. Goodman, New Way to Care: Social Protections that Put Families First.John C. Goodman is Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, President of the Goodman Institute for Public Policy Research, and author of the widely acclaimed, Independent books, A Better Choice: Healthcare Solutions for America, and the award-winning, Priceless: Curing the Healthcare Crisis. The Wall Street Journal and the National Journal, among other media, have called him the “Father of Health Savings Accounts.”

When marriage coach Suzanne Venker posted an article suggesting women needed to lower their unrealistic expectations of marriage, she was swamped with angry abuse. Join Bettina Arndt and Suzanne in what promises to be a lively discussion of this issue.

Join Erich Prince of Merion West and Seth Dillon of The Babylon Bee for a discussion about Big Tech censorship.

Join us for an Independent Conversation on overcoming the ACA healthcare mess. The Independent Institute discussed Christopher Briggs's recent opinion piece, "My kid has cancer and ObamaCare is making everything worse," published by the New York Post.

Carl Benjamin and artist/symbologist Jonathan Pageau chat for the first time in this featured thinkspot event.

Cellist Justin Hall and author/illustrator Vesper Stamper learn that they have much in common, namely - a love for the classics and an interest in how literature intersects with music/composition. In this episode of thinkspot presents, you can find them unpacking the artistic implications of mastery and interrogating the nature of truth in the context of art and artistic pursuits.

Join Rick Smith for a special pre-election livestream Q&A. Rick will be taking questions and comments from the thinkspot community throughout the duration of the event, as he offers analysis from the perspective of the number one working people's podcast and radio show - The Rick Smith Show.

In response to the New York Times' controversial 1619 Project, Bill Evers and Graham Walker propose their own history curriculum centered around the classics in an effort to revitalize an era that they allege has been neglected by primary schools across the nation. With an eye towards mythology and Grecian philosophy, the pair make a compelling case for the urgency of a return to the classics.

Everything is fair game in this exchange between Merion West editor Erich Prince and film director Spencer T. Folmar, as the two Pennsylvania natives task themselves with confronting a wide breadth of topics, from the soul of the rust belt to the distinctly self-isolating malaise of Gen Z.

Marshall Herskovitz and Graham Walker return for the second edition of their conversation series, this time tackling the seeds of the American political divide and how they have been sown by institutional failure and media narratives. Herskovitz's perspective and analysis on the Democrats' abandonment of the working class is particularly insightful.

Film director Spencer T. Folmar provides the thinkspot community with a penetrating view into the filmmaking profession and the environs of the industry in LA. His poignant remarks provide fascinating insight into everything from filmmaking techniques to the new Academy Awards' diversity standards for potential contenders.

Professor Stephen Blackwood plays host to filmmaker Mike Nayna and co-authors James Lindsay and Helen Pluckrose for the launch of their essential new book Cynical Theories. This discussion traverses the likes of woke ideology, postmodern philosophy, and the politics of academia to form a compelling rebuke of contemporary critical theory and its influence on the public sphere.

Writer and film producer Marshall Herskovitz is joined by the Independent Institute's Graham Walker for a discussion on the psychology of trauma and its relationship to the left's current strain of woke-ism. Herskovitz draws on his experience as an artist and political consultant to theorize on the dynamics that underpin this ideology, offering an insightful and compassionate approach to interpreting this phenomenon.

Former Canadian intelligence officer Tom Quiggin answers the thinkspot community's questions and offers his analysis on the origins of Covid-19 and the early days that led to its spread. His take on contemporary geopolitics also does well to shed light on the world's most precarious hot spots and international relationships.

Join Chloé Valdary (NYT, Theory of Enchantment) and Jamie Kilstein (The Joe Rogan Experience, Conan) as they explore, well, just about everything. From hip hop and comedy to spirituality and politics, So much Things to say aims to help you figure out this f*cked up crazy world and discover the redemption in it -- and in yourself.

Dr. Lawrence J. McQuillan joins Mary L.G. Theroux, of the Independent Institute, for a discussion and Q&A on the California Wildfires. In 2019, the California Golden Fleece® Award was given to Cal Fire. The report offered solutions to prevent future disasters, yet here we are again with the state burning, and people losing their homes and lives.

Award winning and best selling author Jim Proser connects with writer Kevin Turner for a retrospective on Proser's January 2020 release of Savage Messiah: How Jordan Peterson is Saving Western Civilization. The duo re-contextualize the book within the frame of the current political and social moment, providing a newfound urgency to the controversial philosopher's work.

Merion West editor-in-chief, Erich Prince, joins Professor Stephen Hicks for a critical discussion on society and culture, interweaving the latter's expertise on matters of philosophy and history to compose an analysis that respects the complexity of our particularly historic summer.

Policy luminaries Bill Evers, Graham Walker, and David Theroux gather for the debut edition of the Independent Institute's bi-monthly Outlook show. The trio cover a wide range of material, from the school-opening conundrum facing America's education system to America's continued civil unrest.

University of Toronto professor Chris DiCarlo joins Merion West's Kevin Turner to chat about the cognition behind critical thinking, particularly within the context of our contemporary world's information media deluge. Drawing on his 2020 book So You Think You Can Think, DiCarlo provides a range of analytical tools to navigate the muddy waters of personal and media bias.

Artist Vesper Stamper takes on questions from the thinkspot community, as she makes the case for art as an antidote to our current political and social division. At what point does politically minded art become propaganda? Does New York still do justice to its reputation as the premier ecosystem for creativity and artistic innovation? Tune in to hear Vesper confront these questions head on.

Join us for a ts Exclusive as Mikhaila Peterson sat down to answer thinkspot members' questions. In this lively and informative event, Mikhaila answered user questions about the Lion Diet, her coaching program, and her new podcast.

Merion West writer Kambiz Tavana hosts former Iranian political prisoner Nizar Zakka for a thinkspot exclusive on the one year anniversary of the latter's release and return to the United States. Fielding questions from the thinkspot community, Zakka elaborates on his experience as a political prisoner from 2015-2019 and the current geopolitical posture of the Iranian regime.

The Post Millennial writing trio of Nico Johnson, Roberto Wakerell-Cruz, and Libby Emmons address questions from the thinkspot community, providing a look into the Canadian publication's ideas and processes while discussing a range of topics, from the decline of neoliberalism to the state of policing in 2020.

The artists pair presses pause on the social chaos of the moment to examine the protests in a way that refreshingly privileges people over politics. Vesper's eye for narrative and Jonathan's expert grasp on symbology combine for a compelling and nuanced exploration of this historical hour.

Who is The Respondent? Over the last year, Greg Ellis set out on a journey to explore the condition of the male experience via his new video podcast, The Respondent. Enjoy the debut of this new series with Stephen Fry, and a post-podcast Q&A session with Benjamin Boyce, Gregg Hurwitz, and Dr. Gary David.