The American Compass Podcast

The affordability crisis has become Washington’s favorite talking point, but the solutions proposed so far won’t solve it. From capital gains tax cuts pitched as relief to renewed enthusiasm for Chinese investment as a growth strategy, many policymakers are circling the problem without addressing its core drivers: stagnant wages, distorted incentives in trade and industrial policy, and an economy that has stopped reliably producing gains for working Americans.

Chris Griswold, policy director at American Compass, joins Oren to discuss how affordability is less about marginal tax tweaks and more about rebuilding the productive foundations of the economy. They also explain why proposals to deepen economic integration with China ignore the strategic and structural realities of a state-directed competitor. Finally, they explore what a more honest political message would look like heading into the midterms, one that connects affordability to wages, industry, and national strategy rather than short-term price relief.

The fight over net neutrality was supposed to determine the future of the internet. Advocates of net neutrality warned that repealing it would lead to censorship, higher costs, and the collapse of an open web. But nearly a decade later, those predictions never materialized, and the debate has taken on new significance as broadband, 5G, and AI become central to economic growth and national power. What was once treated as a moral emergency now looks more like a case study in regulatory overreach and political panic.

Ajit Pai, former chairman of the FCC, and current CEO of CTIA, joins Drew Holden to revisit the net neutrality battle and assess its legacy. They discuss why the backlash became so intense, what actually happened after net neutrality’s repeal, and how the policy shift affected investment in broadband and wireless infrastructure. They also explore the stakes of today’s telecom landscape, from the race with China over 5G and role of spectrum in AI development, and consider what it will take for the United States to maintain its technological advantage.

Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly, but our ability to measure what these systems can actually do—and the risks they may pose—has lagged behind. Headline benchmarks and viral demos offer snapshots of a system's performance, but they say little about how AI behaves in complex real-world settings or how much autonomy models can sustain over time. As these systems take on more consequential roles, the challenge is not just building more powerful models, but developing credible ways to evaluate their capabilities and limits.

Chris Painter, president of Model Evaluation and Threat Research (METR), joins Oren to discuss how researchers are building new frameworks to assess AI systems and what those efforts reveal about the trajectory of machine intelligence. They explore “time horizon” as a measure of autonomy, the difficulty of evaluating alignment and sabotage risks, and the constraints posed by compute and organizational bottlenecks. They also consider what it will look like when AI systems begin contributing even more to their own development and their capabilities outpace our ability to measure them.

“Girlboss” feminism promised a world in which women could seamlessly balance ambitious careers and flourishing family lives. But in practice, that vision has proven far more brittle, often demanding total commitment to work while sidelining marriage, children, and the realities of time and tradeoffs. While many women are moving away from that all-consuming focus on a career, they're looking for something much different than what the Instagram tradwife has to offer.

Emma Waters, senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation and author of the recently released Lead Like Jael, joins Oren to explore what comes next. They discuss the backlash against career-first feminism, the rise and limits of “tradwife” culture, and the emerging case for a more flexible, family-centered approach to work. They also examine the class divide underlying these debates, the role of technology in reshaping women’s choices, and how policymakers and employers could better support a model that allows women to prioritize both work and family without forcing an all-or-nothing choice.

Further Reading:
Buy Lead Like Jael by Emma Waters
“Pursuing the Reunification of Home and Work” Erika Bachiochi, American Compass
“Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” by Anne-Marie Slaughter, The Atlantic

The financial industry is supposed to be our economy’s plumbing, quietly channeling capital to investments where it’s needed most. But in today’s system, that plumbing is leaking. From rising credit card rates and opaque lending products to the decline of local banking and the growth of speculative activity, the financial sector is increasingly disconnected from the real economy it was built to serve.

Rohit Chopra, former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, joins Oren to examine how finance lost its purpose and what it would take to restore it. They discuss the limits of regulation versus enforcement, the rise of non-bank financial products, and the growing concentration of credit markets. They also consider whether novel activities like online sports betting and prediction represent genuine innovation or simply new ways to extract more money from consumers.