Start with a simple claim: rules only matter if everyone believes they bind everyone. From there, we pull a thread through media smears, unequal justice, and the hard truth that modern politics already runs on “exceptions” to the rules. We’re not romanticizing power or hunting for a strongman; we’re asking why the ordinary law—applied evenly—feels so rare, and what it would take to make it normal again.

With Auron MacIntyre joining us, we put Carl Schmitt in his place: not as a mentor to emulate, but as a mapmaker of uncomfortable terrain. His line about the “sovereign” deciding when rules don’t apply rings familiar after years of emergency orders, selective prosecutions, and agencies governing by letter instead of law. We trace how the administrative state grew behind judicial deference, how anarcho-tyranny rewards street violence while penalizing technicalities, and why calling this out gets mislabeled as extremism. The punchline isn’t “break the system”; it’s the opposite—use the laws we have, evenly and transparently, to reestablish the baseline that protects all sides.

We also press a cultural point that legalisms dodge: a constitution is a living practice, not just language. Rome stayed a republic when Romans honored republican limits; paper alone couldn’t save it when belief died. Translate that to today and a path emerges: shorten emergencies, narrow agency deference, prosecute violence consistently, and end back-channel censorship. If platforms truly host criminal coordination, use existing statutes narrowly; if government leans on companies to silence lawful speech, treat it as state action and stop it. And amid heated foreign policy rhetoric, we draw a boundary—no outside government should set our domestic speech norms or enforcement priorities.

Call it a restoration agenda: fewer exceptions, more accountability, and a civic culture that takes equal protection seriously. If that resonates, subscribe, share this episode, and leave a review with your take on the single reform that would rebuild trust fastest.

The comfortable illusion of American hyperpower is shattering before our eyes. Scott Horton and Daryl Cooper take us on a journey through the collapsing facade of post-Cold War unipolarity, revealing how traditional geopolitical forces are reasserting themselves across the globe.

What happens when countries once again must interact as genuine equals rather than subordinates to American power? The evidence is mounting - from South Asia to the Middle East - that we're witnessing the end of what Scott and Daryl call "a long vacation from history" where consequences for American failures seemed perpetually delayed.

The conversation weaves through recent developments that signal this profound shift: Trump's puzzling claims about reclaiming Bagram Airbase, Russia and China's expanding influence, and Netanyahu's disturbing declarations at the UN. With scholarly precision, they dissect how China's strategy fundamentally differs from America's - preferring economic engagement over military domination - and why American foreign policy elites seem incapable of recognizing this reality.

Perhaps most chilling is their examination of nuclear strategy in this new multipolar world. Cold War deterrence models break down dangerously when three major powers enter the equation, as revealed in declassified war games where planners concluded that attacking Russia meant attacking China too - simply to prevent them from "inheriting the world."

The discussion on Gaza and Israel's strategy provides a sobering case study in how insurgencies cannot be defeated through pure military might - a lesson America failed to learn in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Netanyahu's claim that allowing Palestinians to flee proves the conflict isn't genocidal receives a devastating historical critique.

Throughout, Scott and Daryl maintain their trademark blend of deep historical knowledge, critical analysis, and moral clarity. This episode isn't just about understanding today's headlines - it's about grasping the fundamental transformation of the international order and what it means for humanity's future.