Heritage Explains

Heritage Podcast Network

A podcast that explains major policy issues at a 101 level. Experts from America's leading public policy organization break down major news stories and policy debates raging in culture and Congress alike.

  1. 13h ago

    Is There Hope for American Colleges? | Jonathan Butcher

    Graduation season is once more upon us. The long school year has come to a close, and now, in caps and gowns, the nation’s graduates gather to receive their various certifications, diplomas, and degrees, and listen to wisdom from a speaker.   However, many college graduations are not the same tranquil affairs they used to be. FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, reports that attempts by students to disinvite commencement speakers over political beliefs have increased sharply over the last decade or so. To name one example, students at Morehouse School of Medicine are attempting to block the commencement speech of alumnus Congressman Rich McCormick, over his stances against DEI, abortion, and transgender surgeries among other views. Some schools, such as New York University, have switched to recorded remarks by students in lieu of an in-person speaker.   At this point, the level of intolerance and intellectual coddling taking place at American universities is not a new story. It’s bad, but is there a way back? This week, the Heritage Foundation is releasing a new book: Higher Education in America: It’s Worse than you Think. I sat down with Jonathan Butcher, Acting Director of Heritage’s Center for Education Policy and one of the book’s authors, to ask whether he believes there is hope for the American university.   ---   Email us with thoughts, questions, or suggestions: HeritageExplains@heritage.org    --- Jonathan Butcher on X: https://x.com/JM_Butcher?lang=en Higher Education in America: It's Worse Than You Think: https://a.co/d/0aMuIWzN

    16 min

  2. May 27

    Lessons from Virginia | Nick Freitas

    Along with Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Massachusetts, Virginia describes itself as a commonwealth. In reality, a commonwealth is no different from a state. But in the English of colonial times, “commonwealth” denoted something along the lines of “a state for the common good”, and had a more revolutionary connotation. The state was for the people, not the people for the state. In some ways, this has been carried through to the present day. In other ways, it has not.   This week, my colleague here at Heritage Christian Lasval, had the privilage of sitting down with former Virginia legislator Nick Freitas to talk about Virginia, his experience in our current political discourse, and what we can learn from The Mother of States.   --- Email us with thoughts, questions, or suggestions: HeritageExplains@heritage.org  --- Follow Nick Freitas on X: https://x.com/NickJFreitas

    35 min

  3. May 20

    Modernization, Security, and Election Integrity | Don Palmer

    The tiny town of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire is located just 20 miles south of the Canadian boarder. Home to an idyllic hotel known for its skiing and golfing, the town itself had a population of four. At the time of the 2020 census.   But if you happen to be one of those residents, your election day experience is a bit different from most. At the stroke of midnight, you enter the polling place, set up in one of the rooms of hotel. New Hampshire law states that polls can close if all registered voter have cast ballots. And so, a few minutes later, once all have voted, the polls close. This tradition of Midnight Voting, in place since the 1960s, makes Dixville Notch the first polling place to report results in the New Hampshire primary.   Midnight voting first came into existence to accommodate the schedule of railway workers, who were often unavailable to vote during normal hours. It’s an example of local officials ensuring that the vote is both fair and accessible for voters. Election Integrity is a high priority here at Heritage, and we have been very excited to welcome Election integrity expert Don Palmer to the team. I sat down with Don to talk about his thoughts leading into 2026, 2028, and beyond.    --- Email us with thoughts, questions, or suggestions: HeritageExplains@heritage.org    ---   Follow Don Palmer on X: https://x.com/VotingGuy

    20 min

  4. May 13

    What Will Come from the Trump-Xi Meeting? | Andrew Harding

    During the Second World War, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, joined by Winston Churchill, sat down with Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek. The purpose of the meeting, now known as the Cairo Conference, was to strategize against the Empire of Japan and make preparations for a post-war Asia.   Nearly 30 years later, President Richard Nixon, seeing an opportunity to widen the distance between China (now Communist) and the Soviet Union, paid a visit to China to meet Mao Zedong, the chair of the Communist Party. This opened diplomatic relations between the countries.   Since then, presidents have held meetings with Chinese leaders with some regularity. And President Trump is no exception. This week, he will be meeting with Xi Jinping, the President of the People’s Republic of China. From AI to Iran, there is a lot on the table. To understand what to expect from this meeting, I sat down with Andrew Harding, Policy Analyst for National Securityand Indo-Pacific Affairs at The Heritage Foundation.        Email us with thoughts, questions, or suggestions: HeritageExplains@heritage.org      More on China from Heritage Experts: https://www.heritage.org/china

    13 min

  5. May 6

    Is the Callais Decision the New Jim Crow? | Zack Smith

    Jim Crow laws are the blanket name given to the the state and local laws that pervaded the American South from the 19th century all the way to the 1960s, which were meant to enforce racial segregation.  They limited the public services and facilities available to Black Americans. They included poll taxes, literacy tests, and other measures designed to limit the ability of Black Americans to exercise their right to vote. Jim Crow laws went the way of the dodo back in 1965, with the passage of the Voting Rights Act.   Now, over eighty years later, the Supreme Court has passed down the Callais vs Louisiana ruling. The case deals with the courts interpretation of this law, and some are declaring this decision nothing less than the resurrection of Jim Crow.   But is that the case? To find out, I sat down with Zack Smith, Senior Legal Fellow here at the Heritage Foundation.      Email us with thoughts, questions, or suggestions: HeritageExplains@heritage.org      Zack Smith on X: https://x.com/tzsmith

    16 min

  6. Apr 29

    Why is the FBI Going After the SPLC? | Tyler O’Neil

    The Southern Poverty Law Center, founded in 1971, has its roots in the Civil Rights movement. But there’s reason to believe that this American institution, like so many others, has drifted from its original mission.    Here to talk about that is our resident SPLC expert here at the Heritage Foundation, Daily Signal Senior Editor, Tyler ONeil.      Email us with thoughts, questions, or suggestions: HeritageExplains@heritage.org      Tyler O’Neil on the Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/author/tyler-oneil/  Tyler’s Book on the SPLC: https://amzn.to/3Kmvi0u

    19 min

  7. Apr 22

    Getting More out of Budget Reconciliation | Dan Kowalski

    The US House and Senate are storied institutions and packed with traditions and procedures like these. Some, like the fabled “candy desk”, are whimsical artifacts of history. Others are more central to the way that government works, and one such is the Budget Reconciliation process. This is a unique mechanism for passing budget and finance related legislation in the House and Senate. In the wake of Democrats refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security, reconciliation is back in the news. Here to talk about why and what we’d like to see happen is Dan Kowalski, Director of the Grover M Hermann Center for the Federal Budget here at the Heritage Foundation.        Email us with thoughts, questions, or suggestions: HeritageExplains@heritage.org      Rob Bluey on X: https://x.com/RobertBluey  The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/

    13 min

  8. Apr 15

    Unbreaking the News at The Daily Signal | Rob Bluey

    The American press has had high moments and low moments over the years, and it’s safe to say that we’re in a low one. After decades of dishonest reporting and blatant bias, trust in media has cratered. According to a 2025 Gallup poll, the number of Americans who report that they have a “great deal or fair” amount of trust that mass media reports the news “fully, fairly, and accurately has fallen to 28%. Among Republicans, it’s fallen to 8%.   But the worse the situation gets, the more important it is for good journalists (and yes there are good journalists) to fill the void. And nowhere is that more important than at the Daily Signal, a national news organization that has its roots here at the Heritage Foundation. They’ve been at the forefront of a lot of big stories over the last few years, and are announcing some new exciting developments. To understand it all, I sat down with Rob Bluey, Editor in Chief, at the Daily Signal.      Email us with thoughts, questions, or suggestions: HeritageExplains@heritage.org      Rob Bluey on X: https://x.com/RobertBluey  The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/

    14 min
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A podcast that explains major policy issues at a 101 level. Experts from America's leading public policy organization break down major news stories and policy debates raging in culture and Congress alike.

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