What would it mean for America's schools to focus on excellence? Jack Despain Zhou is the founder of the Center for Educational Progress, a new think tank focused on promoting academic excellence. He joins the show to talk about whether we've gone too far in the pursuit of equity goals in education, how we can support and challenge students at every ability level, whether or not tracking is a good idea, and ultimately what a vision of a stronger education system could look like.

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The big Republican bill to explode the deficit and cut healthcare has passed Congress and been signed by President Trump. But it's not just bad in the obvious ways - it's also terrible on energy policy. PPI's Director of Energy and Climate Policy Elan Sykes joins the podcast to discuss how Trump's bill will lead to more expensive and more polluting energy.

Check out our previous discussion of the big GOP bill - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/breaking-down-the-big-beautiful-bill-ft-jason-furman/id1390384827?i=1000713418967

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What's happening with Trump's so-called Big Beautiful Bill? Jason Furman and Ben Ritz join the podcast to discuss the long run impact the bill would have, why Republicans are so comfortable blowing up the deficit, and whether the Biden administration's mistakes are linked to the moment we're in now.

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In the wake of Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein's book Abundance, there's been a significant amount of fighting amongst Democrats about the book and the broader Abundance movement. Jeremiah walks through the various camps involved in the fight, why some Democrats seem to hate the ideas of Abundance, and what this dispute is ultimately all about.

Check out our episode with the author of Abundance, Derek Thompson: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creating-abundance-ft-derek-thompson/id1390384827?i=1000699610304

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How does Russian propaganda work? Not the propaganda they aim at the West - but the propaganda they aim at their own citizens. Ian Garner studies Russian propaganda and he's the author of 'Z Generation: Into the Heart of Russia's Fascist Youth'. He joins the podcast to talk about Putin's control of the media, how social media influencers in Russia promote the war in Ukraine, and how Russia is creating a new cohort of fascists in their youngest generations.

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Should we compensate living kidney donors for donating their kidneys? Elaine Perlman joins the show to discuss the End Kidney Deaths Act and the ethics of paying for organ donations.

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Immigration is increasingly unpopular around the world. How can we build a system of immigration that benefits immigrants and natives while also maintaining political support? Alexander Kustov joins the podcast to discuss his new book, 'In Our Interest', which tackles that question.

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Sports betting is now legal in most states in America. It's hard to attend a game or watch sports on TV without being inundated with gambling ads. Should we do something about it? Isaac Rose Berman is a fellow studying gambling policy at AIBM and he joins the podcast to talk about the rise of sports betting. How did we get to this point? Has gambling had negative consequences for vulnerable populations? And is there a way to regulate it without draconian bans?

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