The Independent with Scott Atlas

Scott welcomes Robert (Bobby) Robbins, President Emeritus of the University of Arizona where he served as president from 2017 to 2024. Prior to University of Arizona, he served as the president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center after being chair of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford University. They discuss many of the issues facing college campuses today, including free speech and its limits, the impact of government and taxpayer funding, merit-based admissions, and the friction between young students from other countries and the United States.

In the second part of this two part episode, Scott welcomes Professor Michael McConnell, Director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. From 2002 to 2009 he served as circuit judge on the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. He teaches courses on constitutional law the first amendment and interpretive theory. He has published widely in constitutional law, especially church and state, equal protection, and separation of powers. He's written several books including “The President Who Would Not Be King: Executive Power Under the Constitution.” He has argued 16 cases in front of the US Supreme Court he earned his JD from University of Chicago and served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice William J Brennan. They discuss some of today's most controversial issues involving the Constitution and law in the context of presidential power and the separation of powers including immigration, censorship and free speech on campus protests.

In this episode, Scott welcomes Professor Michael McConnell, Director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. From 2002 to 2009 he served as circuit judge on the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. He teaches courses on constitutional law the first amendment and interpretive theory. He has published widely in constitutional law, especially church and state, equal protection, and separation of powers. He's written several books including “The President Who Would Not Be King: Executive Power Under the Constitution.” He has argued 16 cases in front of the US Supreme Court he earned his JD from University of Chicago and served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice William J Brennan. They discuss some of today's most controversial issues involving the Constitution and law in the context of presidential power and the separation of powers including immigration, censorship and free speech on campus protests.

In this episode Scott welcomes Gad Saad, professor of marketing at Concordia University in Montreal and visiting professor at Northwood University. Professor Saad has pioneered the use of evolutionary psychology in marketing and consumer behavior. His works include several books and published papers, many at the intersection of psychology, advertising, medicine, and economics. He's also working on a new book “Suicidal Empathy” which follows the 2020 release of his previous bestseller “The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense.” They discuss the psychology behind irrational behavior of the public, especially young adults, and what might come next in the interplay between the media, universities, politics, and public behavior.

In this episode Scott welcomes economist John Cochrane who specializes in financial economics and macroeconomics. He's the Rosemary and Jack Anderson senior fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. Previously he was a professor of finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and before that at the University of Chicago Department of Economics. He also writes the very popular Grumpy Economist blog. His most recent book is The Fiscal Theory of the Price Level, arguing that inflation is due to government debt and higher interest rates. They discuss several of today's key and most controversial issues in economic policy which are front and center in the Trump era.