Does Bari Weiss Prove Woke Media Is Collapsing?

This week, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Nick Gillespie are joined by Reason reporter Eric Boehm to discuss Paramount’s $150 million acquisition of The Free Press and Bari Weiss’ promotion to editor in chief at CBS News. They examine whether this represents a backlash to “woke” media, and debate if the success of outlets on Substack and YouTube shows that journalism may be entering a period of entrepreneurship and renewal rather than decline.

The panel then turns to President Donald Trump’s controversial National Guard deployments to cities like Portland and Chicago, weighing its constitutional limits and political consequences. They also cover the leaked texts from Virginia’s Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones about shooting his Republican rival, and the fallout for Democrats in a critical election year. A listener asks the editors to reflect on whether libertarians should focus more on defending freedom as an end in itself or on steering society toward specific outcomes. Finally, the conversation touches on Argentina’s economic crisis and what it means for libertarians.

0:00—Bari Weiss named editor in chief at CBS News

13:32—Consolidation and the changing media landscape

20:58—Federal troops deployed to Chicago and Portland

38:17—Democrat attorney general candidate fanatisizes about political violence

48:07—Listener question on prioritizing process over purpose

56:37—What Argentina’s bailout means for libertarianism

1:00:35—Weekly cultural recommendations

“The Future of the Free Press,” by Bari Weiss

“Letter To All CBS News Employees,” by Bari Weiss

“Domination Fantasies: Does Rupert Murdoch control the media? Does Anyone?” by Ben Compaine

“Mergers & Disquisitions: Reasons not to sweat AOL-Time Warner–and other megadeals,” by Nick Gillespie

“Trump’s Troops Return to a City That Moved On: Dispatch From Portland,” by Nancy Rommelman

“Sending in the Guard,” by Liz Wolfe

“Oregon Court Strikes Down Trump’s Federalization of National Guard,” by David Post

“Deploying Federal Troops Is Not a Sustainable Solution to Crime in American Cities,” by Katherine Mangu-Ward

“A Judge Blocked the Trump Administration From Deploying National Guard Troops to Oregon,” by Shawn Hubler, Anna Griffin, and Eric Schmitt

“Dem AG Nominee Jay Jones Fantasized About Shooting Former Virginia GOP Speaker: ‘He Receives Both Bullets,'” by Audrey Fahlberg

“Politically Motivated Violence Is Rare in the United States,” by Alex Nowrasteh

“The Agony of Abundance,” by Nick Gillespie

“Bail Out Argentina,” by David Frum

“Why Is Trump Bailing Out Argentina?” by Paul Krugman

“Why is Argentina the IMF’s biggest deadbeat?” by Steve Hanke

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• Producer: Paul Alexander
• Video Editor: Ian Keyser