Unsafe Space

We trade takes on a trade war with comedians Ramsay Badawi (KPCC), Jimmy O. Yang (HBO's Silicon Valley) and panelists Jonathan Aronson (USC International Relations), Ian Henderson (writer for American Greatness), and Brian Peck (USC Law Center for Transnational Law and Business)! Hosted by Toby Muresianu and Faith Choyce.

We get to the bottom of what's *really* going on with Adam Tod Brown (host of Conspiracy! the show), Tom Goss (of the Mean Boys podcast), and professors Gar Culbert (Cal State LA professor of Political Science), Richard Fox (author of iPolitics: Citizens, Elections, and Governing in the New Media Era), and Nigel Raab (Professor of Russian History at Loyola Marymount University). Hosted by Toby Muresianu and Faith Choyce.

Is capitalism the future, past its prime, or what? Our live episode on it features stand-up from favorites Helen Hong and Mitch Burrow, insight from experts Elham Saeidinezhad of the Milken Institute and Kevan Harris, UCLA sociology professor and author of "A Social Revolution: Politics and the Welfare State in Iran," plus comedy and hosting by Toby Muresianu and Sameer Suri!

Comedians Joe Dosch and Chris Estrada join Paul Ong, Urban Planning professor at UCLA, and Mott Smith, founder of Civic Enterprise Development for stand-up and discussion on gentrification at the Hollywood Improv Comedy Club! Hosted by Toby Muresianu and Faith Choyce.

We talk about climate change science and policy with panelists Dr. Willie Soon and Dr. Jon Christensen and comedians Bryan Dey and Lori Weiss. Both panelists provided a few links and encouraged people to look into the science themselves. Jon Christensen: The "Climate Lab" video series with Vox and the University of California: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/climate-lab The book "Why We Disagree About Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity" by Mike Hulme (Cambridge University Press, 2009): https://www.amazon.com/Disagree-about-Climate-Change-Understanding/dp/0521727324/ The reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: http://www.ipcc.ch/ Willie Soon:  http://www.co2science.org/ http://climateilluminated.com/index.html https://wattsupwiththat.com/

What needs to change? Who should resign? Is there another side to the story? We talk sexual harassment and the current cultural moment with The Hollywood Reporter's Ashley Cullins, therapist Pamela Georgette, and comedians Casey Ley and Faith Choyce!

We get the inside scoop on the mysterious kingdom with former diplomat and editor of 38North.org Joel S. Wit, Rorry Daniels of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, producer of The Rundown with Robin Thede Sachi Ezura, and former senior producer of the Nightly Show Benari Poulten! Video clips: http://bit.ly/unsafespacenorthkorea Chapters: 2:25 Toby Muresianu Standup 5:12 Sachi Ezura Standup 8:13 Benari Poulten Standup 13:31 Panel Discussion

Comedian + former convict Johnny Mitchell and comedian + former defense attorney Mike Schmidt join Toby and Lou to talk prison and criminal justice. See video on YouTube: http://bit.ly/UnsafeStudioIncarceration Topics: 1:54 What’s prison like and does it work? 6:00 Religion in Prison 8:47 Are fewer laws the answer? Is the Prison industry driving incarceration? 10:49 Breakdown of drug offenders in federal and state prison. 12:34 Is the damage incarceration and for-profit policing are doing to society greater than crime itself? 16:29 What’s the difference between jail and prison? 17:24 The bail system 20:45 Violent vs. Nonviolent crimes in prison, and why America has higher incarceration rates than other countries. 22:30 Caning, and how to make punishment swift and certain. 25:35 What’s the practical alternative to prison? 32:35 Does keeping criminals off the streets reduce crime? 33:55 Taking away the parole system 36:04 Prison workers 42:67 Programs that reduce sentence length 50:35 Treating teens who are s

We return to NYC to tackle incarceration with vocal advocate for police Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute, libertarian and founder of Renegade University Thaddeus Russell, former criminal and comedian Petey DeAbreau, and former prosecutor and comedian JL Cauvin. What do you think? Go to our facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/UnsafeSpaceShow) to discuss this episode! Table of Contents: 1:08 Show begins. 2:54 Toby Muresianu Standup 7:35 JL Cauvin Standup 14:10 Petey DeAbreu Standup 22:32 What causes America's high incarceration rates? 32:35 Why don't other countries that prohibit the same things have similar rates of incarceration? 41:39 Is a racial conspiracy to blame for incarceration, a la Michelle Alexander's "The New Jim Crow"? 43:53 What led you to crime? 45:58 What would the effect of legalizing drugs be on poor communities? 52:28 What was the experience of a prosecutor like? 59:20 Evidentiary requirements and the constitution. 1:06:20 Stop and Frisk. 1:14:30 Growing up in t

Standup and discussion on the original international bad boy: Russia. With journalist Peter Savodnik (journalist and founder of Stateless Media), Benjamin Graham (USC International Relations professor) and comedians Kira Soltanovich (Showtime) and Sofiya Alexandra (Amazon's Danger and Eggs). 2:20 Toby Muresianu Standup 6:40 Sofiya Alexandra Standup 16:00 Kira Soltanovich Standup 24:40 Panel Intros 25:47 What are people getting right and wrong about Russia? 31:05 Does Russia want to get caught in places like Uk 36:26 What is the Syria conflict about? 39:00 Do the Russians have a compromising tape of Trump? 41:55 How can people say Russia isn’t powerful? 46:18 How do you make jokes in a time of political danger? 53:02 Understanding Russian History 55:20 What is the story that the Russian government tells itself? 1:05:50 What’s behind Russia’s links to the far right? 1:11:45 Any possibility of Russian regime change?

As we approach Trump's 100 day milestone, here's a show recorded right before the inauguration with people's predictions and outlook for the next four years. Recorded in Washington D.C., the show features comedian and Washington Post journalist Elahi Izadi, the Cato Institute's Caleb Brown, Rare.us editor Jack Hunter, and comedians Chelsea Shorte and Matty Litwack. 3:20 Toby Muresianu Standup 7:50 Chelsea Shorte Standup 11:45 Matty Litwack Standup 15:45 Elahi Izade Standup 20:50 Panel Introductions 22:40 What do you think the biggest change will be over the next four years? 55:17 Is there too much relative comparison of politicians and partisans, as opposed to judging them on their merits? 1:08:50 Education, why can’t we agree on facts, and the media in the age of the internet. 1:27:45 How important are comedic news sources? 1:38:30 Is Trump anti-trans, and the line between opposing policies and opposing groups of people.    

We discuss decriminalization, trafficking, personal experiences with sex work and more with UCLA professor Manisha Shah, Playboy writer and stripper Kasey Koop, Thai Rivera of the Unbothered podcast and Sammy Obeid of Conan and Last Comic Standing. Note: Resources for people who wish to leave sex work include JourneyOut.org, CastLA.org and others. 2:30 Toby Standup 6:35 Kasey Koop Standup 12:00 Sammy Obeid Standup 18:11 Thai Rivera Standup 27:40 Manisha Shah - Should prostitution be legalized? 40:20 Sex worker interactions with police 45:55 Decriminalization vs. Legalization 1:16:00 History of prostitution 1:27:05 Longevity of careers in sex work

Is free speech is threatened on campus? We premiere mini-documentary Silence U Part 2: What Has Yale Become?  and discuss it with filmmaker Rob Montz, comedian Jenny Yang of MTV's #BeyondTheWall, and UCLA undergrad comedian Nathan Mosher. 00:00 Episode Intro 01:00 Stage Intro 02:45 Toby Muresianu Standup 07:48 Jenny Yang Standup 14:25 Nathan Mosher Standup 20:54 Panel Discussion 21:54 Is free speech threatened at colleges? 23:55 Role of class in protests 40:00 Why is free speech an important issue even if campus blowups are relatively rare? 42:00 Speakers getting shouted down costs universities money 45:10 Right-wing students also in echo chambers? 46:45 Audience member: Class isn't the complete explanation for feeling alienated 52:42 Are safe spaces necessary? 54:44 Was it unreasonable to expect discourse in the Silliman courtyard? 56:10 Is Yale's notion of "home" actually an old concept?

A special Unsafe Studio recorded with Trey Lord of the Bionic Planet podcast at Songbyrd in Washington DC. Topic guide: 12:00: Ayahuasca 15:00: Private property in the developing world 18:30: What’s the best fuel for the developing world? 26:15: Black Lives Matter and the White Baby Defense 28:00: Obama writing check to Green Climate fund? 32:00: Argentina still angry about Falklands 36:00: Warby Parker for Dummies 40:57: Old white men: yay or nay? 44:45: Strip mining copper from uteruses 45:30: Can Trump pull out of Paris accords? 49:25: Vibram Five Finger Shoes: The Hidden Story 51:09: Can Trump pull out of Paris accords? (Part II)

We visit New York City with NYU professor and director of "The Other Side of Immigration" Roy Germano, Trump-supporting comedian James Myers, The Federalist senior contributor Dave Marcus, and comedian and former US Marine Courtney Fearrington.

Comedians Jeremy McLellan of South Carolina and Eric Lampaert of France and England join Lou and Toby to discuss Trump's cabinet, immigration, and how age of consent laws apply to jockeys. Some highlights: 02:18 Tweeting comedy in multiple languages. 12:57: Trump's National Security Advisor Mike Flynn and Islam 26:50: Age of Consent. 32:53: Guns from a European perspective. 47:03: Developing pre-emptive insurgency tactics. 51:00: Dakota Access Pipeline and Guns. 1:02:50: Comparing experiences immigrating to the UK and US. 1:07:28: Becoming an American vs. becoming a European. 1:19:00: Brexit forcing expats to return.  

We discuss what's next after the election, why it happened and why they voted the way they did in often-heated, often-hilarious discussion with comedians Helen Hong (Inside Amy Schumer), Thai Rivera (Fusion's Roast of America), Caroline Heldman (Occidental College Politics professor) and John L. Ray (Former DNC analyst).

We return to Los Angeles to cover the industry that covers everybody: The Media. This was a funny and insightful show, as well as a contentious one - particularly around the topic of covering white supremacist movements. You can read some of the articles referenced on white nationalists, Trump and David Duke, and the fight between the KKK and counterprotestors here. Guests on this show were: Georgia Kernell - UCLA Professor who researches political communication, party strategy and voter behavior! Christina Bellantoni - Assistant Managing Editor/Politics at the LA Times (subscribe to her newsletter at latimes.com/essentialpoliticsemail)! Tamer Kattan - winner of the World Series of Comedy and finalist in MoveOn.org's "Laughter Trumps Hate" competition! Julianne Simitz - Producer of "Bad News Live" in Hollywood and veteran political worker! Chriss Street - writer whose work has appeared in Breitbart, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Drudge Report, New York Times and many more! Hope you enjoy it.

We travel to Portland, Oregon to talk political correctness at the Bridgetown Comedy Festival! With a stellar lineup including Baron Vaughn (Netflix's Frankie and Grace), Bri Pruett (comedian and sex columnist for the Portland Mercury), Teela Foxworth (professor of communications at Portland Community College) and Charlie Hinkle (board member of the Portland ACLU and first amendment law professor at Lewis and Clark University).  

Lou calls in from covering the national conventions, former attorney and current comedian Mike Schmidt argues with guest Sameer Suri about NATO, and Toby Muresianu hosts a discussion about current politics.