American Thought Leaders

During World War II, America learned a hard lesson about the strategic importance of the small island nations scattered across the Pacific. Among them is Palau, a nation of 18,000 people in what’s known as the second island chain. It’s home to the bloodiest battlefield of the Pacific theater, on the island of Peleliu. Today, as the Chinese regime prepares for a possible invasion of Taiwan, Palau finds itself on the front lines again. It’s one of only 12 countries that diplomatically recognize Taiwan, and one of only three with a Compact of Free Association with the United States—an agreement that gives the U.S. exclusive military access to Palauan waters in exchange for providing defense, postal service, economic assistance, and other benefits to Palauans. Palau’s strategic position has made it a target. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has ramped up gray-zone tactics and information warfare across the region to pull small Pacific nations away from Taiwan and the United States. In this episode, I’m sitting down with Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr. Half-American and half-Palauan and born in Baltimore, Whipps decided to give up his American citizenship to serve as president of his father’s homeland and chart a new course for its development. In this episode, Whipps explains how Palau is defending its sovereignty against foreign encroachment and shares his vision for the country’s future. We cover how the CCP has threatened Palau, how the Compact of Free Association shapes U.S. regional defense strategy, why the U.S. military is building radar sites on the island, and how Western private sector investment can help secure a free Indo-Pacific. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Rusty Reno is the editor-in-chief of First Things Magazine and author of “Return of the Strong Gods: Nationalism, Populism, and the Future of the West.” In his book, Reno argues that after the World Wars, Western intellectual elites concluded that the “strong gods”—nationalism and intense ideological loyalty, to name a few—were the root causes of violence. In response, figures like Karl Popper promoted an “open society” framework, aimed at diluting strong loyalties. Decades later, Reno argues, we live in an age when the frameworks that gave human beings stability, purpose, and a sense of belonging have been stripped away. In this episode, Reno unpacks questions such as: What about the 1980s is so desirable to people today? Why are young people dissatisfied with endless choices? And why ought questions of meaning, national identity, and truth return to the center of politics? Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Modern medicine in the West often treats chronic and autoimmune conditions as lifelong diagnoses that must be managed rather than cured. Sina McCullough—who has a doctorate in nutrition and is the author of “Hands Off My Food!”—argues that diseases are primarily a state of imbalance, driven by toxicities and deficiencies. These, she says, can often be reversed by restoring “root-level” health. “I refuse to accept the label that disease is a lifelong sentence,” McCullough says. “When you remove the roadblocks standing in the way, the body naturally takes over and heals itself.” McCullough does not, however, dismiss Western medicine entirely—standard diagnostic labs and emergency care remain critical tools. But can modern conventional treatments fully resolve chronic illness without addressing underlying dietary triggers, outdated food labeling, and environmental toxins? In this episode, McCullough tells her story of how she went from near-fatal autoimmune issues to wholly restored health without conventional medicine. She answers critical questions: How do standard blood tests miss severe micronutrient deficiencies? Why are outdated, certified fool labels problematic? And what role do emotional and spiritual health play in physical diseases? Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Underground and urban warfare have become the decisive battlegrounds of modern warfare, yet for a long time, military doctrine has been built to avoid both, said John Spencer, a retired U.S. Army major and chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute. He’s repeatedly embedded himself in active war zones, from Gaza to Ukraine, and personally walked through the nearly two-mile-long Hamas tunnel, wide enough to drive a truck through, that led from Gaza City right up to the Israel-Gaza border wall. A leading expert on urban and underground warfare, he argues that subterranean warfare is spreading globally. He also argues that enemies of the West have deliberately weaponized the laws of war itself, using civilians as shields. How can democratic nations defend themselves when non-state actors intentionally weaponize civilian deaths to create political leverage? How are manipulated statistics and social media disinformation warping the public’s understanding of modern-day battlefield realities? And what do we keep getting wrong about modern warfare? Spencer is the author of the new book “Twenty Times I Almost Died: Life Lessons from the Edge of Survival.” Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Modern American politics is commonly framed as a face-off between traditional conservative and contemporary progressive values. Bradley Thayer, author of “America’s 100 Years’ War,” argues that a closer look at the tactics shaping Western institutions reveals a deeper ideological struggle—one whose roots trace back to Vladimir Lenin. In this episode, Thayer argues that what threatens America today extends far beyond traditional Marxist economics. He says that neo-Leninist strategies actively work to subvert democracy by hijacking civil society, destabilizing Western borders, and replacing individual rights with group identity. Thayer addresses a host of critical questions: How did Soviet political warfare evolve into a privatized network operating within the United States? Why is the Chinese Communist Party best understood as an illegitimate colonial export of Soviet imperialism rather than an authentic Chinese polity? And how can Americans draw upon our founding principles to end this century-long war? Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Many people have come to accept pervasive surveillance as the price of modern life: that our phones, browsers, messages, purchases, and movements will inevitably be collected, analyzed, and sold to those with enough money or power. For many, there’s a growing sense that true privacy is irrevocably lost, and resistance is largely futile. Naomi Brockwell disagrees. She is the president of the Ludlow Institute, and with her YouTube channel, she educates people about the many choices they can make to reclaim their privacy—without totally disconnecting from modern life. “I, as an individual, can actually make choices that reclaim basically all of my privacy in the digital age,” she says. She connects the dots between digital privacy and the survival of whistleblowers, investigative journalists, protest movements, and opposition parties—none of which can function without it. Her message is that some things are worth fighting for: “Because submission is its own kind of death.” Her institute recently helped draft a new bill that aims to restore Fourth Amendment protections in the digital era by requiring warrants for the government to access your data online. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Modern biology often posits Darwinian evolution and natural selection as a settled explanation for the vast complexity of the natural world. Yet, looking closely at the nanoscale machinery inside the cell reveals molecular systems that seem to defy a gradual, evolutionary unfolding, says Michael Behe, professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University and author of “Darwin’s Black Box,” “The Edge of Evolution,” and “Darwin Devolves.” “I was startled to see that a foundation concept of my worldview had no support; that it was all built on social considerations,” Behe says. Importantly, Behe points out that he is not rejecting Darwinian evolution in its entirety. Minor evolutionary adaptations are well-established, he says. But can Darwin’s theory of evolution adequately explain the origin of complex biological mechanisms that require many interlocking components to function at all? Also, what do recent discoveries in molecular genetics reveal about the boundaries of natural evolution? And why is the scientific consensus on Darwin’s theory far less unanimous than it appears? Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

It’s rare to see large-scale bronze installations built today. In Washington, D.C., as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebration, Matthew Taylor has transformed the long-neglected Freedom Plaza with a beautiful new memorial celebrating Revolutionary War heroes. He is an artist, filmmaker, and senior adviser at the National Endowment for the Humanities. Among those featured in the new Spirit of ‘76 installation is Samuel Whittemore, who was 78 when he decided to join the Revolutionary War effort against the British. “They bayoneted him 13 times. They shot him in the head and left him for dead, and yet he lived another 18 years to the age of 96,” says Taylor. “The great thing about these soldiers is most of these people either don’t have statues [or] are not very well-known, and this shows that this is the common citizen,” he says. These were “ordinary people doing extraordinary things to help create and build this nation,” he says. The equestrian statue of Caesar Rodney—which had been taken down in Wilmington, Delaware, during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests—is now also on display on a new pedestal in Freedom Plaza. He epitomizes the extraordinary determination of those who secured American independence. “He had facial cancer and emphysema, and he rode 80 miles overnight in a storm to sign and … be the tiebreaker, Delaware, which would ultimately create the Declaration of Independence,” Taylor says. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Ian Rowe is a charter school founder who believes hard work and accountability—and rejecting victimhood—are the secrets to a good education. His school Vertex Partnership Academies just celebrated its first graduating class, with students moving on to college, the military, and futures that once felt out of reach in an area where only 7 percent of kids typically graduate college-ready. His newest project, Westchester Aerospace and Virtues Academy (WAVA), pairs a classical education with a surprising real-world specialty: aviation and aerospace training. Students will study great books and Western civilization while also learning air traffic control, piloting, aircraft maintenance, airport management, and related trades. The school will sit right next to Westchester County Airport in New York, so students can watch planes and hear real air traffic control, making technical training part of everyday school life. So why aerospace—in an age when AI is upending every industry? “While artificial intelligence is going to affect every industry … there will always be a need for some kind of aircraft to transport people from one location to the other,” Rowe says. “The best defense against the worst excesses of artificial intelligence is to ensure that our students are steeped in the other form of AI—and that is ancient intelligence … virtue, moral formation, character development.” Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Ahead of the Republican Senate primary runoff tomorrow in South Carolina, I’m sitting down with Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) as he and Sen. Darline Graham make their final appeals to South Carolinian voters. In this episode, Norman dives into his core political priorities, emphasizing fiscal conservatism, securing the integrity of elections through the SAVE America Act, and reforming major entitlement programs. Drawing on his background in the private sector, Norman said Washington needs more business-minded leaders who understand how to balance a budget and tackle national debt. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

🔥Invest in Frontieras: Opportunity closes August 27. https://ept.ms/4ghvnCo In this episode, Adm. Brian Christine, assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), joins me to break down a major new HHS report on gender medicine, the unspoken consequences of transgender procedures, the incentives involved, and how investigators uncovered potentially millions of dollars in fraudulent billing. Christine reveals how certain diagnostic codes were used to circumvent both the difficulties of insurance reimbursement and laws in certain states that prohibited transgender procedures. Investigators found that coding for unspecified endocrine disorders accounted for more than $40 million in potentially fraudulent billing for puberty blockers. And a diagnosis of “precocious puberty” was used for over $11 million in billing for patients aged 13 to 17. Financial incentives combined with the ideological capture of medical institutions create a dangerous mix, Christine warns. But this report, he said, is tremendously hopeful in spotlighting the bad science and bad actors that made the alleged abuses possible. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

A trove of newly released documents, colloquially known as the “Fauci Diaries,” offer an unusually revealing window into the decisions and dynamics that shaped the COVID-19 era. Jeffrey Tucker spent days reading all the documents—over 1,100 pages of materials—which were prepared within the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and appear to have been intended, at least in part, as the foundation for an autobiography. Tucker argues that these records offer key insights into what Dr. Anthony Fauci knew, when he knew it, and how that knowledge influenced public messaging and policy. We discuss the early push for an mRNA vaccine, the influential WHO delegation to China in February 2020, the origins and consequences of lockdown policies, and Fauci’s relationship with the media. Why did so many countries adopt elements of China’s COVID response? What do the documents reveal about the debate over the lab-leak theory? And why did the vaccination push intensify even as breakthrough infections became increasingly apparent? We also examine the clash between Fauci and President Donald Trump, the treatment of dissenting scientists behind the Great Barrington Declaration, and the broader question of how the official history of the pandemic will be written. Dr. Fauci did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Newly released documents reveal how evidence of Chinese penetration of voter registration files and plots to interfere in the election were withheld or downplayed. The new files reveal one of the intelligence officers said they “ deliberately massaged ” the presidential daily briefing in 2020 to downplay election-related information, with another stating, “I’m basically running a shadow government across the FBI at this point.” John Solomon is chair of the White House Government Transparency Task Force, an award-winning journalist, and founder of Just the News. He breaks down key documents his task force has released—and what more we can expect to see in the coming days and months. Newly declassified documents also upend the prevailing narrative on the Biden–Ukraine story, revealing how the FBI allegedly ran a secret operation known as Round River. According to the documents, it labelled whistleblowers as Russian “conduits” and dismissed the evidence they provided on the Biden family as “Russian disinformation.” John Solomon places Round River within a broader sequence of FBI operations targeting Trump that included Crossfire Hurricane, Plasmic Echo, and Arctic Frost. This is “a wash, rinse, repeat cycle,” he said, going all the way back to the 2016 election and the debunked “Trump–Russia collusion” narrative. In this episode, we examine questions of accountability, the extent of the cover-up, and whether FBI Director Kash Patel will be successful in building a “grand conspiracy” case. Note: This interview was filmed before the latest document drop related to former Rep. Eric Swalwell and alleged Chinese operative Fang Fang. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

💰Protect your wealth with precious metals! Call American Hartford Gold today & get up to $20,000 in free silver on your 1st order! Call 855-862-3377 or text AMERICAN to 65532 or click here: https://ept.ms/ATL-AHG The largest Chinese embassy in Europe is set to rise in the heart of London: a 20,000-square-meter complex at Royal Mint Court. Local councilors rejected it twice. But the government approved it, and a High Court challenge from residents was dismissed this summer. Standing against it is Luke de Pulford, founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC)—an international coalition of lawmakers opposing Chinese Communist Party infiltration. Why does this embassy matter, and why should America care? The site sits directly above fiber-optic cables carrying sensitive financial data between the City of London and Canary Wharf, Britain’s two main financial districts. The architectural drawings are also redacted. “Nearly an entire floor is redacted, so we don’t know what the use of those buildings is, and some of those rooms are in the basement area,” de Pulford says. “If the Chinese were able to, in some way, sabotage or hack this cabling. … They would be impacting any financial services from anywhere in the world who are located in those two financial centers, which of course includes the United States.” MI5 lists China as one of the most serious national security threats facing the UK. So why was the embassy approved? “It’s partly down to the leverage that China exacts, it’s partly down to the carrots that it dangles around economic opportunities, and it’s partly down to the blunt coercion it’s willing to mete out,” de Pulford says. This episode looks at what can still be done to stop the project, why it’s being called the last line of defense, and what it takes to resist communist infiltration from within. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Grace Jo was born in North Korea and nearly starved to death as a child during the country’s devastating famine in the 1990s. Her father crossed into China in search of food for his family, only to be tortured and die after returning to North Korea. Her grandmother and two younger brothers died of starvation. And her oldest sister disappeared while searching for food. The family suspects she became a victim of human trafficking in China. Jo still remembers that her grandmother’s dying wish was to eat a baked potato. It was a wish the family could not fulfill. At six years old, Jo first crossed the Tumen River into China with her mother and sister. In China, they lived in hiding—ever fearful of being sent back to North Korea. Jo was repatriated twice before finally escaping North Korea for the last time. Her story is a haunting account of survival, loss, and hope that shows the brutal reality of life under North Korea’s regime and the determination, resilience, and sheer luck it takes to escape it. In 2008, with the help of a missionary, Jo, her mother, and her older sister made it to the United States. She became a U.S. citizen in 2013. Today, she is the founder of the Broken Chains Foundation, formerly the Grace Jo Foundation. And through the Dissident Project, she speaks regularly at schools and other venues, sharing her story to educate young people about the realities of totalitarian and communist regimes. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Is the end of privacy inevitable? Is programmable money inevitable? Is it inevitable that artificial intelligence will eliminate most of the world’s white-collar jobs? Oxford professor Carissa Véliz argues that such claims are a red flag. She’s the author of the new book “Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future.” Someone who says a future is inevitable is trying to get you to do something and benefit from your belief, she argues. She is convinced that such self‑fulfilling prophecies only work if we believe them and she urges people to defy these narratives by asking: Who is predicting this future? Who benefits? What data supports it—and what missing data might contradict it? Véliz is a philosopher and author who specializes in privacy and the ethics of artificial intelligence. She is an associate professor of philosophy at the Institute for Ethics in AI and a Fellow at Hertford College at the University of Oxford. Prediction, Véliz explains, is a business model: diagnose a problem, promise that more data will solve it, then sell tools to analyze the huge datasets institutions don’t know how to use. Throughout history, rulers have attached themselves to prophets. Today, that role is played by immensely rich and powerful tech executives who advise governments and control key infrastructure and access to citizens via social media. In our interview, we discuss how surveillance and behavioral prediction undermine and erode an open society where people should have the freedom to speak, protest, and be anonymous. Other questions we discuss: Do “digital natives” like Gen Z and Gen Alpha—who have never experienced a true non-digital world—even understand the role of privacy? And what are the best antidotes to the harms of digital life? Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

In this exclusive interview with FBI Director Kash Patel, we dive into the FBI’s campaign to take down scam centers around the world, from Burma to the United Arab Emirates. Last year, the FBI launched Operation Blackout, a 16-month campaign that dismantled four of the world’s largest scam centers. Working with international partners—notably including China’s Ministry of Public Security—the FBI seized over $15 billion, arrested more than 300 individuals, and freed thousands of trafficked victims who had been forced to work at these scam compounds. The amount of money Americans have reported losing to fraud has increased over threefold from 2020 to 2025, according to data from the Federal Trade Commission. And nearly half of that in 2025 went to romance cryptocurrency scams—known as pig-butchering scams. Scammers use texts to build trust before luring victims into fake investments that drain their life savings. Then they move and launder the money through crypto wallets. So what can people do to avoid being scammed? Will the FBI be returning all the seized money? And why has the FBI chosen to work with China on tackling these scam compounds? How can the Chinese regime be trusted to work in good faith? In this wide-ranging interview, we also discuss the FBI’s fight to catch spies, investigate transnational repression, cut bureaucratic red tape, and prevent the next terrorist attack. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Almost a year after the Washington Declaration, Armenia is trying to turn a hard-won peace with Azerbaijan into something lasting. In this conversation, Armenia’s ambassador to the United States, Narek Mkrtchyan, explains what the agreement means on the ground and why the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity could reshape the region and the country’s future. “We sit in a very tough neighborhood. We sit in a very interesting geography. We are at the crossroads of Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, South Caucasus,” Mkrtchyan says. Mkrtchyan describes how Armenia is trying to turn geography into strategy through the development of diplomacy, new trade routes, and international partnerships. He views this as more than a peace process—it’s a chance to redefine Armenia’s place in the region. “In the center is the concept of crossroads of peace,” Mkrtchyan says. Recently, Armenia also got approval for the biggest artificial intelligence factory in the region—a $4 billion project that officials say could help make the country a hub for computing power and advanced technology. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Americans are ripped off in the billions annually through romance “pig-butchering” scams—the most dominant type. But who’s really behind them? The shocking reality is the vast majority of these scammers are trafficked victims, enslaved across more than 60 countries and forced to scam or face torture. “You’re working 17-hour days. You’re catatonic. You’re not getting sleep. You start to doze. They‘ll electrocute you, and if you refuse to scam, they’ll torture you,” said Timothy Blackwood, an award-winning Canadian-American film director. His film “Scam Slave: From Hell to Home” follows a Ugandan man promised a high-paying job in Thailand, only to be kidnapped by a Myanmar-based crime syndicate. “There’s all different types of scams going on there. There’s villas, there’s strip clubs, there’s clinics to support the staff that are managing and running these compounds,” Blackwood says. These scam centers in Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar generate billions that fund even more advanced operations. “It’s not simply in the horrific statistics of how many billions of dollars are being scammed from Americans annually, but the human cost to people’s lives.” In this episode, I dive into how these operations stay hidden and what can actually be done to stop them. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

💰Protect your wealth with precious metals! Call American Hartford Gold today & get up to $20,000 in free silver on your 1st order! Call 855-862-3377 or text AMERICAN to 65532 or click here: https://ept.ms/ATL-AHG Since the sexual revolution and the introduction of no-fault divorce in 1969, the institution of marriage in America has undergone a profound transformation. Katy Faust, founder of children’s rights organization Them Before Us and co-author of a book by the same name, argues that marriage has changed from a permanent, child-centered union to a vehicle for adult fulfillment. And now new reproductive technologies—from IVF to surrogacy—are making parenthood possible in ways never seen before. For many, this is progress. But at what cost? Faust argues that for decades, we have prioritized adult desire over a child’s fundamental right to be known, loved, and raised by their biological mother and father. In this episode, she walks me through many complex questions: What makes something a natural right? What is the true impact of divorce on children? Why isn’t surrogacy just a neutral transaction? And for countries facing shrinking birth rates, why is IVF perhaps not the right solution? Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.