“America’s moving, in my opinion, in a bad direction,” says today’s guest, Roman Balmakov, director of the new documentary “No Farmers, No Food: Will You Eat Bugs?” As a reporter with the Epoch Times, founded by Chinese immigrants to counter the narrative of the Chinese Communist Party-controlled media, he joins the Bart Baggett show to discuss media bias and the current state of American journalism.

Roman describes a new era where many journalists see themselves not as impartial purveyors of information but as “gladiators in the arena.” This shift began with omitting suicides from the news to protect readers and has evolved into journalists suppressing information they deem harmful. When media outlets encounter content they disagree with, they often ostracize it using the same accusations and language, regardless of its relevance.

How will the media respond to Roman’s own movie, produced by EpochTV, which Bart calls “Netflix for thinking people”? The film explores the U.N.’s war on small farmers under the guise of fighting climate change.

Tune in to today’s episode as Roman and Bart discuss immigrant success, the role of entertainers in truth-telling, and whether we might all be subsisting on bugs in the near future.

Quotes

• “Yeah, one of my close friends was born in Ukraine, just a few miles from Chernobyl. And he said, if the winds were different, he would not be here. You know, and luckily his family got out and they came here to America and he loves it. He's rich...very rich. Isn't it great to come to this country and to be rich?” (1:14 | Bart Baggett)
• “OK, so let's go back to the worst-case scenario. If you're in a dictatorship country and/or Poland in the 60s…this whole Communist thing. It's going to make you unmotivated. Because if you do, do well, even in the socialist countries in Sweden in the 70s, if you did really, really well, they taxed you at 90%, if I’m not incorrect in my math. I get that. When all of a sudden you're free, and there's not a gun pointed at your head, and you can start a business, you can start a carwash, you can start anything you want, that's like coming out of prison.” (2:43 | Bart Baggett)
• “I think the media here is biased. And only in the past few years have we seen that the media has been a little bit bought and paid for in some segments.” (6:10 | Bart Baggett)
• “If you saw the movie, well, the movie is kind of its own thing. This is a story that actually happened. But then you look at all these media outlets, one after the other, putting out these stories. And you're and you just kind of left to wonder, ‘Why all of a sudden, are they all, in unison, framing the story this way?” (11:11 | Roman Balkamov)

Learn more and subscribe to the Bart Baggett’s Show The World’s Most Interesting People Fan Weekly Newsletter at https://thebartshow.com

Links

Connect with Roman Balmakov:

https://www.instagram.com/facts.matter.roman

https://www.tiktok.com/@.epoch.times.roman

https://www.youtube.com/@FactsMatterRoman

https://www.facebook.com/FactsMatterRoman/

Connect with Bart Baggett

https://instagram.com/bartbaggett

https://www.instagram.com/bartshowpodcast/

https://www.youtube.com/@bartshowpodcast

https://bartbaggett.com

https://www.tiktok.com/@bartbaggett

https://x.com/bartbaggett

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“Everyone knows a sex worker,” says Ariela Moscowitz, but due to shame, stigma, and the associated risks, “nobody wants to talk about it.” As the director of communications at Decriminalize Sex Work, Ariela advocates for the removal of all criminal and civil penalties for consensual adult sex work. Additionally, the organization opposes a regulatory model gaining traction in the United States.

The ‘demand equality model,’ despite its name, decriminalizes the selling of sex but not the buying of it, in an attempt to reduce demand. This creates a power imbalance between workers and clients and exposes workers to significant rights and privacy violations. Supported by feminists who otherwise champion bodily autonomy, this model is based on the belief that all sex work is inherently exploitative and that sex workers need to be “saved.”

Ariela points out that human trafficking, a popular issue for politicians seeking voter approval, occurs predominantly outside the sex work industry.

In this episode, Ariela shares her journey in advocating for sex workers’ rights and recounts a woman’s story that highlights the devastating consequences of criminalizing sex work and the varied, often surprising reasons people enter the industry.

Quotes

• “We don't want to see people saddled with criminal records for something they choose to do of their own volition with another adult in the privacy of their own home. And also, we know that decriminalizing consensual sex work is the best way to combat trafficking and exploitation in the sex industry.” (2:19 | Ariela Moscowitz)
• “But they're still existing in a criminalized arena. And when you're dependent on somebody who is nervous about getting arrested, they hold all the cards. So, where I started was, we have two goals: we want to decriminalize consensual adult sex work, and we want to fight this, I’ll call it “the equality model,” even though that drives me wild because there's nothing equal about the equality model…a lot of second wave feminists, the same folks who fight for bodily autonomy as it relates to abortion, but not as it relates to sex work, have decided that all sex work is inherently exploitative. We know that it's not. So, they want to ‘save’ these women who they also want to have autonomy. It's all inherently contradictory.” (6:18 | Ariela Moscowitz)
• “You know, it's generous to say they're well intentioned, but are hastily written, slapped together laws that are really solutions in search of a problem. So, they can say, ‘Hey, guys. Look what I did about trafficking,’ while they did nothing for trafficking, and everything to hurt consensual adult sex workers. In 2018,...SESTA/FOSTA basically fundamentally changed the way the internet works…platforms can't be held liable for what folks post on them. That's what shut down Backpage.” (14:26 | Ariela Moscowitz)
• “A lot of the structures we have in place in this society, really leave a lot of people out in the cold…you think laws are really written to keep you safe…and they actually make things more dangerous for people, which is what the criminalization of sex work does.” (17:38 | Ariela Moscovitz)

Links

Learn more and subscribe to the Bart Baggett’s Show The World’s Most Interesting People Fan Weekly Newsletter at https://thebartshow.com

Connect with Ariela Moscowitz:

https://www.decriminalizesex.work

https://www.instagram.com/decrimsexwork

https://www.tiktok.com/decrimsex

Connect with Bart Baggett

https://instagram.com/bartbaggett

https://www.instagram.com/bartshowpodcast/

https://www.youtube.com/@bartshowpodcast

https://bartbaggett.com

https://www.tiktok.com/@bartbaggett

https://x.com/bartbaggett

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“We always want to put people in categories,” says Mark Skousen, “if we believe in individualism, let’s treat everyone as an individual.” Mark, the founder of Freedomfest, clarifies that the event is not just a political conference for Libertarians but a “renaissance gathering” for people from all backgrounds who value thinking and living freely. On today’s episode of The Bart Baggett Show, Mark explains libertarianism beyond political affiliation and why freedom is the cornerstone of all societal systems.

Mark, a world-renowned economist, author, and professor, asserts that money and freedom are interconnected. He cites examples like Benjamin Franklin and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who built wealth and invested wisely to live life on their own terms.

Mark will discuss what makes a nation economically prosperous, draw parallels between a parent’s relationship with a child and a government’s relationship with its citizens, and argue why the U.S. should move away from the two-party system.

Despite societal challenges, Mark is optimistic about the upcoming generation’s willingness to learn and engage. Tune in to learn more about this year’s Freedomfest and how you can get discounted tickets with Bart’s help for a limited time. Coupon code “BART50” https://www.freedomfest.com

Quotes

• “When children are young, they’re dependent on their parents for their livelihood, for their education and so forth. Unfortunately, that’s been translated too often to the government saying, ‘You’re all children and therefore we have to take care of you, your food, your medical expenses, your retirement and so forth.’ And that’s a danger.” (2:32 | Mark Skousen)
• “It’s not so much a political seminar. I first thought, ‘It’s a Libertarian conference,’ but that’s not my impression now, Mark. I feel like it’s people who love freedom, who want to experience—they have different social issues, some have very specific agendas, and some like me are just going, ‘Wow, maybe I can learn something.’...Well, that’s the problem—I don’t think you can pinpoint at ‘average’—everybody is so different. We always want to put people in categories and really I think, if we believe in individualism, let’s treat everybody as an individual.” (14:22 | Bart Baggett and Mark Skousen)
• “I see the Libertarians as those who favor maximum liberty within the rule of law and within a robust competitive economy or model, if you will, maximum liberty.” (19:22 | Mark Skousen)
• “I’m really worried about our legal system and what is being taught in law schools. And we’re starting to see that now and this thing against Trump…we’ve had criminal justice reform, which I think overall has been good, but I do think if you become a target, they can use the law to go after you and you can’t get representation and you can’t get a judge that’s really fair.” (29:37 | Mark Skousen)
• “How do you personally become wealthy, how does a nation become prosperous: it’s all the same thing. You live within your means, you save regularly, you invest the savings productively in a business or in the stock market which is other people’s businesses. And a nation’s the same thing.” (38:05 | Mark Skousen)

Links

Save $50 on attending Freedomfest in Las Vegas in 2024.

Coupon code “BART50” https://www.freedomfest.com

Learn more and subscribe to the Bart Baggett’s Show The World’s Most Interesting People Fan Weekly Newsletter at https://thebartshow.com

Links

Connect with Mark Skousen:

https://www.mskousen.com

https://www.freedomfest.com

Connect with Bart Baggett

https://instagram.com/bartbaggett

https://www.instagram.com/bartshowpodcast/

https://www.youtube.com/@bartshowpodcast

https://bartbaggett.com

https://www.tiktok.com/@bartbaggett

https://x.com/bartbaggett

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm