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Lions of Liberty Network
Hosted by Lions of Liberty · EN
Welcome to The Lions of Liberty Podcast Network - where culture, comedy, and capitalism collide. The true OG voice of liberty and freedom in the podcast space. We cut through the noise with razor-sharp takes on politics, free markets, and the cultural battles shaping our world. Whether you're a politically inclined free thinker or an entrepreneurial disruptor shaking up the status quo, the Lions of Liberty will deliver what you need. www.lionsofliberty.com
103episodes
Episodes
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TLPP: Nolan Cut the Wrong Scene w/ Lisa Libes
2w ago00:52:39Tap to summarizeLiza Libes is a writer and literary critic at Pens and Poison. Her parents escaped the Soviet Union. She went to Columbia. She found that Columbia's English Department had replaced literature with Marxist theory, postcolonial studies, and critical theory. She's been pushing back ever since. We talked about: the teachers who made us both writers; reading Wallace Stevens's The Snowman — out loud, in full — and the seventh grade class that made Liza stand in the snow for an hour to understand it; Hemingway, Ezra Pound, and the fascism problem; what happened to Columbia's English Department and why it matters for publishing; why Marxism is fundamentally an ideology of resentment (Bertrand Russell said it 100 years ago); the novel Yesteryear and what it reveals about contemporary literary self-righteousness; why writing characters who disagree with you is the whole point; the Emily Wilson translation of the Odyssey and what "a complicated man" does to Odysseus's character; and Christopher Nolan's Odyssey film — specifically the Cyclops scene he cut, why it was the scene that defined Odysseus, and why its absence drains the heroism from the entire story. Follow Liza at Pens and Poison on Instagram → @pensandpoison TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Intro — who is Liza Libes and what is Pens and Poison? 1:20 — Looking back on your 18-year-old writer self 2:51 — The teachers who made us writers — Brother Patterson and Poetry Friday 5:34 — Standing in the snow to understand Wallace Stevens — The Snowman read aloud 10:31 — The Lost Generation: Hemingway, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot — and the fascism problem 13:03 — Shakespeare and Co., Paris, and missing Notre Dame before the fire 14:57 — Columbia's English Department: literary theory replaced literature 16:58 — Marxist literary theory, critical theory, and postcolonial studies explained 18:28 — Her parents escaped the Soviet Union — why she takes Marxism personally 19:28 — What literature used to be — humanistic inquiry vs. class consciousness 21:41 — Academia made literature esoteric — and publishing followed 23:01 — The DSA voter: overeducated, underpaid, and resentful 24:44 — Yesteryear — the trad wife novel, Anne Hathaway, and literary self-righteousness 26:03 — When the author's voice drowns out the character's voice 27:14 — Dostoevsky, Lionel Shriver, and characters the author disagrees with 30:23 — Writing outside your experience — her trans character, Lou's gay character 33:22 — Lou's story published alongside Joyce Carol Oates and Junot Diaz 35:20 — Her new novel — exploring faith and Jewish theology 37:32 — Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter in Waiting for Godot 39:03 — The Emily Wilson Odyssey translation — "a complicated man" vs. "cunning" 41:10 — What makes Odysseus great — the Cyclops, the cunning, the hubris 43:25 — Nolan's film: the Cyclops scene is gone — and why that ruins everything 45:42 — Greek hubris — Icarus, Arachne, and why pride destroys heroes 47:24 — The sirens scene: what it should have felt like vs. what Nolan did 48:30 — The overall verdict on Nolan's Odyssey — heroism is missing 49:46 — Outro — find Liza at Pens and Poison Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU Co-host of Happy Hour Econ → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-econ/id1863476697 Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r TheLouPerez.com | info@thelouperez.com Newsletter: https://substack.com/@louperez #Literature #LiteraryFiction #LizaLibes #PensAndPoison #Odyssey #ChristopherNolan #Columbia #MarxistTheory #ClassicLiterature #LouPerezPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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FF: Neurosurgeon Turned Regenerative Medicine Pioneer Dr. Jeff Gross on Peptides, Stem Cells, and Healing from Within
2w ago00:47:30Tap to summarizeDr. Jeff Gross, a board-certified neurosurgeon and founder of Recelebrate, joins the show to demystify peptides and regenerative medicine. He explains how frustration with the traditional healthcare system pushed him from surgery toward cellular-level healing, and breaks down what peptides actually are, why "FDA approved" is widely misunderstood, and how stem cells and exosomes work in the body. The conversation covers real-world applications — from joint and cartilage regeneration to Parkinson's symptom relief and mitochondrial repair with peptides like SS-31 and MOTS-C. Dr. Gross also tackles misconceptions around legality, telehealth treatment options, and how to vet a regenerative medicine clinic. It's a wide-ranging, myth-busting conversation for anyone curious about the future of longevity and healing. Chapters: 0:00 – Introduction & sponsor message 2:37 – Meet Dr. Jeff Gross 4:18 – From surgery to regenerative medicine 12:43 – What exactly is a peptide? 22:22 – Types of stem cells and what's legal in the U.S. 25:56 – Stem cells and Parkinson's treatment 28:22 – Cartilage regeneration and joint pain 31:14 – Finding a trustworthy regenerative medicine clinic 35:23 – Mitochondrial peptides (SS-31, MOTS-C) 41:15 – Where to find Recelebrate Show Sponsor: Jason Gagne’s Good2GoBody 90-day beginner fitness program - https://good2go.podia.com/?coupon=LIONSJOHN Links: Learn more: https://recellebrate.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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TBNS: What Your Union DOESN'T Tell You (Until You Try To Leave!)
2w ago00:31:34Tap to summarizeDavid Osborne joins Brian Nichols to reveal how public sector unions trap members into paying union dues long after they quit - and why leaving your union is nearly impossible right now. Osborne is the former CEO of Americans for Fair Treatment and helped start the Fairness Center, a public interest law firm representing teachers, firefighters, police, and municipal workers against their own unions. This is a throwback to Episode 233, April 2021, with a five-year scorecard on what he got right and what he missed.Inside, you'll hear the uncensored breakdown of the union resignation window, the restrictive membership forms nobody reads at orientation, and the clause that makes public employees pay dues regardless of membership status. This is the playbook nobody hands you when you take a government job.And here's the part that should bother you... the union never had to win. They just had to make leaving expensive enough that you stopped trying. What happens to your paycheck when the organization that's supposed to protect you is the one you need protection from?At 6:00, the Pennsylvania teacher whose own union blocked where her money could go - even after they agreed she'd never pay them a dime. At 10:17, the gym membership analogy that explains the whole trap in sixty seconds. And at 25:30, the specific request David made to the Supreme Court in April 2021 - and the answer he got eight weeks later.Subscribe for new episodes every Thursday. This episode is powered by Cardio Miracle - lower your resting heart rate, lower your blood pressure, improve your pump. Head to cardiomiracle.com/TBNS and use code TBNS for 15% off. Full episode library at briannicholsshow.com. Reach out at brian@briannicholsshow.com or @BNicholsLiberty on X, Facebook, and Instagram. Educated. Enlightened. Informed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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TLPP: Jailed. Deported. 195 Countries. 499 Days. With Michael Zervos
3w ago00:57:17Tap to summarizeMichael Angelo Zervos is a Guinness World Record holder — he visited all 195 UN-recognized countries in 499 days. Along the way he interviewed people in every country about the happiest moment of their life. That project became a book, published by Penguin Random House, out February 23rd. We talked about: how the record works and what actually counts as "visiting" a country; a year and a half of planning vs. the Brazilian who claimed he did it by accident; getting jailed overnight in Liberia for taking a photo of a building; being deported from Nicaragua because they thought he was a journalist; how he got into North Korea during a two-week window that's since closed permanently; what North Korea is actually like (his answer: Plato's allegory of the cave, in real life); Cuba on the ground vs. what the left says about it; traveling through Ukraine, Palestine, Syria, and Sudan; asking people about happiness in active conflict zones; and what his grandfather being forced to fight for communist guerrillas in the Greek Civil War has to do with any of it. Get the book → The Happiest Moment of Your Life: True Stories from a Journey to Every Country in the World https://amzn.to/4pHdYav Follow Michael on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/theprojectkosmos/ TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Intro — who is Michael Angelo Zervos? 0:34 — Greeks in America — diners, Coney Islands, and the varsity jacket problem 5:05 — Christopher Nolan's Odyssey — not a single Greek in the cast 6:25 — 195 countries in 499 days — how the Guinness World Record works 8:04 — A year and a half of planning — and the Brazilian who claimed he did it by accident 9:33 — What counts as "visiting" a country? The Guinness rules 11:08 — Project Cosmos — interviewing people about the happiest moment of their life 13:13 — Brand deals, sponsorships, and the reality of Guinness World Record celebrity 14:35 — Traveling as a man vs. a woman — the real differences 16:37 — Married with two kids — how he pulled this off 20:24 — The happiest moment of the trip — waking up in Ghana 21:33 — The Swiss man who came out as bisexual at a phone-free party in Zurich 23:45 — The worst moments: jailed in Liberia for photographing a building 26:57 — Deported from Nicaragua — they thought he was a journalist 27:41 — Left-wing dictatorships and the memory hole 29:50 — North Korea — getting in through a two-week window that's now closed 32:14 — North Korea as Plato's cave — the allegory of the cave in real life 33:44 — His grandfather forced to fight for communist guerrillas in the Greek Civil War 35:29 — Dennis Rodman's translator was a libertarian 36:44 — Cuba — what it's actually like on the ground 38:40 — Poverty porn, romanticizing socialism, and what Cubans actually think 43:42 — The Facebook argument: "Oh no, Starbucks is going to ruin Cuba" 45:38 — What's actually lost when wealth is generated — community and dependency 47:27 — Traveling through conflict zones: Ukraine, Palestine, Syria, Sudan 49:37 — Asking people about happiness in a war zone 50:27 — The book: published by Penguin Random House, out February 23rd 52:23 — Chicken soup for the soul meets Anthony Bourdain — what the book actually is 54:14 — Outro — follow Michael and get the book Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU Co-host of Happy Hour Econ → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-econ/id1863476697 Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r TheLouPerez.com | info@thelouperez.com Newsletter: https://substack.com/@louperez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →MADD: FEPCAST: Larry, Life and Lasso
3w ago01:00:03Tap to summarizeBrian is out for a family vacation so enjoy last week's episode of FEPCAST instead! This WEEK: Larry David has a new "History of the World" ripoff produced by the Obamas: does LD still have it? Also: we review the pilot for Apple+ hit Ted Lasso, a nod to soccer during the World Cup. On the FEPCAST we review one new show's first episode, and one classic show's first episode to see how each holds up. Subscribe to the Audio Podcast: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/ENTSL23391... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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FF: AI Isn't Taking Your Job — It's Exposing How Your Company Actually Runs with David Dean
3w ago00:43:31Tap to summarizeEveryone's worried about AI taking their jobs — but David Dean, enterprise technologist and author of An Inbox Between Us, argues that's the wrong fear entirely. In this episode, David explains how AI is really acting as a mirror, exposing the "unwritten contract" of how organizations actually function beneath their official processes and org charts. He and John dig into why authenticity and transparency are becoming non-negotiable for leaders as behavioral patterns become newly discoverable, why lived experience and judgment are things AI will never replicate, and why real AI adoption starts with organizational (and personal) self-discovery rather than new tools. It's a refreshingly grounded take on AI in the workplace — less about replacement, more about revelation. Chapters 0:00 – Cold open: AI as a mirror, not a job-killer 1:19 – About David Dean's new book and audiobook 1:46 – Intro to Finding Freedom & episode setup 2:15 – Sponsor: Jason Gagne's Good To-Go Body program 3:27 – Welcoming David Dean 4:30 – Why David wrote An Inbox Between Us 7:18 – AI as an organizational mirror: the official vs. unwritten contract 13:38 – Why the spreadsheet is the ultimate "unwritten contract" artifact 25:12 – Authenticity, accountability, and the end of claiming ignorance 31:54 – Advice for entrepreneurs and small business owners 39:23 – The single most important thing to do to thrive with AI Show Sponsor: Jason Gagne’s Good2GoBody 90-day beginner fitness program - https://good2go.podia.com/?coupon=LIONSJOHN Links Website: https://www.davidchristopherdean.com/ Book: https://www.davidchristopherdean.com/book/ Buy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4bU5OFZ Schedule a 15 minute Gut Health Audit with John: https://calendar.app.google/B9fcGdSFjC5caTVu5 SUPPORT LIONS OF LIBERTY: Help keep this podcast going! We rely on listener support to continue bringing you content on freedom, political reform, and personal empowerment. Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/lionsofliberty Support us on Locals: https://lionsofliberty.locals.com/ Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen – it makes a huge difference! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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PoliTicks: Dem Socialist Playbook: Abolish ICE, Capitalism and Supreme Court
4w ago00:50:40Tap to summarizeBrian McWilliams, John Odermatt and Lou Perez kick off with some banter about Freedom Fest and explosive diarrhea. Then dive into the Democrat Socialists of America's newly unveiled 2026 platform, mocking its promises to eliminate bills, abolish ICE, and scrap the Senate and Supreme Court. They dig into NYC Mayor Mamdani's push to ban evictions and credit checks, debating property rights versus tenant protections and why socialism keeps failing in practice. The episode wraps with a lighter look at Greta Thunberg's burlesque-dancer sister, a Canadian tourist deported for assaulting a teen, and a defense attorney's tone-deaf celebration of a reduced murder sentence. Chapters: 0:00 — Cold open & catch-up banter (FreedomFest, time zones, wildfire smoke) 5:22 — Diarrhea outbreak jokes & food poisoning stories 10:30 — DSA unveils its 2026 platform 16:32 — The PS5 thought experiment & socialism's incentive problem 19:57 — Mamdani's eviction ban & rent freeze 28:45 — Nuclear energy, pragmatism vs. libertarian purism 32:22 — Greta Thunberg's burlesque-dancer sister 36:03 — Deported Canadian tourist & the GIF controversy SUPPORT LIONS OF LIBERTY: Help keep this podcast going! We rely on listener support to continue bringing you content on freedom, political reform, and personal empowerment. Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/lionsofliberty Support us on Locals: https://lionsofliberty.locals.com/ Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen – it makes a huge difference! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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TBNS: This 2021 Warning About Woke Culture Just Came True
4w ago00:37:54Tap to summarizeKenny Cody joins Brian Nichols to break down how woke culture took over corporations, the media, and COVID - and why he called its collapse five years before it happened. This is the very first episode The Brian Nichols Show ever put on YouTube, back in early 2021, and Kenny looked into the camera and warned that government was becoming a religion and social media the temple. Now watch it age.Back then it sounded dramatic. Coca-Cola getting called "Woka-Cola." Dr. Seuss canceled. Corporations pulling out of Georgia. And Kenny tying all of it - cancel culture, corporate America, and COVID hysteria - into one machine. But here's the part nobody was saying out loud in 2021... that the same people demonizing you online were just handing the federal government more power to do it.So we did something different with this one. We went back, five years later, and graded the tape. What did Kenny nail? What did he completely whiff on? Because we don't just take victory laps around here... we call the misses too. And one of his biggest predictions aged in a way you won't see coming.Inside you'll hear why Kenny says conservatives literally cannot be fascists, the "government is a religion" breakdown that predicted the last four years, and the three issues he swears the left loses on every single time. Then stick around for the 2026 scorecard - where Kenny is now, and the full-circle endorsement you genuinely could not script.If you want common-sense politics that actually holds up over time, hit subscribe and ring the bell. Every episode lives at briannicholsshow.com. And today's show is powered by Cardio Miracle - the heart-health supplement I take right here at the Cardio Miracle Studios in eastern Indiana. Lower your resting heart rate, drop your blood pressure, get a better pump. Head to cardiomiracle.com/tbns for 15% off. Educated. Enlightened. Informed.Chapters:0:00 - Intro2:00 - How Woke Culture Took Over Everything12:00 - When The Mob Came For Him16:00 - When Government Becomes Your Religion24:00 - The Only Way Out Is Individualism28:00 - The 3 Issues The Left Always Loses32:00 - 5 Years Later: What We Got RightLinks:Kenny Cody:X → https://x.com/KDCodyTN Campaign → https://votekennycody.com Human Events (Opinion Editor) → https://humanevents.comThe Brian Nichols Show:https://briannicholsshow.combrian@briannicholsshow.com @BNicholsLiberty Cardio Miracle → https://cardiomiracle.com/tbns (15% off) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →MADD: Paramount WBD Merger Mania Vs. Government Busybodies
4w ago00:40:15Tap to summarizeOn this week's Mean Age Daydream, eleven state governments, led by the industry-killing idiots of CA, sue to stop the Paramount / Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Also: Mamdani's rent freeze skyrockets NYC rents to new highs, Lindsey Graham is dead and his sister gets the seat, and a female head writer ruins the Little House on the Prairie reboot instantly. Buy my new card game: WOKE WORD WARS - https://www.amazon.com/Woke-Word-Wars-Ridiculously-Players/dp/B0FLF8Y16S🦁 Support Lions of Liberty: Patreon: patreon.com/lionsofliberty Locals: lionsofliberty.locals.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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FF: The System is the Problem: Clarence Carter on Why America's Safety Net Keeps People Poor
Jul 1300:56:05Tap to summarizeFor 30 years, Clarence Carter worked inside America's public assistance system under two presidents, four governors, and a mayor. In this episode, he joins John Odermatt to explain why the safety net designed to lift people out of poverty often keeps them trapped instead, and what a better system could look like. Carter draws on his three decades of experience — including transforming Washington DC's homeless services program and leading welfare reform in Virginia — to argue that the problem isn't a lack of funding, but a lack of clear purpose. He walks through the 114 federal programs that make up the safety net, why they measure compliance instead of outcomes, and what it would take to build a system focused on growing people beyond dependency rather than managing it. Along the way, he shares personal stories, from handing out apartment keys to former shelter residents to a welfare recipient's tearful first paycheck, that illustrate what real freedom from the system looks like, and makes the case for a whole-of-society approach involving government, business, faith communities, and everyday citizens. Show Sponsor: Jason Gagne’s Good2GoBody 90-day beginner fitness program - https://good2go.podia.com/?coupon=LIONSJOHN Chapters: 0:00 – Introduction 0:58 – Sponsor message & guest introduction 3:18 – Why Clarence stayed 30 years in public service 4:11 – Transforming DC's homeless program 10:48 – The core problem: a system with no clear objective 15:37 – Can government solve this alone? 24:45 – Reimagining the safety net from scratch 34:14 – Building bipartisan support 38:13 – What keeps Clarence going after 30+ years 43:45 – The Wizard of Oz story & closing thoughts Book: Our Net Has Holes in It by Clarence H. Carter — available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4vW3syo Schedule a 15 minute Gut Health Audit with John: https://calendar.app.google/B9fcGdSFjC5caTVu5 SUPPORT LIONS OF LIBERTY: Help keep this podcast going! We rely on listener support to continue bringing you content on freedom, political reform, and personal empowerment. Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/lionsofliberty Support us on Locals: https://lionsofliberty.locals.com/ Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen – it makes a huge difference! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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