Season 1
49 episodes · 2009
1Global Climate Change
John Stossel takes on global warming in the debut of his new show, "Stossel."
2Paying for Healthcare
Tonight’s show is about government’s promises. The “reformers” say they will improve American health care, and slow the growth in costs. To believe that Congress will do this is magical thinking.
3Atlas Shrugged
John Stossel explores Ayn Rand's classic novel, Atlas Shrugged.
4Crony Capitalism
John Stossel takes on the cozy relationship between Big Business and Big Government.
5Energy Independence
John Stossel takes on the issue of whether we need the government to spur innovation in the energy industry, and asks if energy independence is unrealistic.
6Food Police
John Stossel takes on the "obesity crisis" in America.
7Things Are Better
John Stossel reports that the media have missed one of the biggest trends of the century - nearly everything has been getting better.
8The Road to Serfdom
John Stossel asks if the growth of Big Government is leading us down the "road to serfdom."
9Government Schools
Stossel looks at America's public education system and asks, "Are we imprisoning our kids?"
10Government in my Medicine Cabinet
Stossel asks who owns your body and why should the FDA control what you put in your body?
11Prohibition
Stossel asks if government prohibitions on drugs, sex, kidney sales, and polygamy do more harm than good.
12Licensing Madness
Stossels asks whether government licensing is just a scheme to protect established businesses.
13The Mistake on the Lake
Stossel looks at Cleveland -- America's "Most Miserable City," according to Forbes -- and asks why cities like this are struggling so much what they can do to fix it.
14Congressional Ponzi
Stossel looks at the unfunded liabilities behind Social Security and Medicare, and asks "Are we stealing from our children?"
15Junk Science
Stossel takes on the "junk science" coming from the Left and the Right.
16Libertarianism
Stossel talks with a panel of experts about what it means to be a "libertarian."
17The Tax System
Stossel looks at our gigantic tax code and suggests alternatives to this "tax insanity."
18Myths, Lies, and Stupidity
Stossel takes on some myths about capitalism, bottled water, private property, and the pesticide DDT.
19Free Trade
Stossel takes on myths about free trade.
20Government Bullies
Stossel says "give me a break!" to government bullies.
21Place Your Bets
Stossel looks at government's bans on betting.
22Free Speech
Stossel talks about free speech and whether or not obscenity, flag burning, and hate speech should be protected.
23Going Green
Stossel takes on the big myths about "going green."
24Free to Choose
Stossel looks at Milton Friedman’s 1980 “Free to Choose” TV series and the lessons we could learn from it.
25Drug War Disaster
Stossel takes a look at the War on Drugs and asks if it is worth the fight.
26More Guns Less Crime?
Don't believe guns can be a "great equalizer" and empower people — especially smaller people, like women — to defend themselves against criminals who are bigger and stronger?
27The Trouble with Lawyers
The show covers personal injury lawyers who say they’re protecting the little guy, but keep up to 40% of what they win. Stossel examines what these lawsuits do to the cost of products, which has a built in cost to cover what lawyers take.
28Freedom Under Siege
Stossel takes a look at the new threats to freedom, like Congress's drive to create more Federal crimes. If you live an active life, build something, start or run a business, it's pretty much impossible to live without breaking some law.
29Who should get to be an American?
We hear constantly about immigration and the problems immigrants create. But the media overlook one of our worst immigration policies: how America rejects skilled immigrants who want to come to the U.S. legally.
30Sex and the Rules
This time around, Stossel tackles a serious issue of "sex and the rules put around it in the US." The topic is serious and "for adults only" warning were issued before The show.
31Who Should Handle Transportation?
When a private company operates a public facility under contract to government, it must perform. If it doesn't, it will be "fired" — its contract won't be renewed. Government is never fired. Contracting out to private enterprise isn't the same thing as letting fully competitive free markets operate, but it still works better than government.
32The Americans with Disabilities Act
When President George H.W. Bush signed the ADA into law 20 years ago, he had good intentions. Everyone wants to protect the disabled, but did those good intentions have nasty, unintended consequences?
33Entrepreneurs Under Attack
Everyone says he likes small business. Even big-government types. Then they find all kinds of reasons to make business owners jump through hoops for the right to operate.
42Libertarians and the Election
On this program, John analyzes the results of the Tuesday mid-term elections in the USA, with the help of his guests. John attempts to answer the question, did some voters shy away from certain candidates out of ignorance and a misconception of what libertarians are really about? The core theme: did Libertarians get their ideas across to the public? Did Libertarians win? With Tea Party candidates and protesters getting much attention in this cycle, John also takes another look at the Tea Party and its ideology to see whether it really squares with that of most Libertarians. And, we hear from typically great guests, among them Ron Paul, Bill O'Reilly, and favorite Fox News liberal contributor, Ellis Henican.
48The Value of Skepticism
Do you believe in psychics, astrology, ghosts? Polls show that about a quarter of Americans believe in such paranormal nonsense. But if any of that were true, you'd think the astrologers, or psychics, or ghost hunters would be eager to prove it, because, not only would they be proven right, they'd make a million dollars. That’s right, James Randi will pay them, or you, a million dollars. All you have to do is prove you have an ability that can’t be explained by science. Mr Randi says it is simple. Make a claim about your ability, and his group will devise a way to test it. If you can do what you say, he will give you a million dollars. He won’t even test you himself. He says some people have complained that he gives off “vibrations” that mess up the test. So far no one has collected. In fact, no one has even passed a preliminary test. On my show tonight James Randi will also demonstrate how some of these people, like the ones selling “power” bracelets that they claim can increase your balance or strength… trick you into thinking their products work. He’ll perform a test on me tonight, at 9pm on the Fox Business Network.
49Charityfinale
Who gives to charity? ...and other issues surrounding private charitable giving, its benefits, and what happens at the intersection of private charity and forcibly taxpayer funded social welfare programs.