Stay current with Liberty Lens, hosted by Big John and Mike ter Maat. Each week they dive into the issues that shape freedom, governance, and everyday life — from constitutional guardrails to the latest headlines. Our goal is simple: clear conversation, sharp analysis, and respect for ideas across the spectrum.
Reading the feed…
President Trump’s Canada tariffs and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s Iran sanctions campaign may look like two separate stories. In Episode 86 of Liberty Lens, Mike ter Maat and Big John ask whether they’re really the same strategy: using access to the American market—and the dollar-based financial system—as weapons of foreign policy. Chapters:00:00 Canada, Iran and […]
What are Flock cameras, and how far should police be allowed to track drivers without a warrant? In Episode 85 of Liberty Lens, Big John and former police officer Mike ter Maat examine Flock Safety, automated license plate readers, privacy, the Fourth Amendment, and the growing fight over mass surveillance. Chapters:00:00 Flock Cameras and the […]
OpenAI’s AI escaped its sandbox, reached the open internet, and hacked Hugging Face while trying to solve a cybersecurity benchmark. Now Congress is considering an AI “kill switch” that could give the federal government extraordinary power over advanced AI systems. So what actually happened? Does it justify more government control of artificial intelligence? In Episode […]
In Liberty Lens Episode 83, Big John and Mike ter Maat examine the questions left unanswered after Fauci’s testimony. They discuss the legal meaning of invoking the Fifth Amendment, President Biden’s pardon, the case for granting congressional immunity, and whether a serious investigation can still separate truth-seeking from partisan theater. CHAPTERS:00:00 Fauci hearing: evidence versus […]
In Episode 82 of Liberty Lens, Mike ter Maat and Big John examine President Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which calls on AI companies, data center developers, and utilities to cover the cost of the new power plants, transmission infrastructure, and electrical-grid upgrades their projects require. The stated goal sounds simple: data centers should pay their […]
Donald Trump’s SAVE America Act is back at the center of the debate over voter ID, proof of citizenship, election integrity, and the 2020 election. In Liberty Lens Episode 81, Big John and Mike ter Maat ask whether the bill improves election security—or serves as political insurance before the 2026 midterms. Chapters:00:00 SAVE America Act: […]
President Trump has resumed U.S. strikes on Iran after the ceasefire collapsed. Can he reset the War Powers Resolution’s 60-day clock without Congress? The Strait of Hormuz, gas prices, oil markets, and the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham now collide in one story about presidential power. CHAPTERS:00:00 Gas Prices, Hormuz and a War Powers […]
In Liberty Lens Episode 79, Big John talks with Mike ter Maat at FreedomFest about his new Republican vice-presidential campaign, delegate empowerment, the case for a VP floor vote, and why liberty-minded voters may need to fight inside the Republican Party instead of from the sidelines. Mike explains why the current VP selection process concentrates […]
In this episode of Liberty Lens, Big John and Mike ter Maat break down the rise of democratic socialism, the political vacuum created when Republicans and Democrats ignore real economic pain, and why voters often choose politicians who sound like they care — even when their policies do not work. The conversation starts with Mamdani, […]
In Episode 77 of Liberty Lens, Mike ter Maat and Big John break down the growing civil war inside the MAGA media ecosystem — from Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro to Candace Owens, Megyn Kelly, Joe Rogan, Laura Loomer, Nick Fuentes, Charlie Kirk, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Donald Trump himself. The conversation starts with Iran, […]
In this episode of Liberty Lens, Mike and John break down the Trump administration’s Iran framework, the political pressure around oil prices and inflation, the future of the Strait of Hormuz, and why the U.S.–Israel relationship may be entering a new era. Mike argues that this is not simply about Iran, Israel, or Donald Trump. […]
In Episode 75 of Liberty Lens, Big John and Mike ter Maat examine the changing politics of U.S.-Israel relations: Trump’s public tension with Benjamin Netanyahu, Congress and war powers over Iran, the Gaza fallout, AIPAC and donor politics, the military-industrial complex, Iron Dome funding, and the growing generational divide inside the Republican and liberty movements. […]
Washington says it is targeting dictators. But when sanctions squeeze trade, travel, energy, and basic goods, who actually pays the price? In Episode 74 of Liberty Lens, Big John and Mike ter Maat take on Cuba, Trump, Marco Rubio, sanctions, oil pressure, and the familiar promise that if Washington squeezes hard enough, liberty will somehow […]
Todd Blanche’s DOJ has settled Donald Trump’s IRS case through a proposed $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund — but who controls the money, who qualifies for it, and where is the oversight? Donald Trump sued the IRS after his private tax records were leaked. That abuse was real. But the settlement raises a new liberty question: […]
Trump called it historic. Xi called it a landmark. Neither explained why Trump’s family owned NVIDIA stock before he reversed the national security red line on chip sales to China. The May 2026 Trump-Xi summit produced a Boeing aircraft order, renewed NVIDIA chip access to China, and carefully managed diplomatic optics — but the underlying […]
The person next in line to run this country is chosen by one person in private. No delegates. No vote. No accountability. The vice presidency is constitutionally the only position in the executive branch a president cannot remove, yet the selection process gives total control to a single nominee operating largely out of public view. […]
The war was launched to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The war closed the Strait of Hormuz. That’s not irony — that’s a $400 billion institutional failure hiding in plain sight. Big John and Mike ter Maat put the full ledger on the table: the economic damage, the alliance collapse, and the geopolitical realignment Washington […]
The first American pope just drew a line that Donald Trump’s base can’t uncross. For decades, the Christian nationalist coalition was built on a single assumption: that faith and MAGA politics were inseparable. Then Pope Leo XIV arrived — American-born, theologically unambiguous, and impossible to dismiss — and forced a question no amount of spin […]
21 hours of face-to-face talks in Islamabad. Then America blockaded every Iranian port. Washington calls it “peace through strength.” Tehran calls it piracy. At least one of them is right. The Trump administration launched the most consequential military operation against Iran in modern history — degrading between 40 and 90% of Iranian conventional capabilities at […]
Washington just spent $93 BILLION of your money to send 4 astronauts around the Moon — and almost nobody noticed. Are we going to the Moon as a free people, or as taxpayers bankrolling another permanent political machine? Mike ter Maat and Big John break down the Artemis II mission from a liberty perspective: the […]
Just over 30 days into the Iran War and we have 13 Americans dead, 1,900 Iranians killed, the Strait of Hormuz under siege, and Trump’s approval rating at a historic low of 33%. Here’s what no one in Washington wants to admit. Mike ter Maat and Big John break down Day 32 of the US-Iran […]
The government says the economy is growing. Gas is pushing $4. Rent is out of reach. 60% of Americans say things are getting WORSE. Who’s right? In this episode of Liberty Lens, economist Mike ter Maat joins Big John to break down THREE colliding pressure systems threatening the U.S. economy: the Iran war, a cracking […]
What does it take to run for governor in a state that hasn’t broken from the two-party machine in over a century… and then decide to do it again? Larry Sharpe joins Liberty Lens to talk about his 2026 run for Governor of New York, why the system is designed to keep outsiders out, and […]
In this episode of Liberty Lens, Big John and former Libertarian vice-presidential nominee Mike ter Maat break down the constitutional, geopolitical, and economic consequences of the U.S. strikes on Iran. They examine the War Powers issue, the growing trend of presidents launching military actions without congressional approval, and what this means for American constitutional limits […]
Big John and Mike ter Maat break down the overnight U.S. strike that eliminated Khamenei and 40 senior Iranian officials, the president’s open call for regime change, and what history says happens next. – Why Mike predicted this invasion two weeks before it happened – The CIA is reportedly arming Kurdish forces — what could […]
