Can someone under the influence of ketamine truly consent — even if they voluntarily took the drug?  

What do the Lindsay Clancy case, the Great Wolf Lodge murders, and Nick Reiner have in common — and could drugs and mental illness hold part of the answer?

In this episode of The Brief: Insights From The Inside, Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with UCLA clinical psychologist and addiction researcher Dr. Suzette Glasner to examine the role of drugs, psychiatric medications, and mental illness in several high-profile criminal cases. From the Cornell Seven sexual assault allegations to the Lindsay Clancy case, Dr. Glasner explains how ketamine affects memory and consent, the differences between postpartum depression and psychosis, and the warning signs of serious psychiatric crises. They also discuss the recent Great Wolf Lodge tragedy in Pennsylvania and whether better mental-health screening and treatment could help prevent such incidents.

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The Ketamine Clue in the Cornell Seven Case and Female Mental Health in America

Why is journalist and attorney Margot Cleveland suing Dearborn, Michigan?

In this episode of The Brief: Insights From The Inside, Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Margot Cleveland, senior legal correspondent for The Federalist and counsel for the New Civil Liberties Alliance, to discuss her federal civil-rights lawsuit against the City of Dearborn and Mayor Abdullah Hammoud.

Cleveland alleges that Dearborn used taxpayer money and city property to celebrate Ramadan while ignoring repeated requests for comparable recognition of Easter, Passover, and other Christian and Jewish holidays. She says the issue is not whether the city can recognize Ramadan — but whether government officials can favor one faith while refusing equal treatment to others.

The conversation covers the First Amendment, the Establishment Clause, equal protection, religious liberty, Ramadan banners, a crescent-moon display in a public park, city-funded religious messaging, public-records requests, and Cleveland’s claim that Dearborn retaliated against her after she spoke out as both a resident and a journalist.

Why Margot Cleveland Is Suing Dearborn, Michigan

Why did 40 countries just boycott the U.N.?  Why does the U.N. receive billions from American taxpayers — and what does the U.S. actually get in return?

In this episode of The Brief: Insights From The Inside, Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Ambassador Jeff Bartos, U.S. Representative for U.N. Management and Reform, following the United Nations General Assembly in New York. They discuss U.N. waste, fraud, abuse, peacekeeping reform, anti-Israel bias, the Durban conference, and why American leadership still matters on the world stage.

Bartos explains why the Trump administration is pushing what he describes as historic reform at the United Nations, including budget cuts, staffing reductions, changes to peacekeeping reimbursements, and efforts to refocus the organization on its core mission: international peace and security.

Why Does the U.S. Give Billions to the U.N.?

In this special episode of The Brief — part of our ongoing 9/11 25th anniversary coverage — host Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with retired Lieutenant General David Deptula, Dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies and former U.S. Air Force commander, to discuss the 25th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks.

General Deptula was inside the Pentagon on the morning of 9/11, just two corridors away from where Flight 77 struck the building. He describes watching the second plane hit the World Trade Center, realizing America was under attack, hearing the explosion at the Pentagon, evacuating the building, and later helping design and execute America’s military response in Afghanistan.

The conversation also addresses two of the most persistent 9/11 conspiracy theories: the claim that the Pentagon was hit by a missile instead of Flight 77, and the claim that Donald Rumsfeld’s September 10th statement about $2.3 trillion proved a cover-up.

A General Who Survived the Pentagon Attack Answers 9/11 Conspiracy Theories

What are data centers—and why are they suddenly being built everywhere?

Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Joe Honan, CEO of Singularity Compute, to explain the data-center boom powering artificial intelligence. Honan breaks down what data centers actually do, why AI requires so much compute power, how much electricity and water these facilities use, and why communities across America are debating whether data centers are worth the cost.

A House Science Committee probe is now examining foreign funding and potential influence in opposition to American AI and energy infrastructure, citing a report that found activist groups fighting U.S. data center development received more than $39 million from foreign donors. Honan argues this fight is about more than the environment—it’s about compute power, national security, and which country wins the AI race.

We cover hyperscale data centers, edge computing, liquid cooling, power grids, water recycling, noise concerns, the Nashville Zoo controversy, construction jobs, skilled trades, foreign-funded opposition, China, national security, orbital data centers, and whether Americans should be optimistic or worried about AI.

What Are Data Centers — and Why Are They Suddenly Everywhere?

What really happened on September 11th—and why do so many 9/11 conspiracy theories still persist 25 years later?

In this episode of The Brief: Insights From The Inside, Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Gerald Posner, investigative journalist and author of Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11, to revisit the September 11th terrorist attacks on their 25th anniversary.

Posner explains the official account of 9/11, the intelligence failures between the CIA and FBI, the missed warnings before the attack, and why he believes the evidence points to incompetence—not an inside job. He also responds to some of the most common 9/11 conspiracy theories, including “let it happen on purpose,” Donald Rumsfeld’s $2.3 trillion Pentagon statement, the “Dancing Israelis,” Larry Silverstein and “pull it,” World Trade Center 7, “jet fuel can’t melt steel beams,” the Pentagon missile theory, Flight 93, and unanswered questions about Saudi knowledge before the attack.

What Really Happened on 9/11? With Gerald Posner

The Lindsay Clancy trial ends with the prosecution resting its case—and hundreds of women still showing up in pink to support the mother who admitted killing her three children. How did we get here—and what does that say about abortion, motherhood, mental health, and American culture?

In this episode of The Brief: Insights From The Inside, Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Lydia Taylor Davis, Gen Z activist and spokesperson for Students for Life of America, to discuss the Lindsay Clancy trial, postpartum psychosis, abortion culture, chemical abortion pills, Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, and the growing divide among young Americans over the pro-life and pro-choice movements.

Note: This episode was recorded while the Lindsay Clancy trial was still ongoing.

From Lindsay Clancy to Planned Parenthood: Why More Women Are Celebrating Killing Children

As Massachusetts just became the 10th state to remove all statutory limits on abortion — including in the third trimester. The governor signed it in front of dozens of cheering women. So what exactly did they just legalize?  And what ACTUALLY happens during an abortion?

In this episode of The Brief, host Shabbos Kestenbaum — who notes upfront that he invited abortion providers to appear and none would — sits down with Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America and Students for Life Action, to answer that question directly and without euphemism.

Kristan opens with the response that stops the "late term abortion doesn't exist" argument cold: if it doesn't happen, why did Massachusetts feel the need to legalize it? And why were women cheering for it? She then walks through exactly what late term abortion procedures involve — medically, scientifically, and without the language that usually obscures what's actually happening.

Massachusetts Just Legalized Abortion Up to Birth. Here's What That Actually Means

Fauci's own journal proved he recommended closing the schools. Then he said under oath that he didn't. A doctor who questioned him from day one breaks it all down.

In this episode of The Brief, host Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Dr. Houman Hemmati — ophthalmologist, biotech entrepreneur, frequent Fox News guest, and one of the earliest public voices questioning COVID lockdown policy — for a comprehensive, evidence-based reckoning with everything that went wrong.

Dr. Hemmati breaks down why the concept of "America's doctor" was itself the original sin — the idea that one person could be omniscient, infallible, and immune from questioning. He explains his own background in gain-of-function research (conducted as a teenager at UCLA), why the lab leak theory was always the most scientifically logical explanation, and what Occam's razor tells us about where Covid came from.

How Fauci Lost America’s Trust: Dr. Hemmati Explains

The Oxford Union debate clip that broke the internet — and what happened behind the scenes.

In this episode of The Brief, host Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Jonathan Sacerdoti — British broadcaster, journalist, and public intellectual — for a conversation about the Oxford Union debate that went viral around the world, the BBC's Gaza documentary scandal, and what the UK's two-tier approach to law and media actually looks like from the inside.

The debate — on the motion, "The West Should Be Suspicious of Islam" — took place in June but was held back by the Oxford Union for weeks. When selective clips started leaking to Middle East Eye, Jonathan and his team released their own footage. Within hours, the Oxford Union found the upload button. The result: 13 million views and a global conversation.

The Oxford Union Debate That Broke the Internet — Jonathan Sacerdoti Tells All

Americans say they want less government. So why does the welfare state keep growing?

In this episode of The Brief, host Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Jesse Arm — Vice President of External Affairs at the Manhattan Institute — to break down the Manhattan Institute's new poll on American attitudes toward welfare, the rise of the DSA inside the Democratic Party, and what voters across the political spectrum actually want from government in 2026.

Thirty years after Bill Clinton signed landmark welfare reform, Jesse walks through what the data actually shows: Americans broadly support a social safety net, but they want it targeted, tied to work requirements, and focused on eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse — not on reducing income inequality. The problem? The welfare state has grown dramatically since 1996, and a new generation of voters is being told that everything from the post office to the fire department is "socialism."

Welfare Reform, DOGE, and the DSA | Jesse Arm on What Americans Actually Want vs. What They're Getting

What happens when Obama's chief economist sits down with PragerU — and agrees on almost everything?

In this episode of The Brief, host Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Professor Jason Furman — Harvard economist, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, and President Obama's chief economist — for a conversation that will surprise viewers on both sides of the aisle.

Furman doesn't pull punches. On rent control, he calls it "about as disgraced as any economic policy in the toolkit" — a policy that started as a World War II emergency measure in 1942, was extended 16 years after the war ended, and has now been running for 80 years. He explains precisely why NYC Mayor Mamdani's rent freeze on one million apartments will hurt the very people it's designed to help.

Obama’s Former Chief Economist Explains Why Socialist Policies Backfire

What is happening with Iran, Israel, and the future of conservatives?

In this episode of The Brief: Insights From The Inside, Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Representative Craig Goldman, co-chair of the House Abraham Accords Caucus and representative for Texas’s 12th congressional district, to discuss the biggest foreign policy questions facing America right now: Iran’s nuclear threat, the Strait of Hormuz, U.S.-Israel security, the future of the Abraham Accords, and whether more Middle Eastern countries can normalize relations with Israel.

Rep. Goldman also weighs in on the SAVE America Act, election integrity, the future of conservatism, rising anti-Israel sentiment among young Americans, and the importance of educating the public about why Israel remains America’s strongest ally in the Middle East.

SAVE America Act, Term Limits and Iran: Rep Craig Goldman Weighs In

What is pay-to-play politics — and how much does it cost to be heard in Washington?

In this episode of The Brief: Insights From The Inside, Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Stephen Keller, former financial CEO, author of Pay to Play: Political Corruption, Corporate Greed, and the Cost of the American Dream, and co-founder of the Justice Restoration Foundation.

Keller tells the story of how he went from building a multibillion-dollar life settlements business to becoming the target of a federal prosecution he says was driven by powerful insurance interests, political access, and a broken pay-to-play system. He explains why he believes corporate lobbying, PAC money, and political influence have distorted how laws are written — and why ordinary citizens and entrepreneurs often cannot compete without money and connections.

From $13 Billion to Federal Prison: Steve Keller’s Warning About Pay-to-Play Politics

What does birthright citizenship mean in modern America — and what does it really mean to become an American?

In this episode of The Brief: Insights From The Inside, Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Professor Victor Davis Hanson, American classicist, military historian, and conservative commentator, to discuss the Supreme Court’s latest rulings, the culture war over women’s sports, birthright citizenship, immigration, American identity, socialism, tribalism, and whether the country is entering a period of decline — or renewal.

Hanson argues that America is not doomed. Despite political polarization, open borders, debt, cultural fragmentation, and institutional radicalism, he believes the country still has the core ingredients of a successful civilization: energy, food, defense, constitutional stability, and economic productivity.

If you’re asking, “What does it mean to be American?”, “Should birthright citizenship be changed?”, “Is America too polarized to celebrate its 250th anniversary?”, “What is America 250?”, or “Is America still great?”, this conversation with Victor Davis Hanson is a must-watch.

Victor Davis Hanson: “Birthright Citizenship Was Never Meant for This”

In this episode of The Brief, host Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Hassan Aden — CEO of Somaliland Investment and Trade — for a conversation about one of the most overlooked geopolitical stories of our time. The Republic of Somaliland spent more than 30 years in diplomatic isolation before Israel became the first UN member state to formally recognize it in December 2025 — and the relationship has moved fast ever since.

What is Somaliland? The African Democracy America Doesn't Know About — But Should

In this episode of The Brief: Insights From The Inside, host Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Professor Gad Saad, evolutionary psychologist and New York Times bestselling author of Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind, to unpack how victimhood culture, open borders, soft-on-crime policies, censorship, and misplaced compassion can produce devastating real-world consequences.

Saad explains why empathy is not inherently bad—but becomes dangerous when it “hyper fires” toward the wrong targets and overrides reason, judgment, and self-preservation. The conversation covers open borders, free speech, Canada’s MAID laws, antisemitism, civilizational decline, and whether the West still has the will to correct course.

Gad Saad: How “Suicidal Empathy” Is Destroying the West

In this episode of The Brief, host Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Jaimee Michell, founder of Gays Against Groomers and author of the organization's first book, The Gender Trap, for a conversation that challenges everything mainstream media says about the LGBT community and children.

Jaimee argues that sexual orientation and gender identity have nothing to do with each other — and that lumping them together under the "LGBT" umbrella has been catastrophically damaging. She says the gay rights movement should have declared victory in 2015 after Obergefell, packed up, and gone home. Instead, what she calls "LGBTQ+ Incorporated" found a new revenue stream: children.

Has Pride Month Gone Too Far? Why a Lesbian Founder Is Fighting the LGBT Movement From the Inside

Is modern feminism making women happier — or lonelier? Is the “girlboss” promise collapsing in real time? And why are kids, marriage, and dating falling apart at once?

In this episode of The Brief, Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Tiffany Marie Brannon to unpack the cultural and policy forces behind today’s gender divide: second-wave feminism, the welfare-state incentives that reshaped family formation, and why single parenthood and marriage decline have ripple effects on education, crime, and social stability. 

They also dig into the online economy shaping Gen Z, from OnlyFans and porn exposure to the social media beauty pipeline affecting young girls — plus Tiffany’s blunt take on the “trad wife” trend: Is it real change or another online fad?

Did Feminism Make Women Unhappier? Tiffany Marie Brannon Explains

In this episode of The Brief, host Shabbos Kestenbaum sits down with Tommy Robinson — the UK's most prominent and controversial right-wing activist and founder of the English Defence League — for a wide-ranging conversation about civil liberties, government overreach, and the state of modern Britain. Just days after Robinson led his "Unite the Kingdom" rally in central London, which drew tens of thousands to Westminster to protest the Starmer government's immigration policies, Tommy explains why he believes an entire nation has learned to self-censor — all while a decades-long child exploitation scandal unfolded across dozens of British towns and cities, with police forces, social workers, and local officials choosing not to act.

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