Elizabeth Nolan Brown is a senior editor at Reason magazine. She appeared as a guest on The Bob Zadek Show to discuss President Biden’s executive order on student loan debt forgiveness.
Role at Reason magazine
Bob Zadek introduced Elizabeth Nolan Brown as a senior editor at Reason magazine, which is owned by the Reason Foundation. He noted that she has been at Reason since 2014 and has emphasized politics, policy, and legal issues surrounding sex, speech, tech, justice, reproductive freedom, and women’s rights. Zadek described Reason as the only paper magazine he continues to receive and commended it for challenging readers’ belief systems rather than reinforcing them. He noted that Brown’s column is often found in the magazine. Student Loan Debt Forgiveness (2022)
Brown described her work at Reason, stating that she writes a weekday morning newsletter called the Reason Roundup, which covers news from a libertarian perspective. She also writes longer pieces, including one she was working on at the time in defense of algorithms. She directed listeners to find her work on Reason.com and to follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @ENBrown. Student Loan Debt Forgiveness (2022)
Student loan debt forgiveness
Brown appeared on the show to discuss President Biden’s executive order to forgive student loan debt. Zadek characterized the action as more economically consequential than any other executive act taken by any other president in the nation’s history, emphasizing that it involved no input from Congress. He described the order as unilaterally forgiving student loan debt owed by millions of students who had incurred the debt with the legal obligation of paying it back. Student Loan Debt Forgiveness (2022)
The episode explored the legal and economic implications of the order, including the questionable use of the HEROES Act of 2003 as a justification, the potential for increased inflation and tuition costs, and the moral hazard created by what was described as a significant wealth transfer from the working class to college-educated professionals. Student Loan Debt Forgiveness (2022)
Zadek noted that Brown had written a piece on President Biden’s executive action and had dug into all of the issues discussed on the show. He described her as the perfect guest for the topic at the perfect time. Student Loan Debt Forgiveness (2022)
Feminists for Liberty
In closing remarks, Brown mentioned that she co-runs a libertarian feminist group called Feminists for Liberty, directing listeners to FeministsForLiberty.com. Zadek repeated the website address and joked that Brown was “shilling for the algebra lobby in defense of algorithms,” to which Brown responded that she was “shilling for—for big math.” Student Loan Debt Forgiveness (2022)
Zadek also noted that Brown had appeared on his show a year or so prior on the topic of sexuality and feminism in America. Student Loan Debt Forgiveness (2022)
Across episodes
The excerpts show only one episode featuring Elizabeth Nolan Brown. No development across multiple episodes can be traced from the available sources.
What the sources do not cover
The excerpts do not provide Brown’s educational background, the specific contents of her written work on student loan forgiveness, or the details of her earlier appearance on the show regarding sexuality and feminism. The legal arguments and conclusions from the student loan episode are not stated in the available excerpts beyond the topics listed. The excerpts also do not cover Brown’s other publications or positions beyond her role at Reason and Feminists for Liberty.
Episodes
3 appearances, 2019–2022.
- Elizabeth Nolan Brown on the War on Sex Workers (2019) — Government War on Sex Workers and Trafficking. Associate Editor at Reason Magazine
- The Student Loan Debt Fiasco (2022) — Biden executive action on student loan debt forgiveness. Reason magazine
- Student Loan Debt Forgiveness (2022) — Legal and economic implications of student loan forgiveness. Senior Editor at Reason magazine