Fun Police

Feb 21 2024 7
Fun Police Podcast artwork

Fun Police is an original podcast series produced by the Consumer Choice Center. We take a look at the perpetrators of neo-prohibitionism, the movement that attempts to ban "vices" such as vaping, smoking, drinking, gambling, and others. We host high-level guests to discuss the history and current expression of prohibitionism. Written and produced by Bill Wirtz & Yaël Ossowski. New episodes dropping week by week, starting November 15, 2023. 

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S2 Episode 4: Loose ends

Feb 21 2024 25 mins  
In this season finale, Movendi International makes a comeback. UNODC and Movendi collaborate on global health policy, and it's all a bit odd. Also, we talk to an infant feeding expert who leads us down the path of the WHO's weird obsession with infant formula. Act 1: Listen first Act 2: Magic formula Act 3: Conclusion Released on January 21, 2024. More resources of the Fun Police

S2 Episode 3: Risky science

Feb 14 2024 58 mins  
In this third episode, we look at the role of international institutions when it comes to litigation. IARC, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, uses a method of analysing hazard, not risk, opening up companies to expensive litigation. This appears to be used as a method to impose quasi bans. Act 1: Precaution Act 2: Lawyer up Act 3: Conflicts of interest Released on Ja

S2 Episode 2: When global health gets a baton

Feb 07 2024 35 mins  
In this season of the Fun Police podcast, we are looking at the role of international institutions in the propagation of misinformation and how prohibitionists are using them to further their goals. In this episode: the dirty on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and its Conference of the Parties (COP), the World Health Organization's treaty organ that continues to deny t

S2 Episode 1: Mistakes were made

Jan 31 2024 50 mins  
In this season of the Fun Police podcast, we are looking at the role of international institutions in the propagation of misinformation and how prohibitionists are using them to further their goals. In this first episode: the World Health Organisation, and its role in global health policy. Act 1: WHO got it wrong Act 2: Negative impacts Act 3: WHO cares Released on January 31, 202

Season 2 Trailer

Jan 17 2024 1 mins  
The official trailer for the second season of the Fun Police podcast series. Episode one will be released on January 31, 2024. New episodes, four in total, dropping week by week. Released on January 17, 2024 More resources of the Fun Police campaign: https://consumerchoicecenter.org/fun-police/ Check out the weekly podcast ConsEUmer: https://consumerchoicecenter.org/conseumer/ Chec

Announcing Season 2 of Fun Police

Jan 03 2024
The trailer for the second season of Fun Police will be released on January 17. Stay subscribed to this channel and hit the notification bell so you never miss any of the upcoming episodes being released. Thank you for all the positive feedback on season 1. Check out the other work we're doing in the Fun Police campaign at: https://consumerchoicecenter.org/fun-police/See omnystudi

S1 Episode 5: The conclusion

Dec 12 2023 9 mins  
There's a few last things to say, a few questions to ask. We'd love to have asked those questions to the Neo-prohibitionists themselves, but they were not ready to talk to us. What makes us as a society realise the detrimental effects of prohibition? Is it really something we have to try over and over again? There's more to say, but for this conclusion we only have ten minutes. Who

S1 Episode 4: Hedging bets

Dec 05 2023 51 mins  
We have a fascination with gambling, but for some, it is also seen as both shady and dangerous. As a result, activists try to ban it, for public health reasons and on the grounds of morality. The promise of potential winnings are evil, they say. But what are the consequences of making gambling illegal, and what are the economic benefits of legalising activities such as sports betti

S1 Episode 3: Harm reduction

Nov 28 2023 52 mins  
Many people attempt to quit smoking, but it's a difficult task. With the availability of smoking cessation devices, the question is: how effective are they, and why are they being treated the same as smoking? In this episode, we take a look at tobacco harm reduction, its proponents and adversaries. Act 1: Thank you for Not Smoking Act 2: Just Say No Act 3: Difficult goodbyes Releas

S1 Episode 2: The Billionaire

Nov 21 2023 35 mins  
Episode 2: The Billionaire Every prohibitionist movement needs its funders. Its moneymen. Usually, there are powerful industrialists who've made it big and are "giving back" by restricting choices of the little people. For popular movements against alcohol in the 1900s, Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and Henry Ford were the principal philanthropists. Neoprohibitionists now r