KOL490 | Libertarian Christian Institute: Rothbard at 100: Why His Ideas Still Matter, with Stephan Kinsella

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 490.

This is my interview by Cody Cook (@CantusFirmusCC) of the Libertarian Christian Institute (@LCIOfficial), whose show I've been on previously, (( KOL388 | Cantus Firmus with Cody Cook: Against Intellectual Property. )) and whose book, Faith Seeking Freedom: Libertarian Christian Answers to Tough Questions, I endorsed, to discuss my recent book Rothbard at 100: A Tribute and Assessment (2026). Episode: Rothbard at 100: Why His Ideas Still Matter, with Stephan Kinsella (May 22, 2026 (recorded May 5, 2026)). Cody was an excellent interviewer, which is one reason I think this was one of my most comfortable and relaxed performances ever.

https://youtu.be/VrxyNvzTonE?si=YWammoXzdzEmFfJo

From his longer article Rothbard at 100: Why His Ideas Still Matter, with Stephan Kinsella (May 22, 2026):

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If he hadn’t passed away in 1995, Murray Rothbard would have turned one hundred this year. Why do his ideas still endure, inspire, and provoke? The answer isn’t nostalgia. It’s that Rothbard’s ideas continue to shape libertarian thought, economics, and the case for a free society in ways few thinkers ever have. His influence is visible in the modern liberty movement, in the resurgence of Austrian economics, and in the ongoing debates about property, the state, and intellectual freedom.

Stephan Kinsella (@NSKinsella), co-editor of the new book Rothbard at 100, joins Cody Cook to explain why Rothbard’s legacy endures. The episode argues that Rothbard still matters because he built a framework that remains indispensable for understanding political economy, human action, and the moral limits of state power.

The Case for Rothbard: Ten Reasons Why Rothbard Still Matters

1. Rothbard helped define the modern libertarian movement

Rothbard stands at the foundation of the post‑war libertarian tradition, synthesizing Austrian economics, natural rights theory, and radical anti‑statism into a coherent worldview. The episode argues that without him, the movement would lack its intellectual backbone. This is one of the core reasons Rothbard still matters: he built the architecture others now inhabit.

2. He systematized libertarianism into a full philosophy

Where earlier thinkers offered fragments, Rothbard produced treatises. Man, Economy, and State, Power and Market, and The Ethics of Liberty form a unified system of economics, ethics, and political theory. That system continues to anchor libertarian scholarship.