Yesterday I launched my podcast One small voice The Cultural Megaphone In the premiere episode, I explain why Venezuela is socialist, and not a “mixed economy” like Norway.

If the player above refuses to work, then click here to listen.

Readers of this blog will probably recognize that the podcast is based on my fairly popular article “Venezuela, ännu ett socialistiskt misslyckande?” In that article, I also provide all the links backing up everything I’m saying in the podcast. That article can also serve as a semi-transcript for my podcast. Unfortunately, the article is in Swedish so you will need to Google translate it if you want to get an idea of what I’m saying.

As an aside, I’d like to say that even if you listened to my podcast, it might still be worth your time and effort to read a roughly translated version as a supplement to my podcast. That is because my article is—in my extremely humble opinion—the definitive article on the subject. (Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a “definitive article” on any subject, but if there ever were one, this article would qualify.) No other article even comes close when it comes to making the argument that Venezuela is, in fact, socialist. Or to put it another way: If this article won’t convince you, nothing ever will.

In any event, I decided to make a podcast because I noticed—to my great joy and pride—that I have a surprising number of international readers. For months the world’s most ambitious readers have been using Google Translate to read (or guess) what I’m saying. That made me realize that there is some international demand for my content (which makes perfect sense considering the generally high quality of my articles). But instead of writing the same articles twice, I will for now use the podcast to “reproduce” some of my articles into English.

I expect people to comment on the production value (or the lack thereof) of the podcast. Let me say in advance that I’m fully aware of some of these issues (e.g., the microphone). But I have to start somewhere.

In passing, I’d like to point out that I made everything in one day. This was also the first time I used GarageBand. Considering that I’ve never done anything like this before, I’m actually quite happy and proud over the outcome. When it comes to hands-on tasks such as producing a podcast, I believe in trial and error and learning by doing. So expect some changes in the format and that the general quality will hopefully improve.

To make the world a better place we need to spread rational ideas and arguments. Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something. I know that I’m doing my part. So if you like the podcast, then I encourage you, in the name of your own rational self-interest, to act on what you know is true and good. Act with integrity. Practice what you preach—and share the link on social media. (If you don’t like the podcast, then by all means act as if it doesn’t exist. I don’t want people to share the link for altruistic reasons. I don’t want the unearned.)

The podcast is currently available on Anchor, Pocket Casts and Stitcher. I expect more platforms to be added to the list.

UPDATE: I have decided to change the name of my podcast from One Small Voice to The Cultural Megaphone.