What If I'm Right?

This week, host Ian Heller opens with a rallying cry: shows like What If I'm Right? exist to push back against the noise, the propaganda, and the slow erosion of honest discourse — and he needs you in the fight. Then Ian is joined by John Parikhal, president of John Parikhal & Associates, award-winning global market researcher, trend spotter, creative strategist, and one of the rare people who studied directly under media prophet Marshall McLuhan. Together, Ian and John trace the arc of technology from the printing press to neural implants — and ask the uncomfortable question: are we using technology, or is it using us? They dig into why every transformative technology in history, from radio to television to social media, has been seized by the most ruthless storytellers in the room, why TikTok is just television on steroids, and what McLuhan really meant when he said the medium is the message. Plus: why the death of scenario planning may be one of the most dangerous things to happen to democracy, what climate refugees, the repression of women, and the hollowing of the middle class have in common, and John's genuine reason for hope — a new technology, and a new Roosevelt-style leader who will master it before the wrong people do.

What if our legal system was never actually designed to be moral? This week, host Ian Heller tackles the massive "legal fiction" that governs immigration in America alongside an absolute powerhouse in the field. Professor Lenni Benson is the Distinguished Chair Professor of Immigration and Human Rights Law at New York Law School and the founder of the Safe Passage Project, a massive nonprofit initiative that has mobilized hundreds of pro-bono attorneys to assist over 1,600 unaccompanied minors facing deportation in New York. In this deeply illuminating conversation, Ian and Lenni pull back the curtain on the "dark areas" of the law where checks and balances vanish, courts lose their power to review executive overreach, and civil infractions are met with massive, profit-driven detention regimes. Together, they trace the cyclical, texturized history of American anti-immigrant sentiment, from the Alien and Sedition Acts and the "No Nothing" party targeting Irish Catholics, to the egregious congressional rhetoric behind the Chinese Exclusion Acts They dive headfirst into the complex realities of modern immigration, exploring how the system has metastasized since 9/11 into a framework driven by fear rather than evidence, From the logical fallacies surrounding immigrants and crime statistics to the unintended economic suicide of shutting out foreign students who fund our state universities, this episode is a masterclass in looking past political rhetoric to see the human and economic value of dignity.Plus, Professor Benson shares an essential toolkit of reliable, data-driven resources for listeners looking to understand the facts and get involved. Connect with Safe Passage Project:Volunteer or support their mission at safepassageproject.org Professor Benson’s Recommended Resources:Migration Policy Institute (MPI): migrationpolicy.org — Outstanding data and economic analysisCato Institute: Free-market and libertarian research on the positive economic impacts of immigrationDocumented NY: documentedny.com — Groundbreaking journalism covering NYC’s immigrant communities and holding scofflaw employers accountableMake sure to subscribe to help us grow the show!

This week, host Ian Heller talks to his friend Marc. Marc Unger is a nationally headlining comedian, actor, screenwriter, and former radio talk show host with a brilliant 35-year career. Using Marc's journey from a comic rising in the ranks to a creator navigating the cutthroat entertainment industry, they trace the intersection of art, geography, and culture. They dig deep into the city of Baltimore, breaking past the gritty, binary caricatures left behind by shows like Homicide: Life on the Street and The Wire to look at the nuanced, beautifully textured reality of the city. They also tackle the messy relationship between art and the artist, exploring how deeply flawed people can create breathtaking beauty, and why we’ve been trained to make everything binary when we should be examining the nuance. Plus, Ian highlights Marc's award-winning episodic dramedy series, "Thespian". Based heavily on Marc’s own personal journey and deeply rooted in the heart of Baltimore, the show captures the hilarious and poignant struggles of what it really means to pursue your craft.Watch "Thespian" right now on Amazon Prime Video: https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0SDLIAHG5A42OCLSEJYFXT3A8DDon't forget to hit that Subscribe button to support the team in bringing you "What If I'm Right?"

This week, host Ian Heller talks to his friend Marc. Marc Unger is a nationally headlining comedian, actor, screenwriter, and former radio talk show host with a brilliant 35-year career. Using Marc's journey from a comic rising in the ranks to a creator navigating the cutthroat entertainment industry, they trace the intersection of art, geography, and culture. They dig deep into the city of Baltimore, breaking past the gritty, binary caricatures left behind by shows like Homicide: Life on the Street and The Wire to look at the nuanced, beautifully textured reality of the city. They also tackle the messy relationship between art and the artist, exploring how deeply flawed people can create breathtaking beauty, and why we’ve been trained to make everything binary when we should be examining the nuance. Plus, Ian highlights Marc's award-winning episodic dramedy series, "Thespian". Based heavily on Marc’s own personal journey and deeply rooted in the heart of Baltimore, the show captures the hilarious and poignant struggles of what it really means to pursue your craft.Watch "Thespian" right now on Amazon Prime Video: https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0SDLIAHG5A42OCLSEJYFXT3A8DDon't forget to hit that Subscribe button to support the team in bringing you "What If I'm Right?"

This week, host Ian Heller makes his mission clear: forget the talking heads — What If I'm Right? is about understanding the world from the ground up, from the people actually getting rained on when the storm rolls in. And no one illustrates that better than today's guest. Colin Erdle is a sixth-generation farmer and partner of Erdle Farms in Silver Creek, New York, growing blueberries, seedless table grapes, strawberries, raspberries, and Concord grapes — and before that, a music teacher in some of the toughest classrooms in Cleveland and inner-city Buffalo. It was staring at the quality of his students' school lunches that sent him back to the land. Together, Ian and Colin trace the invisible thread connecting global events — like the war in Iran and tariff policy — to local farmers, and straight to the number on your receipt at the supermarket or big box store. They dig into what's quietly bankrupting American farms, why well-meaning state policy can devastate an entire industry, what Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor has to do with blueberry season, and why going back to the land might be one of the most radical acts left in America. Plus: a USDA loan program that could still help a 25-year-old with a dream actually become a farmer — if it survives the cuts.

This week, host Ian Heller asks a question that sounds like it belongs in a boardroom but lands in everyone's living room: why do we keep using technology that's quietly falling apart? Ian is joined by his cousin Eric Wenger — Cornell and George Washington Law grad, former DOJ trial attorney in the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property section, former assistant attorney general of New York where he created the first statewide law enforcement unit focused on e-commerce, and now senior director of technology policy at Cisco Systems, the company whose hardware quietly powers nearly every corner of the internet. Together, Ian and Eric explore why corporations and governments — just like people — are neurologically wired to fight today's fires instead of tomorrow's, and why that instinct is becoming genuinely dangerous. From outdated routers running critical infrastructure to the looming threat of quantum computing that could render today's encryption obsolete almost overnight, Eric explains why the window to act is narrowing. And in a moment that reframes the whole conversation, Eric shares the deeply personal reason he now chairs a major fundraising gala for Children's National Hospital — and what losing his daughter Kayla to brain cancer at 12 taught him about urgency, purpose, and showing up before it's too late.

This week, host Ian Heller starts where everything starts — at the frequency. Before the guest arrives, Ian makes the case that music isn't just a soundtrack to social change, it is the change: from Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" cracking open the civil rights movement, to the science of string theory suggesting that at the core of the universe, we're all just vibrations looking for harmony. Then Ian is joined by his old friend and former bandmate Buddy Booker — Harlem native, 40-year bass teacher, adjunct professor at The New School, and a musician who has spent his career doing the thing most people won't: holding everyone else up from the back of the band. Together they explore what it truly means to be a good teacher — not just technically skilled, but genuinely attuned to how each person learns. Buddy also opens up about raising what he calls his "forever children," two kids on opposite ends of the autism spectrum, and how that experience shaped everything about how he listens, teaches, and plays. And why the world right now sounds less like a band and more like the Tower of Babel — a room full of angry soloists who forgot the music is still going on all around them.

This week, host Ian Heller asks a question that cuts deeper than politics — what if our hunger for strongmen isn't about ideology at all, but about loneliness? Ian is joined by Dr. Mena Mirhom, board-certified psychiatrist, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center, and chief well-being officer at Athletes for Hope, whose work at the intersection of identity, mental health, and human performance brings a rare clinical lens to the chaos of modern democracy. Together, Ian and Dr. Mirhom explore why certainty feels safer than freedom, how authoritarians exploit our biological terror of isolation — loneliness, science tells us, is as deadly as smoking 15 cigarettes a day — and why Obama and Trump may have activated the exact same psychological wiring in their followers. And because Ian refuses to leave things in a hopeless place, they close with the harder question: what does the first step of a thousand-mile journey toward national wellness actually look like?

This week, host Ian Heller does something he's long been afraid to do — publicly challenge Israel's conduct in Gaza, even at the risk of losing family and friends. Ian is joined by Dr. Erela Portugaly, Professor of Sociology at City College of New York and an Israeli citizen, whose ground-level perspective cuts through the noise of expert commentary. Drawing on her own experience living through October 7th from abroad while her family sheltered near the Nova Festival, Dr. Portugaly explores the trauma of Arab-Israelis, the psychological roots of the conflict, and what a realistic path toward peace might actually require.

This week, host Ian Heller examines how institutions—from the education system to the courtroom—are failing our communities. Ian is joined by Dr. Edwin Grimsley, Professor of Sociology at Baruch College and an expert in criminology. Drawing on his work with the Innocence Project and the Misdemeanor Justice Project, Dr. Grimsley discusses the real-world impact of policing, the targeting of vulnerable populations, and how systemic reform is the only path toward true accountability.

In this inaugural episode, host Ian Heller challenges the modern "death match" of public discourse. By moving past echo chambers and the "mushy middle," Ian explores a "Venn diagram" approach to finding commonality between opposing views. Plus, Ian is joined by his wife, Lora, founder of Baby Fingers, to discuss the powerful origin story of using American Sign Language to connect with infants and toddlers.