SCHMIDT: Political magic: The politics of Penn & Teller – Seguin Gazette-Enterprise

Last September, I discussed South Park for the first time, and how it has taught libertarianism since its debut in 1997. At one point, I discussed how ReasonTV listed it as one of the 5 Best Libertarian TV Shows Ever. When briefly explaining this, I mentioned another show: Showtimes Penn & Teller: Bull****. This particular show, which aired from 2003-2010, starred the famous magician duo, Penn and Teller, and while they present the topic of each episode, they remain in their regular performance fashion where Penn does all the discussion and Teller stays in his mime persona while performing several magic tricks and gags in the background.

Even though in several episodes where they debunk things like detoxing, the apocalypse, and the link between childhood vaccinations and autism, there are other episodes where they discuss social and political issues, and within the episodes, Penn is not afraid to reveal his strong Libertarian views on the issues discussed. When I became a Libertarian four years ago, it was Penn and Tellers show that Zachary, my friend who introduced me to Libertarianism, pointed me to, and after I watched each episode that he suggested, we would discuss it. The episodes I remember that we discussed the most and which covered very strong Libertarian viewpoints where the episodes based on the War on Drugs, the death penalty, and taxes (which included an interview with Former Congressman Ron Paul). Several other episodes that I watched were based on the War on Porn, gun control, video games, and family values.

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