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Ben Meets America

One journalist’s attempt to understand the American electorate. Ben Meets America is a political series for the politically homeless—and an antidote to the idea that we live in a hyperpolarized society destined to hate one another.

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Have San Francisco’s ‘Harm Reduction’ Tactics Worked?
We asked police, addicts, and residents to weigh in—while people appeared to overdose in front of our eyes.
Ben Kawaller
5M
WATCH: Is San Francisco Ready to Govern Again?
‘If progressives want to be trusted, we have to take care of the basics.’
Ben Kawaller
4M
Should Fifth Graders Learn What It Means to Be Transgender?
Ben Kawaller meets an education activist who wants kids to be taught that sex is assigned and gender is a social construct.
Ben Kawaller
2M
Ben Kawaller Asks New Yorkers: Is Luigi Mangione a Hero or a Villain?
He hits the streets to find out whose side they’re really on.
Ben Kawaller
2M
WATCH: Steve Bannon Talks Luigi Mangione, Racial Representation, and America’s Seething Anger
Trump’s former barn burner gives a one-on-one interview to The Free Press’s Ben Kawaller.
Ben Kawaller
15M
WATCH: Matt Walsh Talks DEI, Division, and Robin DiAngelo
A new documentary ‘Am I Racist?’ goes deep into the anti-racism industry. Ben Kawaller sits down with its maker.
Ben Kawaller
What If the Most Notorious Murder of a Gay Man Wasn’t a Hate Crime?
A generation ago, Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered in what appeared to be a homophobic attack. This month, Ben Kawaller traveled to the scene of…
Ben Kawaller
WATCH: Kicked Out of a Climate Rally
Face to face with the apocalyptic environmentalists of Extinction Rebellion, Ben Kawaller asks: “Is there a fear that you might look a bit silly?”
Ben Kawaller
WATCH: Ben Kawaller Tries to Ruin the Kentucky Derby
Our correspondent tried to foment class war at the country’s most prestigious horse race. But it’s hard to bring a rich man down.
Ben Kawaller
WATCH: Is America Racist? Reggae Fans Aren’t So Sure
Ben Kawaller reports from the Dallas Reggae Festival, where one black Southern woman said the unthinkable: ‘I’ve never really experienced racism!’
Ben Kawaller
WATCH: An Atheist Finds Faith Among the Mormons
‘These guys produced the last normal Republican presidential nominee. Who am I to judge?’
Ben Kawaller
WATCH: The California Progressives Trying to Cancel Affordable Housing
Ben Kawaller on how his ‘progressive’ neighbors don’t want low-income residents to move to West Hollywood.
Ben Kawaller
WATCH: ‘This Is My First Rodeo’ | Ben Meets America
In Arlington, Texas, our correspondent mingled with cowboys and witnessed his first Red State land acknowledgment.
Ben Kawaller
WATCH: RFK Jr.’s Supporters Made Me Doubt the Truth
The latest installment of Ben Meets America is out now.
Ben Kawaller
Ben Meets the Lady Lowriders of California
In his latest dispatch from America, Free Press correspondent Ben Kawaller asks members of an all-female car club: What do you think of the patriarchy?
Ben Kawaller
It’s Harder to Hate the Other Side When You Come Face to Face
Our correspondent sets out across the country to find out why we’re so divided. What he discovers might surprise you. Introducing: Ben Meets America!
Ben Kawaller
WATCH: Ben Kawaller Learns to Be a Real Man
The Free Press goes duck hunting in Arkansas. Who knew that straight men down South watch ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’?
Ben Kawaller
VIDEO: Peace Is for Suckers
At a Free Palestine rally, Ben Kawaller meets the war protesters who’d rather give violence a chance.
Ben Kawaller
4M
VIDEO: The Free Press Meets the Democratic Socialists of America
Ben Kawaller went to learn about life under utopia. But when the socialists kicked him out, a group of optimistic capitalists took him in.
Ben Kawaller
4M
VIDEO: Pork Chops! Politics! The Free Press Goes to the Iowa State Fair.
Brooklynite Ben Kawaller dives headfirst into livestock, fried food, and the great political divide at America’s annual country circus.
Ben Kawaller
5M
Can a Boring Old ‘G’ Still Hang with the LBTQIAs?
Twenty years ago, I was a rare gay teen at Pride. Now, I’m not even sure I count as queer.
Ben Kawaller
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