In the interest of celebrating Valentine's Day, enjoy Reason TV's top ten videos on the subject of the day, love.
10. Zach Wahls, His Two Moms, & the Future of Same-Sex Marriage
Zach Wahls became an internet sensation when he defended his mothers' same-sex marriage to the Iowa House Judiciary Committee in 2011. After the video racked up over 18 million views on YouTube, Wahls hit the talk show circut, speaking with Jon Stewart, David Letterman and Reason TV's own Nick Gillespie. Gillespie and Wahls talk about his book, My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength and What Makes a Family.
9. Gay Wars: What We Saw at CPAC
Back in 2011, the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC, was divided over the most important issue since marginal tax rates: gay conservatives. Reason TV was on hand to capture the sentiment from attendees, including some who couldn't stand to think gay people could be conservative too.
8. The Real Breaking Bad: How the Drug War Creates Collateral Damage
88-year-old Bob Wallace, and his 85-year-old girlfriend, Marjorie Ottenberg have been a couple for over 35 years and they fell in love thanks to their shared interest in backbacking to the highest peaks in the world. They even invented a water disinfectant for backpackers called Polar Pure out of their garage. It was a successful product for decades until the DEA reclassified Polar Pure's main ingredient, iodine, as a controlled substance. It shut down their business and led to police surveillance, regulatory fees and even more headaches for the couple.
The videos—on sex vs. punishment, obscenity vs. free expression, lesbian acrobats vs. immigration laws, and much, much more—continue after the break!
7. Sex and Punishment: Eric Berkowitz Talks 4,000 Years of Judging Desire
Why does the government want control over sex life? Author of Sex and Punishment: Four Thousand Years of Judging Desire Eric Berkowitz says that that's nothing new. Governments have always wanted control of sex is a wildcard. "After we ate the apple and did what we did, the sex organs to Augustine became like little dictators that we have to either succumb to or overpower," says Berkowitz. Reason TV's Tracy Oppenheimer sat down with Berkowitz to discuss original sin, trends in sex laws, and societies' perceptions of sexual transgressions.
6. Obscenity vs. Freedom of Expression: The John Stagliano Trial
Is sex on film obscene? The U.S. Justice Department certainly thought so when they charged pornography producer John Stagliano with obscenity. Stagliano could have faced up to 32 years in prison for distributing the adult films Milk Nymphos, Storm Squirters 2: Target Practice, and a promo reel for a trailer for Belladonna's Fetish Fanatic Five via his website for Evil Angel Productions.
5. Matt Ridley Talks Ideas Having Sex, Free Trade, & Apocalyptic Science w/ Reason's Kennedy
What's sexier than ideas? Ideas making sweet sweet love. Zoologist and author of The Rational Optimist sat down with Reason TV's Kennedy to talk about ideas having sex and why it's so important. "A big problem with the world is that human beings find positive sum games difficult to understand," says Ridley. The two also discuss free trade and the irrationality of apocalyptic science.
4. Neuroeconomist Paul J. Zak on Markets and the "Molecule of Love"
In 2004 neuroeconmist Paul J. Zak's lab at Claremont College's Center for Neuroeconomics Studies discovered that the chemnical oxytocin (That warm sensation when you give someone a hug) allows us to determine whom to trust in situations that require exchange, i.e. the marketplace. Furthermore, Zak says that the physiology of love–bonding to our mates–has over time been expanded to include care for complete strangers, meaning the exchange of money is a lot more moral than one might think.
3. Sex and the Supreme Court: The True Story of Lawrence v. Texas
Reason Magazine's Katherine Mangu-Ward sat down with author and law professor Dale Carpenter to discuss his book, Flagrant Conduct: The Story of Lawrence v. Texas, the supreme court case that invalidated American sodomy laws. "It revives a constitutional doctrine that protects a right to liberty and privacy and sexual autonomy for adults," says Dale.
2. How Sex Offender Registries Fail Us
Reason TV spoke to a registrant ruined by the sex offender registry system in California. What was his crime? Having sex with his teenage girlfriend. "It was actually illegal for me to be anywhere near her for three years," he says, "but she waited for me. And I waited, too." The couple, who chose to remain anonymous, are married today, 10 years after he was convicted.
1. Citizenship Denied: DOMA, Immigration, and Gay Marriage
Reason TV profiled, Hope Hall, an American citizen and military veteran, and her Canadian partner and soon-to-be wife Nathalie Gaulthier, who runs an internationally renowned circus arts school and has spent 17 years living in working in the U.S. Though marriage is often the one reliable path to citizenship for many straight couples, the Defense of Marriage Act prohibits United States Immigration and Citizenship Services from granting the same legal rights to gay couples, even those married in a state where gay marriage is legal. Reason TV's Kennedy sat down with the couple and narrates the piece.
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