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Liberty Chats

Liberty Chats

Written by: The Steamboat Institute
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About this listen

Steamboat Institute has launched Liberty Chats, a bi-weekly, 15-minute podcast. The Liberty Chats podcast features interviews with a variety of experts, leaders, journalists, and policymakers on the importance of our nation’s founding principles and the importance of limited government. Guests will include sitting members of Congress, White House press reporters, think tank leaders, entertainers, political strategists and more! Liberty Chats is produced by members of Steamboat Institute’s Emerging Leaders Council (ELC), a network of students and young professionals who are leaders on campuses and in communities across America. They represent the next generation of pro-founding principles, free-market, and free speech leaders and are proud to stand up for these values. Subscribe to “Liberty Chats” wherever you get your podcasts to get automatic downloads of our episodes every two weeks.

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Episodes
  • Liberty Chats Season 2 Episode 4

    Liberty Chats Season 2 Episode 4
    Mar 19 2024
    Steamboat Emerging Leaders Council Member Steven Hjelm sits down with Daniel Pae, Oklahoma's 62nd District Representative to talk about his time in office and his focus in policies during his time as the youngest serving member of the state Legislature at 23 years old.
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    19 mins
  • Liberty Chats, Season 2, Episode 3: Ryan Walters, Oklahoma State Superintendent

    Liberty Chats, Season 2, Episode 3: Ryan Walters, Oklahoma State Superintendent
    Jan 30 2024

    Host Gabe Woolley, member of The Steamboat Institute's Emerging Leaders Council interviews Oklahoma State Superintendent, Ryan Walters. In a 15 minute excerpt of an hour long discussion, Gabe sits down with Ryan and talks about the major aspects of Oklahoma and American education.

    Ryan Walters taught eight years as a high school history teacher in his hometown at McAlester High School (MHS). During his time at MHS, Walters taught Advanced Placement (AP) courses in World History, U.S. History and U.S. Government. He also taught on-level history classes, special education classes and Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) classes.

    The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) named Walters as an Oklahoma Teacher of the Year Finalist in 2016. He is passionate about the students of Oklahoma and advocating for their immediate and long-term success.


    In September 2020, Governor Kevin Stitt named Walters as Secretary of Public Education. As Secretary of Education, he was responsible for various agencies, boards, and commissions, including the State Board of Education, College and University Boards of Regents or Trustees, Office of Educational Quality and Accountability and the State Board of Career and Technology Education.


    Walters taught AP U.S. History at Millwood High School and McAlester High School. He is empowering teachers, parents and community leaders to improve Oklahoma’s education system for all students and previously served as Executive Director of Oklahoma Achieves, an education initiative of the State Chamber of Oklahoma that sought to get the business community more actively engaged in education.


    He is a lifelong advocate of improving Oklahoma’s education system and helping every student reach their full potential.


    A loving husband to his wife Katie, Walters has four children — Violet (6), Ella (4), Benjamin (2) and newborn Samuel.

    To watch the full interview with Ryan and Gabe, go to https://youtu.be/vz4xsA20O6o?si=_AVNnpkp-NHvqtqd

    Subscribe to The Steamboat Institute Newsletter: https://www.steamboatinstitute.org/update/sign-up-for-newsletter-updates/
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    15 mins
  • Liberty Chats, Season 2, Episode 2: Lily Tang Williams, Entrepreneur/Educator

    Liberty Chats, Season 2, Episode 2: Lily Tang Williams, Entrepreneur/Educator
    Jun 22 2023
    Host Karl Honegger, member of The Steamboat Institute's Emerging Leaders Council Alumni Board interviews entrepreneur and educator, Lily Tang Williams. She is fighting to prevent the country she loves from becoming the country she left.

     Lily Tang Williams was a law school assistant professor at Fudan University, Shanghai, China who became an American entrepreneur and an educator. She is currently co-chair of the New Hampshire Asian American Coalition, elected Supervisor of the Checklist in Town of Weare, NH. She has been married to John Williams for 31 years and they have three adult children.

    Born to illiterate working-class parents in China’s western Sichuan province just before Mao’s Cultural Revolution, Lily Tang Williams grew up experiencing extremely poor living conditions, food rationing, social chaos, and Communist indoctrination.

    She learned to work hard, persevere, and be grateful for the opportunities she was given. Eventually, she graduated from Fudan University in Shanghai with an undergraduate law degree. After graduation, she was selected to continue as part of the law school faculty, as well as practice corporate law in Shanghai as China began to rebuild its economy.


    In 1988, Lily Tang Williams decided to study in the U.S., leaving her position with only $100 in her pocket and $1200 in debt to her American sponsor, a Fulbright professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Though she could not speak English fluently she was determined to achieve success in this country, earning a Master’s degree in Administration and Planning from the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin.


    Subsequently, Lily started work for Wyoming Home Health as a medical social worker, and later she worked as an executive for corporations in both Hong Kong and the U.S. Eventually, she went into business for herself, providing consulting and expert witness services in China-related business and legal cases. She and her husband also manage residential real estate properties they own.


    Subscribe to The Steamboat Institute Newsletter: https://www.steamboatinstitute.org/update/sign-up-for-newsletter-updates/
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    19 mins
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