The following bonus episode was previously available only to paying Substack subscribers. We’re now releasing it to the public.
My guest in this Substack subscriber-only bonus episode is Sally Satel, an AEI senior fellow and author of many books. Sally has had to undergo two kidney transplants, and her experience with kidney donation has led her to question the way the donation system in the US currently operates. She’s become an advocate of legalizing the (regulated and supervised) sale of kidneys from living donors. While this idea may sound strange, or even ghoulish, on its face, Sally lays out some sensible arguments outlining why such a market is needed, how it might work, and how to prevent it from being abused.
We begin by discussing some of Sally’s earlier work and her stance on psychiatrists publicly diagnosing Trump. We then move on to Sally’s remarkable experience searching out kidney donors. She notes the tremendous generosity of donors but asks if altruism is reliable enough to provide the number of new kidneys needed. Organ sales conjure up images of backroom surgeries and black markets, but Sally explains why legalizing kidney organ sales and regulating them at the federal level could provide ethical recompense for donors while actually cutting public healthcare costs.
This conversation led me to think about practical and ethical concerns I had not previously considered. It was an eye-opener for me, as I hope it will be for you.
This bonus episode is now free and available to the public. To get early access to the episodes of The Glenn Show, as well as an ad-free podcast feed, comments, Q&As, and other exclusive content and benefits, click below.
0:00 Identitarianism in the medical profession
5:13 The (exaggerated) psychiatric toll of Covid
7:31 Why were psychiatrists publicly diagnosing Trump?
12:29 Sally’s quest for a kidney donor
23:30 How the kidney donation system works and why it doesn’t
29:30 The ethics of selling a kidney
34:42 Can we put a price on the human body?
43:44 Would paying donors exploit the poor?
48:17 Is paid kidney donation a political possibility?
53:12 The roadblocks facing paid kidney donation
Recorded February 9, 2023
Links and Readings
Sally’s book, P.C., M.D.: How Political Correctness Is Corrupting Medicine
Christina Hoff Sommers and Sally’s book, One Nation Under Therapy: How the Helping Culture is Eroding Self-Reliance
Peter Kramer and Sally’s 2017 NYT op-ed, “Who Decides Whether Trump Is Unfit to Govern?”
Leon Kass’s book, Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenge for Bioethics
Glenn’s conversation with Michael Sandel
Michael Novak’s defense of paid kidney donation in First Things
Sally’s book, When Altruism Isn’t Enough: The Case for Compensating Kidney Donors
Sally’s New York Times Magazine piece, “Desperately Seeking a Kidney”
Sally Satel – The Ethics of Selling a Kidney (Bonus Episode)