# Multimedia 

Multimedia 

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Cato Weekly Podcast • February 24, 2025 

# Government Racial Categories Are (at Best) Pointless 

There are many examples of governments using racial categories in nefarious ways, and the upside for cataloging people by race seems vanishingly small. Cato’s John Early explains.

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

[![John_Early_cropped-3.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-07/John_Early_cropped-3.jpg?itok=meVzSEMd)](/people/john-f-early) 

##### [John F. Early](/people/john-f-early)

Adjunct Scholar; President, Vital Few

[![Square face shot of Caleb O. Brown.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/cbrown_sq.jpg?itok=zSWLm8kR)](/people/caleb-o-brown) 

##### [Caleb O. Brown](/people/caleb-o-brown)

Former Director of Multimedia, Host and Executive Producer, *Cato Daily Podcast*, Cato Institute