GoodFellows: Conversations from the Hoover Institution

Question Time!

In this week’s episode, we dove into our mailbag of viewers’ letters. The end result: Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster, and John Cochrane answering 15 questions on a variety of subjects: the threat of hostilities between China and Taiwan; the potential effect of Scottish independence on the future of corporate woke politics; alternate versions of higher learning; how to re-instill youthful optimism in America; plus what books the three “GoodFellows” recommend.

Recorded April 13, 2021

We’ll Always Have Paris

Climate change no longer is a conversation confined to saving the planet; for the woke left, it’s a segue to “environmental justice and equitable economic opportunity,” in the words of Joe Biden’s campaign platform. Hoover visiting fellow Bjorn Lomborg, author of False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet joins Hoover senior fellows H. R. McMaster and John Cochrane for a conversation about sensible climate policy moving forward.

Recorded April 6, 2021

The Great Awokening With Bari Weiss

What does the future hold for the workplace and institutions of learning when diversity of thought prompts cancel-culture condemnation, ridicule, and ouster? Journalist, author, and Substack Common Sense writer Bari Weiss joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster, and John Cochrane for a conversation about a changed world in which, she warns, “curiosity is a liability.”

Recorded March 30, 2021

From Boom to Doom

On the eve of President Biden’s first press conference, Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster, and John Cochrane weigh in on what questions they’d ask the president—on economics, woke culture, Afghanistan withdrawal, and Taiwan tensions—if given the chance to be White House correspondents for one day.

Recorded March 23, 2021

Where There’s A Will….

Prolific author and Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist George Will joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster, and John Cochrane to discuss America’s drift away from the Founding Fathers’ intentions, the failure of its two-party system, the future of taxation and the US economy, challenges presented by a rising China—and his thoughts as he closes in on a landmark birthday (an early May celebration that will coincide with the release of Ferguson’s new book, Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe).

Recorded March 16, 2021

An American Empire—If You Can Keep It

This fall marks the 20th anniversary of US forces entering Afghanistan and, this month, the 18th anniversary of the Iraq invasion. With the last 2,500 American troops scheduled to soon leave Afghanistan, Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster, and John Cochrane discuss lessons from that engagement, the future of US military intervention abroad, and whether “endless wars” can be avoided.

Recorded March 9, 2021

Prey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women’s Rights

How will Europe deal with a wave of violence against women perpetrated by male refugees from Islamic nations? How will America counter a “cancel culture” movement that seeks to stifle intellectual debate? Hoover research fellow Ayaan Hirsi Ali joins Hoover senior fellows H. R. McMaster and John Cochrane to discuss her new book, Prey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women’s Rights, the parallels between Islamists and “Wokeists,” and her life as a target of both career- and life-threatening “cancel” efforts.

Recorded March 4, 2021

“The Place You Oughta Be”?

California is home to the world’s fifth-largest economy—and a world of problems: businesses exiting, chronic homelessness, a dearth of affordable housing, devastating wildfires, maddening political correctness. Lee Ohanian, a Hoover Institution senior fellow and columnist for Hoover’s California on Your Mind series, joins Hoover senior fellow Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster, and John Cochrane to discuss what is to become of the tarnished Golden State.

Recorded February 24, 2021

A “Post-American” Middle East?

Will the Abraham Accords endure, the nations of the Middle East continue to evolve their economies, and rival factions avoid conflict? Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H.R. McMaster, and John Cochrane discuss the future of the region, including America’s involvement—or diminished presence, as the Biden administration’s foreign policy takes root—in that troubled part of the world.

Recorded February 16, 2021

No Forward Passes

As the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins, what’s the path forward for the Republican Party—distance itself from Trump and risk losing his fan base, or embrace Trump and further alienate suburbanites and college-educated voters? Peter Robinson, the Hoover Institution’s Murdoch Distinguished Policy Fellow and host of Uncommon Knowledge (and a former Reagan White House speechwriter), joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster and John Cochrane to discuss the GOP’s brand, their shared memories of the late George Shultz, and one fellow’s disdain for the Super Bowl and the American version of “football.”

Recorded February 9, 2021