Episodes
As the six-month anniversary of Hamas’s attack on Israel approaches, what to expect next in that struggle—and is the American president and Israeli prime minister’s working relationship beyond repair? New York Times columnist Bret Stephens joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and H.R. McMaster to discuss the war’s possible expansion into southern Lebanon and Stephens’s vision of a rebuilt Gaza as a Mediterranean version of Dubai.
Published 04/03/24
Elbridge Colby, former Defense Department assistant secretary and cofounder of the Marathon Initiative, which studies great-power competition, joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson and H.R. McMaster to discuss his contention that rearming America’s military in anticipation of an eventual Chinese move on Taiwan takes priority over conflicts in Ukraine and Israel.
Published 03/21/24
Following Super Tuesday’s results, with the US presidential election still the better part of eight months away, a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is all but certain. Victor Davis Hanson, the Hoover Institution’s Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow and author of the soon-to-be-released book The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation, joins Hoover senior fellows John Cochrane and H.R. McMaster to discuss where Biden and Trump stand on “shrinkflation” and the US...
Published 03/08/24
Dan Senor, host of the Call Me Back podcast and author of two books on Israel, joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson (live from Jerusalem) and John Cochrane to discuss the moving parts and global ramifications of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Published 02/21/24
While the American reprisal against Iranian proxies across the Middle East is impressive in its harnessing of firepower, technology, and intelligence, does it advance the goals of deterrence and de-escalation?
Published 02/10/24
This installment of GoodFellows is devoted to audience questions—viewers and listeners putting Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and H.R. McMaster through their intellectual paces.
Published 01/25/24
The new year begins with a continuation of three topics that figured prominently in 2023: escalating hostilities in the Middle East; a possible return to more traditional higher education after shake-ups at several elite American universities; plus the uncertainty of certain economic assumptions (in 2023, a much-prophesied recession that never materialized).
Published 01/11/24
Bari Weiss, founder of the Free Press and host of the Honestly podcast, joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H.R. McMaster, and John Cochrane to discuss when and why America’s universities went astray and how to separate scholarship from political agendas.
Published 12/12/23
Karl Rove, Wall Street Journal political columnist and the “architect” behind George W. Bush’s presidential runs, joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson. H.R. McMaster, and John Cochrane to discuss the odds of a Biden-Trump rematch.
Published 11/29/23
Two conflicts present two challenges: a Ukrainian counteroffensive turned stalemate; and Israel’s survival as it confronts Hamas (and possibly Hezbollah and Iran). Russ Roberts, Hoover’s John and Jean De Nault Research Fellow and president of Jerusalem’s Shalem College, joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson. H.R. McMaster, and John Cochrane to discuss Israel’s morale and strategic choices.
Published 11/09/23
Ian Rowe, an American Enterprise Institute senior fellow and cofounder of the Bronx-based Vertex Partnership Academies, joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson and John Cochrane to discuss the future of public education and charter schools’ role in the quest for better outcomes.
Published 11/01/23
As Israel and Ukraine struggle for survival, a newer “axis of ill will”—formed by Russia, China and Iran—sows discord around the globe. Stephen Kotkin, the Hoover Institution’s Kleinheinz Senior Fellow and a vaunted historian, joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson and John Cochrane to assess options abroad and parallels to the past (are we reliving the 1930s, the 1970s, or both?).
Published 10/26/23
Recorded live at the Hoover Institution’s fall retreat: Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H.R. McMaster, and John Cochrane discuss unfolding events in the Middle East—Israel’s response, failures in intelligence gathering, plus America’s strategic choices vis-à-vis a complicit Iran.
Published 10/18/23
Eugene Volokh, a soon-to-be Hoover Institution senior fellow and a First Amendment law professor at UCLA, joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson and John Cochrane to discuss free speech in the Information Age and what comes next for universities following the court’s rebuke of race-factored admissions.
Published 09/26/23
In a special “mailbag” episode, Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and H.R. McMaster answer viewers’ questions, ranging from global geopolitics to American domestic affairs.
Published 09/07/23
Former president Donald Trump faces at least four criminal trials that could overshadow the Republicans’ presidential nominating process—and maybe fatally wound him in a general election—while a legal cloud hangs over President Biden due to an ongoing investigation into his son’s business affairs.
Published 08/24/23
On the 78th anniversary of the only wartime use of nuclear weapons, is the human race at another moral crossroads, fearing what artificial intelligence (AI) breakthroughs might unleash?
Published 08/10/23
This week, the self-moderating GoodFellows (Bill Whalen is on vacation) ponder why the much predicted recession hasn’t materialized—at least not yet.
Published 07/14/23
A tumultuous 24 hours in Russia—ordinarily pro-Russia armed mercenaries marching on Moscow, Vladimir Putin’s whereabouts unknown—reveals the fragility of that wartime autocracy.
Published 06/27/23
California weighs reparations for slavery’s descendants as America approaches the three-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd—a Black man killed by a White police officer—in Minneapolis.
Published 05/17/23
Does the Shakespearean adage “uneasy lies the head that wears a crown” still apply to today’s United Kingdom?
Published 05/03/23
Is artificial intelligence a global killer or an emerging technology which, if properly harnessed, can improve mankind? And what’s the significance of a low-level National Guard member being able to expose US military secrets?
Published 04/20/23
In this second installment of audience questions, viewers and listeners from nearly three dozen nations spanning six continents ask Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster and John Cochrane about the durability of America’s “empire,” Putin’s war crimes, Henry Kissinger’s worldview, and the future of Western universities.
Published 04/11/23
The first of two episodes devoted solely to questions from the audience—viewers and listeners from nearly three dozen nations spanning six continents—who ask Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster, and John Cochrane whether a protracted war favors Russia or Ukraine; what is China’s geopolitical interest in the conflict; what are financial risks associated with Silicon Valley Bank’s travails.
Published 03/28/23