Conversations with Bill Kristol
259 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 months ago - ★★★★★ - 1.2K ratingsConversations with Bill Kristol features in-depth, thought-provoking discussions with leading figures in American public life.
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Episodes
Whit Ayres on the State of the Race: Is It Still Trump's Party?
August 25, 2023 16:28 - 53 minutes - 49.5 MBWhere do things stand in the Republican primary field after the first debate? How strong is Trump? How have the other candidates done so far? How might the Trump trials affect the race as we head into primary season? To discuss these questions, we are joined again by veteran Republican pollster and strategist Whit Ayres. Though Trump remains the strong favorite, Ayres argues that the forthcoming trials make the race more unpredictable than it might seem from simply reading current pollin...
Ryan Goodman on the Trump Trial: What Might Happen?
August 04, 2023 18:49 - 59 minutes - 55.2 MBHow significant is the indictment of Donald Trump in the Jan 6 case? How might the case play out in court, and in our politics? According to Ryan Goodman, a professor of law at New York University, former special counsel in the Department of Defense, and co-editor of NYU Law’s Just Security blog, the indictment in the Jan 6 case is a momentous development in the legal maelstrom Trump faces, with potentially significant consequences for the 2024 election. Goodman argues that the Jan 6 case l...
Google’s Royal Hansen on AI: Where Are We? Where Are We Going?
July 26, 2023 13:59 - 59 minutes - 55.2 MBWith the recent rollout of ChatGPT and the development of other generative artificial intelligence, the future of AI—and its potential implications for national defense, economics, and society—has become a topic of urgent inquiry. To discuss where things stand with AI, we are joined by Royal Hansen, Vice President of Engineering for Privacy, Safety, and Security at Google. Hansen explains the breakthroughs achieved over the past decade, and the profound implications that powerful software a...
Whit Ayres: Is Trump Inevitable? Do Any of the Other Republicans Have a Chance?
July 13, 2023 15:42 - 1 hour - 67.9 MBWhere do things stand in the Republican primary field? Is Trump inevitable, or could DeSantis or another candidate prevail? What do voters, donors, and party officials think of the prospects of a Trump v. Biden rematch as we head toward 2024? To discuss these questions, we are joined again by veteran Republican pollster and strategist Whit Ayres. The broad contours of the race on the Republican side, by the numbers, have been remarkably stable since November—and at the same time the month...
Doug Sosnik: The Realignment of American Politics—and its Implications
June 27, 2023 15:54 - 1 hour - 70.9 MBHow did American politics become so polarized—and what are the key fault lines today? In an evenly-divided electorate, what are the implications for the political parties as we look ahead to 2024 and beyond? Is there a way out of hyper-partisanship and deadlock, and toward moderation? To discuss these questions, we are joined by veteran political strategist Doug Sosnik, former political director for President Bill Clinton and author of a recent memo The Road to a Political Realignment in Ame...
Ryan Goodman: Does Donald Trump Really Face Legal—and Political—Jeopardy?
June 15, 2023 19:07 - 1 hour - 61.3 MBWhat is the substance of the federal indictment against Donald Trump for mishandling classified documents? How could the case play out in the legal system, and in our politics? Are future indictments likely? Could these matters alter the political landscape in advance of the 2024 elections? According to Ryan Goodman, a professor of law at New York University, former special counsel in the Department of Defense, and co-editor of NYU Law’s Just Security blog, the indictment of Donald Trump is...
Leah Boustan on Immigration: Then and Now
May 31, 2023 18:48 - 1 hour - 75.2 MBHow should we think about immigration in American life today? How well do today’s immigrants do—economically and culturally—compared to the immigrants of previous eras? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Princeton economist Leah Boustan. Drawing on rigorous analysis of data for her important co-authored work in economic history Streets of Gold: America’s Untold Story of Immigrant Success, Boustan explains a perhaps surprising fact: despite all of the differences between contemporar...
A.B. Stoddard on 2024: Trump, DeSantis, Biden…and Chaos?
May 17, 2023 17:12 - 1 hour - 75.9 MBWhat did we learn about Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign from last week’s CNN town hall? How should we assess Ron DeSantis’s prospective candidacy so far? What are Joe Biden’s strengths and weaknesses as we head into the 2024 race? To discuss these questions, we are joined by veteran reporter and commentator A.B. Stoddard. Stoddard shares her perspective on why Trump remains the force in the Republican field—and how DeSantis has yet to live up to early expectations. Turning to the Democrats, Sto...
Frederick Kagan on the War in Ukraine: Where things Stand, and Where they Might be Going
May 02, 2023 15:50 - 1 hour - 60.8 MBWhere do things stand in Ukraine as the war enters its fifteenth month? What must Ukraine accomplish on the battlefield in its long-anticipated counteroffensive? What can the US and allies do to support Ukraine now? To discuss these questions we are joined again by Fred Kagan, director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute. Kagan notes that Russian forces have been seriously degraded in the war thanks to the impressive defense mounted by the Ukrainians. Nonethe...
Dan Balz on Trump, Biden, the Media, and 2024
April 20, 2023 18:33 - 1 hour - 61.6 MBWhat are the prospects for Biden, Trump, DeSantis, and other potential candidates as we head to 2024? How will the media respond to the challenges of covering presidential politics in the current era? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Dan Balz, chief correspondent of The Washington Post and a veteran analyst of American politics and the media. In a wide-ranging Conversation, Balz reflects on the ways in which both media and politics still are very much shaped by—and often orchestr...
Robert Kagan on American Foreign Policy Between World War I and World War II—and Beyond
April 04, 2023 18:52 - 1 hour - 74.6 MBThe period between World War I and World War II has long been a reference point in foreign policy debates, yet much about the period remains in dispute. Why did the United States turn away from internationalism after the First World War? Could the US have shaped an enduring liberal world order in the 1920s? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Robert Kagan, the historian and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. According to Kagan, Usually the peace is lost at a time when the ...
Jason Furman on the Threat of Inflation, Prospects for the Economy, and Turmoil in the Banking Sector
March 22, 2023 15:29 - 1 hour - 55.8 MBHow serious a threat to the economy is the current turmoil in the banking sector? What are the prospects for a soft landing—or more turbulence ahead? How should we think about the challenge of combating inflation? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Harvard economist Jason Furman, who was deputy directory of the National Economic Council during the Financial Crisis and then served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in President Obama’s second term. In this Conversation,...
Aaron Friedberg on China, the War in Ukraine, and the Geopolitical Stakes
March 03, 2023 20:24 - 1 hour - 68.6 MBHow has China responded to Russia’s War in Ukraine, and what lessons could the CCP draw from the course of the war? How has the war and other recent developments affected US-China relations—and how should the US and allies advance the cause of deterring China? To discuss these questions, we are joined again by Princeton professor Aaron Friedberg. While China has been cautious about intervening directly on behalf of Russia in the war, Friedberg explains that much is at stake for the CCP in Vl...
Anne Applebaum on Ukraine: One Year Into the War
February 15, 2023 16:10 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBOne year into the war, where do things stand in Ukraine? What have we learned about the character of Ukraine, Putin’s war aims, the fault lines in European politics, and America's resolve? Why should the West continue to support Ukraine? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Anne Applebaum, a leading scholar of Ukraine and Pulitzer Prize winning historian. According to Applebaum, Ukraine’s impressive strength speaks to Ukraine’s virtues in defending itself—as a free country—through an...
Neil Rogachevsky on Israel’s Declaration of Independence
February 02, 2023 17:25 - 1 hour - 68.4 MBWhat were the major political and diplomatic issues that Israel’s founders faced in 1948? How did they inform the writing of Israel’s Declaration of Independence? What can Israel’s Declaration teach us about natural and historic rights, the relationship of religion and state, and the meaning of national sovereignty? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Neil Rogachevsky, a scholar of Israel studies and political thought at Yeshiva University in New York and co-author, with Dov Zigler,...
Francis Fukuyama on the War in Ukraine, Authoritarianism, and Liberal Democracy
January 24, 2023 17:40 - 56 minutes - 52.2 MBEleven months into the war, where do things stand in Ukraine? What does the West need to do to help Ukraine win? What lessons can we draw from the war about the ambitions of authoritarians, the resolve of liberal democracies today, and the most pressing geopolitical challenges we face? To discuss these questions, Bill Kristol is joined by Francis Fukuyama, the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, who has led import...
James Carville: Biden, Trump, Our Parties, and 2024
January 10, 2023 16:41 - 1 hour - 56 MBWhere do things stand two years into Biden's presidency? Should he seek reelection? What other prospective Democratic candidates might emerge in the months ahead? What are the odds Trump will be the Republican nominee, and what might a Republican primary field look like? To consider these questions, we are joined by James Carville, the veteran Democratic strategist. While praising Biden’s accomplishments, and in particular his handling of the war in Ukraine, Carville argues it could be best ...
Harvey Mansfield on Locke, Aristotle, and the Spirit of Liberalism
December 20, 2022 17:40 - 1 hour - 74.6 MBWhat is liberalism? How did political thinkers like Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, and Montesquieu pave the way for modern liberal societies? To discuss these questions, we are joined again by Harvard government professor Harvey Mansfield. Mansfield explains the choice of a politics of rights and consent in the thought of early modern thinkers, especially John Locke. Mansfield discusses the original case for liberalism, and explains how liberalism rightly understood calls upon important human q...
Royal Hansen: Cybersecurity and National Security in the Digital Age
December 09, 2022 02:13 - 1 hour - 55.5 MBWhat is cybersecurity? How has cybersecurity become integrally connected to our national security? What has the War in Ukraine taught us about the vulnerabilities we face? What kinds of cyber threats should we be prepared to meet in the future?To discuss these questions, we are joined by Royal Hansen, Vice President of Engineering for Privacy, Safety, and Security at Google. As Hansen explains, cybersecurity can be understood as the safety, reliability, [and] availability of the technology t...
Whit Ayres: The Republican Party, Donald Trump, and the Road to 2024
November 29, 2022 17:00 - 1 hour - 55.9 MBWhat did the midterm elections reveal about Donald Trump’s strength in the Republican Party? What are the central tensions in the GOP as we head into 2023—and what are Trump's chances to win the nomination in 2024? Might Republican elected officials, donors, and other elites coalesce around an alternative candidate like Ron DeSantis? To discuss these questions, we are joined again by veteran Republican pollster and strategist Whit Ayres. According to Ayres, the unmistakeable pattern of losse...
Ronald Brownstein: After the 2022 Midterms, What’s Next?
November 11, 2022 13:30 - 1 hour - 70.1 MBWhat happened in the midterms? What can explain why the 2022 midterm elections defied expectations and countered the trends of recent history? Will Trump be challenged successfully for the Republican nomination? Will Biden run again? To discuss these and other questions, we are joined by Ronald Brownstein, Senior Editor of The Atlantic. In a Conversation after the 2020 elections, Brownstein noted how evenly divided and deeply entrenched the American political landscape had become. Summing u...
Frederick Kagan on Ukraine: Where Things Stand—and the Stakes for the Future
October 26, 2022 15:20 - 1 hour - 59.2 MBEight months into the war, where do things stand in Ukraine? According to Fred Kagan, director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute, Ukraine’s stunning battlefield achievements have dramatically altered the dynamic of the war. As he puts it, Russians no longer have the ability to conduct offensive operations in Ukraine. That’s over. Russians have fundamentally gone over to the defensive. But serious challenges remain. Ukraine can reconquer or secure several st...
Ray Takeyh on Iran: Are We Witnessing a Revolution?
October 14, 2022 15:25 - 58 minutes - 54.3 MBIran today is in some kind of revolutionary stage…. All social classes are united behind the idea that they want the extinction of the regime, and all social classes seem to be united on the proposition that reform is not possible. So argues Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and one of the leading historians and analysts of Iran. In this Conversation, Takeyh analyzes the momentous events in Iran following the killing of the 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini at the h...
William Baude: On the Supreme Court after Dobbs
September 29, 2022 15:37 - 59 minutes - 54.7 MBAfter the historic Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, what should we look for as the Supreme Court begins a new term? How will the Court handle controversial subjects such as affirmative action and religious freedom? How should we understand the current Court’s jurisprudence? To discuss these questions, we are joined by University of Chicago law professor William Baude. According to Baude, with its emphasis on originalist jurisprudence, the Court has become more willing to take bold act...
William Galston: The Politics of Abortion after Dobbs, the 2022 Midterms, and Beyond
September 09, 2022 21:12 - 57 minutes - 52.7 MBHow has the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade affected the course of the 2022 midterm elections? How has it affected the standing of the two political parties? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Brookings Institution Senior Fellow William Galston. According to Galston, the galvanizing effect of the Dobbs decision on Democratic voters has eaten into the advantage the out-of-power party typically has in an off-year election. Swing voters who view Republicans as too far...
Tom Tugendhat on Ukraine, NATO, and Strengthening the Alliance of Free States
September 01, 2022 21:24 - 58 minutes - 54.1 MBWhere do things stand in Ukraine six months into the war? How have the United States, Britain, and NATO contributed to the war effort to this point? What more could we do in the months ahead? What broader lessons should we draw? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Tom Tugendhat, Conservative MP for Tonbridge and Malling and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the British parliament. According to Tugendhat: the end result is clear. The courage and commitment of the Ukrainian...
Ed Glaeser: The Case for Cities
August 27, 2022 18:37 - 1 hour - 57.3 MBWhy do great cities rise and fall? Why have cities been pivotal to the dynamism and growth of America's economy? What are the threats cities face today—and what can we learn from history about how best to help our cities thrive? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Ed Glaeser, chairman of the Department of Economics at Harvard University, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and one of the world’s leading experts on the economics and politics of cities. Glaeser explains that cit...
Whit Ayres: On the Republican Party, Donald Trump, the Midterms and 2024
August 05, 2022 18:30 - 1 hour - 63.4 MBWhat have we learned about Donald Trump’s influence on Republican elected officials, candidates, and voters through the primary season? What are the central tensions in the party as we head toward the midterms and 2024? To discuss these questions, we are joined by veteran Republican pollster and strategist Whit Ayres. According to Ayres, Donald Trump remains the center of gravity in the Republican Party and is broadly popular among party regulars. And yet there is a majority of Republican vo...
A.B. Stoddard on Biden, Trump, and the Parties: How Crazy Could It Get in 2023 and 2024?
July 27, 2022 19:20 - 1 hour - 68 MBIs Donald Trump still the center of gravity in the Republican Party? Will Joe Biden run for reelection? What might our politics look like in 2023 as the races for the 2024 presidential primaries kick into gear? To discuss these questions, we are joined by veteran reporter and commentator A.B. Stoddard. In Stoddard’s view, the most likely outcome is Trump announcing his candidacy soon—and Biden not seeking reelection. She forecasts a scenario in which Trump maintains his hold on the Republica...
Joe Trippi: The Democrats and the 2022 Midterms
July 13, 2022 18:04 - 1 hour - 65.4 MBIn the spring of 2019, when most analysts thought Joe Biden had little chance of winning the party’s nomination, Democratic strategist Joe Trippi predicted that Biden would be the nominee. Now, as analysts predict a Republican wave election in the midterms, Trippi again challenges the conventional wisdom by arguing that the Democrats will do better than expected in 2022. As he puts it in this provocative Conversation, the data at this juncture do not point to a red wave tsunami but rather wh...
Eric Edelman on Ukraine, NATO, and Confronting Our Strategic Challenges
June 23, 2022 15:10 - 1 hour - 75.7 MBWhat is the state of the war in Ukraine? What is the Ukrainian theory of victory? What are Vladimir Putin’s current aims? What are the strategic and political challenges facing the US and NATO allies? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Eric Edelman, former ambassador to Turkey and Finland and undersecretary of Defense. Edelman argues there is much uncertainty now that Russia appears to have changed its war strategies—but the Ukrainian resistance remains robust. While praising effor...
Stan Veuger on Inflation, the Economic Outlook, and Public Policies we Need
June 08, 2022 15:25 - 1 hour - 63 MBWe see inflation in our daily lives from prices at the pump, groceries, and services—and as a major focus in our politics. How have the war in Ukraine, the response to Covid in China, and other domestic and international developments shaped our economic outlook? What policies could we pursue to fight inflation and boost the economy? Joining us to consider these questions is American Enterprise Institute economist Stan Veuger. Veuger argues that, given the turbulence of the last few years, th...
Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns: the Biden Administration, the Parties, 2022 and 2024
May 18, 2022 20:21 - 1 hour - 61 MBNearly a year and a half into his presidency, how is Joe Biden doing? What are the key tensions within the Democratic Party? How strong is Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican Party? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns, New York Times reporters and authors of This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future, a thoughtful and provocative account of the 2020 Elections and the Biden presidency so far. As Martin and Burns argue, Donal...
Michael Luttig: January 6 and the Ongoing Threat to American Democracy
May 12, 2022 20:20 - 1 hour - 62.3 MBIn a recent article, Judge J. Michael Luttig warns that the last presidential election was a dry run for the next. As he explains, since 2020, our political leaders have yet to do what is necessary to protect against future efforts to overturn elections. In this Conversation, Luttig, a former United States Circuit judge, discusses the role that he played in January 2021, when he advised Vice President Pence on the Constitutional arguments for resisting President Trump’s pressure to overturn ...
Frederick Kagan on the War in Ukraine: Where Things Stand
April 28, 2022 16:37 - 1 hour - 67.5 MBTwo months into the war, where do things stand in Ukraine? What explains the Russian military's failures on the battlefield—and the brave and intelligent resistance of the Ukrainians? How should we grade the response of the US and NATO allies? What geopolitical lessons can we draw from the war? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Fred Kagan, director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute. To explain the complex dynamics of the war, Kagan highlights bot...
Mark Mills: Energy Realism and Geopolitics
April 18, 2022 18:45 - 1 hour - 63.4 MBVladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine has put the dangers of European reliance on Russian oil and gas into sharp focus. The debate on energy policy in the West is, however, too often built on wishful thinking—particularly regarding our ability to make a transition to a carbon-neutral economy in the next few decades. According to Mark Mills, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and faculty fellow at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, it simply is in...
Stephen Rosen: Taking The Nuclear Threat Seriously
March 31, 2022 19:11 - 1 hour - 69.1 MBVladimir Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. We need to be prepared to respond to Putin's threats—and to do so effectively we have to understand the role of nuclear weapons in Russian strategy, in American foreign policy, and in the current global order. To consider these questions, we are joined by Harvard professor of government Stephen Rosen. Drawing on his profound knowledge of the Cold War, Rosen explains the role nuclear weapons have played since the Soviet era. The...
Aaron Friedberg: The War in Ukraine and the Geopolitical Moment
March 23, 2022 13:03 - 1 hour - 78.8 MBNearly a month into the war, where do things stand in Ukraine? What have we learned from the Ukrainian resistance, the response of America and NATO allies, Putin’s ambitions, and China’s decisions? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Aaron Friedberg, Princeton professor and author of the new book, Getting China Wrong. Beginning with an assessment of the military and political situation of Russia and Ukraine, Friedberg goes on to explain how the war might lead to fundamental changes ...
Paul Cantor: Shakespeare and Politics
March 13, 2022 15:56 - 1 hour - 59.3 MBPaul Cantor (1945 - 2022) was one of the preeminent Shakespeare scholars of our time as well as a great popular culture appreciator, critic, and teacher. We were fortunate to host Paul Cantor ten times on Conversations with Bill Kristol, covering the whole range of his interests. We are pleased to re-release his very first Conversation, in which Cantor explains why Shakespeare is a political thinker. Though we mourn his loss, we take some comfort in the fact that his work will continue to re...
Garry Kasparov: Dictators and Democracies
March 06, 2022 15:28 - 58 minutes - 53.1 MBIn this Conversation, released originally in 2018, former world chess champion and human rights activist Garry Kasparov shares his perspective on threats to Western democracies from dictators abroad and illiberal movements at home. Analyzing the geopolitical situation, Kasparov argues that the challenge to the West posed by dictators like Putin remains immense. Turning to Western societies themselves, Kasparov diagnoses a dangerous complacency about the effort required to sustain political l...
Eric Edelman: How the West Should Respond to Putin’s War in Ukraine
March 01, 2022 16:15 - 1 hour - 57.3 MBHow should the U.S. and others in the West respond to Putin’s war on Ukraine? What dangers and opportunities might we face in the days and weeks ahead? How might the war reshape geopolitics? Less than a week into Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, much remains unknown. To help us get a better sense of where things might go, we are joined by Eric Edelman, former ambassador to Turkey and Finland and undersecretary of Defense. Edelman and Kristol consider where things stand—the impressive Uk...
Anne Applebaum: Putin’s War on Ukraine and its Consequences
February 25, 2022 02:39 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MBWhat is driving Vladimir Putin? What wider ramifications might follow from the war? Why should the fate of Ukraine concern us all? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Anne Applebaum, a leading historian and commentator on Ukraine, Russia, and Eastern Europe. As she argues, Vladimir Putin’s fear that Ukraine had been advancing toward democracy lies at the root of the conflict. Drawing on her deep knowledge of the region and its history, Applebaum presents a bracing account of the ori...
Diana Schaub: Interpreting Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
February 02, 2022 15:23 - 1 hour - 84.2 MBLincoln’s Second Inaugural Address is considered one of history's most compelling examples of political rhetoric. In this Conversation, Diana Schaub, a preeminent scholar of American political thought and author of His Greatest Speeches: How Lincoln Moved the Nation, argues that while Lincoln’s Second Inaugural deserves its reputation, often its true character has not been appreciated. Over the course of her line-by-line interpretation of the dialogue, Schaub draws out some remarkable, count...
Jonathan Karl: Why Donald Trump’s Election Lies Matter
January 20, 2022 19:49 - 1 hour - 64.9 MBIn his recent book Betrayal, ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl writes: We now live in a nation where a large part of the population does not trust our elections. There are many reasons for this, but none greater than Donald Trump and the lies he told about the 2020 election. Based on extensive interviews with Donald Trump, key members of the Trump administration, and other prominent figures in the Trump orbit, Karl shows how the former president tried to undermine the 202...
John McWhorter on Woke Politics, Race, and Education
January 06, 2022 14:54 - 1 hour - 65.4 MBA professor of linguistics at Columbia University and author of the recent book Woke Racism, John McWhorter has been an outspoken critic of woke politics. The appeal to wokeness, he argues, presents a simplistic view of race and attempts to discredit any contrary points of view about ideas and policies. According to McWhorter, the woke end up having disproportionate power simply because of what social media allows them to do to people. He argues that we should stand up to them—and focus on d...
Ashish Jha on Covid-19: On the Omicron Variant and the Outlook for 2022
December 14, 2021 15:44 - 1 hour - 62.2 MBWhere do things stand with Covid-19? How has the emergence of the Omicron variant changed the situation? What can we expect in the short term and throughout 2022? To discuss these questions, we are joined again by Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. While noting that much still remains unknown about the Omicron variant, Jha suggests that the United States likely will be in for a challenging few months: We have a lot of data that Omicron is going to spread v...
Shep Melnick on Title IX: Equity, Due Process, and Free Speech on Campus
December 02, 2021 14:16 - 1 hour - 80 MBIn a recent essay, Shep Melnick, a distinguished scholar of American politics at Boston College, writes: Few federal laws have achieved their initial objective more completely than Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Yet today Title IX is more controversial than ever before. The story of its evolution is a cautionary tale about how good intentions and broadly shared goals can become distorted over time by aggressive cultural combat, and how hard it can be to reverse the damage. In...
Scott Lincicome on the Economy, Inflation, and the Supply Chain
November 19, 2021 21:35 - 1 hour - 57 MBWhy have the costs of basic goods and services been increasing in recent months? Will shortages in stores and delays in orders for durable goods persist—and what is the meaning of the often invoked supply-chain issues? What public policies might help ameliorate the situation? In this Conversation, Scott Lincicome, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, considers the dynamics of the economy during the pandemic—the fiscal stimulus, accommodative monetary policy, dislocations in the global supp...
Linda Chavez: The Border, the Biden Administration, and Immigration Reform
November 05, 2021 13:13 - 1 hour - 66.3 MBIn recent years, immigration has become a major flashpoint in our politics. Our increasingly rancorous quarrels often serve to obscure rather than clarify policy choices, and make it more difficult to achieve sound policies. As a result, even as attention is given to problems at the border, surprisingly little attention is paid to reforming our broken immigration system. In this Conversation, Linda Chavez, a longtime analyst of immigration and immigration policy, explains that our outdated l...
Harvey Mansfield on Machiavelli as the Founder of Modernity
October 21, 2021 05:21 - 1 hour - 65.8 MBBut since my intent is to write something useful to whoever understands it, it has appeared to me more fitting to go directly to the effectual truth of the thing than to the imagination of it. — Niccolo Machiavelli, in Chapter 15 of The Prince. According to Harvey Mansfield, these lines including the phrase effectual truth—a term invented by Machiavelli—are central to Machiavelli’s founding of the revolution in philosophy, science, and politics that we call modernity. In this Conversation—ou...