New data points to California as the world’s fourth-largest economy, supplanting Japan (with India likely soon surpassing the Golden State). What does that say about California as an economic powerhouse and a nation-state plagued by a dark economic underside (inflation, high cost of living, middle-class squeeze)? Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s California on Your Mind web channel, join Hoover’s assistant director of cont...
May 05, 2025•53 min•Ep. 456
Donald Trump’s first 100 days since returning to office have been prolific – the most executive orders issued in the early days of a presidency – and seemingly in a constant state of political turbulence. What do the polls indicate about Trump’s performance to date? David Brady and Douglas Rivers, Hoover Institution senior fellows, and Stanford University political scientists, discuss how various policy choices – tariffs, immigration enforcement, legal imbroglios – have affected Trump’s approval...
May 01, 2025•55 min•Ep. 455
Once a policy lightning rod that ended political careers, the Affordable Care Act (aka, “Obamacare”) has proven to be remarkably resilient with last month marking the 15th anniversary of its being signed into law. Lanhee Chen, the Hoover Institution’s David and Diane Steffy Fellow in American Public Policy Studies and co-chair of Hoover’s Healthcare Policy Working Group, explains how the ACA managed to survive despite power shifts in Washington, what areas of healthcare Congress should address i...
Apr 04, 2025•33 min•Ep. 454
The good news for California governor Gavin Newsom is that his new podcast has the left and the right buzzing. The bad news is that neither side likes what is covered in his podcasts, as the governor makes nice with conservative and liberal provocateurs and thought leaders. Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s California on Your Mind web channel, discuss where Newsom’s latest foray into podcasting comes up short; how a shortf...
Mar 28, 2025•54 min•Ep. 453
President Trump’s signing of an executive order calling for the downsizing of the US Department of Education (DOE) raises concerns related to the federal versus state balance in K-12 policy. Michael Hartney, the Hoover Institution’s Bruni Family fellow, discusses the book he is currently writing on the 2020 pandemic’s lasting impact on schools, and then he examines Trump’s executive order on downsizing the DOE. Hartney talks about the lessons learned five years after COVID-19 temporary halted in...
Mar 21, 2025•54 min•Ep. 452
Curtailing strife and safeguarding America’s global standing requires military strength, diplomatic reach, a gravitational pull to the concepts of liberty and opportunity, and a strategy for economic growth beyond America’s shores. Andrew Grotto, a Hoover visiting fellow and veteran of two past White House national security teams, discusses the white paper he co-authored with Hoover’s H.R. McMaster on the need for a more structured and coordinated approach to US foreign policy, as well as how “ ...
Mar 19, 2025•47 min•Ep. 451
Ukraine’s acceptance of a 30-day ceasefire, since rejected by Russia, shows the challenge in bringing an end to Eastern Europe’s three-year war of attrition. Meanwhile, Germany’s national election delivers a new chancellor (once a coalition government is brokered) who’s both a “transatlanticist” and a believer in a more independent Europe ramping up its self-defense. Russell Berman, a Hoover Institution senior fellow and Stanford University German studies professor, discusses the intricacies of ...
Mar 13, 2025•45 min•Ep. 450
In an Information Age during which decentralized news and information have contributed to a greater lack of trust in government and traditional media outlets, is it possible to restore confidence in both institutions? Nick Mastronardi, a Hoover Institution veteran fellow and software innovator in the field of public-sector communications, discusses advances in data collection and artificial intelligence and a positive impact on government behavior with Hoover Volker Senior Fellow (adjunct) “Chec...
Mar 11, 2025•29 min•Ep. 449
Does a Stanford University initiative reinstating a century-old tradition of American civics learning offer a roadmap for the future of higher education? In this installment, Josiah Ober, a Hoover Institution senior fellow and a Stanford professor taking part in the Stanford Civics Initiative, discusses the path forward in citizenship education with Volker Senior Fellow (adjunct) “Checker” Finn, one of the nation’s preeminent authorities on education policy and innovation. Recorded January 9, 20...
Mar 04, 2025•36 min•Ep. 448
Los Angeles confronts the grim reality of a multi-year effort to clean up and rebuild after its devastating wildfires; Governor Gavin Newsom makes a big disaster-relief ask in Washington; and intrigue abounds in next year’s gubernatorial race. Hoover Institution senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s California on Your Mind web channel, join Hoover senior product manager Jonathan Movroydis to reflect on a smarter approach to fire resp...
Feb 27, 2025•54 min•Ep. 447
Can colleges and secondary schools teach American civics (i.e., an examination of the republic’s good and bad experiences) without being jingoistic? Peter Berkowitz, the Hoover Institution’s Tad and Dianne Taube senior fellow and teacher of a course in American conservatism that’s part of the Stanford Civics Initiative, contends that “patriotism” isn’t necessarily indoctrination. Still, reformers need to look beyond college and the late stages of high school. In a wide-ranging discussion with Vo...
Feb 25, 2025•37 min•Ep. 446
The following episode was recorded on December 10, 2024. An adventurous year in California politics and policy ends with a special legislative session to “Trump-proof” the Golden State. Will a pair of would-be reformers – a newly elected mayor of San Francisco and a Los Angeles district attorney, both of whom ran against the status quo, be able to deliver the goods? Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s California on Your Mind...
Feb 18, 2025•52 min•Ep. 443
Do high-school students – including those fortunate to attend America’s most prestigious universities – enter college with a solid understanding of American civics (i.e., the republic’s origin and design) or is it more a case of remedial learning? In this installment of Renewing Civics Education – Preparing for American Citizenship, Paul Peterson, a Hoover Institution senior fellow and Harvard University professor, reflects on his experiences teaching an introductory government course and offers...
Feb 18, 2025•29 min•Ep. 445
A new survey released by the Hoover Institution – part of Hoover’s Huntington Program on Strengthening US-India Relations – offers a window into a handful of challenges facing the world’s fifth-largest economy and emerging world power. Sumit Ganguly, the inaugural director of the Huntington Program, joins Hoover research fellow Dinsha Mistree in a wide-ranging conservation about India including the timing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s White House visit (can he avoid a tariff war?), an Indian...
Feb 14, 2025•54 min•Ep. 444
The Hoover Institution is launching a new limited podcast series featuring experts grappling with how to reinvigorate civics education across America. Renewing Civics Education: Preparing for American Citizenship is a five-part podcast series that will feature a range of experts on aspects of civics, such as civics instruction, the role of the media in fostering an understanding of civics, and how civics programs in higher education can resist any forms of indoctrination. The series premieres on...
Feb 11, 2025•44 min•Ep. 442
Los Angeles’s devastating wildfires have prompted a series of troubling questions, ranging from the city and county’s reported lack of preparedness and apparently outdated water infrastructure to the crisis-management skills of state and local leaders. And are those same leaders capable of rebuilding both swiftly and in a commonsense manner, as opposed to years of regulatory gridlock? Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s Cali...
Jan 31, 2025•55 min•Ep. 441
And so the great American election crisis that was destined to be, didn’t happen – the end-result stirring relatively little in the way of legal challenges or disruption of the constitutional process, with the public feeling better about the democratic process (or so the post-election polls suggest). In this, the last of four installments on election integrity in the 2024 campaign cycle, Ben Ginsberg, the Hoover Institution’s Volker Distinguished Visiting Fellow and a preeminent authority on ele...
Dec 13, 2024•47 min•Ep. 440
Among the surprise results in this year’s American election: a victorious Donald Trump improving his numbers among Latino voters to a level not seen in 20 years and George W. Bush’s re-election (the only other time this century that the Republican choice won the popular vote). David Leal, a Hoover Institution adjunct senior fellow and University of Texas-Austin professor of government specializing in American demographic changes, discusses why Latino voters turned Trump’s way, how 2024’s inroad ...
Nov 25, 2024•52 min•Ep. 439
The verdict on California’s November election? America’s largest “blue” state emerged black-and-blue as voters sent bruising, non-progressive messages regarding public safety, wage increases, and future approval of local bonds. Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s California on Your Mind web channel, join Hoover senior product manager Jonathan Movroydis to discuss the latest in the Golden State, including the political future...
Nov 21, 2024•51 min•Ep. 438
By most metrics – a 16% job-approval rating, failing to deliver budgets much less conducting itself in a stately manner – the U.S. House of Representatives isn’t living up to the Founding Fathers’ ideals. How to restore the public’s confidence in the ways of Capitol Hill? Brandice Canes-Wrone, the Hoover Institution’s Maurice R. Greenberg senior fellow and the founding director of Hoover’s Center for Revitalizing American Institutions, joins former Illinois congressman and Hoover distinguished f...
Nov 14, 2024•55 min•Ep. 437
And so the great election meltdown that was supposed to happen didn’t – across America this week, tens of millions of voters going about their business in a seemingly orderly fashion, with a decisive outcome favoring one presidential candidate and his party. In this, the third of a four-part series on election integrity, Ben Ginsberg, the Hoover Institution’s Volker Distinguished Visiting Fellow and a preeminent authority on election law, joins Hoover distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen to d...
Nov 08, 2024•49 min•Ep. 436
What to expect in a California election that shows some prominent big-city incumbents in trouble and an anti-crime ballot measure steamrolling to victory? As Election Day approaches, Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s California on Your Mind web channel , join Hoover senior product manager Jonathan Movroydis to discuss the latest in the Golden State including the spectacle of government-envisioned “tiny houses” with not-so-...
Nov 01, 2024•55 min•Ep. 435
Justin Grimmer, a Hoover Institution senior fellow and Stanford University political scientist, joins Ben Ginsberg, the Hoover Institution’s Volker Distinguished Visiting Fellow and a preeminent authority on election law, to discuss what the former’s visit to Coos County, Oregon, revealed about trust in the election process and the challenges involved in debunking election-integrity myths. Their suggestions for curbing skepticism: losing candidates admitting defeat, encouraging the public to loo...
Oct 29, 2024•46 min•Ep. 434
Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - 56 min listen Hoover Institution | Stanford University Like a storm headed to America’s shores, the November forecast calls for the sound and fury of a contentious election that challenges the public’s trust in democracy. Ben Ginsberg, the Hoover Institution’s Volker Distinguished Visiting Fellow is a preeminent authority on election law. Ginsberg revives his Saints, Sinners And Salvageables podcast series from two years ago with this kickoff installment examining w...
Oct 15, 2024•57 min•Ep. 433
Why did the “best and brightest” of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations continue with a flawed Vietnam strategy despite years of wargaming simulations warning that there were no good outcomes for American involvement? Jacquelyn Schneider, the Hoover Institution’s Hargrove Hoover Fellow and director of Hoover’s Wargaming and Crisis Simulation Initiative , discusses the role of the 1960’s “SIGMA Games” in deciding Southeast Asia options, how wargaming influenced America Cold War strategy, its ...
Oct 09, 2024•43 min•Ep. 432
Who are the winners and losers now that California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed off on hundreds of legislative bills? Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s California on Your Mind web channel, join Hoover senior product manager Jonathan Movroydis to discuss why the past month in Sacramento was good news for teen-abuse victim Paris Hilton (Newsom signed a bill she championed) and Los Angeles Clipper’s owner Steve Ballmer (h...
Oct 02, 2024•53 min•Ep. 431
Is the current presidential election lining up along the same lines as the past two Trump referenda with a small number of swing states and an even smaller subset of issues (in 2024: jobs, inflation, immigration, and wars) deciding who will become America’s 47th president? David Brady and Douglas Rivers, Hoover Institution senior fellows and managers of a tracking poll on the US electorate, discuss what’s different in a contest featuring known (Donald Trump) and lesser known (Kamala Harris) enti...
Sep 27, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 430
Since the founding of the republic, America’s leaders have pondered the question of federalism and the proper divide between national and local government regarding such thorny matters as infrastructure, healthcare financing, and education. Michael Boskin, the Hoover Institution’s Wohlford Family Senior Fellow and former chair of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, discusses American Federalism Today: Perspectives on Political and Economic Governance , a newly released book he edited...
Sep 17, 2024•51 min•Ep. 429
The Democratic National Convention turns out to be a tale of two Californians – Vice President Kamala Harris becoming her party’s standard-bearer; Governor Gavin Newsom left out of the speakers’ lineup (other than a two-minute cameo during the roll-call vote). Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s California on Your Mind web channel, join Hoover senior product manager Jonathan Movroydis to discuss in the Golden State including...
Aug 27, 2024•50 min•Ep. 428
As Kamala Harris attempts to succeed where fellow Californian Richard Nixon fell short in 1960 – win the White House as a sitting vice president amidst a complicated economy – she takes a page from the Nixon presidency and wades into what government can do about the high cost of goods and services (specifically, food prices). Economist David Henderson, a Hoover Institution fellow and a I Blog to Differ commentator, explains what Nixon attempted a half-century ago and what Harris suggested in her...
Aug 22, 2024•46 min•Ep. 427
