For more than two decades the Hoover Institution has been producing Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson, a series hosted by Hoover fellow Peter Robinson as an outlet for political leaders, scholars, journalists, and today’s big thinkers to share their views with the world.
Peter Robinson speaks with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a former Stanford professor and epidemiologist, and the newly appointed director of the National Institutes of Health. Once labeled a “fringe epidemiologist” by the previous administration at NIH, he now leads the world’s largest biomedical research agency and its $50 billion annual budget. Their conversation explores the structural flaws in America’s public health institutions, including the replication crisis, the culture of scientific risk aver...
In this wide-ranging and richly entertaining conversation, novelist and political satirist Christopher Buckley joins Peter Robinson for a reflection on writing, legacy, friendship, and grace. From their early days as speechwriters for George H. W. Bush to Buckley’s prolific career as an author of more than 20 books—including Thank You for Smoking and Steaming to Bamboola—the two longtime friends revisit the formative moments, literary inspirations, and unforgettable characters that shaped Buckle...
Economist and author Thomas Sowell makes his long-awaited (and oft requested) return to Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson to unveil his newest project: a website titled Facts Against Rhetoric , a powerful resource dedicated to empirical thinking and intellectual clarity. In this interview, Sowell explores some of the most urgent issues in American life—from the collapse of educational standards to the unintended consequences of affirmative action, the impact of tariffs, and the erosion of f...
Frank Dikötter challenges the narrative of China's rise, arguing its image as a superpower is a facade built on repression and propaganda. He explains that China's growth is fueled by an impoverished population and inflated statistics, and the CCP's decisions are driven by fear. Dikötter suggests China's power is brittle and the West has misread its intentions.
Niall Ferguson, preeminent historian and Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, joins this episode of Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson to discuss the war and ongoing stalemate in Ukraine; the Trump administration’s foreign policy and negotiations with Russia; and the broader geopolitical landscape, including the shift in Europe’s defense posture as the US signals a reduced commitment to NATO. Throughout the conversation, Ferguson explores historical analogies to better und...
This panel discussion on the legacy of George Shultz, former US secretary of state and Hoover Institution senior fellow, features the Hoover Institution’s director, Condoleezza Rice; Israeli politician and human rights activist Natan Sharansky; and Abraham Sofaer, the former legal advisor to the State Department under George Shultz and the George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy and National Security Affairs at the Hoover Institution. Together, they reflect on Shultz’s contributions to ...
Stephen Kotkin is the Kleinheinz Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and one of the most preeminent historians in the world. In this installment of Five Questions for Stephen Kotkin, he explores the reelection of Donald Trump, debating whether it represents a fluke or a seismic shift in American politics, while contextualizing this within a broader discussion of global democracy, as 2024 saw significant elections across many of the world’s most populous nations. The conversation also delves ...
Marc Andreessen is a prominent Silicon Valley entrepreneur, investor, and technologist and the cofounder and general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. This discussion covers Andreessen’s journey from his upbringing in rural Wisconsin, through his founding Netscape and the development of one of the first commercial internet browsers in his twenties, to his pivotal role in shaping Silicon Valley and now national politics. The interview also delves into the technological and political evolution of Si...
Christine Rosen is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, cohost of the daily Commentary Magazine Podcast, and the author of The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World. This wide-ranging discussion delves into the pervasive impact of technology on human experience, relationships, and societal norms. Drawing from themes in her book, Rosen critiques how digital devices and virtual realities have increasingly supplanted direct human interaction and embodied expe...
In this, the second half of our conversation with Peter Thiel, the discussion delves into Thiel’s reflections on ancient prophecies, particularly the concept of the Antichrist as outlined in biblical and literary sources. Drawing from thinkers such as Cardinal Newman and fiction by Vladimir Solovyov and Robert Hugh Benson, Thiel explores how apocalyptic ideas remain relevant today, particularly in light of global challenges like technological risks, nuclear threats, and international governance....
Andrew Ferguson is a journalist and author; John Podhoretz is the editor of Commentary magazine and the host of the daily Commentary Magazine Podcast; Henry Olsen is a veteran political analyst, host of the Beyond the Polls podcast, and one of the few people who correctly predicted the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. This discussion hosted by Peter Robinson centers on the shifting political landscape in America, dissecting voter behavior, demographics, cultural changes, the shifting r...
Natan Sharansky is a renowned human rights activist, former Soviet dissident, Israeli politician, and author. In 1977, Sharansky was sentenced to 13 years of hard labor in a Soviet prison for the crime of advocating for human rights and the right for Soviet Jews to emigrate to Israel. After nine years of imprisonment, under harsh conditions and including long periods of solitary confinement, Sharankly was released in 1986 as part of a political prisoner exchange between the Soviet Union and west...
Peter Thiel—the prominent tech entrepreneur and thinker—returns to Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson to discuss his views on the end times, technology, and societal progress. Thiel delves into the historical and philosophical context of apocalyptic thinking, referencing biblical texts and the work of René Girard. He argues that modern technological advancements, such as nuclear weapons and AI, have apocalyptic potential and should be taken seriously. Be sure to come back for part two of thi...
Niall Ferguson, Victor Davis Hanson, and Andrew Roberts are senior fellows at the Hoover Institution and among the most prestigious and popular historians in the world. This is the first time they have appeared together in a public forum. Among the topics they cover in this wide-ranging discussion: the recent controversy regarding Winston Churchill’s role in World War II, the false premise of the 1619 Project, the Cold War, World War II, and the role of historians in public life. In addition, th...
Condoleezza Rice is the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution and a former US secretary of state and national security advisor in the George W. Bush administration. Rice joins Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson at a perilous moment for the United States and the world at large, even more dangerous than the Cold War, Rice argues. Drawing on her recent article in Foreign Affairs , Rice highlights the complex threats posed by global powers including China, Russia, and Iran. The...
General (ret.) H.R. McMaster, the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution , returns to Uncommon Knowledge to discuss his latest book, At War with Ourselves , in which he candidly recounts his experiences as former national security advisor to President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2018. In this wide-ranging interview, McMaster delves into the complexities and challenges he faced while serving in the administration and describes his role in providing the president with multi...
“Are we alone in the universe?” That’s the central question we put to astrophysicist Dr. Luke Barnes, cosmologist Dr. Brian Keating, and philosopher Dr. Jay Richards. Our guests delve into the probabilities and challenges of finding extraterrestrial life, considering the vastness of the cosmos and the fine-tuning necessary for life to exist. They explore the implications of the SETI project, the rarity of Earth-like conditions, and the potential for habitable planets in other solar systems. This...
Stephen Meyer is the author of Return of the God Hypothesis and the director of the Discovery Institute. James Tour is a synthetic organic chemist and professor at Rice University , renowned for his work in nanotechnology and his skepticism toward the current scientific models explaining the origin of life. In this wide-ranging conversation, Meyer and Tour contrast biological evolution with the more complex challenge of chemical evolution, where modern science still struggles to explain how nonl...
In his 1943 book The Abolition of Man, C. S. Lewis wrote: “The serious magical endeavor and the serious scientific endeavor are twins: One was sickly and died, the other strong and throve. But they were twins. They were born of the same impulse.” In this Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson, mathematician and philosopher David Berlinski, intelligent design advocate Stephen Meyer, and Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Cambridge University, James Orr explore the parallels between ...
Bjorn Lomborg is president of the Copenhagen Consensus Center , a think tank dedicated to applying economic analysis, including cost-benefit analysis, to proposed policies around the issues of the day. He’s also a visiting professor at Copenhagen Business School and visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He's the author of many books, including the 2001 bestseller The Skeptical Environmentalist . His latest book, and the topic for this interview, is Best Things First ....
Author and columnist Douglas Murray has spent much of the past few years reporting from battlefields in Ukraine and Gaza. His reporting on the harrowing conditions in those wartorn locations make his journalism a must-read. In this wide-ranging conversation, Murray describes what he has witnessed, why the West must ensure victories in both wars, and his reaction to the campus protests across the United States, as well as his views on the upcoming British elections.
Classicist Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and the author of hundreds of articles, book reviews, and newspaper editorials on Greek, agrarian, and military history and essays on contemporary culture. He has written or edited twenty-four books, the latest of which is The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation . The book—and this conversation—charts how and why some societies choose to utterly destroy their foes and warns t...
Currently a fellow at the Hoover Institution, Paul Wolfowitz previously served as director of policy planning at the State Department, as US ambassador to Indonesia, as under secretary of defense for policy, as dean of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, as deputy secretary of defense, and as president of the World Bank. He is perhaps best known as a policymaker during the war in Afghanistan and the first and second wars in Iraq, and that is what we delve in...
John Etchemendy and Fei-Fei Li are the codirectors of Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) , founded in 2019 to “advance AI research, education, policy and practice to improve the human condition.” In this interview, they delve into the origins of the technology, its promise, and its potential threats. They also discuss what AI should be used for, where it should not be deployed, and why we as a society should—cautiously—embrace it....
Historian Andrew Roberts is the author of more than a dozen major works of history, including Napoleon: A Life, Churchill: Walking with Destiny, and The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III. His latest book, coauthored with General David Petraeus, is Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine , which provides the basis for this interview. Roberts discusses the differences in the way nations and allied forces prosecute wars in the twentieth century vs. today. R...
Despite a tumultuous and volatile marketplace; scandals, arrests, and bankruptcies at rival digital exchanges; and social issues disrupting his own company, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is a devout believer in digital currencies and the power of the blockchain. In this interview, Armstrong describes how he co-founded Coinbase, explains the basics of how digital currencies work, and responds to criticisms of cryptocurrency from Warren Buffet and others.
Mary Bush, Freeman Hrabowski, and Condoleezza Rice grew up and were classmates together in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, in the late 1950s and early ’60s. After taking a brief visit with Rice to her childhood home, we gather them again for a second conversation in Birmingham’s Westminster Presbyterian Church, where Rice’s father was pastor during that period. In this second part of our interview, the three lifelong friends further recount what life was like for Blacks in Jim Crow Alabama and t...
Mary Bush, Freeman Hrabowski, and Condoleezza Rice grew up and were classmates together in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, in the late 1950s and early ’60s. We reunited them for a conversation in Birmingham’s Westminster Presbyterian Church, where Rice’s father was pastor during that period. The three lifelong friends recount what life was like for Blacks in Jim Crow Alabama and the deep bonds that formed in the Black community at the time in order to support one another and to give the children...
With the recent announcement that Oppenheimer, the film directed by Christopher Nolan, had garnered 11 Academy Award nominations, it seemed timely to pull from the archives this rarely seen episode of Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson from 1996 (the third episode ever shot), featuring nuclear physicists and Hoover senior fellows Edward Teller and Sidney Drell. Teller was involved in the development of the first atomic bomb and is prominently featured in Oppenheimer. Drell was an expert in t...
Niall Ferguson is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior faculty fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University. In this interview, Ferguson discusses his stunning essay “The Treason of the Intellectuals,” published in December 2023 in the Free Press. The essay delves deeply into the changes Ferguson has observed in his 30-year career as an academic, especially over the past 10 years. He describes in th...
