Matters of Policy & Politics

Iran Nuclear Deal – The Aftermath of Withdrawing

Now that President Trump has made good on a major campaign promise – pulling the U.S. out of the JCPOA Iran nuclear deal – the debate has begun whether it was the right move. Abbas Milani, a Hoover research fellow and the Hamid and Christina Moghadam Director of Iranian Studies at Stanford University, offers his opinion and explains how the change affects both the politics of Iran and the Middle East region.  

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Unleashing the Economy With John Cochrane

Four of the Dow Jones’ greatest single-day swings occurred in a one-week stretch in February. Was it an aberration, or the new normal in the Trump economy? John Cochrane, the Hoover Institution’s Jack and Rose-Marie Anderson Senior Fellow and purveyor of The Grumpy Economist blog, assesses the health of the financial markets and other economic bellwethers worth watching.                                                     

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North Korea – No Nukes?

As North and South Korean leaders meet to discuss a possible peace agreement and an end to decades of hostility, is President Trump’s next move a one-on-one summit with the “honorable” Kim Jong-un? Hoover senior fellow Thomas Henriksen assesses the stakes on the Korean peninsula and what Trump could and should not do to avoid the frustration experienced by recent American presidents.

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Melania - Citizen and Friend of the World

First Lady Melania Trump has championed cyber-bullying as a cause, but Hoover visiting fellow Markos Kounalakis thinks she should broaden her horizons – to include a little diplomacy in her native Central Europe. It’s a portion of the world that’s drifted into angry nationalism, economic uncertainty and civil unrest, with one country (Poland) displaying troubling anti-Semitic tendencies. Kounalakis talks about all of that, plus he discusses Vladimir Putin’s Russia playing a meddling role around the world.

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Modernizing National Parks – At What Price?

Now that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has pulled back on a plan to double the entry fees to America’s national parks, how will Washington address the multi-billion-dollar infrastructure backlog facing the National Park Service? Terry Anderson, the Hoover Institution’s John and Jean De Nault Senior Fellow and a proponent of “free market environmentalism,” discusses how to modernize the park system while preserving its natural splendor. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 44:29)

Charting A Course For Charter Schools

A quarter of a century since the nation’s first charter school opened in Minnesota, a new administration in Washington speaks of “school choice.” Eric Hanushek, the Hoover Institution’s Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow, and Macke Raymond, a Hoover distinguished research fellow and director of the Stanford-based Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO), discuss the health of the charter-school movement and what needs to be done at the federal, state, and local levels to improve the nation’s classrooms. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 44:30)

Sorting Out the Midterm Elections with David Brady

The coming midterm election is more than a litmus test of the Trump presidency. It’s also a continuation of a fourth cycle of political polarization dating back to the Civil War. David Brady, the Hoover Institution’s Davies Family Senior Fellow, explains the sorting-out in the election – a possible surge in women voters, Trump loyalists’ enthusiasm, and the two parties dealing with their respective ideological differences in elections nationwide. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 53:09)

Big Brother Facebook Is Watching You

T.S. Eliot deemed April “the cruelest month,” but for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg it’s been March with the Cambridge Analytica data scandal that’s cast doubt on the fabled “social network.” Niall Ferguson, the Hoover Institution’s Milbank Family Senior Fellow and a frequent author on technology and Silicon Valley’s prominence, examines the perils of “hyperconnection.” Has Zuckerberg fulfilled George Orwell’s vision of a society of addicted to an all-knowing, all-watching telescreen? Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 54:27)

Scott Pruitt on How the Trump Administration has reoriented the EPA

“Making America toxic again,” as one publication suggested, or a public servant dedicated to paring honest science and environmental stewardship? Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, stops by to explain how the Trump Administration has reoriented the EPA, its highlights and priorities, and how a former college baseball player deals with political hardball in the nation’s capital. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 17:27)

Trump and Politics in the “Hugh-niverse” with Hugh Hewitt

How’s the Trump presidency faring and what’s its effect on “Victorian Reagan conservatives” and the political chattering class? Hugh Hewitt, a conservative talk-radio and MSNBC host (not to mention the recipient of several Trump barbs as a 2016 GOP debate host), weighs in on the good, the bad and the ugly of Trump’s reign. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 34:03)