Matters of Policy & Politics

The Fate Of Obamacare

Recorded on May 25, 2017 As far as the fate of Obamacare goes, the ball’s in the Senate’s court: to alter the House’s plan or develop a prescription of its own. Dr. Scott Atlas, the Hoover Institution’s David and Joan Traitel Senior Fellow and a frequent author on Obamacare, discusses the most commonsense path for Congress to take, the chances of a repeal/replacement law emerging in the near future, and California’s ill-advised flirtation with adopting a single-payer universal health care system. (Playing time: 40:52)

President Trump, a Rugged Individualist?

The American dream rests on the notion on “rugged individualism”: freedom, liberty, and equality of opportunity and a tradition of conquering physical, economic, social, and political frontiers. David Davenport, coauthor of Rugged Individualism: Dead or Alive?, looks at President Trump’s political philosophy, his record to date and suggests ways the new administration can restore this flickering American tradition. If you like the show, please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 42:23)

Cyber Security

It’s a threat the likes of which America has never faced: the theft of intellectual property, lifestyle disruptions, and attacks tailored to degrade or destroy the nation’s military capabilities. Amy Zegart, the Hoover Institution’s Davies Family Senior Fellow and codirector and senior fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, outlines a strategy for how the United States can gain the upper hand in the global cyber war. (Playing time: 42:49)

The French Elections

Hoover senior fellow Russell Berman, a specialist in the study of German literary and cultural politics, takes us through the aftershocks of the French presidential election. Is German chancellor Angela Merkel breathing a sigh of relief or, despite the nationalist setback in France, does her future and that of the European Union remain in doubt? (Playing time: 39:49)

Trump’s First Hundred Days (Plus Six)

Hoover political scientists David Brady and Doug Rivers diagnose the Trump presidency’s health based on polling data and the state of antiglobalization populism on the eve of France’s presidential vote. Will European Union resentment, like many a would-be invader, fail to make it across the English Channel? (Playing time: 49:30)

The Media vs. Donald Trump

Recorded on April 13, 2017 No presidency in the post–Watergate era has had this contentious a relationship with the Fourth Estate. Rarely have correspondents and news outlets been this boisterous in their objection to the policies and personality of a sitting president. Dan Balz, chief correspondent for the Washington Post and best-selling author and veteran observer of the Washington scene, assesses the current state of political journalism and what if anything can be done to mend the Trump-media rift. (Playing time: 31:49)

Trump’s First Hundred Days

As the Trump presidency approaches its first notable milestone, we check in with Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover senior fellow and proprietor of The Classicist podcast, on the administration’s early moves. It was Victor Davis Hanson who saw the Trump train approaching long before it overran the political establishment. Does he think Trump’s “traditionalist” appeal is still working? Where is there room for presidential improvement? (Playing time: 42:21)

The Environment

As Earth Day approaches, Hoover senior fellow Terry Anderson rates the new interior secretary and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator and suggests some free-market environmental principles for the two to pursue. Also should the Trump administration revisit the century-old monument-designation authority used as never before during the Obama years but wildly unpopular across parts of the American West? (Playing time: 38:49)

North Korea

As tensions mount on the Korean Peninsula, the possibility increases of a US military strike against the rogue regime of Kim Jong-un. Tom Henriksen, a Hoover senior fellow emeritus and author of multiple books on US military and diplomatic approaches to the non-Western world and rogue regimes, discusses the policy options available to the Trump administration in dealing with North Korea.

The Gorsuch Nomination

As the US Senate decides the fate of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, we look at the fragile state of the federal judicial nomination process. Hoover senior fellow Michael McConnell, who served alongside Gorsuch on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, offers insights into the judge, the merits of the Senate’s “nuclear option,” and what it’s like to endure a confirmation process.