In September 1994, an 18-year-old musician named Lawrence Perelman sent a letter to William F. Buckley Jr., offering to perform a piano recital for him as a thank you for Buckley’s political work. The friendship that ensued lasted until Buckley’s final moments, all of which Perelman recounts in his new book, American Impresario: William F. Buckley Jr. and the Elements of American Character.

One hundred years after Buckley’s birth, Perelman joins “Firing Line with Margaret Hoover” to discuss his friendship with the original host of the program, which became the “centerpiece” of his life as he performed regularly at Buckley’s dinner parties. Perelman says Buckley had a “superpower” for friendship, enabling him to develop relationships across the political spectrum and influence the world.

"If not for William F. Buckley Jr., there would be, I believe, no Ronald Reagan," says Perelman, whose parents were Soviet immigrants. "There would have not been an end to the Soviet Union, and we wouldn't have the freedoms that we had."

Perelman also reflects on Buckley's character, the values he represented, and how Buckley might understand what’s become of American conservatism since his death. 

Support for “Firing Line for Margaret Hoover” is provided by Robert Granieri, Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, Peter and Mark Kalikow, Cliff and Laurel Asness, The Meadowlark Foundation, Charles R. Schwab, Damon Button, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, The Philip I Kent Foundation, Annie Lamont through The Lamont Family Fund, Cheryl Cohen Effron and Blair Effron, and Al and Kathy Hubbard. Corporate funding is provided by Stephens Inc. 

As President Trump wages tariff wars around the world and upends the U.S. alliance with Ukraine, conservative New York Times columnist Ross Douthat and Margaret Hoover discuss the president’s actions, his address to Congress, and the future of the GOP.

While Douthat defends the Trump administration's goal of achieving an armistice in Ukraine and convincing Europe to take on greater responsibility, he says that calling Zelensky a dictator “is not a good plan.” He also suggests a lasting peace will depend on whether Putin negotiates in good faith and whether the U.S. and Europe can provide a credible security guarantee.

Douthat explains why tariffs appeal to Trump, but he says the way the administration has approached threatening and imposing them on allies like Mexico and Canada does not amount to a “coherent, long-term policy plan.”

Douthat also talks about his new book on The New York Times bestseller list, “Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious." He reflects on signs of growing openness to religion in society, the mystical side of UFO culture, and the stumbling blocks that deter some people from embracing faith. The devout Catholic also comments on the state of the Catholic Church as Pope Francis’ health declines.

Support for “Firing Line for Margaret Hoover” is provided by Robert Granieri, Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, Peter and Mark Kalikow, Cliff and Laurel Asness, The Meadowlark Foundation, Charles R. Schwab, Damon Button, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, The Philip I Kent Foundation, Annie Lamont through The Lamont Family Fund, Cheryl Cohen Effron and Blair Effron, and Al and Kathy Hubbard. Corporate funding is provided by Stephens Inc. 

Before Kevin Hassett was named director of President Trump’s National Economic Council, he sat down with Margaret Hoover last September to discuss Trump’s economic record and his second-term agenda.

In this new cut of that interview, Hassett assesses the impact of tariffs in Trump’s first term and defends his threats to impose new ones, including reciprocal tariffs on goods from countries that tax U.S. imports.

Hassett, who previously served as chairman of Trump’s White House Council of Economic Advisors, pushes back against Kamala Harris’ criticisms of Trump’s policies and predicts federal spending cuts if he is elected.

He also comments on the importance of an independent Federal Reserve and responds to fellow Republicans who called Trump a threat to democracy after January 6th.

Support for “Firing Line for Margaret Hoover” is provided by Robert Granieri, Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, Peter and Mark Kalikow, Cliff and Laurel Asness, The Meadowlark Foundation, Charles R. Schwab, Damon Button, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, The Philip I Kent Foundation, Annie Lamont through The Lamont Family Fund, and Al and Kathy Hubbard. Corporate funding is provided by Stephens Inc. 

As President Trump ratchets up trade wars with America’s adversaries and allies, two experts on the economy — Jeff Ferry, chief economist emeritus at the Coalition for a Prosperous America, and Scott Lincicome, vice president of General Economics and Stiefel Trade Policy Center at the Cato Institute — clash over whether tariffs will bolster or crush the U.S. economy and what tariffs mean for Americans.

Speaking before a student audience at Hofstra University, Ferry defends President Trump’s tariffs, arguing that they will strengthen its domestic manufacturing industries and benefit Americans in the long run. “We need a new economic policy in this country,” says Ferry.

Lincicome, a veteran trade attorney, disagrees, arguing that tariffs are a tax on American consumers and businesses that will inhibit growth and harm manufacturing. “Open economies—free economies—grow faster, grow better,” Lincicome said. Closed economies, on the other hand, are “a recipe for poverty.”

Ferry and Lincicome also discuss the history of tariffs, their global impact, and take questions from Hofstra students.

Support for “Firing Line for Margaret Hoover” is provided by Robert Granieri, Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, Peter and Mark Kalikow, Cliff and Laurel Asness, The Meadowlark Foundation, Charles R. Schwab, Damon Button, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, The Philip I Kent Foundation, Annie Lamont through The Lamont Family Fund, and Al and Kathy Hubbard. Corporate funding is provided by Stephens Inc.

As President Trump and Elon Musk launch an assault on the federal bureaucracy, Will Marshall, the president of the Progressive Policy Institute, and Philip K. Howard, lawyer and author of “Everyday Freedom,” tell Margaret Hoover that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has the right diagnosis, but the wrong cure. 

Speaking before a student audience at Hofstra University, Marshall and Howard agree that the federal bureaucracy is due for an overhaul and must be streamlined. But Howard, who has written several books about improving government, argues that efficiency means being more responsive to the needs of Americans. “We need to make government work better,” he says. “Not get rid of it.”

Marshall, who also supports reforming and modernizing the government, says that solutions to inefficiency in government are very different from the ones used in the private sector, and that Musk has brought the country to a constitutional crisis. 

The two longtime reform advocates also reflect on past efforts to reorganize the federal government, discuss the importance of trust for any successful reform initiative, and take questions from Hofstra students.

Support for “Firing Line for Margaret Hoover” is provided by Robert Granieri, Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, Peter and Mark Kalikow, Cliff and Laurel Asness, The Meadowlark Foundation, Charles R. Schwab, Damon Button, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, The Philip I Kent Foundation and Al and Kathy Hubbard. Corporate funding is provided by Stephens Inc. 

As Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services advances in the Senate, former Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona talks to Margaret Hoover about the danger he fears Kennedy could pose to public health.

Carmona criticizes Kennedy’s history of spreading misinformation about vaccines and health care and falsely linking vaccination to autism, but he also acknowledges some valid concerns raised by the Make America Healthy Again movement.

Carmona, who advised Arizona’s governor during COVID-19, reflects on lessons learned from the pandemic about public health communication, mitigation strategies, and vaccine hesitancy.

He also assesses the importance of global health security and details actions he believes are needed to restore trust in public health officials and prepare for the next pandemic. 

Support for “Firing Line for Margaret Hoover” is provided by Robert Granieri, Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, Peter and Mark Kalikow, Cliff and Laurel Asness, The Meadowlark Foundation, Charles R. Schwab, Damon Button, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, The Philip I Kent Foundation and Al and Kathy Hubbard. Corporate funding is provided by Stephens Inc.

Two veteran strategists–Democrat James Carville and Republican Mike Murphy–sit down with Margaret Hoover to assess the fallout from the 2024 election and the challenges that lie ahead for both parties.

At the USC Center for the Political Future’s Warschaw Conference on Practical Politics, Carville and Murphy discuss the chaotic first weeks of President Trump’s new administration, the muted response from his opponents, and how Democrats can reshape their message going forward.

Carville, one of the leaders of Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 campaign, explains why he has called for Democrats to “go populist” and take on “preachy women” in the party’s campaign culture. He also details what he sees as missteps by Biden and Harris in 2024.

Murphy, a former adviser to John McCain and Mitt Romney and longtime Trump critic who now serves as co-director of the Center for the Political Future, comments on the future of the GOP and the MAGA movement, and he reflects on the “competence crisis” Democrats face in the wake of the California wildfires.

Support for “Firing Line for Margaret Hoover” is provided by Robert Granieri, Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, Peter and Mark Kalikow, The Asness Family Foundation, Charles R. Schwab, Damon Button, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Phillip I. Kent, and Al and Kathy Hubbard. Corporate funding is provided by Stephens Inc. 

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich sits down with Margaret Hoover to talk about his new PBS documentary “Journey to America: With Newt and Callista Gingrich,” his longstanding support for legal immigration, and the executive actions President Trump has taken in his first days in office.

Amid rising Republican skepticism of all immigration, Gingrich draws a sharp distinction between legal and illegal immigration, and he explains how the stories of nine immigrants told in the documentary–including Albert Einstein, Henry Kissinger, and Hedy Lamarr–exemplify the value of legal immigration.

Gingrich discusses the career of Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan-born immigrant who helped the Trump administration negotiate the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan with the Taliban, and he assesses America’s responsibility to Afghan allies who were left behind. Reflecting on the life of Rep. Victoria Spartz, a Ukrainian immigrant, he also comments on the prospects for peace in Ukraine as Trump places new pressure on Russia.

Gingrich addresses Trump’s effort to redefine birthright citizenship, his refusal to enforce the TikTok ban passed by Congress, and his pardons of January 6th rioters who assaulted police officers. He also comments on whether Trump is likely to pursue investigations of former President Biden.

“Journey to America: With Newt and Callista Gingrich” is streaming now on PBS.org and the PBS app.

Support for “Firing Line for Margaret Hoover” is provided by Robert Granieri, Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, Peter and Mark Kalikow, The Asness Family Foundation, Charles R. Schwab, Damon Button, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Phillip I. Kent, and Al and Kathy Hubbard. Corporate funding is provided by Stephens Inc.

Journalist and author Juan Williams joins Margaret Hoover to talk about civil rights in America as the nation prepares to inaugurate Donald Trump as president on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Williams, who wrote the companion book to the 1987 PBS documentary series Eyes on the Prize, discusses his latest book, New Prize for These Eyes, which charts the progress of what he calls the second civil rights movement in the 21st century.

Williams details how civil rights activism has changed in the Black Lives Matter era, explains why he considers Barack Obama one of the country’s most misunderstood presidents, and reflects on the challenges faced by a decentralized movement that lacks prominent leaders like Dr. King.

The Fox News senior political analyst assesses his role in right-wing media and comments on Trump’s selection of Fox colleagues like Pete Hegseth to serve in his Cabinet. He also addresses the rollback of diversity efforts in corporate America and the prospects for a third civil rights movement in the future.

Support for “Firing Line for Margaret Hoover” is provided by Robert Granieri, Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, Peter and Mark Kalikow, The Asness Family Foundation, Charles R. Schwab, Damon Button, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Phillip I. Kent, and Al and Kathy Hubbard. Corporate funding is provided by Stephens Inc. 

Margaret Hoover sits down with three Belarusian dissidents–exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, athlete-turned-activist Katya Snytsina, and theater director Natalia Kaliada–to discuss their fight against Aleksandr Lukashenko’s dictatorship.

Kaliada is co-founder of the Belarus Free Theatre, which recently debuted the play KS6: Small Forward in New York, starring Snytsina and telling the story of her journey from Belarusian Olympic basketball player to political activist.

In 2020, Tsikhanouskaya’s husband Sergei Tikhanovsky was arrested shortly after announcing he would run against Lukashenko. He remains in custody today, but Tsikhanouskaya ran in his place, failing to unseat Lukashenko in an election widely seen as a sham.

Snytsina recalls how the mass protests that followed that election inspired her to speak out and leave the national women’s basketball team. Kaliada discusses the genesis of the play and explains why art can be a uniquely effective weapon against dictators.

Tsikhanouskaya reflects on life in Belarus today, offers a warning for Americans about the urgency of defending democracy abroad, and looks ahead to the country’s January 2025 presidential election, which she expects will be a “farce.”

This interview was recorded in September after a performance of KS6: Small Forward at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York.

Support for “Firing Line with Margaret Hoover” is provided by Robert Granieri, Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, Peter and Mary Kalikow, Cliff and Laurel Asness, Charles R. Schwab, Damon Button, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, The Phillip I. Kent Foundation and Al and Kathy Hubbard. Corporate funding is provided by Stephens Inc.