Twenty-five years ago, the Free World was shocked by an attack on America in which three airliners struck New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon – a fourth plane crashing in rural Pennsylvania presumably on its way to strike the US Capitol. What did we learn from that attack, and is America better prepared to handle terror that can take more sophisticated forms? Philip Zelikow, the Hoover Institution’s Botha-Chan senior fellow and executive director of the bipartisan panel that examined the root causes of 9/11 and ways America could better defend itself, discusses the 9/11 Commission’s findings and the challenges in preventing future attacks from occurring (terrorists possibly taking advantage of emerging technology and finding safe haven in the likes of northern Africa). Also: Zelikow’s role in launching Hoover’s ambitious Commons Initiative, which studies how America can lead free societies to adapt and survive in a changing world.

A recent AI analysis conducted by a team of Hoover fellows finds the US at greater risk of great-power hostilities with China than in recent decades, thus necessitating America to step up its deterrence capabilities. That includes the interaction between the Pentagon and venture capitalists who finance defense-related start-ups and ventures, the topic of a Hoover Institution briefing entitled Mobilize the Modern Defense Industrial Base. Co-authored by Hoover distinguished research fellow Dan Berkenstock, the briefing concludes that the US government needs to learn how to “talk the language of capital markets” and better connect America’s venture-backed industrial concerns with broader US goals in hopes of avoiding a hot war with devastating consequences at home and abroad. Also discussed: Berkenstock’s background in space-imaging, the “1491 moment in outer space featuring a new race to the moon by the decade’s end, and the significance of China’s “SpaceSail” satellite-constellation alternative to Starlink.  

The beginning of a new college year across the United States begs the question of the health of liberal education in America – the ongoing concern that tomorrow’s leaders aren’t receiving the intellectual grounding and diversity of thought that reflects a free society and whether campus life embodies the principles of a rights-protecting democracy. In his new book Reclaiming Liberal Education, a complication of a decade’s worth of columns highlighting various problems plaguing America’s elite institutions (racism, stifling free speech, professors promoting progressive agendas), Hoover senior fellow Peter Berkowitz insists all isn’t lost: universities are being held accountable for their misdeeds; alternative campuses (the University of Austin) and programs (the University of Florida’s Hamilton School) have materialized, and scholars who dare to think differently are in the academic pipeline. As for a reform agenda, Berkowitz insists universities should be open to curriculum reforms and encourage free speech and open debates both on campuses and inside classrooms, but patience will be needed as change won’t happen overnight.    

Ordinarily, summertime in Sacramento in an election year coinciding with a governor’s last year in office makes for plenty of intrigue (what bills are forwarded to the governor; how does it affect his legacy)? But in 2026, the leadup to the August 31 deadline for passing legislation seems humdrum. Are a docile legislature and an oftentimes absentee Gavin Newsom (mostly recently stumping in early-primary Michigan) to blame? Meanwhile, the annual batch of legislative remedies for California’s chronic homeless problem begs the question of why the plight continues. Also discussed: is the campaign to defeat the Proposition 40 wealth tax making the same tactical error as did then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in California’s 2005 special election (too many measures on the same ballot); will Paramount CEO David Ellison call California’s bluff and make good on his threat to move operations to a friendlier red state (Austin, Texas, reportedly in the mix). Finally, what does Team Sussex’s surprise decision to quit the Golden State and return to the UK say about Harry and Megan’s success (or a lack thereof) in achieving “the California Dream”?

Fifty years ago, three young men working out of a modest ranch-style home in Los Altos, California, changed the world by creating Apple Inc. But is Apple’s success (at one point this year, a $5 trillion market cap) a one-off or yet another example of how innovation has flourished in the 250 years of the American republic? Stephen Haber, the Hoover’s Institution’s Park L. Loughlin senior fellow and co-author of an upcoming book on innovation, explains why Apple has flourished and how the tech giant’s operation reflects the uniqueness of America’s ecosystem as an incubator of emerging technologies. Also discussed: battery development as an innovative “sleeper”, the promise and peril of artificial intelligence, and why Haber, in his capacity as a Stanford University professor, plans to keep screens and electronic devices (sorry, Apple and its competitors) out of his undergraduate classroom.

To the notion of a vast and empty outer space, imagine instead the lower orbit of planet Earth cluttered by thousands of aging tracked objects losing their functionality and far too much debris – some of it moving at speeds of kilometers per second, posing a threat to satellites and mankind’s ability to communicate and make scientific, economic and climate forecasts, not to mention great powers’ national security. Simone D’Amico, a Hoover Institution science fellow and founder of Stanford’s Space Rendezvous Laboratory, discusses his recent report on space safety and offers ways to make the heavenly objects safer, securer, and more sustainable. Among his suggestions for easing a stressed space domain: harnessing emerging technologies, improving communications between satellite operators, and seeking greater consensus among the world’s space powers in terms of traffic coordination.

In a year full of talk about revolutions past (1776) and present (AI), there’s yet another upheaval to ponder: an emerging “quantum revolution” that will change the boundaries of science and industry as it deeply impacts global commerce and geopolitics -- the US, China, and European nations are all making advancements in the field. Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann and three co-authors discuss their recent Hoover Institution paper detailing how America and its global friends and allies can win the “quantum race”. Among the topics visited: quantum’s promise in terms of improving current living conditions (for example, studying climate change) and its myriad challenges (most notably, data privacy and international espionage). Also discussed: the need for considerable investments in research, an emphasis on diplomacy and greater international cooperation, plus lessons learned from the semiconductor industry regarding supply chains, intellectual property, and geopolitical vulnerability.

Recorded on July 14, 2026.

California is one of 24 states that allow voters to decide whether initiatives and referenda can become law – i.e., direct democracy. But what does California’s slate of 14 initiatives on the November ballot –  including a “wealth tax” on billionaires, new voter-ID requirements, plus proposed changes to the recall of elected officials – say about the Golden State’s priorities, special interests’ influence, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s presidential ambitions? In the first of a series of conversations about the practice of politics and policies in America’s most populous state, Hoover fellow Lanhee Chen, a keen observer of California’s policy landscape and a past candidate for statewide office, offers a snapshot of this year’s ballot slate, how California’s wealth-tax fight factors into national politics (not to mention the near-term future of California’s tech sector), and suggests a few reforms that would re-instill the public’s confidence in the initiative process.

Recorded on June 26, 2026.

As America prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, it’s not so much “taxation without representation” at issue as it is the question of what modern taxation represents – For some, a chance to strike a blow against wealth disparity while pursuing a socialist dream of expansive government. Nowhere is that more evident than in California and a ballot initiative which, if approved by voters in November, would impose a 5% “wealth tax” on the Golden State’s resident billionaires – 90% of the proceeds going to state healthcare programs. Joshua Rauh, the Hoover Institution’s George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Economics and an expert on California-style taxation, discusses America’s current fascination with socialism and economic class warfare as well as all that’s at stake in the Golden State. Will a voter-approved wealth tax prompt billionaires to flee California for the likes of Austin and Nashville, taking with them needed tax revenue? Would the one-time tax lay waste to Silicon Valley as an incubator of innovation (and revenue stream)? Moreover, if the promised revenue doesn’t materialize, is California likely to apply the tax to millionaires as well (and perhaps expand it beyond a five-year period, as happened a decade ago when the Golden State extended a “temporary tax” on California’s upper earners)?

Recorded on June 29, 2026.

This week’s bombshell news in Sacramento: California Gov. Gavin Newsom announcing that he and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom are under federal investigation reportedly for tax and financial improprieties – Newsom claiming he’s the victim of a political vendetta as a critic of President Trump, but the story also a window into the unseemly practice of “behested payments” that special interests use to curry favor with elected officials, especially sitting governors. As the June primary results are closer to being finalized, why did former reality-tv “villain” Spencer Pratt, billionaire Tom Steyer, AOC-clone Saikat Chakrabarti, and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan all fail to advance to the general election? Finally, as legislators race to finish a new state budget before its July 1 deadline, will Gov. Newsom, his political allies, and a powerful California labor union cut a deal to keep a billionaire wealth tax off the November ballot?          

Recorded on June 18, 2026.