The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

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   Number 1: Amidst “A World of Generational Change”: 9/11’s Lessons and Legacy

   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.

   September 11, 2026·57min
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   Number 2: Keeping a Cold War Chilled: Mobilizing the Modern Defense Industrial Base

   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.

   September 11, 2026·53min
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   Number 3: Reclaiming Liberal Education in America

   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.

   August 28, 2026·1h 2min
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   Number 4: California Update: Homeless Conundra, Bickering Billionaires, Paramount Concerns, Harry and Meghan’s “Sussex-it”

   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”?

   August 21, 2026·40min
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   Number 5: California Update: Did Bonta Get Rolled? Is High-Speed Rail Doomed? Is Newsom Angling for 2028?

   Among the latest happenings in the Golden State: choosing California-based “winners” and “losers” in the aftermath of the settlement of the state attorney generals’ antitrust suit blocking the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger (a good day for Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, not one of California AG Rob Bonta’s better moments, and mixed results at best for Hollywood-based entertainment); what an audit exposing consultants’ expenses says about the troubled state of the Golden State’s high-speed rail project (life’s been good for tiki bars and “escape rooms”); and a river-wading Gavin Newsom fishing for attention in Montana (though California’s governor looked like a fish out of water while fly-fishing). Also discussed: what’s at stake in the upcoming gubernatorial debate between Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton and a California governor’s race that’s been mostly quiet since a contentious June primary.

   September 25, 2026·51min
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