Munira Mirza is a former British political advisor who served as Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit under Prime Minister Boris Johnson from 2019 through 2022. She is currently the Director of Civic Future, a non-profit that tries to attract talented people to stand for public office. In this interview, she reflects on her time at the highest levels of British government and delivers a bracing diagnosis of why political leadership has deteriorated across liberal democracies. She explores how short-termism, media incentives, and declining elite formation have driven talented people away from public life. The conversation ranges from Brexit and COVID to meritocracy, civic duty, and what it would take to rebuild a serious governing class.

What makes an ordinary person risk everything to save a stranger?

Author and historian Richard Hurowitz joins the show to discuss his book, In the Garden of the Righteous: The Heroes Who Risked Their Lives to Save Jews During the Holocaust, which recounts the extraordinary men and women who took immense personal risks to aid people who were being hunted by the Nazis. 

The conversation explores unforgettable stories of moral courage, including a Portuguese diplomat who saved thousands with a stamp and lost his career, a world-famous Italian cyclist who used his celebrity and his bicycle to smuggle false papers, and entire communities in Denmark, Albania, and France that refused to betray their Jewish neighbors. Hurowitz explains why rescue remains one of the least studied aspects of the Holocaust, what rescuers had in common, and how early childhood values, faith, and self-confidence shaped their decisions.

This is a powerful and deeply human discussion about moral responsibility, the nature of courage, and what it means to stand up when standing apart is dangerous — and why these stories still matter today. 

Historian David Kennedy looks at Franklin D. Roosevelt’s leadership by exploring how he guided the United States through the twin upheavals of the Great Depression and World War II. Kennedy explains how FDR reshaped federal power, responded to mass economic hardship, and slowly steered a largely isolationist nation toward global responsibility. The discussion highlights the weaknesses of the pre–New Deal government, Roosevelt’s innovative (and sometimes improvised) approach to rebuilding institutions, and the ongoing historical debates over what he was trying to achieve and how successful he really was. Overall, the exchange paints FDR as both a bold domestic reformer and a key architect of the postwar international system that defined American leadership for decades.

Historian Frank Dikötter, author of How to Be a Dictator: The Cult of Personality in the Twentieth Century, discusses the dark psychology behind absolute power. From Hitler and Mao to Putin and Xi Jinping, Dikötter reveals how dictators use fear, lies, and the cult of personality to control not just people’s actions—but their thoughts.

Why do tyrants crave loyalty more than love? Why do they all end up surrounded by liars? And what happens when a dictator starts believing his own propaganda?

Frank Dikötter gives a fascinating look at how modern dictatorships are built—and why they always collapse from within.

Why did the Jews keep fighting Rome for over 200 years — long after the Great Revolt ended in disaster? Hoover Senior Fellow Barry Strauss discusses the epic story of Judea’s rebellions against the world’s most powerful empire in this conversation and in his new book, Jews vs. Rome: Barry Strauss on Two Centuries of Jewish Revolt. From the fall of Jerusalem and the siege of Masada to the guerrilla war of Bar Kokhba, Strauss reveals the key players, stunning twists, and surprising alliances — including ancient Iran’s role as an ally of the Jews. Strauss also describes unforgettable characters like Herod the Great, Josephus the historian-turned-traitor, and fearless queens who shaped the fight. Packed with ancient drama and lessons for today, Strauss’s book brings one of history’s most remarkable struggles to life.

Former US Senator and university president Ben Sasse joins Andrew Roberts on Secrets of Statecraft for a candid and very wide-ranging conversation about the state of American institutions and how to revitalize them. Sasse explains why Congress has become weak and dysfunctional, why entitlement spending and debt threaten U.S. stability, and how social media distorts our politics. Sasse also takes on higher education—grade inflation, the replication crisis, and Harvard’s decline—while reflecting on the coming challenges of the AI revolution. In addition, they also discuss the extinction of late-night comedy, foreign policy, tariffs and trade wars and Iran, China, and Russia. And yes, Ben explains to Andrew what a  “nougie” is.

Historian Andrew Roberts is joined by former U.S. Secretary of State and current Director of the Hoover Institution Condoleezza Rice for a dive deep into today’s international hotspots—including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rising tensions with China over Taiwan, and the complex relationships between Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. Their discussion also covers how leaders draw lessons from history, what might tip the world into a new Cold War, and how nations might address these evolving challenges. Director Rice also gives her thoughts on the rapid rise of artificial intelligence— which includes her recommended read, The Worlds I See by Fei-Fei Li, the Founding Co-Director of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute.

The Canadian businessman and peer Conrad Black has published the second volume of his political and strategic history of the world, from 14AD to 1648, and it’s a corker.

Sir Niall Ferguson on time travel, Trump bombing Iran, historical counterfactuals, Doctor Who, The Time Lord, using the past to help the present and future, the University of Austin’s revolutionary experiment, ChatGPT, and God possibly helping to split the atom.

British historian Tim Bouverie discusses the knotty diplomatic dilemmas faced by Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin.