Uncommon Knowledge

Senator John Hoeven discusses the Keystone pipeline, energy policy, the Middle East, and politics, noting that our country moves forward with investments that make our energy secure and environmentally sound. Horizontal drilling and fracking, for example, reduce the environmental impact of producing oil and gas, thus lowering greenhouse gas emissions. We can be energy secure by producing more energy; to do that we need the right mix of pipelines, rails, roads, and technology to move energy around the country as safely as possible. Energy is a foundational industry; when we have low-cost dependable energy then industry is stronger and we are more secure as a country.

In this episode of Uncommon Knowledge, Peter sits down with Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, to examine the many issues facing the nation today. Cotton graduated from Harvard Law School in 2001 and then served with the US Army in Iraq. In 2013 Cotton was elected to the House of Representatives; he was sworn in as a member of the US Senate in January 2015. (Playing time: 39:12)

In this episode, the host of Uncommon Knowledge speaks with Jim Hake, founder of Spirit of America, a nonprofit organization created to save lives and support the missions of US soldiers abroad. Hake’s goal was to go beyond what the government could do, with the motive of seeing America succeed. Begun in 2003, the idea gained enormous support, including from General Jim Mattis, commander of some of the first missions in Iraq. Today, Spirit of America is working around the world, sending our troops material needs, from sewing machines to Frisbees, wherever there is a need.

In this episode, Uncommon Knowledge is honored to have retired four-star General James Mattis. General Mattis retired from the Marine Corps as a full general in 2013, where he served as the eleventh commander of the United States Central Command. He also served as the commander for NATO supreme allied transformation, and as commander of the United States Joint Forces Command. Mattis is now an Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow fellow at the Hoover Institution. (Playing time: 40:56)

In this episode of Uncommon Knowledge Dartmouth professors of government Jennifer Lind and William Wohlforth join Peter for an in-depth conversation about foreign policy and national security strategies in an ever-changing environment. Jennifer Lind is an associate professor of government; her most recent book is Sorry States: Apologies in International Politics. William Wohlforth is the Daniel Webster Professor of Government; his most recent book is World Out of Balance: International Relations and the Challenge of American Primacy. (Playing time: 41:53)

In this episode of Uncommon Knowledge, Peter sits down with one of America’s favorite political satirists, P. J. O’Rourke, to discuss his best-selling books and the political philosophies that inspired them. O’Rourke describes how he came to hold his political ideals on liberty and individual responsibility and goes on to analyze how his generation, the baby boomers, has shaped today’s policies. O’Rourke is the author of more than sixteen books, including Parliament of Whores, listed on the New York Times’s best-seller list and, most recently, The Baby Boom. His articles can be found in the American Spectator, Vanity Fair, House and Garden, the New Republic, the New York Times Book Review, Rolling Stone, the Weekly Standard, and more.

In this episode of Uncommon Knowledge, Richard A. Epstein, the Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, discusses inequality, taxes, globalization, free markets, politics, health care, and gay marriage. Epstein states that the central theme of his book The Classical Liberal Constitution is to develop sufficiently stable government structures and individual rights to raise everybody simultaneously when the government has to regulate or tax. The prevailing politics is ÒI win, you lose,Ó and the Supreme Court has done nothing to slow this trend. Epstein notes that a shrinking economic pie is always a losing proposition. He refers to the famous quote concerning his philosophy, ÒMay justice reign even if the heavens fall.Ó Epstein also discusses other Supreme Court decisions, including the constitutionality of gay marriage.

In this episode of Uncommon Knowledge, Peter Robinson interviews Hoover fellow and author Thomas Sowell, on his 5th edition of Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy. In this interview, Sowell brings the world into clearer focus through a basic understanding of the fundamental economic principles and how they explain our lives. Sowell draws on lively examples from around the world and from centuries of history. (Playing time: 49:50)

In this episode of Uncommon Knowledge, Peter sits down with David Kelley, author of Creative Confidence, professor of Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, and founder of IDEO, one of the world’s most prestigious design firms. Kelley offers a profound perspective on everyone’s innate ability to be creative and the need to encourage the use of creativity in every aspect of today’s society. “The United States is particularly well suited for being innovative,” says Kelley; “when we grew up everyone knew who invented the cotton gin and who invented the telephone, they were our heroes. This will continue to drive us to innovation.”

In this episode of Uncommon Knowledge, guest Peter Thiel, one of Silicon Valley’s leading investors and thinkers, discusses his new book Zero to One. In it Thiel explains his theories on markets, monopolies, and the lack new technology. Born in Germany, raised in California, Thiel is a US-ranked chess master and cofounder of PayPal and Palantir.