In a special “mailbag” episode, Hoover senior fellows Sir Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and H.R. McMaster answer audience questions. Among the topics (after a brief opening segment devoted to the latest in the Iran-US impasse – aka, “Schrödinger’s ceasefire”): who are today’s great leaders; is “the American experiment” doomed, as some intellectuals posit; C ... Show More
Jul 13
Trump Slump, Capitalism vs. Communism, and Old Man Yells at Claude
After a productive first 100 days after returning to office, President Trump has since hit a rough patch – stubborn inflation (despite an otherwise powerhouse economy), an unpopular war with Iran, setbacks at the Supreme Court, plus growing dissent among congressional Republicans ... Show More
58m 55s
Jul 1
The Empire Strikes Out: Rick Atkinson on 1776, Is Britain Broken?, and Socialists in New York
On paper, it was a mismatch: a fledgling republic seeking freedom from the world’s mightiest empire. And yet the American Revolution ended with the upstart colonists’ victory over the mighty British military. Rick Atkinson, a military historian and author of a “Revolutionary Tril ... Show More
1h 9m
Sep 2025
Does the Future Belong to China?
<p>Is the United States still a worthy opponent for China? In this episode, Ross Douthat talks to Dan Wang, the author of “Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future,” about the alarming speed at which China is able to build and could blow America out of the water.</p><ul><l ... Show More
1h 5m
Aug 2025
America's lawyers vs. China's engineers
America has a hard time building stuff. Roads. Trains. Bridges. Housing. Everything takes seemingly forever. Meanwhile, China seems to have no trouble at all: high-speed rails, solar panels, electric cars, bridges, ports, all churned out at breakneck speed. Why is that? Sean's gu ... Show More
51m 37s
Sep 2020
A Moment of Global Adjustment: China’s Ambitions in the Wake of Covid-19
In this episode of Building the Future, Dan Runde is joined once again by Dr. Jonathan Ward, author of China’s Vision for the World, to discuss how China’s relationship with the rest of the world has changed in the last 18 months. This time around, the pair analyze the growing re ... Show More
15m 31s
Aug 2025
Downstream: China Is Building While the West Crumbles w/ Dan Wang
Dan Wang is a technology analyst and author whose life experience, spent partly in North America, partly in China, sets him up as an authoritative observer of the differences and similarities between the American and Chinese empires. In conversation with Aaron Bastani, Wang share ... Show More
2h 1m
<p>In his new book “Breakneck,” Dan Wang argues that the U.S. has a lot to learn from China. He also says that “no two peoples are more alike.” We have questions.</p><p> </p><ul><li><strong>SOURCES:</strong><ul><li><a href="https://danwang.co/about/">Dan Wang</a>, research fellow ... Show More
