Firing Line with Margaret Hoover

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes joins Margaret Hoover to discuss his new book, “Marketcrafters,” in which he examines how American policymakers have shaped markets for social and political goals over the last century.

Hughes, who is now pursuing a PhD in economics at the University of Pennsylvania, sees growing support on the left and the right for using the levers of government to cultivate markets for the common good.

Hughes says ...

Dr. Fei-Fei Li, known as the godmother of AI, talks to Margaret Hoover about the ethical development of artificial intelligence and the challenge of regulating the rapidly advancing technology.

Li, who recently received a lifetime achievement award at the Webbys for her AI research, explains why she focuses her work on “human-centered AI” and how she believes human dignity can be protected as AI progresses.

Li discusses the role of g...

Historian Niall Ferguson sits down with Margaret Hoover to assess the first 100 days of President Trump’s second term and the challenges that lie ahead for the White House.

Ferguson, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, contrasts Trump with FDR and considers whether his early actions will have lasting impact. He also explains why he sees Trump 2.0 as “Richard Nixon’s revenge.”

Ferguson criticizes Trump’s efforts to end the war ...

Actor Kelsey Grammer joins Margaret Hoover to discuss his new book, his decadeslong journey of healing after tragedy, and his politics.

When most people think of Grammer, they think of his charming character Dr. Frasier Crane on “Cheers” and “Frasier,” but there is a darker side to his story. In “Karen: A Brother Remembers,” Grammer reflects on the vicious murder of his sister Karen, who was raped and stabbed 42 times in 1975 when s...

Robert Lighthizer, who served as U.S. trade representative in Donald Trump’s first term, sits down with Margaret Hoover to discuss the president’s trade agenda, his use of tariffs, and their impact on the economy.

Lighthizer, author of No Trade Is Free, explains why he favors “balanced trade” over free trade and makes his case that tariffs can revive American manufacturing. He tells Hoover why he doubts chaos in financial markets wi...

As wars continue to rage in Ukraine and Gaza, chef and World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés joins Margaret Hoover to discuss his approach to humanitarian aid in disasters, his reaction to losing aid workers in Gaza, and his new book, “Change the Recipe.” 

Andrés, whose organization has served millions of meals in Ukraine, urges the Trump administration to change course amid threats to walk away from peace negotiations. "I ...

As the world reels from President Trump’s trade war, conservative economist Glenn Hubbard joins Margaret Hoover to discuss the impact of Trump’s tariffs, his doubts on the return of manufacturing jobs, and the difficulty of decoupling from China.

While Hubbard credits President Trump with recognizing the problems of globalization, he says tariffs are not the way to fix the problem. “It means higher prices, disrupted supply chains, j...

Politico politics bureau chief Jonathan Martin, New York Times reporter Adam Nagourney, and USC Center for the Political Future Director Bob Shrum join Margaret Hoover to discuss challenges facing the media in Donald Trump’s second term, threats to freedom of the press, and the future of journalism.

In a panel recorded at the CPF’s Warschaw Conference on Practical Politics in January, Nagourney says the obligation to call out Trump’...

In September 1994, an 18-year-old musician named Lawrence Perelman sent a letter to William F. Buckley Jr., offering to perform a piano recital for him as a thank you for Buckley’s political work. The friendship that ensued lasted until Buckley’s final moments, all of which Perelman recounts in his new book, American Impresario: William F. Buckley Jr. and the Elements of American Character.

One hundred years after Buckley’s birth, P...

As President Trump wages tariff wars around the world and upends the U.S. alliance with Ukraine, conservative New York Times columnist Ross Douthat and Margaret Hoover discuss the president’s actions, his address to Congress, and the future of the GOP.

While Douthat defends the Trump administration's goal of achieving an armistice in Ukraine and convincing Europe to take on greater responsibility, he says that calling Zelensky a...

Before Kevin Hassett was named director of President Trump’s National Economic Council, he sat down with Margaret Hoover last September to discuss Trump’s economic record and his second-term agenda.

In this new cut of that interview, Hassett assesses the impact of tariffs in Trump’s first term and defends his threats to impose new ones, including reciprocal tariffs on goods from countries that tax U.S. imports.

Hassett, who previousl...

As President Trump ratchets up trade wars with America’s adversaries and allies, two experts on the economy — Jeff Ferry, chief economist emeritus at the Coalition for a Prosperous America, and Scott Lincicome, vice president of General Economics and Stiefel Trade Policy Center at the Cato Institute — clash over whether tariffs will bolster or crush the U.S. economy and what tariffs mean for Americans.

Speaking before a student audi...

As President Trump and Elon Musk launch an assault on the federal bureaucracy, Will Marshall, the president of the Progressive Policy Institute, and Philip K. Howard, lawyer and author of “Everyday Freedom,” tell Margaret Hoover that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has the right diagnosis, but the wrong cure. 

Speaking before a student audience at Hofstra University, Marshall and Howard agree that the federal bureaucr...

As Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services advances in the Senate, former Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona talks to Margaret Hoover about the danger he fears Kennedy could pose to public health.

Carmona criticizes Kennedy’s history of spreading misinformation about vaccines and health care and falsely linking vaccination to autism, but he also acknowledges some valid concerns raised ...

Two veteran strategists–Democrat James Carville and Republican Mike Murphy–sit down with Margaret Hoover to assess the fallout from the 2024 election and the challenges that lie ahead for both parties.

At the USC Center for the Political Future’s Warschaw Conference on Practical Politics, Carville and Murphy discuss the chaotic first weeks of President Trump’s new administration, the muted response from his opponents, and how Democ...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich sits down with Margaret Hoover to talk about his new PBS documentary “Journey to America: With Newt and Callista Gingrich,” his longstanding support for legal immigration, and the executive actions President Trump has taken in his first days in office.

Amid rising Republican skepticism of all immigration, Gingrich draws a sharp distinction between legal and illegal immigration, and he explain...

Journalist and author Juan Williams joins Margaret Hoover to talk about civil rights in America as the nation prepares to inaugurate Donald Trump as president on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Williams, who wrote the companion book to the 1987 PBS documentary series Eyes on the Prize, discusses his latest book, New Prize for These Eyes, which charts the progress of what he calls the second civil rights movement in the 21st century.

Wi...

Margaret Hoover sits down with three Belarusian dissidents–exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, athlete-turned-activist Katya Snytsina, and theater director Natalia Kaliada–to discuss their fight against Aleksandr Lukashenko’s dictatorship.

Kaliada is co-founder of the Belarus Free Theatre, which recently debuted the play KS6: Small Forward in New York, starring Snytsina and telling the story of her journey from Belar...

Best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Peggy Noonan sits down with Margaret Hoover to discuss the presidential election, Donald Trump’s second term, and her new book, A Certain Idea of America.

Noonan, a former speechwriter for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, details the Republican Party’s evolution since the 1980s and the party’s political and cultural missteps that provided a launching pad for Tru...