American Institutions, Higher Education, Talk Shows, and Nougies with Ben Sasse
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.
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Around The World With Condoleezza Rice | Secrets of Statecraft
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.
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Lord (Conrad) Black’s Remarkable Historical Erudition | Andrew Roberts | Hoover Institution
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.
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Sir Niall Ferguson: Time-Knight | Andrew Roberts | Hoover Institution
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.
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Tim Bouverie and the Diplomacy of World War II | Andrew Roberts | Hoover Institution
British historian Tim Bouverie discusses the knotty diplomatic dilemmas faced by Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin.
Secrets of Statecraft is a bimonthly podcast hosted by Distinguished Visiting Fellow Andrew Roberts that explores the effect that the study of history has had on the careers and decision making of public figures. The podcast also features leading historians discussing the influence that the study of history had on their biographical subjects. The title is taken from Winston Churchill’s reply on Coronation Day 1953 to a young American who had asked him for life advice, to whom he said, “Study history, study history, for therein lie all the secrets of statecraft.”
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