GoodFellows: Conversations on Economics, History & Geopolitics

Hoover Institution
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GoodFellows: Conversations on Economics, History, & Geopolitics is a flagship videocast from the Hoover Institution where senior fellows John Cochrane, Niall Ferguson, and H.R. McMaster cut through the noise, challenge conventional wisdom, and explain what’s driving markets, power, and public policy. Drawing on rigorous economic analysis, deep historical perspective, and national security leadership at the highest levels, these leading thinkers deliver clear, trusted insight into the challenges facing the United States while debating the forces shaping the modern world.

  1. JAN 14

    The World According to Trump | GoodFellows | Hoover Institution

    As Iran’s theocracy teeters on the brink, the question turns to what the Trump administration’s abiding interest in other bad regimes (Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia) and its appetite for land acquisitions (greenbacks for Greenland?) say about the American president’s worldview. GoodFellows regulars Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and H.R. McMaster discuss policy options for Iran now that protests have turned tragic; the relative silence from the same campus leftists who fervently protested the war in Gaza; Nixonian echoes in Trump’s foreign policy; plus Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s emergence as a geopolitical jack-of-all-trades. In the second segment, John weighs in on the significance of the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell; H.R. contends America’s designs on Greenland are no laughing matter; and Sir Niall previews what to expect from Trump’s appearance at the upcoming World Economic Forum in Davos. Finally, GoodFellows’ resident “Deadhead” bids a fond farewell to the late Bob Weir, guitarist and cofounder of the Grateful Dead. Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today’s biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows.

    52 min

  2. JAN 8

    Coercive Diplomacy: Venezuela, Iran, and . . . Greenland? | GoodFellows | Hoover Institution

    American special forces capture Venezuela’s president and his wife in a daring nighttime operation, returning the deposed first couple to the US to stand trial for alleged narcoterrorism. Meanwhile, protests in Iran over worsening living conditions, coupled with a cratered economy, threaten that theocracy’s future. GoodFellows regulars Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and H.R. McMaster kick off 2026 by discussing both the precedent and the consequences of the move on Maduro, whether other nations (i.e. China) will invoke their own “Monroe Doctrines” to justify regional power grabs, plus the chances of similar fates awaiting Greenland, Colombia, or Cuba. After that: the panel’s thoughts on whether Iran’s regime is in its dying days as conditions on the ground deteriorate; and the chances of political transformation spreading worldwide in 2026—a là the end of the first Cold War—potential signposts of freedom as America celebrates 250 years of individual liberty. Finally, the fellows send their best wishes to a pair of GoodFellows guests—former Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse and Hoover’s Victor Davis Hanson—as the two gentlemen do battle with cancer.   Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today’s biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows.

    56 min

  3. 12/17/2025

    Are We Doing This Again? Andrew Ross Sorkin on “1929” and the GoodFellows on 2025 | GoodFellows | Hoover Institution

    Nearly a century ago, after years of investors on a champagne high and warning signs ignored, a stock market crash led to a descent into a global depression. Andrew Ross Sorkin, a New York Times financial journalist and author of the bestseller 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History—and How It Shattered a Nation, joins GoodFellows regulars Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and H.R. McMaster to discuss how the events of 1929 resonate to this day, what’s misunderstood about the fabled crash, whether Herbert Hoover (only seven months into his presidency when disaster struck) gets a fair shake, plus what the future holds for Federal Reserve independence, the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery, and Wall Street’s relationship with Washington. After that: The three fellows look back on 2025 with their choices for individual of the year, the most significant or ignored stories, what they learned in 2025, plus predictions and resolutions for the new year. Finally, a surprise visit by Hoover Institution visiting fellow Kris Kringle, who asks the panel for its holiday wishes (oddly enough, H.R. is never around when jolly old St. Nick shows up).      Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today’s biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows.

    1 hr

  4. 12/17/2025

    Tiny Cars and 70’s Problems with Ben Sasse | GoodFellows | Hoover Institution

    Two institutional sectors are in both steady and rapid decline in terms of public trust: Congress and academia. Ben Sasse, former US senator from Nebraska and president of two universities, joins GoodFellows regulars Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and H.R. McMaster to discuss what ails Congress and how to fix it (based on his eight years in the Senate), plus how America’s educational system has set a low bar for readying students for higher learning and life after college. Next the three fellows weigh the merits of the Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy and what strategy there is (or isn’t) regarding Venezuela and drug trafficking; the shortcomings of fuel-efficiency standards; whether they’d buy an American-made “tiny car” (no way, says our resident former tank driver); and, with the World Cup coming to America in 2026, how to clear up the confusion between US-brand “football” and the international “beautiful game” that goes by the same name (Sir Niall’s solution: Change US football to “armored rugby”).    Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today’s biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows.

    1h 8m

  5. 11/26/2025

    Viewer Mail: War & Peace, Reading & Writing, Why Babies Are Good, and Thanksgiving Memories | GoodFellows | Hoover Institution

    Is the bitter war in Ukraine soon to wind down now that a peace settlement is being negotiated (think a Panmunjom-style compromise, not Munich-style appeasement), and how should America prepare for economic and military parity with China? In an episode devoted solely to viewers’ questions, Hoover senior fellows Sir Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane and H.R. McMaster delve into matters ranging from those somber (allaying twenty-somethings’ climate alarmism, “ideal” interest rates, the future of tank warfare as well as AI’s redesign of future workforces) to those more lighthearted (H.R.’s service nickname, the artist behind John’s wall hangings, and how the fellows would ride out a future pandemic). Finally, on the eve of America’s Thanksgiving holiday, the fellows count their blessings – especially “Papa” Ferguson, who recently joined John (aka, “Blah-Blah” to his grandchildren) and H.R. (likewise, his grandkids’ “Papa”) as a first-time grandfather. Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today’s biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows.

    1h 1m

  6. 11/14/2025

    Cyber Rattling & Socialism: Anne Neuberger on Future Wars, Mayor Mamdani, and a Big Deal at the BBC | GoodFellows | Hoover Institution

    Will future wars be decided by who controls space—cyber and outer—and which superpower has better paired geostrategic thinking with emerging technologies? Anne Neuberger, the Hoover Institution’s William C. Edwards Distinguished Visiting Fellow and a former White House and Pentagon cyber policy advisor, joins GoodFellows regulars Sir Niall Ferguson, John H. Cochrane, and Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster to discuss what she sees as a “cyber gap” between China and America, the need for the US to rethink traditional weapons platforms (hello, drones), plus how Dwight Eisenhower’s warning of a “military industry complex” is being redefined by the tech sector’s growing role in present-day and future warfare. After that: the three fellows weigh the significance of a utopian socialist recently elected mayor of a very capitalist New York City, a new “algocracy” (algorithms running the government) in Albania, the UK’s fabled BBC in hot water over alleged editorial bias, plus whether the “war of the tomorrow” may be in . . . Venezuela? Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today’s biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows.

    1h 2m

  7. 10/29/2025

    Trick or Treat? A Fight Between Good and Evil with Michael McFaul | GoodFellows | Hoover Institution

    At a time of “hot wars” across the globe, there’s also an ideological “cold war” featuring two foes: those who embrace freedom and those who oppress it. Michael McFaul, the Hoover Institution’s Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow and author of the newly released Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, America, Russia and the New Global Disorder, joins GoodFellows regulars John Cochrane and Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster to discuss where he departs from the Trump administration on its approach to Russia and China (one autocracy economically dwarfing the other), his suggestions for course change, and why he holds “guarded” optimism for America’s future. After that: John and H.R. go “trick-or-treating”—weighing the pros (“treats”) and cons (“tricks”) of a new White House ballroom, a Chinese military purge, the latest inflation numbers and gold prices that no longer glitter, a CEO’s tariff worries, New York City on a non-hallowed eve of “democratic socialism,” plus a new and tougher American citizenship test (could Sir Niall Ferguson pass it?). Finally, as Halloween approaches, John and H.R. give us their go-to candies. Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today’s biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows.

    57 min

  8. 10/18/2025

    It’s The Economy, Israel and Tariffs, Stupid | GoodFellows | Hoover Institution

    A hostage return and the signing of a cease-fire agreement signal a new chapter in the long-running dream of peace in the Middle East. Did it matter that the key negotiators, on the US side, were financiers and real-estate developers rather than scions of America’s diplomatic corps? Russell Berman, a Hoover Institution senior fellow and codirector of Hoover’s Working Group on the Middle East and the Islamic World, joins GoodFellows regulars Niall Ferguson and John Cochrane to discuss the sturdiness of the Trump White House’s 20-point peace plan, the futures of Hamas and the Abraham Accords, the likelihood of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reliving Winston Churchill’s fate (a successful wartime leader rejected by a war-weary electorate), plus whether the “real estate-ism” approach to diplomacy is applicable to President Trump’s upcoming meetings with his Russian and Chinese counterparts. After that, Niall and John reflect on the likelihood of a market crash (it is October, after all), the chances of a full-fledged tariff war with China, the merits of a US-Argentina currency swap, plus an ominous warning from the International Monetary Fund regarding global debt. Finally, the fellows salute the legendary economist Thomas Sowell, the subject of a Hoover Institution tribute later this month.   Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today’s biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows.

    1h 2m
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GoodFellows: Conversations on Economics, History, & Geopolitics is a flagship videocast from the Hoover Institution where senior fellows John Cochrane, Niall Ferguson, and H.R. McMaster cut through the noise, challenge conventional wisdom, and explain what’s driving markets, power, and public policy. Drawing on rigorous economic analysis, deep historical perspective, and national security leadership at the highest levels, these leading thinkers deliver clear, trusted insight into the challenges facing the United States while debating the forces shaping the modern world.

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