Conversations with Bill Kristol

As we head into the 2020 election year, veteran political strategist and commentator Mike Murphy joins Bill Kristol to discuss the state of the race for the Democratic nomination, and the general election to follow. What are plausible paths to the nomination for Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, and possible dark horse candidates? What are Donald Trump’s chances for reel...

Best known for his 24 years in the Senate, Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927 - 2003) was a major figure in the political history of the United States in the second half of the twentieth century. In this Conversation, political scientist Greg Weiner, author of a fine intellectual biography of Moynihan, reviews Moynihan’s political career and his approach to political and social problems. In his rejecti...

Is America the best place in the world to get medical care? How should we think about recent proposals for healthcare reform like “Medicare for All” or creating new incentives for controlling costs? In this Conversation, James Capretta, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a leading scholar on health policy, presents an incisive, nuanced, and accessible account of American healthcare...

Since at least the middle of the nineteenth century, certain writers, scholars, and amateur sleuths have questioned whether William Shakespeare, the actor and son of a glovemaker from Stratford, really could have written Shakespeare's plays. Possible alternatives posited by Shakespeare skeptics have included the philosopher Francis Bacon and the courtier Edward de Vere (The Earl of Oxford). A rece...

What is the role of the Supreme Court in American politics today? How is the current Court dealing with hot-button social and cultural issues, as well as topics like regulation and the scope of the administrative state? What are the major ideas and debates in conservative legal thought today? In this Conversation, Adam White, Executive Director at George Mason Law School’s C. Boyden Gray Center an...

The conservative movement has been a major force in American political life since the 1950s. But in recent years conservatism has undergone fundamental changes. In this Conversation, Steve Hayes, the author and a former editor of The Weekly Standard, reflects on the extent to which today’s conservatism has been transformed by Donald Trump's campaign and presidency. Hayes acknowledges that Trump ha...

How have the transformations in our media environment—particularly the rise of digital and social media—affected American society and politics? Is the current volatility in our politics and media likely to persist? In this Conversation, Jim VandeHei the CEO and co-founder of Axios and, before that, Politico, shares his perspective on our tumultuous media and political environment. Though he highli...

In 2014, Bill Kristol sat down with General Jack Keane for a wide-ranging discussion about Keane's distinguished military career. To commemorate 9/11, we are now re-releasing General Keane's remarkable recollections of September 11, which were part of that larger Conversation. General Keane was in the Pentagon, and in this recording he speaks of the heroism and bravery he witnessed that day. (Orig...

What role can America play in an increasingly complex and dangerous world—one in which America no longer maintains the overwhelmingly decisive advantage it enjoyed after the end of the Cold War? What steps must the United States take in order to improve its security and standing in a “Post-Post-Cold War" era? Why does American engagement abroad remain important for American safety and prosper...

What is the status of freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and liberal education on university campuses today? How has modern feminism shaped the modern university? In this Conversation, Harvey Mansfield considers some of the central issues and tensions in higher education today. Describing his own recent “disinvitation” from giving a commencement address at Concordia University in Montreal, Man...

What are the roots of our idea of “meritocracy”? Why has meritocracy become a subject of intense scrutiny in our politics? Can there be a legitimate meritocracy? In this Conversation, James Hankins, a professor of history at Harvard University, presents a historically learned and deeply relevant account of the idea of meritocracy. According to Hankins, our current idea of meritocracy is closely ti...

The speeches of Abraham Lincoln are well known for their enduring importance in the history of the United States. But they also remain incredibly significant as texts—works of political rhetoric that have much to teach us about the nature of politics and the American regime. In this Conversation with Bill Kristol, Diana Schaub, a professor of political science at Loyola University Maryland and a p...

Is China already a serious strategic threat to the United States? If so, how should the United States respond to its rise as a regional and global power? In this Conversation with Bill Kristol, Aaron Friedberg, professor of political science and international affairs at Princeton University, argues that a rising China is now the most significant foreign policy challenge facing the United States. R...

Surveys tell us that Americans are increasingly dissatisfied with government institutions—from Congress and federal agencies to state and local governments. Given our aversion to taxes and bureaucracy, why do we demand the government do so much? And what can be done to improve the quality of our government's performance? In this provocative Conversation, University of Pennsylvania political scient...

Born in 1950 in New York City and raised in Montreal, Charles Krauthammer, who died on June 21, 2018, was an indispensable voice in American public life for nearly four decades. His writing and speaking—covering politics, religion, technology, sports, and many other subjects—enriched American public life in a profound way. A staunch defender of American exceptionalism, he was one of the most eloqu...

Why is Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America the best book “ever written on democracy and the best ever written on America?” Why is it indispensable both for understanding the country as well as defending it? In this Podcast, Harvey Mansfield, co-translator of Democracy in America (with Delba Winthrop), presents a detailed exposition of Tocqueville’s masterwork. Mansfield considers the majo...

How should we think about global warming and climate change? How can we develop a sensible strategy to confront a problem for which the risks are inherently difficult to predict with accuracy? And how might the risks from climate change compare with other threats we'll face in the years ahead? In this Podcast, Jim Manzi, a leading technology entrepreneur, shares his perspective. In contrast to the...

On how we can sustain economic growth, spur innovation, improve productivity, and ensure greater prosperity for the middle class. In this Conversation, businessman and best-selling author Edward Conard shares his perspective on how America can achieve these objectives. Conard counters the commonplace view, today, that the American middle class has been hollowed out and that economic mobility has s...

What is “identity politics”? How has it changed American culture? What are its political ramifications? In this podcast, the author and Atlantic Staff Writer Andrew Ferguson shares his perspective on identity politics and the condition of American culture today. Ferguson argues that the weakening of civic education in America created a void that identity politics has filled. Instead of attempting...

“[America], which promises freedom, can’t guarantee that freedom won’t be misused.” So argues Paul Cantor in our new Conversation. Drawing on his new book "Pop Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream: Con Men, Gangsters, Drug Lords, and Zombies," Cantor explains how a country that offers a fresh start to everyone inevitably produces many false starts and opportunities for con men...

Does the rise of authoritarian powers represent an ideological threat to liberal democracy—or just a strategic challenge? Why must America defend the liberal order created after World War II? In this podcast, Robert Kagan, a historian and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, argues that authoritarian regimes represent an ideological as well as strategic threat to the America-led liberal dem...

What is the state of the race for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2020? In this Conversation, veteran political consultant and commentator Joe Trippi draws on his extensive experience in Democratic campaigns to assess. Will the ideological energy of the Democratic Party grassroots determine the nominee? Or will a “safe choice” prevail? Trippi highlights party regulars’ attention...

Did James Madison invent the idea of the American founding? Why do we venerate the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and the figures who wrote and defended our founding documents? In this Conversation, University of Virginia politics professor James Ceaser explains how in 1787 James Madison deliberately encouraged the drafters of the Constitution in Philadelphia and other Americans...

Why is today's Congress so dysfunctional? Are today’s legislators worse? What reforms could improve Congress? Jeff Bergner has had a distinguished career in government, having served as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs (2005 – 2008), Chief of Staff to Senator Richard Lugar, and Staff Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Drawing on his new book "The Vanishing...

Kristen Soltis Anderson is a pollster, author, and political analyst. In her second conversation with Bill Kristol, Anderson analyzes the latest data on the political, social, and cultural attitudes of the two youngest voting generations, “Millennials” (ages 23-38 in 2019) and “Generation Z” (ages 14-22 in 2019). According to Anderson, both of these generations continue their leftward political tr...