Firing Line with Margaret Hoover

Democrats swept Congress. Rahm Emanuel warns they could squander their victory—and confirms he's considering running for president in 2028. The former Chicago mayor and Obama White House chief of staff tells Margaret Hoover that voters rejected Republicans but haven't necessarily embraced Democrats. Having helped engineer the Democrats' historic 2006 midterm victory, Emanuel lays out h...

With control of Congress on the line next Tuesday, Jennifer Palmieri–former communications director for the Obama White House–joins Margaret Hoover to break down the state of the midterms and explain why the South is central to Democrats’ chances of victory. Palmieri is co-host of the new YouTube documentary series “Long Play,” which examines how politics are shifting in the South and what that me...

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee joins Margaret Hoover from Jerusalem as elections approach in Israel and the United States, with questions mounting over the future of the U.S.–Israel alliance and the possibility of renewed war with Iran. Huckabee says American support for Israel will endure even if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu loses reelection, despite President Trump's assertion...

Dr. Adam Grant sits down with Margaret Hoover to discuss the causes and consequences of loneliness, the impact of artificial intelligence on human connection, and the precarious state of modern manhood. Grant, an organizational psychologist and professor at Wharton, breaks down the science of forming strong relationships, which he explores in his new book, “Vibe.” He explains how group dynamics an...

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) takes on the “sycophants” in the second Trump administration and reflects on his regrets over voting to confirm some of them–particularly Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who he is now working to get out of the Pentagon. As he prepares to retire from the Senate in January, Tillis has released a new book, “How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents.” He explains why he bel...

Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer tells Firing Line how a hot dog cart became a global brand—and why some of his biggest failures taught him the most about business. The restaurateur explains the philosophy behind “enlightened hospitality,” why he puts employees before customers, and what closing his first restaurant taught him about failure. He also reveals why his experiment to eliminate tipping c...

As President Trump addresses the UN General Assembly and hosts Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Anne Applebaum explains how an alliance of ideologues and kleptocrats is reshaping U.S. foreign policy. She assesses prospects for ending the wars in Iran and Ukraine and examines the administration’s approach to Venezuela and Cuba. Applebaum argues that ideological and corrup...

As AI leaders face backlash over doomsday warnings and the Federal Reserve defies Donald Trump on interest rates, economist Dambisa Moyo assesses the risks and opportunities facing the U.S. economy amid soaring debt and conflicting economic indicators. Moyo, chair of the Economic Club of New York—and a baroness in the British House of Lords—weighs the performance of new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin...

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) talks to Margaret Hoover about his new book Off-Ramp , which explores how alienation and polarization lead to political violence and how Americans can learn to disagree better. One year after Charlie Kirk’s assassination in Utah, he reflects on the dangers of social media and artificial intelligence and touts his state’s efforts to regulate rapidly evolving technologies. ...

Author Salman Rushdie reflects on the “second act” he nearly didn’t get: surviving the 2022 attempt on his life, reclaiming his life and returning to fiction. He discusses the new documentary "Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie," how the attack changed his writing and his relationship to mortality, and why his creative process has become more improvisational with age. Rushdie...

Margaret Hoover sits down with former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, once one of Donald Trump’s fiercest loyalists—and now one of his most outspoken defectors. Greene resigned from Congress in January after a spectacular and very public break with Trump over the war in Iran and the Epstein files. Now she says Trump “betrayed us all” and “lied” to the country. But why is she surprised? Greene reflect...

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, joins Margaret Hoover for a wide-ranging conversation about what American business owes the country—and where government should get out of the way. Fresh off JPMorgan’s announcement of a $750 billion commitment to affordable housing, Dimon explains why he believes the private sector has a responsibility to help tackle America’s biggest challenges and argues that...

Democratic socialist Melat Kiros sits down with Margaret Hoover in Denver to discuss her House race, what democratic socialism means to her, and explains her criticism of Israel. Kiros, who defeated a 15-term incumbent in a Democratic primary, reflects on why democratic socialism is resonating with voters across the country and responds to “red scare tactics” from Republicans heading into the midt...

Justice Neil Gorsuch sits down with Margaret Hoover at the Supreme Court to talk about the ideas that shaped America, why they have endured for 250 years, and how to preserve them for the future. Gorsuch breaks down his new children’s book, “Heroes of 1776,” which tells the stories of the men and women who fought for America’s freedom. He explains why he believes exploring the humanity of the nati...

Retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal joins Margaret Hoover to discuss America’s founding ideals and the role of the military and citizens in ensuring that they endure.  He explains why the current politicization of the military concerns him and why military leaders have strived to remain nonpartisan in the past. McChrystal, who has written several books on leadership since leaving the military, re...

Eva Moskowitz, CEO of Success Academy–the top-performing charter school network in New York City–joins Margaret Hoover to talk about what’s wrong with public education in America and what failing schools can learn from her approach. Success Academy runs 59 public charter schools in New York City, and it is preparing to open five more in Florida. Moskowitz explains why her schools score better on s...

As America marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Margaret Hoover speaks to a Supreme Court justice, a swing state governor, and a retired four-star general about the state of American democracy and the nation’s progress toward fulfilling its founding ideals. Justice Neil Gorsuch, co-author of the new children’s book “Heroes of 1776,” reflects on America’s f...

Margaret Hoover talks to Melissa Murray, legal scholar and best-selling author of t The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader , a book she wrote in the hope that the Constitution would be read and understood by all Americans—just as the founders had intended. Murray, who also co-hosts the Strict Scrutiny podcast, examines the history of each amendment, and ho...

Margaret Hoover talks to General Tamir Hayman, former head of the IDF’s military intelligence unit, about the state of the war in Iran, the status of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, and what he believes the U.S. and Israel have gotten right and wrong so far. Hayman is now executive director of the Institute for National Security Studies, an independent think tank affiliated with Tel Aviv...

Bestselling author and podcaster Ryan Holiday and former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis discuss America’s founding ideals and why they still matter 250 years later in the second part of a conversation recorded at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Holiday and Mattis explain why adherence to Stoic virtues is valuable in the military and how falling back on one’s first principles can help...

Danielle Crittenden joins Margaret Hoover to discuss her new book, “Dispatches from Grief: A Mother's Journey Through the Unthinkable,” which details the aftermath of her daughter’s unexpected death. Miranda Frum, who once worked for “Firing Line,” died suddenly in 2024 at age 32 as she was preparing to celebrate the five-year anniversary of a successful surgery to remove a rare nonmalignant brain...

Margaret Hoover sits down with American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Yuval Levin and National Constitution Center CEO Emeritus Jeffrey Rosen to discuss the enduring ideals of America’s founding documents. Levin and Rosen, who both contributed to the NCC’s new book “The Promise of America,” reflect on the shared principles and ideological differences between the nation’s founders and how thos...

Ben McKenzie joins Margaret Hoover to break down his new documentary about cryptocurrency, “Everyone Is Lying to You for Money,” and the dangers he believes crypto poses to investors and the economy itself. McKenzie–best known for his performances on “The O.C.,” “Southland,” and “Gotham”--explains why he grew skeptical of crypto while other men embraced it and reflects on what he learned from talk...

Health care policy expert Lanhee Chen joins Margaret Hoover to unpack the paradox at the heart of American medicine: the best care in the world—and some of the highest costs. What’s broken, and why hasn’t Washington been able to fix it? Chen—a Hoover Institution fellow who has advised Republican leaders from George W. Bush to Mitt Romney—traces how a patchwork system evolved into one that’s both e...

As presidents increasingly rely on executive action to advance their agenda, Philip Wallach and Oona Hathaway join Margaret Hoover to discuss why Congress has abdicated its constitutional power and how to fix it in a forum at Hofstra University. Wallach, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of “Why Congress,” talks about the role the founders envisioned for the legislati...