Firing Line with Margaret Hoover

Former conservative radio host Charlie Sykes sits down with Margaret Hoover to talk about the state of the Republican Party, the 2024 election, and the future of American democracy. Sykes, who co-founded The Bulwark in 2018 after retiring from radio, assesses the Republicans who may challenge Trump for the 2024 nomination–including Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence–and he explains why he is likely to su...

Axios chief financial correspondent Felix Salmon joins Margaret Hoover to talk about the lasting changes the COVID-19 pandemic has caused for the economy. Salmon, author of “The Phoenix Economy: Work, Life and Money in the New Not Normal,” discusses cooling inflation, the continued strength of the labor market, and why millennials have shifted their perspective on investing. As the U.S. faces the...

Actor Richard Dreyfuss sits down with Margaret Hoover to discuss his initiative to improve civics education in America and why he fears the future of the nation is at stake. Dreyfuss reflects on how the study of civics has changed since he was in school, explains how he believes curriculums should be reformed, and criticizes efforts to limit students’ exposure to opposing viewpoints. The Academy A...

Conservative New York Times columnist David French joins Margaret Hoover to talk about the latest developments at Fox News, ethical questions engulfing the Supreme Court, and America’s political landscape heading into 2024. As President Joe Biden launches his reelection campaign, French, the author of “Divided We Fall,” reflects on the potential impact of a Trump-Biden rematch on an already-divide...

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a political newcomer and rising star in the Democratic Party, sits down with Margaret Hoover in Annapolis to discuss his first legislative session and the progress made toward his priorities. Moore grew up on the brink of poverty after witnessing his father’s death at age three, struggled in school until he was sent to a military academy, and went on to become a Rhodes sch...

Writer Thomas Chatterton Williams sits down with Margaret Hoover to explain why he decided to “unlearn” race and how he believes his approach could pave the way to equality. Williams, the son of a white mother and Black father who grew up seeing himself as Black, recalls how the birth of his light-skinned daughter led him to rethink entrenched racial categorizations. The author of “Self-Portrait i...

After the first indictment of a former president in U.S. history, longtime federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann joins Margaret Hoover to discuss the 34 felony charges against Donald Trump and what may come next. Weissmann, who served as a lead prosecutor on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigating Trump, details the legal challenges ahead for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and T...

Model Paulina Porizkova sits down with Margaret Hoover to discuss her career in front of the camera and her recent book, “No Filter: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful.” Born behind the Iron Curtain, Porizkova recounts her childhood in Soviet-controlled Czechoslovakia, her path to freedom, and her rise to become one of the top models of the 1980s and 1990s. Porizkova reflects on ageism in the mo...

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan sits down with Margaret Hoover to discuss his recent announcement that he will not seek the GOP nomination in 2024 and whether anyone else could successfully challenge Donald Trump in the primaries. Hogan reflects on his two terms as the popular Republican governor of a deep blue state, how his approach to politics could work for the party at the national level, an...

Rep. Mike Gallagher, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, sits down with Margaret Hoover to discuss his panel’s bipartisan mission to educate Americans about the CCP’s threat. The Wisconsin Republican argues that a new cold war with China has already begun and explains what he believes it will take to keep that war from turning hot. He reflects on his recent visit...

In this 2019 interview, former South Carolina Governor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley talks to Margaret Hoover about her trailblazing career and her perspective on the future of the Republican Party. Haley–who recently announced a run against Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination–discusses representing Trump at the U.N., her support for his policies, and her...

Brian O’Hara, the first new police chief appointed in Minneapolis since George Floyd’s murder, joins Margaret Hoover to discuss policing in America and the deep-seated issues impacting the relationships between communities and police across the country. O’Hara, who previously led reform efforts as a captain in the Newark Police Department, reflects on how his experience in New Jersey prepared him...

Economist Glenn Loury joins Margaret Hoover to discuss racial inequality in America, his resistance to the notion of systemic racism, and how his perspective has evolved since the 1980s. Loury, who was the first tenured Black economics professor at Harvard at age 33, explains why he now opposes affirmative action, even though he benefited from it early in his career. He also comments on the fallou...

Barry Diller, chairman and senior executive of IAC and Expedia Group, joins Margaret Hoover to talk about the changing worlds of entertainment, technology, and politics. Diller, a former CEO of Paramount and Fox, reflects on the decline of the traditional movie business, the rise of streaming services, and how the Academy Awards have become “an antiquity.” The media mogul explains his objection to...

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) joins Margaret Hoover to talk about her priorities in Congress, which include working toward bipartisan consensus on abortion, marijuana, and climate change. Mace blames both parties for driving up the nation’s debt in recent decades, but she supports a Republican strategy to use the debt limit as leverage to convince Democrats to accept spending cuts. She explains how her...

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham joins Margaret Hoover to talk about the lessons of America’s past and the threats to democracy looming in the future. Meacham, whose latest book “And There Was Light” focuses on President Abraham Lincoln, details the qualities of the country’s most successful presidents and the role their faith played in governing. The historian, who has helped craft speec...

Reverend Al Sharpton speaks to Margaret Hoover about his evolution as a civil rights leader from the 1980s to today, which is chronicled in the new documentary “Loudmouth.” Sharpton discusses his influences and why he developed his loud and dramatic style of activism to attract attention in New York. He also reflects on how Coretta Scott King ultimately convinced him to soften his rhetoric in orde...

Two years after January 6th Capitol attack, former Vice President Mike Pence sits down with Margaret Hoover to discuss the events of that day, why he chose to defy Donald Trump, and what it all means for his political future. Pence, whose recent memoir, “So Help Me God,” details his decades in politics, reflects on his role as Trump’s vice president. He acknowledges some differences with Trump, bu...

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma joins Margaret Hoover to discuss the power of music to bring people together and provide hope and comfort in a time of crisis. Long before COVID-19 hit, Ma was using his instrument to unite people, performing Bach suites in cities around the world and at the U.S.-Mexico border. He explains why he believes songs written centuries ago can connect humanity today. Ma also talks about...

Misty Copeland, American Ballet Theatre’s first Black principal dancer, joins Margaret Hoover to discuss her career, her new memoir, and her relationship with her mentor, Raven Wilkinson. As Copeland details in The Wind at My Back, Wilkinson was a trailblazing Black ballerina who performed in the U.S. and Europe in the mid-20th century, but she has often been overlooked by history after her career...

Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa joins Margaret Hoover to talk about her reporting, her concerns about social media, and her new book, “How to Stand Up to a Dictator.” Ressa, who could face life in prison in the Philippines for speaking out against authoritarianism and corruption, explains why a free press is vital to democracy and why she is willing to risk her freedom to return t...

Former Vice President Mike Pence sits down with Margaret Hoover to discuss January 6th, his political future, and why he still stands by most of the record of the Trump administration. Pence, out with a new memoir titled “So Help Me God,” details private conversations with Donald Trump about the 2020 election and defends his own rhetoric urging supporters to keep fighting in the weeks before Janua...

Former Attorney General William Barr reflects on his time in Donald Trump’s administration and tells Margaret Hoover why he thinks it would be a “tragedy” if Trump wins the GOP nomination. Barr–who left the DOJ amid Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen election in December 2020– defends his own pre-election warnings about the potential for voter fraud, denies Trump’s frequent tweets ever influenced...

Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas joins Margaret Hoover to break down the results of the midterm elections, the weaker than anticipated performance of GOP candidates, and the direction of the party heading into 2024. Hutchinson, who is considering a 2024 presidential run, explains why he blames former President Donald Trump for the party’s losses in key races and why he believes there is...

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman joins Magaret Hoover to discuss her coverage of former President Donald Trump and her new book, “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America.” Haberman explains how the pursuit of fame has driven Trump throughout his life and how his years on “The Apprentice” set the stage for his political ascent. She also deconstructs some of the...