Because man is fallen and the desire for power was, as James Madison described it,

sown in the nature of man, government had to be limited.

For as Madison also said, if men were angels, no government would be necessary.

If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls

on government would be necessary. But, alas, men are not angels.

It's Monday, May 11th, 2026, and welcome back to Goodfellows, a Hoover Institution broadcast,

examining history, economics, and geopolitics. I'm Bill Whalen. I'm an distinguished policy

fellow here at the Hoover Institution. I'll be moderating a conversation today,

reaching three of my colleagues we jokingly refer to as the Goodfellows. I'm referring, of course, to the historian Sir Neil Ferguson, the economist John Cochran, and former presidential national security advisor, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, Neil, and H.R. are all Hoover senior fellows. Gentlemen, good to see you, and today we have two segments in store. In the second part of our show, we're going to talk about the latest situation in Iran, the diplomatic impasse, as well as the upcoming summit that Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are holding in Beijing. But the first part of our show, we're going to deal with that mysterious building next to the United States Capitol called the United States Supreme Court. We're going to talk about some key decisions coming down this summer, as well as the

power judicial review in this current political and governing and climate. And joining us to

explain this and more is Sarah Isgir. Sarah's an editor at SCOTUS blog and an ABC News analyst.

And in her spare time, she writes books. In fact, she just wrote one. It's called Last Branch

Standing, a potentially surprising, occasionally witty journey

inside today's Supreme Court. Sarah, welcome to Goodfellows. Thanks for having me. So truth in advertising, the book is great. It is surprising. It is witty, more than occasionally witty, I would add. And you have been busy. You've been on quite the ambitious book tour. Now I got a question for you, Sarah. Neil, John, and HR

also write books. They go on book tours,

but you recently went on of all places The View. So what is your advice for Neil John and HR come the time they go on the View? I will tell you, that is the most nervous. I think I have ever been going on a TV show in like 10 years because there's, you know, a live audience.

The host could go anywhere.

And they were so kind to me.

It was actually a real treat and I highly recommend it.

And the audience was fun and interested and curious.

And I actually had a great time.

Okay.

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