Niall Ferguson, Victor Davis Hanson, and Stephen Kotkin: Three Historians Debate the Era of Trump

Uncommon Knowledge

Hoover Institution

Politics, History, News, News:politics, Science

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2025

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Niall Ferguson, Victor Davis Hanson, and Stephen Kotkin are all senior fellows at the Hoover Institution, and this is the first time they have appeared together in a public discussion. The topic: Is the United States in decline or on the verge of renewal? Exploring topics including Donald Trump’s second term and the transformation of the Republican Party, relations between China and Taiwan, America’s fiscal crisis, the current state of universities, and the upcoming 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, this wide-ranging and often passionate conversation dives deep into history, politics, and the fate of Western civilization. Subscribe to Uncommon Knowledge at hoover.org/uk

Transcript

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0:00.0	The American experiment begun almost 250 years ago,
0:04.0	is it finally coming to an end, or is it being renewed?
0:08.0	Three of the most accomplished historians in the English-speaking world,
0:12.0	Victor Davis Hansen, Sir Neil Ferguson, and Stephen Kotkin.
0:16.0	Uncommon Knowledge Now. Welcome to Uncommon Knowledge, I'm Peter Robinson. All three of our guests today are
0:32.1	fellows here at the Hoover Institution. A historian of Greece and Rome, Victor Davis Hansen,
0:37.0	has published more than 20 works of history,
0:39.3	including his classic volume, A War Like No Other, How the Athenians and Spartans fought the Peloponnesian War.
0:45.3	Victor's most recent book, The End of Everything.
0:50.3	A historian of the 19th and 20th century, Sir Neil Ferguson, has himself published more than
0:55.1	15 books, including his own classic, The Pity of War, Explaining World War I.
1:00.8	Neil is now working on the second volume of his biography of Henry Kissinger.
1:05.8	A historian of the Soviet Union, Russia and Asia, Stephen Kotkin is the author yet again of a pile of books,
1:13.4	including Uncivil Society, 1989, and the implosion of the communist establishment.
1:19.5	Stephen is now working on the third and final volume of his definitive biography of Joseph
1:25.2	Stalin. Gentlemen, welcome.
1:28.3	The scale of consequentiality, two quotations,
1:31.3	and I'm going to ask you for a number.
1:33.3	Here are the quotations.
1:35.3	Professor of Political Science David Ferris in Newsweek recently,
1:38.3	quote, Trump may go down as the least effective president
1:42.3	in modern history.
	...

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