GoodFellows: Conversations on Economics, History & Geopolitics

In uncertain times what’s needed is not just clarity about today’s pandemic, but insight into the challenges that lie ahead as America recovers and returns to normal. GoodFellows, a weekly Hoover Institution broadcast, features senior fellows John Cochrane, Niall Ferguson, and H.R. McMaster discussing the social, economic, and geostrategic ramifications of this changed world.

GoodFellows: Conversations on Economics, History & Geopolitics is a news podcast hosted by Hoover Institution, with 100 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 82. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Hoover Institution hosts GoodFellows: Conversations on Economics, History & Geopolitics, a news show with 100 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #187

  Complicated Legacy: Jay Bhattacharya on Fauci, RFK, and Vaccines

  Aug 5, 20261h 8m

  Jay Bhattacharya returns to GoodFellows—now as NIH director and acting CDC director—for a candid conversation on what COVID got wrong, why science needs a replication revolution, and how to restore public trust. Jay takes on the legacy of lockdowns, school closures, Fauci, gain-of-function research, China, AI-enabled biosecurity risks, vaccine questions, and the fight to make scientific dissent possible again. Then: Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, AI guardrails, democratic socialism, and what Homer can still teach us about war. Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today’s biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #186

  Trump Slump, Capitalism vs. Communism, and Old Man Yells at Claude

  Jul 13, 202659 min

  After a productive first 100 days after returning to office, President Trump has since hit a rough patch – stubborn inflation (despite an otherwise powerhouse economy), an unpopular war with Iran, setbacks at the Supreme Court, plus growing dissent among congressional Republicans as his party faces the distinct possibility of losing one or both chambers of Congress in November. Has the ever-impulsive, risk-taking Trump lost his political Midas touch, or is he simply yet another president befuddled by a second-term jinx (not to mention a disgruntled electorate)? If Trump is sorely in need of a “win”, will it come on the domestic front or abroad (spoiler alert: look to Cuba)? After that, the fellows discuss whether it was fair play for the American president to intervene in World Cup officiating and the International Olympic Committee to allow Russian athlete to compete for Mother Russia in the 2028 Games, if the war in Ukraine is anywhere close to a tipping point, whether futbol is in fact an expression of socialist convictions (or so New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani believes), and the policy smarts (or a lack thereof) of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ call for a sovereign wealth on AI companies’ stock and how those firms should be addressing the industry’s image problem (the fellows playfully disagreeing on using AI to cheat on schoolwork). Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today’s biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #185

  The Empire Strikes Out: Rick Atkinson on 1776, Is Britain Broken?, and Socialists in New York

  Jul 1, 20261h 9m

  On paper, it was a mismatch: a fledgling republic seeking freedom from the world’s mightiest empire. And yet the American Revolution ended with the upstart colonists’ victory over the mighty British military. Rick Atkinson, a military historian and author of a “Revolutionary Trilogy” on the fight for America’s independence, discusses the military tactics, geopolitical shifts, and economic conditions that factored into the war’s outcome. After that, the fellows discuss why serving as the British prime minister has become a game of musical chairs and how Labour lost its way, as well as the rise of “democratic socialism” and the appeal of class warfare and expansive government in the US – most notably, a California ballot initiative that imposes a “wealth tax” on the state’s billionaires. Finally, in the “lighting round”, John's thoughts on the passing of former Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan; H.R.’s take on the Pentagon putting its generals out to pasture; and Niall reflecting on European World Cup fans descending upon the US, only to discover a land of abundance (i.e., plenty of ranch dressing even if there’s not enough beer to go around). Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today’s biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #184

  Trump’s 14 Points: Epic Fury or Epic Fail?

  Jun 18, 202647 min

  As the US and Iran prepare to sign a memorandum of understanding halting hostilities in the Middle East, will the agreement hold up for long given fundamental differences over Iran’s nuclear ambitions (another 60 days of negotiating), its funding of terrorist proxies across the region, plus Israel’s actions in Lebanon? If he succeeds in putting Iran in the rear-view window, does President Trump turn his attention to brokering a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine (that war now approaching four years and four months of fighting) as well as ending Cuba’s communist dictatorship? Finally, speaking of invasions, GoodFellows’ resident Scotsman explains the joy of his countrymen’s “Tartan Army” coming to Boston – thousands of kilt-wearing lads and lasses singing, marching and pub-crawling their way through Beantown whilst rooting on a Scottish national team making its first World Cup appearance in this century. Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today’s biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #183

  From Arsenal to Zelenskyy: The GoodFellows Answer Viewer Mail

  Jun 4, 20261 hourS0

  <p>In a special “mailbag” episode, Hoover senior fellows Sir Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and H.R. McMaster answer audience questions. Among the topics (after a brief opening segment devoted to the latest in the Iran-US impasse – aka, “Schrödinger’s ceasefire”): who are today’s great leaders; is “the American experiment” doomed, as some intellectuals posit; China’s move to gold from dollar-denominated securities; the futures of the European Union and the UK’s Reform movement; North Korea’s relative silence; the cooled-down rhetoric of climate charge; whether our PhD-wielding historians bother with televised historical dramas; thoughts on gentlemen-scholars’ sartorial style (“buy [clot...

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on GoodFellows: Conversations on Economics, History & Geopolitics. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.