For the second edition of the George P. Shultz Memorial Lecture Series, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Hoover Institution Director Condoleezza Rice, and Hoover Senior Fellow Michael Boskin assemble for a wide-ranging conversation on the economic mind and legacy of George P. Shultz. From his early career as a labor economist at MIT and the University of Chicago to his battles in the White House cabinet over wage and price controls, the closing of the gold window, and inflation that defined the Nixon and Reagan eras, Shultz emerges as a rare figure who fused intellectual rigor with political pragmatism. The panel explores how his beliefs in free markets, personal integrity, and “trust as the coin of the realm” shaped his actions, from collective bargaining and desegregation to global diplomacy—right up to his famous economic tutorials for Mikhail Gorbachev in the Kremlin. This is a timely look at how one man’s economic philosophy helped steer American policy for half a century.

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Peter Robinson sits down at Yale University with the “dean of Cold War historians,” John Lewis Gaddis—Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer of Long Telegram author George F. Kennan and one of America’s most influential thinkers on grand strategy. From the origins of the Cold War to the nuclear age, from Vietnam to détente, and from Ronald Reagan to Mikhail Gorbachev, Gaddis offers a masterclass in how nations think, plan, and learn from history.

Gaddis explains why students today often have little grasp of the Cold War, how the atomic bomb reshaped global politics, why George Kennan predicted the Soviet collapse decades before it happened, and why détente faltered in the 1970s. He revisits the debates around Vietnam, assesses Ronald Reagan’s strategic instincts, and reflects on how the Cold War ultimately ended.

The discussion then turns forward: the future of American grand strategy, the challenges posed by China and Russia today, the tension between promoting democracy and maintaining global stability, and why understanding the past is essential for navigating the 21st century.

Along the way, Gaddis shares stories of teaching grand strategy, the influence of the classics, his unexpected path from small-town Texas to Yale, and why he remains optimistic about the humanities—and about America.

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How does the Supreme Court really work—and how does one of its youngest justices balance life, law, and seven children?

In this in-depth conversation, Justice Amy Coney Barrett discusses her new book, Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and the Constitution. Barrett explains the principles behind originalism, the Court’s reasoning in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and how the Court reached a decision in landmark cases like Casa de Maryland v. United States and handled a debate over the major questions doctrine.

Barrett also opens up about her clerkship with Justice Antonin Scalia, how the Court builds consensus, why stare decisis matters, and how her faith and family life shape her character—but not her judicial reasoning.

With the discussion ranging from the Warren Court to the Roberts Court, from Roe v. Wade to Dobbs, this is a very candid and illuminating conversation with a sitting Supreme Court justice.

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