Choosing Freedom

Attendees fill Hauck Auditorium during Hoover’s Choosing Freedom dialogue, part of the Institution’s Ideas That Made U.S.: Dialogues on Freedom series commemorating the 250th anniversary of America’s independence.

María Corina Machado addresses Hoover’s Choosing Freedom dialogue, sharing her experience leading Venezuela’s democratic movement and advocating for freedom in the face of authoritarianism.

María Corina Machado, leader of Venezuela’s democratic movement and recipient of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, speaks with Hoover Senior Fellow Stephen Kotkin about Venezuela’s struggle for freedom during Hoover’s Choosing Freedom dialogue.

Hoover Library & Archives Director Eric Wakin emcees Hoover’s Choosing Freedom dialogue and the opening of the exhibition Choosing Freedom: Lives That Defied Tyranny.

The exhibition Choosing Freedom: Lives That Defied Tyranny highlights the experiences of individuals who risked everything to escape oppression and secure freedom.

Visitors examine materials from Choosing Freedom: Lives That Defied Tyranny, which features firsthand accounts and artifacts documenting resistance to authoritarian rule.

Hoover senior fellow Stephen Kotkin speaks with research fellow Abbas Milani, who fled Iran after the 1979 revolution, and North Korean defector and journalist Joo Sung-ha during Hoover’s Choosing Freedom dialogue.

Research fellow Ayaan Hirsi Ali reflects on her journey from political refugee to advocate for liberty in a conversation with Hoover Library & Archives Director Eric Wakin at Hoover’s Choosing Freedom dialogue.

Attendees watched a 2019 conversation between Jimmy Lai and Peter Robinson, recorded before Lai’s imprisonment, in which he explains why he remained in Hong Kong despite the increasing risks to his freedom and personal safety.

Closing Hoover’s Choosing Freedom dialogue, Senior Fellow Stephen Kotkin reflected on the enduring importance of courage, freedom, and individual responsibility in preserving free societies.

More than one hundred attendees gathered in Fairweather Courtyard for a reception following Hoover’s Choosing Freedom dialogue.