This week on Uncommon Knowledge, host Peter Robinson mediates a discussion between PayPal founder and Stanford Professor Peter Thiel and Velocity Capital Management founder and journalist Andy Kessler on the state of technology and innovation in the United States over the past four decades. Thiel argues that, outside of computers, there has been very little innovation in the past forty years, and the rate of technological change has significantly decreased when compared to the first half of the 20th century. In contrast, Kessler asserts that innovation comes in waves, and we are on the verge of another burst of technological breakthroughs. Industries covered include education, medicine and biotechnology, as well as robots and high tech.
Peter A. Thiel
Andy Kessler
Videos
Mickey Levy on his early career working with Alice Rivlin at the Congressional Budget Office and with Arthur Burns at AEI, as well as being part of the Shadow Open Markets Committee from its early days in the 1970s.
October 16, 2026
Videos
Hoover Institution fellow Benjamin Jaros and Aharon Friedman talk about likely post-election challenges to Proposition 40, the Billionaire Wealth Tax.
October 8, 2026
Articles
From HB2, which was enacted last month: Beginning October 1, 2026, all state and local entities and their employees shall be required to do all of the following.
October 7, 2026