Today, Justice Clarence Thomas speaks with Peter Robinson about lessons he learned from Thomas Sowell; Michael McFaul writes on the legacy of his diplomatic predecessor John Quincy Adams; and Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer explore one of today’s most consequential legal questions involving artificial intelligence, libel, and corporate responsibility.
The Sowell Legacy
In this episode of The Sowell Legacy, Justice Clarence Thomas joins Peter Robinson for a wide-ranging conversation about the thinker who transformed his life. Justice Thomas recounts discovering Thomas Sowell’s work as a young lawyer, the friendship that followed, and the lessons in self-reliance, honesty, and intellectual independence that shaped his own journey—from segregated Georgia to the US Supreme Court. Together, they explore race, education, constitutionalism, courage in public life, and why Sowell’s ideas continue to resonate with rising generations. Watch or listen here.
Freedom Frequency
American diplomacy owes a debt to John Quincy Adams, the first minister to Russia, writes former ambassador to that country Michael McFaul. Adams represented not a world empire but a newborn experiment that had little power and was viewed with skepticism by other nations, McFaul says. During his tenure as agent to the tsar’s court, Adams downplayed the revolutionary identity of the new country and principles that might have caused frictions in the Russian Empire. Instead, McFaul shows, he emphasized common goals such as free commerce and amity. The result was nearly a century of cordial US-Russian relations, which fostered Russia’s critical declaration of neutrality in the US Civil War. Ultimately, Adams’s caution and skill at diplomatic nuance helped to set a productive pattern for US actions abroad, McFaul concludes. Read more here.
Law & Policy
On the latest episode of Free Speech Unmuted, Senior Fellow Eugene Volokh and cohost Jane Bambauer examine the groundbreaking Robby Starbuck v. Google case, one of the first major defamation lawsuits arising from generative AI “hallucinations.” They explore whether AI-generated falsehoods can constitute libel, why Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act offers no protection for AI-generated content, and how traditional defamation law applies when an AI invents damaging allegations about a real person. The conversation also covers the legal standards for actual malice, the role of discovery, Delaware’s unusually permissive pleading rules, and whether these lawsuits could reshape the future of AI development—or expose AI companies to a wave of costly litigation. If AI can invent facts, who should bear the responsibility? This episode tackles one of the most important legal questions facing artificial intelligence today. Read more here.
Security and Defense
Senior Fellow H.R. McMaster joined CBS News to discuss the latest on the Iran war, including recently disclosed details of President Trump’s secretive plane swap on his exit from Turkey amid a credible Iranian missile threat against him. On the Strait of Hormuz, McMaster argues that the fundamental impediment to restoring normal traffic remains the ideology of “permanent hostility” toward the US and its allies within the hardline Iranian regime. He says that a “forcible entry of the Strait” is likely required to change the situation there, unless the regime first buckles under economic pressure. McMaster emphasizes the strategic importance of “not giving Iran the infusion of cash” that a relaxation of sanctions or blockade activity could represent, in order to continue to deny the regime the ability to reconstitute its military capabilities. Watch here.
Education Policy
Hoover Fellow Michael Hartney joined The Education Exchange podcast, hosted by Senior Fellow Paul E. Peterson, to discuss the relationship between Democratic Party politics and teachers’ unions. Hartney presents data showing a significant increase in positive sentiment toward these unions among Democrats during the postpandemic period. He argues that the key research question for him is, “How does public opinion data circle back into our political system and affect policy?” Hartney notes a shift in national politics among teachers’ unions toward engagement with many issues beyond education, like democratic stability or the Israel-Palestine conflict. As he explains, “I think there might be a disconnect here [between] what happens at the local level with the local union, probably a lot of emphasis on salary, and at the national level and at the state level, probably more of an emphasis on national and state political issues.” Listen here.
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