- US
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- Determining America's Role in the World
- Revitalizing American Institutions
- Revitalizing History
As part of the Hoover Institution’s ongoing USA@250 celebration of the founding of the American republic, a live GoodFellows episode recorded on the campus of Stanford University focusing on the US Constitution – in tech terms, America’s “operating system”. Goodfellows regulars Sir Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane and Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster discuss the root causes of the American Revolution (taxation without representation, though the Scottish-born panelist contends the colonists in fact had a “fantastic deal”), the Constitution’s underlying principles (recognizing but not granting rights), why a document that’s more “machinery” than “visionary” in its design has stood the test of time, plus whether several provisions within the original framework and its 27 amendments (presidential eligibility, gun rights, “birthright citizenship”) need updating a world the Founding Fathers couldn’t imagine.
Recorded on April 22, 2026.
ABOUT GOODFELLOWS
GoodFellows: Conversations on Economics, History, and Geopolitics is a flagship videocast from the Hoover Institution. Senior fellows John Cochrane, Niall Ferguson, and H.R. McMaster cut through the noise, challenge conventional wisdom, and explain what’s driving markets, power, and public policy. Drawing on rigorous economic analysis, deep historical perspective, and national security leadership at the highest levels, these leading thinkers deliver clear, trusted insight into the challenges facing the United States while debating the forces shaping the modern world.
