Area 45

The good news for Angela Merkel is to be re-elected to a fourth term as German chancellor. The bad news is fashioning a working coalition of political parties divided over taxes, immigration, and climate policy. Hoover Institution senior fellow Russell Berman examines the options available to Germany’s chancellor, including any changes to her roles on the European and world stages. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 37:25)

A year after Donald Trump’s improbable win, voters went to the polls in Virginia to elect a new governor—a contest that was, in part, a referendum on Trump’s nascent presidency. Hoover senior fellow and renowned pollster Doug Rivers breaks down the Old Dominion vote and what the results say about the effectiveness of Republican and Democratic messaging on the verge of the 2018 midterm elections. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 54:47)

Lionized in print and on theater stages, Alexander Hamilton is a curious bookend for a new president who likewise calls Manhattan home, is steeped in capitalism, and uses the media to joust with his rivals. Elizabeth Cobbs, a Hoover Institution senior fellow and author of The Hamilton Affair: A Novel, separates fact from fiction regarding the famed Founding Father. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 56:19)

The United States is tenth in the world among nations’ protecting intellectual property. In 2016 US patent applications declined by one percent. Stephen Haber, the Hoover Institution’s Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow, examines a patent landscape that includes Big Pharma, Big Tech, legal trolls, and Keanu Reeves–like actors. He also offers a few suggestions for how the Trump administration can shield and spur American innovation. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 43:16)

America’s GOP dominates at all levels of government—state legislative, gubernatorial, congressional, presidential—yet Republicans have struggled, quite publicly, to come to terms with the party’s direction during the era of Trump. Lanhee Chen, the Hoover Institution’s David and Diane Steffy Research Fellow, discusses the Republican identity crisis, the lingering effects on the GOP brand, and the party’s ability to produce change in Washington. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 50:46)

Recorded on October 6, 2017 A new administration means a new approach to federal energy approach, in the case of Donald Trump’s presidency, a new look at nuclear energy. Hoover research fellow Jeremy Carl, coauthor of Keeping the Lights on at America’s Nuclear Power Plants, examines the choices available to Trump on clean, green, and fossil energies. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 41:45)

Recorded on September 28, 2017 As Congress and the White House wrestle over immigration reform—funding for a border wall, protecting Dreamers—what is the public’s attitude? Timothy Kane, the Hoover Institution’s J. P Conte Fellow in Immigration Studies, highlights the findings of a new Hoover/YouGov survey on immigration and which policy ideas enjoy consensus approval. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 41:10)

It’s a tradition dating back to the Founding Fathers: the American government financing safeguards, be it retirement (Social Security), health benefits (Medicare), or rewards for military service in the form of federal entitlements. In an age of debt and deficits, when will lawmakers address entitlement reform? John Cogan, Hoover’s Leonard and Shirley Ely Senior Fellow and author of a new book on the long history of federal entitlements, assesses where the Trump administration goes from here. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playting time: 40:41)

Recorded on September 26, 2017 The largest nation on the other side of the Pacific Rim plays an outsized role in economic and geopolitical matters, including trade, global aspirations, and finding a solution to the escalating tensions with North Korea. Michael Auslin, Hoover’s inaugural Williams-Griffis Fellow in Contemporary Asia, discusses just how communist China is, decades after Mao and the changed state of US relations with Donald Trump in the White House. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 49:45)

Recorded on September 26, 2017 After nearly a quarter of a century of the same approach—diplomacy, sanctions, and concessions—the United States seems out of policy options other than a military solution with regard to North Korea . Michael Auslin, Hoover’s inaugural Williams-Griffis Fellow in Contemporary Asia, discusses what scenarios may unfold on the Korean peninsula as well as the possibility of nuclear engagement and nuclear accidents. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 42:06)

Recorded on September 13, 2017 “In Israel, in order to be a realist . . . you have to believe in miracles,” observed the late David Ben-Gurion. Peter Berkowitz, the Hoover Institution’s Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow and an expert on Israeli affairs, assesses the Trump administration’s peacemaking strategy, which includes deploying Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, and taking into account Prime Minister Netanyahu’s fragile political health. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 46:19)

An irony of Donald Trump: in the process of besting Hillary Clinton, he also divided conservatives into three camps. So contends Tevi Troy, a best-selling author and political analyst who worries about the lack of an intellectual presence in the current White House. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 47:35)

Americans watched with forlorn fascination as devastating hurricanes laid waste to stretches of Florida and Texas. Hoover research fellow Alice Hill explains how the nation can better prepare for future natural disasters. The key word is “resilience.” Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe! (Playing time: 40:30)

Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat from Silicon Valley and vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, discusses the feasibility of re-creating the technology economy in other parts of the United States. Is there room for working with the Trump administration, or are his fellow Democrats preoccupied by Russia and impeachment talk? Like Area 45? Please rate, review, and subscribe now! (Playing time: 50:48)

Recorded on July 24, 2017 With schools in session across the country, Hoover senior fellow Paul Peterson details this year’s survey of American education by Education Next. Among the more notable results: teachers are wary of their colleagues’ performance; parents are increasingly dissatisfied with charter schools. Like Area 45? Please rate, review, and subscribe now! (Playing time: 42:03)