Uncommon Knowledge Podcast
1) Thomas Sowell on the Origins of Economic Disparities
Recorded on April 1, 2019 Is discrimination the reason behind economic inequality in the United States? Thomas Sowell dismisses that question with a newly revised edition of his book Discriminatio...Show More
2) “They’re Not Like Us”: Michael McFaul on Autocrats vs. Democrats and the Fight for the Twenty-First Century | Peter Robinson | Hoover Institution
Former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul returns to Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson to discuss his new book, Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder. M...Show More
3) Basketball in the Last 60 Seconds: Ben Sasse on Mortality, Meaning, and the Future of America | Peter Robinson | Hoover Institution
In December 2025, former US Senator Ben Sasse announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. That’s the primary topic for this far-reaching conversation about mortality, faith, a...Show More
4) Thomas Sowell on School Choice and the Price Our Children Pay for Bad Ideas | Peter Robinson | Thomas Sowell | Hoover Institution
Thomas Sowell delivers a sweeping critique of American education, affirmative action, and modern universities, drawing on his own life story—from Harlem classrooms to Ivy League institutions—decades o...Show More
5) Why Does 2 + 2 = 4? What Math Teaches Us About Deep Reality | Peter Robinson | Hoover Institution
Is math something humans invent—or something we discover? And why does it describe the universe so uncannily well? In this episode of Uncommon Knowledge, Peter Robinson sits down with mathematicians D...Show More
6) Russian Soul, American Life: A Conversation with Ignat Solzhenitsyn | Peter Robinson | Hoover Institution
Pianist and conductor Ignat Solzhenitsyn reflects on growing up in exile as the son of Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, moving from Soviet persecution to a quiet childhood in rural Vermont. Igna...Show More
7) Teaching Gorbachev Capitalism: Jerome Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and Michael Boskin Discuss George Shultz, the Economist | Peter Robinson | Hoover Institution
For the second edition of the George P. Shultz Memorial Lecture Series, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Hoover Institution Director Condoleezza Rice, and Hoover Senior Fellow Michael Boskin assem...Show More
8) Why the Cold War Still Matters with John Lewis Gaddis | Peter Robinson | Hoover Institution
Peter Robinson sits down at Yale University with the “dean of Cold War historians,” John Lewis Gaddis—Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer of Long Telegram author George F. Kennan and one of America’s mo...Show More
Why the Cold War Still Matters with John Lewis Gaddis | Peter Robinson | Hoover Institution
1:07:49 | Nov 19th, 2025
9) Listening to the Law: How Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett Does Her Job | Peter Robinson | Hoover Institution
How does the Supreme Court really work—and how does one of its youngest justices balance life, law, and seven children? In this in-depth conversation, Justice Amy Coney Barrett discusses her new book,...Show More
10) Thomas Sowell: A Free Man | Peter Robinson | Hoover Institution
This special episode of Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson features our most requested guest: Hoover senior fellow and acclaimed economist and author Dr. Thomas Sowell. But rather than discussing ...Show More