Stanford historian Niall Ferguson joins Ian Bremmer on the GZERO World podcast to talk about the geopolitics of disaster. Throughout human history we seem to be unable to adequately prepare for catastrophes (natural or human-caused) before they strike. Why is that? And as we emerge from the greatest calamity of our lifetimes in the COVID-19 pandemic and look to the plethora of crises that climate change has and will cause, what can we do to lessen the blow?  

How do a historian, an economist, and a geostrategist make the best use of their summers? In this special edition of GoodFellows, Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and H.R. McMaster share their summertime preferences. From favorite leisurely pursuits (land, air, and sea) to go-to food and drink, and family gatherings, they offer a glimpse into their personal lives. They also recommend books and movies, and discuss their upcoming research and writing projects, which involve plenty of travel. Among the revelations: while they are summer aficionados, they’re not streaming “vidiots.” Additionally, on a conflicting 4th of July, we explore a dual citizen’s “special relationship” with his native U.K. and adopted America.

‘The point of studying the past is to understand our present predicament’ – Niall Ferguson

There are few big thinkers better placed to explain global events than historian Niall Ferguson. He has not just a profound understanding of past crises, but also an exceptional ability to map out the longer term impact that present crises will have on world affairs.

In April 2024 Ferguson joined us on the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss the predicaments we are currently facing. How can the West deal with the geopolitical and ideological threats posed by what Ferguson calls the axis of ill will – Russia, China and Iran? With localised wars in Ukraine and Israel-Gaza and the threat of a crisis over Taiwan, are we sleepwalking towards a Third World War? And what are the likely consequences of the ongoing conflicts for the world economy?

Ferguson explored these pressing questions and shares his insights into the fast-changing global landscape.

In this week’s ARC Off-Stage Conversation, historian Niall Ferguson meets Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster of TRIGGERnometry to discuss the future of Western civilisation. Konstantin and Niall discuss some of the major threats we are facing, but Niall reminds us that these are no worse than those faces 50 years ago. The 70s saw huge inflation problems, deteriorating geopolitics in many regions, and concern about morality. But by 1980, “Ronald Reagan is elected. Nine years later, the Berlin Wall comes down, and two years after that, the Soviet Union's gone.”

Yes, the West currently faces serious problems and threats, but decline is never inevitable. We must remember our history because, despite “the declinists’” obsession with crisis and collapse, there is always hope for renewal.

What are the unseen costs of administrative bureaucracy and an ideology that favors victimhood over scholarly debate? What caused the ideological shift from classical liberalism to the illiberal leanings that now permeate universities, and what does it mean for the future of intellectual innovation and freedom? In this episode, hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen welcome Niall Ferguson, the Millbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and a Senior Faculty Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, for a discussion of Niall’s solution to the current problems – a new university.

Historians differ over the need to explore “counterfactuals”—the study of scenarios that never happened—and what they can tell us about historical causation. Stephen Kotkin, the Hoover Institution’s Kleinheinz Senior Fellow and noted historian of Russia, joins Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson and John Cochrane to discuss alternative historical outcomes: Stalin not surviving a two-front invasion in World War II and Churchill dying well beforehand; the American Revolution failing; the Beatles never spearheading pop music’s British Invasion; a Trump victory in 2020 and its potential effect on the current state of affairs in Ukraine and the Middle East; plus a world in which COVID never happened (spoiler alert: it might have impacted John and Niall’s book sales).

Welcome to the first episode of Voternomics. On this podcast, Stephanie Flanders, Bloomberg’s head of government and economics coverage, Allegra Stratton, author of Bloomberg’s The Readout (https://www.bloomberg.com/account/new...) newsletter and Bloomberg Opinion columnist Adrian Wooldridge discuss how voters have the opportunity to affect markets, countries and economies like never before. Historian Niall Ferguson and Bloomberg Washington reporter Nancy Cook join our hosts to give their take on this unique moment in time.

Ferguson explains why he believes the 2024 US presidential election isn’t about foreign policy, why Donald Trump is using his 2016 campaign strategy and why the second Cold War is escalating faster than the first.

The 9th edition of our Annual Conference took place in Delphi and Arachova on April 10-13, 2024.

Niall Ferguson, Sr Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Sr Fellow, Belfer Center for Science & Int'l Affairs, Harvard University.

Lex-free version of Episode #239

Topics Include: University of Austin (UATX), Sam Harris, Elon Musk, Money, Hyperinflation, Bitcoin, Ethereum and smart contracts, the worst disasters in human history, how history will remember the current pandemic, hope for the future, love, and meaning of life.

On February 28, 2024, HKS Student Policy Review Senior Editor Nikolas Neos spoke with Niall Ferguson, the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. The conversation focused on the U.S.-China relations.