Uncommon Knowledge

Articles by Uncommon Knowledge

Michael Barone Lists Candidates GOP Should Have Run

Longtime political writer and great conservative thinker Michael Barone has joined Peter Robinson on Uncommon Knowledge.  They discuss the possibility of a brokered convention in Tampa, why campaign finance regulations need to go, and how they infringe upon our first

Michael Barone Lists Candidates GOP Should Have Run

Uncommon Knowledge Special Edition: Newt Gingrich

58th Speaker of the House and 2012 GOP presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich makes the case for his candidacy, explains why he’s not a Washington insider, and describes his vision for his first term. On the agenda: gaining energy independence, ending

Obamacare and the Constitution

True constitutional conservatives don’t ask, “Does the Constitution keep me from doing X?”. Instead, they examine whether the Constitution explicitly lays out that X is permitted. On a recent Uncommon Knowledge, constitutional scholars Richard Epstein and John Yoo have a

Europe's Collapse and the Green Movement with James Delingpole

Is Europe worse off than the United States economically? If the EU does collapse, will it take another form? Is the Green Movement based on junk science? In a recent interview, James Delingpole provides a different perspective on the future

The Role of the Federal Government with Paul Rahe

Is the United States government considered a republic? Paul Rahe thinks so – and asserts, “The modern nation state is an attempt to capture what the ancient Greeks and Romans had.” Our federal government has gone through a massive shift

The Declaration and Constitution with Larry Arnn

The Declaration and the Constitution have been thrown out the window by the Obama Administration. There’s no doubt that these are two of the most impressive and influential documents in history. The founding fathers of our country provided a framework

The Devil's Delusion with David Berlinski

Why are so many scientific experts atheists? Is it because of their desire for power, their sole acceptance of physical theories, or mere denial? Contrary to what many people think, science and religion are not always mutually exclusive. Many laws

Liberal Media Bias with Tim Groseclose

It’s widely known that the media has a liberal bias. But how do we prove it exists? Tim Groseclose, political scientist and Professor of American Politics at the University of California at Los Angeles, has proven that this liberal bias

The Legacy of Margaret Thatcher with Charles Moore

Margaret Thatcher redefined what it meant to be “conservative” in Britain during the 1980s. Horrified by the fear that her county was going downhill, Thatcher tackled some of Britain’s biggest challenges head on – from trade unions to high inflation

Freedom Fighter With Yuri Yarim-Agaev

Why does the Cold War still matter? Because communism provides a perfect example of what can happen when big government encroaches on individual freedom. What led to the fall of communism? The ideology itself, Ronald Reagan, and the dissident movement

Andrew Breitbart on Uncommon Knowledge

Big Government’s very own Andrew Breitbart stopped by our studio recently to discuss his latest book, Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World. Check out the episode below to learn more about his days as a liberal parrot

Facts and Fallacies with Thomas Sowell

Does affordable housing require rent control? No. Not even in Manhattan. And in fact, it is no coincidence that the cities with the most rent control (NYC and San Francisco) also have the highest rent. There is no incentive on

People Don't Get Educated in College

The introduction of the GI Bill following WWII transformed college education. Universities were no longer a possibility for only the upper class. Instead, people from all walks of life were given the opportunity to further their education. Now, college is

Freedom Is Going to Need Every Friend It Can Get

The GOP pool for 2012 is overflowing with hopefuls and yet lacking in any clear frontrunner. And with our recent involvement in Libya, the ongoing battle in Congress over the budget, and health care costs skyrocketing – we really could

Obama's 'Reset Diplomacy' and Middle East Unrest

Civil war, revolution, protests and general unrest have swept through the Arab world in the past few months. What once might have been a small prairie fire–the suicide protest in Tunisia–became a widespread conflagration in part due to social media’s

Donald Rumsfeld: Known And Unknown

Perhaps the first good thing to come Donald Rumsfeld’s way via the New York Times is his current standing on the bestseller list for his memoir, Known and Unknown, which looks back at his career as Secretary of Defense and

Obama the Appeaser

During President Obama’s first two years in office, we have seen him do nothing but fumble on the world stage. He often seems to sit back and watch major changes occur – making no effort to be a part of

Why Welfare Will Never Change

The welfare state isn’t going anywhere. The current debate is, as our recent guest William Voegeli argues, simply “narcissism of small differences.” It will surely mean a nasty fight, but it won’t end with any dramatic changes to the public’s

Obama's Socialism

President Obama’s cult of personality and feel-good message of “change” allowed him to sail through the 2008 campaign without being thoroughly vetted by the press. No one took the time to delve into his past and look at his influences,

The Constitution and Obamacare

What does the Constitution really say about the most controversial policy decisions of the present day? What arguments against Obamacare have potential in court, and which are DOA? Constitutional law experts Richard Epstein and John Yoo joined us to discuss

Gary Becker – The Economist's Economist

The U.S. economy grew incredibly from 1983 to 2008. And then it all collapsed. What happened? Nobel Prize winning economist and University of Chicago professor Gary Becker weighs in on the state of the US economy. He gives the Bush

Policy Fail: You Can't Spend Your Way Out of Recession

Our latest guest is British Member of the European Parliament Daniel Hannan, who came to wide acclaim for his stripping down of then Prime Minister Gordon Brown: “The truth, Prime Minister, is that you have run out of our money

Obama's Destructive Foreign Policy

President Obama seems to think that every global policy problem is a result of misunderstanding, miscommunication, or mixed signals perpetuated through the Bush presidency. If we could just get the world to like the United States, Obama argues, these problems

Sarah Palin – the Next Margaret Thatcher?

Margaret Thatcher nearly singlehandedly restored Britain from its cradle-to-grave welfare state to a thriving economy. She believed that the socialism of her day was incompatible with the strong, productive, self-reliant, moral citizens she wanted the British people to be, and

Have We Found the Anti-Obama?

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour joins the program to discuss his background and political career (he’s only the second Republican governor of MS since Reconstruction), the current political climate (“unprecedented power in the federal government”) and how he was one of

Harvey Mansfield Grades the American University System

Statistically, Harvey Mansfield should be a raging liberal. He’s been at Harvard since 1949. In 2008, 93% of Harvard faculty political contributions were to Democrats. At Yale in the same year it was 94%. While it is no secret that

Who is Dismantling America? Dr. Thomas Sowell Takes the Pulse

Always a popular guest, Dr. Thomas Sowell returns to the show to discuss his latest book, Dismantling America. The book’s focus is wide ranging, as is the discussion. To take one example, Dr. Sowell questions whether most people understand what

Building a Grand Strategy

Our latest guest is Ambassador Charles Hill, former advisor to Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Schultz. Mr. Hill claims that US Presidents over the past two decades have been completely inept in foreign policy. Bush 41 and Clinton

The Gipper Then and Now

On the latest episode of Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson, Rob Long and Mark Steyn reflect on speeches given by Ronald Reagan and discuss their relevance today. Reagan argued that the beginning stage of socialism is when the state gets

Reflecting On The Non-Political Side Of War

All warfare is intertwined with politics in some way. But in our latest edition of Uncommon Knowledge, Peter Robinson talks with acclaimed author Sebastian Junger (famous for The Perfect Storm) about the experience of war. Beginning in 2007, Junger embedded

Relax America, Politicans Just Want To Improve You

Barack Obama promised during the 2008 campaign to end partisan politics. Although Obama as President has governed with staunch partisan vigor, he has continued to deplore the politicization of American politics as a terrible failure. Underneath that sentiment, Uncommon Knowledge‘s

Are Aircraft Carriers Obsolete?

Is it time to eliminate America’s large naval fleet? Did Donald Rumsfeld get it right with an emphasis on small, fast, and flexible? Naval Postgraduate School professor John Arquilla joins Victor Davis Hanson to discuss these questions and more in