I can listen to Joe Pesci all day long and not get bored.

Stephan Kotkin is more than a professor of history, he’s an expert with humanity and insight. A thoroughly engaging conversation.

He needs his own show, the way he explains ideas and history is phenomenal. Could listen to him hours at a time.

Taught many graduate students from Vietnam, age 25~35, as a professor in Korea. In direct conversation, they repeatedly voiced the notion that the Vietnamese people harbor no animosity towards Americans despite the ravages of the war. This surprised me but also made me sense a good future for the Vietnamese people. ;-)

My mother used to quote François de La Rochefoucauld, "Hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue."

Stephen is one of the most relevant minds to follow for geopolitical understanding. He's a national treasure.

Prof. Kotkin is one of the very few who really understands what is going on. Thanks for your insights.

YES! YES! It always makes my day when new interview with prof. Kotkin comes out. 🙂 I can listen this great historian for hours and don't get bored. Thank you for making this interviews, I wish his words could reach more people. Greetings from Czech Rep. 👍

Take Stephen & Peter on the road and sell out theaters across the country.

Stephen Kotkin is one of the most insightful human beings I've ever come across. He speaks, I shut up and listen.

Always love new content with Stephen Kotkin 😊

A fantastic addition to the "Questions for Kotkin" series. Kotkin is an immense credit to civilly progressive society.

Watching you from Ukraine. Thanks! 🇺🇦💪🇺🇸

Stephen Kotkin deserves way more applause than that.

A knitted tie! He's actually wearing a knitted tie. That makes my respect for him go up by almost as much as wearing THOSE shoes with THAT suit, brings it down.

I love Kotkin's presentation style. He's so down-to-earth.

I could not be more excited to watch this video. I've been searching every day for new long-form Stephen Kotkin interviews since the "mutiny".

This Five More Questions series is quite fun.

The questions that were the setup for this discussion were good. Professor Kotkin's responses were excellent and on point, but his comments on Patriotism are priceless and should be inscribed on our hearts!

What an incredible conversation. I love when intelligent and interesting people break down current affairs, politics and history in a way I understand and learn from. We don’t have to be scholars but we do need some level of knowledge when it comes to these topics. If you don’t, you are just along for the ride. I think it’s important to learn and understand why we do what we do and what we fight for. To ensure future generations don’t squander the gift, we must educate them and preach the importance of ideals and institutions.

I am a child of the Vietnam War. When “Freedom isn’t free, you have to pay the price, you have to sacrifice, for your liberty” had to share the stage with “Who’s the one to tell me why, if I’m the one whose gotta die?” Our system then made both points of view valid.

EVERYONE in this country should listen to this interview, and esp. the last 15 minutes of it. You can agree with it, or ultimately disagree with it, but it's important to hear, and to be reminded of.

A truly great man. A Patriot. An optimistic. A realist. A treasure.

Kotkin single-handedly just changed my entire worldview...wow

Grateful to be living in the timeline where I get to watch Robinson interview Kotkin on KZfaq

There’s nothing better on a slow Saturday evening than getting to listen to a new prof. Kotkin presentation with a good craft beer at my side. Lol

Great interview. I discover Professor Kotkin for the first time. He makes Probably the most meaningful comments I’ve heard on the current Ukrainian situation. Thank you for bringing it to us.

Prof. Kotkin’s ability to communicate his brilliant insights to his audience makes him one of my favorite historians and always listen to his speeches. His responses to the questions asked were outstanding leaving me with a much more complete understanding of the events. Thank you to all who contributed to the video.

As a reasonable moderate liberal person - it is a pleasure to to listen to such a balanced well thought smart person.

Kotkin's wide perspective and deep knowledge is remarkable. His ability to clearly present his views in such an organized way with restraint and even occasional humor is refreshing.

Best thing about Dr. Kotkin becoming a Hoover fellow is that we get to see him on Uncommon Knowledge regularly 😂

It's a pure pleasure to listen to Stephen Kotkin. Thank you.

Between the VDH and Kotkin interviews you are working OT on delivering exceptional content. Thank you!

Even the Comments here are so well mannered and intelligent. A great mind creates greatness.

i always feel optimistic after listening to Stephen Kotkin... Thank you !

I admire Stephen' Kotkin for his reference to Vietnam, and the USA being capable of winning the peace, after losing the war - this really should make Americans proud. I spent about four weeks in Vietnam in 2007, and was astonished by the people and their openness to America and other cultures as well - they are just asking for respect and the right to remember. What makes one sad, is that Ho Chi Minh, when on the search for support after their freedom fight against the French in 1954, was approaching USA first - and due to bad decisionmaking in DC, he was denied. By this, the US forced him to turn to the Russians, and the Russians again forced him to accept Chinese help. How Chinese help looks like, we all know.

Professor Kotkin could even teach a macrame class and make it sound amazing. Love you. Stay optomistic.

Steve talks like Tommy from "Good fellas", sure he knows about the mob :)

Is it okay to be a patriot and hate your government? Kotkin is a treasure.

Doesn’t get much better! These two guys are perfect together!

I love how each question has more than one question in it. That's how you do it when you get the chance to have someone like this on your show. Excellent. 💯👍🇺🇸

It is so refreshing to listen to such great conversations. Stephen Kotkin is definitely someone who makes you sit up and pay attention, the more so when he reminds us again and again that it is up to us to make the teaching of history engaging enough that students, young and old, would become captivated by how the professor knows how to lecture. @Peter Robinson, you've said before that speechwriters can only do the job if they love their Presidents. It's probably almost impossible for an interviewer to love ALL his interviewees, but you probably come close.

More! Love both of you! Bring it on!

I absolutely love how Stephen never bites Peter's hyper partisan baits.

Kotkin! Thanks Hoover Institution for publishing another Kotkin interview

This was incredible to listen to, what an incredible mind on display!

Prof. Kotkin is the only true American Patriot amongst this crowd of so-called ‘patriots’. Facing the issues with logical takes, not nonsensical populist views that get the country nowhere but backwards from our current position. Kudos to you, professor, hopefully the rest of the right realizes that they need to aspire to be more like you and less like the more media-hungry and selfish conservatives.

My goodness I wish I could’ve had a prof like him years ago! Great presentation, thanks!

Stephen Kotkin is such a pleasure to listen to. A wealth of knowledge and insight into Russia and China, as well as ourselves, whilst also being able to deliver with humility and humour. All is not lost. Thank you from Australia

Clear, down-to-earth explanations ; a deep insight into our East European events . . Greetings from Lithuania.

Excellent analysis of complex Geopolitics and history in Europe.

Hadn't heard about Kotkin's history of Siberia. Can't wait to read it.

"The Soviet Union was a chocolate bar" I'll need to remember that one

Simply like always great!

Knew this interview would be coming, thank you Mr. Robinson and Prof. Kotkin.

Fascinating interview with Mr Kotkin, as always.

Thank you! We have been waiting for this interview with Professor Kotkin.

Stephan Kotkin should become our next Secretary of State.

Uncommon Knowledge with Stephen Kotkin as the interviewee is one the best times spent on KZfaq.

Always a delight to hear Stephen Kotkin in Hoover Ins. interview. Thank you.

Prof. Kotkin is definitely someone I enjoy listening to, but based on his voice, I can't help but think of him as an academic Joe Pesci. Does anyone else have this impression besides me?

Stephen Kotkin sounds like a History professor out of Goodfellas

I love the Hoover Institution for content like this.

So exciting to see this new episode! Thank you!

I always enjoy listening to an exchange with Dr. Kotkin. On patriotism, we agree completely. Mark Twain's quote about patriotism comes to mind: "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it." Partiotism isn't conservative or liberal - it is about shared American ideals.

Kotkin is one of the greats of our time - his knowledge and understanding of history and current affairs is just outstanding, and he does Joe Pesci to a T!

Another excellent talk by Dr. Kotkin. Great questions and moderator. Thank you! It is so fantastic to sit on my porch in Cody, Wyoming and listen to great minds.

The incomparable Kotkin. Smarts with humour. The most enjoyable listen on geopolitics out there. Wish he did more interviews! Must read his books.

Glad to see that the third instalment of the "Five Questions for Stephen Kotkin series", looking forward to the fourth!

This man is my neo historical " comfort blanket".He is like a very wise grandfather.

Love listening to Kotkin, can't wait for part 3 of Stalin!!. It's a pure pleasure to listen to Stephen Kotkin. Thank you..

At 33 minutes. Wow, What a positive vision! He makes the reason for the US experience alive in our minds again. This cannot be overestimated.

I'm sure the US can do for Ukraine what it's done for Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lybia …

I love this man. Quirky, clever, clear.

If Dr. Kotkin would teach the "Plato to Nato" course, I would be the first to enroll! I wish I could have taken that class.

ANOTHER interview with Dr. Kotkin?! My cup runneth over! Long may it do so.

11:10 "Imperial Japan gives way to a liberal democracy. Nazi Germany gives way to a stable liberal democracy". Yes, because both were defeated, occupied and had democracy effectively imposed on them forcibly. Do you think Germany would have miraculously de-Nazified and democratised itself without the defeat, occupation and political control of the Allied powers? Seeing how reluctant it was to the process of de-Nazification, how quickly after WWII it announced an amnesty for war criminals etc. and what the societal mood was prevalent among the Germans for decades after WWII - no. So Russia didn't go the path of Imperial Japan or Nazi Germany because it wasn't defeated, occupied and didn't see a new political order imposed on it. As simple as that.

Clears the cognitive fog which surrounds our problems.... Exceptional.......

Great interview, thank you.

Always enjoy listening to Professor Kotkin and appreciate the Hoover Institution content. It is however fascinating to me as big C Conservative institutions wrestle (or through incredible feats of cognitive dissonance fail to wrestle) with the fact that their positions are now largely championed by the mainstream Democratic party (if not necessarily the leading edge of liberalism). I'd kind of like to see this taken head on one day. Kotkin speaks here and elsewhere of statecraft in its most lofty forms, nation building at the most expansive levels, deep appreciation for institutions, and when it comes to Taiwan, not rocking the boat too much through bluster and belligerence. Ignoring how all these positions are under sustained attack from the bulk of the contemporary Republican party strikes me as trying to talk around the elephant in the room. It strikes me that both Putin and Xi recognize that if they are going to achieve their aims it will come on the back of Republican populism. I get that Hoover tries to walk a difficult line of educating and not rocking the boat that they are sitting in, but the new Know Nothing party has real effects antithetical to almost everything Hoover states that it stands for.

Kotkin has the perfect approach in addressing the lack of patriotism in my generation. I am on the left side of the American political spectrum and not particularly moderate. However, he was instrumental in making me understand that America’s shortcomings (and they are numerous) do not undo the great things we’ve achieved. This is the perspective my generation doesn’t get to see. Instead, we are bombarded with old, out of touch men yelling at us that America is perfect or that our misdeeds are exaggerated/lies. We’re not that stupid.

How do we get Professor Kotkin a 2 hour address, OPEN to every Head of State in the world? This would be a fine feather in the hat of a global organization that can make that happen. Hello, U.N.? The leaders and the peoples of the world could use the pep talk, it would introduce Prof. Kotkin to a much wider audience, and would make life a little more unhappy for tyrants.

"The Soviet Union was like a chocolate bar etc.....with grooves...". That alone deserved a Standing Ovation from the Audience!

Re: The last question on patriotism, I would be curious about going back in time and look at polling Americans in mid-1939 or late 1916 on the likelihood/virtue of being involved in a Pacific or European War. Come to think of it, September 10th, 2001 might be one to look at for that matter. I myself remember being a High School student in the late 1970s during what President Carter called the 'Crisis of Confidence'. But let something or someone cross a line against us? Or we elect a President to that office who understands America's potential and can mobilize public support for a worthwhile cause ("Mr Gorbachov, Tear down this wall!") and I'll think you'll be amazed,... and proud, once again.

A true scholar and influential person. Good to have SK

kotkin is always a blast

Amazing!! I just love to hear Stephen talk!! Tremendous insight about so many issues. Thank You!!

I love these interviews. Thank you

It was very educating to listen to Kotkin. He has a very analytical, clear, pragmatic mind. Thanks.

Lets just say that Peter Robinson is lucky to have Stephen Kotkin to make him look good. Kotkin is a treasure.

Excellent, Thank you Hoover!!!!!!

Brilliant on so many levels🤌🏻

Thanks both of you for the wonderful conversation.

I wish I had taken the 'Plato to NATO' class with Professor Stephen Kotkin at Berkeley. He reminds me of an intellectual version of Joe Pesci.

Kotkin is such a good thinker.

Every time a new Stephen Kotkin video comes up I feel like it’s Christmas Morning

Finally, Kotkin!❤ greetings from Hungary

Fucking love these two guys.

Omg thank you for bringing this man!

Thank you both. Very informative.