Uncommon Knowledge with Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell is the one and only. His most recent book of many is a revised and expanded edition of Intellectuals and Society. Peter Robinson takes the new edition of the book as an occasion to invite Sowell to return for an interview.

As Peter tees up the interview, he compares and contrasts the insight of Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and Ronald Reagan into the Soviet Union. Schlesinger is a stand-in for the many intellectuals who got the Soviet Union wrong. How could they have erred so badly while Reagan got it right?

You will want to stick with this 52-minute interview all the way through to the end. They get to Barack Obama at around 37 minutes into the interview. It’s worth the wait. Quotable quote: “Obama has an absolute talent for saying things that make no sense, that not only sound plausible but inspiring.” In the last minute or two of the interview Sowell powerfully laments the erosion of our freedom. Don’t miss it!

When Peter last hosted Sowell on the show, he prefaced the interview with a chip of William Buckley’s introduction of Sowell on Firing Line 30 years ago. In the clip Buckley saluted Sowell for being “a scholar who has devoted his labors to looking behind the cliches of abjection.” The same thought applies several times over to this interview.

The interview is wide-ranging and enjoyable. Through our arrangement with the Hoover Institution, we are pleased to present this installment of Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson in its entirety. Please check it out.

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