Victor Davis Hanson is probably my favorite living historian and observer of the current scene. Peter Robinson caught up with him at his family farm in central California for his most recent installment of Uncommon Knowledge. This installment is the first of two parts: “In part one of this two-part interview, we cover Hanson’s rich and fascinating family history and the sweeping changes he’s lived through in terms of both the business of farming and its social life. In part two (coming in two weeks), we’ll cover the political scene, including the upcoming presidential election.” We will be back for part two.
Here is the index to part 1:
00:00 Family history: California through the 20th century
14:11 The women in my family
16:24 Childhood and formative years
22:39 Challenges of having a degree in Classics
26:30 Warfare Agriculture: How his agrarian background informed his work on Greek warfare
32:32 Why has there been a sharp decline in people in agriculture?
38:17 The Case for Trump
43:36 Selma’s decline: Inevitable or a result of bad policies?
47:40 Mexifornia: The challenges of illegal immigration?
56:53 The Land Was Everything: The importance of autonomy in today’s world
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