Heritage Events Podcast

The first USAF F-35A fighter wing is now fully operational. The Heritage Foundation had a recent unique opportunity to conduct structured interviews with 30 F-35A combat pilots—21 previously experienced former fourth-generation fighter pilots, 9 pilots in their first fighter assignment, as well as senior operations and maintenance leaders at Hill Air Force Base (AFB), UT. Their collective perspectives and insights—the good and the bad—have been analyzed and form the basis for a new groundbreaking Heritage Foundation report: The F-35A—The Most Dominant Multirole Fighter in the World. Join us for a unique opportunity to discuss the major findings of the report, including a direct comparison of the F-35A to other fourth-generation fighters including the F-15, and a robust exchange with those in attendance.

America's foreign policy establishment believed that China's economic ascent would lead to political liberalization, and that China in the long term would become a benign actor in world affairs. That view has been falsified, but there is no consensus about what China wants and what threat it might pose to American interests. China is seeking technological self-sufficiency and even superiority in key industries. It has concentrated military spending on advanced technologies. Its Belt and Road Initiative proposes a trillion-dollar investment program to project China's influence across the world. What is China's grand design, and how should the United States respond to it?

A Conservative Women's Network event co-hosted by the Clare Booth Luce Center for Conservative Women.

You are invited to attend Visegrad Countries in the Transatlantic Alliance, a half-day discussion of the Visegrád Group or V4, comprised of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The event cohosted by the Heritage Foundation and the Antall József Knowledge Center in Budapest, Hungary, will explore the diplomatic, economic, military and political importance of the V4. A special focus of the event will be relations between the Visegrád and the United States, how the region can one day develop into an anchor of U.S. engagement in Europe and continue contributing to robust transatlantic cooperation. Please join us as we engage in a robust dialogue on these vital topics.

Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX) serves as Lead Republican of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. During an hour-long fireside chat, Lead Republican McCaul will discuss the challenges confronting the world today and share his solutions for a better tomorrow. During Q&A with Moderator James Carafano, McCaul will talk about his efforts to enhance American security, counter China’s malign influence, combat human and drug trafficking, strengthen partnerships and alliances, and promote human dignity around the world.

The United States is often asked what more we can do to reassure the international community that we remain faithful stewards of the disarmament vision articulated in the Preamble and in Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). If we are to build the kind of disarmament dialogue we need in order to make progress toward that goal in a time of deteriorating global security conditions, it is important not to misdiagnose the problem. Please join us as we debunk the false critiques surrounding the NPT disarmament narrative with Dr. Christopher Ford, Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation.

Beijing’s control of Hong Kong is tightening. In April, nine advocates for democracy in Hong Kong who played a key role in the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong were convicted of committing “public nuisance”—some were jailed. The Hong Kong government is pushing to pass an Extradition Law that could change Hong Kong’s free society forever. The law would legalize the disappearances and kidnapping Hong Kong has experienced already of peaceful critics like publishers and business leaders. Veteran legislator and lawyer Martin Lee is leading a diverse delegation featuring elements of civil society affected by repression from Beijing and the failures of the Hong Kong government to defend human rights and autonomy. Join us for a public program exploring practical ways the U.S. and Hong Kong people can partner to preserve freedom there.

Adam Smith, sometimes considered the founding father of capitalism, offered a 'thin' conception of justice — primarily protection from injury from others. Many critics, however, believe that justice should encompass much more, including positive duties to help those in need. Are there any good reasons to support a Smithian 'thin' conception of justice? Can a system of political economy based on such a conception be considered moral? In other words, do markets and morality mix? For a complete list of speakers, topics, and dates of the Free Markets: The Ethical Economic Choice speaker series visit heritage.org/free-markets.

Antonin Scalia reflected deeply on matters of religion and shared his insights with many audiences over the course of his remarkable career. As a Supreme Court justice for three decades, he vigorously defended the American constitutional tradition of allowing religion a prominent place in the public square. As a man of faith, he recognized the special challenges of living a distinctively religious life in modern America, and he inspired other believers to meet those challenges. On Faith is an inspiring collection of the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia's reflections on his own faith, on the challenges that religious believers face in modern America, and on the religious freedoms protected by the Constitution. This volume will enrich every reader's understanding of the legendary justice. Please join us to reflect on the legacy of the late Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia.

Higher education in America is in crisis. Costs are too high, learning is too little, and the payoff to students and society is increasingly problematic. In Restoring the Promise, Richard Vedder shows how the precarious position of colleges and universities results from a mostly unsuccessful expansion of governmental involvement in the academy, especially at the federal level. The book examines today’s most serious issues in higher education, including free speech and academic freedom; tuition and other costs; culture and curricula; governance; gender, race and diversity; due process; admissions; student loans; and much more. It diagnoses problems and identifies solutions.

The Constitution of the United States has endured for over two centuries. However, our constitutional republic is threatened by vulnerabilities in the election process, corruption amongst our elected leaders and representatives, and censorship of political speech that is fundamental to a free society. Our republican form of government is further weakened by misinterpretations of the Constitution that diminish our rights, dilute the separation of powers, and delegate legislative power to the administrative state. The very meaning of what it is to be an American, replete with our exceptional political, economic, and social culture, is now threatened by massive, uncontrolled illegal immigration. We will hear from eight leading experts how we might remedy these problems, strengthen our constitutional republic, and restore the promise of America.

Political and social support for the sale of infants by women who need money is increasing in the United States, despite human rights campaigns to ban surrogacy and the parallel practices of organ sales and prostitution. Women who need money rent out their wombs to people who can pay as much as $200,000. This practice is promoted by a burgeoning fertility industry and uncritically cheered on by an expanding cadre of neoliberal LGBT activists. The public, our lawmakers, and even some health professionals are relatively fact-free regarding the adverse consequences of surrogacy for everyone except the purchasing parents and the businessmen who control fertility clinics. Surrogacy is a medical, ethical and legal disaster. The deliberately ignored rights of human beings who are harmed by this cruel practice must be heard. Join this expert panel for a discussion of why surrogacy in all its forms must be abolished.

Anti-Semitism impacts the lives of our Jewish friends and neighbors here at home and across the globe. It continues to fester on college campuses in the form of calls for Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel and numerous instances of ostracization of Jewish students. Within the United Nations, resolutions incessantly malign Israel with outrageously false allegations while other acts seek to deny the historical ties of the Jewish people with the land of Israel. Here in the U.S., some elected officials use anti-Semitic tropes with seeming impunity. This panel will explain the dynamics of contemporary anti-Semitism and how we can work together to defeat it.

As the first anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement approaches, Iran and the United States remain locked in disputes on nuclear, regional, and terrorism issues. Although Tehran claims to be complying with the terms of the 2015 nuclear agreement, the revelations contained in Iran’s exposed nuclear archives have raised disturbing questions about Iran’s past nuclear efforts and future plans. A panel of experts examines the policy implications of these and other security issues.

Valerie Mayberry comes from the kind of wealthy family that would be royalty in any other country. Obsessive and compulsive, she’s also the FBI’s counter-intelligence expert on domestic terrorism. Brett Garrett is a dishonorably discharged ex-Navy SEAL coming off a secret opioid addiction. A brusque, fiercely independent operative who refuses to play by the rules, the seasoned pro is now a gun for hire, working as a security contractor in Eastern Europe. When a high ranking Kremlin official with knowledge of a plan to attack the US must be smuggled out under the nose of a kleptocratic Putin-like Russian president and a ruthless general, Mayberry and Garret are thrown together to exfiltrate him and preempt a deadly poisonous strike. As these unlikely partners work to protect their human asset, their mission is threatened by domestic politics: leftist protests, Congressional infighting, and a culture riven by hatred. Collusion raises many of the most significant issues facing America in real life today. Is Russia our ally, or our enemy? Are American leftist activists susceptible to influence from abroad? How far will our enemies go to disrupt our politics and weaken the nation? Can we trust the media to differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys?