Big Ideas Book Club with Steve Hilton

Steve shares remarks about the end of the Big Ideas Book Club and how the spirit of it will live on with a segment on the Steve Hilton Show.

Sir Nick Clegg, author and former Deputy Prime Minister of the UK joins this episode to discuss his new book, “How to Save the Internet: The Threat to Global Connection in the Age of AI and Political Conflict”. He explores how the internet is fragmenting through neglect, Silicon Valley’s growing role in politics, and the impact of artificial intelligence. The conversation also touches on how to create appropriate standards across apps and platforms for both kids and adults. Ultimately, Clegg argues that we must take action to preserve the internet and protect global connection.

Today’s episode, Saabira Chaudhuri, Author of “Consumed: How Big Brands Got Us Hooked On Plastic” joins to discuss how microplastics have fundamentally rewired the way we live. Her book highlights the sociological, historical, anthropological, environmental, and business aspects of plastic usage and its effects on the world. We fully break down how the use of plastic has shaped and transformed our behavior.

The author of “The Origin of Politics: How Evolution and Ideology Shape the Fate of Nations” joins this episode to discuss how evolution and ideology impacts a nation. Nicholas Wade, a retired Science and Health Editor of the New York Times explains how genetics play a much greater role in society and politics than what is both taught and assumed. He explains that while some useful modification can be done, when culture goes too far, society can get into trouble. Family is a basic unit of society and we discuss the issues facing that unit today.

Today’s episode features Dr. Shannon Kroner, who joins us to discuss her new children’s book “Let’s Be Critical Thinkers: Critically Thinking About Masks, Lockdowns, Social Distancing, and Vaccines”. As a clinical psychologist, she encourages kids to think for themselves instead of blindly accepting what is widely believed. She emphasizes the importance of navigating propaganda, creating space for debate, and rebuilding essential life skills that are often missing in today’s world. Her goal is to help children recognize that they do not have to believe everything they are told. At the heart of her message is this: questions matter.

Joe Allen, author of “Dark Æon: Transhumanism and the War Against Humanity”, joins me to explore the future that wealthy elites envision. The most powerful figures on earth aim to merge the biological with the technological, creating a “transhuman” and “posthuman” world that blurs the definition of humanity. Are these goals openly shared, or subliminal in culture? Allen breaks it all down, making a compelling case against this ideology and sharing how society can push back.

Batya Ungar-Sargon, author of Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America’s Working Men and Women, joins us today to discuss how the elites have lied and betrayed the American working class. “The Great American Story” is being written by those with immense privilege leading us to the big question: Do Americans still have a shot at the American Dream?

Former LA Sheriff Alex Villanueva, author of “Sheriff: Holding the Thin Blue Line in a Deep Blue State”, joins Steve today to discuss his renewed run for LA Sheriff. They cover issues of corruption, the current political climate, and challenges within the LA Sheriff’s Department. Why are people being encouraged to say “public safety” instead of “law enforcement”? And why does the woke left avoid using the word “police”? We break it all down.

Salena Zito, author of “Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America’s Heartland”, joins us to unpack the events surrounding the infamous Butler rally. A seasoned journalist who has closely followed the shifting dynamics of American politics, Salena offers powerful insight into what happened before, during, and after the shots rang out right above her head. She also shares the behind-the-scenes story of the interview that never happened and how Trump explained his obligation to show strength to the American people.

Michael Malice, author of “Not Sick of Winning: A History of President Trump’s First 100 Days” discusses how Trump has overdelivered on his promises. With 100 chapters scaling his first 100 days, he goes in depth on what the beginning of the new Trump Administration accomplished. We highlight the history of Washington and how everything has shifted and developed. This is NOT the same Washington it once was.

Richard Simon, author of “Unplug: How to Break Up with Your Phone and Reclaim Your Life”, joins me to explore the growing issue of smartphone addiction in today’s society. We dive into the harmful effects of excessive phone use, strategies for digital detox, and the science behind everything. Our conversation raises an important question: Should smartphones be banned for both kids and adults for the betterment of the world around us?

John Cox, author of “Slay the Four Plagues: A Realistic Revolutionary Plan to Fix Democracy,” ran for California governor years ago and learned a lot about the corruption and issues plaguing our country today. We go over and break down what John believes are the four plagues impacting Americans – special interest influence, big media control, negative campaigning, and extreme partisan voices. This is an excellent discussion you won’t want to miss!

Gianno Caldwell, founder of the Caldwell Institute for Public Safety and Fox News Political Analyst, joins me to discuss his new book, "The Day My Brother Was Murdered: My Journey Through America's Violent Crime Crisis". Gianno lost his brother as collateral damage during a fight outside of a restaurant in Chicago and has been out for justice ever since – to include getting rid of George Soros funded prosecutors. We break down the terrible policies and reform needed to break the cycle of violence in major cities. This is a can't miss episode!

Chief U.S. Commentator for Financial Times and author Ed Luce joins this episode to discuss his new book, “Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America’s Great Power Prophet”. This biography offers a rare, in-depth look at one of the most influential Cold War strategists, exploring his legacy and complex relationship with Henry Kissinger. We dive into the history of the Soviet Union and examine Brzezinski’s view that it was a product of “reverse natural selection.”

In this episode I am once again joined by Author and Economist Oren Cass to discuss his new book “The New Conservatives” which explores restoring America’s commitment to family, community, and industry. We talk about America’s past and how the Trump admin understands the need to invest in bringing back certain industries, as well as new conservatives’ skepticism of the markets. Cass shares where his confidence in the markets comes from and the lessons we are learning in getting back to free market capitalism.

Chris Mortiz’s California home was burglarized two nights in a row by an MS-13 gang member armed to the teeth, who was deported by Trump but allowed back here by Biden. A prosecutor told him his story was “relatable” and something Californians everywhere around the state are experiencing. Chris then decided to look further into the root of these crimes and the politicans, lawmakers, and policies in California that allow them to happen in the first place. Chris wrote “Failed State: A Portrait of California in the Twilight of Empire” to spread awareness about rogue prosecutors bankrolled by anarchist billionaires, open-border zealots who have transformed California into a cartel haven, and policymakers who have gutted public safety in the name of equity.

In this episode, I’m joined by Author and Economist Oren Cass to discuss the debate over H-1B Visas that sparked conversation and controversy from Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Oren is the Founder and Chief Economist of American Compass and gives great insight into how the visas work, who is using them, and what reform should take place. He discusses his thoughts on tariffs and free trade as well as what he believes makes sense for American workers. Buy “The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America” here: https://www.amazon.com/Once-Future-Worker-Renewal-America/dp/1641770147

I am thrilled to announce that I am joined by Vivek Ramaswamy, former GOP Presidential candidate and my good friend. Vivek’s new book, “Truth’s: The Future of America First”, dissects exactly what the conservative movement stands for, and how conservatives can further grow the Republican Party by gracefully articulating exactly what the party stands for, and championing authentic conversation and debate with the left. Listen as we dive into topics such as climate change, racism, and religion.  Buy “Truth’s: The Future of America First” here: https://www.amazon.com/Truths-Future-America-Vivek-Ramaswamy/dp/1668078430

Former California GOP Chairman and author of “The Lessons of American Civilization: Its Confident Rise and the Warning Signs of Its Decline”, Tom Del Beccaro, joins us for today’s Big Ideas Book Club. Tom discusses the confidence, energy, and richness that the United States has been brought up in, and how the USA might experience a harsh decline in the coming decades and centuries. Tom dissects how centralized power is a dangerous precedent to set, especially in a country such as the United States of America.

Despite spending billions of dollars on the homelessness crisis — homelessness is still EVERYWHERE in California. Michele Steeb is the author of “Answers Behind The Red Door” and she joins us to explain why California can’t get rid of one of its biggest problems despite tons of government funding.

Author and one of the leading experts on political targeting, technology, and demography, Patrick Ruffini, joins me today to discuss the cultural and economic forces reshaping the Republican party. Patrick is the co-founder of Echelon Insights, a polling and analytics firm, and has dissected the transformation of American politics in numerous roles over the past twenty years. He has recently written a book titled, “Party of the People: Inside the Multiracial Populist Coalition Remaking the GOP” which explains how the future of the Republican party is comprised of working-class voters in a multi-racial, cross-generational populist coalition. This is an incredibly insightful episode that you won’t want to miss!

Author Michele Steeb joins us today to discuss the growing epidemic of homelessness that is destroying our neighborhoods, our cities, people’s lives, and future generations. Steeb wrote the book titled: “Answers Behind the Red Door, Battling the Homeless Epidemic”, which is a powerful insight into the policies that have contributed to the mass increase of homeless citizens in America. Let’s just say, we are now at the highest point ever in our nation's recorded history of homelessness and the federal government’s one-size-fits-all approach is to blame. You won’t want to miss it!

Author and Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce joins us to discuss her latest book called “Fear Itself, Exposing the Left's Mind Killing Agenda”. Her message is very simple and it is that many problems and anxiety we're facing both politically and culturally in America are a result of the Left's latest tactic: Fear-mongering. From global warming and COVID, to what's happening in academia and media, the Left has weaponized fear to a point where it has become a chronic dynamic that hurts all of us. Lastly, we talk about the only solution: a return to courage, which we can accomplish once we recognize that we are consistently being gaslighted.

Future author Jesse Holguin joins me today to discuss his testimony about how he changed from a CA gang member to a conservative activist and Christian who founded the LEXIT Movement. He describes the difference between a regular member and a gang banger, as well as how he grew into that lifestyle. His entire family had been centered around gangs his entire life until one night through a shooting he decided to work towards his faith in God and a new purpose in life. Now he spreads a Christian and Conservative message for other Latinos through LEXIT. This is a wonderful story and episode you don’t want to miss.

Author Mike Madrid joins me today to discuss the impact of the Latino community on national politics. Mike recently wrote The Latino Century, how America's Largest Minority is Transforming Democracy, which is an insightful investigation of how and why Both Democrats and Republicans have failed to appeal to the Latino vote—the largest ethnic voting group in the country—and the impact it is having on American democracy. We also discuss why California is behind the largest ethnic transformation in American history and let’s just say, the answer is due to economic policies that have stifled middle-class mobility and have encouraged nativism, protectionism, and isolationism.

Author and Co-Founder of Truemed, Calley Means, joins us to discuss his new co-authored book called: “Good Energy, The Surprise and Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health”. The current statistics on chronic diseases and the number of medications prescribed to the average population should alarm everyone. While the answer to these illnesses is very simple, it’s being virtually ignored because our healthcare system profits more when we are sick for a longer period of time. This episode offers extremely crucial insight into the true causes of illnesses and the effects of a corrupt healthcare industry on our politics and everyday life. You won’t want to miss it!

In this episode, author and longtime friend Nellie Bowles joins us to discuss America’s current social and political climate. Nellie is one of the founders of The Free Press and she has recently written a book titled: “Morning After the Revolution”, which is a phenomenal work that breaks down the madness we have been witnessing across all sectors of our society. We discuss the revolution that's happened within liberalism and how the gap between progressives and liberals continues to grow. Then, we touch on the mainstream media’s attempts to deliberately memory hole extreme progressive beliefs surrounding BLM, COVID, and the climate. You won’t want to miss it!

Economist at Oxford University and King’s College London, Daniel Susskind meets with me to discuss his new book, Growth: A History and a Reckoning. He discusses how we need more economic growth and how he believes we ought to do that, diving into climate change, technological progress, inequality, and protecting the things we care about. Is GDP a narrow way of measuring economic growth? What does it mean that you “manage what you measure” and how does it apply to policy? There are moral questions that make a major impact on today’s topic. This episode has wonderful insight you won’t want to miss.

Author and CSO of the Human Rights Foundation, Alex Gladstein joins us to discuss his book called Check Your Financial Privilege: Inside the Global Bitcoin Revolution. According to the statistics, anyone born into a reserve currency like the dollar or euro has more financial privilege than 89% of the world population. Gladstein details the explosive rise of Bitcoin over the last 15 years. Then, he not only explains why Bitcoin is a powerful tool for people subjected to different authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, but also how it can be a real tool for freedom for the everyday person. His message is a huge wake up call to the meaning of wealth in the West and the importance of financial privacy and encryption. You won’t want to miss it!

Joel Kotkin, Sen. Gloria Romero, and Soledad Ursúa are the authors of a report called “El Futuro es Latino”, or, The future is Latino. While this report is not a book in the conventional sense, but it is a piece of work with findings that are extremely important. “El Futuro es Latino”, which was co-sponsored by my organization Golden Together, details the Latino experience in California and why Latinos are suffering when it comes to upward mobility and the California dream. Latinos are now the largest group in California, being 40 % of the total population. From education to housing policies, these authors explain how Latinos are bearing the brunt of California’s harsh political climate. This is an episode you won’t want to miss.

The former Conservative prime minister of Great Britain, Liz Truss joins today’s episode to discuss her book “Ten Years to Save the West”. Liz and I discuss our similar experiences working at the highest levels of the British government where the machinations of the global Left run rampant. She warns how freedom is at risk, due to the ever-expanding “administrative state”. Ideas that would save Britain and deliver a greater America are not being implemented because there are too many people with a vested interest in keeping things the way they are, especially in the child healthcare sector. Lastly, we discuss Britain’s recent “creation” of a Supreme Court and the damaging effects it has had on the market and policies.

Founder of the American Conservation Coalition, Benji Backer, joins today's episode to discuss his debut book, “The Conservative Environmentalist: Common Sense Solutions for a Sustainable Future”. Benji and I discuss how conservation and environmentalism, at their roots, are conservative ideas. There are two arguments when addressing climate change, and it’s either “doomerism” or “denial”, but conservative principles are key to climate solutions that actually work. Fossil fuels and nuclear energy can coincide with windmills and solar panels, and both liberal and conservative approaches can meet in the middle to conserve our environment. Benji and I discuss how it is time to change the narrative around environmentalism and climate change in the conservative space. This is a fascinating episode you won’t want to miss!

Professor of sociology and director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, Brad Wilcox joins us for today’s episode of Big Ideas! Brad Wilcox is the author of “Get Married, Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization”, which reveals the importance of marriage in society. Monogamy is a human institution almost as old as time itself, but society is experiencing a significant drop in marriage rates, which is bound to have profound repercussions. We discuss the steep decline in marriage worldwide, its broader impact on relationships, and the self-images of men and women. You won’t want to miss it!

In this week’s episode of Big Ideas Book Club, Rob Henderson joins us to talk about the social effect of the family. Rob Henderson is the author of “Trouble, A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class”, which is a raw coming-of-age memoir that recounts his experiences in foster care, enlisting in the US Air Force, and attending elite universities such as Yale and Cambridge. It is an absolutely amazing story you're about to hear. Furthermore, Rob delves into the connection between parental absence, socioeconomic status, and current policy matters. His concept of “luxury beliefs”—ideas and opinions that confer status on the upper class while inflicting costs on the less fortunate– gives explanation to problems that society currently faces. We also discuss possible solutions to ensure the common good for society as a whole. This is a fascinating and insightful podcast that you won’t want to miss.

I am joined by Peter Schweizer, the author of “Blood Money: Why the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye While China Kills Americans”. We discuss the idea that America is burning down in flames, especially surrounding the fentanyl crisis, and China is the one holding the lighter and gas cans. China does everything to undermine America, and our politicians are turning a blind eye. Schweizer and I dissect how the Chinese Communist Party’s covert operations in the American drug trade, social justice movement, and medical establishment sow chaos and deca­dence in the United States.

Co-founder and CEO of Populace and ex-Harvard professor, Todd Rose, joins us for this week's episode of Big Ideas Book Club! Todd Rose is the author of “Collective Illusions”, which dissects how our brains are more socially dependent than we realize or dare to accept. People naturally end up adopting ideas to please the people around them, which creates a false polarization within society. This is especially true when our brains assume the loudest voices that are repeated are actually the majority, when statistically speaking half of Americans admit to self-silencing. Todd and I discuss how these human tendencies play a part in the policies and political ideologies we see today being reflected in society. This is a fascinating and insightful conversation you won’t want to miss!

In this episode of Big Ideas, I am joined by my old college advisor and world-renowned expert on economic policy, Dr. Dieter Helm. We discuss his new book titled, “Legacy: How to Build a Sustainable Economy”, which details society’s current problems with sustainable consumption. We address what would a sustainable economy look like and what conditions would be necessary to achieve it. We also highlight the consequences of dumping onto the next generation, the importance of maintaining infrastructures, and the government’s responsibility to set the ground rules for a sustainable framework. 

On the inaugural episode of the Big Ideas Book Club, I am joined with Nick Troiano, the Executive director of Unite America and author of “The Primary Solution: Rescuing Our Democracy from the Fringes” to discuss a tectonic shift in our politics and the current election system. We engage in a conversation over the old days, the “Top Two System,” and discuss his goal of nonpartisan primaries. We’re asking the questions: What role does media and technology play? What would a nonpartisan primary look like for the country? We have some friendly debating, breaking things down and answering those questions in a productive way for you.