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Contact us Your gift helps advance ideas that promote a free society Digitized and Available for Research at Hoover In commemoration of the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s surrender in May 1945 the Hoover Institution Library & Archives has released more than 800 digitized audio recordings and transcripts of conversations relating to 20th century conflict – most notably undercover conversations with high-ranking Nazis who had fled to South America Hoover Institution (Stanford, CA) – In commemoration of the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s surrender in May 1945, the Hoover Institution Library & Archives has released more than 800 digitized audio recordings and transcripts of conversations relating to 20th century conflict – most notably Drawn from the Gerd Heidemann collection the tapes offer unprecedented insights into the ideologies together with a new lens on Heidemann’s reporting and research across Africa and South America from the 1960s through the 1980s The acquisition of this collection was led by Hoover Research Fellow and Taube Family Curator for European Collections Katharina Friedla and Hoover Visiting Fellow and University of Aberdeen Professor Thomas Weber The release of these Heidemann tapes and the diligence of all those Library & Archives staff involved with processing the collection demonstrate Hoover’s enduring mission: to safeguard voices from history Gerd Heidemann (1931– 2024) was a German investigative reporter and photojournalist who accumulated an expansive trove of materials that document major world events The newly released recordings comprise only a fraction of the enormous collection Among the recordings are conversations from the 1970s with former high-ranking Schutzstaffel (SS) officials including Bruno Streckenbach and Klaus Barbie Other tapes address topics spanning postcolonial warfare and political scandals on both sides of the Atlantic the unrepentant mindsets of Nazi perpetrators Barbie – while speaking freely to Heidemann while undercover – boasts about his implementation of the Holocaust in France: Barbie shares a war criminal’s perspective on atrocities we have previously known only from that of the victims’ such as the violent anti-Jewish raids in Amsterdam and their aftermath:  the Jews from upstairs and us from the street They even threw chamber pots at us and we threw hand grenades back “When it comes to first perspectives of top Nazis and of extremists we generally have to rely on interviews that were conducted after 1945 in court rooms And here we have first person perspectives of people where they really represent themselves the way they want to be seen [by like-minded people] and that is extremely important in trying to understand extremism – both then and now.” Friedla says that “the release of these new recordings is relevant both for academic research and broader public understanding.” “By making the audio and transcripts widely available the Library & Archives has helped to illuminate how extreme ideologies can endure in exile and how former perpetrators recall or even rationalize their crimes The human dimension of extremism and the concept of historical accountability are themes that all can reflect on while listening to these first-person recordings.” All 889 recordings and their transcripts – available in both English and German – have now been digitized, transcribed, and provided publicly for wide online access through the Library & Archives’ Digital Collections portal where the materials are searchable by name This digitization project marks a major milestone for the Library & Archives in both scope and accessibility “We hope this collection will be mined by students and scholars for generations to come,” said Eric Wakin Everett & Jane Hauck Director of the Hoover Institution Library & Archives “The recordings clearly document the beliefs and actions of perpetrators of the Holocaust in their own evil words." The Hoover Institution Library & Archives is a world-renowned repository for primary source materials on war With more than one million digital items – including government records and testimonies – it preserves evidence of history’s most consequential events and actors To watch the event that followed the opening of the Gerd Heidemann collection and previewed the new TV documentary by Dutch filmmaker Foeke de Koe, click here The first screening of this documentary in the United States will take place at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in summer 2025 To explore the digitized materials from the Gerd Heidemann collection, click here Elements of the Gerd Heidemann collection are open for research in the Library & Archives reading room and online. Plan your visit For coverage opportunities regarding the Library & Archives contact Lauren Covetta at lcovetta@stanford.edu Katharina Friedla is a research fellow and the Taube Family Curator for European Collections at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives at Stanford University Thomas Weber is professor of history and international affairs as well as the founding director of the Centre of Global Security and Governance at the University of Aberdeen (by reservation) The opinions expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hoover Institution or Stanford University by the Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University Trader Joe's isn't your average grocery store Known for its friendly staff and hard-to-find snacks the chain has become a cult favorite nationwide Shoppers line up for everything from frozen orange chicken to seasonal treats like pumpkin-flavored everything Don't forget to stock up on a jar of cookie butter while you're there setting up shop at 1769 Montgomery Highway The new location will span 9,500 square feet and pack a lot of fan-favorite flavors into a cozy space It marks the third Trader Joe's in the state The store will open for business on May 14 A ribbon-cutting ceremony will kick off at 8:55 a.m. just before the store's doors officially open at 9 a.m The store will welcome shoppers immediately after the ceremony and close the doors at 9 p.m communityTrader Joe's has hired 30 local crew members for its Hoover location continuing its commitment to the community As part of the company's longstanding Neighborhood Shares Program the store will donate 100% of unsold but still-good products to various local non-profits and community organizations Jennifer Lindahl is a Breaking and Trending Reporter for the Deep South Connect Team for Gannett/USA Today Connect with her on X @jenn_lindahl and email at jlindahl@gannett.com Falling tree limbs in Birmingham kills one person For more information visit hooverlibrary.org It’s a new week in The Magic City, and that means a new roundup of businesses popping up across town From a new Tex-Mex restaurant coming to Lakeview to the highly-anticipated new Trader Joe’s location here are five openings you need to know about The long-anticipated Trader Joe’s Hoover location plans to open on Wednesday Located on Montgomery Highway across from the Riverchase Galleria store will be the third Trader Joe’s in Alabama A new Tex-Mex restaurant is set to open this month in Birmingham’s Lakeview district, according to recent announcements on the restaurant’s Instagram page.  Located in the former Carrigan’s Beer Garden (and Brät Brot) space El Royale Cafe is one of three new restaurant concepts from Miller Mobley.  In addition to El Royale Cafe, Mobley is the owner of New York City-style Slim’s Pizzeria in Crestline and the upcoming George’s steakhouse in Highland Park Napoli Pizza in Vestavia Hills is expanding with a second location coming to Liberty Park later this year Napoli specializes in Italian-American favorites from calzones and stromboli to pizza and pasta Bham Now announced that Andrews Sports Medicine was in talks to take over a portion of the former Brookwood Mall whose last tenant closed at the end of 2024 Recently, the Homewood City Council unanimously approved a proposal to convert the former Belk space at Brookwood Village into a new medical facility for Andrews Sports Medicine an orthopedic clinic headquartered in Birmingham there is no official timeline for when renovations are set to begin A music and event venue is coming to Lakeview Marina dining and entertainment that opened earlier this year in Birmingham’s Lakeview district According to minutes from the Birmingham Design Review Committee (DRC) the new music and event venue will include: Follow Bham Now on Instagram and Facebook and sign up for our FREE newsletter to stay up to date on this and many more exciting new additions to The Magic 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while you are here Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application Draden Hoover passed from this life on January 28 Draden couldn’t help but bring laughter to those around him Many people knew him as a great tennis player with a natural athleticism and passion for the game that propelled him to national success as a junior player Though injury would prevent him from continuing to play tennis on the national stage Draden followed a budding interest in finance after high school graduating with honors from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder Draden quickly rose to the top of his class passing his finance exams in quick succession as he prepared for the next phase of the program  Though we mourn Draden’s passing we were blessed by his life and forever impacted by his presence The family will be holding his homegoing service on Saturday In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be made to either The Church at Hidden Lake or The Ray Roundtree Jr. Foundation Inc.  Expressions of condolences may be sent to: The Hoover Family 11781 E Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors How to watch Alabama high school baseball: Hoover vs Hoover High School will meet Tuscaloosa County High School in Hoover How to watch Tuscaloosa Co. vs. Hoover baseballTuscaloosa Co. and Hoover will face off on Monday, May 5, at 4:30 p.m. CT. Don't miss out on any of the action with NFHS Network The NFHS Network gives you access to live high school sports around the country Follow your favorite team and never miss a game Want to track your alma mater, local team or family member's school throughout the playoffs? NFHS Network has high school baseball streaming live plus on-demand replays and highlights of all the action from thousands of schools across America Watch Hoover vs. Tuscaloosa Co. on NFHS Network! All NFHS Network events are available to watch online at NFHS Network and through the NFHS Network Mobile Apps for iOS and Android and TV Apps for ROKU Regretting You is all about mother-daughter relationships but instead of the Gilmores' close bond Morgan and Clara's relationship becomes more strained the older Clara gets — especially when Morgan's husband Chris (Scott Eastwood) passes away in a tragic accident revealing a secret that could change Clara's life forever While It Ends With Us is a production from Sony Regretting You will be a Paramount Pictures flick I'll always know Scott Eastwood as the guy from Taylor Swift's "Wildest Dreams" music video Monica Schipper/Arturo Holmes/Getty Images Regretting You will be directed by The Fault in Our Stars' Josh Boone and written by Susan McMartin Regretting You comes out on October 24, and it's easily one of our most-anticipated movies for 2025 Regretting You definitely has less spice than Colleen Hoover's other books. In fact, this TikToker ranks it as her least-spicy book Since the story focuses on Morgan and Clara this is a good pick for any readers who prefer less spicy books But the story introduces us to an established family rather than two people who want to begin a family and Clara already have relationships with each other Regretting You shows us how circumstances can change and how strong our family bonds can become Looking for more movie & entertainment news? Follow us on Facebook so you never miss a thing Subscribe today to climb aboard this unstoppable train of a literary journal Gone are the days of the “Roaring Twenties” when the economy was booming and gals with bob haircuts spun around speakeasy dance floors in those fun little dresses There’s only one way to return to those glory days and make America great again extremely popular and generally well-regarded president am signing this massive tariff bill into law The problem with our economy is that we’re not making things anymore International trade has led to tight competition when it comes to consumer goods and we have become a nation of importers rather than exporters We must protect American manufacturing interests and the only way to do that is by levying enormous tariffs on every single thing we import from every single country on Earth this move only has upside—I can’t for the life of me see how antagonizing the entire globe could backfire in any way How could slapping a 104 percent tariff on German imports possibly lead to anything bad it’s that nothing I do ever famously backfires Every economist I spoke with told me that imposing sweeping tariffs on the entire world would lead to retaliatory tariffs that would grind international trade to a halt causing American exports to plummet and thus sink us further into the depression over a thousand economists wrote me a joint letter to that exact effect But I didn’t become a universally beloved paragon of good decision making by heeding the unanimous consensus of experts It’s that same iconoclastic spirit that has prompted me to slash government spending and reject repeated calls to give Americans government aid to ease their suffering and help pull us out of this economic downturn I believe the government has no business engaging in socialist programs like food aid when we could instead be slashing taxes to incentivize America’s business moguls to invest in new factories that will create jobs I’m confident that concentrating wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer powerful elites will yank us out of this funk that future historians will probably label a "tiny economic hiccup.” there are already signs that my presidency is ushering in a new era of innovation and prosperity Millions of Americans across the country are creating affordable housing communities unburdened by overbearing government regulations and building safety standards These thriving residential districts have been named “Hoovervilles,” no doubt to honor me for my brilliant efforts to get our economy buzzing again This is the sort of thing you can expect more of during my presidency which I’m confident will be known for being the best time to ever live in America I’m on my way to sign a bill into law that will brutally crack down on immigration from countries we don’t feel embody American values The last thing American businesses need to lift us out of this depression is a larger customer base and an influx of dependable labor “This Will Be Good for You”: A Few Words from the Iceberg That Sank the Titanic US News & World Report’s Best Remaining Colleges Beloved husband of Kathleen “Kathy” A Hoover; cherished son of the late Henry Edward and Anna Marie Hoover Devoted father of Julie (Matt) Wagner and the late Michael Hoover; loving grandfather of Kaitlyn Wagner and Henry Graham; dear brother of Anna Ruth (Nolan-dec) Wilson Leon (Karen-living) Hoover and Jim (Sharon-living) Hoover Bill proudly served in the United States Army He was married to the love of his life for 52 years where Bill showcased his handcrafted clocks He also umpired kids' softball games and had a passion for golf he brought joy to children by riding on a fire truck with firefighters to hand out gifts Bill was a true people person who never met a stranger and was known for his kindness and generosity Bill was dearly loved and will be greatly missed by all who knew him Memorials may be made in Bill's name to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation or BackStoppers or charity of their choice.  This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page They were unbeaten through the first eight games and sitting as the No Following an investigation by the school itself the Huskies self-reported their wrongdoing to the Iowa High School Athletic Association That brought their record from 8-0-1 to 0-8-1 The incident revolves around the use of a refugee from Sudan who is 20 years old and not 19 all teams in Iowa high school soccer qualify for the postseason and the Huskies were not ruled ineligible to do so Senior Javier Flores it he leading scorer for Hoover Amisi Bita has 35 saves with six goals allowed in 600 minutes of play the Huskies went 18-3 and had recorded five consecutive seasons with a winning record and at least 11 matches one coming into the season KCCI News was first to report the news DANA BECKERDana Becker has been a sports writer in Iowa since 2000 Dana resides in northcentral Iowa and started as a writer with SB Live Sports in 2022 focused on the state of Iowa Along with providing coverage of football and wrestling He began writing for High School on SI in 2023 © 2025 ABG-SI LLC - SPORTS ILLUSTRATED IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ABG-SI LLC The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Sports Illustrated or its affiliates All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit If you or someone you know has a gambling problem crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER There are no statistics available for this player Thanks for visiting Funeral services will be held for Pasty Bee Street Hoover Pat went to be with the Lord and reunited with loved ones March 1 She graduated from Littlefield High School Pat and Joe started their life together in Chattanooga where she began a passionate career at Strauss Theatre After 28 years she retired as Managing Director Upon her retirement the board recognized her contributions and accomplishments by honoring Pat as a life patron She also spent many joyous years teaching piano to countless children of Monroe in her home but her main focus in life was family and church She was a charter member of PEO AZ Chapter United Methodist Women president 2009-2011 and a member of the Chancellor Choir at St Pat and Joe volunteered for 25 years as Youth Coordinators for St The lasting friendships she had with the young people of St Paul’s UMYF and the fellow counselors were one of her greatest pleasures in life she enjoyed the Spirit Builders Sunday School class and leading the devoted small group Left to cherish her memory are her children sisters- in- law Linda Schkade(Fred) of Tehachapi She is preceded in death by her beloved husband of 61 years mother- in- law and father- in- law Lura and Huston Hoover To the entire team of doctors and nurses at Baylor T Boone Pickens Cancer Center In Dallas the family would like to thank you for your exceptional care the family suggests memorials to St Paul’s United Methodist Church Terry Taylor; numerous nephews and a niece Tristen was a graduate of Dutchtown High School and went on to become a successful entrepreneur and businessman He was a force of nature and was driven to succeed from an early age When he was a little boy everyone knew he would be special and he went on to gain much success while still a young man The thing that was most special about Tristen was his love of life and huge caring heart To say he lived large would be an understatement He had a special aura about him that people were drawn to His smile was magnetic and would light up a room Tristen always made sure all his loved ones and friends were taken care of He pushed those around him to succeed and be the best versions of themselves Friends and family are invited to attend the funeral services at 2:00 p.m  A Visitation will be held at the church beginning at 12:00 p.m Burial will follow at Resthaven Gardens of Memory Please sign the online guestbook or leave a personal note to the family at www.resthavenbatonrouge.com  This website uses cookies and other tracking technologies to enhance navigation, facilitate feedback, analyze usage of our products and services, support marketing efforts, and deliver third-party content. View our Privacy Policy. Our ultimate differentiator is the quality of our people — from our skilled craft professionals to our engineers and project managers We excel at fielding A-teams whose skills and expertise are tailored to each project’s specific demands Our VV&Cs are foundational to Bechtel’s culture They guide our actions and serve as a commitment to our customers and neighbors to always do the right thing Our leadership team is united in their commitment to driving progress and excellence They guide the company with a focus on delivering value to our customers and communities and making Bechtel the best place to work bechtel.org serves as the impact infrastructure arm of Bechtel Corporation delivering scalable and sustainable projects in communities with the greatest need These projects provide our teams with valuable experience to grow and excel We deliver challenging projects that elevate standards of living and support sustainable growth across the globe — from clean efficient transportation and sustainable energy to advanced manufacturing we offer a wide range of services to help realize our customers’ boldest ambitions With our integrated capabilities across a wide range of industries we offer complete solutions tailored to our customers’ goals our global reach and regional expertise enable us to work anywhere in the world We know that how we deliver is just as important as what we deliver We’re committed to operating safely and to offering best-in-class solutions to optimize for cost Our engineers combine collaborative design and data-centered execution to produce the world’s most iconic projects We guarantee the responsible purchase and safe delivery of materials on time We build extraordinary projects in the world’s most complex environments We apply our industry knowledge and experience as an EPC contractor to ensure safety and efficacy at every stage of your project Leveraging our full-scale scale project capabilities we deploy horizontal and vertical integration strategies to optimize project delivery — whether managing the entire project lifecycle or a single phase Nothing is more important than the safety of our colleagues We are steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that everyone returns home safely at the end of each day We reinforce the highest quality standards through accountability With integrity and fairness at the heart of our operations we are committed to the highest standards of ethical business conduct We implement sustainable practices to provide clean energy solutions and safeguard against environmental threats We’re committed to supporting the communities where we live and work As a global company with a reputation for taking on generation-defining projects we provide unparalleled learning and growth opportunities From engineers and project managers to skilled craft professionals and construction experts we seek colleagues who are eager to make their mark on the world Check out our job openings and learn more about joining our team We work every day to foster an environment where every colleague feels empowered Our colleagues around the world share why they chose to build their careers with Bechtel Innovative Battery Manufacturing Facilities Construction management consultancy for building innovative battery manufacturing facilities in the United States Bechtel is at the forefront of constructing innovative battery manufacturing facilities in the U.S Our expert team ensures compliance with local codes and… features a first-of-its-kind desalination plant and will operate on 100% renewable energy by 2025 Bechtel is delivering one of Australia’s largest infrastructure projects — a state-of-the-art airport designed to handle 10 million passengers annually Hoover Dam was an audacious and courageous undertaking the dam would tame the flood-prone Colorado River southeast of Las Vegas―protecting cities and farms generating cheap electricity to supply power to homes and industry and providing work for thousands who desperately needed jobs.A consortium called Six Companies Inc. won the right to build the concrete arch dam at a cost of nearly $49 million—a staggering amount in the early 1930s (roughly equivalent to $860 million today) Others were convinced that the contractors would go bust. But the men of Six Companies boldly moved forward Bechtel founder Warren Bechtel and his son Steve were key leaders of the consortium and their contributions to the project amounted to a blueprint for how their company complex projects to come. Six Companies finished the dam in five years two years ahead of schedule and under budget giving company leaders the confidence that they could take on any project There’s no question that it was a stepping stone for us The Hoover Dam project and our role in it was a major platform for advancing to other bigger projects since then Hoover Dam is a top tourist attraction—more than a million visitors each year and take tours offered by the U.S What they see is one of the wonders of the modern industrial world What they know is that this gigantic concrete structure is more than just a dam a project that came around when the country needed it most Hoover Dam was mankind’s most massive masonry structure since the Great Pyramids. In all it took this―and more―to create Hoover Dam: The project also stands out for something on a much smaller scale It’s believed to be the first sizable construction job on which wearing hard hats (or hard-boiled hats as they were originally called) was mandatory for all It looms 726 feet (221 meters) above Black Canyon on the Arizona-Nevada state line It’s 660 feet (201 meters) wide at the base and 1,244 feet (379 meters) across at the top It weighs 6.6 million tons. Behind the dam Lake Mead is the country’s largest reservoir capable of holding more than 9 trillion gallons (that’s 3.41 × 1,013 liters) of water from the Colorado River Water from the lake drives turbines inside the dam that generate electricity for Arizona people associate Bechtel with megaprojects—engineering and construction jobs too big for other companies From Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia to the Channel Tunnel and High Speed 1 Bechtel has become the go-to company for projects that test the level of human achievement But when it comes to Bechtel’s megaprojects To really understand the significance of Hoover Dam you need to consider it in the context of the time when it was built As a global economic catastrophe left millions jobless government financed big infrastructure projects across the country to provide work for unemployed men and women.  who became head of the company in 1933 following the unexpected death of his father later recalled how the project was a beacon in a dark period “There weren’t many jobs around at the time,” he said “People just wanted to come [to Hoover Dam] from all over the world.” Bechtel Canada in partnership with Montana-based Barnard Construction Company and Canadian contractor EllisDon worked on the Keeyask Generation Project’s seven turbine units Bechtel has helped Clark County enhance the capacity security and safety of McCarran International Airport for more than 30 years Bechtel completed two utility-scale solar plants mounting nearly 500,000 panels that will power 60,000 homes Renewable Project Adds to Bechtel’s Growing Clean Energy Portfolio Construction on a utility scale solar project is now underway in Lincoln County where Bechtel has been selected by Estuary Power to design and construct a new 226 megawatts direct… Keeyask hydroelectric station can generate up to 695 MW of clean electricity The last of seven units have been placed in service at the Keeyask Generation Project Canada’s newest hydroelectric power station This is a major milestone for the project.. Bechtel Corporation has received special recognition from the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) as the school named the north wing of its new Science and Engineering Building in the company’s honor The name was revealed during the dedication of.. The following is a revised version of a keynote address delivered at the annual conference of the Society of Women Engineers on October 25 There was a time – not so long ago – when death and injury in heavy construction were accepted as normal Building plans would include a specific estimate for the likely number of fatalities As the world moves away from fossil fuels and transitions to low-carbon alternatives Pumped Storage Hydro is becoming an increasingly critical solution to supporting the energy transition and grid resilience [email protected] to the late Henry Franklin Hoover and Emma Sue Wilson Hoover Betty celebrated her 92nd birthday with Jesus.  Betty’s passion and love in life was to spread the Good News about Christ but her heart was to teach about the Bible She was an excellent artist that taught Bible stories through her chalk drawings playing the harmonica and her beloved dog Zippy to countless children she was the Girls Program Director at Camp Fairhaven in Brooks Maine she would teach workshops at Camp Ridgecrest She retired from Child Evangelism Fellowship of Maine as a local director of northern and southern chapters She dedicated her life to Christ and furthering God’s Kingdom Betty was a dear friend who you could always count on having a good time.  Betty (Devoted One) “I delight to do thy will thy law is within my heart.” Psalm 40:8 where she taught Sunday School and served in children ministries She also loved spending quality time with her family.  Betty was preceded in death by her younger sister Wendy Clark (husband Doug) and Heather Davis (husband Craig); grandnephews but has peace and joy that she is healed and with Jesus Our family wants to say a special thank you to the staff at Davie Nursing Home and Trellis Supportive Care for the exceptional care and support given to Betty We are truly grateful and appreciative for being her angels that watched over and protected her at Hayworth-Miller Silas Creek Chapel with Reverend John Connor The family will receive friends 30 minutes prior to the service A private family burial will follow in the First Baptist Church of Welcome church cemetery memorials may be made to children ministries at Salem Baptist Church (www.salemws.org) CEF Ministries of Maine (www.cefofmaine.org) or CEF Ministries of Winston-Salem (www.cefgws.com) Please put "in memory of Elizabeth Hoover.” You can also mail Winston-Salem donations to: CEF of Greater Winston-Salem Online condolences may be made at www.hayworth-miller.com Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Hayworth-Miller Silas Creek Chapel Silas Creek Chapel - Hayworth-Miller Funeral Homes & Crematory wish I could’ve talked to her one last time my prayers go out to the family in this difficult time © 2025 Hamilton's Funeral and After Life Services Country music superstar Lainey Wilson is taking her performance chops from the radio stage and streaming portals to the silver screen As reported on April 30 via Variety, the "4X4XU" vocalist will join Maika Monroe, Tyriq Withers, Rudy Pankow, Lauren Graham, Bradley Whitford and Nicholas Duvernay in the cast of Universal's adaptation of Colleen Hoover's 2022 literary bestseller "Reminders of Him." "And now Lainey Wilson is gracing us with her amazing presence as Amy in 'Reminders of Him," offered the author via a social media post "Couldn't be more excited to be your Amy," Wilson replied has sold nearly 7 million copies and has been translated into almost 50 languages is expected to be released to theaters on Feb 'Reminders of Him' added to Wilson's growing resumeA press release offers that the book is a "transformative feature film about motherhood forgiveness and the power of one love to heal even the most shattered heart." The film version will feature Monroe portraying Kenna Rowan a former prisoner who has returned to her hometown after serving five years in prison for murder and seeks to revive her relationship with her daughter she kindles a vital relationship with local bar owner Ledger Ward (Withers) Kenna's first love and her daughter's late father Dramatic roles and the silver screen are not new territory for Wilson who has recently won the Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year award The Louisianan appeared in the fifth season of "Yellowstone" as Abby and she contributed "Out of Oklahoma" to the star-studded soundtrack for the film "Twisters" last year That performance was shortlisted for the Oscar for Best Original Song while the total album was Grammy-nominated achieving next-level superstardomBooth Hoover and Wilson are busy of late "Reminders of Him" follows Hoover's 2016 novel "It Ends With Us" being adapted into a film starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni that grossed nearly $350 million worldwide against a budget of only $25 million Another one of the successful author's books "Verity," has been developed into an Amazon MGM Studios thriller starring Anne Hathaway Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett that is expected to be released two months after "Reminders of Him" on May 15 news“Couldn't Be More Excited!” Lainey Wilson Joins Cast of Colleen Hoover's New Film, ‘Reminders Of Him’By Maxim Mower Lainey Wilson has been cast in the forthcoming feature film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's hit 2022 novel In a new post shared by Hoover via Instagram the hugely popular novelist has expressed her delight at Lainey Wilson's involvement “And now @laineywilson is graving us with her amazing presence as Amy in Reminders Of HIm” “Couldn't be more excited to be your Amy!” It marks the follow-up to the author's 2024 film which has since been embroiled in the legal dispute between its stars Wilson will join the likes of Maika Monroe Bradley Whitford and Nicholas Duvernay in the reported cast for Reminders Of Him The project will be directed by Vanessa Caswill with Hoover penning the screenplay alongside her co-producer Gina Matthews will also be producing through her firm while Robin Fisichella will executive produce Christine Sun has been confirmed as the film's Director of Production Development but Reminders Of Him is currently slated to premiere in early 2026 The plot follows a woman's return to her hometown from a lengthy spell in prison and her subsequent attempts to reconnect with her daughter Although this will be Lainey Wilson's feature film debut the Louisiana native appeared in Yellowstone Season 5 with Wilson portraying the fan-favourite character Wilson contributed one of the stand-outs to last year's stellar Twisters: The Album soundtrack The track was shortlisted for the Oscar for Best Original Song while the project as a whole being nominated for a Grammy Located on the campus of Stanford University and in Washington the Hoover Institution is the nation’s preeminent research center dedicated to generating policy ideas that promote economic prosperity Hoover scholars form the Institution’s core and create breakthrough ideas aligned with our mission and ideals What sets Hoover apart from all other policy organizations is its status as a center of scholarly excellence its locus as a forum of scholarly discussion of public policy and its ability to bring the conclusions of this scholarship to a public audience Hoover Education Success Initiative | The Papers Throughout our over one-hundred-year history our work has directly led to policies that have produced greater freedom and opportunity in the United States and the world Hoover scholars offer analysis of current policy challenges and provide solutions on how America can advance freedom What do the polls indicate about President Trump’s first 100 days in office Donald Trump’s first 100 days since returning to office have been prolific – the most executive orders issued in the early days of a presidency – and seemingly in a constant state of political turbulence What do the polls indicate about Trump’s performance to date and Stanford University political scientists discuss how various policy choices – tariffs legal imbroglios – have affected Trump’s approval plus where a struggling Democrat Party stands as both parties ponder a midterm election still 550 days ahead And welcome back to Matters of Policy and Politics a Hoover Institution podcast devoted to governance and balance of power here in America and around the world I'm the Virginia Hobbs Carpenter Distinguished Policy Fellow in Journalism here at the Hoover Institution I'm not the only fellow who's podcasting these days which is hoover.org podcast and see who all is talking ideas these days So today we're gonna talk about the Trump presidency where it stands now that it's past the magical Mythical 100 100-day mark which for those of you not familiar with American politics is catnip for punditry in terms of assessing how a presidency is going I will begin this podcast by saying that this is an unusual presidency in several regards it's the first time since the 1890s that America has had a president in a second but non-consecutive term You have to go back to Grover Cleveland in the 1890s for that It's a presidency that hit the ground running in unusual ways Donald Trump having having signed 140 plus executive orders in his first 100 days that easily topped the old record which was Franklin Roosevelt back in 1933 It's also a presidency that is unusually turbulent by compared to other non Trump presidencies it's proof of Newton's third law of motion for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction I say that because while Trump has done over 140 executive orders those executive orders have prompted over 217 lawsuits to date One other unusual aspect of the Trump presidency he has signed just five bills into law since coming into office George W Bush held the previous record with only seven signed in 2001 So Trump having signed five is the new standard for that I turn to two of the smartest people I know when it comes to matters of politics and public opinion Dave Brady is the Hoover Institution's Davies family Senior Fellow Emeritus and the Bowen H and Janice Arthur McCoy professor of Political Science at Stanford's Graduate School of Business Doug Rivers is a Hoover Senior Fellow and a Stanford University Political scientist which means that Doug is out there in the trenches and the weeds and the great beyond at all times trying to assess what the public thinks of this presidency Seems like we just had an election a few days ago >> Douglas Rivers: Seems like forever ago to me I spent some time going through YouGov's website and you do an excellent job at archives I looked up Trump in 2017 when he came to office This is the Trump 10 presidency on January 30 I picked that date because you had numbers for him on January 20 But I thought it best maybe to see if there's any movement between the 20th and the 30th given his rather startling American Carnage inaugural address that maybe you remember or not I have Donald Trump with a 45.5% approval rating which is about the 100 day mark of that presidency and I recommend people go to YouGov's website and look at this as well how Trump's numbers are relatively consistent through four years in office It's just almost like a straight line look It never shoots up one way or the other that much tell us where Donald Trump stands chance right now >> Douglas Rivers: So last week we reported that Trump's popularity approval rating had dropped to 41% which is well within normal statistical variation So this is the biggest move down for Trump basically a close to 10 point move in the last month that we've seen since he came down the escalator in 2016 The way I look at it is Trump started his second administration much Higher than he was at the time of his first administration So Trump did start from a higher point this way around But I think what we've seen is that Trump acted like he won a 55 or 60% margin and the degree of overreach is catching up with him The first month or two of the administration the level of activity appealed to his base and independents thought we're getting a strong act of president we've descended into what most people think is a chaotic world with two-thirds of the voters saying the country is out of control at this point >> Bill Whalen: So the question to you and Dave is what caused the 10 point drop off >> Bill Whalen: Something specific he did That's why I mentioned Liberation Day and the tariffs Is it a combination of repeated things he did And how much of this is policy versus how much is driven by personality >> David Brady: I'm gonna go a little bit in the first part of the policy I've been tracking not just Trump's approval rating the one I thought that helped him the most in the 2024 election But most of the action is among independents on the overall job approval So Democrats didn't like him to start with that's the one place where on inflation Republicans have there's about a 10-point drop on Republicans saying that he's doing a good job on that there's in general a gap between if you're a maga Doug has us asked in the surveys whether you're a maga think that the economy is getting stronger It's the Republicans who don't answer the question They're the ones that support us fallen off more But still he's the base of the part the party overall it's about 85% still approve of the job he's doing inflation was clearly the most important issue If you ask people what's the most important issue and 96% say it was very important or Somewhat important This is the issue that killed the Biden administration that Biden never recovered from the inflation in 20 Trump had a huge advantage on inflation at the time of the election Basically close to plus 20 points on that issue 57% of the public disapproves of the way he's handling inflation They elected him to come in and reduce prices threatens clear increase in prices that people will pay We haven't actually seen an increase in prices So this threatens the entire second Trump administration they're in deep trouble and it's not going to work to do essentially what Biden did What role does foreign policy play into this Cuz he did promise coming to office saying he would end the Ukraine war on the first day or I think the foreign policy side is something that is has a much weaker effect with the public at large His Ukraine policy is not terribly popular And people weren't voting in the 2024 election on foreign policy Immigration is the issue in which they're minus six >> Bill Whalen: It's down six points on immigration >> David Brady: I do want to say on that foreign policy that I agree with everything Doug said the long term consequences of the foreign policy are perhaps more important because the question of what do our allies to what extent can they in the long haul trust the United States commitments that's going to be a more and more important question over time we're political hacks here and obviously what happens in foreign policy is incredibly consequential to Americans but it's not top of mind to voters at the moment I wanna go back to immigration for a second because this would seem to be an area where he could take a victory lap in this regard is the problem that what he's done on the border overshadowed by the drama of the gentleman down in El Salvador and the lawsuits going on right now I think 60 of those lawsuits related to immigration policy So is it a case of him doing too much on immigration perhaps not focusing the public on the one you >> David Brady: Think back to the first term people were for him on immigration >> David Brady: And so I think what's hurt him on immigration is the pictures of hurting people in the lawsuits bring up the point that even if you want them deported they do have some rights before they're deported And the guy in El Salvador that's been put there illegally Trump today said he wasn't gonna bring him out So I think it's more the style that's affecting the immigration issue >> Douglas Rivers: The public supports restrictions on immigration I think what they're getting at the moment is more than they bargained for taking away people who aren't violent criminals sending someone mistakenly to maximum security prison in El Salvador talking about doing the same to American citizens I think his position on immigration would be pretty strong But I don't really think that's in his wheelhouse >> Bill Whalen: So he has given the Democrats ample talking points when it comes to immigration and ample talking points in general about management of the presidency the Democratic Party is less popular than the Republican Party at the moment we have Democrats at 36% favorable rating and 55% unfavorable whereas Republicans are 40% favorable and I think 52% unfavorable The problem for the out party is they don't have one person speaking for them And the people they do have speaking for them I think it remains to be seen how the more leftist firebrands like Bernie Sanders and aoc who are more effective communicators but are too far left for large fractions of the American public if the Democrats are counting on Trump's unpopularity to save them I don't think it's going to work in the short run It wasn't that the Democrats suddenly got more popular It was they didn't like what Trump was doing I think the Democrats don't need to be liked to win the House of representatives in 2026 I don't think they're going to win the Senate But I don't think they need to be popular to win >> Bill Whalen: This is an interesting strategic question we should talk about and tied into your poll So you have competing schools of thought within Democratic circles There is the James Carville school of thinking Don't get in the way of the enemy when the enemy is destroying himself lay low and voters will punish the Republicans in the midterms in 2026 you have someone like Illinois Governor J.B pritzker going to New Hampshire last weekend and saying and take into the streets and march and fight back is there anything within the data that you have in front of you that suggests that there's one way or other that Democrats are leading Are they happy being passive or do they want a fighter So the low ratings that the Democrats are getting on favorability are due primarily to Democrats not being as favorable towards the Democratic Party as Republicans are towards the Republican Party I think there's a balance between being passive voters want someone that says they're going to fix things and taking unpopular fringe positions on issues So the challenge for Democrats is the 2024 election showed a shrinking of the Democratic base And so they need to appeal to the voters they've been losing and large number of which are not left wingers the problem for the Democrats has been they win elections And the Democratic Party has some advantage on that because they're a little more heterogeneous in the sense that if you look at Democrats about 60 to 65% are liberal or very liberal And most independents who swing elections are moderates I just went back and looked at elections from Obama And pretty much the same is true for Republicans >> Bill Whalen: So if you're a Democratic strategist you could look at 2026 in two ways and probably shame on us or you could try another line or maybe add the line of attack which is it's a do nothing Republican Congress I mentioned that Trump has tried only five bills so far in the law that begs the question of what it is that the public wants done right now so the first thing the public wants is a good economy So you can essentially run that sort of race as a satisfying your base in the middle the challenge here for Democrats is they had issues that were structurally bad usually the Democrats are not the people you go to for reassurance The best thing that Democrats can do on those issues is essentially let Trump hurt the Republican brand on those which I think he has definitely done on inflation Losing a plus 20 issue to a minus 20 in a matter of weeks is a colossal political failure Immigration is one where Democrats need to convince voters that they're willing to be tough on immigration Trump has given them an opening on that that they otherwise didn't have I think the right strategy for the Democrats given that they're going to have these disputes between the left and the center Think AOC and Verney versus Abigail Spanberger I think that the best thing the Democrats could do in 2026 would be to follow Garfield and make the campaigns local We all know what the set of races are going to be They're going to turn the House and get good candidates in those cases and make the case at the local level I don't see how the Democrats try and put forward a unified front other than we won't do what he did I remember back in the 1980s it was popular to talk about so-called Mommy Daddy issues in Politics and that voters gravitated toward Democrats on so-called mommy issues Voters would gravitate toward Republicans on daddy issues does that matrix still hold up or has it been changed over the past >> David Brady: How has the world changed 30 seconds or less >> Douglas Rivers: The most amazing thing is on Russia The Republican base now that nearly half of which think Russia is friendly to us Democrats are have a renewed sense of being cold warriors on foreign policy free trade is another one that is now a left wing issue Republicans are much stronger supporters of Israel than Democratic base And this is a problem is sympathy for Palestine is not popular except in left wing circles >> David Brady: You mean like universities >> Douglas Rivers: I mean Kamala Harris tried to thread the needle on that which is saying that our Support for Israel is unwavering but that doesn't mean we don't think Palestinians should be treated fairly >> Bill Whalen: I wanna shift now and talk about the state of the two parties in America right now So what did Trump do on his hundredth day in office The answer is that he hopped on board Air Force One which for those who are not familiar with Michigan is just north of Detroit given that Michigan was an important state for him in terms of getting back into office he had earlier that day signed a couple of executive orders which are trying to throttle back on terror of the auto manufacturers like Ford and GM take a victory lap for 100 days and say what he's doing with the OD industry But there's another side to this story as well when it comes to war in Michigan So Trump spoke at Macomb Community College which is the same school where Ronald Reagan once upon a time uttered the famous words This was Reagan referring to the fact that he once upon a time was a Harry Truman Democrat Warren was a Democratic stronghold in Michigan goes to Warren to figure out what the heck is going on with his party They feel like everything has let them down Their elected officials have let them down They don't like the country's social drift Greenberg comes up with a phrase for these people Long time since Ronald Reagan was in office Ronald Reagan did spawn the Reagan Democrat Ronald Reagan did change the political map especially when you look at how read the south is right now Explain how things differ between Reagan's time and Trump's time when it comes to going to Michigan and appealing to the so called Reagan Democrat >> David Brady: I certainly want to recommend a book on this And it's the story of if you combine party identification with ideology hopefully it tells you something about American politics But the answer to the first question is what happened to those Reagan Democrats 40% of people who were self identified conservatives were Democrats and that party sorting has continued over time and it leads to polarization there's The Republicans are 75 to 80-81% conservative very conservative with about 15-18% moderate any reason or ability to compromise between the parties so you get this polarized battle which is a result of this long sorting process that began with Ronald Reagan >> Douglas Rivers: I think it began before Reagan it certainly grew to the point where those groups were swing voters and now they are firmly Republican voters Democrats win by racking up big margins in Ann Arbor and the suburbs in the center of Detroit but auto workers are no longer a great constituency for Democrats >> David Brady: I want to say Doug's right There was some in the 60s you got in the south And the other point is a lot of people make the claim In this book we examined lots of data from Gallup from stuff Doug got for us and other stuff Republicans gained at the expense of Democrats because conservative people who said they were conservative and had been Democratic were moving to the Republicans it was a phenomenon of conservatives across the country that they're either dead even or they're a few 1 or 2% more Republicans now >> Douglas Rivers: So in January of this year we had Republicans with 2% advantage over Democrats even under the height of the Reagan administration I'd say one other thing here is a big change is Democrats can squeak to a national victory by winning the blue wall and possibly making some inroads in places like Georgia that were for 30 years out of after essentially Clinton that is the kind of thing that would give you control of both houses of Congress They need to win in some places where they really aren't yet competitive you need to be able to win around the edge of the red states And there are just so many places where Democrats used to win in these relatively unpopulated states that figure importantly in the Senate that make the Senate structurally a real problem for Democrats >> Douglas Rivers: to win some seats in Indiana or Iowa or Ohio places where Democrats used to be very competitive and are hardly competitive these days that's a great point David and I were talking about this earlier you look at the way House lines up right now it would seem it's pretty easy for Democrats to pick up the House so let's assume Democrats pick up the House But you look at the Senate right now and Republican Democrats would have to pick up four seats You look up that 2026 map and it's hard to find four seats unless there's really an aberration race I mentioned they would have to pick up seats in places like Florida or Ohio But things have to go pretty far south for Republicans >> Bill Whalen: Florida's fascinating when you look at just how the party registration has changed in that state But I get back to this because you project here into 2027 there are already articles of impeachment filed in the Senate against and the in the Congress against Trump in the House Let's say the Senate breaks even for Democrats and Republicans and still 5347 the split you're going to have to find 20 Republican senators who presumably are not running for re election to vote to convict Donald Trump >> Douglas Rivers: I think someone said last week we tried impeachment before and it died in the Senate I think they would be well advised not to take up impeachment until there's some Republican votes for it but occasionally the horse will get an idea and maybe drink But the idea that you're going to get impeachment and that it's useful that's the left in the Democratic Party still believing that that's possible and it's not And what they might try to impeach him on is how he is trying to financially benefit from things going on for CBS and other entities to give money to your library and so forth you haven't bought any of those family things you're gonna have to find 20 votes to impeach him his numbers don't move among Republicans much >> David Brady: Think of it like this About Trump in his biography wasn't kind and he voted not to impeach him >> Bill Whalen: And where's Mitch McConnell headed >> Douglas Rivers: To be replaced by someone that's going to be more pro Trump than him was there any difference between how Obama went about Michigan versus how Biden went about Michigan Because I want to talk about moving forward and how Democrats can revisit Michigan and Pennsylvania in these states We did a Goodfellows episode the other day with ronna Congressman from 17 congressional district He's very big about going into red states and trying to revitalize them >> David Brady: What do you mean red states are doing better than blue states and it's kind of what George Bush famously said in 1992 He wants to show Democrats care what's going on here you talked about stitching together coalition how much has the coalition changed since Obama's days so probably the most significant is that Obama generated very high turnout and enormous margins among minorities the arithmetic for a Democratic win in one of these states is there aren't enough suburban educated voters You have to not only win them and win very big majorities among your college student and your minority base And that's where Democratic support has collapsed since 2012 >> David Brady: Let's not forget that in 2008 we had had quite a crisis under a Republican administration I didn't really pay much attention to that and so then he squeaked by the second time those are states that are very tough for Democrats at the moment let's get back to what you're talking about in your book the period of American history here would be the late 19th century that I mentioned with Cleveland Because you had a series of one term presidencies for one thing Then I guess what Cleveland wins and that he loses to Harrison >> David Brady: You're absolutely right >> Bill Whalen: You have the one term presidencies contrast the two and let's talk about where we think this sorting out is going The two periods that are most unstable are the One you met 1874 when the Republicans won everything and held control for 14 years until 1910 and then Wilson the point you have to remember about that is that those two periods are driven by ultimately globalization The first period was a period of intense globalization the United States went from a agricultural to industrial power We moved up from not being very big industrially to either leading the next best biggest country and in the United this time >> David Brady: In this present period which begins the industrial The globalization of the world brings about the same kind of instability and the same kinds of issues it is the case that globalization drives these issues The same thing was the farms were being hollowed out as people moved to the cities All of these populous things are coming about because the global the manufacturing base and all these countries has sort of gone as you move to this globalization it is a complicated issue because the parties and particularly the parties in Congress and elites have been much more free traders than the public at large you had a case where both the Democratic and Republican elites were more pro free trade than their basis the public has definitely moved to being anti trade I think we are potentially seeing a swing back in the other direction Trump has made the Democratic Party as free trade as it's ever been in its entire history >> David Brady: I agree with Doug and one good point about that is you think about the election of Bill Clinton Bill Clinton ran on a claim that I will not we will not give China most favored trade nation status Who was the president that got the China most favored trade status And the interesting point is it was done with About 48% of the votes in the House came from Democrats >> Douglas Rivers: But let me give you one little indication that it may be swinging the other direction So asking about China is no 1 across the board in American politics is pro China these days do you think the Trump administration's tariffs on China have gone too far And 50% of the public says they've gone too far with only 8% saying they've not gone far enough I don't know what's going to happen on this It's not like we've turned China into a sympathetic character But if these tariffs backfire in a big time way the public will learn a different lesson than the one that's gotten in recent years 55% of independents and only 22% of Republicans the only people are gonna change on this that make the difference is again the independence So I mean the way we always look at these things is the group that can move are independents Democrats don't need to win the Republican base or vice versa And right now Trump is doing very badly among independents >> David Brady: He went from 52% overall support down to 36 or something and on terror and on inflation he is below that >> Bill Whalen: So I look at elections right now in America and I see a loop And if you want to call it a doom loop be my guess We've had the last three presidential elections have been pretty much the same election close in terms of Congress ping pongs back and forth in 2026 lines up as yet Is there any other nation in the world that is kind of politically analogous to us right now I don't think there's any place where the party alignment is as frozen as is in the U a 30 point move over the last literally four months >> David Brady: That guy ought to be sending Trump roses whatever he can >> Bill Whalen: I was going to ask you I don't know if you've done the polling yet on it >> Douglas Rivers: It couldn't have been anything else the Liberal Party had ruled for 12 years and was so far behind in the polls it seemed hopeless You know there is an argument that Justin Trudeau was personally very unpopular but that can't >> Douglas Rivers: Move the parties as much as it did >> Bill Whalen: But I asked the question you look at Argentina and they have Trump like figures now in >> Douglas Rivers: but as did Canada But is the overall political system in terms of being locked into the nature of these elections in terms of legislative body shifting back and forth is there any other country that's in the same loop as us you have to look at the nature of the political system We are the only country of this size who has two political parties our Constitution doesn't allow us to separate the law from politics the markets go crazy and what's happened to her taught a course over there at the time of Nixon's impeachment and the British could not understand why he couldn't be put aside let the courts do their job and he'll come back to compare the United States because we only have two parties and I don't really know of any other system that has just two parties and a presidential divided government possibilities like we do >> Douglas Rivers: I think most first past the post systems do Australia has three or four parties that are significant >> Douglas Rivers: I think Canada has now two and an eighth parties if you really care about the 100 days or not What's the next benchmark for this presidency in terms of polling >> Douglas Rivers: The analogy I would draw is to the first year of the Biden administration because we have the same kind of overreach here that we had when Biden was declaring he was going to be a transformative president with a 50 there were a series of events in the Biden administration The first was he couldn't get his bills passed The tariffs here are at least as bad a stumble as Biden's situation Afghanistan And then the feeling that Biden himself was out of it And Trump is not a young guy at this point about the same age Biden was four years ago the question is whether things turn around in the next three months for Trump or they continue to get worse wants to admit error or is inclined to reverse himself So I think he could end up quite a bit more unpopular I look at it as kind of a slowdown after the 100 days first and foremost on what Doug talked about beautiful tax bill that's going to be exceedingly difficult to put together I think I believe they have a chance to do it just as they did in 2017 because Republicans actually don't agree on a lot of stuff other than this tax thing I think my view is they got a chance to put it together Trump's got to start to play some role in that the markets over the last few days seem to believe it seems to me they seem to believe that there is some possibility that there'll be these negotiations and Trump will be able to put together trade packages we're going to have to follow that and see if that works which I believe are inflation are going to be inflationary And inflation hurts him in regard to the public opinion What it would take to make him popular are one getting the tariff thing solved so that there are deals and the costs of inflation aren't high I think Doug was starting to show by suggesting that's kind of Trump on steroids We haven't talked about the two parties in terms of approval in Congress have Republicans been similarly affected in Congress >> Douglas Rivers: Congress itself always gets very low ratings >> Bill Whalen: But Republicans own it >> Douglas Rivers: more now than in the past But it's still not the case that the out party is a party in Congress to speak with one voice they're going to have to make a bunch of compromises >> David Brady: Trying to put that deal together is you've got Chip Roy and a bunch of guys that want to make real cuts And as George Will has been pointing out for some time the only cuts you really want to do anything with the only thing you've got to deal with Social Security and Medicare and you're not going to be able to deal with those popularly Second thing then is you're gonna have to deal with a bunch of reasonably moderate Republicans who come from blue states There are like four or five little coalitions like that in the Republican Party that they're going to have to bring together on this tax bill I'm going to be very interested in how they try to put that together and what the consequences of it are I'm gonna be in John Kogan's office regularly asking him what's going on >> Bill Whalen: So what I'm curious about is the same law that Donald Trump invokes to do the tariffs they also have provisions that say tariffs can be undone via a joint resolution of Congress as we can see through polls on the public saying Congress do something here or maybe this is a function where you have to wait a few months and just see how the tariffs play out they need to pass a law which is subject to a veto >> Bill Whalen: You have to have two-thirds override But Democrats can put Republicans in the uncomfortable position of Trump refuses to budge on tariffs Democrats put up proposals to eliminate them So I wouldn't wanna be a Republican in Congress And part of the answer is that Donald Trump unlike any other president in my time which goes back quite a ways any of president he has with that MAGA group the ability to say and the members of Congress know I will primary you and that will make their life very unpleasant I think the only reason that Joni aren't voted for Hedgeworth is because she didn't wanna get primaried Nobody else in my time has had 50% of the party say they're part of make america Great again 65% of them I think maybe even last poll I saw 65% of Maga said the economy's getting better this to me makes for a very good poll down the road I remember there's a line in the movie the King's Speech where I don't know if you guys saw the movie or not but they're having a party out in English countryside and the future king of England and his wife come to it and Churchill comes up to the the prince's wife and he says is kinda the fundamental question here with Republicans and Trump >> Douglas Rivers: So in the first month of the Trump administration willing to threaten people with expensive primaries and you know that really had Republicans in Congress cowed But I do think if they were doing those nominations again rarely in American politics does someone come along like a Donald Trump Franklin Roosevelt had it to a certain extent But I just don't think anybody in the time I've been following politics I just don't see anybody who has that kind of generates that kinda loyalty >> Douglas Rivers: Even FDR was unable to primary Democratic congressman He learned that lesson in the court packing lost a lot of money by getting fired from his sitcom And Charlie Sheen went on a rage and he coined a hashtag And that to me seems to the Trump presidency right now he's gonna go out there with hashtag winning >> Douglas Rivers: Have you had enough winning yet I hope the president doesn't watch this because I I'm not sure he'd really like to be compared to Charlie Sheen >> Douglas Rivers: I think we've reached the limits of our expertise here >> Bill Whalen: So that's probably a good note to sign off on thank you very much for your political acumen >> David Brady: September or October And the title of it again is From Dominance to Parity >> Bill Whalen: You've been listening to matters of policy and politics at the Hoover Institution podcast devoted to governance and balance of power The Hoover Institution is all over social media though I keep waiting every day for him to show up on TikTok Maybe one of the bandits that'll build a merge on TikTok His X handle is @doug_rivers and I mentioned his excellent polling firm I messed our website beginning in the show do yourself a favor and sign up for the Hoover Daily Report which delivers the best work of Dave Brady and Doug Rivers to your inbox You'll get that weekdays for the Hoover Institution We'll be back soon with a new installment of Matters of Policy and Politics >> Presenter: This podcast is a production of the Hoover Institution to hear more of our podcasts or view our video content With its eminent scholars and world-renowned library and archives the Hoover Institution seeks to improve the human condition by advancing ideas that promote economic opportunity and prosperity while securing and safeguarding peace for America and all mankind All it took was an AI voice generator and a phone call But even I was able to deepfake my own bank with relative ease All they need is a few seconds of your voice which they might find in video posts on Instagram or TikTok and maybe some information like your phone or debit card number which they might be able to find in data leaks on the dark web In my case — for the purposes of this story — I downloaded the audio of a radio interview I sat for a few weeks ago trained a voice generator on it after subscribing to a service for a few dollars and then used a text-to-voice function to chat with my bank in a voice that sounded a bit robotic but eerily similar to my own first with the automated system and then a human representative my deepfake seemingly triggered little to no suspicion 80% of respondents said they believed gen AI was ramping up hackers' abilities faster than banks could respond These scammers can take gen-AI tools and target accounts at a massive scale a company that makes software for governments and other businesses to detect the likelihood that content was generated by AI in real time they will use every single tool." In addition to stealing your voice or image either to steal an identity or make an entirely new fake one to open accounts for funneling money Even when a financial institution blocks them they can try another account or another service "the attackers don't have to be right very often to do well," Colman says And they don't care about going after only the richest people; scamming lots of people out of small amounts of money can be even more lucrative over time According to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center the average online scam in 2024 came out to just under $20,000 across more than 250,000 complaints the FBI received from people of all ages (those over 60 filed the most complaints and saw the biggest losses but even people under 20 lost a combined $22.5 million) Colman says some banks have tried to get ahead of the deepfake problem in the past few years while others didn't see it as a pressing issue more and more are using software to protect their clients A 2024 survey of business executives (who worked across industries not just in banking) found that more than 10% had faced an attempted or successful deepfake fraud More than half said that their employees had not been trained to identify or address such attacks I reached out to several of the largest banks in the US asking them what they're doing to detect and shut down deepfake fraud Citi declined to share any details of its fraud detection methods and technology the head of consumer banking practices at JPMorgan Chase told me the bank sees "the challenges posed by rapidly evolving technologies that can be exploited by bad actors" and is "committed to staying ahead by continuously advancing our security protocols and investing in cutting-edge solutions to protect our customers." Generative AI has gotten leaps and bounds better at covering its tracks I had fake me read off information like my debit card number and the last four digits of my Social Security number but it's disturbingly easy these days for criminals to buy this kind of personal data on the dark web as it may have been involved in a data leak I generated friendly phrases that asked my bank to update my email address Fake me repeatedly begged the automated system to connect me to a representative how are you?" greeting to the person on the other line I had deepfake me ask for more time to dig up confirmation codes sent to my phone and then thank the representative for their help Authorities are starting to sound the alarm on how easy and widespread deepfakes are becoming the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network put out an alert to financial institutions about gen AI Speaking at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in April said that the tech "has the potential to supercharge identity fraud" and that deepfake attacks had increased twentyfold in the past three years Barr said that we'll need new policies that raise the cost for the attacker and lower the burden on banks it's relatively low risk and low cost for scammer organizations to carry out a massive number of attacks and impossible for banks to catch each and every one It's not just banks getting odd calls; scammers will also use deepfakes to call up people and impersonate someone they know or a service they use There are steps we can take if suspicious requests come our way "These scams are a new flavor of an old-school method that relies on unexpected contact and a false sense of urgency to trick people into parting with their money," Ashwin Raghu the head of scam policy and innovation at Citi Raghu says people should be suspicious of urgent requests and unexpected calls — even if they're coming from someone who sounds like a friend or family member Try to take time to verify the caller or contact the person in a different way you may want to hang up and call the bank back using the phone number on your card to confirm it Limiting what you share on social media and to whom is one way to crack down on the likelihood you'll become a target as are tools like two-factor authentication and password managers that store complex and varied passwords But there's no foolproof way to avoid becoming a target of the scams Barr's policy ideas included creating more consistency in cybercrime laws internationally and more coordination among law enforcement agencies which would make it more difficult for criminal rings to operate undetected He also called for increasing penalties on those who attempt to use generative AI for fraud But those won't be the quickest of fixes to keep up with how rapidly the tech has changed Even though this tech is readily available sometimes in free apps and sometimes for purchases of just a few dollars the problem is less a proliferation of lone wolf hackers the vice president of global fintech and sponsor banking at Alloy organized crime rings that are able to move in large numbers and are bolstered by automation to carry out thousands of attacks If they try 1,000 times to get through and make it once they'll then focus their efforts on chipping away at that same institution until the bank notices a trend and comes up with fixes to stop it He says banks should "stay nimble" and have "layered approaches" to detect quickly evolving fraud "You're never going to stop 100% of fraud," he says but their defense lies in making themselves "less attractive to a bad actor" than other institutions I tried to change my debit card PIN and my email address during the phone calls but I was told I had to do the first at an ATM and the second online Each bank has different systems and rules in place and some might allow people to change personal information which could give a scammer much easier access to the account Whether my bank caught on to my use of a generated voice but I do sleep a little bit better knowing there are some protections in place Amanda Hoover is a senior correspondent at Business Insider covering the tech industry She writes about the biggest tech companies and trends Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article Herbert Hoover served as president of the United States from March 4 In the 1932 U.S. presidential election, Democratic candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Herbert Hoover Roosevelt received nearly 23 million votes and 472 electoral votes while Hoover received slightly less than 16 million votes and 59 electoral votes (Read Herbert Hoover’s Britannica entry on his brother, Theodore Jesse Hoover.) but he defended his actions on humanitarian grounds Hoover’s silence regarding MacArthur’s excesses led the public to think that the president had been responsible for the brutality The man who had enjoyed a worldwide reputation as a humanitarian now appeared heartless and cruel a library on World War I—is named in his honour The table provides a list of cabinet members in the administration of Pres a Coraopolis resident for more than 50 years passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones on January 16 1930 to the late Eleanor Lamison and married her true love Hallard Hoover .  Gerry’s life was centered on her family and friends.  Her loving and caring spirit was seen through her exemplary life of serving others.  She had a welcoming smile for everyone and was quick to laugh even at herself.  A member of the Presbyterian Church of Coraopolis Gerry organized many of the church’s flea markets and benefit dinners.  She worked as an RN for 29 years at Presbyterian Hospital in Oakland and was a member of the Sewickley Hospital Auxiliary.  She enjoyed camping baking and loved playing cards and games with family and friends.  Gerry shared 56 years of marriage with her beloved husband Hallard who preceded her in death in 2009.   She is survived by her four children Bonnie (Craig) Pawuk of Coraopolis Scott (Chris) Hoover both of Coraopolis; four cherished grandchildren Ryan (Rebecca) Pawuk Katelyn Hoover; and six great grandchildren Luca & Lincoln Pawuk Bella & Blair Hoover and Carmine Pawuk.  Visitation at R on Monday January 20 from 1:00-3:00pm and 6:00-8:00 pm.   A Funeral service will follow on Tuesday January 21 at 10:00 am at Copeland Funeral Home.  Burial at Coraopolis Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers memorials in her name to West Hills Food Pantry Image: prozac1 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net 6 Tennessee on the road this weekend in what will be a critical series in SEC play and gained much-needed momentum ahead of the series by taking out in-state rival Samford at the Hoover Met on Tuesday The Tigers' offense set the tone early with a two-run home run by Cade Belyeu in the 1st inning and a costly Samford error in the 7th inning that scored Chris Rembert the performance of the night went to Christian Chatterton who turned in another stellar outing in midweek action The true freshman shut out Samford over six complete innings allowing one hit and striking out 10 batters His performance in Hoover follows his previous outing where he struck out six batters and allowed zero hits in four innings last Tuesday against Georgia Tech at Plainsman Park Auburn head coach Butch Thompson is impressed with what he has seen from his midweek starter over recent weeks “(Chatterton) just picked up where he left off a week later,” Thompson said postgame “He’s done that three or four times in a row now he could get that changeup over every time That pitch is set as good as any pitch for any pitcher on our pitching staff.” Although it did not show on the scoreboard, Auburn's offense dominated Samford on Tuesday. The Tigers outhit Samford, 8-2, with Cooper McMurray, Bub Terrell, and reigning SEC Player of the Week Chris Rembert collecting two hits each Chase Fralick joined Terrell and Belyeu by logging a multi-base hit in the win Andreas Alvarez and Ryan Hetzler continued the shutout over the final three innings Alvarez allowed a hit and a walk while striking out three batters in two innings of relief while Hetzler slammed the door in the 9th inning by retiring every batter he faced and earning the save Auburn will now focus on its weekend showdown with No Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on  X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__ Thanks for visiting A new Hoover Institution poll shows widespread support for making the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent but with a clear message to Congress: offset tax relief with spending cuts but only if it’s paired with reductions in federal spending if extension of tax relief increases the deficit underscoring that fiscal responsibility is a top concern for voters Excerpts from Hoover Institution: 75% are concerned about the growing federal debt and believe Congress should prioritize deficit reduction yet only 17% correctly identify Social Security as the largest federal spending program Americans are worried about the federal debt 75% believe the federal debt is growing at an unsustainable pace 75% believe Congress should make reducing the federal deficit a priority Voters favor having Congress extend the TCJA as long as the tax reductions are offset by spending cuts elsewhere in the budget The Hoover Institution polled 1,775 members of the American public using YouGov on April 4–10 about their attitudes toward the extension of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Trump Tax Cuts”) currently being negotiated in Congress The survey revealed that while Americans are worried about future federal debt and deficits they have large gaps in knowledge about what the federal government spends money on and what is included in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act extension that is being negotiated by Congress at this time The House budget blueprint reflects the priorities of the American people by keeping taxes low and restoring fiscal discipline to Washington Lower taxes help working families keep more of their income to fully realize the benefits of pro-growth policies like tax reform and regulatory relief we must also confront the challenge of wasteful Pairing these thoughtful spending reductions with tax relief is the fiscally responsible path that ensures we do not further inflate our $36 trillion national debt—which now exceeds the size of the U.S 75% of Americans polled expressed concern about this growing burden We must address our unsustainable debt now before it jeopardizes our economic future and the prosperity of generations to come Read CATO Institute Poll: Americans Want Congress to Pair Tax Cuts with Significant Spending Reforms HERE Read Chairman Arrington’s statement on unlocking reconciliation HERE which inspired the Blake Lively/Justin Baldoni hit Gilmore Girls‘ Lauren Graham and The West Wing‘s Bradley Whitford are also attached to the film Lainey made her acting debut in season 5 of Yellowstone playing the musician Abby there’s no word on Lainey’s role when Reminders of You will shoot or when it will be out Need help accessing the FCC Public File due to a disability Please contact Justin Jerve at publicfilemn@hubbardradio.com or (218) 828-1244 This web site is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area Of the 14 new building permits issued state wide this past week for construction projects exceeding $1 million 11 of them are for projects in the Birmingham metro Among these is a new office building in Hoover The new building sits on more than 2 acres and is one of the first office-specific buildings under construction in some time. Leasing and sales information can be found here is listed as the lead contractor on this project Here’s more on these new building permits in Alabama this week: Here are some of our recent building permits reports: Follow Bham Now on Instagram, Facebook + LinkedIn, and sign up for our FREE newsletter to have exciting news about The Magic City delivered straight to your inbox "Laying the Foundations for a Developed India (Viksit Bharat) by 2047," on Monday The event will feature a keynote address and fireside chat with Nirmala Sitharaman >> Sumit Ganguly: Thank you everyone for coming on this stunning California afternoon and I direct the Huntington Program on Strengthening US-India Relations here at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University And it is my particular pleasure this afternoon to host the Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs it is necessary on my part to remind all of you to please put your cell phones on silent mode The last thing we need is a cell phone going off with a popular Bollywood tune >> Sumit Ganguly: In the middle of the Minister's speech let me turn the podium over to Minister Sitharaman who will speak on the prospect of a developed India by 2047 Minister Sitharaman has advanced degrees in economics from India's premier social science university She has previously been the Minister of Defense and is currently the Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Her entire resume would essentially fill up a Senate filibuster And so I will refrain from that temptation to read out her entire CV and instead just give you these pertinent details and what a pleasure and what an honor it is for me to stand before you in this lovely And it's also a pleasant day here in San Francisco Delhi is hot and we have the Vice President with his family also in Delhi has had a meeting with the Prime Minister I'm here to talk to you on laying the foundation for developed India that is Viksit Bharat by 2047 which I understand a professor would hold an interaction interactive session with you So indulge me with this formal address that I like to do on the topic India's journey to become a Viksit Bharat by 2047 is not merely an aspiration but a shared national mission powered by a vision for inclusive Despite the pandemic shock and a banking crisis anchored in strong macroeconomic fundamentals and steady reforms gives us the confidence and direction for the road ahead India has risen from the world's 10th largest economy to the fifth largest in just five years a clear sign of our growing strength and global relevance the impact of the pandemic on their growth and growth prospects lingers even as the domestic growth suffers further shocks from unprecedented external competition there has been a threefold increase in new trade restrictions since 2019 as countries strive to protect domestic production and jobs global trade and investment landscapes are being reimagined to bring about better balance between externally-led growth and domestic growth and between energy transition and energy security these developments appear formidable and yet they are full of possibility New opportunities for deeper participation present themselves The United States and India have enjoyed a long-standing economic collaboration which can be strengthened to enable industry participation and partnership and investments in several key sectors and pharmaceuticals come to my mind as frontier areas of collaboration domestically over the next two decades Sustaining India's growth momentum calls for a fresh approach grounded in bold reforms renewed institutional partnership and adaptive strategies suited for the evolving global landscape The last two union budgets have laid the groundwork for this transformation with a clear multisectoral policy agenda Manufacturing is a force multiplier for the services sector growth and not so much the other way around Manufacturing binds societies and leads and lends cohesion to communities by providing employment opportunities and financial strength to communities manufacturing enhances national security also as we strengthen our foundations for long-term growth manufacturing emerges as a key engine for transformation Manufacturing has historically been a cornerstone of the economic transformation of nations from 19th century Britain to 21st century East Asia It creates a forward and backward linkages and pushes demand for infrastructure and governance reforms scaling up manufacturing is essential to absorb a youthful workforce Physical infrastructure enables manufacturing to grow by putting markets a significant thrust on infrastructure development has also created a strong foundation for manufacturing led growth by bolstering investor confidence This has been enabled by a more than four fold increase in the Union government's capital expenditure between 2017-18 and 25-26 budget better rail connectivity and a sharp reduction in port turnaround times have all contributed to a more efficient logistics network India's ranking in the World Bank's Logistic Performance index has improved from 54 in 2014 to 38 in 2023 a vibrant and thriving network of small and medium enterprises is essential for domestic manufacturing to grow Our government has undertaken numerous initiatives to support the MSMEs from easing access to credit Facilitating prompt payment from large buyers and simplifying compliance burdens launched in April 2022 has successfully onboarded more than 764,000 vendors across 616 cities in India 616 cities in India our next focus is reducing regulatory frictions digitizing approvals and integrating MSMEs into global value chains Special support to women led and rural enterprises will help enhance economic opportunities and ensure more inclusive growth Startups and innovation form the cornerstone of the India US relationship India is a leading exporter of startup acumen to the us SPORA and BCG shows that Indian first generation immigrants founded 72 unicorns between 2018 and 2023 These unicorns were worth at least US$195 billion in valuation and employed 55,000 people the US has been foundational to India's startup growth journey Not only is the US a large investor in Indian startups but it has also helped co create the Global Capability center as a landscape in India More than 65% of the GCCs in India have their headquarters in the United States These GCCs provide high value added bespoke services in areas such as R and D While the US is a mature startup hub which has developed over 50 to 60 years the government's focus was on reducing the cost of entrepreneurial risk taking by removing regulatory and infrastructural barriers around 57 regulations have been simplified for startups India now ranks second globally in innovation quality among middle income economies with top rankings in the quality of scientific publications and universities Since the Startup India initiative of 2016 stability in the startup system has been enhanced through over 50 reforms in areas related to raising capital relaxing credit repayment policies and intellectual property rights the fund of funds and the creating and the credit guarantee scheme for startups support seed funding and successive credit needs angel tax for startups was done away with to reduce costs for the startups Government also provides an R and D platform for high tech sectors through schemes such as ATAL Innovation Mission The scheme for technology incubation and development of entrepreneurs called Tide 2.0among various others Entrepreneurs are assisted in marketing and networking with corporate entities government departments and even public sector undertakings research and development as an area of priority While charting the roadmap to Vikasid Bharat the Budget also sought to operationalize the Anusandhan National Research Fund for Prototype design developments a financing pool of one trillion rupees was allocated for intensivizing private sector research Successfully scaling up businesses calls for skilled workforce with nearly 65% of its population under 35 India has an unprecedented opportunity to reap a demographic dividend But this requires matching education and skilling with demands of Industry 4.0 India aims to educate and empower a generation that will not only work in new industries The National Education Policy 2020 is a step in this direction digital fluency and interdisciplinary thinking lays a strong foundation faculty training and industry aligned curricula will determine outcomes in rural and unserved areas Digital learning and modernized classrooms are becoming a reality not an aspiration anymore We encourage greater participation of women in the workforce and are committed to eliminating the hurdles to women's employment equal opportunity and access to finance for women entrepreneurs will enrich the workforce Prudent fiscal management will be one of the most important pillars of India's drive towards Vikasit Bharat in the medium to long run We are keen to manage our fiscal policy in such a way as to strike a comfortable saving investment balance and a strong external account position while also leaving adequate scope for our private sector enterprises to mobilize the required investable resources at reasonable cost As evidenced by our fiscal track record since COVID we have been focused on fiscal consolidation In 202021 we promised to more than halve the fiscal deficit We have delivered on that promise as the federal government's deficit ratio has declined from 9.2% of the GDP to a budgeted 4.4% of GDP this financial year The high quality of fiscal consolidation is reflected in the increased share of capital expenditure over the years Alongside the reduction in debt and deficit The government's capital expenditure as percentage of GDP increased from 2.1% to 3.1% in 202526 compared to 202021 when it was 2.1% We have also announced a glide path to medium term consolidation Unleashing the productive forces I have mentioned so far requires broad based deregulation and an emphasis on trust based governance Over the last decade we have undertaken structural reforms rationalizing over 20,000 compliances decriminalizing business laws and digitizing public services to reduce friction Our experience with implementing the Business Reform Action Plan by different elected state governments has demonstrated that deregulation is a powerful catalyst for industrial growth We remain committed to further simplifying regulation and processes to reduce business costs particularly for MSMEs and enhance productivity transparent land markets and simplified tax regimes must converge to create a seamless competitive environment Achieving this vision will require sustained collaboration between the center and the state governments as we lay the foundation for a developed India we must stay committed to long term goals without losing sight of present realities The global order is changing that poses challenges but also opportunities We must be prepared to tackle the former while seizing the latter sustainability and inclusion are not competing goals They are interdependent objectives that must be pursued harmoniously A Vikasit Bharat will be shaped not only by the government but by the collective effort of every citizen >> Sumit Ganguly: It is my pleasure now to introduce Professor Stephen Davis Ford Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Hoover Institution We have heard a splendid an insightful speech from the Finance Minister Professor Davis will engage in a fireside chat with the finance Minister and dwell on several of the issues that she highlighted in her insightful speech for sharing your observations and giving us a chance to talk We and I personally are delighted to welcome you here to Hoover and to Stanford You laid out a vision for India's economic development path in the coming decades trying to simplify processes for business investment and skills and so on You put a lot of stress on the manufacturing sector and its development for India I wanted to ask you about what looked to me like some challenges that India will face in see how you plan to respond to them emanates from the direction of US Trade policy under the second Trump administration Vice President Vance and Prime Minister Modi met earlier today for treasury Secretary Scott Besant later this week I'm going to venture a guess that trade policy will be on the agenda which I think many already are well aware of the Trump administration has dramatically hiked U.S tariff rates on imports from other countries I think India's tariff rates are currently now at 10% It looks like there could be a major change in the global trading system that makes it harder to generate an export led growth process through manufacturing or otherwise I wonder what it looks like from your vantage point as an Indian finance minister So tell me what it looks like and how you think India can navigate this challenge I think it gives me an opportunity to explain quite a few things that Prime Minister Modi is planning for his third term I derive my first message for the question that you asked as my reply First message is when you have stability in government investments and growth can be planned and executed to a large extent But even with this kind of a global uncertainty I would think that is primarily the reason why India continues to be the fastest growing economy It is that stability which people of India voted for which I think is the biggest strength with which today we were one of the earliest to approach the new administration in the United States to talk trade India's biggest and the topmost trading partner is United States of America And that importance is not lost on today's government in India Prime Minister visited United States in February this year The Foreign Minister had come and although the context is world World bank and IMF spring meetings So the importance that the United States has for India's trade relationship cannot be more emphasized upon within the first three months of the new administration These are the visits which have happened and the negotiations have commenced I appreciate the US Administration in sending the additional USTR to India to start or to continue the negotiation process So a message that we are on probably a very productive and engaging face is well-established and if anything the first tranche of the trade agreement I hope will be concluded by the fall this year So we've been open minded and very clearly stating the importance of this trade relationship between India and the US >> Nirmala Sitharaman: I'm very hopeful I will try to absorb some of that as I look at the conduct of my own government Let me turn to a different type of challenge that it seems to me India will face in in the manufacturing led growth part of what you talked about So if you look across really all the major economies of the world But the share of manufacturing jobs as a share of all jobs has been on a declining trend in the richer countries like the United States It's been on a declining trend for half a century in less developed economies The data for China are murky on this as many much data are for China But as near as I can tell the story in China over the last 20 years is and that's the manufacturing powerhouse of the world The share of employment in the manufacturing sector is flat or declining slowly And we think we know why this is as economists and there's two basic reasons and capital deepening in the manufacturing sector And there's a general pattern that as economies get richer You start to spend a larger share of your consumption bundle on services rather than goods So all of that says to me it's going to be challenging to rapidly expand jobs in the manufacturing sector even if you succeed in implementing many of these excellent policy initiatives that you described And I wanted to get your sense of how you think about that And maybe you want to go so far as to tell us what share of jobs you think the manufacturing sector in India will account for a decade hence >> Nirmala Sitharaman: Your observations on manufacturing is well taken particularly with the Industrial Revolution 4.0 But just so we get the perspective right on this the service sector's contribution is about 64% if 7 million people are in the gig economy today I mean 7.1% people are in the gig economy today your 64% contribution is also not from manufacturing It could be it related or it could be fintech related So service sector is disproportionately contributing both to the GDP and for employment But that's not to say that there is no increase in employment Just a minute to correct the number which I said 7.1 million people are in the gig economy today as of 2122 data But that's not to say that manufacturing should be left aside We've been hoping to increase the contribution of manufacturing from 12% to about 22% Sharp focused on 14 sectors which we identify as sunrise sectors or because we've launched a hydrogen mission in those areas So if those are the sectors for which we want to give a push in order to strengthen our manufacturing we've come up with schemes which will support them That is why you found Apple phone manufacturing has shifted to India from China most of the phone manufacturing which happens particularly those which are being exported from India That was a very quick and rapid policy driven support for bringing that entire ecosystem to India for every additional unit that you produce and export you're going to get an incentive from the government And that is aimed at such sectors which also will have greater employment potential similarly labor-intensive sectors like the textile So in order to support greater job creation that specific point that you've asked me in the July budget immediately after the election to the third term of Prime Minister Modi we'd come up with four different schemes where we support first time job seekers if they formally entered into a formal enrolling in the EPFO employees pension fund organization for employers who take in new first time employees on their job roles we give the support for the employee as much as the employer as well So we are incentivizing and providing subsidy for employers who bring in newer first time employees on board into their regular digitized and formal working space We provide them health cover for up to 5 lakh rupees per year and that is the premium is paid by the government we also want to expose our youth to what the industry expects from you you passed out of an institution but you found not fit for the company's requirements So we give them a training or some kind of an internship where the government pays the money for these interns in top 500 companies so that they can choose the company with no compulsion It can be within the district where you are living And in that process they get to understanding the requirement which companies have for a job seeker he's also extended further skilling and upskilling opportunities all paid by the government So for creating jobs we are actually taking these measures from somewhere in the range of 48% worker to population ratio So the number the needle is moving towards greater employment opportunities So I hear you saying that done right with the right set of policies you do see lots of potential for growth in manufacturing activity and manufacturing jobs And you describe what some of those policies are Let me turn to another topic that you mentioned briefly in your speech which is the employment participation of women in India So some of the audience will know this already Employment rates among Indian women are quite low compared to comparably developed economies elsewhere in the world We actually held a conference here last week organized by over fellow Suhani Jalota She's sitting somewhere in the audience here I think it's widely recognized that it would be desirable to bring more women into the labor force in India And then what is the proper role for the Indian government to facilitate that process Because obviously the government doesn't do everything And how do you think about the proper role of the government in addressing what many see as a social problem as well as an economic problem the government has been running a program which is an umbrella kind of a scheme begins Beti Bachao and I say in some states clearly where there was a bias in favor of boys and they didn't want girls And there were ever so many methods in which you would abort a prospective girl child from being born That practice because of the persistent awareness building campaign and this is not just today it's been a campaign would run good positive results would happen there was a scheme run by the chief minister herself was a woman and she kept a cradle outside her office a cradle outside her residence for people who didn't want newly born girl children they could leave it in the cradle and go away And she would make the institutions in the government to adopt the children such children who are left behind and ensure that they are safe given education and every opportunity So periodically in India you've had this awareness building Prime Minister Modi's campaign has literally been across the country particularly in those states where the sex ratio was adversely affected There was a time when in some states for every thousand male born there were only about 800 girl children being born That number today has almost reached parity and that has been because of sustained camping particularly those who belong to poorer sections So supply them such food with which the child's nutrition and the mother's lactating mother's nutrition levels are monitored and given So I'm saying from birth up to getting your opportunities in job every state has been co opted because India's system is such The union government alone doesn't decide on matters related to women There are subjects which are in the concurrent list all these efforts have been one other thing If you're looking at a working woman who's pregnant and therefore they were given only four weeks of maternity you can take care of your child for four weeks and then get back to work or else It was Prime Minister Modi's insistence that you should give them six months we launched a special scheme for when interest rates all over the world and in India was running low They will get a 7.5% interest as long as the deposit is kept the running rate for the interest in bank deposits We dared to give a higher rate because we wanted women to bring their savings into the banks rather than keeping them somewhere as liquid cash at home Property registration in the name of women had tax concessions given We wanted more women to have their property registered in their names When government gives housing for the poor in the name of PM Awas Yojana it is a scheme for giving the poor people homes the registration is for both man and woman we are trying to intervene and nudge the society to see the benefit if women's But today we've reached a ironical situation where public sector companies public sector banks are paying the fine because they are not able to get the women come onto the board women are not available and there are very many qualified women And there are times when I personally have asked them You're so well qualified to be on the bank's board But my data will show that I'm not getting women into the board But there are women who don't want to be on the board and recent statistics show particularly in STEM science subjects there are more women than men in universities which are top ranking in India the row of scientists were sitting and getting all this done are women and I'm very happy to say not the women who you would imagine when they become doctors or scientists they will have to be of a particular look and get up the periodic labor force survey shows that the number of women in full time formal jobs has gone up rather than come down so a story of a lot of progress and so far more I'd like to ask you more about this particular topic speaking to this crowd here to tell us what is India doing to attract foreign direct investment into the Indian economy >> Nirmala Sitharaman: I can see John Chambers here whispering into the ears of our ambassador Every sector's foreign direct investment principles or the policy which governs foreign direct investment has been spruced up in the last we wouldn't allow investment from abroad beyond 49% because we were very conscious or no Now I would say there is not one sector left which doesn't have 74% or 100% not even through government very rarely do you have FDIs which have to go through government process we brought in consciously a policy where we said no sector will be reserved for the government alone India since after independence has been completely under the license quota regime Gradually after that landmark 1991 when we had to pledge our gold reserves to the bank of England because our economy was in dumps And IMF had to come to rescue at that time something which is very sentimental for Indians Every individual family in India holds good quantum of gold reserving something in gold in your house is almost a very sensitive subject But it was the country's reserve which was being pledged in 1991 That gold which was pledged then was brought back now although the payments must have happened in trickles in between The point that I'm trying to make here is 2021 in the budget we announced that there shall not be one sector where the private sector will not be allowed private sector should be allowed and they should come invest and do their business The government may be present in a few sectors which are strategically important whether it is for telecom purposes in the border areas or certain kind of Every sector has been opened up and after opening up the policies have also been conducively made That is why you find in space today there are a lot more startups functioning They are making the satellites for different private entrepreneurs who want to monitor the groundwater level There is a satellite given off to the ISRO saying along with what you launch But it's all completely done by Indian startups Small groups of people working from garages are building your satellites to go into the space to monitor Small nuclear modular reactors are being proposed And for that private participation is coming and money is coming in for setting up small modular nuclear reactors Now if the country is going to have global capability centers in a big number You're not going to get that only from solar You need to have green consciousness and power Hydroelectricity is also becoming very contentious Davis: Your remarks remind me of all the gold reserves we have in the United States and Fort Knox and in the basement of the Federal Reserve bank of New York And I've touched the gold in the basement and there's But in listening to you talk and thinking about the US India trade agreements that might emerge I would advise you to get us to pledge some of its gold reserves as security that it will actually honor its commitments so I'll go back to one thing I asked you earlier I think it's especially true for married women >> Nirmala Sitharaman: it's across the board the mind picture take a long time to change Policies change and they wait for people to act on But India brings in that snake the man who's playing around with the snake or the rope trick or the magician or a set of poor people who are seated I'm not saying we've eradicated poverty totally but please come to India without any tone of arrogance Some of the work done in some areas in India stand out the digital public infrastructure that India created it's a beautiful India stack and it is not just for giving you an identity A billion identities have been given what using three things Your iris or your facial image or your thumb impression And that came of help when we wanted to during COVID send people money to their bank accounts And because every kyc know your customer has been established because of this identity biometric identity which was given to the citizens money could go to people's account directly the same thing came of help when you wanted to give them the vaccination during COVID When I know countries were sending checks to the houses of people who had already vacated and probably gone over to their parents house And the bank sent the check back saying no Other residents sent the check back saying the person doesn't live here any longer the money was press of the button into the account of the people whether it is now used for several other purposes all services are used through the digital route And in my interaction with the G20 or the World bank or the IMF this singular population scale achievement of India is repeatedly lauded People talk to you saying so how did it become possible in India So that one thing and today it is not an elite proposition A vegetable vendor in the village would still have the QR code and you can do your payment on the phone And the QR code or the phone transaction is not a hurdle because it's available in all Indian languages So the message that comes to your phone is in your mother tongue And the AI using principles are benefiting our citizens right away I think we can all agree that India's success in the digital infrastructure area is a policy achievement and one that it's rightly allotted for It's been an absolute pleasure to speak with you today >> Sumit Ganguly: I'd like to thank Minister Sitaraman for spending the past hour with us and for sharing her insights on India's economic future I'd also like to thank my colleague Stephen Davis for this insightful fireside chat and the audience for their enthusiastic presence I would be remiss if I didn't thank the Consul General of India in San Francisco and his staff for arranging Finance Minister Sitaraman's visit please feel free to collect a samoza courtesy of the Indian Consulate But do not congregate outside the venue or on the Hoover campus Nirmala Sitharaman is the current Finance Minister of India She holds a Master’s degree in Economics and an M.Phil from Jawaharlal Nehru University she served as Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs and as Minister of Commerce and Industry where she played a pivotal role in shaping India’s trade negotiations and economic reforms she also served as the Minister of Defence Steven Davis is the Thomas W and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) He was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business for more than 35 years including service as deputy dean of the faculty Šumit Ganguly is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Director of the Huntington Program on Strengthening the US-India Relationship He is the Tagore Chair of Indian Cultures and Civilizations Emeritus and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Indiana University or coeditor of more than 20 books on the contemporary politics of South Asia He is currently the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Studies Review Indian Finance Minister Sitharaman Advocates for Closer US-India Economic Ties at Hoover Institution National Archives & Records Administration Herbert Hoover made lasting contributions to the national parks he established the land designated for new national parks and monuments increased by 40 percent National Parks are places of national significance The President of the United States can establish a national park in two ways He can sign a bill from Congress establishing a national park or he can proclaim a national monument under the authority of the Antiquities Act The Antiquities Act allows presidents to proclaim national monuments from "historic landmarks and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government." Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower as the first national monument in 1906 we can call Herbert Hoover a conservationist which means different things to different people "The people have a vital interest in the conservation of their natural resources; in the prevention of wasteful practices." Hoover developed a fondness for the outdoors: exploring creeks and woods; swimming and sledding; and collecting rocks that spurred his interest in geology Hoover conducted geological surveys of the Sierra Nevadas and the Ozarks He remained an avid fisherman throughout his life Hoover's accomplishments as Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s included a new law to limit oil pollution of coastal waters standardization of lumber to eliminate waste of forest resources Hoover became president of the National Parks Association in 1924 "Recreation grounds and natural museums are as necessary to advancing our civilization as are wheat fields and factories." Despite his obvious fondness for the outdoors and interests in conservation "Every drop of water that runs to the sea without yielding its full commercial returns to the nation is an economic waste." Hoover’s conservation philosophy was more about efficient use of natural resources than not exploiting them at all The construction of Hoover Dam is a good example of his thinking Hoover's emphasis on developing national parks for recreation which he felt would make the leisure time of American workers more productive and healthy put him at odds with more preservationist nature of the National Parks Association He resigned as association president in 1925 What was on President Hoover's conservation agenda and what did he accomplish Conservation was not a big part of Hoover's 1928 presidential campaign He mentioned the subject only twice during campaign speeches His overall approach as president favored decentralization of western public domain lands to the states Hoover also supported unifying conservation agencies such as by consolidating national parks and forests even though the agencies that manage them have very different conservation missions But Hoover's policies also included expanding the size and number of national parks Developing national parks (which usually meant road building) was later part of his Depression-fighting toolkit Hoover appointed Ray Lyman Wilbur as his secretary of the interior Wilbur was a friend who shared Hoover’s conservation views Wilbur and Hoover saw public lands as playing a part in the well-being of Americans Iowa before his family moved to California Wilbur worked with Hoover at the US Food Administration during World War One where Wilbur coined the slogan "Food Will Win the War." As secretary worked to correct corruption caused by the Teapot Dome Scandal and reorganized the Bureau of Indian Affairs the dynamic director of the National Park Service Albright had a good relationship with both men and was aggressive about expanding the national park system Hoover’s administration increased appropriations for national park operations from $2.2 million in 1929 to $3.7 million in 1932 National parks saw an increase in visitors from 1929-1932 The Hoover administration formally opened two national parks established before his election: Grand Teton and Carlsbad Caverns. Hoover also transferred Bandelier in New Mexico from the Department of Agriculture where it had been administered since proclaimed in 1916 Private contributions and transfers from other public lands increased the areas of national parks and monuments by 40 percent and eliminate inholdings came from state and private donations the land that became Great Smoky Mountains National Park came half from the states and half Rockefellers who also contributed to other national park projects Arches National Monument was the first national park President Hoover established Secretary Wilbur wrote to Hoover saying that he recommended this place as a national monument for its "gigantic arches and other unique wind-worn sandstone formations the preservation of which is desirable because of their educational and scenic value." Only two small sections of land comprised the new monument: 2,600 acres known as "Devil's Garden" and 1,600 acres called "Windows." But later presidents (Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson) added more land through the Antiquities Act Congress passed and Nixon signed the bill creating Arches National Park In 1930, Horace Albright sent a newsreel on Isle Royale to Wilbur hoping the secretary would show it to the president at his retreat We don’t know whether the president saw the newsreel but the next year he signed the law establishing Isle Royale National Park Isle Royale is a remote and primitive wilderness archipelago in Lake Superior Albright had testified that the potential park had "a type of scenery utterly distinct from anything now found in our national park system; its primitiveness its unusual wildlife and interesting flora its evidence of possible prehistoric occupation all combine to make it national park caliber home to 56 years of wolf and moose research– the longest continuous study of any predator-prey relationship in the world In 1980 became an International Biosphere Reserve Sunset Crater Volcano is the youngest volcano on the Colorado Plateau Its eruption 900 years ago made profound changes to landscape and the way of life of the region’s inhabitants the area was no longer farmable – ash covered everything and mountain now stood in the middle of their farmland People moved to and established communities at nearby Walnut Canyon and Wupatki many films (at that time silent) were being filmed in northern Arizona A Hollywood production company was making a movie adaption of Zane Grey’s "Avalanche" and proposed using dynamite to blow up large portions of Sunset Crater to film the avalanche scenes Local protest got the filming moved and pushed Hoover to establish Sunset Crater as a National Monument to protect it from further exploitation The 150th anniversary of the American Revolution was an occasion to establish parks commemorating the founding of our country Colonial National Historical Park commemorates the beginning and end of British rule in America from Jamestown in 1607 to winning independence at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781 President Hoover spoke at dedication of Yorktown Battlefield in 1931 Another Revolutionary War park established by Hoover is Kings Mountain commemorating the battle fought there on October 7 It was one of the few major battles of the war fought entirely between Americans: no British troops served here Thomas Jefferson called the battle was “the turn of the tide of success.” Hoover was invited to speak at the 150th anniversary of the battle His presence accelerated the movement to establish it as a national battlefield (national protection status) 75,000 people attended and heard his speech Morristown in New Jersey site of the Continental Army encampment during the winter of 1779 and 1880 The park preserves the countryside where the army camped but also the mansion where George Washington made his winter headquarters Hoover also memorialized the place where George Washington slept first, George Washington Birthplace in Virginia Though Washington's actual birth home was long lost socialite women raised funds to build an 18th century style house in honor of Washington's memory In 1932, after approval in the US Congress and Canada’s Parliament, Hoover proclaimed Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park a merger of two adjacent Rocky Mountain parks on each side of the U.S.-Canada border DOI Press Release: “Its purpose is to commemorate the long-existing relationship of peace and good will existing between the people and the governments of the two countries.” a former Montana congressman instrumental in legislation establishing Glacier National Park remarked: “Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada and Glacier National Park in the United States are one stupendous area cut across the middle of Waterton Lake and give it half to one park and half to the other The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park Glacier and Waterton national parks are administered by the US and Canada They cooperate and share resources for exotic plant control and search and rescue International cooperation helps manage the shared watershed and wildlife corridor 8.5 mile International Peace Hike across the border from Canada Aside from his official actions, Herbert Hoover made a personal contribution to a national park. Every president needs a place to escape from the cares and burdens of office. For the Hoovers that place was Camp Rapidan a rustic fishing camp located one hundred miles from Washington in Virginia's scenic Blue Ridge Mountain range and built with $120,000 of the president's own money Those who visited the camp saw a very different man from the harried executive whose days were blighted by economic crisis Hoover could discard the formal gear of Washington for white flannels and a Panama hat He pitched horseshoes with Charles Lindbergh and sitting on a log with a British Prime Minister made plans for a world disarmament conference to be held in London in 1930 The Hoovers donated their mountain retreat to become part of the new Shenandoah National Park after he left the White House in 1933 Hoover established George Washington Memorial Parkway in 1930 as a recreational driving road dotted with memorials to American history were important to those like Hoover who wanted national parks to serve the country’s growing recreational needs During Hoover’s administration the National Park Service also proposed an "Eastern National Park-to-Park Highway." The proposed highway would link some new parks like Colonial and George Washington Birthplace Neither highway materialized but Hoover did begin construction of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park a project that fulfilled part of this vision national parks and scenic roads became one of Hoover’s recovery-building tools He increased national park road and trail construction appropriations as relief measure: from $3 million in 1928 to over $7 million in 1931 attempting to cut budget deficit in half for 1933 and balance the budget by 1934 also made a 28% cut to “conservation of natural resources.” His budgets cut $1.5 million from the national parks and reduced the service’s funding to $2.5 million for the 1934 budget Hoover even cancelled announced trip to national parks though his advisors thought the trip would assure Americans of his confidence the economy Hoover continued to authorize and expand national parks until the last days of his presidency A couple of parks established by Hoover do not exist as separate national parks anymore like Second Grand Canyon National Monument which was added to Grand Canyon National Park in 1975 Holy Cross National Monument was abolished as a national park in 1950 Holy Cross was long a well-known natural landmark deep in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado It attracted many pilgrims and tourists in the early 20th century It is now part of a wilderness area in White River National Forest Two parks are in some sources erroneously attributed to the Hoover administration: Badlands National Monument (renamed Badlands National Park in 1978) and Cowpens National Battlefield Site (redesignated Cowpens National Battlefield in 1972) Both were authorized or established on Hoover's inauguration date but by Calvin Coolidge during his final hours in office Hoover continued to enjoy the outdoors and visits to national parks He continued to influence the protection of national parks Hoover also devoted much time and energy to his legacy and defending his record as president President Hoover and his wife purchased the house where he was born in 1874 His local supporters restored the home and under the guidance of the president and his family The park commemorates Herbert Hoover and his rise from simple beginnings to the presidency of the United States It became a national park— Herbert Hoover National Historic Site— in 1965 How important are Herbert Hoover’s national parks “In no other way is the upward trend of our modern civilization so well exemplified as in the establishment “Where once the best scenery was reserved for the use of those most favored today every American citizen or visitor to our shores may enjoy the most priceless offerings of nature While Hoover’s vision for American society didn’t survive the Great Depression he left a lasting legacy in the places he protected for the benefit and enjoyment of the people: national parks The National Parks established by the Hoover administration are: Sunset Crater National Monument (renamed Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument in 1990) George Washington Memorial Parkway Download the NPS app to navigate the parks on the go Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission This article first appeared in Book Gossip, a newsletter about what we’re reading and what we actually think about it. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every month The Motherload, a new memoir by Sarah Hoover — the art consultant and influencer who’s married to the artist Tom Sachs — promises an unvarnished look at her first year of motherhood It begins with a druggy party she hosted at the Chateau Marmont to celebrate the first birthday of her son who’s cared for by their 24/7 live-in nanny a terrifying and sympathy-provoking account of the mental-health crisis Hoover experienced following her son’s traumatic birth In spite of the material abundance of her life — in a Soho loft full of designer clothing and bespoke furnishings — she felt completely alienated from her child to the point where it was painful to be in the same room with him The book made me wonder: If someone with all Hoover’s advantages can suffer a traumatic birth and life-threatening postpartum depression Unsurprisingly, The Motherload seems to have touched a nerve among readers, not least the readers in this office. I asked Erica Schwiegershausen, who recently reviewed the book for the Cut, and Curbed’s Adriane Quinlan, who reported on Tom Sachs’s scary art factory back in 2023 Emily: We’ve talked a lot about how one irritating thing about this book is Hoover’s insistence that nobody told her about the horrors of motherhood But was there anything that you read about that you thought there’s actually no way that she could have been prepared for this specifically Adriane: I really do think that the biggest blinder here that’s keeping her from information is  privilege She has sort of an innate trust of doctors and health services because she could afford to go to the nicest fanciest ones and never had to do her own research She also chose not to take a birthing class I didn’t know from either the reading or my birthing class that tearing the amniotic sac would even register in a woman’s body and that’s Hoover’s traumatic pain incident I don’t think anyone is going to forget to be wary of the doctor who’s going to tear your sac Emily: Not getting consent to do a really invasive procedure is considered medical rape and it isn’t something that I’ve read about a lot and I feel relatively well versed in birth literature I also felt like I’ve read a lot of accounts of postpartum depression and anxiety and I had never read anything that included the manic highs the “dressing up in a little bikini and doing lots of drugs” aspect of things Erica: I mean, because I had postpartum psychosis I totally relate to the rage she describes this sort of physical experience of rage in the days after my daughter was born that was extremely outsize but wasn’t completely disconnected from the reality of the experience Emily: Motherhood is this enormous identity shift If you have this whole adult life and professional identity and then all of a sudden your job is to take care of another human being’s life then that’s going to be traumatic in and of itself apart from having a traumatic birth Many women see the Edinburgh Depression Scale handed to them at doctor’s appointments as a little red flag that says you should watch for these feelings Hoover says in the book she felt like the symptoms described in that survey didn’t apply to her To be surprised that it happened to her seemed to me to fit the personality of a privileged person “The bad things that happen to other people don’t happen to me so I don’t have to follow advice or take a birth in class or try to breastfeed or whatever Emily: There’s a sense of her own exceptionalism that makes the genuinely bad things that happened to her that she had no control over harder to sympathize with Erica: I did not relate to her lack of curiosity about motherhood I wanted to read everything that I possibly could whether that was a way to cope with her anxiety I didn’t want to read about giving birth until two weeks before and I was ready to read about all the things that would happen after from the very beginning Emily: Do you think that in some ways her enormous privilege actually exacerbated the duration and severity of her depression Erica: I do not want to insinuate that spending more time with her baby would cure her depression because obviously I don’t believe that Spending time with my baby was not what cured me at all — getting child care was what made me feel better and he had this bit in it where it was like “The love you feel for your baby can’t be separated from taking care of them It’s through taking care of them that you feel that love.” I didn’t feel hostility towards my baby the way that Hoover describes “the care is the love” that was very helpful to me Adriane: She spends a lot of page space worrying about whether she’s a good mother and I agree with you that I feel like that thought goes away for me when I’m frustrated that we’re late again and I’m pulling on my son’s clothing as fast as I can and then I have this little moment of feeling present and I’m going to put them on as gently as possible right now I’m so sorry I was trying to snap that underwear on That’s what love is: gently pulling up pants even though I’m 17 minutes late Emily: I think what was interesting to me was just the thought experiment of what would motherhood be like if you felt absolutely no connection to your child and actually being around your child made you feel really anxious and terrible Because that was so different from my experience And I feel like she was only able to have and to maintain that experience because she had 24/7 live-in child care Erica: I still am completely baffled given that she has the nanny Where the hell were all these people for a year while she was suffering Adriane: I have an answer to Emily’s actual question Privilege wasn’t fully what contributed to this problem Because she was determined to keep up appearances with her therapist determined to maintain her relationship with her husband despite all of these things she wanted to tell him about or was angry about him about In terms of the character of Tom as portrayed in this book — well Is he meant to be read as the villain of the book He certainly seems to have made some extremely bad choices Adriane: I find it very incomprehensible that someone who could be able to afford their own parental leave chooses instead the night that they come back from the hospital to go to work And we see him going to work throughout his son’s newborn phase “Why don’t you bring down some dinner to my workplace” when she’s I remember barely walking at that point in postpartum The idea of him making her come to him and keep his life normal is frankly disgusting to me I thought you were just angry at me again for a year.” I was also in a bad mental state and very angry at my husband after my baby was born but I am so grateful that he cared enough to think beyond his ego and actually noticed that something horrible was happening with me The fact that her own husband is so clueless is pretty damning Emily: It’s like he didn’t know her at all as a human and so was unable to recognize when she was not herself It’s so weird to me that one of the blurbs for this book says that it’s brutally funny because it’s just like Erica: When I was going back trying to read it more generously and I reread the early section of them dating she’s actually quite honest about how sort of compromising this relationship was for her from the beginning which I felt like was sort of rare to read and I was kind of impressed that she was that vulnerable Emily: I’m totally impressed by her vulnerability and honesty I feel like she’s honest to the extent that she’s capable of being honest with herself which is maybe not as honest with oneself as one would ideally want from a memoirist Adriane: I would’ve preferred to read a behind-the-scenes at Gagosian Gallery or “Why I divorced my monster art husband” or “My five years enjoying the richest of the rich things in New York City.” There’s zero interrogation about her lifestyle to the point that you’ll be hearing all about her depression but you’ll also know what she was wearing in that moment The sort of labor practice of his art-making the handmade nature of it coming from all these invisible workers — I think that does fit what we see in this book in that this is a book about motherhood where you learn that they had 24-hour care for their child and we only hear what Hoover wants to share about that nanny If their nanny wants to speak to me anonymously Adriane: I wish for her to volunteer at the migrant intake center in New York City and see the mothers with the babies strapped to them Emily: I would like to see a follow-up to this book in seven to ten years because just speaking as someone who is out of this phase of motherhood now we have a totally different set of problems I would be really curious as to how this family deals with that different set of problems because I think they become much more difficult to outsource when your children are sentient creatures who can analyze the position they’re in and start to rebel against you By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York