Author: William Wang

William Wang: I'm curious about the founding of the Buckley Institute. What led you to start Buckley, and who were some of the people that helped you along the way? Lauren Noble: I had been thinking of starting some kind of speaker series to bring diversity of thought to Yale’s campus as an undergraduate. In the fall of 2010, my senior year, Yale had a residential college seminar on William F. Buckley, Jr. and the rise of modern conservatism. It was that class that inspired me to name the speaker series after Buckley.  Then in 2011, a couple of my friends and I started planning some events and held about a half dozen events that first semester. Eventually, we applied for and got 501c(3) status. Things really started to take off from there. The reason to start it was really just ...

The Buckley Program hosted Nadine Strossen for a lecture titled, "Combating Hate: Censorship or Free Speech" on September 22, 2022. Nadine Strossen is the John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita at New York Law School. Before that, she was the President of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1991 to 2008. William Wang: What is your opinion on the Colorado website designer decision the Supreme Court issued today?  Nadine Strossen: I actually spoke to Yale Law School about that case in January. Yale Law School had a program organized by the Federal Society to illustrate civil discourse between two lawyers who have very different views on some issues but do share some overlapping views. One of them was Kristen Waggoner, the legal director of Alliance Defending Freedom, whi...

The Buckley Program hosted Jim Bridenstine for a lecture titled "American Preeminence in Space" on April 27, 2023. Jim Bridenstine served as the 13th administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Before that, he was a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy and Congressman representing Oklahoma's 1st congressional district.  William Wang:  I am curious about your life before being the administrator of NASA. Why did you decide to join the Navy after college, and what motivated you to return to public service and run for Congress?   Jim Bridenstine: So I grew up wanting to be a fighter pilot. Even from my youngest years, I drew pictures of airplanes. After I graduated from college, the best path for me to become a pilot was to join the mil...

The Buckley Program hosted Beverly Gage for a dinner seminar on March 7, 2023. Beverly Gage is a professor of 20th-century U.S. history at Yale University. Her courses focus on American politics, government, and social movements. The following interview was conducted on April 4, 2023. William Wang: Since you worked on this book for over a decade, I was wondering what you thought the reception to the book was going to be. Did you think it was going to be embraced by historians and general readers alike?   Beverly Gage: Well, I think it's gotten sort of the reception that everyone dreams that their book will get. But it's been really heartening both because it's nice to see it get out there and to see people take an interest. But also it's just nice to know that there is actu...