Interview – The Buckley Beacon

4Dec By Isaac ObermanNo Comments

Featured, Interview, News

Representative Spaces

Great Elm and formative settings. Great Elm as it stands today. (Credit: Cameron Smith) Isaac ObermanStaff Writer and Crossword Editor, The Buckley BeaconFew would disagree that William F. Buckley Jr.’s meteoric rise in the conservative movement was entirely self-propelled. Behind the maestro of the 20th-century Republican Party is the force of the Buckley family, from WFB Sr.’s oil business helping to f...

Exclusive Interview with Gov. Ron DeSantis on Foreign Policy, Mamdani, and Education in Florida

21Nov By Owen TilmanNo Comments

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Exclusive Interview with Gov. Ron DeSantis on Foreign Policy, Mamdani, and Education in Florida

The two-term Florida governor distinguished “strong defense” from “military adventurism,” and unpacked key policies from his own gubernatorial tenure. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis delivers the keynote speech at the Buckley Institute’s annual conference on November 14. (Credit: Buckley Institute/Bill Morgan Media) Owen TilmanEditor-in-Chief, The Buckley BeaconLast week, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (YC ‘01) delivered the keynote address at the Buckley Institute’s fifteenth annual conference. In his speech, DeSantis reflected on his gubernatorial record, and empha...

‘Endless’ versus ‘Judicious’ Involvement: Defining America’s Role in the World with Douglas Murray

11Nov By Owen TilmanNo Comments

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‘Endless’ versus ‘Judicious’ Involvement: Defining America’s Role in the World with Douglas Murray

The Buckley Beacon’s exclusive interview with the renowned British author and conservative commentator. Douglas Murray speaking at an event with the Buckley Institute at Yale University on November 5, 2025. (Credit: Buckley Institute/Bill Morgan Media) Owen TilmanEditor-in-Chief, The Buckley BeaconLast Wednesday, the Buckley Institute hosted renowned British journalist, neoconservative commentator, and New York Times bestselling author Douglas Murray for a conversation at Yale University. In his inaugural event with Buckley, Murray emphasized the difference b...

‘I Think We’re Losing Moral Clarity’: Exclusive Interview with Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson

17Oct By Owen TilmanNo Comments

Featured, Interview, News

‘I Think We’re Losing Moral Clarity’: Exclusive Interview with Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson

Johnson expressed support for Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, and distinguished the Israeli state from “totalitarian entities” like Hamas. Rt. Hon. Boris Johnson participates in a Q&A at Yale University on October 9, 2025. (Credit: Bill Morgan Media/Buckley Institute) Owen TilmanEditor-in-Chief, The Buckley BeaconLast Thursday, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rt. Hon. Boris Johnson participated in an event co-hosted by the Buckley Institute and Young America’s Foundation (YAF) at Yale University. In his prepared lecture and Q&A, Johnson expressed support for the Israeli government’s military incursion in Gaza, Ukrainian resistance to Russian territorial...

‘Driven By Marxist Ideology’: Yeonmi Park Talks Her Childhood, University Culture, and Trump

16Feb By Owen TilmanNo Comments

Featured, Interview

‘Driven By Marxist Ideology’: Yeonmi Park Talks Her Childhood, University Culture, and Trump

The Buckley Beacon’s exclusive interview with North Korean defector, human rights activist, and bestselling author Yeonmi Park. Yeonmi Park speaks at an event on Feb. 11 at the University of New Haven. (Photo courtesy of Young America’s Foundation.) Owen TilmanEditor-in-Chief, The Buckley BeaconIn April of last year, demonstrators assembled on Yale’s cross campus and erected an encampment in support of “Palestinian liberation.” Most notably, said demonstrators required spoken deposition to the pro-Palestinian cause for safe passage across the patch of land they had taken hostage. Any non-participating students, faculty, and New Haven residents who refused were turned away, the protesters citing their appropri...

‘He’s the ultimate decider’: CNN’s Jim Scuitto on Trump, American Foreign Policy, and More

5Feb By Jack OlsonNo Comments

Featured, Interview

‘He’s the ultimate decider’: CNN’s Jim Scuitto on Trump, American Foreign Policy, and More

The Buckley Beacon’s exclusive interview with Jim Scuitto (YC ‘92), chief national security correspondent and anchor at CNN and senior fellow at the Jackson School of Global Affairs. Jack OlsonAssociate Editor of Interviews & Opinion, The Buckley BeaconAn international order long spearheaded by the United States is under threat. And as Russia wages the largest land war in Europe since World War II, China’s technological rise drives a new great power competition, and tensions boil in the Middle East over Israel’s offensive in Gaza, a new (and old) destabilizer has entered the room: President Donald J. Trump. The Buckley Beacon recently sat down with Jim Sciutto (YC ‘92), chief national security analyst and anchor at CNN, ...

“If you have a certain position, you have to be consistent”: A Candid Conversation with Amy Chua on How to Increase Intellectual Diversity

14May By Sabrina GuoNo Comments

Interview

“If you have a certain position, you have to be consistent”: A Candid Conversation with Amy Chua on How to Increase Intellectual Diversity

“Ideally, you’d hope that professors would be open-minded and intelligent enough that if they hear a smart, interesting view that’s not their own, they’d respect that. Unfortunately, it’s just a reality that some professors will assume that if a student doesn’t agree with them, then the student is just not getting it or not impressive." Sabrina GuoAssistant Editor, The BeaconRecently awarded the Buckley Institute's Lux et Veritas Faculty Prize in honor of her efforts to foster intellectual diversity in and outside the classroom, John M. Duff Professor of Law Amy Chua has long been recognized for her unwavering commitment to increasing open debate and free thought among Yale students and colleagues. Yale freshman Sabrina Guo recentl...

“The institution itself should be the home of critics, not a critic itself”: An Inquiry Into the Ground-Breaking Faculty for Yale Initiative

30Apr By Mór SzepesiNo Comments

Interview

“The institution itself should be the home of critics, not a critic itself”: An Inquiry Into the Ground-Breaking Faculty for Yale Initiative

Early members of Faculty for Yale, Professors Nicholas A. Christakis, Carlos M. N. Eire, and Kate Stith, elaborated on their sense of the organization. They emphasized the same message: pushing for institutional neutrality at Yale is a time-sensitive, necessary task. Mór SzepesiAssistant Editor, The BeaconIn recent months, a new initiative pushing for institutional neutrality at Yale called Faculty for Yale was formed. Articles about Faculty for Yale appeared in The Economist, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, and The New York Times among others. Beacon editor and Yale College freshman Mór Szepesi sat down with Professor Nicholas A. Christakis, an early member of Faculty for Yale, to discuss the initiative and i...

Buckley Institute Founder Lauren Noble on Buckley’s Founding, Political Diversity and Campus Speech.

1Aug By William WangNo Comments

Interview

Buckley Institute Founder Lauren Noble on Buckley’s Founding, Political Diversity and Campus Speech.

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 ...

Former ACLU President Nadine Strossen on trigger warnings, hate speech, and changing Mitch McConnell’s Mind.

9Jul By William WangNo Comments

Interview

Former ACLU President Nadine Strossen on trigger warnings, hate speech, and changing Mitch McConnell’s Mind.

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...