# Drones, Dictators & Debt: India Flirts, Ukraine Fights, Trump Takes on The Fed | GoodFellows | Hoover Institution Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/goodfellows-conversations-on-economics-history-geopolitics-718721/drones-dictators-debt-india-flirts-ukraine-fights-trump-takes-on-the-fed-goodfellows-hoover-institution Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/goodfellows-conversations-on-economics-history-geopolitics-718721/drones-dictators-debt-india-flirts-ukraine-fights-trump-takes-on-the-fed-goodfellows-hoover-institution.md Podcast: [GoodFellows: Conversations on Economics, History & Geopolitics](https://stenobird.com/podcast/goodfellows-conversations-on-economics-history-geopolitics-718721) Published: 2025-09-05T18:14:54+00:00 Episode link: https://goodfellows.podbean.com/e/drones-dictators-debt-india-flirts-ukraine-fights-trump-takes-on-the-fed-goodfellows-hoover-institution/ Audio file: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/a4mma3cvcuqb8cam/GoodFellows_2025-09-04_wip03_podcast_bt4mn.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/goodfellows-conversations-on-economics-history-geopolitics-718721/episodes/drones-dictators-debt-india-flirts-ukraine-fights-trump-takes-on-the-fed-goodfellows-hoover-institution Duration seconds: 3854 ## Resource Is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s embrace of his Russian and Chinese peers a mere signal of his displeasure with American tariff policy, or the beginning of a deeper geopolitical realignment? Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and H.R. McMaster discuss the significance of Modi’s summitry with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. This leads into a broader conversation about Ukraine’s durability (with Niall soon to visit Kyiv), as its conflict with Russia becomes a predominantly drone war. Also discussed: the question of power-wielding in Washington—the American president derided as a modern-day fascist for his use of executive authority; the differences between Trump Derangement Syndrome in the past versus the present; the Federal Reserve’s independence (and sprawl); plus the merits of the federal government taking a 10% equity stake in chip manufacturer Intel. Finally, some bad news for our London fans: While the GoodFellows will be gathering in the UK’s capital city, there are no plans for a rooftop concert à la the Beatles atop their Apple Corps building. Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today’s biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/goodfellows-conversations-on-economics-history-geopolitics-718721/episodes/drones-dictators-debt-india-flirts-ukraine-fights-trump-takes-on-the-fed-goodfellows-hoover-institution/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/goodfellows-conversations-on-economics-history-geopolitics-718721/drones-dictators-debt-india-flirts-ukraine-fights-trump-takes-on-the-fed-goodfellows-hoover-institution.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.