After a tough year of lockdowns and living through a global pandemic, many of us are looking for a sign of hope. And on December 21st, the world may get just the sign they are looking for in the night skies when Jupiter and Saturn come together to form The Christmas Star. Newt’s guest is Dr. Henry Throop, Program Scientist at NASA.

 Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

After a tough year of lockdowns and living through a global pandemic, many of us are looking for a sign of hope. And on December 21st, the world may get just the sign they are looking for in the night skies when Jupiter and Saturn come together to form The Christmas Star. Newt’s guest is Dr. Henry Throop, Program Scientist at NASA. Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com">https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com</a>

Join Newt Gingrich, former U.S. Speaker of the House and Ph.D. historian, for the most diverse, informative, and entertaining podcast available. Every episode is an education.

Join Newt Gingrich, former U.S. Speaker of the House and Ph.D. historian, for the most diverse, informative, and entertaining podcast available. Every episode is an education.

Newt's World

Episode 169: A Sign of Hope – The Christmas Star

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/2e282c83-ad0b-49ee-8f70-ae2800082f20/transcript

Newt talks with Brian Blase, President of the Paragon Health Institute, about their new report, “The Hospital Cost Crisis: How Government Policies Drive Consolidation, Undermine Competition, and Fuel Soaring Prices.” Hospital prices have increased three times faster than inflation and more than twice as fast as worker wages since 2000, making rising hospital prices a major threat to middle-class families. Their discussion highlights that hospital care now totals about $1.6 trillion annually, roughly one-third of national health expenditures, and that large hospital systems deploy substantial lobbying resources, including over $115 million in federal lobbying in 2025 alone, to preserve favorable policies and block reforms. Blase explains how cost-based reimbursement in Medicare historically encouraged hospitals to increase costs, fueling administrative bloat and higher spending, a dynamic that still persists when higher hospital costs trigger higher government payments. He argues that Medicare’s centrally set prices and cost-based methodologies distort the entire healthcare market. Policies that pay more for the same service in a hospital than in a physician’s office further drive consolidation and higher prices. As potential solutions, their conversation emphasizes price transparency.

Newt talks with Brian Blase, President of the Paragon Health Institute, about their new report, &ldquo;The Hospital Cost Crisis: How Government Policies Drive Consolidation, Undermine Competition, and Fuel Soaring Prices.&rdquo; Hospital prices have increased three times faster than inflation and more than twice as fast as worker wages since 2000, making rising hospital prices a major threat to middle-class families. Their discussion highlights that hospital care now totals about $1.6 trillion annually, roughly one-third of national health expenditures, and that large hospital systems deploy substantial lobbying resources, including over $115 million in federal lobbying in 2025 alone, to preserve favorable policies and block reforms. Blase explains how cost-based reimbursement in Medicare historically encouraged hospitals to increase costs, fueling administrative bloat and higher spending, a dynamic that still persists when higher hospital costs trigger higher government payments. He argues that Medicare&rsquo;s centrally set prices and cost-based methodologies distort the entire healthcare market. Policies that pay more for the same service in a hospital than in a physician&rsquo;s office further drive consolidation and higher prices. As potential solutions, their conversation emphasizes price transparency.

Episode 971: The Hospital Cost Crisis

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/099cdfe9-6d7a-40be-aab7-b43601670d8c/transcript

Newt talks with New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize Finalist, Dr. Arthur Herman, about his new book, “Founders Fire: From 1776 to the Age of Trump,” and the enduring founder mindset in American history, business, and culture. Herman defines a new generation of founders as Americans who embody a core national trait: the belief that individuals can build new enterprises, institutions, and futures through risk-taking, creativity, and self-reliance. He traces this founder spirit through business titans such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk, arguing that their innovations transformed society and exemplify American exceptionalism in entrepreneurship and innovation. They discuss President Lincoln’s deep engagement with technology and commerce, his advocacy for railroads, his work as a railroad lawyer, his unique status as the only U.S. president with a patent, and his vision for a transcontinental railroad, as evidence of a founder’s technological and economic mindset. Herman identifies the core traits of founders and encourages listeners to see the fire of genius within themselves and to consider whether they might be founders shaping the nation’s next chapter as it marks its 250th anniversary.

Newt talks with New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize Finalist, Dr. Arthur Herman, about his new book, &ldquo;Founders Fire: From 1776 to the Age of Trump,&rdquo; and the enduring founder mindset in American history, business, and culture. Herman defines a new generation of founders as Americans who embody a core national trait: the belief that individuals can build new enterprises, institutions, and futures through risk-taking, creativity, and self-reliance. He traces this founder spirit through business titans such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk, arguing that their innovations transformed society and exemplify American exceptionalism in entrepreneurship and innovation. They discuss President Lincoln&rsquo;s deep engagement with technology and commerce, his advocacy for railroads, his work as a railroad lawyer, his unique status as the only U.S. president with a patent, and his vision for a transcontinental railroad, as evidence of a founder&rsquo;s technological and economic mindset. Herman identifies the core traits of founders and encourages listeners to see the fire of genius within themselves and to consider whether they might be founders shaping the nation&rsquo;s next chapter as it marks its 250th anniversary.

Episode 970: Founder’s Fire From 1776 to the Age of Trump

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/269cbe0b-cc5a-4b5a-81b5-b43501312815/transcript

Newt talks with former FBI counterintelligence special agent Wayne Barnes, whose 29-year career included working KGB espionage, running double agents, recruiting hostile intelligence officers, and debriefing Cold War defectors before becoming a private investigator, signature expert, and specialist in recovering stolen impressionist paintings. Barnes recounts his path from inner-city Philadelphia through Penn State and Villanova Law into the FBI, where high scores on a language aptitude test led to Romanian training in Monterey and a Washington Field Office posting focused on Eastern Bloc counterintelligence. Barnes’ book, “A Traitor in the FBI: The Hunt for a Russian Mole,” documents his investigation to uncover an internal FBI spy for the Russians, Robert Hanssen. After he wrote the book, it was a seven-year struggle to get it through FBI pre-publication review. An initial submission in 2016 was returned almost entirely redacted except for half a page, leading to multiple trips to Washington, wording changes, and securing permission from 32 named individuals before final clearance.

Newt talks with former FBI counterintelligence special agent Wayne Barnes, whose 29-year career included working KGB espionage, running double agents, recruiting hostile intelligence officers, and debriefing Cold War defectors before becoming a private investigator, signature expert, and specialist in recovering stolen impressionist paintings. Barnes recounts his path from inner-city Philadelphia through Penn State and Villanova Law into the FBI, where high scores on a language aptitude test led to Romanian training in Monterey and a Washington Field Office posting focused on Eastern Bloc counterintelligence. Barnes&rsquo; book, &ldquo;A Traitor in the FBI: The Hunt for a Russian Mole,&rdquo; documents his investigation to uncover an internal FBI spy for the Russians, Robert Hanssen. After he wrote the book, it was a seven-year struggle to get it through FBI pre-publication review. An initial submission in 2016 was returned almost entirely redacted except for half a page, leading to multiple trips to Washington, wording changes, and securing permission from 32 named individuals before final clearance.

Episode 969: Wayne Barnes on “A Traitor in the FBI”

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/fd0b258f-6fbf-4a5f-bc5a-b431003221e7/transcript

Episode 169: A Sign of Hope – The Christmas Star

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