Hudson Institute Events Podcast

Hudson Institute is pleased to host the 2026 annual Czech and Slovak Freedom Lecture.  Established in 2000 as a joint activity of the Czech and Slovak Embassies, the American Friends of the Czech Republic, and Friends of Slovakia to commemorate the Velvet Revolution, the choice of speaker and topic alternates annually between the Czech and Slovak groups. Click here for a list of all previous lectures.   

This year’s speaker is H.E. Andrej Droba, Slovak ambassador to the United States, in one of his first major addresses since assuming his position in November 2025.  In his lecture, "America250 and Slovak–US Relations," Ambassador Droba will celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence and reflect on the enduring partnership between Slovakia and the United States as he looks for opportunities to increase transatlantic cooperation.  

The lecture will be followed by a fireside chat with Matt Boyse, senior fellow, Center on Europe and Eurasia.

In The Code as Witness, which was published on June 9, Dr. Steven Quay shows how the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2 points directly to human engineering. He warns that irresponsible and unregulated gain-of-function research is accelerating, and that future pandemics may be far deadlier than COVID-19. The book also lays out policy recommendations that could prevent such outbreaks while still allowing important research to continue.

Join Hudson as David Asher sits down with Dr. Quay for a fireside chat. Asher will bring his national security, intelligence, and investigative experience to one of the most consequential questions of our time: how the pandemic began, what the genetic evidence shows, and how the United States can prevent the next biological catastrophe.

Senator Roger Marshall, who has been a leading voice for stronger oversight of high-risk biological research, will open the program by framing the stakes for Congress, national security, and public health.

Today’s wars in Ukraine and the Middle East show how adaptation is becoming the central military competition. The side that can field new tactical or technical innovations faster gains an advantage and can impose compounding costs on enemy forces. To win this competition, the United States Department of War implemented a new strategy to accelerate new capabilities by better leveraging the private sector and focusing government research where it is uniquely needed. These changes are beginning to bear fruit on the battlefield. 

Artificial intelligence is arguably the Pentagon’s top technology priority. In addition to speeding planning and decision-making, AI is enabling a more adaptable US force and powering the next generation of autonomous systems. And AI is only one of several technologies where the US military can benefit from America’s world-leading commercial innovation sector. 

Please join Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Dan Patt for a conversation with Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering Emil Michael about the Department of War’s efforts to bring AI to the battlefield and implement an innovation strategy that makes the most of America’s commercial and government research sectors. Following a fireside chat with the under secretary, a panel will discuss how adaptation is a new source of military advantage.

This event is part of Hudson Institute’s Apex Defense Conference series, which highlights the intersection of technology, military operations, and strategy. Hudson Institute hosts the Apex Conference in collaboration with Clarion Defence. To learn more about APEX 2027 participation or sponsorship opportunities, please visit apexdefense.org.

Please join Hudson Institute’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology for the launch of a new report, Strengthening the Front Line: Transforming the Japan Self-Defense Force for Twenty-First-Century Deterrence.

Japan’s government has committed to historic increases in defense spending—and is preparing to revise its National Defense Strategy and Defense Buildup Program before the end of 2026. But larger budgets and updated strategy documents alone will not translate into deterrence. The Japan Self-Defense Forces need a fundamentally different force design: one built around adaptability, uncrewed systems, and hedge forces tailored to how future conflict in the Indo-Pacific is likely to unfold.

Join report authors Bryan Clark and David Byrd, in conversation with Masashi Murano, for a discussion of the report’s principal findings and their implications for how Japan should design and resource its future defense force.

One of the most horrific consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been Moscow’s illegal abduction of Ukrainian children. These children have not only been taken from their homeland and dispersed across the Russian Federation, but they are also being raised to forget their Ukrainian identity and, in some cases, taught to hate their native land.

Bring Kids Back UA is a Ukrainian humanitarian initiative launched by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2023 to locate and return Ukrainian children forcibly deported or displaced by Russia. It serves as an umbrella organization, bringing together domestic and international efforts to rescue, return, and reintegrate these children.

Please join Hudson Institute as it welcomes Maksym Maksymov, head of Bring Kids Back UA, to discuss his organization’s important work.