American Campus Podcast
a social and political history of higher education
Episodes
162 episodes
Is a degree worth its cost in the postindustrial UK? with Amit Singh
References and suggested readings:Amit Singh. 2026. Cancelled Futures: Class, Race, and Place in Post-Industrial Britain. Princeton University Press. <...
Lords of Serendipity, a campus novel with Randy Boyagoda
References and suggested readings:Randy Boyagoda. 2026. Lords of Serendipity. Mariner Books.George Elliot. 1871.
University in stone, silk, and blood with William Whyte
On the material history of the universityReferences and suggested readings:William Whyte. 2026. The University: A History in Stone, Silk, and Blood...
Tuition, Gaza encampments, and tenure with Marshall Steinbaum and David Austin Walsh
References and suggested readings:Marshall Steinbaum and David Austin Walsh. 2026. How...
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Big budgets behind big college sports with Karen Weaver
References and suggested readings:Karen Weaver. 2026. Understanding College Athletics: What Campus Leaders Need to Know About College Sports. Johns Hopkins ...
The Frenchmen with Emily Eakin
A deep-dive into the personal lives of the famed 20th century French theorists (all men) with their newest biographer.References and suggested readings:Emily Eakin. 2026.
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A short history of the connoisseur with Peter Burke
References and suggested readings:Peter Burke. 2026. The Connoisseur: A Cultural History. Reaktion Books. Gore Vidal. 2000.
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How a media panic led to the modern research university with Chad Wellmon
On the origins of the German research university and what universities should be today.References and suggested readings:Chad Wellmon. 2016. Organizing Enlightenment: ...
Classical liberals and Know-Nothings on higher learning with James Chandler
References and suggested readings:James Chandler. 2026. The Know-Nothing Campaign Against Higher Learning. Prickly Paradigm Press. Robert Mack...
The KKK comes to UCLA with Trevor Griffey
References and suggested readings:Trevor Griffey. 2007. “The Strongest Chapter in WA: Bellingham's KKK.” The Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project....
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Country of Lords with Kim Phillips-Fein
An intellectual history of inequality in the US.References and suggested readings:Kim Phillips-Fein. 2026. Country of Lords: Neo-Aristocrats, Social Darwinists, Tech U...
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Napoleon’s scientific military school on the US western border with Sveinn M. Jóhannesson
How Napoleon's École polytechnique inspired A&M universities on the Western US border (ft. some of our favorite topics: American imperialism, science, and social hierarchy)References and suggested readings:Sveinn M. Jóhan...
Thorstein Veblen’s The Higher Learning in America with Christian Churchill and Gerald Levy
A century later, what did Veblen get right?References and suggested readings:Christian J. Churchill and Gerald Levy. 2011. The Enigmatic Academy: Class, Bureaucracy, a...
History of college grading with Joshua R. Eyler
On class rank, Latin honors, the 4.0 grading scale, and other old traditionsReferences and suggested readings:Joshua R. Eyler. 2024. Failing Our Future: How Grades Har...
See You at the Pole, the Columbine massacre, and Christianity on campus with Amy Laura Hall
Muscular Christianity and its various forms on the campusReferences and suggested readings:Amy Laura Hall. 2026. Erecting the Pulpit: Muscular Christianity from Teddy ...
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The Flexner Report and contemporary critiques of medical professionalization with Ira Halpern
References and suggested readings:Ira Halpern. 2026. Imagining Health: Medicine, Social Protest, and Modern American Literature. University of Massachusetts...
How LLMs could have been developed differently with Xiaochang Li
On the origins of natural language processing and how corporations like IBM leaned into predictive algorithms.References and suggested readings:Xiaochang Li. 2026. Div...
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Tragedy of the education commons with Guy Standing
References and suggested readings:Guy Standing. 2026. Human Capital: The Tragedy of the Education Commons. Penguin Press. “
Revilo Oliver and the academic freedom of white supremacists with Matthew C. Ehrlich
References and suggested readings:Matthew C. Ehrlich. 2021. Dangerous Ideas on Campus: Sex, Conspiracy, and Academic Freedom in the Age of JFK. University o...
Disrupting White Noise: Challenging Beliefs about Race on Campus with Zak Foste and Lauren N. Irwin
References and suggested readings:Zak Foste and Lauren N. Irwin. 2026. Disrupting White Noise: Challenging Beliefs about Race on Campus.
Creating the Black high school with Alexander D. Hyres
References and suggested readings:Alexander D. Hyres. 2026. Protest and Pedagogy: Charlottesville’s Black Freedom Struggle and the Making of the American High School...
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The Other University with Chad Wellmon
On the student life apparatus.References and suggested readings:Chad Wellmon. 2026. After the University: Higher Education and the Future of Intellectual Work...
Academic gerontocracy with Samuel Moyn
On age, class, and jobs.References and suggested readings:Samuel Moyn. 2026. Gerontocracy in America: How the Old Are Hoarding Power and Wealth—and What to Do About It...