Within and beyond the academy, Karl Marx remains a specter who assumes quite different shapes from his friends and enemies. According to Andrew Hartman, Marx himself wouldn't recognize many of the various derivatives or criticisms of his work. ...

It was my great pleasure to join friends of the pod, Moira Donegan and Adrian Daub (who you'll remember from our Cancel Culture Panic episode), for a deep dive into the history ...

Believe it or not, an English degree is still worth pursuing in a capitalist economy, even if one is not independently wealthy! Of this we can be hopeful according to a new book called Major Trade-offs by Corey Moss-Pech.Referen...

Jennifer Leigh discusses the academy's struggle to accommodate learners and workers with disabilities, mental health challenges, and neurodivergences--especially since the Covid-19 pandemic. We talk about how US ed-tech companies take advantage...

The college dormitory is an American tradition, though it hasn’t always been necessary for education. Carla Yanni tells us why the dorm has become a feature of campus architecture since the 17th century.References mentioned this episode:...

Matt Seybold takes us back to the 19th century literary world. We discuss Knobs University, a fictional HBCU imagined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their 1873 novel, The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. Drawing parallels from ...

On the medical school building boom of the early 20th century (1890-1940), and what it can tell us about the professionalization of academic medicineMentioned this episode:Katherine L. Carroll. 2022.

Deirdre Clemente on the timeless campus style: casual.Deirdre Clemente. 2014. Dress Casual: How College Students Redefined American Style. University of No...

Tim Lacy lets us in on all things Great Books: champions, curriculums, and controversies.Tim Lacy. 2013. The Dream of a D...

On the APA's collaboration with CIA to develop 'enhanced interrogation techniques' for the U.S. War on Terror. Plus, Eidelson's advice for how we can hold our academic and professional organizations accountable when they violate their stated mi...

For centuries, academics and university archivists have participated in and benefitted from the illicit trade of ancient artifacts. Roberta Mazza discusses this history and the academy's role in restoring and repatriating ill-gotten collections...

Bradford Vivian unpacks calls for "intellectual diversity" and free speech, explaining how these seemingly fair-minded demands work to undermine actual diversity in the classroom and on campus.Bradford Vivian. 2022.

Alexa in the dorm room. ProctorU monitoring exams. TurnItIn helping* faculty grade. Tech services are omnipresent on and off campus, and they come with a cost. Lindsay Weinberg offers a critical analysis of today's Smart Universities.

In 1926, an NYU professor took to the high seas with 500 undergraduates on a worldwide learning voyage. The experimental "Floating University" docked for excursions at nearly 50 ports, where students were introduced to world leaders Mussolini, ...

Huey Long, Louisiana's notorious Depression-era governor and rumored presidential challenger to FDR, doesn't get enough recognition for his role in the expansion of LSU's campus throughout the 1930s. Listen as Bob Mann recounts Long's legacy at...

Kendell Gerdes unpacks popular depictions of "sensitive" students throughout the 2010s. She tackles safe spaces, trigger warnings, #BlackOnCampus, and other student calls for accessibility over the last few years, showing how these matters are ...

This is Part II of an earlier discussion with Mike Collins about Supreme Court affirmative action cases affecting higher education, including Lau (1974), Bakke (1978), Fisher (2016), and Students for Fair Admissions (2023). For more, check out ...

This is Part I of a two-part interview with Mike Collins about Supreme Court affirmative action cases affecting higher education, including Bakke (1978), Fisher (2016), and Students for Fair Admissions (2023). For more, check out Collin's recen...

The ICE disappearance of Columbia student protestor Mahmoud Khalil in March 2025 followed in the wake of Trump's promise to deport campus activists. But 50 years ago, the Carter administration set the stage for student deportations. Will Teague...

Abercrombie and Fitch is back, millennials and gen x-ers! Ethan Lascity takes us for a walk down memory lane in a discussion ofLegally Blonde, Drumline, Van Wilder, and other college movies of the aughts.Myles Ethan Lascity...

In 1960, California experimented with tuition-free college for all public campuses in the state. As Andrew Higgins explains in Higher Education for All (UNC Press, 2023), the California Master Plan actually worked to make higher educat...

Adrian Daub explains the recent history of the cancel culture moral panic.Adrian Daub. 2024. The Cancel Culture Panic: How an American Obsession Went Global. Stanford University Press.

Asheesh Siddique discusses the colonial creation of college trustee boards and explains how trustees govern our institutions today.Asheesh Siddique. 2024. The Archive of Empire: Knowledge, Conquest, and the Making of the Early M...

Jasmine Harris discusses the historic experiences of Black women students and faculty at predominantly white colleges.Jasmine L. Harris. 2024. Black Women, Ivory Tower: Revealing the Lies of White Supremacy in American Education...

Ellen Schrecker discusses the post-World War II Red Scare and its consequences for American higher education. She walks us through her 1986 book, No Ivory Tower: McCarthyism and the Universities. Nearly four decades after publication, ...