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American Campus Podcast
a social and political history of US higher ed
Episodes
69 episodes
The university’s creditors with Sofya Aptekar
On hedge funds, private equity, and the financialization of public colleges.References and suggested readings:The Coalition Against Campus Debt. 2024. Lend and Rule: F...
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42:37
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How universities created NPR and PBS with Josh Shepperd
How public universities gave rise to public mediaReferences and suggested readings:Josh Shepperd. 2023. Shadow of the New Deal: The Victory of Public Broadcasting...
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28:59
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The campus bookstore racket with Katya Schwenk
Does your campus use B&N Education or Follett?References and suggested readings:Katya Schwenk. September 10, 2025. “How Wall Street Broke th...
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18:28
The 1980s anti-apartheid movement with David Busch
On blood money and “the moral costs of an elite education.”References and suggested readings:David S. Busch. 2025. Disciplining Democracy: How the Modern American Univ...
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44:56
Refusing the University with Sandy Grande
Can US colleges be decolonized?References and suggested readings:Sandy Grande. 2018. “Refusing the University.” Free PDF.Sand...
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28:00
Creating the AAUP with Henry Reichman
Brought to us, in part, by the race scientistsReferences mentioned this episode:Henry Reichman. 2025.
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40:34
The future of university presses with Clara Totten
And how to approach an acquisitions editorReferences:Association of University Presses and #AskUpSteven L. Herman. 2024.
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29:00
Tuskegee and the Afterlives of the Plantation with Jarvis McInnis
Tuskegee, Alabama, the center of modernity in the Black Global SouthReferences and suggested readings:Jarvis McInnis. 2025. Afterlives of the Plantation: Plotti...
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50:19
Frank Meyer: campus communist to rightwing revolutionary with Daniel Flynn
From college radical to rightwing organizer, the 3-D life and education of The Man Who Invented Conservatism.References and suggested readings:Daniel J. Flynn. 2025. T...
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38:14
Global attacks on academic freedom with Eve Darian-Smith
References mentioned this episode:Eve Darian-Smith. 2025. Policing Higher Education: The Antidemocratic Attack on Scholars and Why It Matters. Johns Hopkins University Press. O...
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27:25
TurningPointUSA and the Professor Watchlist with Matthew Boedy
Are you on the Professor Watchlist?References mentioned this episode:Matthew Boedy. 2025.
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27:09
DEI win in Mississippi (and what you can do in your state) with James M. Thomas
A DEI victory Mississippi! Plus, JT Thomas explains what's wrong with Diversity, Inc.References and suggested readings:James M. Thomas. 2020. Diversity Regimes:...
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28:24
DEI from the 90s to now with Nimisha Barton
From tolerance to land acknowledgements.References mentioned this episode:Nimisha Barton. 2024. A Just Future: Getting from Diver...
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49:49
NYT discovers community colleges, UChicago discovers crypto losses with Marshall Steinbaum
The Chicago boys would have loved digital assets. References and suggested readings:Alan Blinder and Steven Rich. August 25, 2025.
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20:05
A gender, queer, and trans history of the British university with Sam Rutherford
College, a nice time for nice ladies.References mentioned this episode:Samuel Rutherford. 2025. Teaching Gender...
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51:52
Before ChatGPT, there were MOOCs with Anne Trumbore
A human history of ed techReferences mentioned this episode:Anne Trumbore. 2025.
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31:31
Developmental editing for scholarly writers with Laura Portwood-Stacer
On making our academic writing a little more reader friendly.References mentioned this episode:Laura Portwood-Stacer. 2025.
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18:41
The neuroscientists who fled Nazi Germany with Frank Stahnisch
And, do US academics face a similar situation today?References mentioned this episode:Frank Stahnisch. 2025. Great Minds in Despair: The Forc...
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44:14
Revenge of Bob Jones U: Religious colleges and their tax exemptions with Adam Laats
We forgot to mention Bob Jones was the son of a Confederate veteran.References mentioned this episode:Adam Laats’s websiteAdam Laats. April 28, 2025.
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26:40
Eugenics and the creation of statistics with Akira O’Connor and Erin Robbins
On the creation of the statistical tests we often use in human behavioral research, especially in the fields of psychology, education, economics, and political science.References mentioned this episode:Akira O’Connor and Erin...
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17:05
The “rise and fall” of prison education with Reiko Hillyer
From Johnson’s Great Society to Clinton’s crime bill, Reiko Hillyer discusses the “rise and fall” of higher education in US prisons. Plus, she shares her experience as a professor who teaches in prisons.References mentioned this episode:...
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42:56
Angola prison: a college with Piper Hutchinson
Louisiana State Penitentiary, a former plantation known simply as “Angola," is a site of higher education. Journalist Piper Hutchinson explains. References mentioned this episode:Piper Hutchinson. May 2, 2025. “
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20:15
History of federal student loans with Elizabeth Tandy Shermer
In 2025, 45 million Americans owe more than $1.7 trillion in college debt. Ellie Shermer explains: “the story of skyrocketing college debt is not merely one of good intentions gone wrong. In fact, the federal student loan program was never supp...
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49:16