American Campus Podcast

American Campus Podcast

By Lauren Lassabe ShepherdEducationArtsBooksHistory
Download on the App Store

American Campus Podcast episodes

  • Campus ghosts, squirrels, and spooks with Chris Broadhurst and Gordon Maples

    References and suggested readings:

    • Christopher Broadhurst and Gordan W. Maples, Myths, Mysteries, and the Macabre on American Campuses (University of New Orleans Press, 2026)
    • A Thread About Squirrels On College Campuses Totally Blew Up On Twitter, Buzzfeed
    • The Squirrel Club at the University of Michigan
    • University of South Carolina’s sewer man legend
    • Tiya Miles, Tales from the Haunted South: Dark Tourism and Memories of Slavery from the Civil War Era (University of North Carolina Press, 2017)
    • David W. Anthony, The Horse, The Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World (Princeton University Press, 2010)
    • Patrik Svensson, The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World (Ecco, 2021)
    • Leila Philip, Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America (Twelve, 2024)
    • Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures (Random House, 2021)
    • Chris Broadhurst’s LinkedIn
    • Gordon Maples on LinkedIn
    •  Henrietta the Chihuahua @HenriettaWithOneI

    Support the show

    Leave feedback or request an episode / browse the American Campus bookshelf

    30 min
  • Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class with Noam Scheiber

    WATCH this episode on Patreon!

    References and suggested readings:

    • Noam Scheiber, Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2026)
    • Dylan Gottlieb, Yuppies: The Bankers, Lawyers, Joggers, and Gourmands Who Conquered New York (Harvard University Press, 2026)
    • Alex Press, “On the Origins of the Professional-Managerial Class: An Interview with Barbara Ehrenreich,” Dissent, October 22, 2019
    • Karent Hao, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI (Penguin, 2026)
    • Tom Segev, One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs Under the British Mandate (Picador, 2001)
    • Rashid Khalidi, The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 (Metropolitan Books, 2021)
    • Rashid Khalidi, Palestine: A Primer (Godwin Books, 2026)
    • Noam Scheiber’s website, New York Times page , Twitter, Bluesky

    Support the show

    Leave feedback or request an episode / browse the American Campus bookshelf

    40 min
  • Who’s afraid of American studies? with Iván Chaar López and Erin McElroy

    References and suggested readings:

    • Iván Chaar López and Erin McElroy, “Who Benefits from Distorting American Studies?” Public Books, June 17, 2026
    • Iván Chaar López, The Cybernetic Border: Drones, Technology, and Intrusion (Duke University Press, 2024)
    • Erin McElroy, Silicon Valley Imperialism: Techno Fantasies and Frictions in Postsocialist Times (Duke University Press, 2024)
    • Theodor Adorno, Authoritarian Personality
    • Julian Posada, Platform Extractivism: Data Work and the People Powering Artificial Intelligence (University of California Press, 2026)
    • Michel Serres, Conversations on Science, Culture, and Time: Michel Serres with Bruno Latour (University of Michigan Press, 1995)
    • John Dewey, Democracy and Education OPEN ACCESS PDF
    • Max Horkheimer and Theodor W Adorno, Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments OPEN ACCESS PDF
    • Dan Scott, Conscripts of Modernity: The Tragedy of Colonial Enlightenment (Duke University Press, 2004)
    • Alberto Toscano, Late Fascism: Race, Capitalism and the Politics of Crisis (Verso, 2023)
    • Erin McElroy’s website
    • Iván Chaar López’s website

    Support the show

    Leave feedback or request an episode / browse the American Campus bookshelf

    35 min
  • Student protests in France with Michael Stambolis-Ruhstorfer

    WATCH this episode on our Patreon (free)!

    References and suggested readings:

    • Michael Stambolis-Ruhstorfer, By the Power Vested in Me: How Experts Shape Same-Sex Marriage Debates (Columbia University Press, 2025). 
    • “French student loses hand to grenade in unprecedented protests,” CNN, October 6, 2026
    • Tom McCarthy, “Paris moves to sue Fox News for false reporting on Muslim 'no-go zones',” The Guardian, February 12, 2015
    • “How racist police infiltration of high schools created the "Bismillah, it's darkness" meme,” LeHuffPost explainer
    • Mediapart, French online newspaper
    • Cole Stangler, US journalist in france
    • Octavia E. Butler, The Parables collection
    • Michael Michael Stambolis-Ruhstorfer’s website and Bluesky

    Support the show

    Leave feedback or request an episode / browse the American Campus bookshelf

    30 min
  • Repressing Palestine on campus before October 7 with Omar Zahzah

    References and suggested readings:

    • Omar Zahzah, Terms of Servitude: Zionism, Silicon Valley, and Digital Settler Colonialism in the Palestinian Liberation Struggle (The Censored Press, 2025)
    • Omar Zahzah, “A Question of Violence: Palestine in American Academia After October 7,” The Palestine Chronicle, April 3, 2026
    • Eman Ghanayem and Theresa Rocha Beardall, “The University Is a Colony,” Diacritics 52, no. 1 (2024): 8-23
    • Omar Zahzah, “Michigan 8 case is part of a broader pattern of repression,” The Electronic Intifada, August 49, 2026
    • Omar Zahzah, “Two UCSD Professors Face Suspension in the War on Campus Protest,” Institute for Palestine Studies blog, September 3, 2026
    • Purge palentir: Find Palentir near you
    • MESA AFI report on attacks on academic workers since October 7th
    • Learn more about the Civility Industrial Complex
    • Dominique J. Baker, “What’s Wrong With Civilty?” Inside Higher Ed, October 13, 2026
    • Christopher Newfield, Unmaking the University: The Forty-Year Assault on the Middle Class (Harvard University Press, 2011)
    • Sidney Hook, Academic Freedom and Academic Anarchy (Cowles Book Company, 1970)
    • Omar Zahzah’s website and faculty page

    Support the show

    Leave feedback or request an episode / browse the American Campus bookshelf

    36 min
  • The university budget with Merle Eisenberg

    Apologies for the mic difficulties on Lauren's end!

    References and suggested readings:

    • Merle Eisenberg’s faculty page
    • Infectious Historians podcast
    • Dean O. Smith, How University Budgets Work (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019)
    • Dean O. Smith, University Finances: Accounting and Budgeting Principles for Higher Education (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019)
    • Chris Newfield, The Great Mistake: How We Wrecked Public Universities and How We Can Fix Them (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018)
    • Office Hours with EAB
    • David Arnold, Pandemic India: From Cholera to Covid-19 (Oxford University Press, 2022)
    • Michael G. Vann and Liz Clarke, The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt: Empire, Disease, and Modernity in French Colonial Vietnam (Oxford University Press, 2018)

    Support the show

    Leave feedback or request an episode / browse the American Campus bookshelf

    32 min
  • Tuition discounting with Phillip Levine

    References and suggested readings:

    • Phillip B. Levine, Hidden Tuition: An Insider's Guide to College Pricing and Financial Aid (University of Chicago Press, 2026)
    • ON COST DISEASE: Dennis M. Hogan, Artificial Negligence: Why are college administrators so eager to adopt AI? Hedgehog Review, Summer 2026
    • Dean Spears and Michael Geruso, After the Spike: Population, Progress, and the Case for People (Simon & Schuster, 2025)
    • Phillip Levine on LinkedIn, MyIntuition.org, Brookings Institution

    Support the show

    Leave feedback or request an episode / browse the American Campus bookshelf

    30 min
  • What colleges (don’t) do about sexual assault with Nicole Bedera

    The Title IX process is working as intended.

    References mentioned this episode:

    • Kendall Danielle Francis explains her assault and her Title IX experience
    • Nicole Bedera, On the Wrong Side: How Universities Protect Perpetrators  and Betray Survivors of Sexual Assault (University of California Press, 2024).
    • Classroom resources to accompany On the Wrong Side
    • Nicole Bedera’s website

    Support the show

    Leave feedback or request an episode / browse the American Campus bookshelf

    42 min
  • Edmund Burke, father of conservatism with Austin Clements

    References and suggested readings:

    • Austin J. Clements, ‘The Franco Way’: The American Right and the Spanish Civil War, 1936-9, Journal of Contemporary History 57(2), 341-364
    • Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolutions in France
    • Corey Robin, The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump, 2nd edition (Oxford University Press, 2017)
    • Katy Hull, The Machine Has a Soul: American Sympathy with Italian Fascism (Princeton University Press, 2025)
    • John Patrick Diggins, Mussolini and Fascism: The View from America (Princeton University Press, 2015)
    • Russell Kirk, The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot
    • David Austin Walsh, Liberals Are to Blame for the Rise of J. D. Vance, Boston Review, July 22, 2024
    • George H. Nash, The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945 (ISI Books, 2006).
    • Perry Anderson, Disputing Disaster: A Sextet on the Great War (Verso, 2026)
    • Austin’s faculty page, Instagram @clementsaustinj, and email [email protected] 

    Support the show

    Leave feedback or request an episode / browse the American Campus bookshelf

    50 min
  • Real estate, private equity, and Abundance with Billy Fleming

    References and suggested readings:

    • Billy Fleming, Building Postcarbon Futures: Land, Justice, and Energy Transitions (Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2026).
    • Marshall Terrill, “ASU ranks No. 1 nationally, No. 2 globally for sustainability,” ASU News, September 8, 2026.
    • Davarian L. Baldwin, In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities Are Plundering Our Cities (Bold Type, 2021).
    • Kevin Kovaleski, “ASU reaches milestone enrollment,” ASU News, August 10, 2026.
    • Holly Jean Buck, Ending Fossil Fuels: Why Net Zero is Not Enough (Verso, 2021).
    • Thea Riofrancos, Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism (W. W. Norton, 2025).
    • Joshua Hong, “Universities are buying and selling property for data centers, prompting concerns about an AI brain drain,” Yahoo! Finance, August 12, 2026.
    • “AI can make our lives better,” Senator John Kennedy on NBC News
    • The Expanse series
    • Alyssa Battistoni, Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature (Princeton University Press, 2025).
    • Follow Billy Fleming on Twitter and Bluesky

    Support the show

    Leave feedback or request an episode / browse the American Campus bookshelf

    37 min

About American Campus Podcast

From the publisher's feed

a social and political history of higher education

More shows like American Campus Podcast

Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts by Slate Podcasts

Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts

3,471 Listeners

Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast by MS NOW, Chris Hayes

Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

9,310 Listeners

Have You Heard by Have You Heard

Have You Heard

469 Listeners

Know Your Enemy by Matthew Sitman

Know Your Enemy

2,068 Listeners

Culture Gabfest by Slate Podcasts

Culture Gabfest

435 Listeners

5-4 by Prologue Projects

5-4

3,531 Listeners

This Day (An America 250 History Show) by Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia

This Day (An America 250 History Show)

987 Listeners

Conspirituality by Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, Julian Walker

Conspirituality

2,055 Listeners

Maintenance Phase by Aubrey Gordon & Michael Hobbes

Maintenance Phase

16,663 Listeners

Cancel Me, Daddy by Katelyn Burns, Christine Grimaldi, Flytrap Media

Cancel Me, Daddy

375 Listeners

Fast Politics with Molly Jong-Fast by iHeartPodcasts

Fast Politics with Molly Jong-Fast

2,241 Listeners

If Books Could Kill by Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri

If Books Could Kill

9,400 Listeners

Ordinary Unhappiness by Abby Kluchin, Patrick Blanchfield, and Dan Yowell

Ordinary Unhappiness

233 Listeners

In Bed With The Right by Adrian Daub and Moira Donegan

In Bed With The Right

576 Listeners

College Matters from The Chronicle by The Chronicle of Higher Education

College Matters from The Chronicle

91 Listeners