Curriculum Vitae

Washington bureaucrats only make half of America's science policy. Judges, juries, and lawyers make the other half, in billion-dollar lawsuits decided in courts around the nation. Lawyer Nathan A. Schachtman, joins us to discuss what the legal and financial consequences are when the courts get their science wrong.

Dr. Reilly joins us to discuss the campus climate today. What racism means, the 1776 Project, and much more.

The University of Pittsburgh recently announced a new required course for all new students: “Anti-Black Racism: History, Ideology, and Resistance.” This course is yet another attempt at forcing students towards ideological conformity, especially in regard to the concept of “anti-racism.”

Anti-racist ideology, which is anything but, is sweeping across American higher education. Here to discuss the University of Pittsburgh and how it is representative of the recent push to make anti-racism the new creed of colleges and universities is Steve Hayward.

We attempt to answer an uncommon question: Why is groupthink bad for the academy? To answer this question we are joined by Lee Jussim, a professor of social psychology at Rutgers University and author of the popular Psychology Today blog, Rabble Rouser.

Peter is joined by Mitchell Langbert, Associate Professor of Business at Brooklyn College, to discuss the political affiliation of university professors and his upcoming article in Academic Questions. As the nation’s partisan divide entrenches itself, more attention is being paid to what affect this partisanship has on teaching, research, and institutional trust. Peter and Mitchell go on to discuss Sarah Lawrence College and the internal contradictions of John Dewey’s progressive education.

Let's face it: race will play a role in college admissions for the foreseeable future. But what is the best way to use it as a factor? Peter Wood sits down with NAS Board Member George Dent to discuss the options.

In this episode, NAS Policy Director Rachelle Peterson sits down with Peter to discuss where presidential candidates stand on higher education. They walk through the competing “free college” plans and student loan debt forgiveness, and then talk about two competing bills to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. (NAS supports neither one.) Rachelle also shares some good news from the Department of Education, which is listening to NAS’s advice on foreign gift disclosures.

(Note: We recorded this podcast before Kamala Harris suspended her presidential campaign.)

Professor Lucas Morel joins NAS Director of Research David Randall to discuss his recent article in the American Mind and the New York Times' 1619 Project. Professor Morel is a Lincoln Scholar and head of the Politics Department at Washington and Lee University.

Seth Forman, the managing editor of NAS’s journal Academic Questions, joins me to discuss the relationship between higher education and the middle class.

Just a few weeks ago, federal district judge Allison Burroughs issued a decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, ruling that Harvard was not guilty of racial discrimination and affirming the value of diversity in college admissions.

Today's guest, Dennis Saffran, wrote our amicus brief last year supporting Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA). Listen in as we discuss what the judge's ruling means for the future of racial preferences.