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Darts and Letters
Darts and Letters episodes
- EP4.1: Auditing the AuditorsOur last episode, “the Conquest of Bread,” was about McKinsey and Co. encroaching on higher education. In this bonus episode, we put these developments in a wider context. That context: audit culture. Put simply, it’s governing by numbers. Marc Spooner, professor of education, tells us about the wider intellectual history of audit culture, and why … Continue reading EP4.1: Auditing the Auditors →57 min
- EP4.1: Auditing the AuditorsOur last episode, “the Conquest of Bread,” was about McKinsey and Co. encroaching on higher education. In this bonus episode, we put these developments in a wider context. That context: audit culture. Put simply, it’s governing by numbers. Marc Spooner, professor of education, tells us about the wider intellectual history of audit culture, and why … Read More Read More57 min
- EP4: The Conquest of Bread
You know McKinsey and Co. They worked for a company that was fixing the price of bread in Canada. They helped on Trump’s immigration policies, but their ideas were too extreme even for ICE. More recently, they proposed that Purdue Pharma “turbocharge” their sales of OxyContin by offering $14,810 rebates for ODs. Yeah, that’s McKinsey.
We could go on and on. They have a long and sordid record as ‘capitalism’s willing executioners,’ to quote a Current Affairs article by an insider. Now, they’re coming onto our turf: higher education. So, we take a closer look. What is even is management consulting, and is there anything to the methods?
- First, in his opening essay, host Gordon Katic reminds listeners of the infamous case of General Motors and the side saddle gas tank defect of the 1970s and 80s. This story takes us to the world of cost-benefit analysis; a cold, hard logic that puts profits above people.
- Next (@7:52), Kate Jacobson is co-host of the podcast Alberta Advantage, a left-wing podcast in the heart of Canadian conservatism. She warns us that Premier Jason Kenney is using McKinsey as a pretext for his slash-and-burn approach to higher education.
- Then, (@30:33) Matthew Stewart turned away from a potential career in academic philosophy to enter the world of management consulting. His tell-all book The Management Myth: Debunking the Modern Philosophy of Business takes us through his own time in consulting, and the broader intellectual history of management science—AKA the art of wringing every last ounce of labour from workers.
- Finally (@53:14), Joel Westheimer is University Research Chair in Democracy and Education at the University of Ottawa. His work asks the basic, core question “what is education for?” He thinks McKinsey does not know how to measure what really counts about education—because ‘not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.’
—————————-SUPPORT THE SHOW—————————-
We need your support. If you like what you hear, chip in. You can find us on patreon.com/dartsandletters. Patreon subscribers get the episode a day early, and sometimes will also receive bonus content.
Don’t have the money to chip in this week? Not to fear, you can help in other ways. For one: subscribe, rate, and review our podcast. It helps other people find our work.
—————————-CONTACT US————————-
To stay up to date, follow us on Twitter and Facebook. If you’d like to write us, email [email protected] or tweet Gordon directly.
—————————-CREDITS—————————-
This week, Darts and Letters was produced by Jay Cockburn. The lead research assistant on this episode was Franklynn Bartol, with support from our research coordinator David Moscrop.
Our theme song and music was created by Mike Barber, and our graphic design was created by Dakota Koop.
This episode received support by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research, which provided us a research grant to look at the concept of “public intellectualism.” Professor Allen Sens at the University of British Columbia is the lead academic advisor. This is also part of a wider project looking at neoliberal educational reforms, led by Professor Marc Spooner at the University of Regina. Professor Spooner provided research consulting on this episode.
This show is produced by Cited Media, which makes other great shows like Cited Podcast and Crackdown.
Darts and Letters is produced in Toronto, which is on the traditional land of Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat Peoples. It is also produced in Vancouver, BC, which is on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
1 hr 17 min - EP4: The Conquest of BreadYou know McKinsey and Co. They worked for a company that was fixing the price of bread in Canada. They helped on Trump’s immigration policies, but their ideas were too extreme even for ICE. More recently, they proposed that Purdue Pharma “turbocharge” their sales of OxyContin by offering $14,810 rebates for ODs. Yeah, that’s McKinsey. … Read More Read More1 hr 17 min
- EP4: The Conquest of Bread
You know McKinsey and Co. They worked for a company that was fixing the price of bread in Canada. They helped on Trump’s immigration policies, but their ideas were too extreme even for ICE. More recently, they proposed that Purdue Pharma “turbocharge” their sales of OxyContin by offering $14,810 rebates for ODs. Yeah, that’s McKinsey.
We could go on and on. They have a long and sordid record as ‘capitalism’s willing executioners,’ to quote a Current Affairs article by an insider. Now, they’re coming onto our turf: higher education. So, we take a closer look. What is even is management consulting, and is there anything to the methods?
- First, in his opening essay, host Gordon Katic reminds listeners of the infamous case of General Motors and the side saddle gas tank defect of the 1970s and 80s. This story takes us to the world of cost-benefit analysis; a cold, hard logic that puts profits above people.
- Next (@7:52), Kate Jacobson is co-host of the podcast Alberta Advantage, a left-wing podcast in the heart of Canadian conservatism. She warns us that Premier Jason Kenney is using McKinsey as a pretext for his slash-and-burn approach to higher education.
- Then, (@30:33) Matthew Stewart turned away from a potential career in academic philosophy to enter the world of management consulting. His tell-all book The Management Myth: Debunking the Modern Philosophy of Business takes us through his own time in consulting, and the broader intellectual history of management science—AKA the art of wringing every last ounce of labour from workers.
- Finally (@53:14), Joel Westheimer is University Research Chair in Democracy and Education at the University of Ottawa. His work asks the basic, core question “what is education for?” He thinks McKinsey does not know how to measure what really counts about education—because ‘not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.’
—————————-SUPPORT THE SHOW—————————-
We need your support. If you like what you hear, chip in. You can find us on patreon.com/dartsandletters. Patreon subscribers get the episode a day early, and sometimes will also receive bonus content.
Don’t have the money to chip in this week? Not to fear, you can help in other ways. For one: subscribe, rate, and review our podcast. It helps other people find our work.
—————————-CONTACT US————————-
To stay up to date, follow us on Twitter and Facebook. If you’d like to write us, email [email protected] or tweet Gordon directly.
—————————-CREDITS—————————-
This week, Darts and Letters was produced by Jay Cockburn. The lead research assistant on this episode was Franklynn Bartol, with support from our research coordinator David Moscrop.
Our theme song and music was created by Mike Barber, and our graphic design was created by Dakota Koop.
This episode received support by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research, which provided us a research grant to look at the concept of “public intellectualism.” Professor Allen Sens at the University of British Columbia is the lead academic advisor. This is also part of a wider project looking at neoliberal educational reforms, led by Professor Marc Spooner at the University of Regina. Professor Spooner provided research consulting on this episode.
This show is produced by Cited Media, which makes other great shows like Cited Podcast and Crackdown.
Darts and Letters is produced in Toronto, which is on the traditional land of Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat Peoples. It is also produced in Vancouver, BC, which is on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
1 hr 17 min - EP3.1: Decoding DominionismYou liked our last episode, Pew Research Center, so I wanted to bring you more. We were just scratching the surface on far-right political theology. On this bonus episode, Andre Gagne takes us deeper. We talk through an intellectual history of the key ideas — Christian Dominionism, Prosperity Gospel, and the Seven Mountains — and … Continue reading EP3.1: Decoding Dominionism →1 hr 8 min
- EP3.1: Decoding DominionismYou liked our last episode, Pew Research Center, so I wanted to bring you more. We were just scratching the surface on far-right political theology. On this bonus episode, Andre Gagne takes us deeper. We talk through an intellectual history of the key ideas — Christian Dominionism, Prosperity Gospel, and the Seven Mountains — and … Read More Read More1 hr 8 min
- EP3.1: Decoding DominionismYou liked our last episode, Pew Research Center, so I wanted to bring you more. We were just scratching the surface on far-right political theology. On this bonus episode, Andre Gagne takes us deeper. We talk through an intellectual history of the key ideas — Christian Dominionism, Prosperity Gospel, and the Seven Mountains — and its key players.This is a bonus episode and an experiment. It’s a companion piece and a loosely edited deep dive into the themes we discussed in the last episode. It’s for the real heads. If you like it (or if you don’t), let me know. If you want more episodes like this and other bonus materials, we’ll start making them more often. And if we have money to do it, they’ll get better and better. So chip in on patreon.com/dartsandletters.
—————————-CONTACT US————————-
To stay up to date, follow us on Twitter and Facebook. If you’d like to write us, email [email protected] or tweet Gordon directly.
—————————-CREDITS—————————-
This week, Darts and Letters was produced by Jay Cockburn and Gordon Katic. The lead research assistant on this episode was Isabelle Lemelin, with support from David Moscrop, and consulting from Andre Gagne.
Our theme song and music was created by Mike Barber, and our graphic design was created by Dakota Koop.
This episode received support by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research, which provided us a research grant to look at the concept of “public intellectualism.” Professor Allen Sens at the University of British Columbia is the lead academic advisor. We are also supported by a wider project looking at the rise of far political ideologies – that project is run by Professors Andre Gagne, Ronald Beiner, and A. James McAdams.
This show is produced by Cited Media, which makes other great shows like Cited Podcast and Crackdown.
Darts and Letters is produced in Toronto, which is on the traditional land of Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat Peoples. It is also produced in Vancouver, BC, which is on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.’
1 hr 8 min - EP3: Pew Research CenterYou’ve seen hilarious videos of the evangelicals for Trump. You might be inclined to ignore them, mock their excesses, or dismiss their threat. But the evangelical right is a force to be reckoned with, even with Trump on his way out. So, who are these evangelicals? What do they believe? For years, evangelicals have been … Continue reading EP3: Pew Research Center →1 hr 32 min
- EP3: Pew Research CenterYou’ve seen hilarious videos of the evangelicals for Trump. You might be inclined to ignore them, mock their excesses, or dismiss their threat. But the evangelical right is a force to be reckoned with, even with Trump on his way out. So, who are these evangelicals? What do they believe? For years, evangelicals have been … Read More Read More1 hr 32 min
About Darts and Letters
From the publisher's feed
This is about ‘arts and letters,’ but for the kind of people who might hack a dart. We cover public intellectualism and the politics of academia from a left perspective. Each week, we interview…
thinkers about key debates that are relevant to the left. We discuss politics, culture, and intellectual history.
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