Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Ep 36: Make Universities Unruly Again with Brian Soucek
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Ep 36: Make Universities Unruly Again with Brian Soucek
This week on In The Meanwhile, Nora and Marcus do what every emotionally stable person does in a collapsing empire: eat dessert first and deal with the vegetables later. They speed-run the Trump administration's latest clown car pileup: featuring the extremely cursed timeline where even the NRA and Senate Republicans are like, "Hey man… maybe chill?" — before zooming out to a much bigger target on the authoritarian wishlist: universities.
Enter constitutional law scholar Brian Soucek, author of The Opinionated University, who joins for a brainy, spicy, occasionally laugh-so-you-don't-scream convo about what academic freedom actually means (hint: it's not "tenured guy yells vibes"). They dig into why calls for "neutrality" are usually code for "please stop challenging power," how outsourcing expertise hollows out education, and why turning campuses into beige corporate training centers would be a tragedy for democracy. We're reminded that universities — messy, loud, imperfect as hell — are still some of the last places where people practice the radical act of disagreeing in public and (sometimes) learning something.
Mentioned in the episode:
Federal judge actually tossing out a lawsuit | Hannah Fried episode | Pediatrician who fought to help Alex Pretti | at least 8 other people killed by ICE | Howard Zinn | "Committee A" on Academic Freedom and Tenure | Committee on Academic Freedom | UC's National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement | Gaza Med School Commencement Speech | SSE: Living and Loving Under the Carceral State | Arts at King St Station Art
More from Brian Soucek:
The Opinionated University: Academic Freedom, Diversity, and the Myth of Neutrality in American Higher Education | Brian Soucek at Town Hall Seattle Feb 3
Support the pod:
Donate here to support In The Meanwhile
Follow us:
Instagram | BlueSky | Website
Read Nora and Marcus's Books:
Crowded Out: The True Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare | Readying to Rise
Music: No Tears for a Wolf · Ahamefule J. Oluo · Okanomodé. Used with permission.
Logo by Nikki Barron.
Transcripts are machine-generated and imperfect.
Nora and Marcus's work on the podcast is separate from their professional roles and does not represent the views of their employers.
Links to bookshop.org are affiliate links.
View all episodes
By Marcus Harrison Green & Nora KenworthyThis week on In The Meanwhile, Nora and Marcus do what every emotionally stable person does in a collapsing empire: eat dessert first and deal with the vegetables later. They speed-run the Trump administration's latest clown car pileup: featuring the extremely cursed timeline where even the NRA and Senate Republicans are like, "Hey man… maybe chill?" — before zooming out to a much bigger target on the authoritarian wishlist: universities.
Enter constitutional law scholar Brian Soucek, author of The Opinionated University, who joins for a brainy, spicy, occasionally laugh-so-you-don't-scream convo about what academic freedom actually means (hint: it's not "tenured guy yells vibes"). They dig into why calls for "neutrality" are usually code for "please stop challenging power," how outsourcing expertise hollows out education, and why turning campuses into beige corporate training centers would be a tragedy for democracy. We're reminded that universities — messy, loud, imperfect as hell — are still some of the last places where people practice the radical act of disagreeing in public and (sometimes) learning something.
Mentioned in the episode:
Federal judge actually tossing out a lawsuit | Hannah Fried episode | Pediatrician who fought to help Alex Pretti | at least 8 other people killed by ICE | Howard Zinn | "Committee A" on Academic Freedom and Tenure | Committee on Academic Freedom | UC's National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement | Gaza Med School Commencement Speech | SSE: Living and Loving Under the Carceral State | Arts at King St Station Art
More from Brian Soucek:
The Opinionated University: Academic Freedom, Diversity, and the Myth of Neutrality in American Higher Education | Brian Soucek at Town Hall Seattle Feb 3
Support the pod:
Donate here to support In The Meanwhile
Follow us:
Instagram | BlueSky | Website
Read Nora and Marcus's Books:
Crowded Out: The True Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare | Readying to Rise
Music: No Tears for a Wolf · Ahamefule J. Oluo · Okanomodé. Used with permission.
Logo by Nikki Barron.
Transcripts are machine-generated and imperfect.
Nora and Marcus's work on the podcast is separate from their professional roles and does not represent the views of their employers.
Links to bookshop.org are affiliate links.