Lavelle Porter is a writer with a fascinating set of interests, ranging from poetry and science fiction to racial politics, sexual identity, and the structures of higher education itself. His recent blog post, "More Thoughts on Graduate School," resonated with anyone who's ever agonized over grad school-related decisions in their life, capturing some of the ambivalence that often accompanies the "life of the mind." Lavelle joins me to talk about being at Morehouse College in Atlanta around the time Outkast blew up, how he became interested in artists and writers like Sun Ra and Samuel Delany, and what the future holds for education in America.