Professor Ekow Yankaw explains how we can maintain our freedom and liberty when living in society with others. How are our rights and duties interwoven in a republic? Can the government take a role in guaranteeing these rights but also enforcing these duties? Have we -- in today's America -- lost the register that says that we have obligations toward others, and that being part of a republic means being bound together in a common enterprise?

Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director at Warbler Press. Email [email protected]; Twitter @UliBaer.

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Does allowing hate speech serve the function to get such ideas into the open where they can be defeated? How do we understand “trigger warnings” and safe spaces from a free-speech perspective? Do existing legal guidelines on how to regulate speech work for universities? How do we balance the right to speak with the right to participate in open and robust debate? I spoke with Professor Alexander Tsesis who teaches at Loyola University’s School of Law in Chicago.

Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director at Warbler Press. Email [email protected]; Twitter @UliBaer.

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What does it mean to be media-savvy? What is the truth in a post-factual era? How can we achieve basic media literacy in an age when telling lies has become a method to undermine our faith in facts? I spoke with Pamela Newkirk about maintaining the right kind of skepticism toward the media in an age when the independent press is under attack. Newkirk is a widely published journalist and scholar who holds an appointment as Professor in the Department of Journalism at New York University.

Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director at Warbler Press. Email [email protected]; Twitter @UliBaer.

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"Woman is not born but made." This sentence in philosopher Simone de Beauvoir’s magisterial The Second Sex (1949) means that there’s nothing natural about the fact that 50% of humanity has been oppressed by the other half for millennia. There’s nothing natural about the secondary status of women as either inferior or as assistants, supporters, care-givers, or objects of reverence, fascination, lust and desire. I spoke with Kate Stimpson, one of the founders of women's studies in US higher ed.

Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director at Warbler Press. Email [email protected]; Twitter @UliBaer.

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Asian-Americans are central players in a lawsuit about affirmative action filed against Harvard University - or are they being set up and used? What is the role of Asian-Americans in campus debates in general? What and how do Asian-Americans contribute to campus movements for social justice? Where and when do Asian-Americans show up -- and what has been their contribution and involvement in improving American higher education, from the 1960s until today? Mark Tseng-Putterman shares his insights.

Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director at Warbler Press. Email [email protected]; Twitter @UliBaer.

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Should Columbus Fall? Should the statue be toppled, and should Columbus Circle be renamed while we're at it? In 2017 New York City's Mayor, Bill de Blasio, charged a high-profile commission with the task of determining what to do about the statue of Columbus and a few other figures that generate heated debates. Professor Jack Tchen, the author of Yellow Peril and a co-founder of New York City's Museum of Chinese in America, talks about the controversy and how the committee responded.

Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director at Warbler Press. Email [email protected]; Twitter @UliBaer.

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Shouldn't all decisions about college admissions, employment, housing, etc., be colorblind? Or, as many liberals in the US would argue, is a "diversity frame" more useful, which acknowledges how race, gender and ethnicity play a role in our practice and experiences, and says that we should celebrate and highlight these differences? By studying how students think about this, Professor Natasha Warikoo proposes a more honest and more useful way of understanding how affirmative action can work.

Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director at Warbler Press. Email [email protected]; Twitter @UliBaer.

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Affirmative action is under attack. A lawsuit filed against Harvard might end the practice altogether. Professor Randall Kennedy of Harvard Law acknowledges the costs of affirmative action but considers it ultimately a “positive good,” a moral necessity, and a legally defensible practice. Kennedy explains why affirmative action is the responsible choice in our nation burdened by a history of racial injustice – and how his thinking evolved from the election of Obama to the state we're in now.

Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director at Warbler Press. Email [email protected]; Twitter @UliBaer.

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America’s “environmental prophet,” Henry David Thoreau wrote Walden in an effort to unshackle America from the consumerism, competitiveness, and dishonesty that created a new nation without reaching true freedom and equality. Thoreau’s book is about a better, simpler life and about settling a continent stolen from Native peoples and aided by the sin of slavery. I spoke with Benjamin Reiss, of Emory University about how to read philosophically, and how to get a good night’s sleep.

Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director at Warbler Press. Email [email protected]; Twitter @UliBaer.

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Who’s in, and who’s out? Professor Martha Jones explains the history of birthright citizenship, how Black Americans claimed the rights of citizens long before the courts and Congress granted them such legal rights, and why this prehistory matters to understand today’s debates. Is it outrageous that senior officials question the right of birthright citizenship? You may think so, but you’d also be wrong to think that this right has not been and will remain contested as long as the Republic stands.

Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director at Warbler Press. Email [email protected]; Twitter @UliBaer.

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