In this episode, Nik and Zach unpack how Trump’s alignment with AI labs, deregulation, and political culture wars collide with higher education. With weak federal guidance, states—and universities—are left to chart their own AI futures.

Zach Justus and Nik Janos, Inside Higher Ed, AI Has Gone MAGA 

Mohar Chatterjee, Politico, AI is Opening a MAGA-Trump Split 

Thoughts and suggestions? Email us at [email protected]

You can find the full show notes and our writing at meltsintoair.org

California State University leaders Emily Magruder and Leslie Kennedy join Unfixed to discuss how the CSU–OpenAI partnership is reshaping conversations about teaching, technology, and faculty work. They share lessons from system-level innovation, union tensions, and the future of AI in higher education.

Emily Magruder

Leslie Kennedy

Nik Janos, Melts into Air,  Thoughts on the first AI-powered university

Julie Bajaras, LAist, Inside Cal State's big $17 million bet on ChatGPT for all

Thoughts and suggestions? Email us at [email protected]

You can find the full show notes and our writing at meltsintoair.org

Alchemy Learning’s Brett Christie joins us to unpack real gaps on campus—tools, culture, and strategy—and how partners can help. We discuss “build vs. buy” to faculty buy-in and smart governance and explore how Universal Design for Learning is as important as ever in the AI age. 

Alchemy Learning Website

Alchemy Webinar Series  

Zach Justus on Melts into Air, “AI Is Making Edtech Pricier”

Cogniti

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Thoughts and suggestions? Email us at [email protected]

You can find the full show notes and our writing at meltsintoair.org

In this episode of Unfixed, Nik and Zach explore the rise of AI agents—autonomous, goal-driven systems that can research, plan, and even collaborate with learners. From inbox triage and coding prototypes to the not-yet-ready world of full computer control, they unpack where agents are already useful on campus and where hype outpaces reality. The conversation turns to higher ed implications: assessment, advising, operations, and governance. Tune in for a clear look at how AI agents are reshaping student learning, faculty work, and the future of universities.

Note: Dear listener please forgive the substandard audio. We had a technical malfunction during the recording of this episode.

World Economic Forum & Capgemini. Navigating the AI Frontier: A Primer on the Evolution and Impact of AI Agents

Google Cloud. “What are AI agents? Definition, examples, and types.”

Yan, L. (2025). From Passive Tool to Socio-cognitive Teammate: A Conceptual Framework for Agentic AI in Human-AI Collaborative Learning.

Nik Janos, Melts into Air, The Assistant for the Rest of Us

Unfixed Podcast, AGI and the Future of Higher Education with Ray Schroeder

Hard Fork, A.I. School Is in Session: Two Takes on the Future of Education.

Zach Justus, Melts into Air, AI Is Making Edtech Pricier—and In-House Builds Plausible Again

Thoughts and suggestions? Email us at [email protected]

You can find the full show notes and our writing at meltsintoair.org

In this episode of Unfixed, Nik and Zach unpack the “enforcement illusion” behind AI use policies in higher education. From the impossibility of a true “no-AI” classroom to the cultural gap between faculty and students, they argue why cultivating dispositions, transparency, and dialogue offers a more meaningful path than rigid rules in the age of generative AI.

Note: Dear listener please forgive the substandard audio. We had a technical malfunction during the recording of this episode.

Zach Justus and Nik Janos, Inside Higher Ed, Your AI Policy is Already Obsolete

Nik Janos, Melts into Air, Tools and Brains: UX For Assignments 

Zach Justus, Melts into Air, ChatGPT in a Writing Class

Zach Justus, Melts into Air, ChatGPT: A Classroom Update

Thoughts and suggestions? Email us at [email protected]

You can find the full show notes and our writing at meltsintoair.org

Zach and Nik brings you the biggest AI-in-education headlines shaping higher ed this fall—from ChatGPT’s new Study Mode and Canvas integrations to Microsoft’s agents, Big Tech partnerships, and Grammarly’s AI grade oracle.

OpenAI ChatGPT Study Mode

Instructure: Canvas ChatGPT integration

Microsoft Copilot Agent

LA Times: Big Tech as Savior

Reuters: Google Pledges Over $1 Billion for AI Training

Grammarly, What Grade Will I Get?

Thoughts and suggestions? Email us at [email protected]

You can find the full show notes and our writing at meltsintoair.org

In this episode of Unfixed, we talk with Ray Schroeder—Senior Fellow at UPCEA and Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois Springfield—about Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and what it means for the future of higher education. While most of academia is still grappling with ChatGPT and basic AI tools, Schroeder is thinking ahead to AI agents, human displacement, and AGI’s existential implications for teaching, learning, and the university itself. We explore why AGI is so controversial, what institutions should be doing now to prepare, and how we can respond responsibly—even while we’re already overwhelmed.

Ray Shroeder, Uncharted Territory: Artificial General Intelligence and Higher Ed

Ray Shroeder, Higher Education in 2025: AGI Agents to Displace People

Ray Shroeder Online Learning

Thoughts and suggestions? Email us at [email protected]

You can find the full show notes and our writing at meltsintoair.org

In this episode of Unfixed, “Ready for a Fight?”, we explore the growing resistance to generative AI in higher education. While we don’t adopt the “Fight AI” stance ourselves, we take it seriously—as a revealing response to the rapid automation of knowledge work. Drawing from educators, artists, organizers, and labor movements, we unpack what motivates this rejection of AI, what it’s defending, and where it might lead. Featuring references to union actions, institutional policy shifts, and structural critiques of tech power, this episode sheds light on the values and vulnerabilities animating the pushback.

Melts into Air, What does it mean to fight AI?

Melts into Air, Will General Artificial Intelligence Replace Me?

Karen Hao, Empire of AI

Cant, Muldoon, and Graham, Feeding the Machine: The Hidden Human Labor Powering A.I.

California Faculty Association  

Thoughts and suggestions? Email us at [email protected]

You can find the full show notes and our writing at meltsintoair.org

AI is reshaping every level of education—but K–12 and higher ed often feel worlds apart. In this episode, we talk with Teach Smarter podcast hosts Stephanie Dinnen and Pete Siner about how generative AI is transforming K–12 schools, the evolving challenges across grade levels, and what higher education needs to understand about the next generation of AI-native students.

Stephanie Dinnen is an implementation specialist, supporting districts and schools in building MTSS frameworks for literacy, math and SEL. She is a psychiatric researcher turned K-12 educator and a military spouse advocate.

Pete Siner is a former teacher and educational consultant who helps schools use AI to strengthen Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction, support SEL, and build sustainable systems across traditional, CTE, and alternative settings. He hosts the Teach Smarter podcast and will present at ISTE 2025 on how AI can save teachers time without adding complexity.

Teach Smarter, teachsmarteredu.com

Stephanie Dinnen, @mrsdinnenreads, www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniedinnen

Pete Siner, https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-s-75580490/

Thoughts and suggestions? Email us at [email protected]

You can find the full show notes and our writing at meltsintoair.org

Advising is part mentorship, part logistics—and often a confusing mess. In this episode, we explore how AI might help (or hurt) students and advisors trying to navigate course selection, degree requirements, and policy mazes. We share what happened when we built our own advising bot and tested it in the wild. Could this be the future of student support, or just another edtech fantasy? With special guest Jamie Gunderson.

Josh Farris and Chi Chan, Guiding First-Generation Students to Success

Lauren Coffey, An AI Boost for Academic Advising

Liam Knox, The (AI) Counselor Is in

Thoughts and suggestions? Email us at [email protected]

You can find the full show notes and our writing at meltsintoair.org