Since the beginning of 2022, more than a dozen historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, have received bomb threats, including eight last week at the start of Black History […]
How Universities Shape Urban Life
University campuses play a major role in whatever city they’re in, from local politics to gentrification and even policing. We’re in the midst of a new economy, argues urban historian […]
Who’s Afraid of Critical Race Theory?
Last week, Republicans in the Wisconsin state legislature introduced legislation designed to ban the teaching of critical race theory in K–12 and UW system schools. This appears to be the […]
Free Speech: A 2021 Explainer
There’s been a lot of talk lately about free speech and the First Amendment. What is—and what isn’t—protected free speech? Today on the show, legal expert Howard Schweber breaks it […]
Coerced Labor in America Today
The pandemic and attendant economic crisis have laid bare the enormous power imbalances in contemporary American work life. Today, we speak with sociologist Erin Hatton about her new book Coerced, […]
The intellectual dark web
What makes an idea dangerous? In tonight’s episode, Kevin Lauterjung and Kelly Schwartz discuss the intellectual dark web (IDW), from subversive origins to Youtube mainstay. How did the IDW become […]