logo
episode-header-image
Jul 14
14m 45s

The price you pay for being smart.

NPR
About this episode
Anti-intellectualism is on the rise. And by "anti-intellectualism" we mean the backlash to scholars in fields like the humanities.

According to two intellectuals, Dr. Ally Louks and Jason Stanley, the humanities help us better connect to other humans. According to a lot of online haters, they're worthless. In November 2024, Dr. Louks recently posted her Cambridge University dissertation online and was piled on by a loud group of right-wing anti-intellectuals.

Today, Brittany revisits her convo with Dr. Louks, and Jason Stanley, a professor of Philosophy at Yale University. They investigate the backlash to Dr. Louks, higher education at large, and why "anti-intellectualism" is prevalent in Republican politics. For more, read Jason Stanley's book Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future.

This episode originally published January 27, 2025.

Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus. Join NPR+ today.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
Up next
Yesterday
Is the economy slowing? Ask Black women.
Black women’s unemployment rate is hovering at 6.7% — higher than the rate for white workers. Is it a sign the broader economy could sour? These economists say yes.Black women are the 'canary in the economic coal mine,' says Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman. She's the author of The Doubl ... Show More
19m 10s
Oct 6
If American films are meh...are China’s better?
Hollywood isn't performing as well at home or abroad. Is it losing its cultural dominance to China's burgeoning film industry? ‘Survive until 2025’ was the mantra that got Hollywood through the past five years of lockdown, streaming wars, and franchise fatigue. And while summer f ... Show More
18m 3s
Oct 3
Why do people use ketamine to party?
Recreational ketamine use is on the rise. But why are some people using it to dissociate in the club? Ketamine – a dissociative anesthetic – is illegal without a prescription and can potentially be harmful. Yet, it has had a massive rise in recreational use over the past decade. ... Show More
19m 22s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2024
Is This the Death of Harvard? - Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, popular science author and Harvard College Professor. One of the world's leading authorities on language and the mind, he is an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. P ... Show More
1h 3m
Jan 2025
The DARK TRUTH About Feminism! (Carrie Gress) | Ep. 506
Dr. Carrie Gress is a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., and a Scholar at the Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America. She holds a doctorate in philosophy and is the co-editor of the online women’s magazine, Theology of Ho ... Show More
2h 33m
Jan 2025
The Science of Racism with Dr Keon West
Polls show that over 50% of us don’t believe racism exists. In this episode, we’re joined by Professor Keon West, a social psychologist at the University of London, specialising in identity, prejudice and representation. Drawing on his new book, The Science of Racism, West cuts t ... Show More
45m 28s
Feb 2024
Why Critical Thinking is Dead - Peter Boghossian
Peter Boghossian is an American philosopher. For ten years he was a professor of philosophy at Portland State University, but resigned following the college’s response to ‘the grievance studies affair’. This entailed Boghossian - alongside James Lindsay and Helen Pluckrose - subm ... Show More
1h 12m
Nov 2024
John Gray on the US Election and a World After Liberalism, Part Two
This is the second instalment of a three-part episode. We once thought liberalism could and should be universal. But recent decades have shown that this presumption could be flawed. Now, with the re-election of Donad Trump in the US, liberalism has fallen out of favour at the bal ... Show More
42m 41s
Jan 2025
What Went Wrong with Liberalism and How We Can Save it, with Samuel Moyn
In this episode Samuel Moyn, Chancellor Kent Professor of Law and History at Yale University, explores what he sees as the profound crisis facing liberalism and why many in the West have become disillusioned with it. Drawing from his latest book 'Liberalism against Itself: Cold W ... Show More
49m 37s
May 2025
544. When the Right Goes Too Far | Dr. James Lindsay
Is the radical right becoming the very thing it hates? Dr. Jordan B. Peterson sits down with Dr. James Lindsay to unpack the rise of the "Woke Right"—a faction of online reactionaries using the same tactics of victimhood, outrage mobs, and cult-like behavior once exclusive to the ... Show More
1h 35m
Jul 21
Can college survive Trump?
American higher education is under attack. Project 2025 laid out the battle plan pretty clearly: Get rid of the Department of Education, shut off federal funding, take control of the accreditation system, and take down diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. And in the end, ch ... Show More
57m 42s
May 2025
545. Reaction to Harvard: Scam? | Dr. Jordan B. Peterson
Dr. Jordan Peterson breaks down what the media has framed as a battle between Harvard University and the Trump administration—but it's much deeper than that. Peterson exposes the ideological decay at the heart of elite academic institutions, driven by the dogma of Diversity, Equi ... Show More
1h 18m
Listen to millions of songs and podcasts on Anghami