The staff writer Emma Green reports on how the MAGA movement aims to implement fundamental change in both private and public colleges, and in how Americans think about education.
Yesterday
John Wilson and “The History of Concrete”
John Wilson is a documentary filmmaker, a comedian, and a contemporary philosopher. On his hit HBO show, “How To with John Wilson,” he wandered around New York City filming everyday life, pontificating, and asking strangers questions ranging from the mundane to the esoteric. The ... Show More
19m 43s
Sep 11
Colin Kaepernick, Ten Years After Taking a Knee
Colin Kaepernick had a stunning rise as an N.F.L. quarterback after becoming a full-time starter, in 2012. He was a legitimate dual threat—as effective running the ball as he was throwing it. And, to this day, Kaepernick still holds the record for rushing yards by an N.F.L. quart ... Show More
49m 11s
Sep 8
Edwidge Danticat on Haitian Americans in a Time of Peril
For more than thirty years, Edwidge Danticat has written about the experiences of Haitians and Haitian Americans in fiction, memoir, and journalism. In The New Yorker, she has covered the ways in which the Trump Administration has targeted Haitian immigrants with lies and threats ... Show More
22m 35s
Sep 2025
The Grand Strategy Behind Trump’s Crackdown on Academia
<p>What is wrong with higher education in America? According to many on the right, a lot. This week, Ross Douthat talks to May Mailman, the lawyer behind President Trump’s battles with Harvard and Columbia, about the administration’s assault on the Ivy League and why “a glorifica ... Show More
59m 1s
Apr 2025
The Conservative Activist Pushing Trump to Attack U.S. Colleges
<p>This week, we interviewed two people with leading roles in the rapidly escalating conflict between the Trump administration and American higher education.</p><p>Today, we speak with Christopher Rufo, who led the conservative critique of, and assault on, critical race theory an ... Show More
43m 49s
Mar 2025
Trump’s Escalating War With Higher Education
<p>In recent weeks, the Trump administration has put the American university system on notice.</p><p>It has pressed for changes, opened investigations — and in some cases withheld critical funds.</p><p>Alan Blinder, who covers education in America, explains how schools are respon ... Show More
27m 50s
Sep 2025
Casualties of Trump’s War on Higher Ed
President Trump has a long list of grievances against many U.S. colleges and universities. He’s complained about antisemitism on campuses, of gender- and race-based course offerings, even communist indoctrination. To force change, the government has increasingly used the power of ... Show More
28m 38s
Feb 2025
American Higher Education Under the Second Trump Administration
In this episode of International Horizons, RBI Director John Torpey speaks with Steven Brint, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at UC Riverside, about the early days of the second Trump administration and its impact on higher education. Brint discusses the ad ... Show More
31m 24s
Apr 2025
The University President Willing to Fight Trump
<p>This week, we interviewed two people with leading roles in the rapidly escalating conflict between the Trump administration and American higher education. </p><p>Today, we speak with the president of Princeton University, Christopher L. Eisgruber, about the institution’s path ... Show More
38m 49s