Affirmative action could be doomed (again). What comes next?

02/08/22 • 42 min

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Dylan Matthews, Dara Lind, and Jerusalem Demsas talk about affirmative action. They dig into the current Supreme Court case about Harvard’s admission rates and ask: How do we make sure our elite institutions adequately reflect the population? Plus, a white paper about the effects of education on mortality.

References:

Vox senior correspondent Ian Millhiser’s explainer about the SCOTUS cases
Peter Arcidiacono, Josh Kinsler, and Tyler Ransom's empirical papers on Harvard admissions
Jay Caspian Kang on the Harvard case
Ending affirmative action in California pushed Black and Latinx students into worse schools and jobs
Randall Kennedy’s case for affirmative action
Sheryll Cashin’s case for “place-based affirmative action”
An argument that class-based affirmative action produces more racial diversity than regular affirmative action
Nicholas Lemann on affirmative action for the New Yorker
How the Texas “10 percent” rule changed high school enrollment
White paper: "The Effects of Education on Mortality: Evidence Using College Expansions"
“A Generation of American Men Give Up on College: ‘I Just Feel Lost,’” the Wall Street Journal
Opinion | “Affirmative Action Was Never a Perfect Solution,” the New York Times
“Estimating Benefits from University-Level Diversity”

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, Vox

Dara Lind (@dlind), Weeds cohost, Vox

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

Amber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

References:

Vox senior correspondent Ian Millhiser’s explainer about the SCOTUS cases
Peter Arcidiacono, Josh Kinsler, and Tyler Ransom's empirical papers on Harvard admissions
Jay Caspian Kang on the Harvard case
Ending affirmative action in California pushed Black and Latinx students into worse schools and jobs
Randall Kennedy’s case for affirmative action
Sheryll Cashin’s case for “place-based affirmative action”
An argument that class-based affirmative action produces more racial diversity than regular affirmative action
Nicholas Lemann on affirmative action for the New Yorker
How the Texas “10 percent” rule changed high school enrollment
White paper: "The Effects of Education on Mortality: Evidence Using College Expansions"
“A Generation of American Men Give Up on College: ‘I Just Feel Lost,’” the Wall Street Journal
Opinion | “Affirmative Action Was Never a Perfect Solution,” the New York Times
“Estimating Benefits from University-Level Diversity”

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, Vox

Dara Lind (@dlind), Weeds cohost, Vox

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

Amber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Previous Episode

It’s not about Ukraine. It’s about Putin.

Dylan Matthews talks with Mark Galeotti (@MarkGaleotti), director of Mayak Intelligence, about what’s going on in Ukraine. They discuss in depth the historical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, Russia’s NATO problem, and the calculations and motivations behind President Vladimir Putin’s moves.

References:

Today, Explained’s episode about Ukraine's pipeline problem

Vox’s Jen Kirby wrote an explainer about Russia-Ukraine tensions

Adam Tooze on Russia as a petro-state

An excellent 2019 episode from NPR’s Throughline about the rise of Putin

The Weaponisation of Everything: A Field Guide to the New Way of War, by Mark Galeotti

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

Amber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Next Episode

Beijing, boycotts, and the enduring politics of the Olympics

Dylan Matthews talks with Victor Cha (@VictorDCha) about the international politics surrounding the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The US and several other countries are boycotting the games to protest China’s human rights record, which brings up the question: What does this boycott mean for US-China relations?

References:

Beyond the Final Score by Victor Cha

Cha on the politicization of the 2022 Games

Vox’s Jen Kirby on the Biden administration’s diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Olympics

Vox’s Bryan Walsh on the failure of the Games to promote international peace

Olympic sponsors are facing pressure over China’s human rights violations

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

Amber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts