574. “A Low Moment in Higher Education”
01/25/24 • 46 min
12 Listeners
Michael Roth of Wesleyan University doesn’t hang out with other university presidents. He also thinks some of them have failed a basic test of good sense and decency. It’s time for a conversation about college, and courage.
- SOURCE:
- Michael S. Roth, president of Wesleyan University.
- RESOURCES:
- "Opinion: College Presidents Are Supposed to Be Moral Leaders, Not Evasive Bureaucrats," by Michael S. Roth (Los Angeles Times, 2023).
- "Transcript: What Harvard, MIT and Penn Presidents Said at Antisemitism Hearing," by CQ Roll Call Staff (Roll Call, 2023).
- "To Testify or Not to Testify in Congress? Your Job Could Hang in the Balance," by Annie Karni (The New York Times, 2023).
- "You Could Not Pay Me Enough to Be a College President," by Daniel W. Drezner (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2023).
- "The Case for College: Promising Solutions to Reverse College Enrollment Declines," by Katharine Meyer (Brookings, 2023).
- "Arab Funding of American Universities: Donors, Recipients, and Impact," by Mitchell G. Bard (American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2023).
- "Racist Attack Spotlights Stefanik’s Echo of Replacement Theory," by Annie Karni (The New York Times, 2022).
- "Why Is There So Much Saudi Money in American Universities?" by Michael Sokolove (The New York Times Magazine, 2019).
- Safe Enough Spaces: A Pragmatist’s Approach to Inclusion, Free Speech, and Political Correctness on College Campuses, by Michael S. Roth (2019).
- "The Opening of the Liberal Mind," by Michael S. Roth (The Wall Street Journal, 2017).
- EXTRAS:
- "Academic Fraud," series by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
- "Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School," series by Freakonomics Radio (2022).
Michael Roth of Wesleyan University doesn’t hang out with other university presidents. He also thinks some of them have failed a basic test of good sense and decency. It’s time for a conversation about college, and courage.
- SOURCE:
- Michael S. Roth, president of Wesleyan University.
- RESOURCES:
- "Opinion: College Presidents Are Supposed to Be Moral Leaders, Not Evasive Bureaucrats," by Michael S. Roth (Los Angeles Times, 2023).
- "Transcript: What Harvard, MIT and Penn Presidents Said at Antisemitism Hearing," by CQ Roll Call Staff (Roll Call, 2023).
- "To Testify or Not to Testify in Congress? Your Job Could Hang in the Balance," by Annie Karni (The New York Times, 2023).
- "You Could Not Pay Me Enough to Be a College President," by Daniel W. Drezner (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2023).
- "The Case for College: Promising Solutions to Reverse College Enrollment Declines," by Katharine Meyer (Brookings, 2023).
- "Arab Funding of American Universities: Donors, Recipients, and Impact," by Mitchell G. Bard (American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2023).
- "Racist Attack Spotlights Stefanik’s Echo of Replacement Theory," by Annie Karni (The New York Times, 2022).
- "Why Is There So Much Saudi Money in American Universities?" by Michael Sokolove (The New York Times Magazine, 2019).
- Safe Enough Spaces: A Pragmatist’s Approach to Inclusion, Free Speech, and Political Correctness on College Campuses, by Michael S. Roth (2019).
- "The Opening of the Liberal Mind," by Michael S. Roth (The Wall Street Journal, 2017).
- EXTRAS:
- "Academic Fraud," series by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
- "Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School," series by Freakonomics Radio (2022).
Previous Episode
5 Psychology Terms You’re Probably Misusing (Replay)
We all like to throw around terms that describe human behavior — “bystander apathy” and “steep learning curve” and “hard-wired.” Most of the time, they don’t actually mean what we think they mean. But don’t worry — the experts are getting it wrong, too.
- SOURCES:
- Sharon Begley, senior science writer for Stat at The Boston Globe.
- Jerome Kagan, emeritus professor of psychology at Harvard University.
- Bibb Latané, social psychologist and senior fellow at the Center for Human Science.
- Scott Lilienfeld, professor of psychology at Emory University.
- James Solomon, director and producer of The Witness.
- RESOURCES:
- “Tech Metaphors Are Holding Back Brain Research,” by Anna Vlasits (Wired, 2017).
- Can’t Just Stop: An Investigation of Compulsions, by Sharon Begley (2017).
- The Witness, film by James Solomon (2016).
- “Fifty Psychological and Psychiatric Terms to Avoid: a List of Inaccurate, Misleading, Misused, Ambiguous, and Logically Confused Words and Phrases,” by Scott Lilienfeld, Katheryn Sauvigne, Steven Jay Lynn, Robin Cautin, Robert Latzman, and Irwin Waldman (Frontiers in Psychology, 2015).
- SuperFreakonomics, by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner (2011).
- Fifty Great Myths of Popular Psychology, by Scott Lilienfeld, Steven Jay Lynn, John Ruscio, and Barry Beyerstein (2009).
- Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain, by Sharon Begley (2007).
- “Kitty, 40 Years Later,” by Jim Rasenberger (The New York Times, 2004).
- “37 Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police,” by Martin Gansberg (The New York Times, 1964).
- EXTRAS:
- "Academic Fraud," series by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
- “This Idea Must Die,”Freakonomics Radio (2015).
Next Episode
The Curious Mr. Feynman
1 RecommendationsFrom the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist Richard Feynman loved to shoot down what he called “lousy ideas.” Today, the world is awash in lousy ideas — so maybe it’s time to get some more Feynman in our lives? (Part one of a three-part series.)
- SOURCES:
- Helen Czerski, physicist and oceanographer at University College London.
- Michelle Feynman, photographer and daughter of Richard Feynman.
- Ralph Leighton, biographer and film producer.
- Charles Mann, science journalist and author.
- John Preskill, professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology.
- Stephen Wolfram, founder and C.E.O. of Wolfram Research; creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha, and the Wolfram Language.
- RESOURCES:
- "How Legendary Physicist Richard Feynman Helped Crack the Case on the Challenger Disaster," by Kevin Cook (Literary Hub, 2021).
- Challenger: The Final Flight, docuseries (2020).
- Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track: Selected Letters of Richard P. Feynman, edited by Michelle Feynman (2005).
- The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, by Richard Feynman (1999).
- Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman, by James Gleick (1992).
- “What Do You Care What Other People Think?” by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (1988).
- "Mr. Feynman Goes to Washington," by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (Engineering & Science, 1987).
- The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Twentieth-century Physics, by Robert Crease and Charles Mann (1986).
- Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (1985).
- "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out," (Horizon S18.E9, 1981).
- "Los Alamos From Below," by Richard Feynman (UC Santa Barbara lecture, 1975).
- "The World from Another Point of View," (PBS Nova, 1973).
- EXTRAS:
- "Exploring Physics, from Eggshells to Oceans," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023).
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