Campus Files: Scandals, Secrets & Crimes at American Universities

Latest Episodes:

Beating the House | The MIT Blackjack Team Oct 07, 2026

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By day, they were MIT students and working professionals. By night, they played blackjack at casinos. Using mathematics and card counting, the MIT blackjack team found a way to beat the house and walk away with huge sums of money. They were good at it. Maybe too good. And before long, the casinos started to catch on.

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

The Pit of Hades | Chemical Weapons at American University Sep 30, 2026

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In the 90s construction crews discovered a small collection of leftover World War I era munitions buried in the ground. This discovery triggered a massive and ever expanding search. The situation was made far more terrifying when researchers learned of a pit where a massive stockpile of chemical weapons was buried. Back in World War I, the Army crews burying these materials nicknamed this spot “The Pit of Hades”, calling it the most feared and respected place on the grounds. But the trouble was, nobody alive knew where this pit was buried.

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

Radioactive Oatmeal | MIT’s Experiments on Institutionalized Children Sep 23, 2026

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In the mid-20th century, Americans were paying closer attention to nutrition. MIT researchers wanted to determine the nutritional value of oats. But their study required children to eat oatmeal containing radioactive tracers. They found those children inside a state institution.
For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

BenLadner.com | American Universities Drudge Report Sep 16, 2026

Show notes

The early 2000s on American University, was a time of political intrigue... at least in student government. Eventually, one former student government member decided he'd had enough and created his own student paper named after the president of the University, Ben Ladner. As a result, he'd end up in court, in an alteraction with secret service, and more.
For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

Behind Closed Doors | Inside the Harlow Primate Lab Sep 09, 2026

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Madeline had always loved animals, so she was thrilled to land a job at UW’s primate lab. But what she discovered inside was nothing like she expected -- and ultimately drove her to fight for greater accountability in scientific research.

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

ELIZA | The Worlds First "AI" Chatbot Sep 02, 2026

Show notes

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one researcher is credited with creating the very first chatbot, a technology that, almost exactly 60 years in the future, would explode into the mainstream, alter the global economy, and raise significant questions about the future. It turns out, that man, Joseph Weizenbaum, would also become one of its earliest critics, seeing it as deceptive, playing upon our natural vulnerabilities.

Read Jeff's book, Inventing ELIZA: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262052481/inventing-eliza/
Try ELIZA online: https://anthay.github.io/eliza.html
For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

No Medical Miracle | The Rise and Fall of Paolo Macchiarini Aug 26, 2026

Show notes

The Karolinska Institute is one of the world’s leading medical universities. When it hired Paolo Macchiarini, it saw a surgeon with a groundbreaking new procedure. But the university ignored warning signs, and patients paid the price.

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

Bodies Upon The Gears | The Free Speech Movement of 1964 Part 2 Aug 19, 2026

Show notes

After Mario Savio's historic speech, students occupy Sproul Hall, leading to the largest non-war time arrest in US history to that point. The response from administration begins to turn the tide, but it all comes down to the Regents and the facutly.

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

Bodies Upon The Gears | The Free Speech Movement of 1964 Part 1 Aug 12, 2026

Show notes

For decades the entire University of California system had strict rules prohibiting all forms of political speech on campus. But after Freedom Summer, a group of students from across the political spectrum decide it's time to force change.

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

Ghost Credits | Academia's Hidden Industry Ties Aug 05, 2026

Show notes

Academics were in classrooms, at conferences, on stages around the world, defending the safety of GMOs and herbicides. They looked independent. They weren't. Some of the most credentialed voices in agricultural science were quietly collaborating with Monsanto, taking money from the company whose products they were defending.

For a transcript of this episode: https://bit.ly/campusfiles-transcripts

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