Half Hour of Heterodoxy

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49. Jeffrey A. Sachs, Is There Really A Free Speech Crisis? Mar 04, 2019

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Are we facing a free speech crisis in higher education today? According to today’s guest, Jeffrey A. Sachs, lecturer in politics at Acadia University, the answer is mostly no. Jeff has published pieces about free speech and political bias on campus on the Heterodox Academy blog, the Niskanen Center blog, and the Washington Post's Monkey Cage blog. He is on Twitter at @JeffreyASachs. Articles by Jeffrey Sachs Community and Campus: The Relationship between Viewpoint Diversity and Community Partisanship, Heterodox Academy. The "Campus Free Speech Crisis" Ended Last Year, Niskanen Center. The 'campus free speech crisis' is a myth. Here are the facts. Jeffrey Sachs, Washington Post. There Is No Campus Free Speech Crisis: A Close Look at the Evidence, Niskanen Center. Transcript Here is a transcript of this episode. Rating the Show If you enjoyed this show, please rate it on iTunes: * Go to the show's iTunes page and click “View in iTunes” * Click “Ratings and Reviews” which is to the right of "Details" * Next to "Click to Rate" select the stars. See the full list of episodes of Half Hour of Heterodoxy >>

Episode 48: Julian Zelizer, Polarization and U.S. History Feb 20, 2019

Show notes

I’m joined today by Julian Zelizer, historian at Princeton University and CNN Political Analyst. He has been among the pioneers in the revival of American political history. He has written over 900 op-eds, including his popular weekly column for CNN.com. He is also a regular contributor to The Atlantic. This year, he is the Distinguished Senior Fellow at the New York Historical Society where he is writing a book about Abraham Joshua Heschel. He’s the coauthor with Kevin Kruse of Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974, which was published in January 2019. Kevin appeared on an earlier Half Hour of Heterodoxy episode. This book is based on the class that Julian teaches at Princeton (syllabus here). He is also the author and editor of 17 other books including The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society (2015), the winner of the D.B. Hardeman Prize for the Best Book on Congress. In March 2020, Norton will publish his history of the downfall of Speaker of the House Jim Wright and the rise of New Gingrich. He has received fellowships from the Brookings Institution, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, and New America. He also co-hosts a popular podcast called Politics & Polls. Links Julian Zelizer & Kevin M. Kruse, Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974 Syllabus for the Princeton course on U.S. history since 1974 Books on Russia by Stephen Kotkin Aleksandr Fursenko & Timothy Naftali, Khrushchev's Cold War: The Inside Story of an American Adversary Jeffrey Engel, When the World Seemed New: George H. W. Bush and the End of the Cold War Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die Transcript Here is a transcript of this episode. Rating the Show If you enjoyed this show, please rate it on iTunes: * Go to the show's iTunes page and click “View in iTunes” * Click “Ratings and Reviews” which is to the right of "Details" * Next to "Click to Rate" select the stars. See the full list of episodes of Half Hour of Heterodoxy >>

Episode 47: Noah Silverman & Katie Baxter, Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) Feb 13, 2019

Show notes

Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) was founded by Eboo Patel, and its mission is to create a system of people and campuses where interfaith cooperation is the norm. The organization continues the tradition of modern interfaith work which started in 1893 with the Parliament of World’s Religions. However, IFYC is less focused on theoretical dialogue and more focused on action. They provide free educator resources on their website, organize training conferences, and provide grant funding for scholars to create or revise undergraduate courses that integrate interfaith themes. Noah Silverman is their senior director of learning and partnerships and Katie Baxter is their Vice President of Program Strategy. * The Chronicle of Higher Education's profile of Eboo Patel, IFYC's founder and president * Faith Is the Diversity Issue Ignored by Colleges. Here's Why That Needs to Change by Eboo Patel, Chronicle of Higher Education * The first chapter of Eboo’s most recent book, Out of Many Faiths: Religious Diversity and the American Promise, which lays out IFYC's organizational vision, is online * The first chapter of his book, Interfaith Leadership: A Primer, on IFYC's organizational methodology,is also online * Eboo writes a blog for Inside Higher Ed that addresses identity and diversity issues in higher education * A piece on excellence in interfaith engagement: Leadership Practices for Interfaith Excellence in Higher Education by Eboo Patel, Katie Baxter, and Noah Silverman, Liberal Education * A piece on tribalism and marginalization in contemporary culture: A Nation Under Two Flags: Liberal Education, Interfaith Literacy, and the New American Holy War by Eboo Patel, Liberal Education * IFYC's annual Interfaith Leadership Institute was featured on PBS News Hour Transcript Here is a transcript of this episode. Rating the Show If you enjoyed this show, please rate it on iTunes: * Go to the show's iTunes page and click “View in iTunes” * Click “Ratings and Reviews” which is to the right of "Details" * Next to "Click to Rate" select the stars. See the full list of episodes of Half Hour of Heterodoxy >>

Episode 46: Deb Mashek & Musa al-Gharbi, HxA’s Past and Future Jan 28, 2019

Show notes

Deb Mashek and Musa al-Gharbi are the executive director and communications director of Heterodox Academy. They reflect on the organization’s activities in 2018 and present several new initiatives scheduled for 2019, including HxA Disciplines, member networking, and nationally representative data collection. 0:00 Rapid fire summary of 2018 8:30 Ideological diversity is connected to ethnic and religious diversity 12:22 Focusing on certain disciplines and public awareness 16:00 Revamping our Guide to Colleges 17:50 Nationally representative data on freedom of expression 21:10 Musa stepping away from communications position 22:35 Three key ideas Links More on HxA's history and current initiatives available here. More on the problem(s) HxA is trying to address here. Videos of the 2018 HxA Conference available here. Open Mind Platform Transcript Here is a transcript of this episode. Rating the Show If you enjoyed this show, please rate it on iTunes: * Go to the show's iTunes page and click “View in iTunes” * Click “Ratings and Reviews” which is to the right of "Details" * Next to "Click to Rate" select the stars. See the full list of episodes of Half Hour of Heterodoxy >>

Episode 45: Xander Snyder & Erik Fogg, Bias and Tribalism Jan 22, 2019

Show notes

Xander Snyder and Erik Fogg host the ReConsider Podcast—their motto is "We don't do the thinking for you." You can visit reconsidermedia.com to learn more about their podcast, which covers politics, history, and society. This episode is longer than the typical episode because of it's a simulcast across two podcasts. 0:00 Introduction to Erik, Xander, and the Reconsider podcast 5:00 How do you "not do the thinking" for your listener? 17:20 Socratic dialogue as a technique 20:30 The difference between psychological facts and historical facts 32:00 Goals of Heterodox Academy 37:20 How to become more informed about history and propaganda 40:10 Common problems in learning Links Andrew Guess, Brendan Nyhan, & Jason Reifler -- Selective Exposure to Misinformation: Evidence from the Consumption of Fake News Matt Grossman and David Hopkins – Asymmetric Politics: Ideological Republicans and Group Interest Democrats Kevin Kruse and Julian Zelizer on the RINO label Jarret Crawford’s research on asymmetrical and symmetrical political bias Jason Stanley – How Propaganda Works Open Mind Platform The Bulwark Podcast Why is This Happening? with Chris Hayes and All In With Chris Hayes Transcript This is a transcript of the episode. Rating the Show If you enjoyed this show, please rate it on iTunes: * Go to the show's iTunes page and click “View in iTunes” * Click “Ratings and Reviews” which is to the right of "Details" * Next to "Click to Rate" select the stars. See the full list of episodes of Half Hour of Heterodoxy >>

Episode 44: Chad Wellmon, Do Universities Have a Clear Purpose? Jan 14, 2019

Show notes

In 2016, Jonathan Haidt gave a talk at a number of American universities in which he made the provocative argument that universities must choose either truth or social justice as their primary motive for operating. He argued that universities used to be centered around truth, and that going forward some universities could continue to do that, whereas others could be frank about declaring social justice to be their primary motive. He did not argue that students couldn’t pursue social justice at a university but simply that the university itself had to choose one primary goal. Today I’m talking to Chad Wellmon, an expert on the history of universities, about whether universities truly were motivated by the pursuit of truth or whether history is in fact more complicated. I’ve known Chad since 1995 when he and I were freshmen at Davidson College and in the same humanities class. Chad is now an associate professor of German Studies at the University of Virginia. His interests include European intellectual history, and media and social theory. His most recent book Organizing Enlightenment was about the foundation of the modern research university. He’s also the co-author of the upcoming book Permanent Crisis: The Humanities in a Disenchanted Age. We begin today’s interview by talking about Chad’s recent essay How Professors Ceded Their Authority (Ungated Link). He’s on Twitter at cwellmon. 3:30 Early universities as guilds; research universities as mercantile institutes 11:45 The early 20th century 14:45 Have extracurricular activities really served moral purposes? 24:05 Are current university presidents like CEOs? 26:05 Students’ pursuit of social justice through administrative appeals 31:35 We can’t be a massive counseling center, so what can we do? Here is a transcript of this episode. Rating the Show If you enjoyed this show, please rate it on iTunes: * Go to the show's iTunes page and click “View in iTunes” * Click “Ratings and Reviews” which is to the right of "Details" * Next to "Click to Rate" select the stars. See the full list of episodes of Half Hour of Heterodoxy >>

Episode 43: Kevin Kruse, America’s Fault Lines Jan 02, 2019

Show notes

Kevin M. Kruse, historian at Princeton University is my guest on this episode. He’s the author of White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism, published in 2005, and One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America, published in 2015. He and his colleague at Princeton, Julian Zelizer, have a new book coming out January 9th titled Fault Lines: A History of the U.S. Since 1974. It evolved from a course taught by Kruse and Zelizer at Princeton. We talk about Fault Lines in today’s episode. 0:00 What intrigues students about this period 9:00 Network, Nashville, Wall Street, Wargames 15:20 Revisiting White Flight 20:00 Abortion politics and evangelicals 28:20 Books by Norm Ornstein and Thomas Mann; and E. J. Dionne 35:30 Scorched earth politics, Obama's naive hope of bipartisanship 42:00 Preparing students for misinformation 45:00 Kevin recommends books on racism in America 51:30 Kevin's next book Links Fault Lines: A History of the U.S. Since 1974 by Kevin M. Kruse and Julian Zelizer Syllabus for the Princeton course on U.S. history since 1974 Kevin M. Kruse on Twitter Other Books by Kevin M. Kruse Other Books by Julian Zelizer's Books Books That We Discussed Neil J. Young - We Gather Together: The Religious Right and the Problem of Interfaith Politics Thomas E. Mann & Norm Ornstein - It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Political Extremism E. J. Dionne - Why the Right Went Wrong: Conservatism—From Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond Julian Zelizer - Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security: From World War II to the War on Terrorism George Fredrickson - Racism: A Short History John Higham - Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism, 1860-1925 Linda Gordon - The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition Donald Critchlow- Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism: A Woman's Crusade Books by Geoffrey Kabaservice

Episode 42: Ellen Hendriksen, Maintaining Your Sanity in Academia Dec 21, 2018

Show notes

Dr. Ellen Hendriksen is host of The Savvy Psychologist, which was picked as a Best New Podcast of 2014 on iTunes. Her work is regularly featured in Psychology Today, Scientific American, The Huffington Post, and Susan Cain's Quiet Revolution. Her book, How to be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety was published in 2018. She's a clinical psychologist at Boston University's Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders (CARD). Links The Savvy Psychologist Podcast How to Deal With Sarcastic People (Savvy Psychologist episode) How to Talk to (And Even Live With) Your Political Opposite (Savvy Psychologist episode) How to (Try to) Not Take Things Personally by Ellen Hendriksen Everett Worthington's Forgiveness Workbook Transcript Here is a transcript of this episode. Rating the Show If you enjoyed this show, please rate it on iTunes: * Go to the show's

Episode 41: Craig Frisby & Joshua D. Phillips, Cultural Competence Training Dec 10, 2018

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My guests on today’s episode are Craig Frisby and Joshua D. Phillips. Craig Frisby is co-editor, with William O’Donohue, of a new book, Cultural Competence in Applied Psychology: An Evaluation of Current Status and Future Directions. The book takes a critical look at what professionals in the fields of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology refer to as cultural competence, also referred to as cultural sensitivity or multicultural competence. Josh Phillips is the author of a chapter in the book titled The Culture of Poverty: On Individual Choices and Infantilizing Bureaucracies. Sean Stevens, our research director, has a chapter in the book titled Cultural Competence: A Form of Stereotype Rationality. The chapter is coauthored with Lee Jussim (Rutgers), Lillian Stevens (NYU), and Stephanie Anglin (Carnegie Mellon). Craig Frisby is a professor in the college of education at the University of Missouri, and author of Meeting the Psychoeducational Needs of Minority Students. Josh Phillips's background is in rhetoric and communications, and he is author of Homeless: Narratives from the Streets. He’s a professor in the Communication Arts and Sciences department at Penn State Brandywine. Timeline 1:07 Multicultural competence is an impressionistic term 7:30 How should students be introduced to cultural competence? 12:18 Josh’s “controversial” research on poverty and homelessness 18:20 Too much attention to race without class 21:30 No attention to individual traits and human universals 27:40 The template of victims and victimizers 32:00 Evidence of student self-censoring unorthodox opinions Links * Cultural Competence in Applied Psychology (publisher site) * Joshua D. Phillips on Twitter * Craig Frisby on an Education Reforms panel on Prospects for Black America (C-Span video and transcript) * Cultural Competence: A Form of Stereotype Rationality by Sean Stevens, Lee Jussim, Lillian A. Stevens, & Stephanie M. Anglin Rating the Show Please rate this show on iTunes: * Go to the show's iTunes page and click “View in iTunes” * Click “Ratings and Reviews” which is to the right of "Details" * Next to "Click to Rate" select the stars. See the full list of episodes of Half Hour of Heterodoxy >> Transcript Here is a transcript of Episode 41.

Episode 40: Tania Reynolds, Men as Stereotypical Perpetrators of Harm Nov 30, 2018

Show notes

When you make moral judgments, what is happening at the psychological level? According to one theory, you’re applying a template of two roles: an intentional wrongdoer and a sensitive and vulnerable victim. The more closely that template fits a situation, the more likely you are to deem the situation immoral. Research by today’s guest, Tania Reynolds, shows how these moral evaluations intersect with gender, and it reveals that people more easily stereotype men as powerful wrongdoers, and women as sensitive victims. Tania is a social psychologist and postdoctoral fellow at the Kinsey Institute. She’s joining us from Bloomington, Indiana. Timeline 1:26 Kurt Gray’s Moral Theory 7:00 Stereotypes: men as agents, women as patients 8:46 Victims are presumed female 12:01 A study with non-Americans 17:00 Implications for policies like affirmative action 27:30 Do men assume the status quo is normal? 31:22 The double-edged sword for men Links * Tania Reynolds’s Google Scholar page * Kurt Gray, Liane Young, & Adam Waytz, 2012, Mind Perception is the Essence of Morality * Michaella Fitzpatrick, & Natalie Delia Deckard, 2017, The Common Sense Cut and the Gendered Body Project: Constructing Existing Norms around Genital Cutting in U.S. Media * David Benatar, The Second Sexism: Discrimination Against Men and Boys * Warren Farrell, The Myth of Male Power ... See the full list of episodes of Half Hour of Heterodoxy >> Transcript This is a transcript of this episode.

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