On the student life apparatus.

References and suggested readings:

• Chad Wellmon. 2026. After the University: Higher Education and the Future of Intellectual Work. Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Paul Reitter and Chad Wellmon. 2023. Permanent Crisis: The Humanities in a Disenchanted Age. University of Chicago Press.
• Chad Wellmon. 2016. Organizing Enlightenment: Information Overload and the Invention of the Modern Research University. Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Bavarian L. Baldwin. 2021. In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities Are Plundering Our Cities. Bold Type Books.
• David S. Busch. 2025. Disciplining Democracy: How the Modern American University Transformed Student Activism. Cornell University Press.
• Matteo Pasquinelli. 2023. The Eye of the Master: A Social History of Artificial Intelligence. Verso.
• Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Phenomenology of Perception.
• Sean Keilen. 2026. Shakespeare's Scholars: Three Lessons from the Liberal Arts. Princeton University Press.
• Chadwellmon.com

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On age, class, and jobs.

References and suggested readings:

• Samuel Moyn. 2026. Gerontocracy in America: How the Old Are Hoarding Power and Wealth—and What to Do About It. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
• Samuel Moyn. April 23, 2026. Professors Are Too Old: The Academy’s Gerontocracy Problem is Worse than Anyone Admits. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
• Dino Buzzati, translated by Lawrence Venuti. 2023. The Stronghold. NYRB Classics.
• Nazmul Sultan. 2024. Waiting for the People: The Idea of Democracy in Indian Anticolonial Thought. Harvard University Press.
• Samuel Moyn’s faculty page
• Follow Sam on X, The Everything App, @samuelmoyn

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Speaking to the dead, academically.

References and suggested readings:

• Jesse Bering. 2026. The Incredible Afterlives of Dr. Stevenson: One Scientist's Epic Quest for Evidence of Reincarnation, Apparitions, Poltergeists, and Other Matters of the Soul. University of Chicago Press.
• Jesse Bering’s website
• Bering in Mind Substack

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A nice companion episode to last week's on The West with Curtis Dozier.

References and suggested readings:

• Emmaia Gelman. 2026. The Anti-Defamation League and the Racial State. University of California Press.
• Alice Speri. April 24, 2026. US universities are seeing an influx of ‘antisemitism centers’. Some Jewish scholars are worried. The Guardian.
• Lauren Lassabe Shepherd. May 7, 2025. Old Project, New Vehicle: Conservative Civics and Leadership Institutes in Historical Context. Frontiers of American Reaction.
• Sabri Jiryis. 2025. Foundations of Zionism, translated by Fida Jiryis. Ebb Books.
• Rana Barakat. 2026. Ongoing Return: Mapping Memory and Storytelling in Palestine. University of North Carolina Press.
• Emmaia Gelman’s website
• Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism website
• Peer-Reviewed Journal: JCSZ
• Instagram: @institutecsz
• Podcast: Unpacking Zionism
• Follow Emmaia Gelman on Instagram and Bluesky

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Athens, Jerusalem, and sometimes Rome.

References and suggested readings:

• Curtis Dozier. 2026. The White Pedestal: How White Nationalists Use Ancient Greece and Rome to Justify Hate. Yale University Press.
• Why white nationalists love Plato with Curtis Dozier
• Anders Stephanson. 2025. American Imperatives: The Cold War and Other Measures. Verso.
• Naoíse Mac Sweeney. 2023. The West: A New History in Fourteen Lives. Dutton.
• Stephen Graham Jones. 2021. The Only Good Indians. S&S/Saga Press.
• Dozier’s website, Pharos: Doing Justice to the Classics, Pharos on Facebook
• Curtis Dozier on BlueSky

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A small question!

References and suggested readings:

• Marc Spooner and James McNinch, eds. 2026. Knowledge Under Siege: Charting a Future for Universities. University of Regina Press.
• Marc Spooner and James McNich, eds. 2018. Dissident Knowledge in Higher Education. University of Regina Press.
• Ellen Schrecker. 1986. No Ivory Tower: McCarthyism and the Universities.
• AAUP’s 1915 Declaration and 1940 Statement
• Michael Atzmon, John Cheney-Lippold, Gary D. Krenz, and Melanie S. Tanielian, eds. 2026. In the Spirit of H. Chandler Davis. Disobedience Press.
• Brian Soucek. 2026. The Opinionated University: Academic Freedom, Diversity, and the Myth of Neutrality in American Higher Education. University of Chicago Press.
• The Opinionated University episode with Brian Soucek
• Creating the AAUP episode with Hank Reichman
• Marc Spooner’s faculty page

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References and suggested readings:

• The Wild Robot
• Hoppers
• Jonathan Hauser’s website and LinkedIn

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On all things AKA

References and suggested readings:

• Deborah E. Whaley. 2010. Disciplining Women: Alpha Kappa Alpha, Black Counterpublics, and the Cultural Politics of Black Sororities. SUNY Press.
• Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority documentary
• Stephanie Y. Evans. 2021. Black Women’s Yoga History: Memoirs of Inner Peace. SUNY Press.
• Deborah Whaley’s website, faculty page, and on Instagram at @dewhaley and @afrovegan.in.the.world

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