Canceling Plato

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

News Commentary, News, Society & Culture, Politics, Philosophy

4.5 • 11.1K Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2026

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Who gets to decide what’s taught in college classrooms? And should the answer be different at private colleges than at public universities? In today’s episode, guest host Avishay Artsy speaks to philosophy professor Martin Peterson about why Texas A&M University asked him to stop teaching part of Plato’s “Symposium.” The two discuss academic freedom, who gets to decide what’s taught in university classrooms, and the value of Plato’s writing. The episode explores what happens when politics and educational values collide on campus. Host: Avishay Artsy, Vox Supervising Producer Guest: Martin Peterson, Professor of Philosophy at Texas A&M University We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at thegrayarea@vox.com or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:36.8	Support for the gray area comes from Fetch Pet Insurance.
0:40.9	Do you have a pet?
0:42.0	According to a study from a pet insurance company from a few years ago,
0:45.5	every six seconds a pet owner in the U.S. gets hit with a vet bill over $1,000,
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1:09.5	Go to fetchpet.com slash save right now to get your free quote. That's fetch
1:14.2	pet.com slash save. Welcome to the gray area. I'm Vox supervising producer Avishai Artsy,
1:26.7	filling in for Sean Elling.
1:28.3	My guest today is Martin Peterson.
1:30.3	Martin is a philosophy professor at Texas A&M University.
1:35.3	Earlier this year, the university asked him to stop teaching work by Plato
	...

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