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The John Batchelor Show

#Chicago: In tribute to University of Chicago President Robert J. Zimmer, 1947-2023. Richard Epstein, Hoover

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Books, News, Society & Culture, Arts

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2023

⏱️ 5 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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#Chicago: In tribute to University of Chicago President Robert J. Zimmer, 1947-2023. Richard Epstein, Hoover
https://www.wsj.com/articles/robert-zimmer-university-of-chicago-free-expression-chicago-principles-fa0ca020

Transcript

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0:00.0

Elevate your summer nights with all the indulgence of the new Magnum Double Star Chaser.

0:08.0

With cracking chocolate, popcorn flavor, and rich caramel sauce for the night.

0:15.0

Pleasure is always on.

0:17.0

Magnum, true to pleasure.

0:20.0

I am the world, I'm John Matz.

0:22.0

Robert Zimmer has left us.

0:24.0

At the age of 75, a young man Richard.

0:27.0

Richard Epstein is here to help me understand the significance of Mr. Zimmer's 15 years as president of the University of Chicago,

0:34.0

where the professor was privileged to teach and to know Mr. Zimmer personally.

0:39.0

Richard, the Wall Street Journal editor, while praising Mr. Zimmer, emphasizes his commitment to freedom of speech.

0:45.0

What did that mean to him? Thank you.

0:47.0

Yeah, I mean, this is kind of irony.

0:50.0

A Bob was a mathematician who specialized in something called super-regidity about which I know nothing at all.

0:56.0

But starting in the late 80s and the early 90s, he got himself involved with the Provost Office at the University of Chicago.

1:03.0

And his first job was trying to figure out how to expand and to redefine the colors so as to make it a viable entity.

1:10.0

When it becomes president some years later, what happens is there's a free speech problem on campus.

1:16.0

And it turns out this is a problem for which the University of Chicago is uniquely situated by late colleague and dear friend Harry Calvin.

1:24.0

Back in the 1960s, issued what was called the Calvin report, trying to talk about the appropriate lines for free speech and for protest.

1:32.0

Because at that particular time, Stolton, Lyndon and a bunch of other people started to occupy the administration building.

1:38.0

And it became very difficult to figure out what the line was between legitimate speech on the one hand and this ruptured behavior on the other.

1:46.0

I can recall attending election given by Edward Banfield, and there's a bunch of people, persons, or who say,

1:51.0

racist Banfield, you can't hide, you charge, you're a genocide.

...

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