I think it's factually the case.

The academic freedom in our country is there.

It's over.

That's the fact.

Academic freedom died the day the billionaire class got its way. The

The You guys are going to be so excited to know that I have back on the podcast, Norman Fiekelstein, you know him, you love him, the author of most recently, I'll burn that bridge when we get to it.

And less recently, but imminently, importantly, given world events, Gaza, an inquest into its martyrdom.

Norm Finkelstein, welcome back to the program.

Thank you for having me.

Now, I mentioned those two books in particular because they're both germane to today's main headline topic, which is the somehow still ongoing saga of Claudine Gay, who has now been ousted from a position of president of Harvard University, and the ongoing battle that's being waged by Bill

Ackman, who is a hedge fund billionaire and one of the leading voices calling for her to step

down. He is a Harvard mega donor who has donated, I believe, tens of thousands to the university

and has up until this moment been in a

position to exert some degree of influence over the college.

This is perhaps the first time that his own politics has become in such stark

diametric opposition to the headwinds of the political moment with so many students

and some faculty calling for

a ceasefire, obviously, in Gaza. And I probably don't have to unpack for all of those who have

been following this. Most of the listener of this podcast probably know what's been going on.

But Ackerman, along with Christopher Rufo, were of of course, successful in getting gay ousted shortly into the new year.

Now, this is not over because Ackerman is now facing charges that his own wife, Nary Oxman, who was previously a tenured faculty member at MIT, is under fire for the exact same types of plagiarism that

Claudine Gay was accused of. In fact, arguably even worse plagiarism than what Claudine Gay was

...