Nina Power and Mary Harrington: The Ponzi Scheme of Modern Institutions
Socrates in the City
Socrates in the City
4.7 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 20 April 2026
⏱️ 61 minutes
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Summary
In this episode of Socrates Dialogues with Mary Harrington, she is joined by philosopher and writer Nina Power, who examines the changing philosophies of education and academic life, questioning the sustainability of what she describes as the “Ponzi scheme” of woke institutional culture. She reflects on the value of intellectual freedom, the dignity of varied vocations, and the necessity of a society that honors different paths, priorities, and forms of excellence beyond the narrow confines of elite academia.
The post Nina Power and Mary Harrington: The Ponzi Scheme of Modern Institutions first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It was only in the 60s that there was any kind of expansion of higher education in the first place, right? |
| 0:04.9 | We think these things are now permanent because it's what we remember. |
| 0:08.7 | But actually, most of these things are really, really recent. |
| 0:11.9 | So we can remember or imagine a world not that long ago that was entirely different. |
| 0:17.7 | So we must be able to imagine a world to come that is entirely different. |
| 0:21.8 | I'll say this. |
| 0:22.5 | You may have nominally exited the left, but I don't think you've exited your radicalism. |
| 0:26.5 | Really? |
| 0:27.1 | No, no, no. |
| 0:27.5 | I mean, you're very... |
| 0:28.9 | I constantly have these sorts of dreams of depriving the state of its purpose, |
| 0:34.7 | which is apparently just to kind of dissolve ties and to, I don't know, make |
| 0:40.5 | people dependent on this bureaucratic machine. It's like we don't want that ultimately, I think. |
| 0:47.6 | I very much dislike the state, Mary, and I always have. |
| 0:53.1 | Hello and welcome to Socrates in the city. |
| 0:56.5 | I'm Mary Harrington. |
| 0:57.7 | And I have the privilege to be joined today by Nina Power, |
| 1:01.4 | an author, a philosopher, and Patient Zero, possibly, |
| 1:04.9 | in contemporary council culture. |
| 1:07.8 | Niho, thank you so much for joining me. |
| 1:10.4 | Thank you, Mary. Nina, the first time much for joining me. Thank you, Mary. |
| 1:11.7 | Nina, the first time I met you was in a garden party at the Bruderhof in South London, in Peckham. |
... |
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