What Next - Who’s Winning the War on Higher Education?
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Slate
3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 16 September 2025
⏱️ 32 minutes
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Summary
Conservatives have decried higher education as a center of liberal indoctrination for decades, and under the second Trump administration, colleges and universities are watching their federal funding be withheld or frozen, their presidents step down, and professors lose their jobs.
What can be done to wrest back academic freedom and independence from a vindictive administration?
Guest: Sarah Brown, senior editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education.
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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.
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Transcript
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| 0:36.3 | Over the last few days, a lot of ink has been spilled about the legacy of Charlie Kirk. |
| 0:42.5 | Some have called him a free speech activist, a champion of debate. |
| 0:47.3 | But over on Fox News, before we even knew that Charlie Kirk had died, |
| 0:52.8 | he was being lionized for what I'd guess |
| 0:55.1 | will be his most enduring contribution. |
| 0:58.5 | Charlie is the best of America. |
| 1:01.1 | He is the best of what we have to over. |
| 1:02.9 | This is Fox and Friends host Charlie Hurt. |
| 1:05.3 | He went live as soon as he heard what had happened. |
| 1:08.0 | Right now I am praying for Charlie and his beautiful family, and I'm praying for our country, too. |
| 1:14.2 | Within minutes, he was talking about how telling it was that Charlie Kirk had been shot on a college campus. |
| 1:20.9 | I think a lot of it has also to do with the idea that there was so much, especially on college campuses, |
| 1:30.0 | that you're not allowed to talk about and that there is so much indoctrination on college campuses today. |
| 1:37.6 | And Charlie Kirk recognized that. He recognized it very early. |
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