Dana El Kurd outlines what is happening in higher education, how and why the Trump administration is attacking universities, and the role Palestine plays in all of this.

Sources:

Clifford Ando – The Crisis of the University Started Long Before Trump - https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-crisis-of-the-university-started-long-before-trump/

Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism - https://jerusalemdeclaration.org/

Ken Stern on IHRA definition - https://www.npr.org/2025/03/20/nx-s1-5326047/kenneth-stern-antimsietim-executive-order-free-speech

2023 Pew Research Center Poll on Black Lives Matter - https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/06/14/views-on-the-black-lives-matter-movement/

Marc Bousquet – How the University Works - https://nyupress.org/9780814799758/how-the-university-works/

PBS Reporting on Harvard University negotiations with Trump administration - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/harvard-nearing-settlement-with-trump-to-pay-500-million-and-regain-federal-funding

The Intercept’s reporting on Columbia University settlement with the Trump administration - https://theintercept.com/2025/04/16/columbia-middle-eastern-studies-trump-attacks/

Middle East Studies Association statement on Columbia University settlement - https://mesana.org/advocacy/letters-from-the-board/2025/03/28/joint-statement-regarding-columbia-university-and-the-department-of-education

Results of the Middle East Scholar Barometer - https://criticalissues.umd.edu/sites/criticalissues.umd.edu/files/November%202023%20MESB%20Results.pdf

Human Rights Watch statement on the IHRA definition - https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/04/human-rights-and-other-civil-society-groups-urge-united-nations-respect-human

Axios reporting on The Nexus Project and Trump’s use of antisemitism investigations - https://www.axios.com/2025/03/31/college-campus-antisemitism-trump-nexus-project

American Association of University Professors – Academic Freedom - https://www.aaup.org/issues-higher-education/academic-freedom/faqs-academic-freedom

2024 Announcement of 40 new AAUP chapters - https://www.aaup.org/academe/issues/winter-2025/warm-welcome-new-or-reestablished-aaup-chapters

Executive Order on Combatting Antisemitism - https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-anti-semitism/

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James and Robert sit down to discuss Gavin Newsom’s tweets and what they tell us about the DNC’s inability to stand up to Trump.

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/us/newsom-trump-social-media.html

https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/06/california-police-sharing-license-plate-reader-data/

https://calmatters.org/commentary/2025/03/gavin-newsom-podcast-judgment-problem/

https://x.com/GovPressOffice

https://bsky.app/profile/grahamformaine.bsky.social/post/3lwqwj3rdgk27

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNl79l0SdMb/?igsh=bXphd3E2N3Y2N20w

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2qJw7xQfqh0

https://www.kpbs.org/news/racial-justice-social-equity/2025/03/11/san-diego-sheriff-says-disputed-ice-transfer-was-legal

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Margaret brings you further along into the tale of Hermetica, the generation ship.

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The gang discuss the Israeli cybersecurity official who bailed out and went home after being charged with sex crimes against children, the IDF's murder of journalists in Gaza, changes in USCIS guidance and Federal Agents opening fire on a California family.

Sources:

https://www.972mag.com/israel-gaza-journalists-hamas-hasbara/

https://x.com/IDF/status/1954652255199887516

https://www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/idf-press-releases-israel-at-war/august-24-pr/eliminated-ismail-al-ghoul-a-hamas-military-wing-operative-and-nukhba-terrorist/

https://cpj.org/2025/07/cpj-calls-for-anas-al-sharifs-protection-in-face-of-israeli-smears/

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/16tQckcrui/

https://www.icrc.org/en/article/international-humanitarian-law-protect-journalists-armed-conflict

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual-updates/20250819-DiscretionaryFactors.pdf

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title8-section1424&num=0&edition=prelim

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-alerts/08.15.2025-Restoring_a_Good_Moral_Character_Evaluation_Standard_for_Aliens_Applying_for_Naturalization-Policy_Memorandum_FINAL.pdf

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26054451-20-1/#document/p17/a2667744

https://www.wmtw.com/article/old-orchard-beach-maine-officer-voluntary-departure/65807962?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot

https://edsource.org/updates/immigration-agents-alleged-to-have-boasted-of-1500-for-l-a-student-arrest

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/us/politics/ice-bonuses-immigrants-deportations.html

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James, Gare, and Robert discuss the concept of objectivity in legacy media and the issues it raises.

Sources:

https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2021/a-widely-shared-video-shows-a-deputy-overdosing-on-fentanyl-experts-say-its-impossible/

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/opinion/objectivity-black-journalists-coronavirus.html

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Andrew and James talk about how artificial intelligence has created alienation in society

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In Texas, the world’s richest man is bringing back to life one of the worst ideas of the Gilded Age, local Robber Baron-owned dictatorships called company towns. Elon Musk has already established two in Texas and other high-tech oligarchs like Peter Theil hope to create more. In this episode, journalist Steven Monacelli and historian Dr. Michael Phillips explore the history of company towns in the United States and their disturbing rebirth.

Sources:

Margaret Crawford, Building the Workingman's Paradise: The Design of American Company Towns

Alan Dawley, Struggles for Justice: Social Responsibility and the Liberal State

Hardy Green, The Company Town: The Industrial Edens and Satanic Mills That Shaped the American Economy

Chad Pearson, Capitalism’s Terrorists: Klansmen, Lawmen, and Employers in the Long Nineteenth Century

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