Shows
Think About ItBook Talk 61: Ruth Ben-Ghiat on Threats to Democracy and H.L. Mencken’s "Notes on Democracy"A century ago, journalist H. L. Mencken provocatively stated in Notes On Democracy (new edition by Warbler Press, 2023) that anti-democratic behavior is not only not shocking but that we should in fact expect democracies to give rise to un- and even anti-democratic forces. Mencken doubted that such the evils of democracy will be cured by more democracy, which usually means elections and ‘fostering democratic norms and behaviors. So what is to be done?I spoke with NYU Professor and political commentator Ruth Ben-Ghiat on the current threats to democracy posed by populism, the media’s role in shaping...
2023-12-0957 min
Think About ItBOOK TALK 47: Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, with Wendy A. Lee (New York University)Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice has delighted, moved and fortified millions of readers for over 200 years now. I spoke with Professor Wendy Lee, who has written about Austen in Failures of Feeling: Insensibility and the Novel, and teaches a regular course on Austen at NYU, why Austen's six novels provide grounding for so many readers during periods of hardship, suffering, and pain. Readers turn to Austen in times of war and crisis: what do they see? Do we consider Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy to be merely fictional characters or do they appear as...
2021-08-101h 21Think About ItGreat Books 39: Robert Dale Parker on Jane Johnston SchoolcraftJane Johnston Schoolcraft is the first known American Indian literary writer, the first known Indian woman writer, the first known Indian poet, and the first known poet to write poems in a Native American language. A poet who wrote in at least two languages, navigated several cultures and expressed her pride of belonging to the Ojibwe (Chippewa) people in both English and Ojibwe poems, Jane Johnston Schoolcraft invites us to reconsider existing categories for understanding American and American Indian literacy.Schoolcraft (her English name) or Bamewawagezhikaquay (her Ojibwe name, meaning “Woman of the Sound the Stars Make Ru...
2020-11-261h 07Think About ItGREAT BOOKS 38: James Weldon Johnson's The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, with Melissa Daniels-Rauterkus (University of Southern California)Recalling the great confessional narratives from St. Augustine to Jean Jacques Rousseau, from Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass to Henry Adams, James Weldon Johnson's 1912 novel, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, relates the emotionally gripping tale of a mixed-race piano prodigy who can pass for white in turn-of-the-century America. Forced into impossible choices created by an unjust society, the narrator describes his experiences as he travels from Jacksonville to New York City, the rural South to Paris, London, and beyond. As the first first-person novel published by an African American author, Johnson’s powerfully unsentimental story examines the significance of...
2020-11-191h 05Think About ItGreat Books 35: Susan Weisser on Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre"Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel Jane Eyre is one of the great love stories of all time, but it's also the story of a woman who speaks her truth even when this means risking everything she wants. Jane, an orphan raised in a cruel family and struggling to survive in a world where poor women have few chances, falls in love with dashing and mysterious Mr. Rochester, the owner of the estate where she finds a job. A secret in his part forces Jane to chose between compromising her integrity or giving up on him, until dramatic circumstances and her c...
2020-08-271h 17Think About ItGreat Books 34: Vivek Chibber on Karl Marx's "The Communist Manifesto"Marx has never left us. In our era of populism, political polarization, and the pandemic, concerns central to Marx such as economic inequality, the consolidation of power in the hands of the few, and the fate of workers are urgently discussed. How should we think about Marx today? I spoke with Professor Vivek Chibber at NYU who has published Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital (Verso, 2013), and Locked in Place: State-Building and Late Industrialization in India (Princeton, 2003).Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Hu...
2020-07-241h 00Think About ItGreat Books 33: Nicholas Frankel on Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray"Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray was the novel that shocked, challenged, and inspired Victorian England with its tale of a beautiful young man who trades his soul, captured in a portrait, for eternal youth. I spoke with Professor Nicholas Frankel of Virginia Commonwealth University, whose biography Oscar Wilde: The Unrepentant Years, to see how one of the first true celebrities and his only novel changed the way we live in the world today.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in a...
2020-06-161h 14Think About ItGreat Books 32: Brenda Wineapple on Emily Dickinson--Isolation and InterventionI spoke with Brenda Wineapple, author of White Heat, about Dickinson's remarkable assuredness, her confidence, and her decision to spend much of her life secluded in her father's home in Amherst, Massachusetts. In this state of being on her own, Dickinson had intense, passionate and transformative relationships, including one with the editor, writer, abolitionist and soldier Thomas Wentworth Higginson. "Are you too preoccupied to say whether my verse is alive?", she asked. He wasn't. Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to...
2020-05-121h 13Think About ItGreat Books 31: Ann Stoler on Truth and Knowledge for Michel FoucaultIs "truth" a historical construct? Michel Foucault's work investigates this and other concepts. I spoke with Ann Stoler of NYC's New School for Social Research about Foucault to understand his investigations. How can we think of "truth" as something historically and culturally specific, rather than an absolute, unending value? Stoler's pathbreaking work on the politics of knowledge, colonial governance, racial epistemologies, the sexual politics of empire, and the ethnography of the archives.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "S...
2020-05-071h 10
Think About ItGreat Books 30: Carolin Weber on Albert Camus's "The Plague"Novel laureate Albert Camus's 1947 novel The Plague is about the human response to extreme circumstances. For a long time the book was read as an allegory of people resisting fascism, but the plague never quite stays only a metaphor. I spoke with Caroline Weber, Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Barnard College to discuss how brilliantly Camus shows the wide range of human responses to extreme conditions, and how literature provides a model for getting through our current crisis.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, G...
2020-03-311h 18Think About ItGreat Books 29: Jenny Davidson on Daniel Defoe's "A Journal of the Plague Year"Why read books in dark times? Daniel Defoe, known to most as the author of Robinson Crusoe, published A Journal of the Plague Year in 1722, about the plague that decimated London's population in 1665. The gripping account is presented as a survivor's story who confronts his world being ravaged by an invisible and extremely contagious disease. But Defoe survived the plague as a five-year-old by leaving London. The book he published some fifty years later is a fictional recreation of a period when most certainties and routines held dear by Londoners crumbled around them. Why did people not heed the...
2020-03-221h 10Think About ItGreat Books 28: Béatrice Longuenesse on Kant's "What is Enlightenment?"Immanuel Kant's short 1784 essay, "What is Enlightenment?" clearly lays out what the Age of Reason means: that we are encouraged to think for ourselves to claim our freedom. I spoke with one of the great experts on Kant's philosophy, Professor Béatrice Longuenesse of NYU and the author of Kant and the Capacity to Judge, and I, Me, Mine: Back to Kant, and Back Again, to understand what Kant means when he says that we can be taught to think for ourselves, Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of...
2020-02-071h 13Think About ItFree Speech 68: Henry Reichman--Can Professors Get Fired for a Tweet?Should professors be held accountable for speech they make off-campus, on-line, and apart from their professional role in the university? Does academic freedom mean freedom of speech and what are the differences? I spoke with Professor Henry Reichman, who has served as Vice President of the American Association of University Professor, an organization that defends academic freedom. Reichman has chaired the AAUP's Committee on Academic Freedom and just published The Future of Academic Freedom.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition t...
2020-01-231h 06Think About ItGreat Books 26: Vivian Liska on Franz Kafka (not the way you know him)The Kafka most known today is a writer of existential despair, a futile search for meaning, and the 20th century's nightmare of humans trapped in inhuman bureaucracies or situations of terror. Liska explains how Kafka's short parables and prose conundrums offer a way out of the dilemmas of modern existence: the tribalism, fear of difference, and defensive retreat into identities that are defined by shutting out others. He is a writer of community, of laughter, and of wisdom rather than despair.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of G...
2020-01-151h 07
Think About ItAffirmative Action: Margaret Chin on Affirmative Action After Harvard's WinA recent legal case about affirmative action was decided in favor of Harvard University's holistic admission practices. Is the fight over affirmative action over now? Professor Chin, at the CUNY Graduate Center in NYC, explains what the legal ruling in favor of Harvard University means for higher education, for the future of affirmative action, and for students, faculty and anyone who believes in equality of opportunity in our country.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts...
2019-12-1057 minThink About ItGreat Books 27: Eduardo Cadava on Ralph Waldo Emerson--America's Intellectual IndependenceIn 1837 Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered a lecture that Oliver Wendell Holmes, father of our modern Supreme Court, called America's Intellectual Declaration of Independence. What does it mean for America, and us as Americans, to start thinking for ourselves? What does it mean to start our intellectual break from Europe nearly half a century after the American Revolution - and what new forms of living can be envisioned now? I spoke with Eduardo Cadava, Professor at Princeton University about Emerson.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty a...
2019-12-0759 minThink About ItGreat Books 25 : Ismail Muhammad on Jean Toomer's "Cane"Jean Toomer considered Cane the "swan song" of African-American folk culture rapidly destroyed by the industrialization of the South and the north-bound migration of African Americans during the era of Jim Crow. I spoke with Ismail Muhammad to understand how to read a book celebrated as a major achievement of the Harlem renaissance without pigeonholing its ambition, scope and achievement, and what Toomer's notion of "what blackness means" is so relevant back then and still today. Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in...
2019-11-111h 06Think About ItdGreat Books 24: Melissa Schwartzberg on Jean-Jacques Rousseau's "Social Contract""Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." The opening sentence of 18th century philosopher Jean-Jacques Roussau's Social Contract poses a central question for all of us. Why do we live under conditions of inequality, violence, dependency and general unhappiness (just look on twitter!) if society is made by us and for us? I spoke with Melissa Schwartzberg, who is Silver Professor of Politics at New York University and a specialist in political theory, about Rousseau's importance today.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Ge...
2019-10-1958 minThink About ItGreat Books 23: Dale Jamieson on the Morality of Climate ActionDale Jamieson is a professor of Environmental Studies and Philosophy at NYU School of Law. Convinced of the totality of climate change, Jamieson addresses the threat with the lens of a philosopher. Climate change is a recognition that rationalism is, in fact, not the guiding principle of international politics; it is both a threat and a contributor to our identity. Jamieson explores this in his newest book, Discerning Experts.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts...
2019-09-2951 minThink About ItFree Speech 67: Susan Neiman on Monuments, the Holocaust, and the Legacy of the ConfederacyHow can the German response to the Holocaust teach us about America's legacy of the Confederacy? Susan Neiman, Director of the Einstein Forum and author of many books, including the recent "Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil", suggests that it's a way into talking about American racial politics and potentially a way forward.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director...
2019-07-281h 23Think About ItGreat Books 19: Nicholas Johnson on Samuel BeckettNobel-prize winner Samuel Beckett's plays, novels, poetry, radio plays and prose reveal our deepest humanity by stripping language to its bare essentials. He reveals how our bodies moving through space are far more than vessels for a roving consciousness. They contain a hint of transcendence which manifests itself as the human need for self-expression through which we locate ourselves in time, in relation to others, and in relation to ourselves. His works contain an appeal to bear witness.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and H...
2019-07-151h 06Think About ItFree Speech 66: Robert Quinn on the Values of the UniversityFree speech and academic freedom are at the heart of universities, but in isolation these principles commonly lead to dead-end situations which little hope of progress. Robert Quinn, Director of the international NGO and network Scholars at Risk, offers a values frame that touches on five core principles for universities. Academic freedom, equitable access, accountability, autonomy and social responsibility work together to make the university distinct from 'the street.'Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he ho...
2019-06-2659 minThink About ItFree Speech 65: Mary Anne Franks on the Cult of the ConstitutionWe Americans are defined by our Constitution and we cherish especially the First and Second Amendments. But like all texts, the Constitution can be read to empower and protect our individual rights but it can also be used selectively, self-servingly, and in bad faith. And the Constitution guarantees two things: our own personal liberties, unfettered by threats from the government, and equal treatment before the law. Professor Mary Anne Franks teaches at the University of Miami School of Law.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty a...
2019-06-2556 minThink About ItFree Speech 64: Aziz Rana on the Two Faces of American FreedomAmerica embodies the bold promise of assuring everyone's liberty to the greatest extent possible and has a history of imposing its will both internally and around the globe with great force. How can we make sense of the dual promise of personal liberation and rights for all and the expansionist idea to spread America's way of doing things around the globe? I spoke with Professor Aziz Rana of Cornell University's Law school, about this tension at the heart of the American promise.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient o...
2019-06-2547 minThink About ItFree Speech 60: Yassin Nacer--Language Changes Over Time, and Students Know ThatThe battles over free speech are also battles for the hearts and minds of students. Why else would people with little interest in the university want to address college students? Because the next generation will ultimately rule the world. I spoke with Yassin Nacer, a rising senior at UC Berkeley, about his understanding of the so-called free speech controversies. He explained how people who deny that language changes over time (and refuse to learn new terms) are, as he put it, simply immature.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A re...
2019-06-111h 00Think About ItFree Speech 59: Jonathan Friedman on the Chasm in the Classroom--Campus Speech in a Divided AmericaWhat's really happening on campus? PEN America cuts through the myths, the caricatures, and the misinformation. In response to President Donald Trump‘s March 2019 executive order on campus speech, PEN issued a hard-hitting report that offers concrete guidelines for how best to respond to incidents. I spoke with Jonathan Friedman, Ph.D., who is Campus Free Speech Project Director at PEN, has taught at NYU and Columbia, and is an expert on higher education and social theory.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards...
2019-06-101h 02Think About ItGreat Books 20: Rowan Ricardo Phillips on Phillis Wheatley and the African-American TraditionPhillis Wheatley, who was kidnapped in Africa and sold into slavery as a child in Boston, is the first Black person to publish a book in the US. Wheatley's status as the first African-American poet in the US is of great importance, and yet it is an ambiguous matter to assign her this role of being 'the first.' Poet Rowan Ricardo Philips talks about the significance of being "the first" and how to think of the African-American tradition without creating a lesser category of the canon.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at N...
2019-05-2242 minThink About ItFree Speech 57: Laura Weinrib on the ACLU's Controversial Approach to Hate SpeechIn August 2017 Laura Weinrib wrote: "Commentators have rightly observed that the ACLU has defended far-right speech since its founding, despite fierce criticism. But there is a common and mistaken premise in this analysis. It assumes that the organization has always believed, as it does today, that “freedom of expression is an end in itself.” We take a look back at the important history. Laura Weinrib is Professor of Law and an Associate Member of the University of Chicago Department of History.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Gugge...
2019-05-221h 05
Think About ItGreat Books 26: Vivian Liska on Franz Kafka (not the way you know him)The Kafka most known today is a writer of existential despair, a futile search for meaning, and the 20th century's nightmare of humans trapped in inhuman bureaucracies or situations of terror. Liska explains how Kafka's short parables and prose conundrums offer a way out of the dilemmas of modern existence: the tribalism, fear of difference, and defensive retreat into identities that are defined by shutting out others. He is a writer of community, of laughter, and of wisdom rather than despair.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of G...
2019-05-221h 07Think About ItGreat Books 21: Richard J. Bernstein on the Alarmingly Relevant Hannah ArendtThe philosopher Richard J. Bernstein met Arendt first in 1972, when he was a young professor and three years before her death. He explained to me why Arendt’s work should be read today with renewed urgency, because it provides illumination into the forces that shape our present. Instead of a dry academic exposé, I got a moving anecdote about his first meeting with Arendt and a lucid yet impassioned explanation of Arendt's analysis of politics and of the human condition.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Gett...
2019-05-2257 minThink About ItFree Speech 56: Hadas Aron on the Populist Attacks on AcademiaWhy do populist movements, which exist on both the left and the right, attack universities? Is there any justification for their suspicion of elites who tell us what's true, how to live our lives, and how to solve our problems? What's the relation between populism, academia, and the ideal that everyone's opinion should matter, regardless of their education, birth and academic degrees? Hadas Aron is a political scientist at NYU who studies populist movements.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition t...
2019-05-2156 minThink About ItFree Speech 63: David Cole on the ACLU's Defense of LibertyThe ACLU defends your liberties - whether you're on the right, the left, and entirely off the political spectrum. The 100-year old organization has argued and won landmark decisions before the Supreme Court to defend individual rights. Is it right to put principle above all other consideration and offer legal aid to Neo-Nazis? Or are there factors beyond the ideals of the law that inform such actions? I spoke with David Cole, National Director of the ACLU, in his New York office.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient o...
2019-05-2150 minThink About ItFree Speech 52: Eugene Volokh on What We Mean by "The First Amendment"What do we mean when we say "The First Amendment"? It's obvious: we mean the most robust protection of speech rights, religious liberty, freedom of the press, and freedom of association in the world today. Correct, says Eugene Volokh, absolutely correct. But it could change! Listen to this illuminating conversation with a leading expert on freedom of speech and constitutional law at UCLA. Volokh clerked for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and runs the Volokh Conspiracy, a legal blog.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Ge...
2019-05-201h 19Think About ItAffirmative Action: Van Tran on the Dream and Reality of College AdmissionsHow can universities allow more students from more backgrounds gain access to what continues to be the surest way of attaining economic success? How do different ethnic groups fare in college -- and what does it mean that some groups attain 'hypermobility' while others seem to lag behind? I spoke with Van C. Tran, who is Associate Professor of Sociology at the Graduate Center at CUNY and who researches the incorporation of Asian and Latino immigrants and their children into American society.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient o...
2019-05-181h 02Think About ItFree Speech 62: Stephen Solomon--Raucous, Robust, and Radical: The Founders and Free SpeechWhere does our country's deep commitment to free speech come from? Stephen Solomon researched the range of political speech before the adoption of our Constitution and the Bill of Rights to chronicle years of robust and often controversial speech. Solomon is the author of Revolutionary Dissent: How the Founding Generation Created the Freedom of Speech, Associate Director of NYU's Journalism Institute, and the founding director of the firstamendmentwatch website. Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts...
2019-05-181h 00Think About ItFree Speech 55: Jacob T. Levy--Can Universities Make Their Own Rules?Should the government intervene when there’s a speech controversy on campus? Or should universities be allowed to set their own rules, like other associations such as clubs, homeowner associations or churches? Jacob Levy of McGill University has written extensively about the tension between the idea that the state grants or restrict our liberties, while allowing private associations to set their own rules for their members. When is the right moment for the state to interfere in a group's rules?Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Gett...
2019-05-1854 minThink About ItFree Speech 61: Jeffrey Sachs--The Free Speech Crisis . . . Is It Real?Self-appointed watchdog groups rank colleges on free speech. Legislatures want to punish universities that don’t uphold free-speech in ways they define. Is there really a crisis? Are students less committed to free speech that earlier generations? Are people allowed to say what they want, or do faculty and students self-censor so they're not challenged and canceled? I spoke with Jeffrey Sachs of Acadia University who teaches political science and has written extensively on the topic.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in...
2019-05-1856 minThink About ItFree Speech 53: Eric Segall--Should You Trust the Supreme Court?Free speech is hotly debated around the world today -- and will it be saved by the U.S. Supreme Court? Professor Eric Segall is skeptical about putting our faith and our fate in the hands of nine black-robed justices placed for a lifetime on the Court. He questions the outsized role of judges to overturn laws, which should only happen, he says, when there is clear and convincing evidence of an "irreconcilable variance" between the law and my constitutional rights). Is there a better way?Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New Y...
2019-05-171h 05Think About ItFree Speech 54: Adrienne Stone on Free Speech (or Lack Thereof?) Around the WorldHow can different democracies define free speech differently? In many democracies, speech is regulated differently : in the US hate speech is protected but not child pornography, political speech is protected but not defamation. In other democracies, Holocaust denial or incitement of racial hatred is not protected by the state. I spoke with Adrienne Stone, one of the world's experts on these different approaches to speech. Dr. Stone is Professor at the University of Melbourne in Australia. Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in...
2019-05-171h 05Think About ItFree Speech 50: Sophia Rosenfeld on Truth and DemocracyFake News. Post-truth. Alternative Facts. Conspiracies. Lies, lies, lies. We are living in a disorienting time when truth, it seems, is up for grabs. In Democracy and Truth: A Short History, Sophie Rosenfeld explains that a crisis of truth is not new, and that democracy has always (at least in its modern forms) had to find a way to mediate expert knowledge (of the elites) with the wisdom of the crowds and common sense. Rosenfeld is Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A...
2019-05-171h 00Think About ItAffirmative Action: Liliana Garces--Let's Create a Level Playing Field"I want to help the field of education realize its potential to help realize all Americans' potential." Dr. Liliana Garces was co-counsel in presenting amicus briefs to the Supreme Court of the United States. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin and Affiliate Faculty at the University of Texas School of Law. Her research is on access, diversity, and equity in higher education, and the use and influence of social science research in law. Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and...
2019-05-1758 minThink About ItGreat Books 18: Jessica Benjamin's "The Bonds of Love"In several books, Jessica Benjamin provides a corrective to the modern Western conception of subjectivity. Rather than privileging the development of autonomy and independence, Benjamin asks whether there’s a part of humanity that is in fact deeply relational but gets buried in the stories and practices we impose on ourselves to grow up. I spoke with Benjamin about a different way of orienting our life stories and why a belief in the repairability of the world is essential for our survival.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of...
2019-05-121h 12Think About ItGreat Books 22: Maureen McLane on William WordsworthThe British romantic poet William Wordsworth is best known for his moving evocations of nature, his celebration of childhood, and his quest to find a shared humanity. He’s also considered the first modern poet because he turns his mind's workings into the subject of his poetry. That hadn’t happened before. What Wordsworth may really be about, I discussed with brilliant poet and critic Maureen McLane, is whether we trade in the ecstasies of youthful exuberance for a measured but diminished life.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recip...
2019-05-121h 07Think About ItGreat Books 15: Julie Carlson on Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley wrote Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus when she was nineteen years old on a bet. It is the first science fiction novel spawning two centuries of creatures that turn against their makers. I spoke with Julie Carlson, the author of a gripping biography of Mary Shelley's family about what it means that a woman wrote the first science fiction novel, and why the book and the "daemon" Shelley imagined proves so powerful 200 years after its invention.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, G...
2019-04-2751 minThink About ItGreat Books 16: Amir Eshel on Paul Celan's PoetryPaul Celan's poetry bears witness to the Holocaust as the irredeemable rupture in European civilization, but he does so in German, the language of the perpetrators who murdered his parents along with millions of others. How do you bear witness to suffering, murder and loss in the language of the murderers? How can poetry account for the inhumanity of the Holocaust without aestheticizing it? I spoke with Amir Eshel, a critic and poet who is also a professor at Stanford University.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Gu...
2019-04-2756 minThink About ItGreat Books 13: Hillary Chute on Art Spiegelman's "Maus"Art Spiegelman's Maus is the story of an American cartoonist's efforts to uncover and record his father's story of survival of the Holocaust. It is also a cartoon. It's a story of survival and also a story of silences, and how the next generation can find and make sense of stories that seem to defy representation in their sheer horror. It's also a triumph of art not over history and trauma, but as a means to deal with it, without finding closure. I spoke with Hilary Chute, an expert on comics.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography a...
2019-04-2758 minThink About ItGreat Books 14: John Callahan on Ralph Waldo Ellison's "Invisible Man"Ralph Waldo Ellison's masterpiece 1952 Invisible Man tells the story of an African-American man who insists on his visibility, agency, and humanity in a country dead set on not seeing him, barring him from most opportunities, and denying his humanity. I spoke with John Callahan, Ellison's literary executor who brought us the posthumously published Juneteenth, the short story collection Flying Home, and a forthcoming edition of Ellison's letters spanning some 40 years.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he host...
2019-04-2751 minThink About ItGreat Books 12: Peter Brooks on Sigmund Freud's "Civilization and its Discontents"We want to be happy, we want to love and be loved. But life, even when our basic needs are met, often makes us unhappy. You can't always get what you want, Freud noted in his 1930 short book, Civilization and its Discontents, and our desires are foiled not by bad luck, our failures, or the environment but often by the civilization meant to make life better. Why does more civilization also mean more psychological suffering? I spoke with Peter Brooks, an expert on Freud and author of many books.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Pr...
2019-04-1650 minThink About ItGreat Books 17: Denis Hollier on Claude Lévi-Strauss's "Tristes Tropiques"Claude Lévi-Strauss Tristes Tropiques is one of the great books of the 20th century: intellectually bold, morally capacious, and it aims to understand nothing less than the elemental workings of the human mind. It is a work of impassioned curiosity and, even though it's a pessimistic diagnosis of the damage humans, especially Europeans, have inflicted on the planet, it's brimming with hope. I spoke with Denis Hollier, NYU Professor and an expert in French culture, philosophy and literature.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty an...
2019-04-0954 minThink About ItGreat Books 10: Emily Bernard on Nella Larsen's "Passing"Nella Larsen's gripping 1929 novel Passing recounts the fateful encounter of two women who can pass from being black to white, and back again -- with devastating moral and social consequences. I spoke with Professor Emily Bernard, Julian Lindsay Green & Gold Professor at the University of Vermont and the author of many award-winning books, including the 2019 Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he...
2019-04-041h 03Think About ItGreat Books 11: Deborah Plant on Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God"Zora Neale Hurston’s masterpiece, Their Eyes Were Watching God, captures what is at the heart of all great literature: the irrepressible urge to speak, express oneself, and be heard and understood. I spoke with Professor Deborah Plant, a scholar of African-American literature and culture. Professor Plant explained how Hurston’s training as an anthropologist with Franz Boas at Barnard College shaped her writing, and how her novel constitutes one of our nation's greatest achievements.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in additi...
2019-03-281h 11Think About ItFree Speech 48: Susan Williams on Truth, Autonomy, and Free SpeechFeminism is a useful lens through which to view the law because it reveals unspoken assumptions where the disputes seem almost ideological and no longer legal. Professor Susan Williams takes a dispassionate view of the speech debates and shows that they tend to advance one of two views: free speech leads to the truth; free speech allows citizens to be fully autonomous. Both views are important but not easily reconciled. There is a way out that grounds speech rights in a "shared reality."Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A r...
2019-03-2855 minThink About ItAffirmative Action: OiYan Poon on Race, Admissions, and AchievementWhat's the link between race, admissions, and achievement in today's higher education? Is is easier for some groups to get into college thanks to affirmative action, and harder for others? The lawsuits against affirmative action involving Harvard, UNC, and other schools all claim that affirmative action is unfair, unjust and, it would be hard to miss, un-American. Professor Poon studies higher education and analyzes policies in light of hard data, not myths and misperceptions.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition t...
2019-03-2859 minThink About ItGreat Books 9: Caroline Weber on Marcel Proust's "In Search of Lost Time"“My greatest adventure was undoubtedly Proust. What is there left to write after that?” This is what Virginia Woolf said full of admiration and envy, too. Delve into Marcel Proust in this conversation with Caroline Weber, one of the great Proust experts of our time. Will being in the world of the rich and famous make you happy? Proust's narrator tries it out. Will love bring happiness? Proust's narrator finds a disturbing answer. Will art create contentment? Listen to find out.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggen...
2019-03-231h 10Think About ItFree Speech 47: Ekow Yankah--With Freedom Comes ResponsibilityProfessor Ekow Yankaw explains how we can maintain our freedom and liberty when living in society with others. How are our rights and duties interwoven in a republic? Can the government take a role in guaranteeing these rights but also enforcing these duties? Have we -- in today's America -- lost the register that says that we have obligations toward others, and that being part of a republic means being bound together in a common enterprise?Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, i...
2019-03-211h 06Think About ItFree Speech 46: Alexander Tsesis on Safe Spaces, Trigger Warnings, and Free SpeechDoes allowing hate speech serve the function to get such ideas into the open where they can be defeated? How do we understand “trigger warnings” and safe spaces from a free-speech perspective? Do existing legal guidelines on how to regulate speech work for universities? How do we balance the right to speak with the right to participate in open and robust debate? I spoke with Professor Alexander Tsesis who teaches at Loyola University’s School of Law in Chicago.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Hum...
2019-03-141h 08Think About ItFree Speech 45: Pamela Newkirk on Staying Media-Savvy in an Age of DistrustWhat does it mean to be media-savvy? What is the truth in a post-factual era? How can we achieve basic media literacy in an age when telling lies has become a method to undermine our faith in facts? I spoke with Pamela Newkirk about maintaining the right kind of skepticism toward the media in an age when the independent press is under attack. Newkirk is a widely published journalist and scholar who holds an appointment as Professor in the Department of Journalism at New York University.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New Y...
2019-03-1447 minThink About ItGreat Books 7: Catharine Stimpson on Simone de Beauvoir's "The Second Sex""Woman is not born but made." This sentence in philosopher Simone de Beauvoir’s magisterial The Second Sex (1949) means that there’s nothing natural about the fact that 50% of humanity has been oppressed by the other half for millennia. There’s nothing natural about the secondary status of women as either inferior or as assistants, supporters, care-givers, or objects of reverence, fascination, lust and desire. I spoke with Kate Stimpson, one of the founders of women's studies in US higher ed.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenh...
2019-02-0552 minThink About ItAffirmative Action: Mark Tseng-Putterman on Asian-American Activism in ContextAsian-Americans are central players in a lawsuit about affirmative action filed against Harvard University - or are they being set up and used? What is the role of Asian-Americans in campus debates in general? What and how do Asian-Americans contribute to campus movements for social justice? Where and when do Asian-Americans show up -- and what has been their contribution and involvement in improving American higher education, from the 1960s until today? Mark Tseng-Putterman shares his insights.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt a...
2019-02-0349 minThink About ItFree Speech 42: Jack Tchen--Must Columbus Fall?Should Columbus Fall? Should the statue be toppled, and should Columbus Circle be renamed while we're at it? In 2017 New York City's Mayor, Bill de Blasio, charged a high-profile commission with the task of determining what to do about the statue of Columbus and a few other figures that generate heated debates. Professor Jack Tchen, the author of Yellow Peril and a co-founder of New York City's Museum of Chinese in America, talks about the controversy and how the committee responded.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of G...
2019-01-291h 07Think About ItAffirmative Action: Natasha Warikoo on How to Think About Affirmative Action--Colorblindness, or Diversity?Shouldn't all decisions about college admissions, employment, housing, etc., be colorblind? Or, as many liberals in the US would argue, is a "diversity frame" more useful, which acknowledges how race, gender and ethnicity play a role in our practice and experiences, and says that we should celebrate and highlight these differences? By studying how students think about this, Professor Natasha Warikoo proposes a more honest and more useful way of understanding how affirmative action can work.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, i...
2019-01-2848 minThink About ItAffirmative Action: Randall Kennedy--FOR Discrimination. A Case for Affirmative ActionAffirmative action is under attack. A lawsuit filed against Harvard might end the practice altogether. Professor Randall Kennedy of Harvard Law acknowledges the costs of affirmative action but considers it ultimately a “positive good,” a moral necessity, and a legally defensible practice. Kennedy explains why affirmative action is the responsible choice in our nation burdened by a history of racial injustice – and how his thinking evolved from the election of Obama to the state we're in now.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards...
2019-01-221h 03Think About ItGreat Books 8: Benjamin Reiss on Henry David Thoreau's "Walden"America’s “environmental prophet,” Henry David Thoreau wrote Walden in an effort to unshackle America from the consumerism, competitiveness, and dishonesty that created a new nation without reaching true freedom and equality. Thoreau’s book is about a better, simpler life and about settling a continent stolen from Native peoples and aided by the sin of slavery. I spoke with Benjamin Reiss, of Emory University about how to read philosophically, and how to get a good night’s sleep.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humbold...
2019-01-2159 minThink About ItFree Speech 39: Martha Jones on Birthright CitizenshipWho’s in, and who’s out? Professor Martha Jones explains the history of birthright citizenship, how Black Americans claimed the rights of citizens long before the courts and Congress granted them such legal rights, and why this prehistory matters to understand today’s debates. Is it outrageous that senior officials question the right of birthright citizenship? You may think so, but you’d also be wrong to think that this right has not been and will remain contested as long as the Republic stands.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York Universit...
2019-01-171h 01Think About ItGreat Books 6: Glenn Wallis on Kahil Gibran's "The Prophet"Kahlil Gibran’s 1923 The Prophet is a book that’s changed people’s lives. It is a deceptively simple book but it contains a radical insight. “Of what can I speak save of that which is even now moving in your souls?” What can a book teach us that we cannot know ourselves? I spoke with Glenn Wallis, a renowned scholar of Buddhism, author and teacher who has published The Dhammapada, Basic Teachings of the Buddha, and a Critique of Western Buddhism, and who runs Incite Seminars in Philadelphia.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor a...
2019-01-121h 04Think About ItGreat Books 5: Rich Blint on James Baldwin's "Another Country"James Baldwin's appeal and admonition ring as true as they did in the 1960s, when the novelist became the country's conscience - and also started to feel like a broken record, repeating a message that white America refused to accept. Rich Blint, an expert on Baldwin at NYC's New School, explains how Baldwin's 1961 novel, Another Country, speaks to us today and what it would mean to heed Baldwin's advice for the nation to finally leave its romantic adolescent delusions behind, and truly grow up.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A...
2019-01-071h 04Think About ItFree Speech 38: Robert Cohen--The Death of Free Speech on Campus?The First Amendment was ratified in 1791. Are we witnessing the death of this hallowed American practice and ideal in today's campus controversies? Professor Robert Cohen is America's foremost historian of the free speech movement. Have we lost our way ? How are today's controversies different from skirmishes and culture wars of the past? Cohen is the author of Freedom's Orator: Mario Savio and the Radical Legacy of the 1960s and The Free Speech Movement: Reflections on Berkeley in the 1960s. Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and...
2018-12-221h 04Think About ItAffirmative Action: Frank Wu--Affirmative Action Under FireAffirmative action is under fire. A lawsuits claims that Asian American students are discriminated against by Harvard's admissions policies, while other minority candidates get a leg up. What is at stake? And how do we best think about this legal issue, playing out in one of America's great symbolic sites for opportunity? Professor Frank Wu is Distinguished Professor at San Francisco's UC Hastings College of Law, and has published widely, both in professional journals and in many media outlets.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty a...
2018-12-221h 21Think About ItFree Speech 37: Amaney Jamal on Educating for DemocracyAnd how can the university educate citizens for democracy who know that with certain rights come certain obligations? How is higher education linked to democracy in general? I discuss these and other topics with Amaney Jamal, who is the Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Politics at Princeton University and director of the Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace and Justice. Her most recent book is Of Empires and Citizens: Pro-American Democracy or No Democracy At All? Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in...
2018-12-2251 minThink About ItFree Speech 36: Michel Rosenfeld on Media Bubbles, Free Speech, and DemocracyToday's news comes from blogs, podcasts, websites in various shades of truth. Are we just listening to stories we agree with, or are we getting a wider range of perspectives than ever before? If there are fewer editors, are we getting access to raw truth, or more craziness? Rosenfeld is University Professor of Law and Comparative Democracy, Justice Sydney L. Robins Professor of Human Rights and Director of the Program on Global and Comparative Constitutional Theory at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A...
2018-12-221h 06Think About ItFree Speech 35: Stefan Bradley on Upending the Ivory TowerWho changed American universities for the better? Who fought for equality of opportunity, fair access, and more comprehensive curricula? Stefan Bradley, Professor and Chair of African American Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and author of Upending the Ivory Tower: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Ivy League, details how Black students' work on campus was as important as the work of Civil Rights activists in the streets in forging a better reality for all Americans.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Hu...
2018-12-2253 minThink About ItFree Speech 34: Sigal Ben-Porath on "Inclusive Freedom""Universities and colleges are the most effective site for practicing the First Amendment in the United States today." Professor Sigal Ben-Porath or the University of Pennsylvania and author of Free Speech on Campus, proposes to find a way for inclusive freedom, where students, faculty and staff rights are respected while allowing all opinions to be voiced.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director at Warble...
2018-12-221h 01Think About ItGreat Books 4: Carol Gilligan on Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter"Nathaniel Hawthorne‘s 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter tells the dramatic story of a woman cast out of society for adultery and condemned to wear a badge of shame in Puritan New England. Renowned psychologist Carol Gilligan explains that Hawthorne’s masterpiece is America’s most radical novel because it points to a “new truth [that would place] the whole relation between man and woman on a surer ground of mutual happiness.” The book holds the promise of authentic love and true democracy.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenhe...
2018-12-181h 12Think About ItGreat Books 3: Jared Stark on Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse"“On or around December 1910, human character changed.” Virginia Woolf’s 1927 masterpiece To The Lighthouse teaches us how to make sense of time. How can it be that years pass and we barely blink an eye, but an afternoon can stretch into near eternity, when we want something, or are denied what we desire? Professor Jared Stark has written about Woolf and taught her work for many years. His most recent book, A Death of One's Own: Literature, Law, and the Right to Die, was published in 2018.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York Un...
2018-12-1041 minThink About ItGreat Books 2: Ava Chin on Maxine Hong Kingston's "The Woman Warrior"What stories should we remember, and which ones are we forced to forget? Maxine Hong Kingston's 1975 masterpiece, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, transformed American literature by giving expression to the experience of Chinese Americans. Author and professor Ava Chin has been teaching The Woman Warrior for many years. In this conversation we examine how this gripping coming of age story teaches us which parts of us are true to ourselves and which have been imposed on us by others.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A r...
2018-12-0543 minThink About ItFree Speech 33: Patricia William on CensorshipDoes America have a problem with censorship? Yes we do, explains Professor Patricia Williams of Columbia University. But censorship becomes a problem first and foremost when the power to silence, suppress or threaten free expression is exercised by the state. When we look at current debates about censorship, things don’t get easy, but they definitely get interesting. Professor Williams is the James L. Dohr Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, and has published widely on race, gender, and law.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Gug...
2018-12-0350 minThink About ItFree Speech 32: Cameron Okeke--"Safe Spaces Got Me Through College"In 2017, Cameron published a widely discussed essay, “I’m a black UChicago graduate. Safe spaces got me through college" in response to the University of Chicago’s letter to its freshmen class that there would be no safe spaces, trigger warnings, or limits of offensive content at the university. Cameron offers thoughtful advice on how to include all students in difficult conversations without shying away from controversy. Cameron now works in Washington, after receiving an M.B.E. degree at Johns Hopkins.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Gugg...
2018-12-0356 minThink About ItFree Speech 31: Teresa Bejan on CivilityWhen they go low, we go...where? "We need more civility" in our political discourse is a frequent complaint lodged by politicians on all sides. Teresa Bejan, who teaches political theory at Oxford University, traces the history of civility from early modern English and American thought, especially in John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and Roger Williams. She explains what "mere civility" means, and how it can be the common ground for arguments over things that usually divide people, including free speech. Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Ge...
2018-12-0357 minThink About ItGreat Books 1: Manthia Diawara on Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart"The Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe's 1958 Things Fall Apart transformed the world by vividly imagining the story of an African community in English, the language of the colonizers, and yet on its own terms. Manthia Diawara, a Mali-born and European-educated renowned filmmaker and writer himself, explains why Things Fall Apart ranks among the great novels of all time.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director...
2018-10-0837 minThink About ItFree Speech 30: Emerson Sykes--Why Does the ACLU Defend the Alt-Right?Why does the ACLU defend the alt-right? What else does it do? Join me in a thoughtful conversation with Emerson Sykes, Staff Attorney at the ACLU on Free Speech, Technology, and Privacy, about the important role of the ACLU in upholding everyone's speech rights regardless of political affiliation. Emerson holds degrees from Stanford, New York University, and the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and has worked in both politics and the law.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to h...
2018-10-0852 minThink About ItFree Speech 29: David Shih on Free Speech, Teaching, and How to Advance Civic IdealsCan teaching liberate you from living in a myth? What if racism will never end? In this episode I speak with Professor David Shih at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, who has not only thought and written powerfully about free speech on campus but enacts his understanding of this issue in his teaching.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director at Warbler Press. Ema...
2018-10-0859 minThink About ItFree Speech 28: Nadine Strossen on How to Counter Hate SpeechCan Hate Speech Only Be Countered With More Speech? Nadine Strossen, former President of the ACLU and professor at New York Law School, argues for the essential role of free speech in social justice activism and the limits of regulating speech. Strossen works and teaches in the areas of constitutional law and civil liberties.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director at Warbler Press. Ema...
2018-10-0850 minThink About ItFree Speech 27: Ruth Ben-Ghiat on Free Speech and the Role of the MediaIn free democracies, the role of the university is to be an arbiter of truth. They share this critical role with a free press. What is happening with universities in the age of Trump, where the media's role as an arbiter of truth is under severe attack? Join me in a conversation with Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an expert of the history of fascism at New York University, and a frequent commentator on various platforms and monthly columnist for CNN.com on contemporary politics.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A r...
2018-10-0855 minThink About ItFree Speech 26: Jason Stanley on Free Speech and the Rise of FascismDo the champions of free speech today really represent the liberal values they lay claim to? Jason Stanley is Professor of Philosophy at Yale University and the author of How Fascism Works. In this conversation, he discusses the necessity of taking hate speech and dehumanizing language seriously, the politics of inviting speakers to campus, and privacy as a core aspect of liberal democracies. specializes in philosophy of language, epistemology, action theory, and early analytic philosophy.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in a...
2018-10-0850 minThink About ItFree Speech 25: Luna Martinez on Speech in the UniversityThe law is not a static thing. In this episode I speak with Luna Martinez, a student at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law who is interested in using the law as a vehicle for social change. Martinez offers a nuanced view of how students think about the campus controversies, and how the law is worthy of careful analysis in order to advance society’s goals.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts...
2018-10-0850 minThink About ItFree Speech 24: David Oppenheimer on Free Speech, Hate Speech, and Equality in America TodayWhat’s the relation of free speech, hate speech, and equality in America? How can we make sense of the speech debates in today’s legal and political contexts? David Oppenheimer is Clinical Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Co-Director of the Pro Bono Group, and Director of the Berkeley Comparative Equality and Antidiscrimination Law Study Group.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust...
2018-10-0858 minThink About ItFree Speech 23: Jay Wallace--Lessons from BerkeleyWhat are the philosophical assumptions and underpinnings of free speech? Jay Wallace is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley and served as co-chair, with Dean Prudence Carter, of the Commission on Free Speech for UC Berkeley. Wallace works in moral philosophy, political philosophy, philosophy of law, and philosophy of action.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director at Warbler Press. Email ucb1...
2018-10-0853 minThink About ItFree Speech 22: Erwin Chemerinsky--There Should Not Be Limits on SpeechThere must be no middle ground on speech. In this episode I speak with Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and a Distinguished Professor of Law. He is the author of ten books, including The Case Against the Supreme Court (2014) and Closing the Courthouse Doors: How Your Constitutional Rights Became Unenforceable.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director...
2018-10-0831 minThink About ItFree Speech 21: Ian Haney López--The Free Speech Debates from the 1960s to TodayWhere do these controversies start – a deep dive into American politics from the 1960s till today. Ian Haney López is Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. His recent work engages the question of how racial divisions in society and growing wealth inequality in the United States are connected.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director at Warbler Press. Email ucb1@nyu.edu; T...
2018-10-081h 13Think About ItFree Speech 20: Corey Brettschneider--Can Universities Advance Free Speech . . . by Speaking Out?When the university speaks, what should it say? Universities should never restrict speech, but they should use other ways of expressing their values and opinions. This is the view of Corey Brettschneider, who is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Brown University, where he teaches constitutional law and politics. He is also Visiting Professor of Law at Fordham Law School.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust...
2018-10-0852 minThink About ItFree Speech 19: Sonia Das--Speech is a Practice, not an AbstractionWhat is the theory of language behind our understanding of free speech? Sonia Das is Professor of Anthropology at NYU and the author of Linguistic Rivalries: Tamil Migrants and Anglo-Franco Conflicts (2016). As a specialist in linguistic anthropology, she wants to know how abstract ideas about speech are lived by human beings, and how language not only reflects the world we live in, but constructs it too. Is hate speech just speech we dislike or a phenomenon that impacts the way we live?Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient o...
2018-10-0854 minThink About ItFree Speech 18: Fred Schauer on our Constitutional Right to Free SpeechDid the civil rights movement owe its existence to free speech, or is free speech the result of social movements? Fred Schauer, Distinguished Professor of Law the University of Virginia, thinks most people have got the causation backwards. In this episode, he tells us about the history of legal interpretations of the First Amendment, and the costs of enforcing the speech rights of hate groups. Schauer is known for his work in constitutional and First Amendment law.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt a...
2018-10-081h 00Think About ItFree Speech 17: Ben Doherty on the Lessons of CharlottesvilleCharlottesville was not about speech but violence. In this episode I speak with Ben Doherty, the Head of Library Instruction and a Research Librarian at the University of Virginia School of Law, who discusses the events of August 2017 in light of the violence that occurred, and how a narrow focus on speech obscures the issues we still need to grapple with today.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust...
2018-10-0846 minThink About ItFree Speech 16: John Mason--A Historian's Perspective on CharlottesvilleHow can Charlottesville recover from the carnage of summer 2017? John Mason, Professor of History at the University of Virginia, discusses the violent and troubled history of Charlottesville and the U.S. South, what to do with Confederate statues, and coming to terms with the collective trauma of the events of summer 2017. Mason is Professor of History at the University of Virginia, and teaches African (in particular, South African) history and the history of photography.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition t...
2018-10-081h 02Think About ItFree Speech 15: Sarah Kenny--A Student's Perspective on CharlottesvilleWhat does power have to do with free speech? Sarah Kenny is a former student and president of the student council at the University of Virginia. In this interview, she talks about the contested legacy of Thomas Jefferson at the University of Virginia, disputes over civility, and the experience of being at the center of the terrible events of the summer 2017.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Question...
2018-10-0841 minThink About ItFree Speech 14: Nicholas Whittaker--At the Heart of a Speech ControversyWhat do you do when your college is at the center of a national controversy? Nicholas Whittaker is a rising senior at Harvard College, where he studies philosophy. In his free time, he contributes opinion writings to the Harvard Crimson. In this episode, he talks about the misconstrual of student demands against inviting speakers such as Charles Murray, and the responsibility of prestigious universities such as Harvard in setting an example in equality, inclusion, and scientific rigor.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt a...
2018-10-0847 minThink About ItFree Speech 13: Robert Post--Has the First Amendment Become a Weapon for the Far Right?Has the First Amendment become a weapon for the far-right? Robert Post, Professor and former Dean at Yale Law School, discusses the First Amendment, its interpretations, uses and misuses, and the varied ways in which speech is regulated in America. Post’s expertise lies in First Amendment and constitutional law, legal history, and equal protection.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Editorial Director at Warbler Pres...
2018-10-0855 minThink About ItFree Speech 12: Carolyn Rouse--Speech is Not An AbstractionIs believing in free speech a little like believing in Santa Claus? Carolyn Rouse, Professor of Anthropology at Princeton University explains the historical, cultural, and contextual nature of speech, better ways to think about trigger warnings, and teaching students the patient art of critical thinking. Rouse is Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at Princeton University. Her work explores evidence-based approaches to race and social inequality.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with ...
2018-10-0845 minThink About ItFree Speech 11: Richard Delgado--Must We Defend Nazis?Is there a constitutionally sound way to regulate hate speech? Richard Delgado, Professor of Law at the University of Alabama is one of the founders of Critical Race Theory, and author of "Must We Defend Nazis?" He speaks to us about the essential relationship between free speech and equality. His work focuses on race, the legal profession, and social change.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in addition to hosting "Speaking of…” he hosts (with Caroline Weber) the podcast "The Proust Questionnaire” and is Ed...
2018-10-0843 minThink About ItFree Speech 10: Tanya Hernández--Why Aren't We Talking about the 14th Amendment?Why aren't we talking about the 14th Amendment? Tanya Hernández, Professor of Law at Fordham University, talks to Think About It about the necessity of discussing the First Amendment and the Fourteenth in the same breath, how an understanding of freedom of expression in the First is incomplete without raising the guarantee of equality in the Fourteenth, and the fallacious soapbox theory of free speech. Hernández is Professor of Law at Fordham University.Uli Baer teaches literature and photography as University Professor at New York University. A recipient of Guggenheim, Getty and Humboldt awards, in add...
2018-10-0849 min