News Brief: As Trump Crushes Academia, the NYT and Atlantic Still Fight 'Woke' Wars from 5 Years Ago
In this News Brief, we are joined by Chenjerai Kumanyika and Todd Wolfson of the American Association of University Professors to discuss Trump's gutting of higher education, its expansion on previous neoliberal privatization efforts, and how big donor and media backlash against "woke "academics and anti-Gaza genocide protestors is fueling the possible end of academic independence as we know it.
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Guests
Todd Wolfson (@ProfTWolf) is President of the American Association of University Professors, which represents more than 55,000 faculty and higher education workers across 550 campuses nationwide. He is also a national vice president of the American Federation of Teachers, Board Member of the Alliance for Higher Education, Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University, and a longtime leader of the Rutgers Academic Workers Union. He’s also co-director of the Media, Inequality and Change Center at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication.
Chenjerai Kumanyika (@catchatweetdown) is Assistant Professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, AAUP National Council Member, and Peabody-award winning host of the podcasts Uncivil and Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD, and the new show, Unruly Subjects, in partnership with Rowhome Productions. He also serves on the boards of Street Poets, The Moth, and Hammer & Hope.
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Show Notes
Trump administration drops appeal of court order blocking $1.2-billion UCLA settlement
Jaweed Kaleem | February 13, 2026 | The Los Angeles Times
Universities are Sending Trump a Dangerous Message
Arne Duncan | February 9, 2026 | The Washington Post
How Universities Are Responding to Trump
Alan Blinder | February 5, 2026 | The New York Times
Trump’s War on Higher Ed Is an Attack on Women
Monica Potts | February 3, 2026 | The New Republic
Investigations and a Billion-Dollar ‘Shakedown’: How Trump Targeted Higher Education
Michael C. Bender, Alan Blinder and Michael S. Schmidt | January 21, 2026 | The New York Times
Reimagining Higher Education: A Framework for Redesign and a Student Bill of Rights
Dr. Zakiya Smith Ellis | January 8, 2026 | A Girl Is No One
Trump’s Attempts to Control Higher Education Follow a Familiar Fascist Playbook
C.J. Polychroniou | January 1, 2026 | Truthout
Maximillian Alvarez | December 16, 2025 | In These Times
Inside the Trump Administration’s Assault on Higher Education
Emma Green | October 13, 2025 | The New Yorker
Universities Must Defend Their Independence by Rejecting Trump’s “Compact
Walter Olson | October 10, 2025 | | Cato Institute
‘Higher Ed Alone Cannot Save Democracy’
Ryan Quinn | August 19, 2025 | Inside Higher Ed
By the Numbers: The Trump Administration’s Assault on Universities
Eileen AJ Connelly | April 28, 2025 | PEN America
A University President Makes a Case Against Cowardice
Molly Fischer | April 3, 2025 | The New Yorker
Why Trump Wants to Control Universities
Hanna Rosin | April 3, 2025 | The Atlantic
Trump Is Revealing Our Higher Ed Crisis
Jonathan Feingold and Veena Dubal | Spring 2025 | Academe Magazine
How Higher Education Can Win Back America
Michael S. Roth | December 27, 2024 | The New York Times
I’m a College President, and I Hope My Campus Is Even More Political This Year
Michael S. Roth | September 2, 2024 | The New York Times
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Transcript
For a full transcript of this News Brief, go here. You can also find transcripts of past episodes, live shows, Beg-a-Thons, Interviews and News Briefs here.
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Credits
Senior Producer: Florence Barrau-Adams
Producer: Julianne Tveten
Production Assistant: Trendel Lightburn
Newsletter: Marco Cartolano
Music: Grandaddy
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