This chapter critiques the historical role of universities as elite institutions before the 1960s and explores their evolution post-World War II, highlighting the impact of the GI Bill. It also addresses the challenges of producing podcast content amidst economic pressures and discusses the transformative power of communication in political engagement and societal structures.
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What was supposed to be an informal QnA about the “Israel/Palestine ABCs” episode, turned into a What is Politics “live” brainstorm session à la Matt Christman “grillstream,” where I discuss my arguments and readings on who and what started the Israel/Palestine conflict which will appear in more detail (and coherence) in the next scripted episode. At 5hrs long, I didn’t even get to the QnAs yet … oops!
0:00 intro: ‘why is everything so stupid and shitty?’ / the “alignment problem” of our society
12:46 the social function of academia and universities from pre-WWII to today
31:17 freedom of speech is to protect the weak
41:06 recent activism victories regarding the assault on gaza (Canada and USA)
49:10 why i’m doing “brainstorm” episodes in between scripted episodes
1:10:00 Israel Palestine disinformation in news and history
1:20:40 why the assault on gaza is pure sadistic revenge and does the opposite of its purported goal of protecting israelis
1:31:38 war and violence
1:36:00 what israel could have done in response to oct. 7
1:45:50 who started the israel/palestine conflict?
