Radical with Amol Rajan Knowledge and Nostalgia: Why a University Education Should Be Free (Louisa Munch)
Jan 8, 2026
Louisa Munch, a critical theorist and Warwick University academic, passionately argues for free higher education. She believes universities should focus on fostering informed societies rather than merely job training. Louisa connects nostalgia to contemporary politics, explaining how it can be weaponized by the far right, while also addressing Gen Z's disenchantment with the future. Throughout their conversation, she advocates for radical ideas like free lifelong education and challenges the current political landscape with compelling insights on class, meritocracy, and public engagement.
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University As A Protected Space
- Louisa Munch says universities are one of the few protected spaces left for questioning power.
- She argues higher education cultivates ideas, imagination and agency rather than mere job skills.
Free Education Fuels Democracy
- Louisa Munch insists university should be free because democracy needs informed citizens who can think critically.
- She links critical thinking taught at university to the health of journalism and public debate.
The Module That Changed Her Path
- Louisa describes a final-year module on capitalism that triggered her to leave marketing and pursue academia.
- She credits Mark Fisher's Capitalist Realism with radically changing how she understood the world.
