Essayist, poet, and Yale Review editor Meghan O’Rourke joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about her recent New York Times piece, “The End of the University as We Know It.” O’Rourke discusses the situation at Columbia University; the Trump administration’s attacks on other universities, including the threats to deport international students for participation in pro-Palestine protests; the false notion of the radical college campus; and how the political balance on campuses has actually shifted in recent years. She also reflects on how the Cold War reshaped these institutions and made them national assets; the financial relationship between the university and the state; and why schools can’t just spend their endowments. O’Rourke reads from her essay.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/.

This podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell.

Selected Readings:

Meghan O'Rourke

Opinion | The View Inside Trump’s Assault on Universities - The New York Times: The End of the University as We Know It by Meghan O’Rourke
The Yale Review | Meghan O'Rourke
Yale’s Unsafe Spaces | The New Yorker
The Invisible Kingdom (2023)
Sun in Days (2019)
Once (2013)
The Long Goodbye (2012)
Halflife (2008)

Others:

Creating the Market University | Princeton University Press by Elizabeth Popp Berman
20 Colleges With the Biggest Endowments | The Short List: Colleges | U.S. News

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