Undisciplined Podcast The Public Intellectual w/ Daniel Bessner
Nov 29, 2021
Dan Bessner, historian at the University of Washington and co-host of American Prestige, explores the century of public intellectuals shaping transatlantic and U.S. foreign policy. He discusses how émigré scholars transformed American academia, the rise of quantitative IR, and why qualitative history and philosophy matter for climate and democracy. He also questions institutional capacities and the prospects for meaningful political change.
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Bessner's Academic Journey
- Danny Bessner studied at Columbia and the Jewish Theological Seminary and initially intended to study European history.
- He shifted toward transatlantic history through a biography of Hans Speier and retained a long-standing interest in foreign policy.
Two Public-Intellectual Roles
- Academics in the public sphere split into advisors and decision-makers who shape policy differently.
- Expertise needs democratic accountability so experts do not insulate policy from public values.
Exiles Remade American Social Science
- The 1930s–40s exile influx made Weber, Durkheim, Freud and critical theory central to US social science.
- Emigre scholars also pushed quantitative, positivist methods into American institutions like Columbia.
