Shep Melnick on the Civil Rights State (Abridged)

This is an abridged, 20-minute excerpt of the original, one hour and twenty-five minute interview with Boston College professor of political science Shep Melnick posted yesterday for paid subscribers only. It is the first episode of the subscriber-only Syllabus series. Become a paid subscriber to hear the rest of this episode and maintain access to a growing archive of independent study sessions.

This is the inaugural episode of the Syllabus series, wherein I do a deep dive into a subject with a distinguished academic who provides me with a syllabus and does an independent study with me that will be posted at Year Zero for paid subscribers. Each episode will begin with a short lecture on the assigned reading, followed by a discussion in which I act as surrogate for the audience.

Here I am talking to Boston College law professor Shep Melnick about his book, The Transformation of Title IX, which is a kind of Rosetta Stone of the legal and administrative regime that serves as the font from which Successor Ideology flows. It is one of the most important single works for those seeking an understanding of the intellectual history of the Road to Year Zero.

Next episode we’ll be reading Robert A. Kagan’s essay “Adversarial Legalism and American Government.”

A full transcript of our conversation is available for paid subscribers. Listen on Substack or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts: Apple | Spotify | Google | RSS.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wesleyyang.substack.com/subscribe