NeoAcademia

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Today I’m joined by Matt McManus lecturer at University of Michigan and author The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism: Neoliberalism, Post-Modern Culture, and Reactionary Politics . Matt is an interesting thinker who is know for reading his opposition more carefully than most. I really like this about Matt, and I think we should all be reading works and having conversations with about topics on whic...

**December 2024! Lol It's been too long regardless. Check out the video version and the notes.

On this episode of NeoAcademia, Danna Young and Natasha Mott discuss misinformation, censorship, free speech, memes, and more in the context of Danna's book Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive our Appetite for Misinformation .. There was a pretty big audio issue which spurred me to start thinking about these episodes differently. This is still under the realm of podcasts, but I may swit...

On this episode of NeoAcademia Michael and I discussed society’s perception of science and his book The Knowledge Machine. Michael is a professor of philosophy at NYU Micahel keeps pretty busy working on complex systems, probabilities, causation, and the philosophy of science, the sociology of science. Subscribe to the Newsletter f or show notes, the Big Nerve link, and more. Video episode availab...

This week I talked with Freddie DeBoer a writer and self-proclaimed “old-school” Marxist. For more on Freddie and much more check out the newsletter!

I had a blast talking with Erik Hoel about his new book The World Behind the World. Erik writes a popular substack called The Intrinsic Perspective, and he’s also written a novel, but this episode focuses on his first nonfiction book, where he explains his theory of casual emergence and where the field of consciousness is today. Check out the newsletter for more links and notes.

I had the pleasure of hanging out with Geoffrey West talking science, misinformation, laws of scale, Casablanca -- and we had a blast. Geoffrey is a theoretical physicist who is questioning universal laws of Scale (also the title of his book), and he relates these laws to our everyday life which is no small feat for someone studying elementary particles. For show notes, more on Geoffrey, and the B...

This week my guest is Jason Snyder, a cofounder of the Doomer Optimism movement and faculty member in the Department of Sustainable Development at Appalachian State. We talked about the concept of Doomer Optimism the future of practical skills, education, and what that means in local and cosmolocal communities. Jason had a great perspective on the galaxy brain-like tendencies of intellectual ideas...

This week I invited evolutionary biologist, writer, and co-host of the Dark Horse podcast, Heather Heying, to discuss what it means to do science now, what it meant in the past, and how we educate those who will do it in the future. For more on Heather, show notes, and the Big Nerve challenge question subscribe to the Theory Gang Newsletter.

Welcome back to NeoAcademia! Today, I’m joined by Adam Mastioanni. Adam is a post-doc at Columbia business school, but most people know Adam from his blog Experimental History . He’s an incredible writer, comedian, and psychologist who just happens also to be a Rhodes Scholar. For more on Adam and this episode's Big Nerve question check out the full show notes !

NeoAcademia is a biweekly exploration of the shifting walls of the ivory tower. For the final episode of our inaugural season, I explored the psychology of social media as it pertains to academia with psychologist Steve Rathje, Ph. D. Steve is a postdoctoral fellow at NYU in the social identity and morality lab of Jay Van Bavel. His research centers on social media, and polarization - and his own...

NeoAcademia is a biweekly exploration of the shifting walls of the ivory tower. This week I explored The Paper Belt on Fire with author/venture capitalist/renegade philosopher Michael Gibson. Michael is the co-founder of the 1517 Fund, a venture capital fund investing in teams led by dropouts, and renegade scientists who reject the standard notion of academic credentials. Before that he was vice p...

NeoAcademia is a biweekly exploration of the shifting walls of the ivory tower. Natasha explores the existential crisis of the modern university with Dr. Adam Sitze. Adam shares his expertise on law, jurisprudence, and social thought as it pertains to the intergenerational exchange of ideas. Subscribe to the NeoAcademia newsletter for a special giveaway, show notes, bonus content, and a curated co...

This week I had a lively debate about academic freedom with a friend from the Heterodox Academy Writer’s group John K. Wilson. John is the author of eight books, co-organizer of the Chicago Book Expo and the Evanston Literary Festival, and co-editor of AcademeBlog.org . For more on John, bonus content, and detailed show notes subscribe to the Theory Gang newsletter.

This week I sat down with John Gibbs to talk about academic populism. John is one of the hosts of the Spinoza Triad podcast and the Morning Break on Teachers Talk radio. John recently retired from a 40-year career as a lecturer at various institutions in the US and UK with research interests in international relations, populism, and the rise of authoritarianism. He also fancies himself a stand-up...

This week I sat down with Tani Berlo and talked about how she’s crafting a NeoAcademic career that combines her passion for history and her business acumen. Tani’s makes bite-sized hot girl history clips for her 800k TikTok followers, but she also gives monthly lectures for her History Club patreons exploring ancient civilizations. For more on Tani check out the show notes.

NeoAcademia is a biweekly exploration of the shifting walls of the ivory tower. This week Natasha explores the utility of conspiracies with science historian and best-selling author Michael Shermer. Michael's new book Conspiracy lays out the research on conspiracies and those who theorize. He provides some explanations for why we believe seemingly irrational things and encourages us to understand...

NeoAcademia is a biweekly exploration of the shifting walls of the ivory tower. This week Natasha plays with speculative ideas in science publishing with the man behind the pseudonym Roger’s Bacon. He’s an evolutionary biologist, former high school science teacher, and founder of Seeds of Science a new scientific journal publishing speculative or non-traditional articles with community-based peer...

NeoAcademia is a biweekly exploration of the shifting walls of the ivory tower. Natasha asks Dr. Todd Kashdan about applying Art of Insubordination to the university. Todd shares insights on how to be a Principled Rebel that can stand up to social pressure and fix problems. For more on Todd check out his newsletter, Provoked. Subscribe to the NeoAcademia newsletter for a special giveaway, show not...

NeoAcademia is a biweekly exploration of the shifting walls of the ivory tower. Natasha is joined by Gregory B. Sadler (Greg, if you’re besties) who has made hits like Half Hour Hegel and Nicomachean Ethics . I found Greg, like most people, searching for answers…and a (slightly) abbreviated explanation of complex philosophical topics, and I reached out to him because he seems like a dude who puts...

Natasha and Mario dig into Readocracy, a company that gives people credit for the quality information they consume online. They discuss misinformation, academic competition, and secrecy, our “information diet”, the pollution of the information commons, how Readocracy incentivizes informed discussion, tech companies handling information, the creator economy, and much more. For bonus content, show n...

Join Dr. Natasha Mott as she explores the changing atmosphere of the Ivory Tower.