UNDER THE RADAR with Host Frank Fear

One hundred four years ago—on July 26, 1920, to be specific—cultural critic and journalist H.L. Mencken wrote a column in The Baltimore Sun entitled Bayard and Lionheart .   I read that column during college, never thinking I would draw from it years later in my work. That work included writing a commentary, which was published in LA Progressive a few months after Donald Trump took office in 2017....

Dennis (Denny) Brown had a fabulous career spanning multiple pursuits. He was a star high school athlete, an All-Big Ten quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines, a UM assistant coach, WVU Defensive Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach, Arizona State Defensive Coordinator, high school head coach and administrator, and U of Michigan assistant athletic director. Denny Brown was a difference-maker no matt...

We are pleased today to welcome Christopher Snyder , professor of history and founding dean of Mississippi State’s Honor College, who is joining us from the University of Oxford, where he is a visiting research fellow and working on a book manuscript associated with today’s topic. Professor Snyder will speak today on the principles of a liberal arts education, drawing in his talk on an article pub...

Taped on September 12, 2023

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In 2020, I referred to Samuel H. Johnson as a Renaissance Person . By that, I mean a person with wide-ranging interests/knowledge who draws on both attributes to create new and valuable things for public consumption. That description fits Sam to a "T." He has been a radio host, award-winning public TV producer, Hollywood actor, activist, trailblazing Federal staff writer, and (in retirem...

The title of this episode was written by today's guest, Jim Holland. The words are drawn from the end of his memorable autobiography, My Fortunate Detour: Making a Right Turn into a Baseball Career Among the Mountains of West Virginia . The book describes how Holland made a "fortunate detour" from a general business career into an executive management career in minor league baseball....

Thousands of West Virginia University sports fans know the name Mark Parsons because they see his name just about every day in their Facebook newsfeeds. That's because Mark is a prolific poster on various Facebook pages and groups of news, views, and commentary about WVU sports. While many fans know him by name, many aren't as familiar with the person behind the feed. That's the purpos...

Our guest today is Professor Ellen Schrecker, and she will speak on highly concerning issues in higher education today--the impacts of fiscal austerity, political repression, and the diatribe regarding academic freedom. For over fifty years, American higher education has been attacked by a powerful right-wing network of libertarian billionaires, ideologues, and ambitious politicians engaged in rol...

Greg Crist is one of the most recognizable names in West Virginia sports, the host of COURTSIDE WITH COACH CRIST on the New River Network @newrivernetwork5468, and a member of the West Virginia Sports Legends Hall of Fame. Greg was gracious enough to promote efforts surrounding the publication of Frank Fear's  Band of Brothers, Then and Now: The Inspiring Story of the 1966-70 WVU Football Moun...

Our guest today is Professor Kirsty Morrin. Rather than view entrepreneurship as a uniformly positive concept/practice, something that is beyond the need for investigation and evaluation, Professor Morrin critically examines a subject matter and approach that has become a movement (if not rage) in higher education. Today, colleges and universities worldwide offer entrepreneurship majors, minors, a...

We welcome guest speaker John W. Traphagan to our audio series. Today's presentation, Neoliberalism and the Quantification of Quality in Higher Education is based on his recently published  FutureU  commentary,  So You Want to be a University Administrator?   Professor Traphagan analyzes the ongoing infusion of metrics into all aspects of “measuring” quality in higher education. From course su...

For those of us who have long been concerned about the neoliberalization of North American and other universities, now is a particularly disheartening time. Not only do longstanding issues of managerialism, commercialization, audit culture, surveillance, precarity, and others persist, but there are renewed assaults on tenure, academic freedom, and the discussion – let alone remediation – of inequa...

The Political Right has Public Higher Education in its sights. A series of actions undertaken by Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature lead the way, and similar actions are underway in North Carolina, Virginia, Texas, and Ohio, among other states. The legislative overreach includes reconstituting governing boards, restricting/delisting campus-based Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI...

The drive for attention is central to the quest for success as colleges and universities compete for students, faculty, and funding. The branding/marketing mania is reaching into the faculty, too. Many colleagues feel increasing pressure to generate attention and visibility for their work, and they find that intellectual humility has become a hindrance. Academic work has always been based on balan...

Jim Carlen, head football coach at West Virginia, Texas Tech, and South Carolina, 1966-1981) is on this year's ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame . Leadership set Jim Carlen apart, not just leadership in the football sense, but in terms of leadership writ large. Carlen was adept at doing the things that great leaders do, including visioning, personnel selection/deployment,...

Mike Balow will be on the November 2022 ballot in Michigan (statewide) as a candidate for the MSU Board of Trustees. In this 40-minute podcast, Mike talks about his background, why he decided to run, and what he hopes to accomplish should he be elected. Mike has lived most of his life in Michigan. He is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and a military veteran who served overseas. A family man, busines...

It is impossible to describe Cassidy Krug without using the word "success." A high-profile athlete in the sport of diving, Cassidy was an All-America (high school and college), a 10-time national champion, a member of Team USA, and a participant in the 2012 London Olympics. But when you listen to Cassidy talk about how and why success came her way, you will be hard-pressed to hear the word "me." I...

When it comes to social issues, America isn't willing to do what needs to be done. Instead, America puts individual rights over social responsibilities and elevates "me" over "we." Even trying to change that formula elicits calls of radical, socialist, and un-American. So we have racism, a gun problem, and segregated cities--three things that came together in Buffalo, New York, and a murderer took...

With sociopolitical identities on steroids these days, the overarching proposition is us versus them, and heaven help those who seek to bridge the political divide. How did we get here and what can be done? We'll tackle that question with the help of Cassandra and an Old Testament story, the Tower of Babel.

Here is my review of the film Master (2022), written and directed by Mariama Diallo, produced by Animal Kingdom/Big Indie Pictures, and distributed by Amazon Studios. Starring Regina Hall, Zoe Renee, and Amber Gray the film focuses on the cutural and social dynamics facing three African American women at an elite college. "It is a tricky proposition to be "in" but not "of" an oppressive culture—to...

Larry Busch delivered this keynote address at the conference Neoliberalism and Public Higher Education, which was held at Michigan State University on March 27-28, 2015. Professor Busch, who held the title of distinguished professor, passed away in December 2019. “Thank you for all the moments that have made my life an excellent one.” Larry wrote a few days before he passed away. We say the same t...

In this episode, Distinguished Professor Emeritus Levin (University of California, Riverside) draws on his work, including his article with Aida Aliyeva, “Embedded Neoliberalism within Faculty Behaviors," published in The Review of Higher Education, and his book with Marie C. Martin and Ariadna I. López Damián, "University Management, the Academic Profession, and Neoliberalism" (SUNY Press). The p...

When it comes to March Madness, I focus exclusively on Mid-Major teams that might spring first-round upsets. Here’s how I did this year. (Cover photo, Getty Images; basketball stats cited in this audiocast courtesy of NCAA NET, ESPN, and Caesars Sportsbook)

Terry Gallagher, community developer and activist, cared deeply about County Mayo Ireland and its people. I was blessed to work and learn from him. Terry passed away in February 2022 at 89 years, a month shy of his 90th birthday. This audio was to have been part of Terry's birthday celebration. Now it is my memorial to him. So here are my reflections on Terry's life--a life lived with purpose, pas...