Radio Free Campus

Are the new university civics centers the key to solving the intellectual diversity crisis in higher education? In this episode of Radio Free Campus , podcast co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison talk with Lee Strang, executive director of the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at The Ohio State University, about how university-based civics centers are at the forefront o...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, podcast co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison talk with Lauren Noble, founder and executive director of the Buckley Institute, about Yale's strengths and weaknesses when it comes to promoting free speech and intellectual diversity. Steve and Justin also discuss how a recent Yale report on trust in higher education could generate much needed campus freedom...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison discuss Israel-Palestine controversies, the coddling of students' minds, and AI resistance at various 2026 graduation ceremonies. Steve and Justin also announce Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier as this episode's "Hero of the People" and Penn State Dickinson Law School as RFC's "Apparatchik of the Mont...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, podcast co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison talk with Benjamin Crocker, University Dean at the University of Austin (UATX), about UATX's founding mission, its early successes as a new university, and how UATX sees itself as offering a compelling alternative to what students get from most American universities today. Want to join ACTA's Webinar on Intell...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison analyze an argument from a Harvard Law Professor claiming efforts to deplatform invited campus speakers are not always censorship, but could be . . . "pre-emptive protest"? The podcast hosts also discuss the results of ACTA's Ohio Report Card, a study of policies and student perspectives on the free expression climate...

Episode Description: In this episode of Radio Free Campus, co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison analyze a new policy on teaching controversial topics in the University of Texas System. The podcast hosts also discuss what a new survey from Gallup/Lumina reveals about student free speech experiences on their campuses. Steve and Justin also debate an article from Inside Higher Ed that provides...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, podcast co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison talk with John Tomasi, President of the Heterodox Academy (HxA) and co-editor of the new book Viewpoint Diversity: What It Is, Why We Need It, and How to Get It , about what viewpoint diversity means (and doesn't mean), where it is lacking on American campuses today, and what people can do to increase viewpoin...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, podcast co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison talk with Sam Abrams, a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, about the explosion of antisemitism on American college campuses and what campus officials and political leaders should be doing about it. Find Dr. Abrams' recent article on how DEI is bad...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison talk about academic freedom and the Univ. of Arkansas rescinding a job offer for dean of the law school after complaints from state lawmakers about the candidate's legal work. The podcast hosts also discuss how Texas A&M has damaged its reputation by censoring Plato. Steve and Justin also announce Haverford College as...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, podcast co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison talk with Marty Kotis, a trustee at UNC Chapel Hill, about how trustee leadership has strengthened free expression and intellectual diversity on campus. Website: https://www.goacta.org/ Campus Freedom Initiative: https://www.goacta.org/campus-freedom-initiative/ Steve McGuire: https://www.goacta.org/staff/stev...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison talk about how a recent Wall Street Journal  article criticizing institutional neutrality makes the same mistakes as previous objections to such policies. The podcast hosts also discuss a recent article in Compact  about a distinguished professor leaving Harvard for the greater intellectual diversity and rigor of the...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison discuss the past, present, and future of academic freedom with David Rabban, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law and author of the book Academic Freedom: From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right . Steve and Justin also discuss academic freedom controversies such as the University of Oklahoma's...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison discuss pandemonium at U.C. Berkeley as Antifa tries to shut down a TPUSA event. They interview Sarah McLaughlin of FIRE to talk about her new book, Authoritarians in the Academy , which documents the ways foreign governments such as China and Qatar try to suppress free speech and academic freedom at American universi...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison discuss the Trump administration's Compact for Excellence in Higher Education. Steve also talks about diversity of thought and campus freedom with Josh Dunn, the director of the Institute of American Civics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Last but never least, Steve and Justin announce their latest "Hero of...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison discuss the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk and what his murder might mean for the future of free expression in higher education. They interview ACTA President and CEO Michael Poliakoff about the perils we face and how we can all help de-escalate the tensions roiling America. Steve and Justin introduce ACTA's new...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison talk with MIT philosopher Alex Byrne about efforts to cancel him for thinking differently about gender and sexuality—and then having the audacity to lend his expertise to the Department of Health and Human Services! Also, they discuss Columbia's settlement with the Trump administration, Attorney General Pam Bondi's re...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison discuss the recent annual meeting of the Heterodox Academy in Brooklyn, NY, Harvard's claim that it wants to build a new center that can boost viewpoint diversity, and the perpetual security threats faced by the University of Michigan's Regents. They also discuss the nuclear meltdown of the University of Tulsa's Honor...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison discuss Trump v. Harvard as well as . . . DEI for conservatives? Also in the episode, Steve and Justin welcome Eric Kaufmann of the University of Buckingham to discuss viewpoint diversity in higher education, as well as the need to support heterodox social science teaching and research. Finally, RFC announces its late...

In this episode of Radio Free Campus, co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison discuss the amazing work done by the University of Michigan Board of Regents to improve campus freedom. They also talk about the most recent campus protests at Columbia University and beyond. They also welcome John D. Sailer of the Manhattan Institute to discuss the DEI pipeline in faculty hiring. Finally, Steve and J...