The Dissidents

In this week's episode, Mike and Elizabeth discuss an article that outlines some of the reasons we might choose to quietly or more openly protest wrongdoing within our organizations.  It often seems futile to stay in a partially corrupt institution, even in an attempt to influence reform, but is it really preferable to resign in protest when the move is unlikely to have an impact?  Can we reco...

In this week's episode Mike and Elizabeth discuss a recent journal article about reminders of bias. The authors found that women who read about sexism tended to report lower achievement expectations and career motivation.  Our perspectives and interpretations diverge somewhat from that of the authors.  We evaluate the study design, findings, and implications through the lens of cancel culture,...

Welcome to our the first episode of our monthly series of the Dissidents Podcast on the legacies of black pioneers, brought to you by the Black Institute of Liberal Values (a joint project of Free Black Thought and the Institute for Liberal Values). In this inaugural episode, Winkfield Twyman, Jr & Jennifer Richmond, speak with Bill Paine and Tom Miller, two descendants of the first ordained b...

This week, Mike and Elizabeth ask whether illiberalism is unethical (spoiler alert: we think so)  A couple of brave psychologists recently suggested the same when they advocated for adding the protection and defense of free speech to the American Psychological Association's ethics codes.  We find their premise regarding illiberalism sound, even if their arguments are somewhat weak, and make st...

In this week's episode Mike and Elizabeth talk about personal and institutional neutrality with academic librarian Pam Hayes-Bohanan.  While many of us think about free speech and academic freedom in the abstract, they are concrete and routine considerations for libraries and librarians.  Institutions release statements and professional organizations issue ethical guidelines, but no one knows...

In this week's episode we challenge liberal communicators to make better use of emotional language and imagery to boost their logical arguments.  Mike refers to philosophical and historical references to the conflict between reason and sentimentality.  Elizabeth describes what research in psychology has to say about the the important contributions of the brain's emotional system to everyda...

This week's focus is on research suggesting a link between anti-semitism and a culture of competitive victimhood. Elizabeth and Mike briefly describe research designed to test the hypothesis that the Holocaust serves as a standard for comparing victim status. We consider how the research might help us understand outgroup bias, including anti-semetism, and seemingly inexplicable endorsements of...

n this week's episode, Mike and Elizabeth discuss diversity training, specifically an "Anti-Racist Fight Club" pamphlet, forwarded to us anonymously.  We go through the materials, click on embedded links, and fact check where appropriate. This is a long episode, but it could have easily been longer still. For example, we focused on aspects presented as objective information, but did...

Recent editorial headlines and social media posts suggest the resignation of Harvard's president, combined with shifting public sentiment, are signals that DEI initiatives are losing their grip on education and government. In this week's episode, Mike and Elizabeth discuss why a few small cracks in the DEI facade are unlikely to turn the tide. We are very skeptical that the overall strengt...

This week, Mike and Elizabeth talk about research linking ideology to our habits of attention and memory, including our interpretation of cues related to social status and behaviors.  The episode was recorded before Harvard’s president resigned, but our discussion is relevant to the ongoing controversy about her path to leadership and short lived tenure as president.  The conversation was inspired...

Winkfield Twyman Jr., former law school professor, writer, and Harvard Law School graduate, joins Elizabeth Spievak for a discussion about Claudine Gay.  Wink questions the moral courage of Harvard's president and has called for her resignation.  Gay's recent congressional testimony is discussed as an example of what is a larger problem on college campuses and beyond.  We talk about what i...

This week we talk culture, ideological politics, philosophy, and law with the celebrated author of Cynical Theories (Helen Pluckrose) and the Assistant Director at the Bi Foundation and editor-in-chief of Queer Majority (Rio Veradonir).  Helen and Rio speak with Mike and Elizabeth about challenges to liberalism, past, present, and future. They also share their reasons to celebrate and be hopeful. ...

In this Liberal Conversation series of the Dissident’s Podcast, Mike and James discuss the history of liberalism, how power is abused by those factions traditionally associated with the left and the right and how those labels are themselves arbitrary rather than principled. Institute for Liberal Values

Welcome to the Radical Roots of Ethnic Studies, a series of the Dissidents Podcast， with your co-hosts, Jennifer Richmond and Brandy Shufutinsky. In this series we explore the radical roots of liberated ethnic studies, how extreme ideology is infiltrating our schools with the aim to indoctrinate instead of educate, and our search for solutions to empower parents, teachers and students, giving the...

In this week's podcast Armin Navabi, David Bernstein & Mike Burke discuss homophobia in relation to Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, "pink washing", the future of the two state solution (or lack thereof) and the role that religion plays in how different cultures conceive of power and weakness. Podcast Notes:  Armin Navabi,   “Queers for Palestine” and the Death of Irony — Queer Ma...

In this week's episode, Mike and Elizabeth talk about a report that links receipt of undisclosed foreign donations with the erosion of tolerance on U.S. campuses. Larger donations from Middle Eastern and authoritarian countries appeared especially troublesome. Correlational results indicate that a lack of university transparency about their funding sources was concurrent with reported increase...

Welcome to the Radical Roots of Ethnic Studies, a series of the Dissidents Podcast， with your co-hosts, Jennifer Richmond and Brandy Shufutinsky. In this series we explore the radical roots of liberated ethnic studies, how extreme ideology is infiltrating our schools with the aim to indoctrinate instead of educate, and our search for solutions to empower parents, teachers and students, giving the...

In this week's episode, Mike and Elizabeth go back to basics with a discussion about balance. We begin and end with contemporary challenges to balance in our personal and professional lives, particularly those posed by DEI initiatives.  Sandwiched between is a deep dive on balance in international relations, with a focus on the Middle East.  Mike employs his background and training to take us...

In this week's episode ILV fellows Mike, Elizabeth, and James discuss position statements and ILV's commitment to liberal conversations. First, Mike talks with Elizabeth who argues that organizational statements are of little practical use and may jeopardize the non-partisan and non-sectarian missions of consortiums like ILV.  In the second part of the podcast, Mike and James continue to d...

Channy Chhi Laux joins us to discuss her perspectives on communism, free speech, individual rights and responsibilities, and contemporary challenges to liberal values. Channy was just 13 when the Khmer Rouge seized Cambodia in 1975. She endured 4 years of starvation, forced labor, and disease before arriving in Lincoln, Nebraska as a Cambodian refugee who spoke no English and who had been denied 4...

On October the 5th Brandy Shufutinsky, David Bernstein and Mike Burke met to discuss the growing problem of antisemitism on both the political left and right. Little could any of them know what was about to happen just a couple of days later on October the 7th, which was the worst attack on the Jewish people, since the Holocaust. In an addendum to the original recording, made just a few days later...

Welcome to the Radical Roots of Ethnic Studies, a series of the Dissidents Podcast, with your co-hosts, Jennifer Richmond and Brandy Shufutinsky. In this series we explore the radical roots of liberated ethnic studies, how extreme ideology is infiltrating our schools with the aim to indoctrinate instead of educate, and our search for solutions to empower parents, teachers and students, giving them...

In this week's podcast Elizabeth Weiss, Professor of Anthropology and fellow at the Center for Academic Pluralism, joins us to talk about bones!  We discuss research ethics, respect for artifacts, the preservation of research materials, and academic freedom in anthropology and beyond. Current and future access to documents, laboratory spaces, databases, and physical objects are at risk. Also a...

Executive Director of Speech First, Cherise Trump, and Elizabeth Spievak discuss the state of free speech on college campuses.  Cherise gives us an overview of her work at Speech First to promote open discourse as an essential component of a comprehensive education. We talk about the importance of being exposed to different and challenging ideas to build strength and resilience, as well as the dif...

In this week's podcast, Mike and Elizabeth discuss an article about the responsibility of journalists in reporting, specifically reports about the war in Ukraine.  The authors suggest that consumers of the news may be traumatized by seeing 24/7 coverage, perhaps even more traumatized and demoralized than those who are living in a war zone. The description of potential harm and the fragility of...