The barbarians inside the campus gates | Yascha Mounk

·18 min·1 clip

Why do only one in three Americans now trust higher education, and what role do campus conflicts play?

The episode is an interview between Fraser Myers, Deputy Editor of Spiked, and Yascha Mounk, editor of Persuasion and author of The Identity Trap. Mounk begins by discussing a 'vibe shift' against woke ideas, noting that extreme positions like defunding the police have receded and criticism is more acceptable, but he cautions this change is exaggerated. He explains that many in left-leaning institutions lack an alternative worldview to identitarianism. The conversation turns to how Trump's re-election might impact this dynamic. Mounk worries that reforms in universities, such as moving away from mandatory diversity statements, will be stalled as left identitarians label any change as a surrender to Trump, pulling in center-left professors. He argues that left identitarianism and right-wing populism politically strengthen each other, creating a pendulum effect. Myers asks about cancel culture, and Mounk notes it hasn't disappeared, citing examples like students having visas revoked for views on Palestine and the firing of a Columbia Journalism Review editor. When asked if Trump's administration helps free speech, Mounk says it hasn't been useful, criticizing its approach to universities as merely imposing its own views and weakening institutions rather than countering ideological coercion. They discuss student protests since October 7, with Mounk seeing a mix of humanitarian concern and radical extremism, and he emphasizes the need for consistent free speech rules that universities have failed to enforce. Finally, they examine the term 'woke right,' with Mounk finding it politically generative for highlighting cancel instincts on the right but overstating structural similarities to left identitarianism's specific ideology.

As heard by us

Yascha Mounk links campus speech fights to executive power while probing the limits of the phrase "woke right."

The episode tracks the collapse of trust in American higher education, tying it to campus encampments, penalties for unpopular speech, and a political feedback loop in which left identitarianism and right-wing populism end up reinforcing each other.

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Want to understand why trust in US universities has fallen to about one in three Americans?

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