EP 716 Remaking Colleges and Universities for the Digital World
Disruption is the name of the game in so many corners of our economy including music, video entertainment, and other communications sectors, and our guest argues in this podcast that higher education is not, and cannot, be immune from it. It is too expensive, too exclusionary and a key reason for yawning gaps in income inequality. Wealthy parents, often providing legacy admissions opportunities for their children, wall themselves in to the college experience, while walling others out. The prevailing philosophy of ‘scarcity’ in higher education is outmoded when considering that great scholarship can be delivered to many excluded segments of the population through abundant digital technologies. Thus Michael D. Smith calls his compelling new book “The Abundant University.” The pandemic may or may not have offered us a good glimpse into the future. Granted it was rushed and hastily put together, but the change it signaled can be the basis to find new forms of learning which involve it exclusively, in some cases, and as a hybrid experience, both on line and in classes which require hands on instruction. Is a lecture hall with 200 students any different than learning on your computer? And don’t we all turn to you tube and other sites for instruction daily? It’s a fascinating topic and we explore it today.
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I remember a popular song back in the day whose title was “If Loving You is Wrong I Don’t Want to Be Right” and while that was about love, how is it that we in this society almost 50 years later have transferred that concept to our politics? Are we really that isolated and disconnected with other people, that we need to join a political team, on line or in our imagination, to feel a sense of belonging? What happened to church groups, fraternal organizations or softball teams? In the book “Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive Our Appetite for Misinformation,” Dannagal Goldthwaite Young, a professor of political science and communication at the University of Delaware, tries to explain why this is happening. Her conclusion is that if being wrong allows us to comprehend the world, have control over it and connect with our community all in service to our political team, then we don’t want to be right. Like advertising honchos figured out a long time ago, those psychological needs can drive us to want a product that might not benefit us, or in this case, our country, at all. A new way of looking at our polarized America today on the podcast.
Given the impacts of climate change, aging demographics, and a growing middle class around the globe, the world finds itself at a crossroads. Superpowers, like United States, will have to demonstrate their ability to change and adapt in the coming period in order to maintain their status. As far as America goes, the process is achievable, and perhaps we are best positioned to compete and win. Given our internal political dysfunction, it will not be easy. We will have to accept a new reality of vertical re-alignment based on the effects of climate change, particularly on our Central and South American neighbors. Absorption of young people who will continue to stream across our borders, from southern climes, will be necessary. And while this does not seem feasible, given today’s politics, our guest suggests that what we today fear most may soon become an inevitability. And a welcome one, at that. Thomas P.M. Barnett is one of America’s most respected national security strategists, and he proves his alacrity at seeing the world as it is and will be in his latest book, “America’s New Map: Restoring Our Global Leadership in an Era of Climate Change and Demographic Collapse.” You will want to hear his fascinating perspectives.
You may have thought that getting your child through those tough teenage years meant the end of your full immersion parenting, but after listening to this podcast, you may want to think again. In fact, with new brain research and a host of changes in our economy and society, your child may need you more in their 20’s and 30’s than they did in their teenage years. Laurence Steinberg, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Temple University, and author of “You and Your Adult Child: How to Grow Together in Challenging Times” offers a new blueprint for our responsibility as parents going forward in our children’s lives. We may not be prepared for the dual responsibility of providing enough support while recognizing their need for autonomy as they blaze their singular path in the adult world. Issues like finances, their choice of romantic partners and later their approach to parenting require a delicate balance as you assess what help they might need and how to provide it. We’ll share ideas as he does in his book that few psychologists, heretofore, have taken on. Previously, writings in this field have focused on estrangement between parents and adult children. While he addresses that important topic, his work goes far beyond that.
Our guest likes to compare and contrast this moment in history with the Gilded Age of the Industrial Revolution, when robber barons pillaged the economic landscape with impunity. At some point when the spoils all went to the top, when labor was exploited and the excesses became too apparent to all, the government stopped being a spectator and developed antitrust law and regulatory oversight. Rather than thwarting capitalism, these government guardrails produced better results for industry, consumers and workers. We’re at that moment again, he says, with the digital economy and that regulatory framework, while different than the one governing our industrial development, must happen soon. AI is about to turbocharge whatever your grievances are with the dominant players in the digital space–the owners creating the rules, infringements on privacy, vast accumulation of wealth for a few, and rampant disinformation. Tom Wheeler, the former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, makes a compelling case for the reassertion of the public interest in our new economy in his book, “Techlash: Who Makes the Rules in the Digital Gilded Age?” He writes clearly on a host of topics that fall in this space and articulates them succinctly on this podcast.
I don’t know how many trips you take in a year, but it’s difficult for me to imagine having the time, energy or resources to travel to EVERY country in the world, even over a half century of excursions. Our guest has done just that. Boris Kester, author of “The Long Road to Cullaville:Stories From My Travels to Every Country in the World,”documents a small number of the visits to the 193 countries in the world in this beautifully written love letter to exploring new cultures, meeting new people, seeing breathtaking landscapes and having an number of heart in hand adventures. His passion for travel and exploration is contagious though it is hard to match his enthusiasm for picking up and going more days each year than he is at home. He is one of only 250 people in the world who can lay claim to having done this and we were able to get him to sit down long enough to record this podcast
It’s hard to have a conversation with a friend or colleague where the issue of sleep doesn’t come up. In most cases, you’ll hear people say there’s is not restful and they are trying a range of things, from a new mattress to meditation or white noise to address it. Some may describe a medical condition, like sleep apnea, requiring a mask and other paraphenalia to accomplish a good night’s rest. Dr. Abhinav Singh’s new book, “Sleep to Heal: 7 Simple Steps to Better Sleep” is a great guide to determining what routines and practices you can undertake to get a better night’s sleep. He will also convince you, if you’re not already, that it is key to living a better, long life. Along with exercise and nutrition it makes up the third pillar of health and is not to be taken lightly. In fact, he might suggest you get yourself to a sleep clinic, overseen by a medical doctor like him, if your case is severe and protracted and not just occasional restless sleep. It’s a fascinating topic and we delve into a range of nuances. His lively presentation will assure you stay awake for the entire conversation.
The words we hear from Israeli government and military officials is that the end game is to rid Gaza of Hamas, the terrorist group that runs it and committed unspeakable atrocities against Israeli citizens on October 7. Yet, if history is a guide, the overwhelming military response now being visited upon Hamas, and civilians who cannot get out of the way, by Israel Defense Forces may have the opposite effect and breed a new generation of terrorists, thus allowing the cycle of violence to erupt again and again. Our guest today, Robert Pape feels that Israel is undertaking this campaign with military tactics, but should be approaching it with a political strategy. Robert Pape, a professor of political science and director of the University of Chicago Project on Security and Threats, has a four-pronged approach which he offers toward the end of our conversation which he feels might pave the road to a more lasting peace. The whole exchange is really worth a listen. Much history is shared to give context to what you are seeing.
Fake on-line reviews permeate every sector of commerce, from the purchase of hard goods to the doctor you to choose, to the restaurant you try, to the plumber who has five stars. Does he really? It’s a complex web of lies that has developed in this vital space for e-commerce. Finally, the federal government, under the auspices of the Federal Trade Commission, is going about the process of rule making in this area because the bad practices are costing all of us money as we blindly believe that ‘fellow customers’ experiences’ are what they say they are, when in truth, they are not. There are all kinds of deceptive practices, too numerous and complex to describe, which result in fake reviews, payment for positive reviews, and the suppressing of negative reviews. Isn’t this fraud and shouldn’t government hold people to account? The question is who should that be? The tech companies, like Google and Yelp, for example, the platforms on which products are sold, like Amazon, or the sellers themselves? Kay Dean, who founded fakereviewwatch.com, helps us unpack a world we better begin to understand or expect disappointment given the ever increasing dependence we place on on-line reviews. She is an invaluable resource in this space.
Forty countries around the world had a majority of their populations living in cities in 1960, whereas today that figure is more than one hundred. And that trajectory is projected to continue in dramatic fashion throughout the century, in both developed and developing nations. For the first time in human history half of humanity lives in cities. Will those cities continue to be the epicenters of our greatest achievements or will they be riven with strife, division and growing inequality? The answer lies in our ability to remake much about cities to avoid the worst impacts of many people in relatively dense centers, including pandemics and the effects of climate change. Our guest, visionary Oxford professor, Ian Goldin, and his co-author, Tom Lee-Devlin of the prestigious Economist Magazine, having written “Age of the City: Why Our Future Will Be Won or Lost Together” are betting on the resilience and creativity of the urban environment, historically and in the present, to win the day. Let’s hope they’re right.