Heterodox Out Loud

After several years of one-on-one interviews with thinkers, scholars, and leaders working on the questions that matter most for higher education, Heterodox Out Loud is entering a new chapter. Going forward, Heterodox Out Loud will become the audio home for the conversations, webinars, and panel discussions we host as part of Heterodox Academy's virtual events. That means more voices in each episode, more back and forth, and more of the live exchange happening across the HxA membership. Thanks for listening. The work continues, and there is a lot more of it to share.Learn more about Heterodox Academy: heterodoxacademy.orgBecome a member: heterodoxacademy.org/become-a-memberUpcoming HxA events: heterodoxacademy.org/events Follow Heterodox Academy on:Twitter: https://bit.ly/3Fax5DyFacebook: https://bit.ly/3PMYxfwLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/48IYeuJInstagram: https://bit.ly/46HKfUgSubstack: https://bit.ly/48IhjNF 🔗 Find out more about Heterodox Academy at: https://linktr.ee/heterodoxoutloud

What makes a university essential to a democratic society?   Political theorist, classicist, and author Danielle Allen joins John Tomasi to explore the deep connections between democracy, disagreement, and higher education.   Drawing on her new book, The Radical Duke, Allen traces the origins of modern constitutional democracy to a network of radical thinkers in eighteenth-century Britain who fought for free expression, political transparency, and popular sovereignty. Their struggles, she argues, offer important lessons for the challenges facing democratic institutions today.   The conversation then turns to the modern university, Allen and Tomasi examine whether universities occupy a unique place in democratic life. They discuss why disagreement is essential to both truth-seeking and self-government, how institutions can create space for productive conflict, and what responsibilities colleges and universities have in preserving the civic capacities on which democracy depends.   In This Episode: 💥 The forgotten British origins of modern democracy 💥 The Radical Duke and the fight for political transparency 💥 How Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine emerged from the same intellectual movement 💥 Why free societies depend on disagreement 💥 Ruth Simmons' vision of the university as a place of "quarrel and opposition" 💥 The relationship between democracy and open inquiry 💥 Scientific consensus, dissent, and truth-seeking 💥 Why universities need spaces for constrained disagreement 💥 How institutions shape civic culture and democratic norms 💥 The unique role of higher education in sustaining a free society   About Danielle Allen: Danielle Allen is the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard and Director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation and the Democratic Knowledge Project-Learn. A political philosopher and tech ethicist, she is a contributing columnist for The Atlantic and the 2020 Library of Congress Kluge Prize recipient for her work in political theory and civic education.   Her current work focuses on democracy renovation through institutional redesign and civic empowerment. She has authored several books, including Justice by Means of Democracy and the widely acclaimed Our Declaration. Her upcoming biography of an 18th-century reformer, The Radical Duke, is scheduled for release in 2026.   Beyond academia, Allen co-chairs the American Academy of Arts and Sciences' Our Common Purpose commission and leads the board at Partners In Democracy, advocating for a more inclusive social contract and robust democracy reform.   Follow Danielle: https://x.com/dsallentess Follow Heterodox Academy on:Twitter: https://bit.ly/3Fax5DyFacebook: https://bit.ly/3PMYxfwLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/48IYeuJInstagram: https://bit.ly/46HKfUgSubstack: https://bit.ly/48IhjNF 🔗 Find out more about Heterodox Academy at: https://linktr.ee/heterodoxoutloud

What's actually wrong with the modern university?   Today on Heterodox Out Loud, renowned legal scholar and public intellectual Cass Sunstein joins John Tomasi to examine one of the most important, and contentious, questions in higher education today.   Drawing on his decades of experience at institutions including the University of Chicago and Harvard, Sunstein reflects on what universities get right, where they fall short, and why debates over viewpoint diversity have become so central to the future of academic life.   Offering both philosophical reflection and practical insight, Sunstein explores the tensions between academic freedom and institutional accountability, the role of administrators in shaping intellectual culture, and why ideological homogeneity may pose risks even when everyone involved is acting in good faith.   Chapters: 00:00 Why Viewpoint Diversity Matters 01:40 Cass Sunstein’s University of Chicago Experience 08:39 The Great Fact: Why Academia Became More Ideologically One-Sided 14:14 Should Universities Reflect America’s Political Diversity? 20:23 Academic Freedom, Groupthink, and the Limits of Expertise 28:47 Faculty Hiring, Administrators, and Viewpoint Diversity 36:37 Social Media, Self-Censorship, and Hidden Campus Views 44:08 Harvard, DEI, and the Future of Faculty Hiring 50:08 Group Polarization and the Future of Higher Education 54:10 Why Viewpoint Diversity Matters for Truth-Seeking   In This Episode: 💥 What made the University of Chicago's intellectual culture so distinctive 💥 The "great fact" of ideological change in higher education 💥 Why viewpoint diversity is harder to define than most people assume 💥 The limits of proportional representation as a solution 💥 Academic freedom, expertise, and departmental autonomy 💥 Whether administrators should influence faculty hiring 💥 The relationship between viewpoint diversity and educational quality 💥 The spiral of silence and hidden disagreement on campus 💥 Group polarization and academic culture 💥 What universities need to do to better serve students and society   Follow Cass: https://x.com/CassSunstein Follow Heterodox Academy on:Twitter: https://bit.ly/3Fax5DyFacebook: https://bit.ly/3PMYxfwLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/48IYeuJInstagram: https://bit.ly/46HKfUgSubstack: https://bit.ly/48IhjNF 🔗 Find out more about Heterodox Academy at: https://linktr.ee/heterodoxoutloud

Is the very field that studies groupthink falling victim to it?   Today on Heterodox Out Loud, Smriti Mehta, researcher at UC Berkeley and co-founder of the Heterodox Academy campus community, joins John Tomasi to examine a striking paradox at the heart of modern academia: the disciplines designed to study bias and conformity may themselves be shaped by it. Drawing on her experience as a graduate student navigating pressure to conform—and her work building communities for open inquiry—Mehta explores how intellectual homogeneity can influence what questions get asked, what findings get published, and which ideas are considered legitimate. From the politics of social psychology to the challenges of free speech at Berkeley, this conversation investigates how groupthink can quietly take hold—even in fields committed to studying it—and why viewpoint diversity is essential for maintaining the integrity of research. Offering an insider’s perspective, the discussion explores how universities can foster genuine intellectual diversity without sacrificing rigor, and why teaching students to engage critically with ideas may matter more than enforcing consensus.   In This Episode: 💥 How social psychology can fall into the trap of groupthink 💥 Why viewpoint diversity is often misunderstood 💥 The hidden pressures shaping academic research 💥 What makes certain topics “radioactive” in universities 💥 The tension between conformity and innovation in science 💥 Free speech, protest culture, and the heckler’s veto 💥 How students experience intellectual pressure on campus 💥 Why open inquiry is essential for truth-seeking   Whether you’re a student, faculty member, or simply interested in the future of higher education, this episode offers a candid and thought-provoking look at how even the most self-aware disciplines can lose their way—and how they might recover.   About Smriti Mehta: Smriti Mehta, PhD is a researcher at the Department of Education at the University of California, Berkeley, affiliated with the BEAR Center (Berkeley Evaluation & Assessment Research). Her research spans social-psychological factors in education, psychometrics, open science practices, and meta-science. She is co-author of the SAFE Model (State Authenticity as Fit to Environment), published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, which demonstrates that people experience authenticity as a function of self-concept fit, goal fit, and social fit to their environment. Her related work on social status and authenticity finds that those with lower status are less likely to feel they can be themselves, providing a psychological mechanism for why holding a minority viewpoint in academia suppresses not just speech but identity. She completed her PhD in Psychology at UC Berkeley. Beyond research, Mehta co-founded and co-chairs the HxA Campus Community at UC Berkeley. She was previously involved with the Berkeley Liberty Initiative, which funds faculty grants to redesign undergraduate courses around open exchange of ideas. She co-hosts Nullius in Verba, a biweekly podcast with Daniël Lakens (Eindhoven University of Technology) covering miscitation, scientism, incentive structures in science, and the philosophy of scientific practice.   Follow Smriti: https://x.com/smreeteemehta Follow Heterodox Academy on:Twitter: https://bit.ly/3Fax5DyFacebook: https://bit.ly/3PMYxfwLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/48IYeuJInstagram: https://bit.ly/46HKfUgSubstack: https://bit.ly/48IhjNF 🔗 Find out more about Heterodox Academy at: https://linktr.ee/heterodoxoutloud

Is higher education losing public trust, and what can universities do about it? Today on Heterodox Out Loud, Sian Beilock, President of Dartmouth College, joins John Tomasi to confront one of the most urgent challenges facing universities today: a growing crisis of confidence among the American public. Drawing on her background in cognitive science and leadership under pressure, Beilock explains why trust is declining and what universities must do to restore it. From free expression policies and institutional neutrality to student culture and viewpoint diversity, this conversation explores how universities can return to their core mission: truth-seeking and education. Offering a unique, insider's view, the discussion explores how a university president manages the conflicting pressures of a polarized age. It delves into real-world scenarios, including campus protests, speech disruptions, faculty relationships, and external pressure from the government.   In This Episode: 💥 Why 7 in 10 Americans distrust higher education 💥 The role of affordability, ROI, and ideological concerns 💥 How Dartmouth is implementing institutional restraint 💥 Where free speech ends and disruption begins 💥 Why students are hungry for real dialogue, not echo chambers 💥 What “viewpoint diversity” actually means in practice 💥 How universities can reform without political capture Whether you’re a student, faculty member, policymaker, or simply interested in the future of higher education, this episode offers a clear-eyed and principled roadmap forward. New Yorker Article About Sian Beilock: Sian Leah Beilock is the 19th president of Dartmouth College, an Ivy League institution and one of the nation’s leading research universities. She is the first woman elected president of Dartmouth by the Board of Trustees and began her tenure on June 12, 2023. A distinguished cognitive scientist, Beilock is one of the world’s foremost experts on performance under pressure, a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine, and the recipient of the 2017 Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences. She has authored over 120 peer-reviewed papers and two books: Choke and How the Body Knows Its Mind. Before Dartmouth, she served as president of Barnard College at Columbia University and as executive vice provost at the University of Chicago. Follow Heterodox Academy on:Twitter: https://bit.ly/3Fax5DyFacebook: https://bit.ly/3PMYxfwLinkedIn: https://bit.ly/48IYeuJInstagram: https://bit.ly/46HKfUgSubstack: https://bit.ly/48IhjNF 🔗 Find out more about Heterodox Academy at: https://linktr.ee/heterodoxoutloud