FreshEd

Do constitutional rights stop at the schoolhouse gate? Are American students, in other words, granted the freedom and protections outlined in the US constitution? This question doesn’t have an easy answer. My guest for the next two episodes is Justin Driver. In his new book, The Schoolhouse Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind, Justin explores most if not all Supreme Court rulings on students in public education. In the first part of my conversation with Justin, we explore the constitutional significance of school rulings and focus much of our attention on the issue of race. Justin Driver is the Harry N. Wyatt Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School. His first book,The Schoolhouse Gate(2018 Pantheon), is receiving rave reviews. The New York Times called it “indispensable” while the Washington Post called it “masterful.” http://www.freshedpodcast.com/driver-p1 twitter: @freshedpodcast email: info@freshedpodcast.com

Nine public service employees are suing Navient, the student debt service provider, for providing misleading and inaccurate information. They allege that Navient engaged in predatory lending, more interested in turning a profit than finding them the best repayment plan. My guest today is Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. ATF has been helping their members navigate the student loan industry. What they found is shocking. For Randi, there is a legal and electoral path to find justice for student loan borrowers. For listeners living in the USA, please make sure you vote tomorrow. www.freshedpodcast.com/weingarten twitter: @freshedpodcast email: info@freshedpodcast.com

Today we explore the feminist movement in China. My guest is Leta Hong Fincher, an award-winning journalist and scholar. Leta argues that the jailing of the Feminist Five in 2015 was a turning point for the movement. Leta Hong Fincher recently published the book, Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China, published by Verso (2018). www.freshedpodcast.com/fincher twitter:@freshedpodcast email: info@freshedpodcast.com

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of FreshEd. To celebrate, we are going to air our first ever FreshEd Live event where Saskia Sassen joined me for a conversation about her life and work. Saskia Sassen is a professor at Columbia University. In 1991, she published the now classic book called The Global City where she chronicled how New York, London, and Tokyo became the centers in the new digital economy. What she focused on was the rise of intermediary services that allowed corporations to operate globally. Instead of seeing place as no longer necessary in the digital economy, she saw certain cities as physical sites that became more important than ever in the global economy. For Sassen, intermediaries concentrated in certain parts of the city and relied on high-level knowledge, like algorithmic mathematics. In New York City, financial services took over lower Manhattan. This left a peculiar reality for the physical buildings in the city. As a result, many people who didn’t work in intermediary services were expelled from those parts of the city. And yet, despite this expulsion by intermediaries, new forms of inclusion were created. Today’s show was recorded at Musashi University during the Third Japanese Political Economy Workshop organized by Nobuharu Yokokawa. www.freshedpodcast.com/sassen twitter: @freshedpodcast email: info@freshedpodcast.com

Many universities worldwide hope to internationalize and push faculty to produce knowledge across disciplines. That’s easier said than done. My guest today, Angela Last, looks at these university fads and finds difficult ethical dilemmas that scholars must overcome. Angela Last is Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Leicester. Angela is an interdisciplinary researcher in the field of political ecology, drawing on her background in art & design and science communication to investigate environmental controversies and geographical knowledge production. She has been writing the blog Mutable Matter since 2007. The chapter discussed in today's podcast was published in Decolonizing the University (2018, Pluto Press). www.freshedpodcast.com/last

Many listeners probably use LinkedIn. That’s the social media website aimed at connecting employers with employees. My guest today, Janja Komljenovic, researches the ways in which LinkedIn is shaped by and shaping higher education. Janja argues that LinkedIn furthers the employability mandate in universities. Janja Komljenovic is a lecturer of higher education at Lancaster University. In today’s show, we discuss her new article “Linkedin, Platforming labour, and the new employability mandate for universities,” which was published in Globalisation, Societies and Education. http://www.freshedpodcast.com/janjakomljenovic/

Today we discuss education, gender and sexual health. My guest, Marni Sommer, has helped develop puberty books for girls and boys in low-income countries. To date, these books have been developed in seven countries, with almost two million copies distributed to girls and boys. Marni Sommer is an Associate Professor of Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University where she leads the GATE (Gender, Adolescent Transitions and Environment) program. She is also the President of the non-profit Grow and Know. In our conversation she discusses how she navigates being both an academic and development practitioner. http://www.freshedpodcast.com/marnisommer/

Today we interrogate the idea of creativity. My guest, Oli Mould, says 21st Century capitalism has redefined creativity from being a power to create something from nothing to the ability to create new products for markets. Creativity, in other words, feeds capitalism’s own growth. Students and workers alike are told they must be entrepreneurial and flexible to survive the global economy. We are told businesses and governments seek out these character traits. In effect, the power to create has become an individual characteristic that can be traded and exploited. Oli Mould is a human geographer based at Royal Holloway, University of London. He argues for a creativity that forges entirely new ways of societal organization. His new book, Against Creativity, published by Verso, goes on sale tomorrow. Oli Mould works at Royal Holloway, University of London. His new book is Against Creativity. http://www.freshedpodcast.com/olimould/

American students are in debt. Some forty-four million Americans collectively hold over $1.4 trillion worth of debt. Those numbers have increased since the Global Financial Crisis from 10 years ago. Today I speak with Ben Miller, a senior director for Postsecondary Education at the Center for American Progress. Ben specializes in higher-education accountability, affordability, and financial aid, as well as for-profit colleges. His most recent op-ed – “The Student Debt Problem is Worse than we Imagined” – appeared in the New York Times in August. http://www.freshedpodcast.com/benmiller/

Today we explore the schooling received by children affected by the Trump administration’s immigration policy of family separation. My guest is Julian Vasquez Heilig, a professor of educational leadership and policy studies at California State University Sacramento. Julian writes a blog entitled “Cloaking Inequity”. In a recent post, he reported on a Texas-based detention center forcing children to use an online, for-profit charter school. www.freshedpodcast.com/heilig