Episode 147: The Fight to Defend Free Speech at Ball State University (Interview with Sarah Vitale)

Co-hosts Andrew Kliman and Gabriel Donnelly invite Sarah Vitale, a philosophy professor at Ball State University, to discuss the suppression of free speech on college campuses. Vitale has been part of the fight to resist the firing of a professor for an innocuous comment about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. We discuss the Trumpist assault on free speech in colleges, and what the fight back looks like. Vitale further explains some of the difficulties of, and possibilities for, resisting Trumpism in red states.

Additionally the co-hosts and Vitale discuss the difficulties of solidarity in the academy. At a time when solidarity and collective resistance is needed more than ever, they consider whether professors will get over their middle-class inclinations and start thinking of each other.

Plus current-events segment: A Future of Sewer Socialism? The co-hosts discuss New York City mayor-elect Mamdani and the challenges he will face in office. Mamdani’s agenda is ambitious and impossible under the capitalist order, so we discuss the inevitable crises this program will face.

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