Who Funds That? EP10: The Experts Weigh in on Fixing Higher Ed

Who Funds That? EP10: The Experts Weigh in on Fixing Higher Ed

Today’s higher education is not your grandfather’s higher education. Indeed, it’s not even the higher education of my first run through it in the 90s, before the pervasive embrace of DEI and critical race theory, before the extreme ideological disparities that led to a decrease in the study of traditional humanities and an increase in the study of social justice issues, and before the pernicious threats to independent thought and free speech that led to a recent wave of rampant antisemitism at some of the America’s most prestigious institutions. The threats facing higher education and, more broadly, civil society have arisen relatively quickly, and the question now is: can anything be done to fix what ails higher education in the same rapid timeframe? As universities grow richer and more administratively bloated and students become less educated and more ideologically indoctrinated, are there answers from inside the institutions, or is it going to take choices made by outside influences like governments, donors, and parents to get higher ed back to its mission of educating America’s young people to be productive American citizens? A new book of essays from The Heritage Foundation, written by preeminent education scholars, titled “Higher Education in America: It’s Worse Than You Think [https://www.amazon.com/Higher-Education-America-Worse-Think/dp/1641775424],” seeks to answer some of these questions. One of those scholars, Jonathan Butcher [https://www.heritage.org/staff/jonathan-butcher], Acting Director for Heritage’s Center for Education Policy, joins us today.

Who Funds That? EP9: Poisoned Ivies with Rep. Elise Stefanik

Since the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023, the Everything Leftist Omnicause has turned its Eye of Sauron toward aggressive support for Palestinian nationalism—support for Palestinian nationalism that all too frequently crosses the line from a political position to antipathy towards American Jews. Nowhere has the latter been more visible than on the most elite college campuses, where administrations that have been perfectly happy to suppress speech they didn’t like about mainstream political issues have allowed Palestinian nationalist demonstrators to impose their wills on campus. Today’s guest used her position to ask the presidents of three of America’s most prestigious universities how that came to be; the resulting incoherent responses started a firestorm that culminated in her new book, Poisoned Ivies: The Inside Account of the Academic and Moral Rot at America's Elite Universities. Joining us today to discuss higher education and the rot within it is U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik of New York. Poisoned Ivies: The Inside Account of the Academic and Moral Rot at America's Elite Universities [https://www.amazon.com/Poisoned-Ivies-Academic-Americas-Universities/dp/1668087537] Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) Questions University Presidents on Antisemitism [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VtAZBvmzcQ] The Universities That Don’t Understand Academic Freedom [https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/12/harvard-mit-upenn-free-speech-congressional-hearings/676278/] Elise Stefanik’s new book ‘Poisoned Ivies’ highlights the dangerous extremism in higher education [https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/premium/4564050/elise-stefaniks-new-book-recounts-the-dangerous-extremism-in-higher-education/]

Who Funds That? EP8: Enemies of Energy

Without energy, we have nothing: The economy relies on it; our entertainments rely on it; our schools rely on it; our comfort and lives rely on it. But the energy on which we all rely has enemies, and our colleague Ken Braun has traced them in his new report Enemies of Energy. Ken joins us today to discuss his report. Enemies of Energy report [https://capitalresearch.org/app/uploads/FINAL-PDF_CRC_EnemiesofEnergy.pdf] What’s Behind American Energy NGOs Doing China’s Dirty Work [http://dailywire.com/news/whats-behind-american-energy-ngos-doing-chinas-dirty-work]

Who Funds That? EP7: Hasan Piker in the Doghouse?

Americans who know Cuba best—those who fled the Communist-ruled island and their descendants—loathe the country’s Communist regime, in power since Fidel Castro overthrew an American-backed strongman in 1959. Thanks to Cold War geopolitics and the political influence of those Cuban-American communities (especially those around Miami, home city of Secretary of State Marco Rubio), the United States has maintained strict restrictions on trade and travel to the island, largely on a bipartisan basis. But left-of-center activists often operate as if laws they don’t like don’t apply to them, and that any infractions will be dismissed with a wink and a nod by their “moderate” allies. And with an aggressive right-of-center government in power, that is increasingly a bad bet, as a number of radical-left activists including podcaster Hasan Piker and CodePink leader Medea Benjamin have reportedly been subpoenaed for information about their participation in the “Nuestra America Convoy” supporting the Communist regime. How much trouble are these leftist agitators potentially in? What are they doing, and who’s funding it? Stu Smith of the Manhattan Institute joins us to discuss. Feds subpoena Hasan Piker, Medea Benjamin over Cuba trips [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/feds-subpoena-hasan-piker-medea-benjamin-over-cuba-trips] Hasan Piker [https://www.influencewatch.org/person/hasan-piker/] Code Pink (CODEPINK) [https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/codepink/] Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) [https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/democratic-socialists-of-america/] The Cuban regime’s American sympathizers [https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-cuban-regimes-american/] Stu Smith [https://x.com/thestustustudio]

Who Funds That? EP6: Can Treasury Fix Nonprofit Tax Returns

Today we’ve got a very important and exciting topic to cover: The nonprofit tax return (Form 990)! Now please don’t turn your podcast dial—this actually matters way more than you think, even if you aren’t a nonprofit accountant, because 990 disclosures are so very important to discovering “Who Funds That” in nonprofit advocacy. The Trump administration has proposed major changes to the “990” that “are intended to detect misconduct and hold wrongdoers accountable.” We’ve invited our colleague Robert Stilson, who has written extensively on fixing the nonprofit tax return, to offer his ideas on what the Trump administration should do.  Treasury Announces Form 990 Transparency Initiative to Expose Hidden Funding and Strengthen Oversight [https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0470] Some Suggestions for Improving the Form 990 [https://capitalresearch.org/article/some-suggestions-for-improving-the-form-990/] Thinking About Fiscal Sponsorship: The Form 990 Black Hole [https://capitalresearch.org/article/thinking-about-fiscal-sponsorship-part-3/] Thinking About Fiscal Sponsorship: Potential Reforms [https://capitalresearch.org/article/thinking-about-fiscal-sponsorship-part-4/] Tides Center [https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/tides-center/]