“The Treason of the Intellectuals,” with Niall Ferguson | Uncommon Knowledge

Recorded on January 11, 2024
Niall Ferguson is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior faculty fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University. In this interview, Ferguson discusses his stunning essay “The Treason of the Intellectuals,” published in December 2023 in the Free Press. The essay delves deeply into the changes Ferguson has observed in his 30-year career as an academic, especially over the past 10 years. He describes in the opening of his essay: “I have . . . witnessed the willingness of trustees, donors, and alumni to tolerate the politicization of American universities by an illiberal coalition of ‘woke’ progressives, adherents of ‘critical race theory,’ and apologists for Islamist extremism.”
Ferguson also discusses the resignation of Harvard president Claudine Gay and what it means for all institutions of higher learning, as well as putting forth some solutions for addressing these issues.
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[@MJN_CouchSessions]

Anyone who doesn't see the reality of this is either not paying attention or are part of the problem and existing system. I completed a Ph.D. in measurement & statistics in 1998 and also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in critical policy studies in 2005. At every point in time during my academic "career" I was explicitly told (not just hinted at) that the chances of me getting an academic position as a white male was pretty much zero. The rot in universities began long before it was noticed. As of this moment, I have abandoned academia and am now focused on independent writing and music. What has taken root in the American academic enterprise is rot, pure and simple. Moreover, in many disciplines, those in power, whether by academic or administrative appointment, are some of the least qualified. And they know it and use linguistic kung fu to create artificial realities and systems, which they can then maintain. It has become a bloviated, pedantic, and, yes, annoying space to anyone not committed to, or dependent on, maintaining their bs. Fast forward decades and here we are. For someone who has always been committed to the pursuit of Truth and from a young age as someone who, while being naive for far too long, has always believed in idealistic and pure academic pursuits, it is heart-wrenching to watch what has happened to our universities continue to play out in realtime. But as with mid-twentieth century Germany, we must always remain on guard and vigilant. Because humans....

[@markadams9946]

I find it particularly repulsive and puzzling the white male leaders in academia could support & instigate prejudice against someone like them. (White male). Pure cowardice & pathology

[@justinludeman8424]

Well said. I experienced similar behaviours and realities in academic science - the effete administrative depth, the virtue-signalling, the inexorable long march, so to speak. Plus I'm Jewish and a straight white male - the worst kind 😂. Great comment. PS - also a musician and it keeps me sane.

[@user-kt6uo5yw3q]

Niall Ferguson's estimate of 10 years is likely a severe underestimate. It was only 10 years ago that critical mass was achieved such that it could challenge internationally known people like Ayaan Hirsi Ali. That accumulation of power does not happen overnight. It would've taken decades to creep up, consuming many less prominent individuals, as your experience suggests. We are just seeing the tip of the pyramid...

[@craigb4913]

Yes, ideologues create intellectual & moral rot in any institution they commandeer.

[@markhughes7927]

Did not ‘get’ the last sentence! - to quote the devil in Christopher Marlowe’s ‘Faust’ - ‘but this IS hell nor am I from it’ (through Corporates’ mania and monopolies - and the incorporation of so much political raw sewage into US administrative life at the end of WW2 the buboes of that conflict have burst in pustules all over the US and are recognised in now dead Dem run cities - the matter has resumed and you are in it - daily - we all are!)

[@craigmatthews4517]

"I began my education at a very early age; in fact, right after I left college." -- Winston Churchill “Never confuse education with intelligence, you can have a PhD and still be an idiot.” -- Richard P. Feynman “I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.” -- Richard P. Feynman “The road to hell is paved with Ivy League degrees.” - Thomas Sowell

[@joycegifford8826]

“An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will east him last.” Sir Winston Churchill.

[@Kris0S]

Best line for me " identity politics = nobody is an individual,you MUST belong to a group" end of individual liberty. Profound!!!

[@DR_1_1]

He just conveniently forget to mention that most of these leftist groups are led by Jews, and goes on to rant about antisemitism... Some communities will never change! (and don't tell me this is not related to your OP!)

[@peterjones6507]

I believe the betrayal goes far deeper and wider than Niall Ferguson suggests. The more I study the academic world the more horrified I become.

[@kennethyoung2221]

In 2006, as a 40 year-old white male with an MBA, top end military experience, success in business, I considered going to law school at Vanderbilt. But I had a calculator and considered the cost/benefit equation. I would only go on a significant scholarship. I spoke privately with a member of the board making "named" scholarship decisions. The person said everyone would love to have me in the class to offer real world insight, but there was no possible way I would ever get a dime of support. Too much money chasing the handful of "diverse" applicants. Looking back, the best professional decision I ever made was to retract the application and move on to other aspirations where my ability propelled me to another success. Vanderbilt has matured into a cesspool of woke. Very sad.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

I’m not against the idea of “diversity” in general, but members of the military SHOULD be included as a group worthy of “diversity” considerations. You’re a minority of the population and you’ve gone through life experiences that are rare outside the military.

[@polyglot8]

I was once asked what I thought of CRT. I answered that I preferred flat screens.

[@038Dude]

🤣

[@timcole5278]

This articulation of the problem by Dr. Ferguson is amazing. I'm wondering if and when similar challenges to DEI/woke may spread beyond HE to other institutions, government, business, etc. It's high time for this.

[@BitcoinMeister]

Niall totally gets it! Create your own BETTER institutions! Let the old ones rot and let the funders decide if it is worth it to keep funding the old disasters.

[@user-gh4lv2ub2j]

Except the "funders" are taxpayers. "Funding" it is not optional and you will have guns pointed at you if you don't pay your taxes. We can't have nice things and have socialism.

[@wasdwasdedsf]

niall doesnt get anything... hes a TDS lunatic buying tabloid magazine propaganda like a complete mental patient

[@charlescawley9923]

Sadly, most of this is true. I have been shouting about academia going political for decades. They treated me in an appalling way thinking they could destroy me. They failed.

[@vivienneb6199]

I wish we could go back to before the 1960s when Identity, race and gender, were irrelevant to a University education. It used to be fair, and anyone could pursue a academic career. (NOT - HA HA)

[@michaelgillard3499]

"Grand man!.... ... ...Well-said!"100%🎉❤

[@wasdwasdedsf]

niall doesnt get anything... hes a TDS lunatic buying tabloid magazine propaganda like a complete mental patient

[@philipford6183]

Prof. Ferguson's explanation of DEI was spot-on. Literally Orwellian Newspeak. Thanks for this excellent interview.

[@alkaral]

I am a formet refugee from the USSR. Live in tbe USA 37 years. I am very worried by what is happening in US academia- communists took over. All their idea and actions exactly how it was in the USSR. One thing that appal me most is that todays students with communists ideology in 20-30years will become leaders of states, countries and industries. Than people who will live will see worst kind of facism - much worse than 3d reich or USSR because modern technologies will give government much more power

[@jamestregler1584]

Hell it's so bad that even the engineering departments are ether closed or woke 🤬

[@haldorasgirson9463]

Amazing that the Hoover Institution is part of Stanford. Must have independent funding.

[@mva6044]

My thoughts exactly. And if you are a Stanford Alumnus and plan to continue to contribute to the university, you can always specifically designate any funds to ONLY go to the Hoover Institution. That's along the lines of what I did, see separate post.

[@geraldwood7125]

For what it's worth I think you can see the issue that is playing out in American universities, over wealth and entitlement, within the story of monasticism in medieval Europe. New orders of monks arose in response to the wealth and corruption of old orders. An excellent interview.

[@cliftontorrence839]

Dr Ferguson has a marvelous command of the English Language. With his 40 years experience of writing , presenting and teaching, he can and does express his views in a most delightful manner. Such an insightful person.

[@MJN_CouchSessions]

Wait, don't you mean he is a racist white privileged enemy of the people? So ridiculous what has happened and continues to happen.

[@manfredconnor3194]

Except that he has wrong. Yeah.

[@wasdwasdedsf]

niall doesnt get anything... hes a TDS lunatic buying tabloid magazine propaganda like a complete mental patient

[@Dreadnought16]

I’m Canadian, but I love America….listening to Ferguson, a legal immigrant, came to America and is helping build a better university, aka a better mousetrap, is like watching the juggernaut of old America work it’s magic again…God Bless America.

[@mesenteria]

"...is personally abhorrent to me..." was Gay's response. That wasn't the question. We don't give a fig for her personal opinion on the matter of anti-Semitism on her campus. We want to know what Gay's OFFICE and its enforceable policies suggest ought to be the University's stance on the matter. Gay isn't bright enough to know that her response was abominable because she allowed herself to respond personally, and not as the head of the University. It was a trap question designed specifically for her, and she stepped daintily into it.

[@samizdatbroadcasts7654]

Niall Ferguson is great, as always. I'd like the conservative right to reflect a bit more on just how not new this whole issue really is. Authors like Alan Bloom, Dinesh D'Sousa and Christina Hoff Sommers were raising the alarm bells about political correctness - the predacessor of wokeness - as far back as the 1980s. It's only become more intense in the last 10 years due to social media. Now we start to realize just how costly these decades of complacency are going to be.

[@tim2muntu954]

Thomas Sowell also said things 30 years ago that would have been apposite if said last week. I believe the flea of Marxism jumped the cooling body of the dead Soviet Union onto the warm body of the west to infect it with the bacillus of its politics of envy.

[@markadams9946]

What a blessing (in a morbid way) that we Had Oct 10. (I don’t condone this horror of course) Suddenly this issue takes on a new sense of alarm with many powerful elites.

[@guyfambrough4554]

The Nackba ,The occupation, genocide of Gaza and right of return left buy the wayside . Sadly Stanford is an arm of the propaganda machine oblivious to the criminal history of the last hundred in the Middle East .

[@balyboo5856]

Started 1960 with postmodernism rather than 1980, but thinking about it, it took some time for that poison to spread and people indoctrinat -ed/ing getting more influence at the universities thus 1980 sounds right..

[@wasdwasdedsf]

niall doesnt get anything... hes a TDS lunatic buying tabloid magazine propaganda like a complete mental patient

[@cagdasdirik]

Thank you this discussion. It is very refreshing to hear about woke-ism - shortly after given a warning by Amazon for offensive content for calling out “woke propaganda” myself. We need more of these discussions in public. Thank you very very much!

[@grantbernes2468]

Thanks for this excellent discussion. I've always admired Niall Ferguson, all the way back to the late-90s when drawing from his work on WWI for high school final exams.

[@ryanlander5026]

Clarity and honesty. What I have grown to expect from this channel and its guests.

[@hrvojesvetec3058]

Ty both👍👍Neil is spot on with his analys.intelligent man who knows what truth,facts is and can see thru bs,propaganda👍👍

[@craigmatthews4517]

Only one item I disagree with here. Niall Ferguson says that this all started 10 years ago (~2010). I think that's just when it affected him and his wife. It really has been going on for at least 30 years ago.

[@038Dude]

911 was a huge catalyst, I remember the world changing overnight.

[@StereoSpace]

Neil is one of my favorite writers and analysts, and I always enjoy hearing his views and commentary. An incredibly well-read and insightful person. Why can't we have people like this in our government?

[@jamieruehl5198]

Respectfully: Because he (and those like him) rightly do not believe it is the responsibility of our government to solve our (the people) problems :)

[@MJN_CouchSessions]

A true academic.

[@manfredconnor3194]

Because they have brains, unlike this turd.

[@Islamophobiaisalie]

His wife, Ayaan Hirsi Ali (AHA Foundation has a YT Channel also) is even more of a stunningly speaker. They are a power couple!

[@philipemerson473]

Because he won't take the pay cut.

[@cosmiceye2067]

I truly hope UATX can make a real difference.

[@ShamanNoodles]

For years, I didn't particularly like Niall Ferguson. Now I am a huge fan, and this says QUITE a lot about his ability to articulate his position and persuade with reason. Excellent interview

[@i.m.gurney]

Highlighting the dance between universalism & individualism in the pursuit of enlightenment. An accessible discussion, thank you. Niall, building a new university rather than modifying a current, does appear quite a progressive act, especially when marketed as an informed revision to the contemporary model.

[@cheekymonkey2]

Thank you, Professor Ferguson, for your ambition to take on such arrogant intellectuals who are backed by the power of an institution that is backed by extravagant amounts of money. We, the unseen and powerless, applaud your courage and will be watching for your influence to make a difference. We also need the same leadership in politics now.

[@linmal2242]

But the Frump won't give it to you !

[@frankyyaggabot6222]

I hope that was sarcasm - Ferguson was part of the problem and had been for decades. To assume courage is to ignore his past inaction - the winds may be changing and so his tune might be also ... that's not bravery!

[@wasdwasdedsf]

niall doesnt get anything... hes a TDS lunatic buying tabloid magazine propaganda like a complete mental patient

[@wasdwasdedsf]

@@linmal2242 best presiden in modern history

[@ElAgaveGuy]

I would like to give kudos to Peter Robinson for an excellent series and being an excellent host. The key aspect of a good interview is who is asking the right questions 😮!

[@tadroid3858]

My father (b. 1930) left me his chemistry books from college - all written in German. Being a bi-lingual Polish-American, he was required to take Technical German his freshman year. He told me that his physics books were mostly German, as well. He didn't keep those since he was a Chemical Engineer. Academia was a much more rigorous cerebral activity in those days. It seems to have turned to activism. BTW, Kendi is in the Opportunist camp. Anyone who buys his scam can be categorized as a Believer.

[@daffidkane8350]

The treason is across the Anglo world. Just last week UWI in Jamaica committed itself to activism. In 2016 my university in America committed itself to activism and everything went downhill. Scholarship is the raison d'etre of a university. Profit as the motivation of medicine and the law have destroyed these professions and harmed society. Activism as the motivation for universities has harmed the academy and society.

[@glennmitchell9107]

Scholarship is the myth of the university. Indoctrination is the reality.

[@joseevaniersel7280]

The treason is across the entire west.. (How could it be otherwise? Intellectuals were far too much enamoured by the 'marxist experiment' at the beginning of the 20th century for them to listen to the voices of conservatism or even tradition at all; they meekly took on the long march through the institutions themselves..! And Buckley wrote Man & God in Yale, about the inmarch of 'progressivism' at the university at the beginning of the fifties already!

[@MuzzySkeleton]

Yuri Bezmenov warned the world of ideological subversion. Now we are seeing the results of what he spoke about in campuses around the USA and the world.

[@RN-lo6xc]

I have always had my doubts as to whether Yuri was entirely honest, or whether he was wound up and sprung into action by the USG. But it is irrelevant - his take on western society’s weakness has (unfortunately) withstood the test of the time marvellously. In many ways, the issue stems from a lack of cultural anchor around which Western societies can rally (I emphasise this is NOT referring to ethnocultural ideas, but sociocultural - the belief that Western values exist, and are in many ways the optimum for ordering society and the economy, regardless of ethnicity or religious affiliation).

[@davidanalyst671]

30,000 people in Gaza have died, and 100 israeli soldiers. Either Israeli soldiers are superheros like Ironman, or this is a genocide.

[@wasdwasdedsf]

niall doesnt get anything... hes a TDS lunatic buying tabloid magazine propaganda like a complete mental patient

[@wasdwasdedsf]

@@davidanalyst671 what? america drops nuclear bomb on japan... 200k dead to 0. how about that ratio then? they must therefore with your logic, be thousands of times more evil and genocidal than israel or... you could try a real argument

[@ivanpenkov2612]

Professor Ferguson speaks with the voice of truth!

[@jamesrice6096]

Something I have taken great notice of: Professionals, university graduates, and even just common folk who find themselves in decision making bodies separate themselves from those who are not. Town councils, church councils and up, discuss decisions as if the will watch the results on TV but not be affected. Discussions of what to decide and then how to paint it for the people who will be affected are scandalous. When commoners are present it drastically changes the tone, but on any given topic, one can hear members digress about the outcomes of decisions on people as if they are sitting at their kitchen table and not in a public forum. It is revealing. Change may start with what people think while in their kitchens and among their like minded peers. ...power corrupts.

[@magrietbarnard1445]

I grew up during the Apartheid time in South Africa. I studied at the University of Pretoria. One of my BA subjects was Sosiology and the book "Die Apartheids gedagte" was one of our prescribed books. We were educated about Verwoerds philosophy about this issue.

[@ernstraedecker6174]

Hendrik Verwoerd: ah, yet again a famous Dutchman...

[@vich1393]

Nikos Kazantzakis' famous character "Zorba the Greek" quipped at the end of the movie "Boss, you can knock at the door of a deaf man forever". Perhaps with Niall Ferguson, forever is shortened to being a more reasonable time.

[@markbowman2890]

If the universities are privately run, then are they not open to manipulation through the corporate donations, substantial and generous, that demand favours in return?

[@billallen3696]

This was a phenomenal discussion of a very compelling piece of writing. I wish I could have had an opportunity to take at least one course with the Professor. Maybe in my next life...maybe in Texas. I went in the STEM direction-no regrets but perhaps something different next time.

[@roboutico]

Niall is spot on! When i was at University (funnily in Germany) in the early 2000s, subjects like Gender Studies (as part of Sociology) were allready rising and left to marxist leaning Professors common. But it obviously got worse in the last two Decades! I‘m so glad that this ideological Madness is finally (and hopefully efficiantly) confronted and rooted out! Fingers crossed!

[@karlbrettig9748]

There has been a 'curriculum creep' for generations, that has led us to where we find ourselves today. May the counterculture to pseudo-DEI continue to rise up and reclaim the ground our institutions of higher learning once occupied, and were formed to advance. Excellent conversation.

[@MarttiSuomivuori]

I am astounded. I just got stuck on following a conversation that is not supposed to have anything to do with me. Only when you hear well-researched questions posed to a well-informed subject who actually answers the questions point by point, keeping himself and his ego out of the picture it is such a rare instance that I do not want to miss it.

[@tim2muntu954]

Envy is a MAJOR driver in human affairs. Steve Jobs once said, Hire first raters. They hire first raters. Second raters hire third raters and the business is on the way out. Equally true for whole societies and civilisations.

[@bobbybax2360]

Incentives matter in every human endevor.

[@philipemerson473]

Truer words were never spoken.

[@venkataraghotham7586]

Ferguson is speaking the Truth to power. One of the few who stands up to woke fascism

[@silvajmg]

Standing ovation here. Thank you all for sharing this wisdom/lecture/interview. God bless us all.

[@keithk.3963]

It is always refreshing to hear a well thought out objective view-point interrupt a noise that can be deafening, at times. It was an outstanding interview. Thank you.

[@MoranM]

Niall Ferguson's description of the ideological and the opportunistic definitely sums up the changes seen in the UK Civil Service. A relatively small cadre of activists started to push Identity Politics. Their logic was appallingly bad and the great majority of other staff were easily capable of dismantling their logic and asserting political neutrality. But they didn't. They wilfully forgot everything they had learned at university and during their careers. They took up DEI and 'Allyship' positions which were extremely helpful towards their promotion prospects and the language they started using was a verbatim regurgitation of the standard phraseology employed by so-called 'cultural Marxist' dialogue. Arguing against this was like pissing into the wind. Zealotry and self-interest completely out flanked the integrity of those institutions. And it's very difficult to see how neutrality can be reasserted.

[@stevenwiederholt7000]

As Jonah Goldberg point out in "Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning" Fascism/Nazism was a youth movement.

[@ZER0ZER0SE7EN]

Communism was and is a youth movement. Where do we find large numbers of youth ready to learn? Universities. Learning has become replaced with indoctrination. Woke/DEI is constructed on the communist economic class struggle system. Now people are divided by race/sex/orientation instead of strictly by economic class. Communists would denounce non-followers. Woke/DEI cancel non-followers.

[@davidhunt313]

*_Does the Truth derive from Authority or_* *_Does Authority derive from the Truth?_* *_Separation of Education and State_*_ is even more essential than _*_Separation of Religion and State!_* As a Libertarian I explicitly agree with the peaceful and voluntary response of simply building new institutions. But how can a new Judiciary be built, if at all?

[@stevenlightfoot6479]

UATX is genius, Godspeed. I think we can expect to see replications of this new place all over.

[@CornerTalker]

"The fact that most us never would have heard of Oedipus if it were not for Freud should make us aware that we are almost utterly dependent on our German missionaries or intermediaries for our knowledge of Greece, Rome, Judaism and Christianity. In the mid-forties… everyone knew that [college professors] were German thinkers …a mix of German refugees from Hitler and of Americans who had either studied in Germany prior to Hitler or who had learned from these emigres. It was not problematic to any of them that these ideas were German. Freud and Weber were part of that great pre-Hitlerian German classical tradition, which everyone respected." Bloom, Alan. The Closing of the American Mind. 156 “The American university in the sixties was experiencing the same dismantling of the structure of rational inquiry as had the German university in the thirties. No longer believing in their higher vocation, both gave way to a highly ideologized student populace As in Germany, the value crisis in philosophy made the university prey to whatever intense passion moved the masses." Bloom, Alan. The Closing of the American Mind. p 313 & 314

[@Waldvogel45]

Thrlled to see that the Scottish enlightenment is stilll burning brightly. and wll rescue academia .

[@user-kg4vy4qp1y]

Even though I agree with Niall about less government involvement in universities,.the question is how do you prevent foreign governments, especially those hostile to the west, from having influence in universities.

[@jaykay6387]

Great questions, great answers. A pleasure to listen to somebody with such command of history and able to apply that knowledge to analyze current issues, and then actually propose solutions that make sense. That was a remarkable conversation, thank you both.

[@GustAdlph]

I wanted to tell Claudine Gay to show some respect and sit up straight.

[@asdisskagen6487]

The problem extends far beyond the universities; every single level of education within the United States has been captured. Even if you avoid public schools and enroll your child in a private school your child's teachers are likely to hold these same extremist views and will be teaching this destructive ideology. The meltdown of parents during the COVID lockdowns was simply because zoom classes exposed parents to what was being taught to their children. I was fortunate enough that I had been deeply involved in my children's education in the decade before and pulled them from the system in 2011 because the ideology was already rampant in primary education (both public and private). None of this will be solved unless and until parents refuse to allow their children to be indoctrinated by what is essentially a death cult. Fortunately, there is a small but growing number of home schooling coops that provide parents a plethora of resources to assist them in reclaiming responsibility for educating the next generation.

[@patriciarocco2610]

Absolutely. This is the reality of post secondary education . In Canada we are the colonizers and settlers - the oppressors of European descent. Astonishing that the Nazis were comprised of university educated people. So grateful for this interview. More reading to do!

[@davidbennett1316]

This essay and interview are both excellent and much needed - fantastic job - thank you!! Been lucky enough to have met and sat next to Niall at a corporate event where he spoke - enjoyed following him and reading one or two of his books since. (Unrelated to this interview, "Empire" must be amongst the best historical analysis books ever written.)

[@jacktaylor3001]

Wonderful, gentlemen. Thank you.

[@alexo2675]

The person who invented White Guilt should be recognised as the greatest military strategist in history

[@BeautifuLakesStreamsBiologists]

I have called for people to question the recipients of their donations for years. Supporting your alma mater with blind emotion is damaging the very institution you love.

[@ashkanet8]

Rajiv Malhotra who has exposed the Harvard in his book "Snakes in Ganga" will be happy to see thiis video.

[@ivannio8519]

Thank you very much for another interesting interview.

[@mainschannel]

'with Freedom comes Great Responsibility'!

[@user-bt8vn3dj6o]

Hillsdale College! Great example!

[@guyandrew4668]

Great stuff. Thank you. I left the business world (age 33) to try to think things through, so weird did the behaviour of senior executives appear to me. Where can you go in western societies if you want to "work things out" and do not have a private income? There are monasteries and universities. Monasteries have a few draw-backs..... So I became a doctoral student, not because I wanted a doctorate, but because you can't think in a university without signing up to a course or holding a paid post. Throughout my time in the academic world, from 1983 to 2003, by which time I'd really, really had enough, I chose to keep my head down. If I had spoken my mind I would have been screamed at. Two types of screamers in particular would have attacked. Those whose intellectuality is so poorly grounded; indeed, whose understanding of what good intellectual work looks like is so defective, that they are unable to notice or recognize subtle distinctions. This kind of screamer notices only the use of words that can trigger, and do trigger, the current scream-inducing, virtue-signalling, I'm morally superior to you, issue in that individual's head. So ill-disciplined are the thought processes of this type of campus inhabitant that they are unable to notice the care with which the thoughtful choose what not to say. It is often the conscious decision to avoid using one or more words, and to use others instead, that allows nuanced discussion to take place. The other kind of screamer is the post-modernist, wedded to an extreme relativism; to the idea that there is no such thing as a truth to which, dispite our inability to define or even know it, impinges upon us all. Such a screamer is comfortable with the idea of 8 billion separate truths, one for each inhabitant of the planet, all different, regularly and frequently in conflict, occasionally cooperating, but all equally and really true! True, that, is for the individual who holds the truth in question. It only makes sense to go looking for a truth that applies to all of us if you believe it exists. This type of screamer sees no point in looking, being only interested in his or her personal "truth", and therefore has zero interest in evidence, and zero willingness to set aside his or her "truth" sufficiently to dispassionately consider alternatives - alternatives that might point to truths that might be shareable. This kind of screamer picks an ideology, makes no attempt to hide prejudice, unleashes his or her venom, despises intellect and its demand for careful, hard work and a respect for evidence, and is overtly and very publicly political. I wanted to think and knew if I opened my mouth the system would chew me up and spit me out. I kept my head down. Keep up the good work Professor Ferguson!

[@davidroberts8874]

Three cheers for Neil Furgeson a great independent thinker. Strip away the emperors new clothes and see the reality of the sacrosanct plonkerism in our institutions that sets the limits of expression. Will we ever find our way out of boxes with this kind of direction

[@stevenlightfoot6479]

This is great. At 20 mins the explanation of doctoral theses about using gold fillings from Jewish skulls is akin to some of the madness coming out of academia today with respect to gender. Not as murderous possibly but equally disconnected from any sane reality.

[@Guy-Lewis]

Thank you. It is high time that the "virtue-signaling" disguise be ripped of this insidious, profoundly hypocritical problem.

[@OneUnited1999]

17:12 Speech becomes action. No one expected much academic ability from Claudine Gay. But her ignorance when she said (paraphrasing) “a bit of harmless antisemitism is fine at Harvard as long as no one is killed” was truly staggering.

[@halohat2286]

While listening, Ayn Rand popped in to my thoughts. I wonder what her thoughts on the current state of affairs would be?

[@normbale2757]

I am currently reading an Ontario High School text on World history from about 1960. I think it is more educational than Harvard/.

[@Lucasbdlt]

This is fascinating considering that the Bay Area has been all about corporate DEI, especially at Alphabet / Google. Where will corporate culture and values go from here? Especially when, for example, some vocal Google employees were against the acquisition of an Israeli company, because it was Israeli.

[@Dybbouk]

I recall being at university in the 80's. Then the dominant creed was unilateral disarmament. Dangerous too

[@avallons8815]

The scholarship and arguments in this programme are astonishing

[@mva6044]

As an alum of UChicago and Hopkins, I have also "spoken with my wallet" and withdrawn most monetary support, redirecting any residual (10%) for faith support group(s) and project-specific hard sciences (engineering). No más!

[@daffidkane8350]

We keep repeating history. Each generation forgets the lessons of last generation.

[@SC-gw8np]

That's because in modernity, no one passes on any knowledge or wisdom.

[@marcariotto1709]

I think in retrospect it's pretty natural for social movements to end up going to far or have unintended consequences. The challenge now will be to not whiplash back to far the other way.

[@Hardball1Alpha]

Winston S. Churchill - 'The malice of the wicked was reinforced by the weakness of the virtuous.'

[@DaboooogA]

The comparisons made here by Prof Ferguson with Nazi Germany are quite shocking.

[@jlpetley]

Wow, so glad I found this video. A case so eloquently put.

[@dawgeyes9432]

what a great interview and explanation of o our challenges.

[@olebol3065]

thanks, very interessting talk

[@corrinnereynolds4091]

Another great discussion. Thank you

[@MoonWatch3r]

Great interview, extended promo for the Austin university notwithstanding. As Mary Shelley taught us, just because you created the monster, it doesn't mean you can constrol it. Big props to Peter for not dragging out the Augustine of Hippo horse for yet another beating.

[@edwardloomis887]

West Point had a significant cheating scandal ~ 1976 that included among other things the holiest of holies: members of the football team. " A cadet will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do." A lot of people got booted or suspended, then the academy brought in a leader who was bulletproof: Andrew Goodpaster, a four-star general who accepted demotion to three stars to lead West Point out of the wilderness. Ivy League schools currently residing in the penalty box might consider following West Point's lead

[@jamesl1806]

Great discussion. Really appreciate you putting some strong counterpoints to Niall.

[@tyeteames7192]

Brilliant. Thank you for a most fascinating video.

[@blackberrydreamsz]

Much needed discussion....but the power behind the problem is a juggernaut.

[@alocinotasor]

My Hoover: My Vacuum Cleaner?😂

[@jojje3000-1]

Long march thru the institutions - Frankfurt School are dominating in academics thinking.

[@juliekemp419]

Superb and utterly timely interview. Thanks very much Hoover for the availability of dear, most able and refined interviewer, Peter and the excellent Scots/American, brilliant academic and 'public intellectual', Niall. I'm 75, Australian, and have my own sense of the past 60 years of dipping in and out of university studies validated by this Hoover conversation. I had sensed a change especially in the very late 70's and then pointedly when i did a pg nursing course at 2 Brisbane universities in the 90's. That was followed by a p/g law course in 2003 at my own 'alma mater', the University of Queensland. I was aghast at just how former departments and faculties had been subsumed in a business model and so named as such thus not immediately identifying the actual academic field of study. Pernicious anaemia comes to my old nursing 'mind' when i think of just how much oxygen has left the bodies of so many public institutions and services. I 'enjoyed', if that's the best word, Niall's review of the German university/social scenario from late 19th c through to the inter-war period. Amongst other interests and concerns I'm a Baconian aficionado and wonder if the greatest Bard/Dramatist's reputation and indeed real identity is to be forthcoming in this passage between Ages and a Great Modern Resurrection of the Best of Human Excellences. Bravo! ✌👏🧓🐨

[@CommonSwindler]

Excellent interview as always: timely and incisive. In that vein, Peter should have Dr. David Starkey on.

[@garydalybookmob5180]

Hoover Institution podcasts, excellent great products.

[@OpusOne8]

✍️🍏🍏🍏 Thanks and gratitude for your historical insight Dr. Niall Ferguson, a must watch video… 😊👍

[@stp479]

Stunted provincials with PhDs.

[@markhamburger5587]

Niall wouldn’t become a faculty member of any Ivy League university nowadays, anymore. How this HR catastrophe could be stopped will be painful to watch.

[@campbellmorrison8540]

I've just added Niall to my list of those I would love to have dinner with. I have read one of his Economics books but didn't realise he was the same person writing on history. One learns something every day. Having said that I don't understand Niall's use of the term plagiarism when talking about free speech in universities.

[@petermach8635]

Oddly enough I took down my copy of Benda's book earlier today, but I put it to one side to re-read something else ..........I'm looking forward to this broadcast.