The State of Education

The hour may be late to protect America’s future, but all is not lost. We can sense this thanks to the actions of men like today’s guests. Mark Bauerlein joins Rob, Peter and James to discuss how universities have robbed the young of the grand narrative, along with his work at Sarasota’s New College.

Andrew Gutman, who made headlines two years ago as a frustrated father willing to speak up, returns to cover some of the startling national trends in primary education, and the lengths he’s been going through to get his child a real education. (Keep an eye for the upcoming “Take Back Our Schools” which will feature James Lindsay in the guest chair!)

And it’s been such a long while since our hosts have been together, they catch up the sorts of things friends catch up on: newspapers (and other objects) in Jerusalem; the artificial hues blasted on your television set; and a friendly competition to see who can best recount the Canterbury Tales opening lines.

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There are 20 comments.

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  1. James Lileks Contributor
    James Lileks
    @jameslileks

    As for my peroration on the odd constancy of a certain hue in the ads, I promised I’d put up a post about it. Here it is. 

    • #1
  2. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Peter seems to be wrong on a basic point, didn’t a lot of Political Correctness etc begin in English departments?  Maybe the problem is that they don’t normally invent new things, but the tenured profs etc got bored and decided to make up new things anyway?

    • #2
  3. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Hm.  Is Rob not aware that scoring in football is mostly in increments of 6?

    A football game score of like 3-0 or whatever, would be very unlikely.  It would mean that neither team scored a touchdown.

    I’ll also point out that many people – including Rob, I think – say that one reason soccer is boring is because of spending hours and ending with a score of 2-0, or maybe even a tie after multiple overtimes.

    And now Rob is complaining that football – or at least the Super Bowl – should be more like soccer?

    • #3
  4. filmklassik Inactive
    filmklassik
    @filmklassik

    Thrilled to hear you devote most of the podcast this week to the issue of Wokeness in education – – something mainstream Republicans seem incapable of wrapping their heads around.

    Talk to most of them, and you’ll hear variations of, “Ah, kids are just kids, right?  Heck, even Plato complained about ‘em!   Just wait till they get out in the real world and have a job, a spouse, a mortgage, etc.  We’ll see how left wing they are THEN.”

    And —

    “Relax.  Even most of the hippies cut their hair and joined the Rat Race, eventually.   These things run in cycles.”

    No.

    Things are much, much different now.

    Andrew Gutman was just starting to address the issue of the staggering cultural & political divide that separates the generations … when his segment ended.  Too bad.

    And mainstream Republicans simply aren’t comprehending the magnitude of this divide — the thoroughness with which the Left is indoctrinating our kids, and, as a consequence, how reflexively “Woke” most of them are.

    Even Rob, who is incredibly bright, doesn’t fully comprehend it, because one of the last things he said to Andrew was that a big reason why Republicans underperformed with young people in 2022 was that the candidates were so bad.

    No.

    Not that the candidates were good, necessarily, but that’s hardly the point.

    So what’s the point?  That Americans under the age of 30 are incredibly, unbelievably, staggeringly Woke.

    • #4
  5. Andrew Gutmann Podcaster
    Andrew Gutmann
    @andrewgutmann

    filmklassik (View Comment):

    Thrilled to hear you devote most of the podcast this week to the issue of Wokeness in education – – something mainstream Republicans seem incapable of wrapping their heads around.

    Talk to most of them, and you’ll hear variations of, “Ah, kids are just kids, right? Heck, even Plato complained about ‘em! Just wait till they get out in the real world and have a job, a spouse, a mortgage, etc. We’ll see how left wing they are THEN.”

    And —

    “Relax. Even most of the hippies cut their hair and joined the Rat Race, eventually. These things run in cycles.”

    No.

    Things are much, much different now.

    Andrew Gutman was just starting to address the issue of the staggering cultural & political divide that separates the generations … when his segment ended. Too bad.

    And mainstream Republicans simply aren’t comprehending the magnitude of this divide — the thoroughness with which the Left is indoctrinating our kids, and, as a consequence, how reflexively “Woke” most of them are.

    Even Rob, who is incredibly bright, doesn’t fully comprehend it, because one of the last things he said to Andrew was that a big reason why Republicans underperformed with young people in 2022 was that the candidates were so bad.

    No.

    Not that the candidates were good, necessarily, but that’s hardly the point.

    So what’s the point? That Americans under the age of 30 are incredibly, unbelievably, staggeringly Woke.

    Agreed. The demographics are terrifying. I don’t understand why more Republicans don’t understand this – the data is not hard to find. And I believe that the real reason schools are pushing the gender ideology stuff so hard is to keep girls from wanting to marry and have children. Keep them single and you keep them very progressive.

    • #5
  6. GlenEisenhardt Member
    GlenEisenhardt
    @

    What I don’t understand is why here in the State of Texas we have commies at every level educating our kids with public funds. What the hell is conservative about that? Every Texas public institution is staffed to the brim with hardcore communists, gender ideologues, race ideologues, queer theorists and the rest. All funded with Texas taxpayer money. And the left who runs Texas public institutions make sure to only hire people like them. It is a total failure of leadership and governance to have this going on in a decades long controlled “red state.” It should never have been allowed. And yet here we are. 

    • #6
  7. Andrew Gutmann Podcaster
    Andrew Gutmann
    @andrewgutmann

    GlenEisenhardt (View Comment):

    What I don’t understand is why here in the State of Texas we have commies at every level educating our kids with public funds. What the hell is conservative about that? Every Texas public institution is staffed to the brim with hardcore communists, gender ideologues, race ideologues, queer theorists and the rest. All funded with Texas taxpayer money. And the left who runs Texas public institutions make sure to only hire people like them. It is a total failure of leadership and governance to have this going on in a decades long controlled “red state.” It should never have been allowed. And yet here we are.

    The entire education establishment, just like nearly all of academia is dominated by the far-left. No question the right was asleep for decades and let this happen. The question now is it too late?

    • #7
  8. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    Andrew Gutmann (View Comment):

    GlenEisenhardt (View Comment):

    What I don’t understand is why here in the State of Texas we have commies at every level educating our kids with public funds. What the hell is conservative about that? Every Texas public institution is staffed to the brim with hardcore communists, gender ideologues, race ideologues, queer theorists and the rest. All funded with Texas taxpayer money. And the left who runs Texas public institutions make sure to only hire people like them. It is a total failure of leadership and governance to have this going on in a decades long controlled “red state.” It should never have been allowed. And yet here we are.

    The entire education establishment, just like nearly all of academia is dominated by the far-left. No question the right was asleep for decades and let this happen. The question now is it too late?

    The answer:  “yes, it is.”

     

    • #8
  9. Cazzy Member
    Cazzy
    @Cazzy

    I, too, thoroughly enjoyed this podcast’s discussion of education.  I speak as a long-ago English major and mother of three twenty-something adults.  I do believe that part of the problem is the creeping childlessness of our society.   If you don’t have kids of your own, it’s hard to believe how much school has changed.  Even if your kids are not woke, they are taught to stay silent.  It’s not just professors who have to sign loyalty pledges.  Most college applications now have at least one question asking the student to opine on his or her commitment to diversity.

    • #9
  10. GlennAmurgis Coolidge
    GlennAmurgis
    @GlennAmurgis

    Andrew Gutmann (View Comment):

    GlenEisenhardt (View Comment):

    What I don’t understand is why here in the State of Texas we have commies at every level educating our kids with public funds. What the hell is conservative about that? Every Texas public institution is staffed to the brim with hardcore communists, gender ideologues, race ideologues, queer theorists and the rest. All funded with Texas taxpayer money. And the left who runs Texas public institutions make sure to only hire people like them. It is a total failure of leadership and governance to have this going on in a decades long controlled “red state.” It should never have been allowed. And yet here we are.

    The entire education establishment, just like nearly all of academia is dominated by the far-left. No question the right was asleep for decades and let this happen. The question now is it too late?

    Is it possible to change when it collapses? This week report that the Baltimore School District had 0 pupils who are at grade level.  The only good thing about Covid was the wake-up call to parents about how rotten the public education system has become. 

    • #10
  11. filmklassik Inactive
    filmklassik
    @filmklassik

    Andrew Gutmann (View Comment):

    filmklassik (View Comment):

    Agreed. The demographics are terrifying. I don’t understand why more Republicans don’t understand this – the data is not hard to find.

    What’s frustrating for me is the extent to which Republicans think the answer is top down — that it lies primarily at the ballot box — that simply electing the right people will bring about cultural change.

    Insanity.  Republicans have it backwards.  Cultural change occurs only when you have managed to change the hearts and minds of the people.

    Example:  Does anyone think that Gay Marriage could’ve become enshrined into law in 1971, just a couple of years after Stonewall?

    No way.  Nor could it have happened in 1981, or even 1991.  The public simply wasn’t ready.

    But by 2001 — with Civil Unions the norm in most parts of the country — momentum was building for a landmark Supreme Court decision (Obergefell) that finally came to pass in 2015.

    My point?  The public had to be ready for such a change.  The ZEITGEIST had to be ready.  Because the zeitgeist is EVERYTHING, and Republicans seem incapable of understanding that.  Many will nod their heads (a bit blankly) and SAY they do, but they don’t.

    Which brings me to the hearts and minds of the under-30 crowd, people who — thanks to a full and total immersion in “Woke” ideology starting in their toddler years — now take several dubious precepts for granted.  For example:

    —America was founded on a bedrock of racism.

    —America is still fundamentally racist.

    —Racism is in the groundwater.

    —We need to pay more, not less, attention to race.

    —While it’s true that contemporary whites do not, technically speaking, bear direct responsibility for the historic oppression of black people, they kinda DO bear responsibility— particularly white MALES — and our policies, at least unofficially, need to reflect that fact, and certainly our rhetoric and popular culture do.

    Etc.

    The zeitgeist is everything.

    And I honestly don’t know how to change it. And — based on that sad, plaintive tone I could hear in your voice yesterday, Andrew — I’m not sure if you do, either.

    • #11
  12. Taras Coolidge
    Taras
    @Taras

    Rob:   “Cairo is a great city …”

    I suspect he’s actually talking about the luxury hotel district only!

    • #12
  13. Hugopops Coolidge
    Hugopops
    @Hugopops

    I am a big fan of your weekly podcast but this week’s Jerusalem discussion was really bad.

    It is disheartening to hear Rob’s comments on Jerusalem, so misinformed and basically repeating the Palestinian propaganda that has been pushed for so long and so often that it is becoming mainstream in the USA and the western world in general.   

     Two comments, among many, that stuck out:

    First, there are no plans or talk of plans of Israel rebuilding the third Temple on the Temple Mount  other than usual  small number of fringe crazies.  This judification of the Temple Mount narrative by the Palestinians,  is the go to gasoline used by the PA and Hamas to insight Palestinian violence against Israelis and jews in general.  https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/05/10/media-misses-the-real-story-as-palestinians-riot-on-temple-mount/. In reality, Jews are allowed on the Temple Mount ( the holiest site for jews) on a very limited basis.  They are not allowed to pray and if they are seen even moving their lips silently, they are removed immediately by the Israeli security and banned from the site.  

    As for the solution to the conflicts in Jerusalem being to increase the number of Christians in the West Bank, that’s insane.  The number of Christians in areas controlled by PA and Hamas ( I am not sure there are any Christians left in Gaza) have plummeted because of the  violence and prejudice by their muslim neighbors. The Christians in Palestinian territories are quiet about the violence and the media rarely covers it. They blame Israel for their difficult situation but it is only to make life easier in a hostile  environment. https://jcpa.org/article/palestinian-crimes-against-christian-arabs-and-their-manipulation-against-israel/   Meanwhile Israeli Arab Christians are flourishing and the most successful religious group in Israel.  

    I am not going to go on, but it is depressing how far and deep the propaganda about Israel, coming mostly  form Palestinian and left wing sources, has been spread by  media (including Haaretz), NGOs, academia and social media. Even. the smartest,  media savvy people like Rob, have swallowed it and are spreading it.  

     

    • #13
  14. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    filmklassik (View Comment):

    Example:  Does anyone think that Gay Marriage could’ve become enshrined into law in 1971, just a couple of years after Stonewall?

    No way.  Nor could it have happened in 1981, or even 1991.  The public simply wasn’t ready.

    But by 2001 — with Civil Unions the norm in most parts of the country — momentum was building for a landmark Supreme Court decision (Obergefell) that finally came to pass in 2015.

    Even 2001 is too early.  Remember in 2008 a ban on gay marriage won a majority of the vote in CALIFORNIA!

     

    • #14
  15. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    filmklassik (View Comment):

    Example: Does anyone think that Gay Marriage could’ve become enshrined into law in 1971, just a couple of years after Stonewall?

    No way. Nor could it have happened in 1981, or even 1991. The public simply wasn’t ready.

    But by 2001 — with Civil Unions the norm in most parts of the country — momentum was building for a landmark Supreme Court decision (Obergefell) that finally came to pass in 2015.

    Even 2001 is too early. Remember in 2008 a ban on gay marriage won a majority of the vote in CALIFORNIA!

     

    Largely because of the same black voters who voted for Obama.

    • #15
  16. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    Taras (View Comment):

    Rob: “Cairo is a great city …”

    I suspect he’s actually talking about the luxury hotel district only!

    Haven’t been able to listen, so I’m not sure what the context was here.

    I was in Cairo for the first time last week. I didn’t fall in love with it. 

    • #16
  17. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Loved both interviews! I’m so excited about Mark Bauerlein and the other trustees taking charge at New College. Well overdue!

    • #17
  18. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    The interviews were very good.

    Who said “hi” to me at the end?

    • #18
  19. Samuel Block Support
    Samuel Block
    @SamuelBlock

    Percival (View Comment):

    The interviews were very good.

    Who said “hi” to me at the end?

    Just your friendly neighborhood Spiderman.

    • #19
  20. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    I figured that I would get bounced when you guys were through, so I was on my way to get a sandwich for lunch when I heard you.

    • #20
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