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Mark Bauerlein

Mark Bauerlein is Senior Editor at First Things and Professor of English at Emory University, where he has taught since earning his PhD in English at UCLA in 1989. For two years (2003-05) he served as Director of the Office of Research and Analysis at the National Endowment for the Arts. His books include Literary Criticism: An Autopsy (1997), The Pragmatic Mind: Explorations in the Psychology of Belief (1997), and The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (2008). His essays have appeared in PMLA, Partisan Review, Wilson Quarterly, Commentary, and New Criterion, and his commentaries and reviews in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Weekly Standard, The Guardian, Chronicle of Higher Education, and other national periodicals.

Series

Federalist Radio Hour1 episodeThe Learning Curve1 episodeThe Ricochet Podcast1 episode

Recent Episodes

The Ricochet Podcast
The Ricochet Podcast

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.
Hosts:
James LileksPeter RobinsonRob Long
Organization
Ricochet

February 2022

The Learning Curve
The Learning Curve

Emory Uni. Prof. Mark Bauerlein on ‘The Dumbest Generation’ & the Digital Age

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-host Cara Candal and guest co-host Prof. Robert Maranto talk with Dr. Mark Bauerlein, Senior Editor at First Things, Professor of English Emeritus at Emory University, and the author of The Dumbest Generation Grows Up. Dr. Bauerlein shares his views about the kinds of content American K-12 students should be reading for preparation for college and meaningful lives. He describes the main findings of his books, including how overuse of technology, excessive screen time, and social media have prevented our youth from pursuing more elevated intellectual endeavors and delayed their maturation into adulthood. He draws linkages between the narcissism of these habits and an illiberal and closeminded outlook on society among too many Millennials and follow-on generations. Dr. Bauerlein offers thoughts on how teachers, parents, and leaders can use higher academic-quality education as a counterbalance to this trend.
Host:
Cara Candal
Organization
Pioneer Institute

January 2022