The American Mind Podcast
The American Mind Podcast
The Claremont Institute
The Wilting Ivies
4 minutes Posted May 7, 2026 at 12:02 pm.
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As institutes of higher learning lose public trust, a Yale committee has issued several recommendations for greater "openness." In response, the university has trimmed down its mission statement to remove hints of activism and focus on efforts to “create, disseminate, and preserve knowledge.” As the reputations of legacy institutions slump, renegade academies have risen to upset the status quo. Ryan Williams and Spencer Klavan discuss the prospects for these new upstart institutions: Will they spark a wider revival of the traditional academy, or transfer established prestige?