In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Harvard Divinity School visiting scholar Rabbi David Wolpe, MIT PhD student Talia Khan, and Harvard professor Steven Pinker about the new reality for Jews in higher education.

Since Simchas Torah, the hostile discourse regarding Israel has become something that no Jewish student can ignore. Jewish families have been asking: Is it even worth it to send our sons and daughters to these colleges? In this episode we discuss:

Is it better for Jews to change the system from within, or without?
What has changed about the Jewish experience at American colleges since Oct. 7?
What is the way forward regarding free speech and Jewish rights on campus?

Tune in to hear a conversation about how we might work toward a reimagined and refocused higher education.

Interview with David Wolpe begins at 4:27.
Interview with Talia Khan begins at 29:30.
Interview with Steven Pinker begins at 1:05:12.

Named The Most Influential Rabbi in America by Newsweek and one of the 50 Most Influential Jews in the World by The Jerusalem Post, David Wolpe is a visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School and the Max Webb Rabbi Emeritus of Sinai Temple, a Conservative shul in Los Angeles. Rabbi Wolpe previously taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, Hunter College, and UCLA. He is the author of eight books, including the national bestseller Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times. His new book is titled David, the Divided Heart.

Talia Khan is an MIT graduate student in mechanical engineering, the president of the MIT Israel Alliance, and a Fulbright Brazil alumna.

Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. He conducts research on language, cognition, and social relations, writes for publications such as the New York Times, Time and The Atlantic, and is the author of twelve books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Stuff of Thought, The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Sense of Style, Enlightenment Now, and Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters.

References:

“On the Hatred of Jews” by David J. Wolpe

Israel: An Echo of Eternity by Abraham Joshua Heschel

O Jerusalem! by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre

“When Calls for Jewish Genocide Can Cost a University Its Government Funding” by Michael A. Helfand

“A five-point plan to save Harvard from itself” by Steven Pinker

The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt

The Canceling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott

The Constitution of Knowledge by Jonathan Rauch

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What’s Next: Higher Education for Jews: David Wolpe, Talia Khan, and Steven Pinker

18Forty Podcast