Heads up: Moral Maze on R4 discussing academic freedom at 8pm, 9 Oct

[boatyardblues]

From Micheal Buerk’s trailer on Today this morning and the way it was framed, it looks like trans activism and no platforming will be discussed. He also talked about the concerted harassment of academics who are writing about contested topics. I have set a reminder.

Be interesting to see who the witnesses are.

Thanks OP. Fingers crossed for some #debate

This is from the website page:

^Academic Freedom
Moral Maze
Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk. With Andrew Doyle, Anne McElvoy, Tim Stanley and Nazir Afzal.^
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00094jx
and if you click on the "show more" link, there's a fairly long preamble.

Ooh, Andrew Doyle! Titania McGrath herself. Should be interesting.

Just had a read of the preamble in the hopes of finding out who the other three are* (I only recognise Andrew Doyle's name) and was struck by this assumption.

But safe spaces for students make dangerous spaces for dons.

Not questioning the undesirable impact on staff, but the assumption that students are in favour of no-platforming, trans privilege (and other forms of social 'justice') activism. My daughter graduated a couple of years ago and from what I hear from her and her friends most students are not particularly enamoured either, and I've heard of particular courses being avoided because the lecturer was too 'woke' for their taste. I don't think this is a staff/student divide.

*will now try Google for those names

That was a brilliant introductory statement and for any listener unfamiliar with Rosa Freedman, that should have made them sit up and pay attention.

About to post the same re Rosa Freedman. Germaine Greer got a mention too

Academic from Brighton: I don't think academic freedom is that much under threat. And anyway, academics have privilege.

For anyone wanting to save 45 minutes of their time:

A bunch of axe-grinding intellectual pygmies collect undeserved BBC appearance fees.

was that awful Melanie woman not on it?

An interesting response from Twitter:

Staggeringly biased trail by #michaelbuerk for #moralmaze tonight on @BBCRadio4. [...] Trans people misrepresented, framed as the violent enemy of debate, as dangerous threats. This hate by the media never ends.

I'm curious as to where on earth this tweeter got that from. I listened to the entire programme and the trans issue was barely mentioned, albeit hedged around. It's interesting, though, that the phrase 'no platforming' is generally assumed to relate only to one context, therefore careful disclaimers had to be interjected as to the origins of that phrase in certain 20th-century genocide denial. The vast majority of academics persecuted for their views on that programme had been discussing Palestine, colonialism and controversial philosophical ethics, not gender and sexuality.

Shows how once more it's all about me, me, me (even when it clearly isn't). But as to death threats and 'no platforming' of certain views which don't respect that 'every generation has its limits', as one witness put it, then I'm unsure as to what exactly does qualify as dangerous threats and a violent enemy of debate. As to who's mostly propagating those threats, there are some good pointers out there in the social mediasphere, as if we didn't already know.

Academia, it seems, has a bigger problem than it's seen in several generations. As do feminists both within and beyond the HE sector.