Universities in Crisis (part 1)

Culture, Power, Politics » Podcast · Jul 16, 2026 · 1h 14m

In this episode, Alan and Jem discuss the crisis in the university sector, mainly in the UK, but in a transatlantic context. We talk about the history of the universities since the mid 20th century and how they have ended up in the current situation, with tens of thousands of staff having been made redundant since 2020 despite astronomical levels of student debt.

*A correction on a historical point here: at some point Jem repeats the assertion that the John Major cabinet had fewer graduates of ancient elite universities than Tony Blair’s. This is one of those things that used to get…