Should Academic Freedom Be a Constitutional Right?

Creating a constitutional structure around academic freedom.

Published August 6, 2024

Sarah and David kick off the Advisory Opinions August book series and invite professor Keith Whittington on the pod to discuss his new book You Can’t Teach That!: The Battle over University Classrooms. But first the two dig into David’s conversation with Justice Neil Gorsuch.

The Agenda:
—Justice Gorsuch: Go to law school.
—Defining originalism
—The Supreme Court children’s book
—The history of academic freedom
—The government speech doctrine
—Balancing academic freedom with job responsibilities
—Private vs. public universities
—The constitutionality of the Stop WOKE Act

Show Notes:
—Justice Gorsuch’s Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law

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Sarah Isgur

Sarah Isgur is a senior editor at The Dispatch and is based in northern Virginia. Prior to joining the company in 2019, she had worked in every branch of the federal government and on three presidential campaigns. When Sarah is not hosting podcasts or writing newsletters, she’s probably sending uplifting stories about spiders to Jonah, who only pretends to love all animals.

David French

David French is a columnist for the New York Times. He’s a former senior editor of The Dispatch. He’s the author most recently of Divided We Fall: America's Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation.

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