Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago
As much as we’d like to blame Donald Trump for the near-destruction of higher education, the rot set in long before he ever set foot in the White House. Political analyst and author Nolan Higdon is back to talk with Steve about his new book, MAGAcademy: How Corporatism Paved the Way for the Hostile Takeover of Higher Ed.
Nolan makes the case that Trump’s hostile takeover of the academy was only possible because fifty years of neoliberal corporatization had already reduced universities to profit-driven enterprises. (He also points out that this was spearheaded largely by so-called liberal Democrats.) From the weakening of faculty power and the crushing weight of student debt to the erosion of academic freedom and the treatment of students as mere customers, the stage was set long before MAGA became a political force. If higher education had a civic mission, it has been gutted. Critical inquiry is replaced by vapid careerism and market logic.
Steve and Nolan examine how federal funding and corporate influence turned campuses into compliant institutions, more concerned with their bottom line. Steve brings the crucial macro-economic, challenging the false scarcity that puts the kibosh on public investment in education. As he often reminds us, the federal government is the issuer of the currency. It is not revenue-constrained, yet we continue to accept austerity and tuition hikes as if there were no other way.
The conversation highlights how higher education reflects broader class relations and power structures within capitalism. MAGA’s higher education agenda is part of a longer historical process that leads to today’s intensified struggles over knowledge, ideology, and power.
Nolan Higdon is a prominent political analyst, author, and media scholar. He teaches in Merrill College and the Education Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A veteran of the “corporate university” era, Higdon has authored numerous books, including The Anatomy of Fake News and Surveillance Education. His latest work, MAGAcademy, exposes the bipartisan neoliberal roots of the modern authoritarian shift in American higher education.
Find his work on Substack: nolanhigdon.substack.com
@NolanHigdonCML on X
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:29 Why This Book Matters
04:21 Book Summary and Thesis
06:23 Trump as Symptom Not Cause
08:34 How Trump Exploits Distrust
11:05 Higher Ed Loses the Public
13:51 Corporatizing the University
20:21 Neoliberalism Defined
22:46 Hegemony and Managed Society
26:49 Tech Elites Against Democracy
29:35 Money and Message Control
32:18 Campus Speech Chilling
33:38 Epstein Network Power
35:30 Gaslit and Afraid
37:18 AI Jobs and Higher Ed
39:29 Neoliberal Individualism
41:22 AI Bubble Reality Check
42:37 Enshittification and Rand
45:21 Robber Baron Cosplay
48:25 Trump Funding Leverage
50:58 Democracy No Way Out
55:05 Two Paths Forward
58:51 Thanks and Closing Plugs
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
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#mmt
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
Please help our Real Progressives efforts in spreading and become a monthly donor!
At PayPal
paypal.me/RealProgressives/25
At Patreon
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Write for Real Progressives
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realprogressives.org
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realprogressives.org/macro-n-cheese-podcast
We believe all materials used in this video fall under Fair Use as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
As much as we’d like to blame Donald Trump for the near-destruction of higher education, the rot set in long before he ever set foot in the White House. Political analyst and author Nolan Higdon is back to talk with Steve about his new book, MAGAcademy: How Corporatism Paved the Way for the Hostile Takeover of Higher Ed.
Nolan makes the case that Trump’s hostile takeover of the academy was only possible because fifty years of neoliberal corporatization had already reduced universities to profit-driven enterprises. (He also points out that this was spearheaded largely by so-called liberal Democrats.) From the weakening of faculty power and the crushing weight of student debt to the erosion of academic freedom and the treatment of students as mere customers, the stage was set long before MAGA became a political force. If higher education had a civic mission, it has been gutted. Critical inquiry is replaced by vapid careerism and market logic.
Steve and Nolan examine how federal funding and corporate influence turned campuses into compliant institutions, more concerned with their bottom line. Steve brings the crucial macro-economic, challenging the false scarcity that puts the kibosh on public investment in education. As he often reminds us, the federal government is the issuer of the currency. It is not revenue-constrained, yet we continue to accept austerity and tuition hikes as if there were no other way.
The conversation highlights how higher education reflects broader class relations and power structures within capitalism. MAGA’s higher education agenda is part of a longer historical process that leads to today’s intensified struggles over knowledge, ideology, and power.
Nolan Higdon is a prominent political analyst, author, and media scholar. He teaches in Merrill College and the Education Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A veteran of the “corporate university” era, Higdon has authored numerous books, including The Anatomy of Fake News and Surveillance Education. His latest work, MAGAcademy, exposes the bipartisan neoliberal roots of the modern authoritarian shift in American higher education.
Find his work on Substack: nolanhigdon.substack.com
@NolanHigdonCML on X
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:29 Why This Book Matters
04:21 Book Summary and Thesis
06:23 Trump as Symptom Not Cause
08:34 How Trump Exploits Distrust
11:05 Higher Ed Loses the Public
13:51 Corporatizing the University
20:21 Neoliberalism Defined
22:46 Hegemony and Managed Society
26:49 Tech Elites Against Democracy
29:35 Money and Message Control
32:18 Campus Speech Chilling
33:38 Epstein Network Power
35:30 Gaslit and Afraid
37:18 AI Jobs and Higher Ed
39:29 Neoliberal Individualism
41:22 AI Bubble Reality Check
42:37 Enshittification and Rand
45:21 Robber Baron Cosplay
48:25 Trump Funding Leverage
50:58 Democracy No Way Out
55:05 Two Paths Forward
58:51 Thanks and Closing Plugs
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
Please help our Real Progressives efforts in spreading and become a monthly donor!
At PayPal
paypal.me/RealProgressives/25
At Patreon
patreon.com/realprogressives
Donorbox
donorbox.org/each-one-teach-one-3
Write for Real Progressives
realprogressives.org/submit-an-article
Visit our website:
realprogressives.org
Listen to our podcast:
realprogressives.org/macro-n-cheese-podcast
Subscribe to our Substack:
realprogressives.substack.com
We believe all materials used in this video fall under Fair Use as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
#mmt
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
Please help our Real Progressives efforts in spreading and become a monthly donor!
At PayPal
paypal.me/RealProgressives/25
At Patreon
patreon.com/realprogressives
Write for Real Progressives
realprogressives.org/submit-an-article
Visit our website:
realprogressives.org
Listen to our podcast:
realprogressives.org/macro-n-cheese-podcast
We believe all materials used in this video fall under Fair Use as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
