It's a wrap on season two of the Palm Court Pod. Hosts Mike Palmer, Megan Cytron, and Grant Balfour reflect on the past year and discuss what's to come for New College and the podcast itself.

We reflect on a year of change, both geopolitically and personally. We started the pod with the idea that New College was the "canary in the swamp," and as New College went, so might higher education in the U.S. As it turns out, we were right, and now what's happening at New College is being seen all over the country.

We focus on celebrating the parts of New College's culture that we love while keeping track of the challenges. We talked to a lot of interesting people this season, including Libby Harrity, Mike Campbell, and Eric Schickler. We also interviewed journalists who have been covering New College, such as Katherine Joyce, who wrote the article "The New College Gambit."

We note the recent attempt by the governor to place Ringling Museum under New College's control and the new admin's strange hires, weird expenses, and changes to the grading system. This new "grade equivalents" system defeats the whole philosophy of New College, which was to reward intellectual curiosity and allow students to measure themselves against standards established in a relationship with a professor, not a traditional grading scale.

As we look toward season three, we have a number of ideas for future episodes. We've heard stories of new students, including athletes, who came to the school not knowing anything about the New College system and are still sticking with it and thriving. There are also stories of people who came as "culture warriors" but were converted by their experiences at the school.

We plan to continue our conversations with alums, academics, and journalists to understand the shifting landscape of higher education, particularly in Florida. With Governor DeSantis term-limited, we speculate on what the next election might mean for New College.

Finally, we want to hear from you, our listeners.

Subscribe wherever you listen to pods. Video versions are on Youtube and Spotify. We'll be back in the fall with Season 3.

00:00 Introduction and Season Recap

01:05 Reflecting on Season Two

01:25 New College and Higher Ed Trends

02:20 Memorable Guests and Episodes

04:09 Historical Events and Listener Requests

06:03 Challenges and Changes in Higher Education

12:31 Faculty and Institutional Changes

16:32 Student Experiences and Future Outlook

19:17 Culture Warriors and Campus Politics

20:57 Florida's Political Landscape and New College

21:44 Gubernatorial Election and Future Prospects

23:15 Third Party Activity and National Politics

24:37 Podcast Reflections and Future Guests

26:55 Listener Engagement and Community Interaction

27:45 Season Two Evaluation and Future Plans

31:27 Final Thoughts and Hot Takes

Shownotes:

• This season started with Libby Harrity and Mike Campbell

• The 80s saw a rise in quantitative psychology and sociology.

• Zorn’s Lemma has some relics of the Kingsley Hall experiment (see Ep. 20)

• The “silent protest” involved noise complaints over “walls” - a perennial problem.

• Provost Rohrbacher and the “Floridense” seal

• Ep. 30 extras included a glimpse into NCF’s pro wrestling years.

• Ep. 23 talked education, China, and beats

• Ep. 27 brought Yippie vibes

• Grade-equivalent evaluations have attracted some ire.

• Rohrbacher recently wrote on the traditional NCF system.

• Anderson Brown (Ep. 3) wrote last year about Rancourt.

• Steve Waldman, Interfluidity, 3 May 2023: “We Haunt.”

• First five eps can be heard by scrolling way down here.

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