Kevin Currie-Knight (East Carolina University) and David Labaree (Professor Emeritus, Stanford University) talk about the history and meaning of academic freedom. They talk about whether there has ever been a “golden age” where academics were safe to be heterodox (no), and what academic freedom means in an age of social media and the in-group policing it fosters.

00:00:32 - David’s Life as a (Newly) Retired Academic and Kevin’s Life as a Grinding Academic
00:04:49 - The European Origins of (and the Reasons Behind) Academic Freedom
11:14:58 - Academic Tenure Comes About at Stanford University
00:19:32 - Academic Conformity and Why David is Concerned About Two Types of Academics
00:34:29 - A Tension Between Academic Freedom and University Brand-Consciousness
00:44:25 - When Academics Tweet
00:52:56 - Should We Redesign a More Robust Academic Freedom? Can We?