Professors teaching about communism and socialism? Un-American! Here’s some cash to make sure the university is preaching the supreme American virtue: capitalism.

If you caught our joint episode with the In Bed with the Right podcast in May 2025, you heard me give the TLDR version of the story of pharmacy magnate Charles Walgreen and the University of Chicago. But the case deserves a full episode, which journalist Steven Melendez lays out for us here.

References mentioned this episode:

• Steven Melendez. August, 12 2024. Any questions for the pharmacist? Drugstore magnate Charles R. Walgreen’s anti-communist crusade. Chicago Reader.
• Follow Steven Melendez on Bluesky
• Our previous episode discussing Walgreen on the In Bed with the Right podcast

Support the show at patreon.com/americancampuspodcast

Get in touch. Want to request a topic or pitch an episode? Email Lauren at shephell@iu.edu

Follow American Campus Podcast:
on Patreon: www.patreon.com/americancampuspodcast
on Instagram: @americancampuspod

Freshman hazing, a time honored tradition of (at least) 1,500 years.

References mentioned this episode:

• Hannah Skoda. 2025. Frying Pans, Limpets, Donkeys and Becs-jaunes: Thinking about Violence in Late Medieval Universities. Global Intellectual History.
• Hannah Skoda’s website
• Medieval Murder Maps
• Samantha Harvey. 2018. The Western Wind: A Novel. Penguin Random House.
• BBC’s History Extra Podcast ft. Hannah Skoda and Rana Mitter for “History Behind the Headlines” series

Support the show at patreon.com/americancampuspodcast

Get in touch. Want to request a topic or pitch an episode? Email Lauren at shephell@iu.edu

Follow American Campus Podcast:
on Patreon: www.patreon.com/americancampuspodcast
on Instagram: @americancampuspod

From Kant to CRT via Columbia and UC Irvine.

References mentioned this episode:

• The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, 3rd edition. W. W. Norton.
• Miquel de Palol. 2023. The Garden of Seven Twilights. Translated by Adrian Nathan West. Dalkey Archive Press.
• PDF: Immanuel Kant. 1784. An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment? 1992 translation by Ted Humphrey. Hackett Publishing.
• Join the Verso books Fredric Jameson reading group
• Jonathan Fine’s website: https://jonathanblakefine.com/
• Jonathan Fine on Twitter @jonathanbfine and Bluesky @jonathanbfine.bsky.social‬

Support the show at patreon.com/americancampuspodcast

Get in touch. Want to request a topic or pitch an episode? Email Lauren at shephell@iu.edu

Follow American Campus Podcast:
on Patreon: www.patreon.com/americancampuspodcast
on Instagram: @americancampuspod