"Whither The Looniversity?" - A Podcast On The Miserable State Of The American University podcast

#Politics #News #Whither the Looniversity?" - The Podcast of The Peerless Review #Podcasting Education

1:14:43

Artificial intelligence is evolving at an unprecedented pace—what does that mean for the future of technology, venture capital, business, and even our understanding of ourselves? Award-winning journalist and writer Anil Ananthaswamy joins us for our latest episode to discuss his latest book Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI . Anil helps us explore the journey and many breakthroughs that have propelled machine learning from simple perceptrons to the sophisticated algorithms shaping today’s AI revolution, powering GPT and other models. The discussion aims to demystify some of the underlying math that powers modern machine learning to help everyone grasp this technology impacting our lives, even if your last math class was in high school. Anil walks us through the power of scaling laws, the shift from training to inference optimization, and the debate among AI’s pioneers about the road to AGI—should we be concerned, or are we still missing key pieces of the puzzle? The conversation also delves into AI’s philosophical implications—could understanding how machines learn help us better understand ourselves? And what challenges remain before AI systems can truly operate with agency? If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits. Links: Read Why Machines Learn, Anil’s latest book on the math behind AI https://www.amazon.com/Why-Machines-Learn-Elegant-Behind/dp/0593185749 Learn more about Anil Ananthaswamy’s work and writing https://anilananthaswamy.com/ Watch Anil Ananthaswamy’s TED Talk on AI and intelligence https://www.ted.com/speakers/anil_ananthaswamy Discover the MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship that shaped Anil’s AI research https://ksj.mit.edu/ Understand the Perceptron, the foundation of neural networks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptron Read about the Perceptron Convergence Theorem and its significance https://www.nature.com/articles/323533a0…

"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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"Whither the Looniversity?" is a series of videos and podcasts that constitute an ongoing discussion about the woke culture of the modern university and other challenges facing higher education. Hosted by Adam Ellwanger, a professor of rhetoric at the University of Houston - Downtown, the show features professors, administrators, and students who have unique ideas about how to restore intellectual culture -- whether inside institutional settings or out of them. Each episode focuses on the same 3 questions, asked of every guest (in addition to other questions): 1) How did the decline of the American university occur? 2) Can the American university be rehabilitated? 3) If it can be rehabilitated, how? If it cannot be rehabilitated, then what is to be done?

26 episoder

"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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26 episoder

#Politics #News #Whither the Looniversity?" - The Podcast of The Peerless Review #Podcasting Education

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"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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Dr. Aryeh Kontorovich, Prof. of Computer Science, Ben Gurion University, Israel 1:04:36

for 2 years siden1:04:36

1:04:36

Dr. Kontorovich is a professor of computer science at Ben Gurion University in Israel, where his research focuses on machine learning, Markov chains, probability, and statistics. Recently, he has been working with ChatGPT and has had some success in demonstrating its limitations when it comes to logic, reasoning, and humor. We discuss the future implications of AI for teaching and learning in higher education. Dr. Kontorovich comes from a family of Russian Jewish academics, and we also discuss why so many scholars with family ties to the old Soviet Union have been so vocal in their criticism of wokeness and the DEI agenda in universities.…

"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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Dr. Tabia Lee, Former Faculty Director, De Anza College 50:43

for 2 years siden50:43

50:43

Dr. Lee was a director of the Office of Equity, Social Justice, and Multicultural Education at De Anza College...until she started asking the wrong questions. After second-guessing the DEI and "anti-racist" policies in her department, Lee found that she had a target on her back. Although De Anza hired her to rein in the excesses of wokeness in the Office of Equity, she was ultimately fired. We talk about what happened...and whether dogmatic notions of diversity, equity, inclusion, social justice, and antiracism can be redeemed on American campuses.…

"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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Dr. Rob Jenkins, Prof. of English, Georgia State U - Perimeter College 53:25

for 2 years siden53:25

53:25

Prof. Jenkins is associate professor of English at Georgia State University Perimeter College. He has served as both professor and dean at a number of different universities. As a Higher Education Fellow at the Leadership Institute's Campus Reform Online, he frequently writes about a number of problems in American schools. Further, he frequently gives training and talks on the topic of institutional leadership. We discuss the recent history of the English department in America, and we discuss how the DEI/woke agenda in higher education will impact students' capacities for leadership.…

"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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John Sailer, Senior Fellow and Director of University Policy, National Association of Scholars 45:52

for 2 years siden45:52

45:52

John Sailer is Senior Fellow and Director of University Policy for the National Association of Scholars (NAS), where his reporting on the implementation of DEI in university hiring has actually produced reforms in various institutions across the country. His work has been published in the Wall Street Journal, The Free Press, Unherd, and more. We discuss strategies for effectively fighting the diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda in higher education.…

"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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Dr. Scott Yenor, Professor of Political Philosophy at Boise State, Washington Fellow at Claremont's Center for the American Way of Life 45:00

for 2 years siden45:00

45:00

Prof. Yenor teaches political philosophy at Boise State University. Recently, he accepted a position as a Washington Fellow at the Claremont Institute's Center for the American Way of Life. Yenor's most recent book is entitled "The Recovery of Family Life: Exposing the Limits of Modern Ideologies." His talks at the National Conservatism conference on the subjects of feminism and the sexual revolution have triggered the campus left, the acolytes of which continue to nip at his heels. We discuss policy interventions that might counter the excesses of wokeness on America's university campuses and the in-roads that Gov. Ron DeSantis has made in Florida.…

"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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Dr. Amy Wax, Robert Mundheim Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School 47:55

for 2 years siden47:55

47:55

Prof. Wax needs no introduction. She is a medical doctor, and is currently a professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania. In the past, she worked in the Office of the Solicitor General in the U.S. Justice Department. In that capacity, she argued before the Supreme Court on over a dozen occasions. Her heterodox ideas (and her willingness to boldly speak them) has made her a target of the institutional left, on campus and off. Here, I ask Prof. Wax whether the university can be reclaimed from the woke ideologues. In addition, we briefly discuss the University of Pennsylvania's repeated attempts to censor and censure her -- and the status of her legal defense.…

"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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Dr. Matthew Wielicki, Prof. of Geological Science, University of Alabama 43:36

for 2 years siden43:36

43:36

Dr. Matthew Wielicki recently made news when he announced that he would be leaving his tenure-track professorship in the Geological Sciences department of the University of Alabama. I talk with Dr. Wielicki about why he made this decision and how even the sciences are being corrupted by wokeness. We also discuss the hysteria surrounding climate alarmism.…

"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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Dr. Judith Curry - Prof. Emerita in Earth Sciences, Georgia Tech - President of Climate Forecast Applications Network 58:25

for 2 years siden58:25

58:25

Dr. Judith Curry has been at the forefront of the scientific debate about global climate change for decades. After serving as Chair of Georgia Tech's School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, she switched her status to Professor Emerita, citing an "anti-skeptic bias" in academic science. In addition to serving on NASA's Advisory Council on Earth Science, her most recent work has been as President of the Climate Forecast Applications Network. We discuss the ideological infection of the scientific community, the catastrophe unfolding in our universities, and the many ways that climate scientists, the media, the state, and NGOs exaggerate the threat of man-made climate change.…

"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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Dr. Mary Grabar - Fellow at Alexander Hamilton Institute, Author of "Debunking the 1619 Project" 43:21

for 2 years siden43:21

43:21

Dr. Mary Grabar is currently a Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, Executive Director at DissidentProf.com , and frequent author of public writing on politics and culture at all the best publications. Most recently, she is author of two books: "Debunking Howard Zinn: Exposing the Fake History that Turned a Generation Against America" and "Debunking the 1619 Project: Exposing the Plan to Divide America." Having been "cancelled" in academia before "cancellation" was a familiar term, I talk with Dr. Grabar about her departure from academia, the abuses of tenure and academic freedom, and the schools' push to indoctrinate children to carry out a Communist cultural revolution.…

"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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Dr. David B. Porter - Former Prof. of Psychology, Berea College (Case Pending) 1:03:42

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After a colleague's reputation was unfairly attacked by a Title IX complaint, Dave Porter, then a professor of psychology at Berea College, began talking to students about the value of academic freedom and whether it is in tension with the right to learn in non-hostile environments. His inquiry set off a chain of events that led to Berea's dismissal of Prof. Porter. He joins me to explain the sequence of events in that affair, and he provides an update on the state of his lawsuit against Berea College. Further, we discuss the publication of his new study (published at PeerlessReview.org ) entitled "How Hostile Environment Perceptions Imperil Academic Freedom: The Effects of Identity and Beliefs on Perceptions and Judgments."…

"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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Dr. Ryan Martin, Prof. of Statistics, North Carolina State University 1:04:39

for 2 years siden1:04:39

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Ryan Martin is a professor of statistics at North Carolina State University. He is also a co-founder of the Researchers.One platform for publishing scholarly research. After discussing Prof. Martin's most recent research, we talk about the predictive applications of statistics and the assumptions that undergird the field. Finally, we consider how statistical prediction impacts the political realm, with Prof. Martin explaining how a reorientation toward "imprecise probability" might improve the public reputation of his field, which is sometimes summarized by the phrase "Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics."…

"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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Episode 15 - Dr. J.D. Haltigan - Prof. of Psychology, Univ. of Toronto 49:55

for 2 years siden49:55

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J.D. Haltigan is Assistant Professor of Psychology at University of Toronto, where his research focuses on developmental psychopathology -- specifically early caregiving and its effects on psychological development. The author of dozens of peer-reviewed publications, Haltigan is also the founder of a Substack publication called "The Multilevel Mailer," where he writes about the psychological effects of contemporary trends in society, culture, and technology. We talk about the politicization of psychology as a field, creeping wokeness in the medical industry and mental health care, and the troubling evidence that the kids are NOT (in fact) "alright."…

"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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Episode 14 - Dr. Pedro Domingos - Professor Emeritus at Univ. of Washington, Expert on AI and Machine Learning 1:12:04

for 2 years siden1:12:04

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Prof. Pedro Domingos has been at the forefront of the revolutions in artificial intelligence and machine learning for over two decades. In addition to conducting his teaching and research at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering of the University of Washington, he has worked closely with a variety of the biggest firms in the tech industry. His most recent book is "The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Re-Make Our World." Dr. Domingos has also been a vocal critic of the encroachment of woke/DEI ideology in the technology sector, smuggled in under the banner of "ethics." His opposition has put him at the center of controversy. We discuss his various run-ins with the woke contingent in his field, the promise of AI, the fate of the university, and (of course) a bit about stochastic parrots.…

"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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Episode 13 - Dr. Elizabeth Weiss - Prof. of Anthropology, San Jose State University 1:04:38

for 2 years siden1:04:38

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Dr. Elizabeth Weiss is a full professor of anthropology at San Jose State University, where her research focuses on the analysis of ancient human remains. She has published dozens of peer-reviewed research essays and a number of books. Her most recent co-authored book, "Repatriation and Erasing the Past," made her a target of the woke mob due to her opposition to new repatriation laws that require federally-funded institutions to return any artifacts deemed "sacred" by an indigenous people to the living descendants of the tribe (should they be requested). This resulted in an open letter signed by nearly 1,000 academics denouncing Weiss and her book. More recently, she was attacked for posting a photo of her holding a human skull on social media. We talk about the woke ideologues, the current state of anthropology, repatriation politics, and her current lawsuit against her university.…

"Whither the Looniversity?" - A Podcast on the Miserable State of the American University

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Episode 12 - Dr. Adam Gussow - Prof. of English and Southern Studies, Ole Miss 1:14:47

for 2 years siden1:14:47