I read A LOT of books. And while I still love to curl up with a novel, the books that speak to me the most right now are those that help me make sense of our increasingly bonkers world. So when an academic pal recommended a new book by two political scientists called Polarized by Degrees: How the Diploma Divide and the Culture War Transformed American Politics I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy. Suffice it to say that I was not disappointed. The book, co-authored by Matt Grossmann and David Hopkins, offers the single best explanation I’ve come across regarding the role that education has played in our increasingly bitter politics.
And because I have a podcast I was able to pester one of the authors into coming on to Have You Heard to talk about the book and its thesis. David Hopkins joins us to talk about how the Democratic Party became the party of college graduates, a dramatic reversal from, say, 50 years ago; how the right came to see K-12 teachers and university faculty as the enemy camp; and how we can defend institutions that are increasingly under siege.
I hope you enjoy the episode!
Recommended readings
Matt Grossmann and David Hopkins, Polarized by Degrees: How the Diploma Divide and the Culture War Transformed American Politics, Cambridge University Press, 2024.
Jennifer C. Berkshire and Jack Schneider, “The Old College Try,” Slate, March 11, 2024.
Jon Shelton and Neil Kraus, “Why Democrats Are Losing Americans Without a College Degree—and How to Win Them Back,” the Nation, December 12, 2024.
Will Bunch, After the Ivory Tower Falls: How College Broke the American Dream and Blew Up Our Politics—and How to Fix It, HarperCollins, 2023. [And check out our interview with Will here: Have You Heard #142 “The Great Education Divide.”
Jon Marcus, Brianna Atkinson, Molly Minta and Amy Morona, “Rural students’ options shrink as colleges slash majors,” Hechinger Report, November 26, 2024.
Questions or comments? Drop me a line here.
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