Half the Answer #2: Campus Misinformation

Caitlin M. Green, Trent R. Nelson, Bradford Vivian Mar 6, 2025

Caitlin and Trent speak with Bradford Vivian, a Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Pennsylvania State University, about campus misinformation. How do op-eds and other polemics use hyperbole, metaphor and innuendo to create a false impression that college campuses are overrun with radical left wing revolutionaries, communist professors, mentally weak and coddled students, and zombie hordes chanting mindless slogans, infected by the woke mind virus? And what actually is DEI, anyway?

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References
Dr. Vivian’s book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/campus-misinformation-9780197531273?cc=us&lang=en&
The Powell memo: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/assets/usa-courts-secrecy-lobbyist/powell-memo.pdf
The Kalven Report: https://provost.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/documents/reports/KalvenRprt_0.pdf
The Academic Freedom Conference that broke Caitlin’s brain: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQy2zhWqTFZ5Thzz1tE8dhWWTRUTQzaIZ&si=GyjjrCwi8maPKp08

Published in: Half the Answer, Podcast

Authors

Caitlin Green is a linguist specializing in Discourse Studies and Pragmatics. She lives in California with her husband, two daughters, and a very small black cat.

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Trent R. Nelson is a poet, historian, and philosopher, as well as a political and socioeconomic analyst. He is the managing editor for MWF Springfield and a contributing editor with Liberal Currents.

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Bradford Vivian is a Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Pennsylvania State University.

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