What happened at Harvard after Donald Trump’s inauguration? Three main characters, all Harvard insiders, tell the story from their perspective: politics professor Ryan Enos, genetics professor and cancer researcher Kamila Naxerova, and Kit Parker, a colonel in the United States Army Reserve and professor of bioengineering and applied physics. Their personal perspectives interweave with the dramatic timeline and unfolding news.
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Season Two Trailer
Season One of The Harvard Plan anticipated what could happen to Harvard and academia once the new Trump administration came to power. Season Two picks up where the story left off. Host Ilya Marritz investigates the pressure Harvard's been under since January 2025, through the stories of some of the key players.
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“The Universities Are The Enemy”
In part three of this collaboration with WNYC’s On The Media, the deep history of Harvard and the distinctly American idea of “diversity” is the hidden subtext for much of the recent strife. For most of the past half-century, the academy (and the business world) has embraced a concept of diversity as a social good.That concept, was developed at Harvard and endorsed by the Supreme Court, until the high court ended race-based affirmative action in 2023. This episode also looks at what’s in store for universities as the incoming Trump-Vance administration promises to pressure them to change curricula.
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“Diversity Hire”
In part two of this collaboration with WNYC’s On The Media, Claudine Gay is accused of academic plagiarism, just days after giving testimony to Congress. The drip-drip of new allegations keeps the story in the headlines. It also reinforces critics’ allegation that Gay is a “diversity hire,” unworthy of the job. We hear from two of the writers who broke that news, and from a defender of Harvard’s diversity efforts.
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A President on Trial
In part one of this collaboration with WNYC’s On The Media, Claudine Gay’s history-making inauguration as Harvard’s first Black president in September 2023 is seen by many as an inspirational moment for the university.
But by December 2023, that hope sours as her presidency becomes a proxy battleground for American culture wars
After war breaks out in the Middle East, Gay struggles to navigate bitter campus protests over war, anti-semitism, free speech, and the proper role of the university. The tensions are on full display when Gay testifies under oath, providing legalistic answers to outraged members of Congress.
Claudine Gay’s short tenure as Harvard’s 30th president, a job she started two days after the Supreme Court struck down Harvard’s program of race-based affirmative action, is seen by some as a symbol of what’s wrong with diversity efforts.
It’s also a warning to all colleges and universities, who face a hostile incoming administration which has pledged to use its power to bring them into line.
This series slows down the whipsaw chain of events to bring listeners direct eyewitness accounts of what happened, from professors, wealthy donors, and spiritual leaders.
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The Harvard Plan is about the fight for the soul of America’s oldest and most prestigious university. Hosted by award-winning reporter Ilya Marritz, the podcast is a co-production of The Boston Globe and WNYC’s On The Media. Season One explores the chaos at Harvard University in 2024, with the rise and fall of its first Black president, Claudine Gay. Season Two reveals the broken friendships and knotty moral quandaries caused by the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on higher education.
USA