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University of California, Berkeley
Nicholas Dirks is chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley.
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Nicholas Dirks
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FROM Nicholas Dirks
To the Point
Ann Coulter: Now you see her… now you don't Ann Coulter is a right-wing provocateur who was scheduled to speak last week at UC Berkeley, where the "Free Speech Movement" began in the 1960s. University officials say they cancelled her appearance due to fear of violent protest — then re-invited her at a quieter time on campus. After angry exchanges about hypocrisy and media manipulation, Coulter rejected their invitation. That set off an angry dispute reflected on other campuses as well, based on conservative claims that institutions of higher learning are bastions of liberal thinking that won’t tolerate anything else. Are students being shielded from challenging ideas — or are ideological agitators using the threat of violence to market their way of thinking?
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News Special Programming
2018 Election Night A live election special from KCRW and NPR covering the 2018 midterm elections.
To the Point
The Voting is Over, but the Campaign Continues Women had a major impact on the midterm elections. So did $5 billion in campaign spending. Meantime, Democrats now lead the House while Republicans dominate the Senate, and the politics of division continues on Capitol Hill. We’ll hear how former House Speaker Newt Gingrich helped start an era of gridlock and perpetual campaigning.