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University of California, Berkeley
Nicholas Dirks is chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley.
PROFILE
Nicholas Dirks
Guest
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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Left, Right & Center
President Trump: US to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord Trump says he was elected to serve Pittsburgh, not Paris.
To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
To the Point
White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.