{"podcast":{"title":"Changing Higher Ed","slug":"changing-higher-ed-205463","podcast_index_feed_id":205463,"rss_url":"https://changinghighered.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"https://changinghighered.com/changing-higher-ed-podcast/","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/f/1/7/5/f175834d6107b38b16c3140a3186d450/Changing_Higher_Ed_Podcast___Drumm_McNaughton__The_Change_Leader__LOGO_4.png","author":"Dr. Drumm McNaughton","episode_count":317,"summary":"Changing Higher Ed is dedicated to helping higher education leaders improve their institutions. We offer the latest in higher ed news and insights from top experts in higher education who share their perspectives on how you can grow your institution. Host Dr. Drumm McNaughton is a top higher education consultant, renowned leader, and pioneer in strategic management systems and leadership boards. He's one of a select group with executive leadership experience in academe, nonprofits, government, and business.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-01T08:21:14.364473+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/changing-higher-ed-205463"},"episode":{"title":"Why Research Funding Cuts Are a Strategic Risk, Not a Budget Problem","slug":"why-research-funding-cuts-are-a-strategic-risk-not-a-budget-problem","published_at":"2026-06-23T17:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/changing-higher-ed-205463/why-research-funding-cuts-are-a-strategic-risk-not-a-budget-problem","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/changing-higher-ed-205463","url":"https://changinghighered.libsyn.com/draft-p317-nick-dirks","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/changinghighered/CHE-317_-_Nick_Dirks_FINAL.mp3?dest-id=751925","summary":"When the federal government freezes research funding, leaders tend to treat it as a budget problem: a number that was cut and might later be restored. The harder truth in this conversation is that much of the damage cannot be undone. Halted studies, shuttered labs, and departed early-career researchers do not simply resume when the money comes back. Research funding cuts are a strategic risk, not a line item. In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast , Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Dr. Nick Dirks , President and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences and former chancellor of UC Berkeley. Dirks first joined the show in 2018, as the podcast's third guest , reflecting on the protests that had put Berkeley at the center of national attention over controversial speakers on campus. He returns to discuss what the current research funding cuts are doing to American science, where AI fits in higher education, and the choices facing presidents and boards. This conversation is especially relevant for presidents, provosts, and board members weighing how federal funding volatility, the loss of early-career research talent, and the rapid arrival of AI in the classroom should shape institutional strategy and risk planning . Topics Covered • Why frozen research funding cannot simply be switched back on, and what that means for biomedical studies, drug trials, and animal research • The damage to the early-career research pipeline, and why postdocs and graduate students are the most exposed • What current data shows about US scientists weighing whether to leave the country or the field • How the president's role has shifted from pleasing every constituency to making hard, unpopular choices • Why bringing higher education's costs down depends on faculty and administrators re…","meta_description":"When the federal government freezes research funding, leaders tend to treat it as a budget problem: a number that was cut and might later be restored. The…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2375,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/changing-higher-ed-205463/episodes/why-research-funding-cuts-are-a-strategic-risk-not-a-budget-problem/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/changing-higher-ed-205463/why-research-funding-cuts-are-a-strategic-risk-not-a-budget-problem.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}