{"podcast":{"title":"Higher Ed Now","slug":"higher-ed-now-175096","podcast_index_feed_id":175096,"rss_url":"https://higher-ed-now.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":null,"image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/d/7/f/8/d7f8c16776f90c1d16c3140a3186d450/v442x.png","author":"American Council of Trustees and Alumni","episode_count":100,"summary":"Higher Ed Now is a production of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. It is a podcast concerning issues and policy in America's higher education system.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-21T06:18:49.804790+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/higher-ed-now-175096"},"episode":{"title":"Mike Balow: Resisting MSU's Crackdown on Dissent","slug":"mike-balow-resisting-msu-s-crackdown-on-dissent","published_at":"2026-07-15T17:15:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/higher-ed-now-175096/mike-balow-resisting-msu-s-crackdown-on-dissent","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/higher-ed-now-175096","url":"https://higher-ed-now.libsyn.com/mike-balow-resisting-msus-crackdown-on-dissent","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/higher-ed-now/Mike_Balow-final_project_mix.mp3?dest-id=373880","summary":"ACTA's Nick Down interviews Michigan State University (MSU) Board of Trustees member Mike Balow . The aftermath of an emergency meeting to revise MSU's trustee code of ethics has embroiled the Board in controversy. The revised ethics code includes a \"loyalty pledge\" that limits trustee speech, with threats to sanction and publicly censure any trustee who refuse to sign . Trustee Balow and one colleague refused to sign the loyalty pledge. Since then, the dissenting trustees ha ve faced intense public pressure , including doxxing and social media threats . Trustee Balow tells his side of the story of what really happened at the emergency meeting, and why he categorically opposes the new mandate . Note: Since this recording , MSU president Kevin Guskiewicz has reversed his decision to depart MSU and will remain on as the university's president.","meta_description":"ACTA's Nick Down interviews Michigan State University (MSU) Board of Trustees member Mike Balow . The aftermath of an emergency meeting to revise MSU's tr…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2812,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/higher-ed-now-175096/episodes/mike-balow-resisting-msu-s-crackdown-on-dissent/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/higher-ed-now-175096/mike-balow-resisting-msu-s-crackdown-on-dissent.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}