{"podcast":{"title":"The Sweet Tea Series","slug":"the-sweet-tea-series-6560386","podcast_index_feed_id":6560386,"rss_url":"https://feeds.transistor.fm/the-sweet-tea-series","website_url":"https://www.youtube.com/@TPPF-SweetTea","image_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/rz3o-q_JkZX_nhyB9I8S2Gevh_JkMsrN6T_Sih_AXg0/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mZDEx/N2M4YTg3ZmE3YmNk/NTFlOWRlNmUxNjVm/YTVlZi5wbmc.jpg","author":"Texas Public Policy Foundation","episode_count":82,"summary":"Welcome to The Sweet Tea Series! Join Ariana Guajardo and her guests for some pop culture with a splash of policy ✨","last_synced_at":"2026-07-28T22:20:44.068793+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-sweet-tea-series-6560386"},"episode":{"title":"The Decline of Higher Education: DEI, Civic Illiteracy, & Grade Inflation","slug":"the-decline-of-higher-education-dei-civic-illiteracy-grade-inflation","published_at":"2026-06-02T11:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-sweet-tea-series-6560386/the-decline-of-higher-education-dei-civic-illiteracy-grade-inflation","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-sweet-tea-series-6560386","url":"https://share.transistor.fm/s/3c49ff12","audio_url":"https://media.transistor.fm/3c49ff12/61c8987e.mp3","summary":"How have America’s universities gone from centers of learning to institutions facing growing questions about accountability, civic education, and student outcomes? In this episode of The Sweet Tea Series, Ariana Guajardo sits down with Dr. Tom Lindsay, Distinguished Senior Fellow of Higher Education at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, to discuss the state of higher education in Texas and across the nation. From grade inflation and declining academic standards to DEI, and the future of civic education, Dr. Lindsay explains how higher education has changed over the past several decades and why lawmakers, parents, and students are demanding reform.","meta_description":"How have America’s universities gone from centers of learning to institutions facing growing questions about accountability, civic education, and student…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2579,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-sweet-tea-series-6560386/episodes/the-decline-of-higher-education-dei-civic-illiteracy-grade-inflation/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-sweet-tea-series-6560386/the-decline-of-higher-education-dei-civic-illiteracy-grade-inflation.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}