Growing up in a New York City suburb, Corey Robin was influenced by his public high school teachers who taught American history via the Socratic method. Today, Robin tries to replicate that magnetic energy in his own classroom as a political science professor at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center while authoring books and essays that have been read and translated across the world. In this episode, Robin touches on his Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar teachings of Austrian economist and philosopher Friedrich Hayek, as well as his upcoming scholar lecture on “Who is Clarence Thomas, and Where is He Taking Us?” in which he explores Thomas’ identity as a conservative black nationalist jurist. 
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Corey Robin 

Corey Robin is Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center. A frequent contributor to The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and other publications, Professor Robin is the recipient of awards and fellowships from the Cullman Center of the New York Public Library, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the American Political Science Association. He is the author of The Enigma of Clarence ThomasThe Reactionary Mind, and Fear. His books and essays have been translated into thirteen languages. He is currently at work on King Capital, a political theory of capitalism, which is under contract with Random House. 

Professor Robin is the 2024-2025 Carl F. Cranor Family Visiting Scholar.

About Key Conversations 

 

Key Conversations with Phi Beta Kappa is a podcast featuring in-depth conversations between Fred Lawrence, Secretary/CEO of Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholars. With a new episode released monthly, each podcast invites listeners to take a seat at the table to learn more about the featured Scholar's background, research, and how they have taken their respective paths to where they are now, and where they are headed. 

Since 1956, the Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Program has been offering undergraduates the opportunity to spend time with some of America's most distinguished scholars. The purpose of the program is to contribute to the intellectual life of the campus by making possible an exchange of ideas between the Visiting Scholars and the resident faculty and students.​
 

Our Host

Frederick M. Lawrence is the 10th Secretary and CEO of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. An accomplished scholar, teacher and attorney, he is one of the nation’s leading experts on civil rights, free expression, and bias crimes. Learn More.

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