The Dr. Rod Berger Show

In this episode of the Dr. Rod Berger Show, presented by Fair Observer, Rod sits down with sociocultural anthropologist Professor John Friedman to discuss his sudden dismissal from a university position, the broader crisis facing higher education, and why the humanities still matter more than ever. John shares the story of being let go during a shocking campus purge, what it felt like to lose a long-built academic home, and why he refused to return to the same classroom without first acknowledging the harm done. From there, the conversation expands into a wider examination of institutional priorities, neoliberal management, the rise of AI and engineering over the humanities, and the future of critical thinking in education. Rod and John also explore:
Why higher education is becoming more transactional
How universities are reshaping themselves around market demand
The danger of losing humanities and social sciences
Why education should be about liberation, not just workforce preparation
The impact of social media and algorithms on individuality and community
How anthropology helps us understand the many ways of being human
John also reflects on his move into social media, the role of public anthropology, and why people need more exposure to disciplines that challenge how they think about the world.
Key Topics
Being fired from a university classroom
The collapse of humanities programs
The purpose of education
Critical thinking and civic responsibility
Individualism vs. collective society
The future of universities and teaching
Public anthropology and cultural understanding
Notable Quotes
“Ask big questions in small places.”
“The cutting out of the humanities and the social sciences is essentially an attack on critical thinking.”
“Education should be a form of liberation.”
“There are many different ways to live in the world.”
Guest
Professor John Friedman
Sociocultural anthropologist, public lecturer, and advocate for humanistic inquiry
Connect with John Friedman
Find him on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube as: @ProfessorJohnT.Friedman
About the Dr. Rod Berger Show
The Dr. Rod Berger Show explores timely ideas, culture, education, leadership, and the human stories shaping our world.

In this conversation, Dr. Rod Berger and Martin Plaut delve into Plaut's rich family history, with a particular focus on his father's experiences as a refugee from Nazi Germany. They explore the significance of family legacies, the emotional weight of symbolic objects, and the contrasting experiences of past generations with the present day. The discussion highlights the importance of storytelling in understanding personal and collective histories, as well as the challenges of processing information in a fast-paced world. In this conversation, Martin Plaut shares his journey from growing up in apartheid South Africa to becoming a journalist and advocate for social justice. He reflects on the profound influence of his family, particularly his mother, in shaping his values and commitment to fighting injustice. The discussion delves into the normalization of apartheid, the role of education and activism in challenging systemic oppression, and the transition to journalism as a means of storytelling. Plaut emphasizes the importance of representing marginalized voices and highlights the ongoing issue of modern slavery in Africa, urging listeners to recognize and address these injustices. The Dr. Rod Berger Show is presented by Fair Observer.

Sebastian Schäffer wrote a book with his mentor arguing that the Balkans belong in Europe. Not eventually. Immediately. The mentor, former Austrian Vice-Chancellor Erhard Busek, died in March 2022, weeks after Russian tanks crossed into Ukraine and the argument the two of them had spent years making became the most urgent question on the continent. Schäffer is still making it.
Born in Munich, he gave his career to somebody else's neighborhood. He directs the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe in Vienna, a think tank founded in 1953 and older than most of the European Union, and serves as Secretary General of the Danube Rectors' Conference, a network of more than sixty universities across the region. He founded SSC Europe in 2011 to run simulations and strategic foresight, which is also how he thinks: run the scenario forward, then ask what happens next.
His own contribution to the field is a reversal. The Dilemma of Simultaneity described how post-Soviet states had to build democracy, markets, and nations all at once. Schäffer turned the mirror around and pointed it at Brussels, which now has to reform enlargement, reform itself, and become a real geopolitical power at the same time and under fire. In a July 2025 essay for Fair Observer, he wrote about an editor who asked him to stop using the word "disinformation" because it sounded too political. He refused, and called that kind of softening death by a thousand footnotes.
What we get into:
Why a man born in Munich built his life around the countries still waiting at Europe's door
What "immediately" costs a person who has been saying it for fifteen years while institutions say "eventually"
Why he treats a single word as worth fighting an editor over, and what he thinks gets lost when we let language go quiet

Dr. Rod Berger sits down with Sam Daley-Harris to peel back the advocacy efforts of a man who has spent a lifetime propelling the power of voice in the pursuit of a healthy and equitable democracy. 
Sam Daley-Harris founded the anti-poverty lobby RESULTS in 1980, co-founded the Microcredit Summit Campaign in 1995, and founded Civic Courage in 2012. The paperback edition of his book Reclaiming Our Democracy: Every Citizen’s Guide to Transformational Advocacy was named an editor’s pick by Publisher’s Weekly BookLife and will be released January 14th, 2025.  Kirkus Reviews wrote: "Overall, [the author's] analysis of effective action is as persuasive as it is accessible, and his call to democratic participation is inspiring. A handbook for aspiring activists that readers will find to be both inspiring and practical."  Daley-Harris has been interviewed on NPR’s Here and Now and on PBS’s Laura Flanders and Friends.
After the 2024 election, Tom Nichols wrote in The Atlantic, “….Americans must stay engaged and make their voices heard at every turn….”  Liz Cheney tweeted, “….Citizens across this country…must now be the guardrails of democracy.”  But most Americans still wonder how, and even if, they can make a difference between elections.  What are the options?  1) Protesting?  Vital, but usually not the long game, 2) Signing email form letters, which only 3% of Congressional staff say is highly effective. Just gestures, 3) Taking a 2-year nap until the next election?  Sadly, the preferred route for many.  But few know about number 4) transformational advocacy, which helps you change an issue and changes you in the process.  
In Reclaiming Our Democracy: Every Citizen’s Guide to Transformational Advocacy Sam Daley-Harris writes about people who met with officials on the other side of their issue, stories like these: 1)  Ellie Sparks who went from experiencing what she called “climate trauma” to meeting her members of Congress and calling the experience “sacred and profound”, and 2) Lisa Jordan who, after meeting with Congressional offices in Washington, DC, said “….This work is the best medicine for when you’re feeling hopeless or have sleepless nights.  It’s the best way to avoid despair….”  Welcome, Sam Daley-Harris.

Dr. Julien Reitzenstein lives in Ireland. He teaches contemporary history at the University of Düsseldorf and political science at the University of Stuttgart. Dr. Reitzenstein is the founder of the non-profit academic organization History & Documentation. In addition to academic conference series, research and publication projects, he is editing a four-volume English-language handbook Ideologies in National Socialism. Several hundred scholars are participating from numerous countries. Dr. Reitzenstein regularly organizes commemorative projects, and advises international companies and law firms on corporate social responsibility and restitution of looted property. He also writes for major newspapers and magazines, such as WELT, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Cicero and Fair Observer.

In an enlightening episode of The Dr. Rod Berger Show, presented by Fair Observer, we ventured into a deep analysis of global reactions following a significant U.S. election. This discussion, featuring Atul Singh, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Fair Observer, offered rich insights into the various international perspectives shaped by the electoral outcomes.

The Dr. Rod Berger Show with Jonas Helmikstøl is a special on-location episode from Oslo, Norway. Jonas joined me on stage for the keynote interview at StartUp Lab's Climate Tech Summit 2030, part of Oslo Innovation Week, presented by the Oslo Business Region. 
Helmikstøl is the now infamous co-founder of Easee, the near-unicorn company out of Norway that was rocketing across European households with its home EV charging units...until they weren't. This is the backstory about a man and a company holding on for dear life. 

Dr. Rod Berger Show with Atul Singh.
Atul Singh is the founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief of Fair Observer. He has taught political economy at the University of California, Berkeley, and has been a visiting professor of humanities and social sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar.
Atul studied philosophy, politics, and economics at the University of Oxford on the Radhakrishnan Scholarship and did an MBA with a triple major in finance, strategy, and entrepreneurship at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
He worked as a corporate lawyer in London and served as an officer in India’s volatile border areas where he had a few near-death experiences. Atul has also been a poet, playwright, sportsman, mountaineer and a founder of many organizations. His knowledge is eclectic, and his friends often joke that it comes in handy when access to Google is limited.

Join us for a fascinating discussion with Dr. Alan Waring. Here's just a snapshot of the discussion in today's episode of The Dr. Rod Berger Show:
Dr. Rod Berger: How do you view the current socio-political climate regarding risk and authority?
Dr. Alan Waring: There’s a worrying trend of ideological cocooning and apathy among younger generations, leading to a lack of engagement and reluctance to challenge authoritarian tendencies. This apathy dilutes the collective ability to tackle critical issues. Reviving curiosity and active discourse is vital in combating these trends.
 
Dr. Alan Waring is a retired risk analyst who has extensive international consulting experience with government departments, corporations, and institutions. He is the author of several books on risk and has also edited and contributed to the three-volume The New Authoritarianism: A Risk Analysis, published by Ibidem from 2018–2021. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Risk and Decision Sciences (CERIDES), European University Cyprus.

This is a very special episode of The Dr. Rod Berger Show presented by Fair Observer! Dr. Berger dives into the story of a young woman amid warfare, emerging as a scholar and award-winning author depicting the power of life, friendship, and never-ending hope. 
From the author of the young adult memoir The Cat I Never Named—which received seven starred reviews and a YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award—comes another epic memoir, this time for middle-grade readers, about coming-of-age in the years leading up to the Bosnian Genocide. Three Summers by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess is the story of five young cousins who grow closer than sisters, navigating the joys and pitfalls of adolescence as ethnic tensions escalate over three summers in 1980s Bosnia.
This is The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants for the next generation, aiming to build empathy and compassion in readers. Beginning with the tragic loss of her brother, Three Summers is Amra’s captivating tale of healing and coming-of-age through friendship that seamlessly weaves classic adolescent experiences of first crushes and pimple woes, against the backdrop of deeper, lesser-known historical events. Written with incredible warmth, Amra takes readers on a journey that will break their hearts and put them back together again.
With identity-based hate on the rise, Amra hopes her story will put faces and names and human identities to Muslim people and genocide survivors, like herself, so kids who are from different backgrounds can build empathy and start to look at each other with curiosity, not judgement.Complimentary backmatter will feature a history of the Bosnian War, author's note, timeline, and a family tree among other topics, since most readers will not learn about the Bosnian War in middle school.
Amra Sabic-El-Rayess grew up in Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Currently she is a professor at Columbia University, studying how and why societies fall apart and what role education can play in rebuilding decimated countries. She is also the author of the critically acclaimed young adult memoir The Cat I Never Named.