Our interviewee today is not allowed to give interviews — under the terms of her employment contract. The senior position she holds at an American university obliges her not to make her political views public and to exercise the utmost caution in public statements. But the changes now taking place at American universities are so far-reaching that she agreed to talk with T-invariant about the serious challenges facing higher education. Her experience as a department chair and dean, and later as a vice president, helps her today to map the critical points in the development of the academic environment: how the new presidential administration is affecting university life, how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has split it, how artificial intelligence is influencing teaching and its administration, what the shrinking of university budgets leads to, and, most importantly, how the very logic by which higher education works has changed.

Renowned American legal scholar Austin Sarat, a founder of the humanistic study of law, on the responsibility of public intellectuals in the United States, the bracing “slap in the face” Trump dealt to universities, and the path forward in defending academic freedom and democracy.

Exactly 35 years ago, on August 21, 1991, the coup attempt by the self-proclaimed State Committee on the State of Emergency collapsed. The Soviet Union itself had four more months to live, but after those three days in August, a completely different life began for millions of Soviet citizens. The changes touched everyone, but scientists were among those whose old lives fell apart especially fast — and on the ruins, new ones began to take shape. Institutes were left without money or staff, and entire fields of research lost their funding. Yet at the same time, the borders opened, and it became possible to work at universities and research centers abroad. Some left for a few months and never came back; others emigrated right away. How did these scientists discover the world of Western science? What did they have to go through? What did it cost them? And why did a temporary departure turn out to be permanent for so many of them? T-invariant presents the stories of how they left and the new lives they built.

Vladimir Kharitonov is one of the key figures shaping today’s independent Russian-language book world outside Russia. In an interview with T-invariant, the technical director of Freedom Letters and head of the Free University’s publishing project explains how today’s tamizdat differs from Soviet samizdat and why the printed book is still very much alive — TikTok notwithstanding.

Russia’s neocolonial policies in the occupied territories of Ukraine target the education system first: schools and universities have become primary tools for coercion and identity erasure. This is the core finding of a recent study by the Ukrainian outlet Realnaya Gazeta, which details how the Kremlin carries out ethnic displacement across multiple levels. Journalist Ksenia Turkova spoke with Andrey Dikhtarenko, editor-in-chief of Realnaya Gazeta, to discuss the report for T-invariant.

Seven weeks in X’s (formerly Twitter) algorithmic feed — and American users’ political views permanently shifted to the right; turning the algorithm off reversed almost none of them. These are the results of an independent study conducted in 2023. One of its authors, Paris School of Economics professor Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, explained in an interview with T-invariant why the algorithm proved to be such a powerful tool for shaping opinions.

Trump’s clash with the US judicial system is taking on alarming forms. On June 27, the Supreme Court (in a 6-3 decision along conservative lines) issued a ruling that drastically limits the ability of lower federal judges to block presidential executive orders nationwide. From now on, judges can only block the president’s actions in relation to specific plaintiffs. This ruling marked Trump’s first major court victory of the year. What comes next for America? T-invariant asked lawyer Ekaterina Mishina for clarification.

The Russian authorities, through Rosobrnadzor, are dismantling Shaninka (the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences, MSSES). T-invariant spoke with Marina Kalashnikova, former dean of Shaninka’s Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, now leading the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences in Montenegro. Was it challenging to explain the program to Montenegrins? How did the university find its place in a resort country? And why did around 40 students choose it over other European universities also teaching in English?

The recent 12-day Iran-Israel war has reignited discussions about Iran’s nuclear program. Was it ever genuinely peaceful? How significant is Russia’s role in supporting Iran’s nuclear ambitions? Are the Iranians capable of building a bomb right now? T-invariant discussed these questions with Dmitry Kovchegin, author of a publication by the Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies on Russian-Iranian nuclear cooperation.