What is the point of going to university? In this episode, Amol sits down with the critical theorist, academic and social media influencer Louisa Munch who thinks you shouldn’t have to pay for higher education.

With the graduate premium in decline, she explains why people should go to university to gain knowledge rather than get a job because she believes having an informed society is good for everyone in an era of competing narratives about the past. She also reflects on why people of her generation feel disillusioned and what can be done to give them some hope for the future.

(00:05:04) What is critical theory?

(00:06:06) Why she believes university should be free

(00:12:50) University as a meritocracy

(00:18:45) Is student debt worth it?

(00:22:06) Thoughts on class divide

(00:26:23) Nostalgia and the far right

(00:37:28) Disenchantment about the future

(00:43:32) Nostalgia in contemporary politics

(00:47:30) Louisa’s RADICAL ideas

00:49:08) Political movements of the next generation

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Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Anna Budd. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Gareth Jones and Dafydd Evans. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.