The Sunday Read: ‘What I Found on the 365-Mile Trail of a Lost Folk Hero’
The Daily
03/23/25
•51m
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Sometime in the 1850s or ’60s, at a terrible moment in U.S. history, a strange man seemed to sprout, out of nowhere, into the rocky landscape between New York City and Hartford, Conn. The word “strange” hardly captures his strangeness. He was rough and hairy, and he wandered around on back roads, sleeping in caves. Above all, he refused to explain himself. As one newspaper put it: “He is a mystery, and a very greasy and ill-odored one.” Other papers referred to him as “the animal” or (just throwing up their hands) “this uncouth and unkempt ‘What is it?’”
But the strangest thing about the stranger was his suit.
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Trump’s Escalating War With Higher Education
March 24, 2025
•27m
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has put the American university system on notice.
It has pressed for changes, opened investigations — and in some cases withheld critical funds.
Alan Blinder, who covers education in America, explains how schools are responding to the pressure and what it might mean for the future of higher education.
Guest: Alan Blinder, a national correspondent for The New York Times, writing about education in America.
Background reading:
- Columbia University promised changes to its protest policies, its security practices and its Middle Eastern studies department after the Trump administration moved to cut off $400 million in funding.
- President Trump’s battles with colleges could change American culture for a generation.
For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
Photo: Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times
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