The Harvard Plan: The Endless Frontier

The Harvard Plan: The Endless Frontier

From Embedded by NPR

December 1, 2025 · 50 min · Season 25 · Episode 3

About this episode

The episode discusses the historical context of university-led scientific research and the implications of the Trump administration's proposed compact with universities.

Universities were not always so vulnerable to the whims of politics. The whole system of taxpayer-funded, university-led scientific research came about at the end of World War II, and was the brainchild of a man named Vannevar Bush. He felt the partnership of government and academics had to be equal in order to yield breakthroughs. Today, the Trump administration is proposing a new “compact” that would make the President the dominant partner. We speak with one of the authors of the Trump compact, May Mailman. Find On the Media every week, here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715 See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

People in this episode

Host: NPR

Guest: May Mailman

Topics covered

  • scientific research
  • government partnership
  • politics
  • education
  • Trump administration
  • Vannevar Bush

Keywords

  • Harvard Plan
  • scientific research
  • Vannevar Bush
  • Trump compact
  • government and academia
  • politics in education

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Trump administration

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