83. College Is Dying- What Will Replace It?

83. College Is Dying- What Will Replace It?

Author: Nick Jamell October 23, 2019 Duration: 28:29

The college system is going away. It's obvious that the economic writing on the wall is there. However, education will remain. The question is what will this look like?

"The goal of education is not to increase the amount of knowledge but to create the possibilities for a child to invent and discover, to create men who are capable of doing new things."
-Jean Piaget

Trade Schools: This is an obvious answer. However, I'm not just talking about welders and plumbers. I mean other trades that don't require that you read Shakespeare- just that you know how to do them. Trades like software development, piloting, and many more are increasingly looking to move towards a trade school-like model.

Apprenticeships: Most entry-level roles have little to do with what you studied in school. In fact, most entry-level jobs can be learned on the fly once you prove you have the skills to learn quickly and adapt. Instead of spending 4 years in a classroom, I think we'll see a resurgence of people getting out there and learning on the job.

Online Courses: Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris, and many more academics have proven this model already. They offer their lectures on circuit and put out content via blogs, podcasts, and YouTube. This is already happening, and it allows people to dive into content at their own pace and to the extent they want to do so.

But where does the Liberal Education go?

I think the online courses could replace the crappy general education colleges push kids through for 2 years simply to get a little extra cash. What I want to know is if you'd like to learn that way.


Nick Jamell hosts Conversation of Our Generation, a space where urgent contemporary questions meet enduring ideas from history and philosophy. Rather than reacting to the noise of daily headlines, this podcast deliberately steps back to examine the deeper currents shaping our society and culture. Each episode is a long-form dialogue that treats topics like politics, religion, and social change not as fodder for debate, but as puzzles to be understood with patience and intellectual humility. The aim is to move beneath entrenched partisanship and surface-level takes, searching instead for clearer perspectives and foundational truths. What you’ll hear are thoughtful explorations that connect modern dilemmas to the wisdom of ancient and modern thinkers, asking how we might navigate today’s complexities with a more grounded sense of principle. This isn’t about quick answers; it’s about cultivating a more meaningful and less reactive way of engaging with the world. For anyone feeling adrift in a polarized age, this podcast offers a sustained, earnest conversation that values depth over speed, and understanding over winning an argument. Tune in for a respite from the frantic news cycle and a chance to consider what it means to be part of this particular moment in time, armed with the best ideas from across the ages.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 245

Conversation of Our Generation
Podcast Episodes
133. Book Review | The Supreme Court Landmark Decisions by Tony Mauro [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:17
This is a great book that will help you understand the Supreme Court, how they make decisions, and how those decisions affect you. It's a great look into the major cases that have shaped America, and most especially, Ame…
132. Is America Worth Defending? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:26
Is America irredeemable? Is it an intrinsically evil place, built on evil principles? Or, is it a place worth defending? -Frederick Douglass"A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the…
131. Book Review | The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:17
In Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway tells the story of an elderly fisherman in Cuba who's struggling to make ends meet. He's poor, and desperately so. He has a young man who helps him, and he mentors him some. -Erne…
130. Interview with the Vital Masculinity Project [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:51
A few weeks back, I had the chance to sit down and talk to the guys at the Vital Masculinity Project. The conversation covered a range of topics, and was a lot of fun. They put it up on their site, and I thought while I…
129. Book Review | 12 Rules For Life by Jordan B. Peterson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:21
In case you haven't heard me talk about Jordan Peterson, you should know I'm a huge fan. I think he's one of, if not the, greatest intellectual alive. So, reading this book was a huge joy for me. That said, even if you'r…
128. Why Marx is Wrong From Premise to Conclusion [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:54
Having read the Communist Manifesto and most of Das Kapital, it is apparent where Marx goes wrong right off the bat. All of his thought is littered with bad logic, but most of all, it is built on the improper understandi…
127. Book Review | Controversial Essays by Thomas Sowell [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:33
Thomas Sowell is one of the clearest thinkers and communicators, and has a deep knowledge on a range of topics. Controversial Essays is perfect proof of this as Sowell offers practical thoughts and solutions to a range o…
126. When Lies Spread Faster Than Truth [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:37
Our world has turned its back on truth, and instead looks to the comforting story. Truth is not as important as avoiding cognitive dissonance. The idea is "if you upset me, it's not because something's wrong with me, but…
125. Book Review | Politics by Aristotle [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:05
Our politics are breaking down, and has been for a while. I think that if we want to talk to each other, we’ll need to start speaking the same political language. To do that effectively, we must learn from the same canon…
124. Our Pornographic Culture [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:22
We have effectively separated the subject from the object in our culture. We no longer see other people as people, but as "bodies." This is evident from quotes I've heard and read from Ta-Nehisi Coates referring to black…