Night Class

Scott Turner

You're an adult, taking night classes with other adults. You think you might be able to make new friends here. So you stay after class, and have a conversation with other people who you know won't have a meltdown over a different point of view. You can express opinions, share some laughs, and dive deeply into the questions of the day. That's the idea behind Night Class, a podcast from the National Association of Scholars, hosted by Scott Turner, NAS Director of Science Programs, and Ian Oxnevad, NAS Senior Fellow for Foreign Affairs and Security Studies.

Episodes

  1. 15h ago

    Hereditarianism and academic cowardice at Cambridge University. Nathan Cofnas

    Postdoctoral researcher Nathan Cofnas joins Night Class co-hosts Scott Turner and Ian Oxnavad to discuss the controversy surrounding his criticism of Cambridge scholar Jason Arday, his account of disputes with Cambridge and Ghent University, and questions about academic standards and free speech. Their conversation also examines Cofnas's definition of hereditarianism and his argument about the empirical and moral premises he sees behind woke politics, alongside Ian's concerns about how science can be misused. This is Nathan's second appearance on the NAS YouTube channel. He joined us in 2024 on the webinar series Restoring the Sciences, where he spoke on Heterodox Aademy. A Good Idea Gone Wrong. You can see our conversation here: https://youtube.com/live/lTTsnozDF20

  2. 6d ago

    Jefferson Lives! With Dan Asia

    In this special episode of Night Class, we speak to Daniel Asia about a new opera, Jefferson Lives!, which has its world premiere on 7 November at the Flea Theater in New York City. Jefferson Lives! draws its title from John Adams' dying words. It tells the story of the American revolution through a narrator that follows events of the American revolution, focusing on just how great the risk the founders took when they rebelled against England. The development and production of Jefferson Lives was supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the 250th anniversary celebration of American independence. Jefferson LIves! is a project of Polyhymnia and Teatro Grattacielo. The composer is Joshua Daniel Nichols, and the librettist is James Harrigan.

  3. Oct 30

    Are we normalizing the unthinkable? Maggie McKneely and John Wesley Reid

    In this episode of Night Class, John Wesley Reid of the Immanuel Lutheran School in Washington DC, and Maggie McKneely of Concerned Women for America examine how Americans remember national tragedy, political violence, and moments that test the boundaries of civic discourse. The conversation with Ian, Lilla and Scott explores how language shape our understanding of events from 9/11 to the murder of Charlie Kirk, and what the normalization of once-unthinkable rhetoric says about the current state of American culture. Reid and McKneely also consider how teachers can approach commemoration, difficult history, and politically charged events in ways that are honest, age appropriate, and educational.

  4. Oct 28

    9/11 25 years later. Peter Wood

    On this episode of the National Association of Scholars podcast, Night Class, Ian Oxnevad and Scott Turner explore with Peter Wood, NAS President, the impact of September 11, 2001, on American society, education, and national resolve. We discuss the ongoing challenges of Islamic extremism, the erosion of Western memory, and the future of civilization in the face of ideological threats.

  5. Oct 28

    The ongoing saga and the rot in business schools. Jared Gould

    On this episode of the @Nasorg podcast Night Class, Ian and Scott provide updates on the continuing sagas of Anthony Fauci's confrontation with his legal realities, and on the furious campaign of denial and deflection following Jason Arday's tragic suicide last week. Ian and Scott are then joined by Jared Gould, Managing Editor of the NAS online publication Minding the Campus. Jared takes us through a developing trend of business schools to use their students as informal financial advisors to high end venture capital groups. Jared argues that this is preparing students for careers in industries that are contributing to the declining prospects of that demographic to build families and homes.

  6. Oct 28

    The truth that might be out there. Jared Gould

    In this episode, Scott Turner and Jared Gould explore the resurgence of interest in unidentified aerial phenomena, the scientific efforts to study UAPs, and the implications of government and academic involvement in this mysterious field.

  7. Oct 28

    Pope Anthony and Da Jason A show

    Ian Oxnevad and Scott Turner of the National Association of Scholars take a romp through burning issues in contemporary higher education. In this episode, we skewer Anthony (I am Science) Fauci, and the meaning of his disastrous testimony before the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. Next we turn to the comic opera saga of Jason Arday, the Cambridge University professor who built a stellar career on a foundation of lies, plagiarism, and fantastical fantasies.

  8. Oct 28

    Cancellation culture. Scott Gerber

    Ian Oxnevad and Scott Turner of the National Association of Scholars take a romp through burning issues in contemporary higher education. In this episode, we skewer Anthony (I am Science) Fauci, and the meaning of his disastrous testimony before the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. Next we turn to the comic opera saga of Jason Arday, the Cambridge University professor who built a stellar career on a foundation of lies, plagiarism, and fantastical fantasies.

  9. Oct 26

    The Hungarian uprising 70 years later. Andrea Laurer

    Seventy years after Hungary’s 1956 revolution, how do we teach its lessons to a generation that never knew life under communism? In this episode of Night Class, Scott Turner and Lilla Nóra Kiss welcome Andrea Lauer Rice, president of the Hungarian American Coalition and co-founder of the Memory Project, to discuss why preserving personal testimony matters for American education. Created with documentary filmmaker Réka Pigniczky, the Memory Project has recorded more than 150 interviews with Hungarian emigrants. Their stories reveal the realities of communist rule and the courage required to escape and rebuild a life in freedom.

  10. Oct 15

    Suzannah Alexander and toxic therapeutic culture

    Suzannah Alexander of the National Association of Scholar

  11. Oct 15

    The toxic college classroom

    In this episode of Night Class, Scott Turner and Ian Oxnevad speak with Suzanna Alexander, NAS Director of External Relations, about the degradation of free speech in the American college. She illustrates the problem with an incident at Champlain College, where a course intended to get students to think outside their ideological bubbles resulted in a year-long campaign of ostracism against the professor. This raises fundamental questions about who is in charge of the classroom. Professors or students? Perhaps it is a mistake to paint colleges as havens for free speech, where the professor has no more authority than the student. This perverse inversion of academic authority is bolstered by accreditation agencies, which go beyond upholding academic standards to impose ideologies on professors.

  • 11 Episodes

About

You're an adult, taking night classes with other adults. You think you might be able to make new friends here. So you stay after class, and have a conversation with other people who you know won't have a meltdown over a different point of view. You can express opinions, share some laughs, and dive deeply into the questions of the day. That's the idea behind Night Class, a podcast from the National Association of Scholars, hosted by Scott Turner, NAS Director of Science Programs, and Ian Oxnevad, NAS Senior Fellow for Foreign Affairs and Security Studies.

Information

  • Creator
    Scott Turner
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    11
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Scott Turner
  • Show Website
    Night Class