Ask A Genius 1405: Trump’s War Against Higher Education, Media Bias, and Racist Pseudoscience
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/06/03
Rick Rosner is an accomplished television writer with credits on shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Crank Yankers, and The Man Show. Over his career, he has earned multiple Writers Guild Award nominations—winning one—and an Emmy nomination. Rosner holds a broad academic background, graduating with the equivalent of eight majors. Based in Los Angeles, he continues to write and develop ideas while spending time with his wife, daughter, and two dogs.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen is the publisher of In-Sight Publishing (ISBN: 978-1-0692343) and Editor-in-Chief of In-Sight: Interviews (ISSN: 2369-6885). He writes for The Good Men Project, International Policy Digest (ISSN: 2332–9416), The Humanist (Print: ISSN 0018-7399; Online: ISSN 2163-3576), Basic Income Earth Network (UK Registered Charity 1177066), A Further Inquiry, and other media. He is a member in good standing of numerous media organizations.
Rick Rosner critiques the Trump administration’s attacks on elite universities like Harvard, calling it sabotage against American science and innovation. In conversation with Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Rosner also condemns media neglect of non-Western wars and denounces pseudoscientific racist beliefs, questioning how to engage with people who hold such views.
Rick Rosner: What do you want to talk about?
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What do you think about the broader Trump administration assault on higher education—like Harvard?
Rosner: It’s horseshit. The justification is that they’re “protecting Jews” from pro-Palestinian protesters, but that’s transparent bullshit. It’s a ploy to deny elite universities hundreds of millions in research grants. It’s capricious, vengeful, harmful to science in America.
Jacobsen: It undermines America’s position as the leader in science, tech, and entrepreneurship.
Rosner: Exactly. We need to keep bringing the best minds here to study and innovate. 46% of the Fortune 500 companies were started by immigrants or their kids. The EU is spending half a billion dollars to lure American-based scientists—likely foreign-born—to Europe now that the U.S. is becoming hostile. This is sabotage. It’s completely fucked up.
Jacobsen: Some people say Trump is doing it because Barron didn’t get into Stanford, Columbia, or Harvard.
Rosner: That’s just a joke. The real counter is: Trump is fucking up science, education, and the foundation of America. And where are the serious attacks from his political opponents on this? I don’t hear a damn thing.
Jacobsen: What did you think of the wars at this point? When I was on the show, I said that by some definitions, there may be about 15 major ongoing wars from 1991 to the present. Only two—Ukraine and Gaza—get major play in Western media. Do you agree with the argument that media coverage is centered on spheres of influence, and the rest are neglected?
Rosner: Yes, I think that holds up. The U.S. has a history of being terrible at knowing what’s happening elsewhere.
Jacobsen: Wars involving Western nations get coverage. Israel-Gaza gets coverage because we’re a strong ally—even though that alliance is becoming harder to justify. Ukraine-Russia gets covered. Maybe Syria gets a little mention on Democracy Now, but that’s about it. And the rest—like the long-standing wars in Africa—go mostly ignored.
Rosner: Lance believes Africa will always be a mess because of racist IQ nonsense. I think that view is despicable. Any talk about average IQ by demographic, country, or continent is pseudoscientific, racist garbage. Anyone pushing that line is either a liar, a racist, or both—and doesn’t understand statistics or IQ. They’re promoting a white supremacy agenda. It’s dumb and damaging. It makes me question doing shows with Lance. It’s among his worst beliefs.
Jacobsen: What did Carole say about all this?
Rosner: Carole doesn’t want to hear any of it—because she doesn’t want to dislike Lance. Because Lance—when he is not espousing stuff like that—is a likable guy. Not a terrible guy. However, many of his beliefs are super shitty. He’s a test case: Can you still like somebody who believes all the worst stuff?
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