The Un-Diplomatic Podcast The Un-Diplomatic Podcast

Tupac Against Marco Rubio | The Token Black Professor Problem | The Poverty of Capitalist Education | International Relations After BLM w/ Robbie Shilliam | Ep. 315

Aug 14, 2026 · 1h 24m

Summary

Host Van Jackson vents about his illness and criticizes Marco Rubio’s appropriation of Tupac, then discusses the crisis of student poverty at Victoria University of Wellington. He introduces a vaulted interview with scholar Robbie Shilliam, who analyzes how Black Lives Matter exposed racial blind spots in International Relations theory. They examine classical scholars like Hans Morgenthau and the concept of the frontier to argue for integrating race and empire into core IR discourse.

Topics discussed

Intro: Critique of Marco Rubio and hip hop appropriation Host's personal update: Burnout, illness, and busy schedule Introducing archived interview with Robbie Shilliam Critique of Tyler Austin Harper's Atlantic article on academia Rubio's hypocrisy regarding Tupac and anti-capitalist lyrics Student poverty, housing crisis, and cost of living in Wellington Podcast outro and transition to interview segment Robbie Shilliam on race, IR, and Hans Morgenthau's overlooked work BLM's impact on IR academia and methodological critiques The concept of the frontier, empire, and American exceptionalism Morgenthau's tragedy of the American purpose and the canon How race was purged from political science post-WWII Analytical acuity: Nuclear testing and indigenous lands Hertz, Morgenthau, and the Black freedom struggle's influence
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