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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