4. Independence of mind

思想的独立

Tocqueville Road Trip

2026-06-18

36 分钟
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Harvard University is supposed to be a place of intellectual freedom. But its students and staff face two kinds of tyranny, both of which feature prominently in Alexis de Tocqueville's work. Guests and Hosts John Prideaux, The Economist's US editor and host of “Tocqueville Road Trip”Harvey Mansfield, retired Harvard ProfessorAlan Garber, 31st president of Harvard   Topics  Tocqueville's “Democracy in America”The battle over freedom of expression Harvard and the Trump Administration  Let us know what you think. Email podcasts@economist.com  To listen to the full series, subscribe to Economist Podcasts+
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  • The Economist.

  • I'm in a seminar room in a colonial-style house on the Harvard University campus

  • with a group of about a dozen students.

  • They've heard the elevator pitch for my trip around America.

  • They've read some Tocqueville, and they're geared up to have a lively discussion about freedom of expression.

  • But they're also here because there's free pizza.

  • Go ahead, everyone, go and get a slice.

  • I'll get a slice.

  • Yeah, just go get slices.

  • After the slices have been distributed, we go round the room and introduce ourselves.

  • I'm a senior at the college.

  • Um, I concentrate in history and literature, American studies, and psychology.

  • I'm a first-year at Harvard College, and I'm an artist and a dancer,

  • and I'm excited to be here with you guys.

  • For fear of sounding unoriginal, I'm also a freshman at Harvard College,

  • and I'm thinking of concentrating in philosophy.

  • I'm also a stand-up comic.

  • This stop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just next to the city of Boston,

  • is the halfway point of my journey.

  • In New York, I met people to whom America's equality of conditions has been kind,