{"id":2120864,"date":"2023-12-10T05:49:02","date_gmt":"2023-12-10T10:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/campus-castoffs\/"},"modified":"2023-12-10T06:01:47","modified_gmt":"2023-12-10T11:01:47","slug":"campus-castoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/campus-castoffs\/","title":{"rendered":"Campus Rejects"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">4<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcampus-castoffs%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2120864&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>You know that \u2062conservative \u200dchallenges to the American model of higher education are making inroads \u2063when they are the target of a satirical campus novel.<\/h2>\n<p>In <em>How \u200bI Won \u200da \u2062Nobel Prize<\/em>, Julius \u2062Taranto \u2063presents an entertaining send-up\u200c of life and \u2063work at a university\u200d that rejects the extremes of academic woke-ism and bureaucracy, but is\u200b subject to dangerous \u200bextremes \u200cof its own. \u200dThis debut is \u200dnot only fast-paced and funny (and occasionally frustrating), \u2063but also \u200doffers worthwhile representations of both progressive and conservative political ideals and activism.<\/p>\n<h3>The Absurd World \u2064of the \u200dRubin Institute Plymouth<\/h3>\n<p>The novel\u2019s \u2063narrator and\u2063 protagonist, Helen, is a physics graduate researcher studying with a\u200c Nobel Laureate named \u200bPerry Smoot. Initially at \u200bCornell, the two are on the verge\u200c of a\u2064 breakthrough in research for \u2063high-temperature superconductivity\u200c that could become a major weapon in the\u200d fight against climate change. But Smoot, described by Helen\u2064 as &#8220;a big brilliant queer of the Oxbridge\u200c style,&#8221; leaves the Ivy League in \u2064disgrace after hitting on a student. Fortunately, \u2063there\u2019s \u2064another \u200dschool eager to welcome him despite \u200chis fall from grace. Because \u200dof it, actually.<\/p>\n<p>Located on an\u200d island \u2063off of \u2063Connecticut, the Rubin Institute Plymouth\u2014aka\u200d RIP, Sandals for scandals, and Rape\u2063 Island\u2014is a haven for disgraced academics. Give the Rubin Institute your harassers,\u2064 your racists, your un-woke \u200dscholars. Founded and \u200dfunded by a \u2063shady venture capitalist named B.W. Rubin,\u200d the new school\u2019s &#8220;key qualifications were \u2064thought to be \u200bsome high \u2062level of professional achievement combined \u2063with intolerance for\u2014<em>ideally<\/em> \u2062some\u2062 history of conflict with\u2014what B.W.\u200d once called \u2018faculty\u2064 lounge \u2063neopuritan Maoists.\u2019&#8221; Free of committee work \u2062or administrative oversight, it\u2019s a great gig if you don\u2019t mind constant controversies and protests.<\/p>\n<p>Helen has reservations about joining Smoot at Rubin, but her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/philanthropist-gop-donor-foster-friess-dies-at-81\/\" title=\"Philanthropist, GOP Donor Foster Friess, Dies at 81\">professional success<\/a> is tied \u2064to his. Her \u2062sort-of-husband, Hew, is \u2064the harder sell; more progressive\u2062 and\u2062 political than she\u200b is,\u2064 he comes along on the condition that\u200b they become vegan. On the island, \u200bthey encounter faculty\u2063 who\u2019ve committed diverse crimes against 21st-century cultural norms.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s an entertainingly\u200b absurd\u2063 cast of\u2064 castoffs. There\u2019s\u200c a senator \u2062who once wore blackface, Ralph\u200d Northam-style. \u2062There are people who used the \u2062N-word. There\u2019s R. Kelly. There\u2019s a\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pork-parks-and-woke-all-the-fun-features-in-1-7-trillion-omnibus\/\" title=\"Pork, Parks, And Woke: All The \u2018Fun\u2019 Features In .7 Trillion Omnibus\">building named<\/a> after William F. Buckley and\u200c a food service that luxuriates in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/where-are-the-feminists-supporting-gina-carano\/\" title=\"Where Are The Feminists Supporting Gina Carano?\">cultural appropriation<\/a>. More ominously, at RIP, people don\u2019t just harbor \u2064legitimate \u2064concerns about the \u200bfairness of Title IX \u2063procedures\u2014rape accusations are simply ignored. In case the patriarchy\u2019s power wasn\u2019t obvious enough, the main building on campus is an enormous tower nicknamed\u2064 the Endowment, the source of ongoing phallic humor that comes to \u2062a head \u200cduring the novel\u2019s climax.<\/p>\n<h3>Exploring Conservative Ideals through Leopold Lens<\/h3>\n<p>Despite its absurd vision of conservative\/libertarian attitudes \u200babout \u2064higher\u2063 education and cancel culture, the novel includes thoughtful expressions of conservatism through the character of Leopold \u200bLens,\u2064 an aging novelist \u2064whom \u2063Helen befriends. If Smoot\u2019s character calls to mind\u200b the political philosopher Allan Bloom\u2014author of <em>The Closing of the American Mind<\/em> and \u200bthe inspiration for Saul Bellow\u2019s <em>Ravelstein<\/em>\u2014Lens is the book\u2019s Bellow. He warns \u2062Helen\u2062 that wokeness is \u200d&#8221;a theology with no text, no god, no organizing \u200dmyth or principles, no traditions.\u2064 \u2026 It is the religion of the mob.&#8221; He attempts to convince her\u2064 how much\u2063 better her life (and Hew\u2019s) could be without the reigning \u200borthodoxy\u2063 of our\u2063 time:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Just think how \u200c <em>beautiful<\/em> it\u200c would be to wake up and \u2064be \u2063yourselves\u2014smart, \u200beducated, lucky, white, straight, \u2064American people\u2014without feeling like your very existence is traumatizing untold millions of people you\u2019ve never even \u200bmet. You \u200bprobably call this \u2062conservatism,\u2064 I know, \u200cbut it\u2019s really just liberalism and capitalism and a simple hypothesis that the best rule\u200c is to \u200cignore groups and treat every person like\u2062 an individual, full stop.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>While Helen immerses herself in her work and makes slow, uneven progress with\u2063 Smoot,\u2064 Hew \u2063becomes \u2064more miserable, radicalized, and \u2063frustrated. His performative ethics annoy even Helen, which makes her worry that she\u2019s\u200d becoming\u200c conservative\u2014<em>egads<\/em>! At a\u200b protest \u2063back on the mainland (think the Unite the Right rally, but with more weapons and casualties), he befriends anarchists and is nearly \u2062killed\u200d by a violent group of white supremacists.<\/p>\n<p>Suspecting\u2064 that Hew is having an affair, Helen half-heartedly tries to start one of her own. But her husband\u2019s skepticism of \u200cRIP proves \u200dwell-founded, as she finds out for herself when her \u2064research discoveries are\u2063 threatened. Hew\u2019s activism transforms from a \u2064threat to their relationship into a <em>deus ex machina<\/em> that \u2063rescues her career and their romance\u2014at a cost.<\/p>\n<h3>A Compelling Plot and Thoughtful \u200cReflections<\/h3>\n<p>The novel\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/john-wick-4-is-all-artifice-and-no-art\/\" title=\"John Wick 4 Is All Artifice And No Art\">compelling plot<\/a> moves quickly, thanks \u200bin part\u2062 to\u2063 short chapters and clever \u200cmoments of foreshadowing. Taranto is also very good at making readers \u200dcare about\u2014and understand\u2014Helen\u2019s \u2063complex research and rare\u2064 skills. &#8220;Why don\u2019t you\u2062 writers write more about work?&#8221; Helen asks\u2062 Lens. &#8220;[T]he thousands of little failures and\u2064 successes and puzzles and tensions \u200dand et cetera et cetera. It\u2019s what most of us are doing most of the time.&#8221; Taranto takes his character\u2019s\u2063 advice. Helen also observes that &#8220;many physical laws\u200c are bursting with symbolism,&#8221; \u2063which explains why she can\u2019t resist connecting the details of superconductivity to her\u2063 personal and professional crisis. This works most of the time, but I would\u200d like to call a moratorium \u2063on references to Schr\u00f6dinger\u2019s cat, \u2062the lowest\u2064 common denominator of physics analogies.<\/p>\n<p>At the risk of giving \u2064too much\u2062 away about the novel\u2019s climax, I can\u2019t\u2064 resist pointing out its ironic \u200dechoes of a tragic moment during the Vietnam \u200dera. In\u2062 1970, radicals at \u2064the University of Wisconsin-Madison detonated a\u2062 bomb \u2063to destroy\u200d an\u2062 Army research center\u2064 in what they thought was an \u200cempty building. It wasn\u2019t. The terrorists killed\u2063 a 27-year-old\u200d father of three named\u2063 Robert \u200cFassnacht, who happened to be conducting research \u2064in superconductivity\u2014the same field\u200b as Helen\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p><em>How \u2063I Won a Nobel Prize<\/em> presents \u200ba happier\u2062 version of this\u200c tragedy, \u200dbut the overlap \u200dbetween history \u200cand fiction warns of the\u200b dangerous\u2062 side of the novel\u2019s cathartic \u200bdestruction. And \u2064in \u200dthe denouement, Helen expresses a skepticism \u2063of utopian visions, even as she insists \u200con the importance of the hope \u2064and optimism that such a perspective entails. As for Hew, he matures toward a more productive activism that seeks to apply \u200cartificial intelligence toward a smarter approach to\u2064 wealth redistribution. What could \u200dgo wrong?<\/p>\n<p><em>How I Won a \u200cNobel \u2063Prize<\/em><br \/>  by Julius Taranto<br \/> \u2063Little, Brown, 304 pp., $27<\/p>\n<p><em>Christopher J. Scalia is a senior\u2063 fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.<\/em><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> How does Taranto use satire to highlight\u200b the dangers \u200bof extreme political viewpoints in &#8220;How I Won \u2062a Nobel Prize&#8221;?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Shadowing. Taranto skillfully \u2062satirizes both sides\u200b of the political spectrum and their respective ideologies, highlighting\u2064 the\u200c absurdity and dangers that can arise from \u2063extreme viewpoints.<\/p>\n<p>Through the absurd\u2064 world \u2064of\u2062 the \u200bRubin Institute Plymouth, Taranto\u200c brings attention \u2064to\u200c the flaws and contradictions of higher education. The \u200binstitute, a\u200c safe haven for disgraced \u200cacademics, is a symbol of \u200cthe excessive\u2063 political correctness and lack of\u2062 accountability that\u200c pervades some institutions. The \u200cnovel raises questions about the\u200c prioritization of ideological purity over \u2062academic integrity, demonstrating the dangers \u2064of unchecked activism\u200c and the \u2062erosion of intellectual \u2064diversity.<\/p>\n<p>One of the novel\u2019s strengths\u200d is its exploration \u200cof <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hes-jim-jordan-with-a-jacket-and-a-smile-msnbc-reporter-melts-down-over-new-speaker\/\" title=\"MSNBC reporter loses it over new Speaker: 'Jim Jordan with a smile and a jacket'\">conservative\u2064 ideals<\/a> \u200cthrough the character of Leopold Lens. Lens\u2063 serves as a voice of reason amidst the chaos, offering a\u200d critique of the prevailing orthodoxy\u200d and the \u201creligion of \u200dthe mob.\u201d His \u200bviews\u200d on liberalism, capitalism, and the importance of treating individuals as \u2063individuals provide a counterbalance to \u2064the extreme ideologies portrayed in the novel.\u200d Lens\u2019s\u200d character allows readers\u2062 to reflect on \u200dthe value\u200b of\u200c open-mindedness, critical thinking, and the dangers of tribalism.<\/p>\n<p>The personal journey\u2063 of the \u2064protagonist, Helen, \u200badds another layer of\u2062 depth to the\u2064 novel. As she becomes\u2064 more \u2063immersed in her research and achieves professional success, her husband Hew becomes\u2063 increasingly frustrated and radicalized. The contrast between their responses to the challenges they face highlights the potential consequences of extreme ideologies on personal relationships. The novel\u200b also\u200c explores the complex dynamics between power, activism,\u200d and personal ambition.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, &#8220;How I Won a Nobel \u200cPrize&#8221; is\u2063 an entertaining and thought-provoking satirical campus novel \u200dthat challenges the extremes of academic woke-ism \u200cand bureaucracy. Taranto\u2019s portrayal of the absurd world of the Rubin\u2064 Institute Plymouth serves as a critique of higher education while also offering reflections on both progressive and conservative \u2064political ideals. \u2062The novel serves as a\u200b reminder of the importance of \u200cintellectual diversity, open-mindedness, and\u200c the need to find a balance\u200c between activism and individuality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Still manages to maintain a sense of humor. Taranto&#8217;s novel cleverly exposes the growing influence of conservative ideologies in higher education, offering a refreshing perspective that challenges the prevailing narrative. Through satire, he highlights the absurdities of academic woke-ism and bureaucratic tendencies, making for an enjoyable and thought-provoking read<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":138,"featured_media":2120865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2120864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2120864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2120865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2120864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2120864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2120864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}