Ted and Courtney Balaker: College Students Are Rejecting Wokeness

The filmmakers who brought The Coddling of the American Mind to the big screen discuss the students whose stories inspired the film and the state of the media, Hollywood, and storytelling.

1x 1.1x 1.25x 1.5x 2x 3x

:15 :15

Download

Ted and Courtney Balaker: College Students Are Rejecting Wokeness

HD Video Download

Ted and Courtney Balaker are the team behind the new documentary The Coddling of the American Mind. Based on the 2018 best-selling book by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, the film follows a series of students as they navigate life on today's highly charged college campuses. I spoke with Courtney and Ted, who started his video career as one of the first hires at Reason TV, about the Gen Z mental health crisis, free speech, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs, the oppressor-victim worldview, and why they chose to host the film on the innovative platform Substack rather than a more traditional venue.

0:00— Introduction

0:54—The Coddling of the American Mind in documentary form

2:05— Finding student participants

3:22— Lucy

7:15— Kimi

11:17— Aryaan

13:32— International students vs. American students

17:16— Are we past peak woke on campuses?

20:44— Distributing films on Substack

24:30— Korchula Productions' previous projects

26:20— Are filmmakers sick of censorship yet?

28:30— The Balakers' non-traditional media backgrounds

32:10— Working with Drew Carey on Reason TV

33:20— Visual storytelling as powerful conduits for ideas

35:07— Where to see this documentary

Today's sponsor:

• ZBiotics. ZBiotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic Drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented by Ph.D. scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Make ZBiotics your first drink of the night, drink responsibly, and you'll feel your best tomorrow. Get 15 percent off by going to ZBiotics/TRI and using the code TRI at checkout.

• Video Editor: Ian Keyser
• Assistant Video Editor: César Báez

Comments

[Rick James]

Ted and Courtney Balaker are the team behind the new documentary The Coddling of the American Mind. Based on the 2018 best-selling book by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, the film follows a series of students as they navigate life on today's highly charged college campuses.

This will be known as the "reboot of P.C.U."

[Rick James]

17:16— Are we past peak woke on campuses?

We're probably past peak woke everywhere, it's just these things are hard to measure. Much easier to see when you look back 20 years later. But most of my sensing equipment shows it's in retreat almost everywhere. Unfortunately, it will leave behind a permanent legacy that we'll never be rid of, until the next one in 20 years which, by all predictions will be worse than this iteration... as each iteration appears to be more intense, more all-encompassing and more vicious than the previous one.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

There's a part of American culture that can't help but go through religious revivals. The Great Awokening of the last 15-odd years isn't any different, but it seems to have kicked off due to a combination of the stress of the housing bust, Obama being promoted by the press and mass media as a transformational figure, and the dominance of the obsession over "whiteness" and queer theory in academia in the late 90s-early 2000s finally entering the mainstream when the Millennials started graduating college.

[Rick James]

Yes, it's no accident that wokeness is strongest in western, Christian, protestant countries. It's evangelical with the constant desire to bring people out of the darkness and into the light.

[mtrueman]

"Yes, it’s no accident that wokeness is strongest in western, Christian, protestant countries."

Maybe it's not strong enough. Look at American influence in Africa. It's doing significantly worse than Russia and China which have embraced the multicultural nature of their nations and are using it to show a face of tolerance and acceptance to African hosts. Americans, perennially obsessing over skin color and hatred of the poor, have seen their empire steadily losing ground.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Look at American influence in Africa. It’s doing significantly worse than Russia and China which have embraced the multicultural nature of their nations and are using it to show a face of tolerance and acceptance to African hosts.

No, that's mainly because Russia and China are more effective at bribing these countries, and their influence is also strictly transactional. Western money comes with all kinds of strings to obey the edicts of the homosexual diversity state.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

BTW, trueman is an asshole making the claim of the world-class xenophobic Chinese 'embracing multiculturalism'.
How fucking dumb do you have to be to lie like that?

[mtrueman]

"Western money comes with all kinds of strings to obey the edicts of the homosexual diversity state."

Saudi Arabia and Uganda are extremely harsh against homosexuality. Both have laws punishing with the death penalty. Yet both have been linchpins of the American Empire in their respective regions, especially since the Trump years.

Woke is not supporting genocide in Gaza. That's South Africa. Both China and Russia hosting delegations from Hamas and Fatah. That's woke. As I said America's empire is crumbling because it's not woke enough, allowing rivals to outflank.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Yes, your side does love playing this No True Marxist game.

[mtrueman]

Are you agreeing with my side or not? In any case, you should do a bit of research into anti-homosexual laws in some of the empire's most far flung outposts. Start with Uganda and Saudi Arabia.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

How are they “far-flung”? These are some of the oldest populated areas on the planet.

And the nations under Russia and China’s orbit aren’t doing so because those countries support trooning their kids out, like the US does.

[mtrueman]

"How are they “far-flung”?"

Too far to walk.

"These are some of the oldest populated areas on the planet. "

?

Aren't doing what? What is trooning?

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

"...It’s doing significantly worse than Russia and China which have embraced the multicultural nature of their nations and are using it to show a face of tolerance and acceptance to African hosts..."

You.
Are.
Full.
Of.
Shit.
FOAD, asshole.

[But SkyNet is a Private Company]

That is laughable on several levels

China is the worst example of Multicultural on the planet. It’s a ethnostate where minorities are repressed. Russia is not far behind

[mtrueman]

"China is the worst example of Multicultural on the planet."

Japan and Korea are far more monocultural than China, which boasts some 53 minority nationalities like Hmong, Akha, Manchu and others. There are startling differences even among the Han in terms of language, food, and life ways. I recommend you go and see for yourself rather than taking what you see on American corporate media at face value. Russia is much the same with Tatars, and lots more especially in the north and Siberia.

[Rick James]

FYI, if you're interested in this stuff, Tom Holland proposes we're going through a Christian reformation. He even goes so far as to point out that previous reformations of the religion weren't seen as reformations while they were happening. He notes that what we call the Reformation wasn't even called that until the 19th century.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Yeah, most of the "ages" we readily identify are really quite recent in their designation, relatively speaking. It's the outgrowth of whig history and the silly belief that mankind is forever progressing to a state of perfection.

[Square = Circle]

^

Even the paradigm of "Fall of the Roman Empire" --> "Middle Ages" --> "Renaissance/Reformation" is a creature of nineteenth century Europe. Shakespeare would have had no idea what you were talking about, and Charlemagne considered himself a Roman.

[mtrueman]

You know what History is, I assume. How about Historiography? It's basically the history of history - the study of how the study of history evolves and changes over time. As a discipline in Western institutions, it only became formalized and professionalized in the 19th century.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Yeah, no shit--it was always the practice of people in the elite circles of society because they were the only ones who had time and financial means or sponsorship to actually document it. And it's not an accident that, like academia in general, it's gotten worse the more it's democratized.

[mtrueman]

"Yeah, no shit–it was always the practice of people in the elite circles of society"

Because to do history you have to know how to read and write, until the 19th century only the aristocracy, the clergy and some 'middle class' were capable. Historiography is no different.

" it’s gotten worse the more it’s democratized."

Countries like Japan, Korea and China have something like 99% literacy. It's got little to do with 'democracy.' Japan, a one party constitutional monarchy, Korea, military dictatorship, China, one party communist state. I'm not sure what's supposed to have 'gotten worse.'

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Because to do history you have to know how to read and write, until the 19th century only the aristocracy, the clergy and some ‘middle class’ were capable. Historiography is no different.

Which doesn't make your aside any less needless.

Countries like Japan, Korea and China have something like 99% literacy.

I'm talking about the US, not the far east. And in the US, remedial requirements became so bad that some colleges are eliminating those classes entirely--nominally for "equity," but really it's because they're simply wasting resources trying to get high school graduates up to even an 8th grade reading level. These places are already catering to the lowest common denominator anyway, and the more left-wing and female-dominated they become, the worse they'll get.

[mtrueman]

“Which doesn’t make your aside any less needless.”

It’s literacy rather than social status. I took the liberty of pointing this out. As long as one is literate, one can do history or historiography, regardless of social status.

“I’m talking about the US,”

You should have made that clear. You seemed to be talking about vague generalities. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but if you had something more specific in mind, again, you should have made that clear. I’m not a mind reader.

” These places are already catering to the lowest common denominator anyway, and the more left-wing and female-dominated they become, the worse they’ll get.”

You mentioned that “ages” are a recent phenomena. I gave the the reason why. It’s because Historiography, the study of the history of history is a recent phenomena – becoming a formal field of study dating back to 19th century. It has nothing to do with the presence of women at universities or the rest of your whinging.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

Note the person in the left-hand photo has the mask on his/her CHIN, for pete's sake. Some lame signaling there!

[Quo Usque Tandem]

It's a virtue signal and a political badge; still see them occasionally.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

There's plenty of stupid to go around, all clamoring for whatever the "new new thing" is. Lately it has been the elevation of victimhood, and all of the compensation and consideration they are supposedly due. And of course they have a huge advocate in MSM, that propagandizes the narrative, and then conveniently shelves it when it no longer flies with 0 accountability on everyone's part:

https://www.thefp.com/p/npr-editor-how-npr-lost-americas-trust

[Winston in Wonderland]

Some of us are old enough to remember how college attitudes changed after Viet Nam. In 1975, a guy wearing a military uniform on a college campus was likely to be subjected to verbal derision and even have food thrown at him (I know from personal experience). 5 years later, the military was popular and most colleges and universities were pretty happy to have soldiers, sailors, and airmen taking classes at their institutions.

I imagine that Woke will have a similar trajectory.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

That required a pretty massive demoralization on the part of the left. Most of the idiots at the time thought that getting Nixon kicked out and electing Carter would usher the country into a new golden age, and it didn't help that pop culture finally became a victim of its own excesses during this period.

And ultimately, what happened is that the left re-trenched in academia and started pushing increasingly deviant shit. It's important to remember that anything getting pushed in academia at the time mainstreams in about 20 years. It's a big reason that wokeism won't retreat until the college professors are forced to keep their lunacy in check.

[Winston in Wonderland]

That's not quite the way I remembered it. The left-right dichotomy wasn't the same as it is today. There were still lots of very right leaning Southern Democrats. The Dems wanted Nixon out, but I don't recall nearly as much wrath being directed at Nixon on college campuses as had been directed at Johnson.

[Uncle Jay]

Being "woke" is an open admission of how stupid a person is.
The good news is it's a passing fad, especially once a person joins the work force and gets passed over for a promotion and/or raise from a less qualified DEI hire.

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

Yes! Woke is anti-selection. I have read descriptions how how homosexuality can be a result of natural selection, usually with the super macho taking multiple wives, so the less macho settle for supporting roles.

But wokism fights itself, like your example. A gay man gets his job by shoving some straight male oppressor to the curb, then a lesbian shoves him to the curb, and a trannie shoves her to the curb. It can’t survive, and more than Magical Money Tree can survive, or the climate alrmunists. Reality always wins. They can do a lot of damage in the meantime, but they can never keep their gains.

[mtrueman]

"But wokism fights itself"

Isn't that the point? Better to have a populace divided against itself over trivial issues like sexuality or skin color than a united one fighting for common interests. Divide and conquer have been the watch words of empires for centuries.

[Zeb]

I'm not sure about that. Sadly, intelligence is no proof against being taken in by bad ideas. And there are plenty of very smart people who will use whatever ideology is convenient to gain power and influence.

[Use the Schwartz]

"Wokeness" is a luxury of the Leisure Class.

[Incunabulum]

Except on college campuses where they're embracing it and supporting terrorists.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

OK, some some college students challenge woeness and the woke. (And from personal experience on campus, this has always been true.)

What I would rather see is a documentary showing what non-college young people think of the woke.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

We're already seeing it to a certain extent with the growing political divergence of Zoomer men and women--men have become increasingly conservative as women have become increasingly leftist, and this correlates nicely with the slow abandonment of academia by men, as women make up an increasingly greater percentage of the student body at colleges and universities.

[mtrueman]

"what non-college young people think of the woke."

Your best bet might be our vast prison system to get an idea of trends among society's least educated. As I understand, many inmates convert to a religious faith or strengthen their bonds to their original faiths. They also join various exclusionary nationalist groupings.

[Peter Kreeft taught me LOGIC, BEWARE !!!!!!!]

I've taught college students and 'reject' is not the right word.
At any time, if they had the facts and freedom of expression, most would always have the same sane view.
Soooooo......
93% of college profs’ political donations went to Democrats in 2022

Democrats outnumber Republican professors 7 to 1 at UGA – 3 departments lack any GOP faculty

The report found 3,623 of the 7,243 professors registered as Democrats and only 314 registered as Republicans.