Episode 53: Poison Ivy and College Admissions with Evan Mandery

Professor Evan Mandery joins TBD to discuss his book Poison Ivy: How Elite Colleges Divide Us. On TBD, Evan discusses who gets in and why, and how colleges should do more for the greater good. He challenges the belief that these institutions promote diversity and upward mobility. According to him, the rich remain rich allowing few others to break into the top echelon. Rather, he says, it is schools like CUNY that allow true upward mobility. Evan Mandery is the author of eight books, including four novels, as well as the co-creator and executive producer of the TV series Artificial, for which he won Peabody and Emmy awards in 2019. A leading expert on the death penalty, Evan’s book, A Wild Justice: The Death and Resurrection of Capital Punishment in America, was a New York Times Editors’ Pick, a Kirkus best book of the year, and an ABA Silver Gavel honorable mention. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Evan has been an outspoken critic of legacy admissions since publishing an op-ed in The New York Times in 2014. His new book Poison Ivy: How Elite Colleges Divide Us offers a devastating critique of how elite colleges and suburbs work together to exacerbate social inequality. Evan is also a regular contributor to Politico. Episode aired live on WVOX-AM on February 16, 2023. Show notes available at thebalancedilemma.com