A wide-ranging conversation with Jacques Berlinerblau (Georgetown University) on the changing nature of the academic profession, especially regarding the erosion of academic freedom through the expansion of contingent academic labor and direct attacks on it by the states. Is research becoming increasingly vulnerable to outside political pressures? The conversation is based partly on Jacques's book Campus Confidential: How College Works, or Doesn’t, for Professors, Parents, and Students (Melville House, 2017), and partly on articles that he has written for news outlets, including MSNBC and The Chronicle of Higher Education.