Video Series: Leon Botstein

President Botstein and Fareed Zakaria of CNN, two astute commentators on education and its role in society, engage in a discussion moderated by Sam Tanenhaus, former editor of the New York Times Book Review.

In a conversation with Time to Talk’s Dessy Gavrilova, President Botstein defines the role arts and education have in an era of the closing liberal mind.

President Botstein explains that democracy “is harder than people expected” and worries that we are spending too much time staring at our smartphones and “mesmerized by nothing” rather than finding meaning and value by our own activity.

In this wide-ranging and entertaining conversation, Leon Botstein discusses Bard's innovative programs to serve the underserved, which include Bard high schools, prison education programs, and international operations; the marginalization of the humanities; and the challenges of being a college president.

President Leon Botstein of Bard College asks and answers the age-old question “What is art?”