Policy Punchline

Zena Hitz is a Tutor in the great books program at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. She has a PhD in ancient philosophy from Princeton University and studies and teaches across the liberal arts. In her book most recent book "Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life," Zena quite artfully explains the ideals of a commitment to intellectual life, and the book inspires fundamental rethinking of our socio-political discourse and academic teaching today. What does it mean to pursue an intellectual life? What are the preconditions for intellectual pursuit, and is it available to everyone? In this long interview, Zena and Tiger go through some of the most contentious debates in academia and beyond – from whether solitude and suffering are required to live out an intellectual life, to whether liberal arts educations are worthy or effective in educating young people. Zena writes in her book that “if intellectual life is not left to rest in its splendid uselessness, it will never bear it