While revelations about the unsavory methods of Rupert Murdoch's media empire fill the newspapers, his role in supporting the neoliberal transformation of the UK -- first under Margaret Thatcher, then Labour's Tony Blair, and now under David Cameron -- is perhaps more scandalous. Social historian Iain Boal discusses media, labor, and austerity in Britain, as well as the gutting of higher education.

"A self-enriching aristocracy, a swelling and increasingly immiserated proletariat, and a shrinking middle class." In the eyes of Bill Deresiewicz, that describes not just the US economy as a whole but also the troubled landscape of higher education. Deresiewicz discusses the plight of academic labor and other trends within the academy. He also evaluates calls for the abolition of tenure and for technology-based and market-driven reforms.

What lessons have been learned from the Jared Loughner shootings and the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre? Is it that college instructors and staff need to intervene to prevent violent episodes from occurring in the first place? Benjamin Reiss objects to what he sees as the intrusion of psychiatric risk assessment and intervention into the classroom.

The University of California hikes student fees and downsizes. The economic model promoted by the IMF, the World Bank, and the US Treasury leaves millions at the mercy of huge corporations. Is there a connection? Will Parrish sought an answer by way of an investigation into Richard Blum, UC Regent, business tycoon, and husband of California Senator Diane Feinstein.

The era of stable, secure, steady work with one employer is over. According to Andrew Ross, precarity has become a central element in people's lives. What explains the rise of contingent employment, and how prevalent has it become in the creative economy and in education? Ross talks about recent trends and their impact, and offers his vision of an alternative to "flexploitation."