Universities pride themselves on teaching students to think freely. But when thought turns to action, the backlash from conservatives — and college administrators — is often stiff and swift, says historian Lauren Lassabe Shepherd. Also: Democracy in Danger is ending, even as our fight goes on.

Sociologist and political newcomer Bernardo Arévalo won the presidency in Guatemala in a landslide, surprising analysts and even himself. He’s bent on ending endemic corruption in his country and addressing injustices of the past. Powerful forces are stacked against him.

Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi has ruled India with increasing ruthlessness for a decade. We reach out to an expert in Delhi as Modi seeks a record-tying third term in office. Radha Kumar considers how the forces of democratic opposition could splinter the BJP’s electoral juggernaut.

Her parents were teenagers when they were forced leave their homes, bid their fathers farewell and live far away, behind barbed wire, for no good reason. In spite of this history, Karen Kurotsuchi Inkelas says, she inherited from her family an “irreverent love” for America.

“We cannot take democracy for granted,” our guest says on this next show in our occasional series “The Power of Many.” He should know. He worked under Nicaraguan administrations that disappointed. Then the next one threw him in jail.

Shock therapy is President Javier Milei’s prescription for Argentina. But his far-right policies are already faltering — against the courts, a hostile Senate and tens of thousands of citizens who have taken to the streets. Milei’s nickname: the Madman.

Joining us from Karachi, anthropologist Arsalan Khan assesses the mood of a country on edge. Recent elections put the powerful Pakistani military on notice: the people will not be cowed. While the establishment regroups, a growing movement for change is alleging massive fraud.

Gun sales in America took off in the Cold War, and they’ve grown exponentially. Two experts on the culture of firearms in the United States say this phenomenon has a lot less to do with the Second Amendment than it does with the marriage of economics and politics.

An architectural historian considers the way walls real and imagined have shaped belonging, exclusion and citizenship across time — starting with the walls erected by enslaved laborers at the University of Virginia.