Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

The New York Times op-ed columnist Bret Stephens joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode, a bonus reply of our weekly What Matters Now podcast.

This week, campuses across North America opened their doors for their fall semester. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Stephens recently wrote a column called, “What I Want a University President to Say About Campus Protests,” in which he channels a university president presenting his foundational principles, including, “the spirit of inquiry.”

In this week’s episode, we hear Stephens’s take on concepts that have evolved and flourished on campuses in the past several decades, including how critical theory has shifted faculties and the role of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI).

So this week, as students return to campuses, we ask Bret Stephens, what matters now?

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod Waves and Adina Karpuj.

IMAGE: New York Times op-ed columnist Bret Stephens. (Jason Smith via JTA)