Elite universities have long been seen as an ivory tower detached from ordinary people’s problems and focused on abstract academic debate. While those abstract debates have historically pushed civilization forward and should not be abandoned, the rise of pseudoscience and conspiracy theories means universities need to open up. They should keep space for research and long-horizon debate while also bringing knowledge to wider audiences in a digestible form. The very formula of teaching should be rethought: rather than only an intense few years in one’s early twenties, universities should be more open to lifetime learning — short or custom postgraduate courses, MOOCs and other formats — that let people reskill and adapt to changing personal and professional needs.