MindShift Podcast

This season we explore the ecosystems of support that shape student success. At a time when schools are facing staffing shortages, disruptions to the Department of Education, and shifting public trust, this season asks: who sustains the people responsible for sustaining students? Across six episodes, we'll move from teacher support and relationship-centered learning to technology, workforce prepar...

KQED’s Ki Sung talks to health educator Shafia Zaloom about her book Getting Real About Sex Ed: What Today's Students Need. Zaloom shares advice for parents and educators wondering how to navigate authentic conversions with young people.

KQED's Ki Sung talks with clinical psychologist and author Ross Greene about why traditional discipline strategies often fail students, and what educators can do instead. Greene explains his Collaborative & Proactive Solutions model, which shifts the focus away from rewards and punishments and toward identifying the unmet needs and unsolved problems behind student behavior.

KQED’s Marlena Jackson-Retondo reports from Bellevue Elementary in Santa Rosa. Abrupt cuts to AmeriCorps funding last year impacted the school-based tutoring there. Principal Nina Craig explains how the loss of tutors affected instruction and student relationships, while new AmeriCorps members, Maya Nurse and Elena Zeoli, describe stepping into classrooms with limited time and resources. This epis...

In this episode, KQED’s Marlena Jackson-Retondo visits the band room at Roosevelt Middle School in Oakland and speaks with longtime music teacher Randy Porter, who is retiring after 40 years in Oakland Unified schools. Porter shares how introducing students to experimental jazz, including the music of Sun Ra, helps young musicians explore creativity and possibility.

In this episode KQED’s Marlena Jackson-Retondo speaks with Scott R. Levy, adjunct lecturer at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and a former school board member, about why school boards matter more than ever. Levy’s new book, Why School Boards Matter: Reclaiming the Heart of American Education and Democracy,  explains how school boards function, how their power has shifted over time and how s...

Lillian Zhang is a financial and career educator. Her book, "The New Money Rules: The GenZ Guide to Personal Finance" covers how to eliminate debt and offers non-judgmental advice on saving and investing. Zhang talks to KQED's Marlena Jackson-Retondo about the tips she gives to young people managing their own finances for the first time.

This month MindShift is sharing an episode from MIT's TeachLab podcast. Hosts Jessie Dukes and Justin Reich have interviewed teachers, school leaders, and students about how the debut of ChatGPT and Generative AI is actually playing out in schools.  They’ve compiled their learnings into a mini series called the Homework Machine. Listen to more episodes here: https://www.teachlabpodcast.com/

KQED's Ki Sung talks to longtime MindShift contributor and child development expert Deborah Farmer Kris. In her book "Raising Awe-Seekers: How the Science of Wonder Helps Our Kids Thrive," she shares how exploring the emotion awe can help students engage with classwork and also open us all up to connecting more with our communities.

This month MindShift is sharing an episode from our friends at KQED's Close All Tabs. Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.  Host Morgan Sung talks to Max Spero, founder of the AI detection company Pangram Labs, MindShift reporter Marlena Jackson Retondo and educator Jeremy Na about three different approaches educators are...

Host Ki Sung takes listeners inside some of the public libraries that have made significant transformations to better serve community needs. Inspired by Chicago’s pioneering YOUmedia model, similar teen-centered library programs are now thriving in cities like New York and San Francisco.  These teen spaces support not just digital learning and creativity, but also emotional well-being and communit...

Interacting with people from different generations has been shown to accelerate students’ social skills, improve literacy, and provide valuable lessons about history and culture. However, many students have limited opportunities to engage with older generations. And when these interactions do happen, they often remain one-sided or surface-level. In this episode, MindShift explores intergenerationa...

Do you remember the sting of not being invited to a birthday party or watching your friend sit at a different lunch table? Most adults can recall a falling out with a friend—also known as a friendship breakup. While romantic relationships and their endings get plenty of attention, friendship breakups are often overlooked, despite being just as painful and impactful. For adolescents, whose brains a...

There is a common perception that Asian Americans don’t get involved with civic life, but a closer read of AAPI history proves that to be false.

When you think of debate, you might picture presidential candidates interrupting each other, pointing fingers, and undermining their opponents. It often feels like a reflection of today’s fractured and tense civic discourse. But in high school debate clubs, students are learning a different approach. These clubs provide a rare space where young people can engage with current events, articulate the...

Teacher Jess Lifshitz noticed that her students were more enthusiastic when they told her about their everyday life than when they wrote stories for their writing unit prompts. While listening to The Moth Radio Hour, she got the idea to use that format of spoken storytelling to an audience in her classroom. She tells you, our audience, about why she wanted to help energize her students in this way...

Mindshift returns with Season 10. We’re exploring how to help kids find their voice, balance their identity, and just be kids. Hear practical tips and expert insights on how to better show up for young people in the classroom and beyond. Follow Mindshift wherever you get your podcasts or visit https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/mindshift .

This month MindShift is sharing an excerpt of an episode from our friends at KQED's Forum. Forum tells remarkable and true stories about who we are and where we live. KQED's Grace Won talks to linguist and author Michael Erard.  In his new book, Bye Bye I Love You: The Story of Our First and Last Words, Erard compiles stories from medical archives and ancient texts as well as first-hand accounts b...

Host Nimah Gobir moderates the MindShift KQED: Can Better Conversations Improve Media Literacy Among Students? panel at the 2025 SXSW EDU conference.

Vietnamese children’s book illustrator Minnie Phan talks to KQED's Ki Sung about using art to process events and heal wounds in the Vietnamese diaspora.

KQED's Nimah Gobir talks to educator and language therapist, Dr. Nancy Cushen White about why handwriting is such a powerful tool for literacy learning.

KQED's Ki Sung talks to Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop, authors of "The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better." They discuss the different modes of engagement and how to support teens at home and in school.

Ruth Whippman, author of "Boy Mom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity" talks to KQED's Nimah Gobir about the biggest challenges facing boys today, and actionable steps parents and educators can take to make a difference for the boys in their lives.

KQED's Ki Sung talks to host of The Stacks podcast, Traci Thomas, about rereading books she loved as a child with her own children, what's on her reading list as they grow and what she's learned about reading from all of her author interviews.

Journalist Rose Horowitch and Author Danielle Bayard Jackson join KQED's Nimah Gobir in conversation to explore the problem of reading stamina in college students.