An Educated Guest

What happens when the traditional promises of higher education, standardized testing, and steady middle-class milestones no longer align with reality? In this episode of An Educated Guest , host Todd Zipper sits down with acclaimed author and journalist Anya Kamenetz for a wide-ranging conversation on high-stakes tests, debt, generational justice, screen-time, and more. The conversation begins wit...

For decades, colleges and universities have treated the financial aid office as a dense, back-office administrative function—a labyrinth of tax-code-like regulations to be managed out of sight. But as higher education faces a stark demographic cliff and intense competition for shrinking student cohorts, this legacy mindset is proving fatal. In this episode of An Educated Guest , host Todd Zipper s...

When it comes to the path from education to financial security, the "golden ticket" narrative we grew up with is showing significant cracks. Today, students who work hard and play by the rules find themselves facing a steep experiential paradox: entry-level job listings frequently require multiple years of prior work history, yet securing a competitive, paid internship during college has...

What does the future of the American workforce look like when you bypass the traditional four-year college track entirely? In this episode of An Educated Guest , we sit down with Kermit Cook , the CEO of Penn Foster , to explore how a distance-learning model founded in 1890 to train coal miners has evolved into a hyper-modern platform educating hundreds of thousands of middle-skill workers. Kermit...

As the 2026 labor market faces an enrollment cliff and a massive influx of AI automation hollowing out traditional white-collar entry-level work, the "what is college for" debate has reached a fever pitch. Students are increasingly wary of high-debt, four-year degree conveyor belts that fail to guarantee day-one productivity. In this episode of An Educated Guest , we sit down with John C...

What happens when a tenured professor realizes that the very system she serves is "irreparably broken"? In this episode, Todd Zipper sits down with Dr. Maria Murray, the force behind The Reading League , to discuss the staggering reality of American literacy. Despite massive financial investment in our K-12 systems, only three out of ten students read at grade level—a statistic Murray ar...

Is the "Iron Triangle" of higher education—cost, quality, and access—officially under siege? In this episode of An Educated Guest, Todd Zipper sits down with Nick Dirks , President of the New York Academy of Sciences and former Chancellor of UC Berkeley, to discuss the existential challenges facing modern universities and the scientific community. The conversation explores the "Expe...

Is the $1.8 trillion student debt crisis a symptom of a broken "Iron Triangle" in higher education? In this episode of An Educated Guest , Todd Zipper sits down with Daniel Pianko , Co-Founder and Managing Director at Achieve Partners , to dissect why 50% of college graduates are currently underemployed and how the "Learn and Earn" model is disrupting the status quo. The conver...

The Forest is the Classroom: How Terris King II is Revolutionizing Early Education Can the future of education be found in the woods? In this episode of An Educated Guest , Todd Zipper sits down with Terris King II , founder of Temple X Schools, to explore how nature-based micro-schools are transforming urban education. Terris shares his journey from teaching at the world-renowned Shanghai America...

Is your degree program past its "sell-by date"? In this episode of An Educated Guest , Todd Zipper sits down with Norm Allgood , Dean and CEO of the Lyonova Institute at Saint Leo University, for a candid look at the "mechanical truths" of higher education. After years of building Synergis Education and advising over 75 institutions, Norm is sounding the alarm: higher education...

Getting into college is a massive achievement—but for first-generation students, graduating is often just the beginning of a new struggle. Why are so many talented graduates stuck in "underemployment" traps? In this episode, Todd Zipper sits down with Sheila Sarem, Co-Founder and CEO of Basta. Sheila shares her journey from the front lines of hiring at DC Public Schools and KIPP to launc...

In this episode of An Educated Guest , host Todd Zipper sits down with Rob Holmes, co-founder of ForgeNow, to discuss the revolutionary "Micro-College" model. As traditional higher education faces a crisis of cost and duration, ForgeNow is providing a high-speed, high-ROI alternative by training students in the essential trades—HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing, and Facilities Maintenance—in ju...

On this episode of An Educated Guest , host Todd Zipper sits down with Mark Milliron, President of National University, to explore how higher education can better serve the majority of today's learners: non-traditional, working, and military students. Mark breaks down National University's unique 54-year history and its innovative four-week course model designed to reduce cognitive load...

Are we handing the keys of AI to a generation of "passengers"? In this episode of An Educated Guest , host Todd Zipper talks with Rebecca Winthrop , Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of The Disengaged Teen . Rebecca shares her journey from refugee camps to the halls of Brookings, explaining why she believes the current risks of generative AI for K-12 learners outweigh...

What happens when you apply the principles of design thinking to the Ivy League career journey? In this episode of An Educated Guest , host Todd Zipper talks with Joe Catrino, the Executive Director of the Dartmouth Center for Career Design. Joe shares his "circuitous" journey from first-gen history major to ESPN and Yale admissions, eventually finding his calling in "Life Design&qu...

Can the emotional power of a blockbuster movie actually help a student master organic chemistry? In this episode of An Educated Guest , host Todd Zipper talks with Josh Reibel, CEO of Dreamscape Learn, about the radical redesign of the learning experience. Josh shares his "circuitous" 35-year journey from being a high school teacher in the late 80s to serving as the CEO of Amplify Learni...

Is a liberal arts degree actually the secret weapon in the age of AI? On this episode of An Educated Guest , Todd Zipper sits down with Dr. David Watts, the Director of the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence at Colby College. David recently made headlines by leaving a top executive role at IBM to lead this initiative at a small liberal arts college. They discuss why the future of the work...

Why does a bachelor’s degree take four years? Is it because that is how long it takes to learn, or is it just a historical accident? On this episode of An Educated Guest , Todd Zipper sits down with Madeleine Green of the "College in 3 Exchange" to discuss the movement that is challenging the 120-credit hour monopoly. Madeleine explains how the four-year standard was originally created n...

How does a university reach 180,000 students while maintaining a billion-dollar research engine and a "perpetual" culture of innovation? In this episode of An Educated Guest , Todd Zipper sits down with Dr. Chris Howard, EVP and COO of Arizona State University, to explore the "Public Enterprise" model that is shaking the foundations of higher education. Chris shares his remarka...

Is the United States facing a new "Sputnik moment" in education? On this episode of An Educated Guest, Todd Zipper sits down with Jeff Riley, the leader of Day of AI, to discuss the urgent need for AI literacy in our schools. Jeff, a veteran educator with over three decades of public service, argues that AI is no longer optional—it is the "Fourth R" of education, as fundamental...

What happens when you stop asking kids to sit in 45-minute "silos" and instead ask them to solve real-world problems for their community? In this episode, host Todd Zipper sits down with Jeremy Lugbill, CEO of the Career Academy Network of Public Schools (CANOPS) in Indiana, to discuss the radical redesign of the American high school. Jeremy shares how his network achieved a staggering 9...

It is an all-too-common story: a student graduates with a degree but is rejected from entry-level jobs because they lack "real-world experience." On this episode of An Educated Guest , Todd Zipper sits down with Dana Stephenson , co-founder of Riipen , to discuss how his company is dismantling this barrier. Dana shares how Riipen connects universities with a global network of employers t...

Sabari Raja, Managing Partner at JFF Ventures, joins us to discuss her unique journey from founder (NEPRIS, now Pathful) to leading a pioneering venture fund focused on economic mobility. JFF Ventures operates at the intersection of philanthropy and venture scale, proving that investments focused on the middle and low-wage worker can achieve both high returns and massive social impact. In this pow...

In this insightful episode, host Todd Zipper sits down with Jeanne Allen , Founder and CEO of the Center for Education Reform (CER). Jeanne walks us through her three decades of relentless advocacy, tracing the evolution of education reform from the dawn of the charter school movement to today's rapidly accelerating landscape of school choice. They discuss the principles of the Yass Prize&apo...

Join us on Educated Guest as we sit down with Dr. Shaun McAlmont , a true visionary in the education sector. With an extraordinary career spanning three decades, Shaun has impacted every level of learning, from K-12 to higher education and workforce development. In this episode, Shaun shares his journey, beginning with his early days advising students at Stanford and his core belief that every stu...