Developing Classical Thinkers

In this episode, Winston Brady speaks with Gene Fisch, author of To Have a Tomorrow , a memoir of World War II and the hardships that the Fisch family and millions of other people endured while living in Nazi-occupied, and later Soviet-occupied, Poland. In the episode, Gene talks about his experience growing up in the forest hideaway in Polesie and his journey to the United States and Ellis Island...

This week is National School Choice Week, a series of events to draw attention to various school choice initiatives across the country. For any one unfamiliar with school choice initiatives, these are policies to make it easier on parents to send their students to a school of their own choice. These educational options may include charter schools or private schools but at its heart, these are scho...

In this episode, Winston Brady speaks Mark Bauerlein, Professor Emeritus at Emory University, about the need for high-quality, content-rich educational programs, the perils of young adulthood, and the joy that comes from reading and learning about worthwhile things. Mark Bauerlein is a prolific writer and scholar. He is a Professor Emeritus of English at Emory University, serves as Senior Editor a...

Classical education strives to preserve the past to give hope for the future. We recognize that the more we know about the past, the more confident our hope is that the future will be better, brighter, and more full of the joy and opportunities we hope to see in the world. The Christmas season is a particularly important time to reflect on such things, given the distance between what Christmas is...

In this episode, Winston Brady, Josh Herring, and Matt Ogle discuss their favorite Christmas books and Christmas movies. Along the way, they discuss the true meaning of Christmas, as rooted in the message of the birth of Jesus Christ, how Christmas traditions have changed over the past centuries, and how the consumerism of current Christmas traditions can be distracting and unhelpful. Then, they d...

In this episode, Winston speaks with Hilary Herman-Pagliolo, senior administrator and longtime Thales Academy teacher and leader. Building on her talk from the Fall Classical Summit, Mrs. Herman talks about the importance of looking at student data and using that information to make decisions for their students. Mrs. Herman received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a Maste...

The process of learning involves cooperation between the teacher and the student. Teachers traditionally spend a lot of time and energy learning and practicing their skills of communication and class management in order to improve their own ability to teach. It is less common that students put in the time to learn and practice the skills or best practices of learning itself. There are many potenti...

In this episode, Winston interviews Richard Dryer, the longtime band director and history teacher at Thales Academy Apex. Richard explains how to listen to classical music, some important concepts and ideas to consider when choosing a piece of music, and what to look for (or listen for) when listening to a piece of beautiful music. Mr. Dryer holds a B.M.E. from Butler University and a M.M. in Clar...

In this episode, Winston Brady speaks with Benjamin Quinn about the life and education of Augustine of Hippo, a 5th c. AD theologian and philosopher. This episode is adapted from a talk Dr. Quinn gave at the Fall Classical Summit in October 2022, where he presented an overview of the life of Augustine and his educational journey from a rebellious teenager to one of the foremost writers of Late Rom...

According to tradition, the first Thanksgiving was celebrated at Plymouth Plantation in 1621. Check out this episode to hear a brief history of the holiday and some lessons gleaned from a classical education. Theme music from John Harrison and the Wichita State University Chamber Players.

On today's episode, Winston interviews Kerry McDonald, a Senior Education Fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education and host of the LiberatED podcast, a podcast on recent trends in education. Kerry's work has appeared in FEE, the Cato Institute (where she is also an adjunct scholar), and Forbes, with her columns focusing on school choice, educational entrepreneurship, and alternatives to con...

In this episode, Winston Brady speaks with Ashley Bahor on classroom management and pedagogy and the means by which teachers can create a welcoming and enriching classroom environment. Theme music from John Harrison and Wichita University Chamber Players.

Founder of Thales Academy and Thales College Bob Luddy discusses Adrian Bejan's book "Freedom and Evolution". Bejan is a J. A. Jones Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Duke University, a notable author, and a leading scientist in the field of thermodynamics. In his work, Freedom & Evolution, Dr. Bejan explores the relationship between freedom and evolution through the lens of phy...

Humanities teachers have great books, and science teachers have groundbreaking experiments. In this episode, physics teacher Beth Lewis talks with Winston Brady about how science and STEM teachers can help teachers recreate some of the experiments described in Galileo's "Two New Sciences," including Galileo's "Leaning Tower of Pisa" experiment and calculating the acceleration due to gravity. Check...

In this special Zoom session from the Fall Classical Summit, Dr. Anika Prather discusses her new book, "The Black Intellectual Tradition: Reading Freedom in Classical Literature," co-written with Dr. Angel Parham. "The Black Intellectual Tradition" details the powerful legacy of classical education among Black intellectuals and teachers in America. Check out the book at Classical Academic Press: h...

Epistemology is the area of philosophy that studies and evaluates how we come to form our beliefs and know things about the world. Historically, epistemology was studied as a private enterprise but today, particularly with social media, the task of gaining knowledge is a thoroughly social enterprise. In this lecture, Dr. Forrest examined four epistemic principles that correct false and destructive...

The Creature from Jeykll Island is the United States Federal Reserve, created in a planning session amongst the United States’ top financial representatives on Jekyll Island, Georgia. The title comes from G. Edward Griffin's "The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve" and a similarly-themed Tuttle Twins book, "The Creature from Jekyll Island." In this session, Brian Bal...

In this session, Matt Ogle will offer a sample lesson plan and resources and explain the pedagogical means by which the sciences, taught Classically, can help students cultivate both academic rigor and intellectual curiosity about the world in which we live. Matt Ogle received a B.S in Marine biology from Swansea University in Wales and a Masters of Educational Leadership from Grand Canyon Univers...

According to Pew Research, in a comparison of 72 nations, the US fell from 6th place in math performance in 1997 to 38th place in 2017. Yet, by 2017 the US government was spending $12,800 per student. In 2019, the average Math SAT score across the nation came in at 528 out of a total 800. In the same year, classical schools saw an average score of 611 with similar results in reading, writing, and...

In this episode, host Winston Brady interviews homeschool educator Holly Lee on her experience teaching in a wide variety of educational models from traditional public schools to homeschool programs such as Classical Conversations and Charlotte Mason. Holly Lee is a homeschooling mother of three and operates My Little Brick Schoolhouse, a blog offering homeschooling support and academic resources....

This reposted episode focuses on Thales of Miletus, the namesake and spiritual founder of Thales Academy. In the episode, Dr. Jon Stewart examines the life and impact of Thales of Miletus, one of the Seven Sages of Greece for whom Thales Academy is named. More information can be found out about Dr. Stewart at https://www.jonstewart.dk/

On today's episode, we're reposting an early episode of Developing Classical Thinkers: "The Podcast of the Cave." In this very first episode of Developing Classical Thinkers, released in November of 2018, Josh Herring, Brooke Frisch, Winston Brady Stacey Egger, and Mary Dodson discuss Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" from Book VII of Plato's "Republic."

In recent weeks, we’ve had a number of big, high-profile stories come out about education: the first being the noted decline in reading and math scores as a result of school closures and online learning over the past two years, the second being the recent cancellation of student loan payments for college students. Today’s episode features a special guest, Brian Balfour of the John Locke Foundation...

In recent years the Classical Learning Test has provided for the classical renewal movement what, for everything else we have going for us, has been lacking: a standardized test. CLT provides “assessments steeped in content that is intellectually richer and more rigorous than other standardized tests and college entrance exams,” geared primarily around a substantial author bank “of men and women w...

Most simply, an entrepreneur is someone who starts his or her own business. They recognize opportunities and needs in the market that others do not see, and from there, they come up with new ways to meet these market needs. Our society values entrepreneurship because such individuals create innovative products and services that improve our quality of life and contribute to human flourishing in a m...