The Learning Curve

In this week’s episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  Alisha Searcy  and  Walter Blanks  interview  Samuel Lee Fudge , the acclaimed actor, writer, and director behind  Mosiah , the first narrative film about Marcus Garvey. Fudge discusses his background, education, and creative journey in bringing Garvey’s legacy to the screen. He explores Garvey’s leadership, the Black Star Line, and his ide...

In this week’s episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng  and  Alisha Searcy  interview Margaret Washington , the esteemed historian and author of Sojourner Truth’s America . Prof. Washington delves into Truth’s remarkable life, from her early years in slavery in New York to her transformation into a powerful abolitionist, women’s rights advocate, and religiously dri...

In this specia l St. Valentine's Day  episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng  and  Alisha Searcy  interview renowned Shakespeare scholar  Professor Sir Jonathan Bate  to discuss the timeless tragedy,  Romeo and Juliet . Exploring its enduring greatness, Sir Jonathan delves into Shakespeare’s classical influences, particularly Ovid’s  Metamorphoses , and how Elizab...

In this episode of The Learning Curve , co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Alisha Searcy interview Steven Wilson , a senior fellow at Pioneer Institute and a leading voice in education reform. Mr. Wilson discusses his journey into K-12 education policy, reflecting on his early work with Gov. Bill Weld and the landmark 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act (MERA), which helped propel the...

In this episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng  and  Alisha Searcy interview historian  Marcus Rediker , Distinguished Professor of Atlantic History at the University of Pittsburgh and author of  The Amistad Rebellion . Prof. Rediker explores the 1839 slave revolt aboard the schooner  La Amistad . He recounts the leadership of Sengbe Pieh (Joseph Cinqué) and the w...

In this episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng  and  Alisha Searcy  interview  Nicole Stelle Garnett , Associate Dean and John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School, and a national expert in education law and school choice. Dean Garnett discusses the vital role Catholic education plays in fostering faith, community, and the pursuit of “the...

In this special  Holocaust Remembrance Day  episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng  and the  Heritage Foundation's Jason Bedrick  interview  Alexandra Popoff , a former Moscow journalist and acclaimed biographer. Ms. Popoff delves into the life and legacy of Vasily Grossman, a 20th-century Jewish Soviet writer and journalist. She explores Grossman's transition fro...

In this special MLK Day episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  Alisha Searcy  and  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng  interview  Prof. Lerone Martin , Martin Luther King, Jr. Centennial Professor at Stanford University and Director of the MLK Research and Education Institute. Dr. Martin offers deep insights into the life and legacy of Dr. King. He explores MLK’s role as a spiritual and political l...

This week on The Learning Curve , co-hosts Alisha Searcy and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Dr. Kymyona Burk , Senior Policy Fellow at ExcelinEd and former state literacy director for Mississippi. Dr. Burk shares insights from her remarkable career in K-12 education reform. She discusses her journey from classroom teacher to leading transformative literacy initiatives in Mississippi that...

This week on The Learning Curve , co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Leo Damrosch , the Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Literature Emeritus at Harvard University and author of  Tocqueville’s Discovery of America . Prof. Damrosch delves into Alexis de Tocqueville’s historic nine-month journey through the United States in 1831–1832, which inspired his masterpiece...

This week on The Learning Curve , co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Dr. Jocelyn Chadwick interview distinguished British television journalist, author, and Classic FM presenter, John Suchet, OBE . Mr. Suchet explores the life and legacy of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, one of Russia's greatest composers. He shares insights into Tchaikovsky’s upbringing, his late start in composing, and the emotional...

This week on The Learning Curve , co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Dan Hamlin , an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Prof. Hamlin offers his insights on the state of K-12 education policy and reform. He shares how his academic experiences and research shaped his philosophy on e...

This week on The Learning Curve , co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Dava Sobel , acclaimed author of The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science . Sobel delves into the life of Marie Curie, the “scientific Joan of Arc,” exploring her extraordinary journey from clandestine education in Tsarist-controlled Poland to beco...

This week on The Learning Curve , co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Eric Rassbach , Vice President and Senior Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Mr. Rassbach discusses the Loffman v. California Department of Education case, where Becket successfully secured a unanimous Ninth Circuit decision ensuring equal access to special education funding...

This week on The Learning Curve , co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Carl Rollyson , CUNY professor, and acclaimed biographer of William Faulkner. Prof. Rollyson offers an in-depth exploration of Faulkner’s life, work, and enduring legacy. He discusses Faulkner’s formative years in early 20th-century Mississippi a region still grappling with its post-Civil W...

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview New Hampshire Governor Christopher Sununu. Gov. Sununu discusses his upbringing in a well-known political family and how the influence of his father, a former governor and White House chief of staff, and his brother, a former U.S. senator, has shaped his public service. He reflects on attend...

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Dr. Helen Baxendale , the chief of staff and vice president of strategy at Great Hearts Academies. Dr. Baxendale discusses how her global educational experiences inform her perspective on K-12 policy and Great Hearts’ mission to integrate the humanities, math, and science for intellectual an...

This week on The Learning Curve , co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and Dr. Jocelyn Chadwick interview Jeffrey Meyers , acclaimed literary biographer, about his comprehensive exploration of Edgar Allan Poe’s life and work. Meyers delves into Poe’s troubled early years, his struggles with abandonment and poverty, and how these shaped his dark, Gothic style. The discussion covers the themes and influen...

This week on  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  Alisha Searcy of DFER  and  Dr. Jocelyn Chadwick  interview  Catherine Clinton , Denman Professor of American History at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and author of  Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom . Prof. Clinton discusses her definitive biography of Harriet Tubman, the renowned abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor. She reflect...

This week on  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng  and  Andrea Silbert  interview Israeli historian, journalist, and author of  A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion ,  Tom Segev . Dr. Segev delves into the life and legacy of David Ben-Gurion, Israel's founding father. He shares insights into Ben-Gurion’s early years in Poland, his involvement in Zionist politi...

This week on  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng  and  Mike Goldstein  interview  Katie Everett , the Executive Director of the Lynch Foundation. Ms. Everett shares her journey into K-12 education reform and discusses the influential vision of Carolyn and Peter Lynch, and their foundation's role in shaping education policy in Massachusetts and beyond. She highlights the L...

This week on The Learning Curve , co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Meredith Coolidge of DFER - MA interview James Conway, a World History and Psychology teacher at Revere High School, and Ela Gardiner, a freshman at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Wellesley High School alumna . Conway discusses the 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act (MERA) and its role in establishing a progre...

This week on  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  Charlie Chieppo  and Ret. MN Justice Barry Anderson  interview  Edward Achorn , a noted writer, historian, and author of  Every Drop of Blood: The Momentous Second Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln  and  The Lincoln Miracle: Inside the Republican Convention That Changed History. Achorn shares insights into Lincoln's improbable political rise and the criti...

This week on  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  Alisha Searcy of DFER  and  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng  interview  Lance Izumi, Koret Senior Fellow and Senior Director of Education Studies at the Pacific Research Institute . Mr. Izumi delves into his latest book, The Great Classroom Collapse: Teachers, Students, and Parents Expose the Collapse of Learning in America's Schools . He discusses why, d...

This week on  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  Alisha Searcy of DFER  and  AFC’s Walter Blanks  interview  Senior Fellow at the American Federation for Children and Founder of Black Minds Matter ,  Denisha Allen . Denisha shares her journey and the motivations behind founding Black Minds Matter, a national movement dedicated to celebrating Black excellence and promoting high-quality educational opti...