The Learning Curve

This week on The Learning Curve , guest co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas and Charlie Chieppo interview two-time Pulitzer Prize winner T.J. Stiles . Mr. Stiles delves into the life of America’s first tycoon, Cornelius Vanderbilt, exploring his rise to historic wealth in steamboats, shipping, and railroads. He discusses Vanderbilt's legal battles, philanthropy, and enduring...

This week on The Learning Curve , guest co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas and Alisha Searcy interview Smith College Prof. Carol Zaleski. She discussed her co-authored book, The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings including J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, renowned for their literary and moral impact. Prof. Zaleski covers Tolkien's life, the success of The Lord of t...

Prof. Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas and Alisha Searcy interview journalist Emily Hanford , host of the hit podcast Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong . Ms. Hanford discusses how she became interested in the science of reading, the growing consensus around phonics as the best way to teach children to read, the impact of the digital age on learning, and the importance...

This week on The Learning Curve , guest co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas and Andrea Silbert , president of the Eos Foundation, interview Francine Klagsbrun , the author of Lioness: Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel . They discuss the story of the woman who left Kiev as a child, grew up in Milwaukee, emigrated to Mandatory Palestine, was a signatory to the declaration of...

This week on The Learning Curve , guest co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas and Mariam Memarsadeghi , interview Hillsdale College's assistant provost for K-12 Education, Dr. Kathleen O’Toole . Dr. O'Toole explores Hillsdale's mission and its impact on K-12 education, delving into classical education, Greco-Roman ideals, Enlightenment principles, and the college’s efforts to e...

This week on The Learning Curve , guest co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas and Charlie Chieppo , interview the National Alliance’s Nina Rees . Rees discusses her 11-year tenure at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, highlighting policy gains, the growth of charter school enrollment, and the challenges of charter school politics. She explores debates on growth,...

This week on The Learning Curve , guest co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas and Mariam Memarsadeghi , interview Harvard Prof. Leo Damrosch . Delving into the life of Jonathan Swift, Prof. Damrosch explores Swift's satirical brilliance in works like Gulliver's Travels and A Modest Proposal . Analyzing his sharp critiques of politics and society, Dr. Damrosch emphasizes Swift's...

This week on The Learning Curve , guest co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas and Ian Rowe , the founder of Vertex Partnership Academies in NYC, interview Dr. Carol Swain , an award-winning political scientist. Dr. Swain discusses her background growing up in rural Virginia, experiences with racial discrimination and segregation in K-12 schooling, and changes in the intellectua...

This week on The Learning Curve , guest co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Alisha Searcy interview Leslie Klinger , annotator of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Mr. Klinger discusses Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; the creation of the Sherlock Holmes character; Holmes' relationships with Dr. Watson, Irene Adler, and Professor Moriarty; and famous Holmes cases. He also explores Edgar Allan Poe's influence on the de...

This week on The Learning Curve , guest co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Prof. Albert Cheng interview Pioneer’s Chris Sinacola , co-editor of Restoring the City on a Hill: U.S. History & Civics in America's Schools . Sinacola explores our new book, which addresses the state of history and civics education in K-12 schools in the United States. He shares the book’s insights about the decline in hist...

This week on The Learning Curve , guest co-hosts Mariam Memarsadeghi and MN Supreme Court Justice Barry Anderson interview Prof. Jeff Broadwater author of the biography George Mason: Forgotten Founder . Prof. Broadwater explores George Mason's pivotal role in opposing British policies during the American Revolution, his authorship of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and Constitution and his stan...

This week on The Learning Curve , guest co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Mary Tamer of DFER- Massachusetts interview former D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty . Mayor Fenty discusses the historic school reforms implemented during his and Michelle Rhee's tenure in Washington, D.C., focusing on taking over the D.C. Public Schools (DCPS). He highlights the challenges of overcoming the DCPS bureaucracy, navigating p...

This week on The Learning Curve , guest co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Professor Albert Cheng interview Dr. James Stigler , a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He’s the co-author of the long-noted books The Teaching Gap and The Learning Gap . Professor Stigler discusses the enduring teaching and learning challenges in U.S. STEM education, internation...

This week on The Learning Curve , guest co-hosts Mariam Memarsadeghi and Mary Connaughton interview Laura Thompson , a New York Times bestseller and the award-winning author of Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life . Ms. Thompson provides an overview of Agatha Christie's life and career, gaining insights into her literary contributions and the enduring popularity of her detective novels. She explores...

This week on The Learning Curve, guest co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Derrell Bradford interview John Steele Gordon , the author of 10 books on business, economic, and technology history. They discuss the keys to America’s transformation into the world’s foremost economic power, from its grounding in British legal, political, and financial institutions into the political economy of the Founding era,...

This week on The Learning Curve, guest co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Mariam Memarsadeghi interview writer and biographer Dr. Ramachandra Guha . The author of a definitive two-volume biography of Mohandas K. Gandhi, Guha discusses Gandhi’s formative educational experiences, spirituality, political leadership, and philosophy of non-violent resistance, as well as his emphasis on moral self-reliance, i...

This week on The Learning Curve , guest co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Mary Tamer , executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, Massachusetts, speak with Paul Vallas , former CEO of the Chicago Public Schools and a candidate for mayor of that city earlier this year. Vallas talks about the professional lessons he drew from public leadership, how he financed the largest infrastructure invest...

This week on The Learning Curve, guest co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Alisha Searcy speak with Albert Cheng, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Education Reform in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas. Professor Cheng talks about the importance of classical education for guiding educational philosophy and practice and shaping the character of student...

This week on The Learning Curve, guest co-hosts Alisha Searcy and Mariam Memarsadeghi interview Jay Parini, Professor of English and Creative Writing at Middlebury College. A poet, professor, and author of literary biographies, Parini discusses how he came to write Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America. From William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation through The Federalist Papers, Thor...

This week on The Learning Curve, guest co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Kendra Espinoza interview Shiren Rattigan of Colossal Academy, a microschool in Florida. They discuss how Shiren became interested in K-12 education, how the COVID-19 pandemic led to her founding of Colossal Academy, and her development into a national leader in the microschool movement. Shiren addressed how microschools, pods, an...

This week on The Learning Curve, guest co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Kerry McDonald interview Professor David Abulafia from Cambridge University, who discusses the many roles of the world’s oceans in human history and trade. He focuses on how the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans, along with the Mediterranean Sea, have networked human societies and spurred the rise of civilizations. From religio...

This week on The Learning Curve, guest co-hosts Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Barry Anderson and Mariam Memarsadeghi interview Dr. Peter Wood, president of the National Association of Scholars. Dr. Wood discusses the invention of the modern concept of diversity and how it has replaced earlier understandings of human unity, liberty, and equality as exemplified by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's...

This week on The Learning Curve, guest cohosts Derrell Bradford and Alisha Searcy interview professor Manisha Sinha , the Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut and an expert on slavery and abolition. She discussed the influential figures and seminal events that created the abolitionist movement. Professor Sinha described the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade, Harr...

This week on The Learning Curve, guest cohosts Alisha Searcy and Mariam Memarsadeghi interview award-winning biographer Tamara Payne about the life and legacy of Malcolm X. She discussed how her father, Les Payne, embarked on the biography, and offers insight into Malcolm Little’s early life and education, the influences of racism and Pan-Africanism on the Little family, and how Malcolm Little bec...

This week on The Learning Curve, guest cohosts Charlie Chieppo and Alisha Searcy join Dr. David Steiner for a wide-ranging discussion about the importance of education as a means of transmitting enduring wisdom to young people. Dr. Steiner discusses differences in K-12 education between the U.S. and the U.K., explores how schools of education may be contributing to the decline of K-12 education, r...