The Reason We Learn

Parents: if you're looking to school choice to deliver your children from "woke" curricula and activist teachers, my guest wants you to understand these problems aren't a function of a given school as much as they are a function of the teachers in the classroom, how and why they came to teaching in the first place, and the pedagogy they bring with them. Dan argues that "Inactivist" teachers, or th...

Jeremy Tate, founder and CEO of the Classic Learning Test speaks to us about standardized testing — is it still relevant, if so how, and what can parents do to ensure their kids are achieving? We also discuss why he (and I) think Classical Education is the optimal style of education for a self-governing people. Jeremy Tate is the founder and CEO of the Classic Learning Test. Jeremy is also the hos...

We’ve been told the low, LOW NAEP test scores out this year were so low because of Covid, and school closures, but is that accurate? Lynne Taylor, an expert on Common Core, and it’s long-term impact on learning outcomes joins me to assess the situation, and to explain how and why the “crisis” we perceive today was set in motion decades ago. Lynne Taylor has been recognized by her peers as an exper...

We're told "Equity Math" is what black students need to improve math skills, but is that true? With the recent dismal scores on the NAEP, especially for black students, this question seems more relevant than ever. I asked John Wilson to join me to address it, and to talk about how he thinks the black parents of his students feel about it. His answers will surprise you. John H. Wilson, III became t...

Join Dr. Ping and me as we discuss his new book, A Spectre is Haunting America (available from the link below), and about how China's centrally-planned, micro-managed economy, complete with social credit scoring system, are increasingly lauded by our own elite as THE model to follow. Dr. Pingnan Shi, Ph. D., aka Dr. Ping, grew up during China’s Cultural Revolution. His father was imprisoned, and h...

This is longer than my usual podcast, but we wanted to delve into this topic in depth. Professor of Linguistics, Alaric Naudé and I were watching a recording of a lecture at Rowan University in New Jersey during this show, and commenting on what we saw and heard, so my apologies for comments about visuals, you can watch the video here to see what we’re talking about. I tried to read the slides we...

In this show, Dennis Noel Kavanagh, of the Queens Speech Podcast and Dennis Noel Kavanagh Substack walks us through the Mermaids UK charity scandal, unfolding as we speak. * He also helps us answer the following questions, answers we should take seriously, and treat as lessons we can use to prevent worse horrors being visited on American children: * How did charities like Mermaids get started and...

Last week was “Banned Books Week,” which in itself is predicated on a lie, but it’s just one of many lies told by librarians in the United States. Dan Kleinman and I discuss how the American Library Association trains its members to lie to parents, and the public, even if it means violating state law. We also talk specifically about what a book ban “is” and isn’t, and what really motivates librari...

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: “They’re teaching kids WHAT to think, not HOW to think!”Sounds about right at first, until you look more closely at what’s happening in schools. Kids are being taught HOW to think — like social justice activists—but more importantly, they’re being taught WHAT TO FEEL. Teaching kids to evaluate every situation based on how it makes them feel, and evaluating every p...

When is a school really “open?” Is it when kids aren’t forced to do virtual school, or is it when they don’t need to show proof of vaccination to enter the building, or participate in before/after-school activities? What if you’re a teacher, who can’t go to work (or keep your job) because you aren’t vaccinated, and refuse to get vaccinated? These are some of the questions we tackle in this show. S...

In this show, Alvin Lui and I go over how woke ideas get into school, and why they’re so hard to combat, or get out. We also unveil Courage is a Habit’s latest explainer about the different kinds of abusers in and around your child’s school, and how you should deal with them! Listen and learn about the Activist, the Liar, the Troll, and the Spineless, how they behave, and how (or if) you should en...

If you think supporting School Choice is a no-brainer, you need to hear from Nicki. Before you leap to embrace this supposed salvation from the public schools you think you're "stuck" with, take the time to fully understand what the government's definition of "choice" is, and how that affects you, and the future of education in America. Nicki is a second-generation homeschooler, author of the book...

Mercedes Grant is a former public educator that founded Path of Life Learning, a microschool in Yorktown, VA. She is a military spouse who has worked in the public school system in four states, and decided to break away to offer an exciting and exceptional learning experience for her daughter and her students. She can be reached at PathofLifeLearning@gmail.com, and you can follow her journey on Fa...

Ray Raymond has a teaching career spanning 29 years in both public and private schools from the kindergarten to the university level. He is still employed in the California public schools system. He's also spent 10 years as Master Teacher (teaching education students who are finishing their degrees by having them internship in his classroom). He has numerous teaching and tech awards, served on num...

Frank McCormick was back at The Reason We Learn today to catch us up about what he’s been doing since he took a stand last year in his district of Waukegan, Illinois. A former History and Civics teacher, Frank tried to fight critical theories from inside his school quietly, inside his classroom, but outside the school, he built a platform at Chalkboard Heresy, and told the truth about what was goi...

Shelly is a Homeschooling mom and YouTuber whose channel, There’s No Place Like Home , helps new and experienced homeschooling parents alike learn and grow as they customize their children’s educations. In this show, she joins me to talk about the following: * What homeschooling is and isn’t, debunking a couple of myths along the way. * What new homeschoolers need to do, and not do, to maximize th...

Josh Daws is the host of the Great Awakening podcast (available wherever podcasts are), where he talks about how woke ideas are infiltrating churches, and Christianity in general, and what to do about it. We talked about this topic, his story, and how he and his wife decided to homeschool their kids, and how that's going. I asked him what common ground he thought there was between secular homescho...

Barrington Martin, II was born and raised in the great city of Atlanta, GA. After qualifying for a the 2020 Congressional primary in Georgia’s 5th District, he’s become a formidable political thought leader in the nation with writing credits in Newsweek, Fox News, Breitbart, ScoonTv, and appearances on various international news media sources including RT News and Sky Australia. He is the host of...

“Tranpa” Buck Angel stopped by The Reason We Learn today, and we had a great conversation! Here are the questions I asked, and he answered, with grace and humor, passion, and wisdom: Who is Buck Angel, and what would you like us to know about you? * What can you tell us about feeling like the opposite sex, if you can describe it to us, what is that like? * What do you think of “wrong-body” theory?...

Most parents don’t receive any formal education in child development, and the educators pushing toxic ideologies in American schools are benefitting from their ignorance. As someone committed to helping parents protect their children, I asked Professor Alaric Naudé to help me explain exactly how children’s brains develop, and how they actually learn, so parents can better understand why the threat...

Fellow Gen-Xer David Krae joined me for a conversation about the current cultural trends known collectively as "Woke" culture, looking at them (and "interrogating" them, as the kids today say) through the lens of our Gen-X childhoods. We covered TV, movies, education, parenting, working in corporate America, Hollywood, and the government, and so much more! If you’re Gen-X, or a fan of Gen-X cultur...

This show is essential listening/viewing if you want to better understand why Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is so popular amongst progressive/woke educators today (and ed-tech firms, and the Federal Department of Education). This show began as a collaboration between ScioSophia , Lisa Logan and I, and rapidly turned into a panel discussion featuring James Lindsay of New Discourses , and Paul Ros...

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Ada Akpala was one of my first guests ever on The Reason We Learn, but it’s been a while since we’ve talked. We try to get together as often as we can just to talk about current events, historical events, and culture to compare notes. She shares what she’s seeing and hearing in the UK, and I share my American perspective. Our conversations are always spontaneous, honest, and fun! In this episode,...

Today, I sat down with Dennis Noel Kavanagh to discuss an issue that keeps me up nights: the gender ideology dominating the places where our children — as young as 3 — go for daycare, school, socializing, and interaction online. I asked Dennis to talk with us today because of his experience and background fighting against this ideology, and for gay rights, in the UK. If you’re unfamiliar with Denn...