David Dick (of the University of Calgary) and Robert Gressis talk about the differences between American and Canadian universities (as usual, the Canadians use funny words); what it's like to teach in a business school (David often has to sprinkle ethics on papers); David's research in the philosophy of money (does the nature of money constrain wha…

In this episode, Ben Blaisdell (East Carolina University, Kevin's department-mate) talks about critical race theory (CRT) and its applicability to k-12 education. Ben's research and work in schools relies heavily on critical race frameworks, and at a time where people are so polarized about CRT, Ben explains what it is, what it's not, what critics …

In this episode of Everyday Philosophers, Robert Gressis (California State University, Northridge) interviews Yvonne Chui (US Naval War College) about what it's like to teach at a military institution (no, you can't make your students do push-ups) and her research on the unsustainability of soft authoritarianism. 0:03:29 The US Naval War College: “…

In this conversation, I talk with higher education anthropologist Susan Blum (Notre Dame) about her work on how students experience higher education. We also talk about an essay collection she recently edited called Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What To Do Instead). 0:58 - How Students Navigate and Experience School; It Ai…

Rob Gressis (professor of philosophy at California State University, Northridge) talks with Alberto Mendoza-Larreynaga (adjunct professor of philosophy at Antelope Valley College) about what it's like to teach philosophy in a community college, as well as writing an ever-changing textbook addressed to community college students. 01:59​ The students…

Kevin talks with Samantha Hedges (Heterodox Academy, Substack) about recent articles she has written criticizing critical-race-influenced approaches to diversity and equity training in schools. They talk about why Samantha believes that these trainings inadvertently stoke racial division as well as the possibility of an alternative "common humanity…

In this episode, Robert chats with Chris Dodsworth (Professor, Spring Hill College) about what it's like to teach at a Catholic college (spoiler: it's good!) and on the doctrine of the Atonement. We focus in particular on why Christians care about the Atonement, why the doctrine is baffling, how to make it less baffling, and why attempts to make it…

Kevin Currie-Knight (East Carolina University) and David Labaree (Professor Emeritus, Stanford University) talk about the history and meaning of academic freedom. They talk about whether there has ever been a “golden age” where academics were safe to be heterodox (no), and what academic freedom means in an age of social media and the in-group polic…

Rob and Kevin make small talk ... Kevin describes and laments the grade economy ... What's the relationship between grades and learning? ... Bryan Caplan's "The Case Against Education" and how it has traumatized Rob ... Unschooling ... If schools suck so much, how did Rob and Kevin learn? ...By meaningoflife.tv

Robert Gressis (California State Northridge) and Kevin Currie-Knight (East Carolina University) hae a wide-ranging conversation about the (fraught?) relationship between schooling, learning, and A-F grading. The discussion centers around an essay Currie-Knight wrote called Against the Grade Economy: https://theelectricagora.com/2020/12/... 00:02:36…

A new home for Sophia ... The (latest) defenestration of Kathleen Stock ... How sincere are pro-trans rights public intellectuals? ... Justin Weinberg's essay on the Kathleen Stock incident ... David: "It's the squishy middles that are gonna kill us" ... Dan: deplatforming people on social media is effectively censorship ... The death of public dis…

This episode's guest is not normal... and that is a GREAT thing. Jonathan Mooney is an author, speaker, entrepreneur, and activist within the disability rights community. Before all that, he was a kid struggling in school with various diagnosed disabilities, told that he just wasn't normal. Today we talk about his recent book Normal Sucks, where he…

Kevin's book, Education in the Marketplace ... Dan and Kevin's concern for Coleman Hughes' intellectual freedom ... How young is too young for movement conservatism? ... What was the Intellectual Dark Web? ... The IDW's central contradiction ... How Dan got involved with the conservative movement ... ... ... and why he left it ... Dan's advice to H…

Megan: philosophy of religion shouldn't focus on "proofs for God" ... Determining rational grounds for supernaturalism ... Why Dan rejects epistemic foundationalism ... Megan's Christian agnosticism, Dan's Jewish atheism ... Wittgenstein's engagement with philosophy of religion ... What kind of authority would it be good for us to submit to? ... Da…

Robert's essay, "The Philosophy Rapture" ... What counts as "relevant" philosophy? ... Philosophy's "dirty insider game" ... Why are great philosophers overrepresented at elite universities? ... Generational decline, intellectual and attitudinal ... Do intellectual celebrity cultures produce shrinking intellectual gene pools? ... Dan: Our present-d…

The new issue of Milton's comic book, Thompson Heller: Detective Interstellar ... Christopher Hitchens' influence on Milton's comic ... The anxieties of robot personhood ... The economic determinants of comic book production ... How a new comic writer finds an artist ... The comic book art division of labor ... Thompson Heller's future ...…

Joshua’s views on basic beliefs ... How do we get from experience to justified belief? ... The connection between knowledge and awareness ... Is Dan actually a foundationalist? ... Where the chain of warrant ends ... Joshua’s engagement with the big questions in philosophy ... Running up against the boundaries of inquiry ...…

In this episode, I talk with Education Professor Doris Santoro about why teachers leave the profession. She distinguishes between teacher burnout and teacher demoralization and argues that, if we want to counteract the persisting and large teacher attrition problems, we need to treat these as different sets of reasons. We also talk more generally a…

Why Kevin chose not to vote ... The two-party system vs. a multiparty parliamentary system ... Dan accuses Kevin of not confronting what the election was about ... Is Kevin acting like a spoiled brat? ... The logic of straight-ticket voting ... Kevin accuses Dan of having a pessimistic view of democracy ...…

On this episode, I talk with Richard Rothstein (Economic Policy Institute) about his book Color of Law: The Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. While the book is not about education, Rothstein’s research is an outgrowth of prior research on racial disparities in education. In the book, Rothstein tells the story of how govern…

The origins of "standpoint theory" ... Are Dan and Crispin white? ... Defining standpoint theory ... Dan: Standpoint theory presents an irrefutable hypothesis ... Crispin: "All knowledge is from some standpoint" ... Dan: There is no single black perspective on race ... Why don't people trust experts? ... Is this argument good for society right now?…

On this episode, Robert Pondiscio (Fordham Institute, author of How the Other Half Learns) discusses his experience writing about the Harlem Success Academy Charter School in the South Bronx. He spent a year immersed in this school and came away with some interesting insights - both praise and concern - about what life is like at this charter schoo…

In this episode, I talk with teacher-turned-psychologist K. Ann Renninger to talk about the psychology of human interest. How do learners (and people in general) become interested in something? Is interest 'hardwired' and hard to change, or can teachers influence what learners are interested in? How can teachers make subjects more interesting for s…