Nothing Never Happens

Banking Methods: Education Finance for Radical Teachers

31 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What do advocates for educational justice need to know about school financing? What's the relationship between the critical pedagogy and the budget sh...

Literacy and Liberation: Radical Schooling in the Black Freedom Movement

24 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What role did education play in the US civil rights movement? What did it look like for anti-racist organizers to build radical schooling and organizi...

Beyond/Against/Within Education: Radical Pedagogy as Radical Study

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What is education for? What modes of study become possible beyond the frameworks of formal schools and universities? How does radical studying fit int...

Practicing Pedagogies of Resistance and Liberation: The Critical Study of Zionism

18 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This podcast is a dual release between Nothing Never Happens and The Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism’s “Unpacking Zionism” podcast.*...

No Separation: Religion, Race, and Moral Education in US Public Schools

01 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How has the intersection between religious and racial politics shaped the landscape of public education in the United States? How have communities, bo...

Humanizing Critical Pedagogy: The Promise of Community Colleges

31 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes theories of critical pedagogy can be quite abstract. What does it look like to front concrete practices in our approaches to this tradition?...

Roots, Branches, Wings: On Feminist Theater of the Oppressed

30 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Feminist Theater of the Oppressed: What is it? How can its philosophies and methods transform our approaches to critical pedagogy? How does Feminist T...

Feed the People! From Alternative Schools to Anarchist Pedagogies

30 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What is anarchist pedagogy? What does it have to do with so-called “alternative” schools, where mainstream educational systems often send students...

Playing with Texts: Pedagogies of Scripture

31 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What does critical pedagogy offer when it comes to texts entangled with histories of oppression and disenfranchisement? How might we approach these te...

Revolutionary Blueprints: The Question of Palestine is a Question of Pedagogy (RE-RELEASE)

01 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How can we align our pedagogies with the Palestinian freedom struggle and other anti-colonial movements? How do we tune our minds and imaginations tow...

Community as Rebellion: A Conversation with Lorgia García-Peña

30 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What does it mean to “teach in and for freedom”? What does it look like to create liberatory spaces centered around the lives and needs of faculty...

Libraries Are Magical: On Public Space, Democracy, and Free Access to Information

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Many of us think of public libraries primarily as places to read and check out books—but this is only the beginning of their role in our communities...

Healing Resistance: Pedagogies of Nonviolence with Kazu Haga

30 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What might educators learn from practitioners of conflict mediation and transformative justice? What does it look like to enact “beloved community”...

Building the Soil: Transformative Justice Pedagogy with Mia Mingus

02 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What does transformative justice look like in practice? What does it mean to teach transformative justice, so that we destroy the cops in our heads an...

The Actuality of Revolution: Marxist Education and the Commons

12 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What is the role of education within radical and revolutionary movements? Is the classroom a political space? How do traditions of Marxian thought and...

Burn It Down: Accessible Learning or Academic Surveillance? (Part 2)

10 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Is universal design even possible? What does harm reduction look like in a classroom or on a syllabus? What role have university centers for teaching ...

Light It Up: Accessible Learning or Academic Surveillance? (Part 1)

31 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How can we prioritize multiplicity and accessibility when designing learning activities? What does an “inclusive” pedagogy entail? Can design ever...

“You Are Not the Chain of Freedom”: A Conversation with Loretta Ross

30 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What becomes possible when we anchor our pedagogical praxes in frameworks of reproductive justice and intersectional feminist care? What coalitions gr...

Southern Spaces, Southern Changes: Educating for Environmental Justice

29 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How can we ground our classrooms in praxes of environmental justice? How can teachers and learners build ethical connections to local communities mobi...

No Study Without Struggle: A Conversation with Leigh Patel

01 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As calls to decolonize education multiply across contexts and institutions, we must push this issue beyond optics and return to the question: what doe...

Resistance Pedagogy: Truth, Healing, and Justice in Atlanta Public Schools

01 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Amid the newest wave of attacks on public education and inclusive learning, there are stories of hope and resistance. In this episode we talk with a h...

Structures of Solidarity: Undergraduate Student Workers Unite!

12 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The common workplace issues of low pay, toxic environment, understaffing, corporate greed, wage theft, union busting, and high turnover also exist in ...

Work the Contradictions! On Institutional Power and Minority Difference

30 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What happens to grassroots movements when they get access to normative power? How does one resist capture? What traditions, theories, and cautionary t...

Rehearsing for Reality: Theater as Catalyst for Social Change

30 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Get ready for a master class in Theater of the Oppressed! This month we welcome playwright, director, and author Adrian Jackson. Adrian is best known ...

DEFEND THE CLASSROOM! Building Power with Ira Shor

01 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How should we collectively defend classrooms from the neoliberal assault on democratic praxis and critical pedagogies? What histories, traditions, and...

Liberatory Methods: On Teaching from the Knowledge in the Room

28 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What does it look like for pedagogy to begin with the stories, hopes, and critiques that are already present in the classroom? How has this approach t...

Dreaming New Dreams: Pedagogies of Mind and Heart

28 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What are the implicit "agreements" structuring our teaching and learning practices? How might we create new agreements for educational justice and col...

Land Grab U: Colonial Debts of the Settler University

06 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How is public higher education implicated with settler colonial dispossession and genocide? What are methods to visualize, teach, and encourage contin...

Revolutionary Blueprints: The Question of Palestine Is a Question of Pedagogy

11 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How can we align our pedagogies with the Palestinian freedom struggle and other movements for indigenous liberation? Scholar, teacher, and poet Dina O...

Plunder.edu: Urban Universities Take the City (pt. 2)

21 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When does a university cease to serve a public good? What would it look like for universities to work toward justice and solidarity with the cities th...

Pillage.edu: Urban Universities Take the City (pt. 1)

17 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What do you get when you cross a school, a real estate tycoon, a hedge fund, a regional medical complex, a massive transit system, a private police fo...

Planetary Citizenship: Learning for Climate Justice

24 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What do we need to learn to save the planet? Tina and Lucia discuss climate crisis, ecopedagogy, and liberatory teaching about environmental justice w...

Livable Lives: Arts Education in the Prison Industrial Complex

07 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when Theater of the Oppressed meets the prison industrial complex? Wende Ballew, Executive Director of Reforming Arts, shares their work ...

No Tokens: Students Decolonizing the Curriculum

09 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

 Our June 2021 episode features two accomplished leaders in the movement to decolonize higher education. Graduates Leah Trotman and Catherine Mor...

Ordinary Violence: Higher Education's Racial Capitalism

24 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Our April 2021 guest is Jodi Melamed, Associate Professor of English and Africana Studies at Marquette University. We spill tea on gestures of liberat...

Product to Process: The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop

29 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This month we welcome Prof. Felicia Rose Chavez, award-winning educator and aut...

Acting Out: Embodied Pedagogy, Online and Off

01 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Our February 2021 episode features Theresa Ronquillio and Tikka Sears, who join...

Flipping the Covenant: Debt, Labor, Public Education

27 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We are ringing in 2021 in style with a podcast featuring Eleni Schirmer, a scho...

Dismantling Oppression: A Conversation with Maha Bali, Part 2

01 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The post Dismantling Oppression: A Conversation with Maha Bali, Part 2 appeared first on Nothing Never Happens.

Nurturing Student Agency: A Conversation with Maha Bali

01 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Our December 2020 podcast features Professor Maha Bali, Associate Professor of Practice at the American University in Cairo, Egypt.Part 1: On Nurturin...

Learning Should Be Sweet: Jan Willis on Engaged Buddhist Pedagogy

29 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our November 2020 podcast features Dr. Jan Willis, acclaimed teacher of religion and author of the lauded memoir Dreaming Me: An African American Budd...

Never Alone: Building Movements with Project South

16 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our October 2020 podcast features fearless and visionary co-directors of Project South, Emery Wright and Steph Guillod. Founded in 1986 as the Institu...

Trust the Students: Critical Pedagogy for Hybrid Teaching, Act 2.

17 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The post Trust the Students: Critical Pedagogy for Hybrid Teaching, Act 2. appeared first on Nothing Never Happens.

No Tricks: Critical Pedagogy for Hybrid Teaching

17 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our September podcast features Jesse Stommel and Sean Michael Morris, whose voices in the field of hybrid and digital pedagogy have been beyond clutch...

Out on the Line, Act 2: Between Charter Unions and Charter Abolition

29 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The post Out on the Line, Act 2: Between Charter Unions and Charter Abolition appeared first on Nothing Never Happens.

#COLA Now: A Conversation with UCSC Wildcat Strikers

22 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our July 2020 features the UC Santa Cruz wildcat strikers, who are fighting for a cost of living adjustment (#COLA), and for higher education that is ...

Stories for Better Futures: A Conversation with Kevin Gannon, Act 2

30 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We delve deeper into the status of critical pedagogy in hybrid and online teaching. The transition to remote modalities raises many issues: surveillan...

Hope in Pandemic Times: A Conversation with Kevin Gannon, Act 1

30 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Tina and Lucia talk to Kevin Gannon in June 2020, on the heels of a spring term in which we saw a mass pandemic-fueled shift to online teaching. Kevin...

Of Decolonization and Its Metaphors: A Conversation with K. Wayne Yang, Act 1

17 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

For our April podcast, Lucia and Tina interview Wayne Yang of UC San Diego. Prof. Yang writes in A Third University is Possible, “To be ve...

A Third University Is Always Happening: A Conversation with K. Wayne Yang, Pt. 2

17 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The University of California San Diego is on Kumeyaay land. The chancellor’s house is on an indigenous burial ground. How do universities move beyon...

Teaching as Bricolage: A Conversation with Shirley Steinberg, Pt. 1

17 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Prof. Shirley Steinberg speaks with us amid a global pandemic. For some of us, this pandemic has exposed what we already new about neoliberal hig...

Righteous Indignation for Change: A Conversation with Shirley Steinberg, Act 2

17 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In Act 2 of our April podcast, Shirley Steinberg talks further about the Freirean foundations of her education theory and practice. She calls on teach...

Educating for Democracy: A Conversation with Scott Myers-Lipton, Act 2

31 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” — Frederick Douglass In Part Two Scott describes ways of integrating ...

Teaching Change: A Conversation with Scott Myers-Lipton

31 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our March 2020 episode features Scott Myers-Lipton from San Jose State. We talk about sustainable and just community engagement.The post Teaching Chan...

The Practice of Transforming Power: A Conversation with Beth Corrie, Act 2

25 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The post The Practice of Transforming Power: A Conversation with Beth Corrie, Act 2 appeared first on Nothing Never Happens.

Young People as Citizens: A Conversation with Beth Corrie

25 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Act 1, Young People as Citizens Tina and Lucia speak to Dr. Beth Corrie, Associate Professor in the Practice of Youth Education and Peacebuilding and ...

Changing How the World Works: A Conversation with Randy Stoecker, Act 2

29 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.” Karl Marx In Part Two Randy Stoecker takes us further i...

Liberating Service Learning: Conversation with Prof. Randy Stoecker

29 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Liberating Service Learning, Act 1   For this January 2020 podcast, Lucia and Tina spoke with Randy Stoecker, Professor in the Department of...

Decolonizing Knowledge: A Conversation with Angela Yarber, Act 2

30 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In Part Two we talk more with Angela about her place-based pedagogy in Hawai’i. Angela describes her pedagogical approach for her intensive course: ...

The Radical Space of Possibility: A Conversation with Angela Yarber

30 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Radical Space of Possibility, Act 1 “The classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy.”—bell hooks Ua Mau ke Ea o ...

What Does a Democratic School Look Like?: Part 2 of a Conversation with Michael W. Apple

10 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Participatory democracy requires students who are able to transform their knowledge to solve problems in community (The Algebra Project is one example...

The Challenges Facing Teachers Today: A Conversation with Michael W. Apple

10 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Michael W. Apple is the John Bascom Professor of Curriculum & Instruction & Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison ...

Creating Equitable Classrooms: Jill M. Hermann-Wilmarth and Caitlin L. Ryan, Act 2

24 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the forward to their book, Reading the Rainbow, Mariana Souto-Manning asks, “Will you commit to justice in and through your teaching?” Jill and...

Reading the Rainbow: A Conversation with Jill M. Hermann-Wilmarth and Caitlin L. Ryan

24 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Caitlin Ryan with Jill Hermann-Wilmarth Reading the Rainbow, Act 1   Jill M. Hermann-Wilmarth (PhD UGA) is Professor of Social Foundations at Wes...

The Impossible Demand: Bettina Love on Freedom Dreaming with Students: Part 2

30 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The impossible demand involves demanding the impossible—studying what freedom educators from Ella Baker to Christopher Emdin do to create a model fo...

Abolitionist Teaching: A Conversation with Bettina L. Love

30 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Act 1: Mattering Pedagogy Dr. Bettina Love is Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Theory & Practice (Early Childhood, Elementary ...

The Courage to Engage: A Conversation with Antonia Darder, Part 2

23 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In Part Two Antonia Darder discusses the use of art and poetry in her engaged pedagogy. She raises key questions for talking about critical pedagogies...

The Courage to Engage: A Conversation with Antonia Darder

23 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Courage to Engage, Act 1 Dr. Antonia Darder is the Leavey Presidential Endowed Chair in Ethics and Moral Leadership in the School of Education at ...

Speaking Truth to Power: A Conversation with Gordon Whitman, Act 2

30 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Justice work requires reflection and resiliency. In Part Two Gordon asks the question: where does religion stand?—on the side of the status quo or t...

Organizing for a Just World: A Conversation with Gordon Whitman

29 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Organizing for a Just World, Act 1 This July 2019 podcast is a conversation with Gordon Whitman, senior advisor of the interfaith group Faith in Actio...

Rehearsing a Different Pedagogy: A Conversation with Mariana Souto Manning and Melisa “Misha” Cahnmann-Taylor, Act 2

28 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In Part 2 of this conversation, share with us their strategies for creating open and democratic spaces in the classroom through specific games and oth...

Teachers Act Up! A conversation with Melisa “Misha” Cahnmann-Taylor & Mariana Souto Manning

28 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Rehearsing a Different Pedagogy, Act 1 Misha Cahnmann-Taylor and Mariana Souto-Manning are “rehearsing for the revolution” (Augusto Boal’s term)...

Jerome Scott: Organizing for the Future

23 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

For the May 2019 podcast we welcome Jerome Scott, co-founder of Project South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty and Genocide (f. 1986). Jerome...

“Can critical pedagogy be greened?” : A Conversation on Ecopedagogy with Rebecca Martusewicz, Act 2

30 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In Part 2 of our conversation Martusewicz moves from root metaphors and their destructive, patriarchal force. With Wendell Berry she shows us how to w...

Ecojustice pedagogy: A Conversation with Rebecca A. Martusewicz

30 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Ecojustice Pedagogy, Act 1 Rebecca Martusewicz (pronounced: marta-savage) is Professor of Social Foundations and Community Education in the Department...

Organizing for Change: A Conversation with Ben Speight, Act 2

31 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In Part 2 Ben Speight talks about the practices of “combing our forces” in the fight for worker justice. These current times require ever more coa...

Workers Unite!:: A Conversation with Ben Speight

31 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Workers Unite!, Act 1 This March 2019 podcast is for anyone who teaches/studies social movements, movement building, labor history, union organizing, ...

Teaching Sustainability: A Conversation with Rev. Noelle Damico

01 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Rev. Noelle Damico (United Church of Christ) is an activist educator and movement builder with the Alliance for Fair Food.[http://www.allianceforfairf...

U-Lead Athens: Educating Un(der)documented students

01 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

“United, Unafraid, Undefeated, Unstoppable Leaders.” That is the description by the students of U-Lead Athens. Since August 2014 they meet every T...

Teaching as “Vocation”: Part Two of a Conversation with Irwin Leopando

21 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In Part Two Leopando continues to explore the theological influences on Freire’s thought and activism that sustained him through exile and instituti...

Freire and Faith: A Conversation with Irwin Leopando

21 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Freire and Faith, Act 1 Irwin Leopando is Associate Professor of English at LaGuardia Community College, (CUNY) in Queens, NY. He is the author of the...

Z Nicolazzo: Part 2: The Trickle Up of Social Justice Education

30 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Nicolazzo asks us, “How do we think about the most vulnerable students on our campuses,” especially those who are multiply marginized? How do we w...

Trans*Pedagogies: A Conversation with Dr. Z Nicolazzo

30 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

From the field of studies in higher education come deep insights into pedagogical theory and practice. In the second of a series on trans*pedagogies, ...

What would we be doing if we weren’t doing this?: A Freirean Focus Group on a Democratic Departmental Journey

02 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This October podcast is a bit self-serving. Our Religious Studies Department has been on a 30+ year journey into what it would be to live into Freire’...

Education for Global Citizenship: An Interview with Carlos Alberto Torres: Part 2:

29 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In Part 2 Torres talks about the origins and work of the UCLA Paulo Freire Institute in social justice education. He discusses his many influences (Gr...

Freire’s First Critic: An Interview with Carlos Alberto Torres

29 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Freire’s First Critic, Act 1 Carlos Alberto Torres is Professor of Social Sciences and Comparative Education at UCLA (2009-present), past Director o...

Theatre as Pedagogy: Victoria Rue Interview Part 2

29 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In the second half of our conversation Victoria Rue talks about the importance of theatre in the classroom as a way to break out of the ruts and old h...

Theatre as Pedagogy: A Conversation with Victoria Rue

29 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Theatre as Pedagogy, Act 1 Victoria Rue is a professor, author, playwright, theatre director and workshop leader, and Roman Catholic womanpriest. She ...

Marc Weinblatt: Part Two: Theatre for Systemic Change

30 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In Part Two: Theatre for Systemic Change, Marc talks about his experiences with Forum Theatre and Legislative Theatre in addressing community issues. ...

Theatre of Liberation: Marc Weinblatt of the Mandala Center for Change

30 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Marc Weinblatt has been a professional educator, theatre director, activist, and workshop facilitator since 1980 having extensive experience with both...

Ecopedagogies: Part 2

21 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In Part 2 of our podcast on ecopedagogies, Laurel Kearns and Tim Van Meter take us through several concrete pedagogical practices in ecoliteracy and e...

Ecopedagogies: A Conversation with Lauren Kearns & Tim Van Meter

21 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Ecopedagogies, Act 1 Tim Van Meter In this first of hopefully many podcasts on the topic of ecopedagogies, I am joined by Prof. Laurel Kearns of Socio...

Popular Education for Social Change: The New Poor People’s Campaign, Part 2

21 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In Part 2 Colleen and Willie bring us to the challenges of our current time with specific strategies for educating about systemic poverty. They show u...

Popular Education for Social Change: The New Poor People’s Campaign

21 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

At the fiftieth anniversary of the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike, the Poor People’s Movement, and the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Lu...

Intersectional Pedagogies Part 2

02 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In Part 2 of the podcast Professors Case and Rios talk about student and institutional resistance and challenges, along with concrete curricular and t...

Intersectional Pedagogies

02 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This podcast focuses on intersectional pedagogies, and what the consideration of multiple socially-constructed identities and social locations bring t...

Popular Education for Social Change: An Economic Justice Teach-In at Agnes Scott College

22 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This audio podcast is a concrete example of popular education for movement building and social change. As defined by the Highlander Research and Educa...

Catching the Spirit of Septima: Highlander Center update podcast (2-18-18) with Allyn Maxfield-Steele on the New Septima Clark Learning Center

21 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Rev. Allyn Maxfield-Steele was recently in Atlanta and I met with him to learn about the plans for the new Septima Clark Learning Center that will be ...

Womanist Pedagogies Part 2

30 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this second part of the podcast Profs. Westfield and Lockhart-Gilroy go deeper in their discussion of embodied teaching and learning, utilizing wom...