The ThoughtStretchers Podcast
Episodes
Engineering the Aha, What's Missing From Inquiry
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Brendan Lee, a primary school teacher, host of the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast, and advocate for evidence-informed pedagogy...
John Sweller On The Foundations And Future Of Cognitive Load Theory
18 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins speaks with John Sweller, Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of New South Wales, and Oliver Caviglioli, infor...
Modern Learning And The Paradox Of Edtech
11 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Brian Lamb, founder of Swivl, about the "Paradox of Edtech" and how modern digital interfaces are changing the way we learn. T...
10 Months At Sea, A School For Global Leadership
04 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins welcomes Emily Waugh and Gabriela Delgado de Fina, both Assistant Heads of School for the A+ World Academy. They discuss the academy's u...
Failure Factory, A Warning For Public Schools
28 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with investigative reporter Chris Papst about his book, Failure Factory: How Baltimore City Public Schools Deprive Taxpayers and St...
AI, Inquiry, And The Future Of Thinking
21 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins welcomes Carole Geneix, Director of Teaching and Learning at Washington International School, to the podcast to discuss the evolving lan...
Beyond Explicit Instruction, The Importance of Elaboration
14 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins welcomes education writer and author Natalie Wexler to the podcast to discuss her latest work and the evolving conversation around explic...
Why Classroom Technology Harms Learning (with Jared Cooney Horvath)
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins welcomes neuroscientist and acclaimed author Jared Cooney Horvath to dissect his new book, The Digital Delusion, which provides a rigor...
How Free Speech Builds a Better Brain With Barbara Oakley
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the ThoughtStretchers podcast, host Drew Perkins talks with Dr. Barbara Oakley, distinguished professor of engineering and co-instr...
Knowledge-Rich Inquiry With 4QM Teaching
26 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Gary Shiffman and Jon Bassett about 4QM Teaching and their new curriculum. Links & Resources Mentioned In This Episode
Memorizing History Facts, So What?
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Lauren Brown, Jonathan Dallimore, and Aaron Aastor about the role of facts and critical thinking in teaching history. Links &...
Are Leveled Readers Hurting Student Growth?
10 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins and guest co-host, Melinda Karshner, talk with Timothy Shanahan about his new book, Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives, How Students' Readi...
Change Starts Here with Shane Leaning
05 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Shane Leaning about his new book, Change Starts Here: What If Everything Your School Needed Was Right in Front of You? Links...
Digital Literacy, Civics, And Surveillance
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Heidi Boghosian about her book, Cyber Citizens: Saving Democracy with Digital Literacy. Links & Resources Mentioned In This ...
A Critical Look at Educational Research
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with George Lilley, a veteran teacher from Australia, about his critiques of the work of John Hattie, and the Science of Learning. ...
NASSP Leadership, Policy, And Student Well-Being
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with return guest, Ronn Nozoe, CEO of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). Links & Resources Mentioned...
When Politics Hijacks Education
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Vladimir Kogan about his new book, No Adult Left Behind: How Politics Hijacks Education Policy and Hurts Kids. Links & Resour...
A Dynamic Equilibrium Of Research And Practice
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Rod Naquin about balancing educational research with practice as he returns to the classroom after 7 years doing educational l...
Bridging Gaps With Mental Models
24 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Jim Heal and Rebekah Berlin about their new book, Mental Models: How understanding the mind can transform the way you work and...
"Soul-Destroying" Or Empowering Pedagogy?
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Karen Vaites about navigating educational tribalism, the "Science of Learning," and the impact of knowledge-rich, coherent cur...
Strategic Leadership
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Rachel Curtis and Liz City, co-authors of the book Leading Strategically: Achieving Ambitious Goals in Education. Links & Res...
Using A Prohuman Curriculum To Build Character And Civic Virtue
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Christina LaRose about her work with the Prohuman Foundation to develop a curriculum focused on learning character through lit...
Bridging The Science of Learning And Inquiry With Socratic Experience
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Michael Strong, founder of The Socratic Experience, a K–12 high-touch virtual school that equips students through Socratic d...
Is The Science of Learning 'Soul Destroying'?
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with teacher-educator Rachael Jefferson about her Education HQ article from an interview that is critical of the Science of Learnin...
How To Have Nuanced Conversation
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Shane Leaning as a guest on his Education Leaders podcast about how to have conversations that focus on nuance, complexity, a...
AI In Education
30 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Songyee Yoon, author and founder and managing partner of the venture capital firm Principal Venture Partners (PVP), where she ...
Powerful Knowledge And A Capabilities Curriculum
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with teacher and author, Richard Bustin, about his book What Are We Teaching? Links & Resources Mentioned In This Episode
Science Of Learning, PBL, And Inquiry: A Salon Conversation
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins is joined by Andrew Watson, Dr. Cindy Nebel, and Fox Demoisey to discuss the intersections between the Science of Learning, project-based...
Anti-DEI And Enlightenment Liberal Principles
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Tim Minella, Senior Constitutionalism Fellow at The Goldwater Institute, about their work to eliminate DEI in higher education...
DEI: Expansive or Restrictive? A Salon Conversation
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins is joined by educators and DEI practitioners Carlos Hoyt, Daryl Sinclair, and Nunana Nyomi for a salon-style conversation about the compl...
Powerful Questioning, Powerful Pedagogy
02 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Bruce Robertson about his new book, Power Up Your Questioning: A Practical Handbook for Teachers. Links & Resources Mentioned...
Breaking The Generational Cycle Of Poverty
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Dr. Abraham George about his work to help children transcend India's caste system through education and his Shanti Bhavan Scho...
Differentiated Instruction With Modern Classrooms Project
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Robert Barnett, Modern Classrooms Project cofounder, about his new book, Meet Every Learner's Needs: Redesigning Instruction S...
The Knowledge Revival, Curriculum For Deep Thinking
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins hosted this conversation with Paul Kirschner, Claudio Vanhees, and Daniel Muijs, three of the ten co-authors of the open-access book, Dev...
Beyond Phonics, The Challenge Of Teaching Dyslexic Students
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with, parent, Jackie Castillo-Blaber, and parent/teacher Melinda Karshner about the challenges of teaching reading to dyslexic stud...
Centering Educational Progress
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Jack Despain Zhou about his project to establish a new think tank called Center for Educational Progress. Links & Resources M...
How Should We Be Teaching History?
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Jonathon Dallimore about his book, Teaching History: A Practical Guide for Secondary School Teachers. Links & Resources Menti...
The Essential Howard Gardner
13 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Howard Gardner about his two new books, The Essential Howard Gardner On Education and On Mind, both reflections on his academi...
Cognitive Load Theory: A Reflective Conversation
05 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins hosts this salon-style conversation with Dylan Wiliam, Oliver Caviglioli, Carl Hendrick, and Christian Bokhove about Cognitive Load Theor...
School Choice Debate And Dialogue
30 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is the recording of a live discussion about school choice and vouchers, hosted by Drew Perkins, with Josh Cowen and Neal McCluskey as par...
Developing Curriculum for Deep Thinking: The Knowledge Revival
23 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is another experimentation in AI-generated podcast 'conversations', this time about the recent open-access publication Developing Curricu...
Katharine Birbalsingh On Multiculturalism And Quality Education
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Katharine Birbalsingh, Headmistress of London's Michaela School about her approach to multiculturalism and the role of knowled...
Knowledge Doesn't Equal Understanding
01 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Christian Moore-Anderson about his Knowledge Doesn't Equal Understanding blog piece. Links & Resources Mentioned In This Epi...
4 Ways School Leaders Can Navigate Polarizing Culture-War Issues
13 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is AI-generated and includes an AI-generated reading of a recent blog piece followed by an AI-generated conversation. It uses our publish...
Finding Enlightenment
06 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Susan Kaiser Greenland about her latest book, Real-world Enlightenment: Discovering Ordinary Magic in Everyday Life. Links & ...
How To Make Inquiry Based Learning Knowledge-Rich
02 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is an AI-generated podcast conversation using NotebookLM. It uses our published blog piece written by Drew Perkins as the source material...
Bridging The Gap Between Ed Research And Practice
30 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Nate Hansford about his book The Scientific Principles of Teaching. Links & Resources Mentioned In This Episode
How To Transform A Struggling School
21 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with NASSP 2025 Principal of the Year, Tracie Swilley, about her work to turn around a struggling school. Links & Resources Ment...
Culturally Responsive Teaching That Is Cognitively Responsive
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Zaretta Hammond about her work and her focus on making culturally responsive teaching more cognitively responsive. Links & Re...
How To Attract And Retain High-Quality Teachers
07 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Heather Peske, President of the National Council on Teacher Quality, about their recently published executive summary, Reimagi...
The Case Against School Choice Vouchers
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Josh Cowen about his book, The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers Links & Resources ...
Grappling With Student Mental Health
23 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Karen Foley, President of JPA Chicago, about their work to address student mental health in the Chicago area. Links & Resourc...
Cognitive Load Theory Reframed
15 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Oliver Cavigioli about his reframing of Cognitive Load Theory. Links & Resources Mentioned In This Episode
A Libertarian Look At School Choice
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Neal McCluskey, Director of the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom, about his school choice advocacy. Click To V...
Expansive DEI And Fostering Intercultural Respect
04 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Nayeli Vivanco, Vice President at International House at UC Berkeley, about their approach to promoting respectful discourse a...
Elevating The Voice Of Principals
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with NASSP Board President, Raquel Martinez, about her work as a principal and newly appointed organizational role. Links & Resour...
Does 'Equity' Undermine Science Education?
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Cornell professor, Randy Wayne, about the Franklin Standards, an alternative meant to address shortcomings in the NGSS. Click...
Blocked But Still Discussing: Direct Instruction Or Inquiry With Anna Stokke
22 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Anna Stokke about their prickly social media exchange and their thinking on direct instruction vs. inquiry teaching and learni...
Helping Inquiring Minds Learn
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Author, Erik Francis, about his new book, Inquiring Minds Want to Learn: Posing Good Questions to Promote Student Inquiry Cli...
Impactful Instructional Coaching With Jim Knight
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Jim Knight, Founding Partner at the Instructional Coaching Group, about his work and approach to instructional coaching. Clic...
Do The Science Of Learning And Inquiry Converge?
02 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with author and education professor, Carl Hendrick, about updates to his latest co-authored book and the nuances of the science of ...
Talking Inquiry With Kath Murdoch
27 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is the archived audio of a May 25, 2024, ThoughtStretchers Education Community discussion event titled "A Journey Through the Landscape o...
How Should We Think About Antiracism In Education?
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is the archived audio of a May 23, 2024, ThoughtStretchers Education Community discussion event titled "Antiracism in Education: How shou...
A Veteran Teacher Who Rejects Black And White Thinking
12 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with veteran teacher, Melinda Karshner, about her teaching and how she navigates the landscape of false binaries being pushed about...
A Conservative Vision For Improving Education
05 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Rick Hess, Director of Education and the American Enterprise Institute, about his new co-authored book, Getting Education Righ...
When A GOP Insider Realizes Moms For Liberty Claims Are False
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Granbury, Texas school board member, Courtney Gore, and journalist, Jeremy Schwartz, about her experience with GOP efforts in ...
School Desegregation In 1868? The Story Of Susie Clark
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Joshalyn Hickey-Johnson, author of the children's book, Susie Clark: The Bravest Girl You've Ever Seen, a story about desegre...
Using Thinking Maps To Empower Project-Based Learning
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with David Hyerle, Founder of Thinking Foundation and CEO/Owner of Thinking Schools International, about the use of Thinking Maps t...
Hard Questions About School Choice
08 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Shaka Mitchell, a Senior Fellow with the American Federation for Children, about school choice issues and challenges, includin...
2024 Federal Education Budget Advocacy
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with NASSP CEO Ronn Nozoe about their advocacy efforts regarding the 2024 federal education budget. Click To View Links & Resource...
Community-Led Education, Overcoming The Culture Wars
29 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is the audio archive from a ThoughtStretchers Education Community discussion event from April 18, 2024, titled Catalyzing Community-Led C...
A School Focused On Intellectual Virtues?
24 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Jacquie Bryant, Founding Principal of a public middle school called Intellectual Virtues Academy. Click To View Links & Resou...
Sorting The Evidence For Direct Instruction And Inquiry
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Dylan Wiliam about the evidence and support for different instructional approaches including direct instruction and inquiry-ba...
Is Higher Education A Bait And Switch?
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Bill Coplin about his new book, The Path to Equity: Inclusion in the Kingdom of Liberal Arts, which calls for a shift in liber...
Reading Instruction, Evidence And Neuroscience
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode features the archived audio from a March 27, 2024, ThoughtStretchers Education Community Event titled Reading Instruction: Evidence & Neu...
The Side Effects Of School
27 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins hosted this ThoughtStretchers Education Community discussion on February 25th, 2024 with clinical psychologist, Naomi Fisher and the Ex...
Inside The Teachers' Lounge Film
20 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Ilker Çatak about his Oscar-nominated film, The Teachers' Lounge, about schools as a microcosm of society and of ourselves. ...
Understanding Antiracist School Leadership
13 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with author and educator, Daman Harris, about his work and book, The Antiracist School Leader. Click To View Links & Resources Men...
DEI in K12 Education
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The ThoughtStretchers Education Podcast: DEI in K12 Education Drew Perkins talks with Yunga Webb, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Nort...
Healthy Parent Activism Or Partisan Warfare?
28 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with author Laura Pappano about her book, School Moms: Parent Activism, Partisan Politics, and the Battle for Public Education. Cl...
Navigating Education As An Elected State Representative And Teacher
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Tina Bojanowski about the tensions and impact of her work as a teacher and an elected state representative for Louisville, KY....
Teaching For Intellectual Virtues
14 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with author and professor Jason Baehr about his book, Deep in Thought: A Practical Guide to Teaching for Intellectual Virtues and t...
Dispatch From A 19 Y/O Female Education Entrepreneur
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Stanford student and education entrepreneur, Sofie Roux, about her work to provide education in underdeveloped countries. ...
Optimizing AI In Education
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Dmitry Shapiro, Founder and CEO of YouAi, about their artificial intelligence platform and how educators can make the most of ...
Creating Cultures Of Thinking
24 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Ron Ritchhart about his new book, Cultures of Thinking in Action: 10 Mindsets to Transform our Teaching and Students' Learning...
STEM, PBL, Guided Discovery Learning?
17 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Jason McKenna, Author, Teacher, Speaker, and experienced STEM Education and Ed Tech Leader, about his use of 'Guided Discovery...
Empowering Children Through Early Literacy
10 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Spencer Russell, the founder of Toddlers CAN Read, about applying the 'Science of Reading' to teaching young children to read....
Structured Schooling And Parenting Or Let Grow?
03 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with research professor, Peter Gray, about the importance of children's play and more self-directed learning in the well-being of k...
Teachers Taking Charge Of Their PD
29 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with 2023 Vermont Principal of the Year, Chris Young, about his school's "action research" PD program. Click to View Links & Resou...
Race, Bias, Tribalism, And Education
20 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with education activist Chris Stewart about their differences and agreements on race, bias, tribalism, and education. Click To V...
Improving Interventions for Dyslexic And Struggling Learners
13 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Professor of School Psychology, Andrew Shanock, about improving collaboration between school psychologists and speech-language...
Adolescent Flourishing Through Socratic Inquiry
06 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Michael Strong, Executive Director of the Adolescent Flourishing Initiative at the University of Austin, about the power of en...
A Dispatch From An Education And Politics Journalist
29 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Olivia Krauth about her experience as an education and politics journalist for the Louisville Courier-Journal and the state of...
A Toolkit For Open Inquiry
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Sarah Hartman-Caverly and Craig Gibson about their Open Inquiry Toolkit, a two-pronged approach that develops intellectual vi...
Would Improving Open Enrollment Help Students?
17 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Jude Schwalbach, policy analyst with the Reason Foundation, about open enrollment rules, school choice and competition, and ho...
Has Illiberal Leftism Corroded HS Debate?
08 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with James Fishback about Incubate Debate, his startup in response to the ideological corrosion of the traditional high school deb...
A Dispatch From The 2024 Principal Of The Year
03 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Andy Farley, NASSP Principal of the Year, about the learning and wellness of students and educators. Click To View Links & Re...
Science, Truth, And Trust
25 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Nick Dirks, President and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences, about today's challenges in higher education, bias in scien...
Essential Teaching Techniques
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli about their book, Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching T...
A Simple But Effective Fix For Anxious Kids
12 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Drew Perkins talks with Lenore Skenazy (her second appearance) about a promising new study showing what works in helping kids be less anxious and more...