Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchTamara Kay, "Sesame Street Around the World: Culture, Politics, and Transnational Organizational Partnerships" (Oxford UP, 2025)
Given the sometimes extraordinary politicization of culture, it is surprising that Sesame Street has gained acceptance and legitimacy in more than fi…
1 month, 3 weeks ago
Bryan Caplan's Case Against Education
Today I’m speaking with economist Bryan Caplan about education and bullshit, with a particular focus on his book, The Case Against Education: Why the…
1 month, 3 weeks ago
Jessi Streib, "The Accidental Equalizer: How Luck Determines Pay After College" (U Chicago Press, 2023)
Episode 424
Are jobs fair? In The Accidental Equalizer: How Luck Determines Pay after College (U Chicago Press, 2023), Jessi Streib, an associate Professor of So…
1 month, 3 weeks ago
Ursina Jaeger, "Children as Social Butterflies: Navigating Belonging in a Diverse Swiss Kindergarten" (Rutgers UP 2025)
How do children negotiate social belonging? Ursina Jaeger followed the children of a kindergarten class in a stigmatized and diverse neighborhood for…
2 months ago
A Light in the Tower: A New Reckoning with Mental Health in Higher Education
A Light in the Tower argues that excellent education and radical support for mental health struggles can coexist, and provides detailed advice for ho…
2 months ago
Bin Chen, "Hui Muslims in the Shaping of Modern China: Education, Frontier Politics, and Nation-State" (Routledge, 2025)
Chen examines the Chinese Nationalist government's distinctive support for private Muslim teachers schools between the 1920s and 1940s, and explores …
2 months, 1 week ago
Ruixue Jia et al., "The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China" (Harvard UP, 2025)
The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China (Harvard UP, 2025), provides a detailed, research-driven survey of the gaokao, China's high-stakes coll…
2 months, 2 weeks ago
Claire Nicolas, "Une si longue course: Sport, genre, et citoyenneté au Ghana et en Côte d’Ivoire (années 1900-1970)" (Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2024)
Today we are joined by Claire Nicolas, a chercheuse du Fonds National Suisse at Basel University, a holder of a prestigious Ambizione Research Grant,…
2 months, 2 weeks ago
Educated Out: How Rural Students Navigate Elite Colleges—And What It Costs Them
Episode 310
Rural students are unlikely to pursue degrees from private, selective schools. Why? And what happens to the handful of rural students who do attend e…
2 months, 3 weeks ago
Nina Bandelj, "Overinvested: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting" (Princeton UP, 2026)
Parents are exhausted. When did raising children become such all-consuming, never-ending, incredibly expensive, and emotionally absorbing effort? In …
2 months, 3 weeks ago