Higher Education: Listening List

As back-to-school month begins and fall descends upon [most of] us, we’ll be tuning our ears to episodes that explore HIGHER EDUCATION. I’m always so blown away by all the great recommendations I get from the PBC community when I put out the call for suggestions. It’s such a great experience to listen to so many different perspectives and discover podcasts I never knew about. The original theme I sent out to everyone this month was simply “education,” but as I listened to all of the recommendations, I came across a few that dovetailed nicely with each other and provided thought-provoking points of view. So, I decided to make higher education the focus for the month. As always, I’ve included all recommendations at the end of this post, so if you are inclined to listen to more about education, this would be a great place to start!

The suggested listening selections are: Higher education

• Revisionist History – My Little Hundred Million. Malcolm Gladwell’s new podcast, Revisionist History, has provoked strong reactions. Some love it and some hate it. I have flip-flopped myself, but I really enjoyed his three-part series on higher education. This episode explores educational philanthropy and tries to tease out why billionaires repeatedly donate to the schools that need the money the least. There is an exploration of the weak link vs. strong link argument and Gladwell’s interview with the President of Stanford University provokes some outright outrage. I personally tend to agree with Gladwell on this matter. But, that’s my opinion. What’s yours? (Recommended by @kjs_37. Thanks to those of you who voted in the Facebook poll on which episode of the series to include!)
• Intelligence Squared U.S. – Too Many Kids Go To College. Aesha from the Chicago chapter clued me into this podcast. I love the format: one question + two points of view + Oxford-style debate + live audience polling before & after the debate = lots of food for thought. This episode ponders the question: do too many kids go to college? I had a pretty solid point of view going into the episode, but by the end was questioning it. It cannot go without mentioning that this is the U.S. version of Intelligence Squared. The British version is the original.Higher education
• The Measure of Everyday Life – College Readiness. This podcast explores the latest social science research through interviews with researchers in the field. It is a radio show on WNCU in North Carolina and is funded in large part by RTI International, a research institute in North Carolina. This episode brings in RTI researcher, Laura Knapp, who talks about research and projects that focus on college readiness in high schoolers. The episode blends well with the two previous episodes as it breaks down the numbers as follows: of 10 freshmen starting high school, 8 will graduate with a high school diploma in four years, 5 will go directly on to college, and 3 will earn a college degree within four years. What happens to the remaining 7 kids? Those 7 students intrigue me. I don’t think it should be a foregone conclusion that they should go to college, but I am interested in exploring their trajectory and making sure that they don’t slip through any cracks, whatever path they choose. (Recommended by @BrianSouthwell, who is the host of this podcast) Higher education

Extra Credit? Higher Education

Want more education-related content, you over-achiever, you? Here you go!

• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – Charter Schools (recommended by Ashley of the Chicago chapter)
• Revisionist History – Carlos Doesn’t Remember (recommended by Aesha of the Chicago chapter)
• Revisionist History – Food Fight (recommended by @kjs_37). Also, see Bowdoin’s response to this podcast (shared by Tom from the San Francisco chapter).
• Stuff You Should Know – Homeschooling (recommended by @erikthejones)
• Common Sense with Dan Carlin – Controlling the Past (recommended by @erikthejones)
• This American Life – The Problem We All Live With (recommended by @TwoEarbuds and Aesha from the Chicago chapter)
• Stride & Saunter – Don’t Stay in School (recommended by @StrideNSaunter)
• The Truth – That’s Democracy (recommended by Dave from the Sydney chapter. Content advisory: the episode portrays violence.)
• Surprisingly Awesome (recommended by Ray from the Melbourne chapter)
• Cult of Pedagogy – Kindergarten Redshirting: How Kids Feel About it Later in Life (recommended by Aesha of the Chicago chapter)
• Life of the Law – Revolution in a Cornfield (recommended by Aesha from the Chicago chapter)
• Backstory – School Days – A History of Public Education (recommended by Aesha from the Chicago chapter)
• Educate – Few Teachers, Little Money, Low Test Scores: Rural Schools in the South  & Fighting for ‘Our School’ (recommended by Aesha from the Chicago chapter)
• Planet Money – Why Preschool Can Save the World (recommended by Aesha from the Chicago chapter)
• The Broad Experience – A Female Education (recommended by Aesha from the Chicago chapter)
• This American Life – Harper High School: Part One, Harper High School: Part Two, & Three Miles  (recommended by Aesha from the Chicago chapter)
• Intelligence Squared U.S. – Embrace the Common Core (recommended by Aesha from the Chicago chapter)
• Stuff You Missed in History Class – Deaf President Now & PARC, Mills, and Special Education (recommended by Aesha from the Chicago chapter)