On the future of Higher Education
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
Release Date: 10/09/2025
Can we encourage a puzzler's mindset?
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
What do puzzles teach us about being human? In this episode, Tricia talks with Allison Kane, Head of Puzzle Innovation at Highlights, about why puzzling matters far beyond entertainment. From Hidden Pictures and Wordle to classroom design and family learning, this conversation explores how puzzles build confidence, perseverance, and joyful learning across ages. Learn more: Allison shares her origin story as a lifelong puzzler, explains the idea of the satisfaction of the solve, and offers practical advice for educators and families who want to integrate puzzles into learning spaces....
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Carrying a Timeless Story Forward: Charlotte Jones Voiklis on Legacy and Adaptation
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
In this conversation, Tricia and Charlotte Jones Voiklis explore the enduring impact of 'A Wrinkle in Time,' discussing its timeless themes, the significance of adaptations, and the cultural context surrounding the book. They delve into the personal connections to literature, the challenges of immersive storytelling in the digital age, and the implications of AI in the literary world. Charlotte reflects on her family's legacy and the responsibility of carrying forward her grandmother's work while navigating the evolving landscape of storytelling. Takeaways Stories are timeless and resonate...
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Will we focus on the most human of our problems?
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
Tricia Friedman explores how AI can be used as a human-centered problem-solving partner rather than an automation shortcut. Through two deeply grounded real-world examples — one personal, one professional — Tricia demonstrates how AI can: Help people ask better questions, not just get faster answers Reduce cognitive load during moments of stress or uncertainty Support executive functioning, empathy, and ethical decision-making Act as a bridge between humans, not a replacement for them You’ll hear: ✔ A personal story of using AI to support a family member navigating...
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What Evidence-Based Health Actually Means with Dr. Michael Greger
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
This week we give you a conversation from Tricia's other show: Shifting Schools. In this episode, host Tricia Friedman sits down with Dr. Michael Greger, bestselling author and founder of NutritionFacts.org, to explore why non-commercial, evidence-based health guidance matters more than ever. They discuss lifestyle medicine, plant-based nutrition, scientific integrity, cannabis research, and how small, testable behavior changes can dramatically improve long-term health. What This Conversation Is Really About Health advice is everywhere — but trustworthy guidance is not. This conversation...
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How to Talk to Young People About Substance Use (What Actually Helps)
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
Substance use prevention is often driven by fear-based messaging and one-off assemblies—but research and lived experience suggest these approaches fall short. In this episode, is joined by , founder of PreventionEd, for a grounded conversation about what effective, student-centered prevention education actually looks like. Drawing on neuroscience, international school data, and professional experience, listeners can explore how adolescent brain development, adult modeling, media narratives, and school culture shape young people’s decisions around substances: particularly alcohol. The...
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Can Scientists Succeed Where Politicians Fail? A Conversation with Nobel Laureate Peter Agre
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
What role can scientists play when politics reaches a standstill? In this episode, Tricia Friedman speaks with Nobel Prize–winning scientist Peter Agre about his extraordinary second career in science diplomacy—a path that took him from the laboratory into conversations with presidents, prime ministers, health ministers, and scientists in countries often at odds with the United States. Agre, a physician, molecular biologist, and former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), shares how scientific collaboration can reduce tensions, build trust, and...
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Co-Creating Wonder: The Making of Interactive Stories with Sandra Magsamen
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
In this conversation, Sandra Magsamen discusses the importance of interactive storytelling in children's books, emphasizing how they foster emotional connections and self-esteem in young readers. She shares insights into her creative process, the significance of collaboration with publishers, and offers tips for enhancing storytime experiences. Magsamen highlights the role of humor and agency in children's literature, advocating for a more engaging and communal reading experience. takeaways Books are not just entertainment; they foster connections. Interactive components in books enhance the...
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Using Trivia to Inspire Writers: Lessons from Brian “Uncle John” Boone
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
In this warm and curiosity-packed conversation, Tricia Friedman sits down with Brian “Uncle John” Boone, longtime contributor to the iconic Uncle John’s Know It All Bathroom Reader series—now celebrating its 38th edition. Brian shares why trivia continues to captivate millions, how collaborative writing fuels the series’ longevity, and why tiny bits of knowledge can strengthen community, curiosity, and even kindness. Together, Tricia and Brian explore: Why trivia matters in a world overloaded with information How curiosity helps us build human connection The...
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Redefining Family with Scott & Mark Hoying: Creativity, Parenthood, and Representation
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
Tricia Friedman sits down with Scott and Mark Hoying to explore what it means to build a family rooted in love, creativity, and community. Together they talk about their new children’s book, why representation in early storytelling matters, and how reimagining family through inclusive narratives can nurture belonging. They also share how their creative partnership strengthens their relationship, what they’re learning as they prepare for parenthood, and why embracing multi-hyphenate creativity can open unexpected pathways in art, life, and love. This warm holiday-season conversation blends...
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Tami Charles on Picture Books, Fear in Creativity, and Teaching Unity Through Stories
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
What happens when a children’s book becomes a tool for unity, empathy, and allyship? In this conversation, Tami Charles—author, former teacher, and champion of diverse stories—opens up about the creative process behind her latest picture book, Together United. She shares how her writing is shaped not only by ideas, but by her collaboration with illustrators, the ever-present feeling of fear, and her commitment to creating stories that help children see themselves and each other. We talk about: How collaboration between author and illustrator can lead to unexpected, beautiful outcomes...
info_outlineToday, a college diploma is no guarantee that graduates have the competencies that businesses need, including using emerging technologies, communicating, working in teams, and other necessary skills. So, it’s fair to ask, “Do students really need a college degree”?
Brandeis University President, and nationally respected higher education leader and researcher, Arthur Levine has been at the forefront of the changing role of higher education. Co-author of THE GREAT UPHEAVAL, HIGHER EDUCATIONS PAST PRESENT AND UNCERTAIN FUTURE, Levine argues that in the next 20 years, consumers of higher education will determine what higher education will be, and that every institution will have to change.
Today, the United States is undergoing change of even greater magnitude and speed than it did during the Industrial Revolution as it shifts from a national, analog, industrial economy to a global, digital, knowledge economy. At the same time, public confidence in higher education has declined. Threatened by a demographic cliff in most states where fewer students will be graduating from high school over the next 20 years, the increased competition for students means that a larger number of higher education institutions will be closing or merging with other institutions. It is expected that as many as 20 to 25 percent of colleges, particularly liberal arts colleges and comprehensive regional colleges, will close in the coming years.
Learn more about The Great Upheaval:
New content producers and distributors will enter the higher education marketplace, driving up institutional competition and consumer choice and driving down prices. We are already seeing a proliferation of new postsecondary institutions, organizations and programs that have abandoned key elements of mainstream higher education. These emphasize digital technologies, reject time and place-based education, create low-cost degrees, adopt competency or outcome-based education, and award nontraditional credentials. Increasingly, libraries, museums, media companies and software makers have entered the marketplace, offering content, instruction and certification. Google offers 80 certificate programs and Microsoft has 77. The American Museum of Natural History has its own graduate school, which offers a Ph.D. in comparative biology, a Master of Arts degree in teaching, and short-term online courses that teachers can use for graduate study or professional development credit. The new providers are not only more accessible and convenient, offering a combination of competency- and course-based programs, they are also cheaper and more agile than traditional colleges and universities which will lead to more contraction and closings?
This episode is made possible by our partner Poll Everywhere
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