Is This a Tweet or the SAT?! Why Students Need the CLT
Refining Rhetoric with Robert Bortins
Release Date: 11/19/2025
The Real Cost of "Free" College Money with Dr. Ben Merkle
Refining Rhetoric with Robert Bortins
What if everything we've been told about making college "affordable" is actually making it more expensive and worse? Robert Bortins sits down with Dr. Ben Merkle, President of New St. Andrews College and Oxford-educated scholar who wrote the foreword to "Woke and Weaponized." As one of fewer than a dozen colleges that refuse all federal student loan dollars, Dr. Merkle offers a rare insider perspective on how government money has corrupted higher education—and why K-12 schools should learn from their mistakes. Dr. Merkle traces the problem back to the GI Bill after World War II, explaining...
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Arizona's ESA Reality: What School Choice Really Looks Like
Refining Rhetoric with Robert Bortins
"The government doesn't give you money because they love you. Government gives money so they can have power." Join host Robert Bortins as he sits down with Rachael Jensen, homeschool advocate and mother of six in Arizona—the state hailed as the "gold standard" for school choice. Rachael contributed Appendix A to "Woke and Weaponized" and shares what's really happening on the ground with ESA (Empowerment Scholarship Account) programs. The shocking reality: Arizona homeschoolers must surrender their homeschool affidavit and sign a Department of Education contract, legally converting their...
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Woke and Weaponized: The Full Story with Alex Newman
Refining Rhetoric with Robert Bortins
What if the architect of America's public school system was literally taking orders from demons through Ouija boards? Join host Robert Bortins as he talks with co-author Alex Newman to discuss their new book "Woke and Weaponized: How Karl Marx Won the Battle for American Education and How We Can Win It Back." This isn't hyperbole—it's documented history every Christian parent needs to know. Alex reveals shocking truth about Robert Owen, the intellectual godfather of public education, who openly admitted communicating with spiritual entities through séances to receive his vision for...
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Are School Vouchers Really Empowering Parents?
Refining Rhetoric with Robert Bortins
"There is no such thing as vouchers without government control. They just simply don't exist." Join host Robert Bortins as he sits down with KrisAnne Hall, constitutional attorney, former prosecutor, and founder of Liberty First Society. With her background in constitutional law and as a former homeschool parent, KrisAnne delivers a compelling legal and biblical argument against government-funded school choice programs. KrisAnne explains why the federal government has zero constitutional authority over education and reveals how states have traded their sovereignty for federal dollars. Drawing...
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The Soviet Infiltration of American Education with Dr. Joshua Pierson
Refining Rhetoric with Robert Bortins
"The enemy is not at the gate—the enemy has infiltrated our classrooms." Join host Robert Bortins for the first episode in a powerful School Choice Week series as he sits down with Dr. Joshua Pierson, who contributed to "Woke and Weaponized: How Karl Marx Won the Battle for American Education and How We Can Win It Back." In this eye-opening conversation, Dr. Pierson—a retiring counterintelligence agent with 25 years of experience—reveals the shocking history of Soviet infiltration into American education. Drawing from his extensively researched appendix, he traces a direct line from 1917...
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It's Not About Education, It's About Discipleship
Refining Rhetoric with Robert Bortins
What if the biggest threat to the next generation of Christians isn't coming from outside the church—but from a decision Christian parents make every weekday morning? Join Robert Bortins as he sits down with Paul and Gena Suarez, publishers of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and founders of SchoolhouseTeachers.com, for a powerful conversation about the future of Christian education. Paul and Gena share their 30-year homeschooling journey and explain why they've shifted their focus from education to discipleship—and why this makes homeschooling a church issue that pastors can no longer ignore....
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America's Sewers Have Become Open Cemeteries
Refining Rhetoric with Robert Bortins
Overturning Roe v. Wade was never the finish line—it was only the starting gun. Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life and Students for Life Action, joins Refining Rhetoric to reveal why the pro-life movement's real battle is just beginning and where it's being won or lost right now. Discover why she launched Students for Life 20 years ago with the vision that Roe would be reversed (when everyone told her she was naive), how chemical abortion pills have become the leading cause of infant death with 1 in 10 women ending up in the ER, and why flushing babies down toilets has turned...
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43% of Americans Believe Civil War is Coming
Refining Rhetoric with Robert Bortins
Ever wonder why every poll seemed to show Kamala Harris winning, yet Trump dominated the election? Mark Mitchell from Rasmussen Reports pulls back the curtain on the billion-dollar polling industry's most carefully guarded secrets. Discover how establishment pollsters use proprietary panels filled with left-leaning city dwellers to sandbag anti-establishment candidates by 20+ points, why FiveThirtyEight was really just a psychological operation funded by Disney and the New York Times, and how polling is weaponized to move the Overton Window on everything from reparations to LGBT issues....
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Stop Killing Your Legacy: A Call to Biblical Fruitfulness
Refining Rhetoric with Robert Bortins
What if the real sign of wealth isn't your bank account, but the number of kids around your dinner table? Chocolate Knox from CrossPolitic joins Refining Rhetoric to flip the script on modern family planning. With seven kids and counting, Knox shares why he and his wife decided to "replace the stupid people" in their family lineage and create a new generation that honors God. Discover how God has faithfully provided through every season, from figuring out how to fit everyone in one vehicle to navigating the transition from public school indoctrination to classical Christian education. Knox...
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Fight, Laugh, Feast: Reclaiming Culture Through Faith and Politics
Refining Rhetoric with Robert Bortins
What happens when a Christian show gets canceled 20+ times but refuses to stay silent? Gabe Rench, founder of CrossPolitic, joins Refining Rhetoric to share his journey from launching a faith-and-politics show in 2016 to building a multi-platform network that's discipling Christians to engage culture boldly. Discover why he believes the church is responsible for America's condition, how his team is pivoting to deeper content in 2025, and why Christian business leaders need to stop burying their talents. Plus, learn about the surprising stat showing how Christians in Seattle could flip the city...
info_outlineWhat if the test gatekeeping college admissions was designed to celebrate—not undermine—your classical education? Discover how one alternative is changing the game for homeschoolers and classical students across America. In this milestone episode, Robert Bortins sits down with Soren Schwab (VP of Partnerships) and Noah Tyler (CFO) from the Classical Learning Test to celebrate 10 years of offering an alternative to the College Board's monopoly. The conversation opens with a stunning revelation: after hiring David Coleman—the chief architect of Common Core—in 2015, the College Board transformed the SAT so dramatically that its longest reading passage is now between 25-125 words. That's literally the length of a tweet. This is what "college readiness" has become.
The CLT offers something radically different: Instead of politically biased content and tweet-length passages, students engage with C.S. Lewis, Aristotle, Dickens, and Abraham Lincoln. Parents report their children actually asking to read more after encountering authors on the test—something that would never happen with the SAT or ACT. And because homeschoolers can take it from home through video proctoring, test anxiety is significantly reduced.
What You'll Learn:
- How homeschoolers went from "a little weird" to the most sought-after students on college campuses
- The expansion story: from garage startup to 320+ accepting universities and recognition in 15 states
- Legislative victories breaking the College Board's monopoly in Florida, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and beyond
- The exciting announcement about "Enduring Course Exams"—CLT's alternative to AP, starting with humanities subjects where the College Board's ideological capture is most egregious
Resources:
This episode of Refining Rhetoric is sponsored by: Classical Conversations Alumni Network
Classical Conversations launched its Alumni Network in May 2025, creating the first comprehensive platform for CC graduates and parents to stay connected beyond Challenge IV. Discover job opportunities, network with fellow alumni, and access exclusive content featuring CC success stories.
Learn more at https://ccalumni.network/ and join the community that's empowering CC alumni and parents to connect, thrive, and inspire through their shared legacy of Christian, classical education.