In Episode 71, Dr. Nicholas Ng-A-Fook hosts Dr. Carla Peck, Professor of Social Studies Education at the University of Alberta and Director of Thinking Historically for Canada’s Future, a national SSHRC-funded partnership focused on reimagining K–12 history education across Canada. Dr. Peck’s research explores how teachers and students understand history and democracy, with particular attention to how young people’s identities shape their historical consciousness, civic engagement, and sense of belonging within democratic life. Her scholarship asks what it means for students to see themselves in history and why such questions matter within increasingly polarized social and political contexts. Dr. Peck has authored and co-authored numerous articles and book chapters, and co-edited influential collections on difficult histories, global citizenship, and historical consciousness. Her most recent book, Rescuing Reason, co-written with Dr. Alan Sears, argues for the urgent role history education can play in sustaining democracy in Canada and beyond. Our conversation explores curriculum policy politics, historical thinking, civic empathy, public advocacy, and actions public intellectuals can take up toward confronting misinformation, polarization, and democratic decline.