Math Therapy

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Yep, you read that right: mathfluencers are the future of education and today’s guest is leading the way! Esther Brunat and The Squadratics (think Mean Girls but like, if Mean Girls somehow had even MORE math) are on a mission to market math to Gen Z, and they’re gaining mad momentum.

Today Vanessa talks to Esther about how teachers can embrace new technology, genuinely connect with their students, and even learn valuable marketing lessons from hideous footwear trends. See you on the 'gram!

About Esther: (Instagram, YouTube, TikTok)

Esther Brunat is a high school math teacher in sunny South Florida. She prides herself on building relationships with her students through laughter and "staying hip." Her resources offer a fresh take on presentation and engaging visuals in the math classroom.

Show notes:

• kentai.haven, the kid on TikTok who hilariously and brilliantly guesses people's height with something in their hand using math
• The article that Vanessa and Season 2 guest Michole Washington (who studies the common Black experience in math class) wrote about how math class mimics police brutality for Black kids
• Find teaching resources on her Teachers Pay Teachers account

Contact us:

• Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
• Math Therapy: Text the Podcast

More Math Therapy:

• Join the Facebook group
• Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
• Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
• Merch store: Shop here

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This season's interviews were all done remotely over Zoom with our producer Sabina Wex and technical producer David Kochberg listening in, and the conversations were so much fun that we often kept chatting after the actual interviews were over!

Vanessa's convo last week with astrologer Anthony Perrotta got us all especially fired up, and since she and Sabina are super into astrology and tarot, and David is super NOT, we wanted to share a little bonus episode diving further into the overlap of science and spirituality. 

Contact us:

• Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
• Math Therapy: Text the Podcast

More Math Therapy:

• Join the Facebook group
• Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
• Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
• Merch store: Shop here

Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)

If you follow Vanessa on Instagram, you may know that a) she has really gotten into astrology, and b) that is slightly controversial for an aspiring mathfluencer**.  So today Vanessa is joined by modern astro-celeb Anthony Perrotta to discuss how his background in architecture and love of math led him to exploring patterns in the movements of our universe and the use of sacred geometry through history.

Together they explore how spirituality and science can coexist and even complement each other, why younger generations are pulled more towards tools like astrology than religion for spiritual comfort, and how Vanessa’s birth chart reading explained why she won’t ever STFU ... so whether you’re a believer, a skeptic, or maybe just a bit astro-curious, there’s something for everyone in today’s convo!

(** btw, “mathfluencer” is totally a real thing as we learned this season - do not miss next week’s episode because we interviewed one!)

About Anthony: (Website, Instagram)

Anthony Perrotta is a Modern Astrologer with 13 years of experience. He has spent the last few years looking at historical correlations to astrological events and sharing his knowledge on the subject. He conducts personal chart readings and teaches the subject in his off time. His background is in Fashion, Interior Architecture, and Marketing prior to his work in Astrology. He lives in New England with his partner, rabbit, and cat.

Contact us:

• Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
• Math Therapy: Text the Podcast

More Math Therapy:

• Join the Facebook group
• Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
• Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
• Merch store: Shop here

Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)

It is no exaggeration to say that this podcast (and Vanessa’s entire career in math education) would not exist if she hadn't crossed paths with superhero math teacher Ewa Kasinska in high school. 

Today, Ewa spills the tea on what Vanessa was like as a 17-year-old, how she managed to turn a math-hater into a Math Guru, and what the media gets wrong about teachers, and she also shares her fave tips for teachers on how to engage, inspire, and excite even the most skeptical students.  Ewa also came VERY prepared, and the conversation starts out basically like an episode of Ellen with a blast from Vanessa’s past!

About Ewa: (Website)

Ewa Kasinska is a mathematics tutor, teacher, and principal who provides support in ways which ensure each student's success. Whether a student wishes to maintain high results, or has often struggled with the subject, Ewa knows how to help. She explains “how” and “why”, not simply guides towards solutions.

Contact us:

• Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
• Math Therapy: Text the Podcast

More Math Therapy:

• Join the Facebook group
• Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
• Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
• Merch store: Shop here

Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)

Season 3 of Math Therapy kicks off today with a brand new theme: math in the media! Historically, media representations of math have left a LOT to be desired, but change is in the air and we are HERE for it.

Today Vanessa chats with / fangirls over Kyne Santos - a true trailblazer when it comes to showing how complex and multi-dimensional we can be if we give ourselves permission! From fierce competition on Canada’s Drag Race to taking math viral on TikTok, they discuss how Kyne has been redefining stereotypes and courageously breaking down boundaries in both the Queer and math communities.

About Kyne: (Website, Insta, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube)

Kyne Santos is a world-class drag queen and mathematics communicator.  They graduated high school with the prestigious Schulich Leader Scholarship to study at the University of Waterloo, where they are a candidate for a Bachelor of Mathematics with a major in Mathematical Finance.  Kyne’s short-form math videos, delivered in full high-glamour drag, have gone viral on TikTok and YouTube, telling riddles, giving lessons on history’s greatest mathematicians, and teaching followers how to spot misleading statistics in the media. Fusing their two passions together, Kyne brings STEM education to the queer community and queerness to STEM.

Show notes: 

• Buzzfeed article about Kyne
• NBC article about Kyne using math for good and not evil

Contact us:

• Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
• Math Therapy: Text the Podcast

More Math Therapy:

• Join the Facebook group
• Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
• Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
• Merch store: Shop here

Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)

Season 3 starts April 8th, and for the next 10 weeks Vanessa Vakharia, aka The Math Guru, will be exploring the relationship between math and the media with a diverse range of guests.   Subscribe now!

Contact us:

• Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
• Math Therapy: Text the Podcast

More Math Therapy:

• Join the Facebook group
• Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
• Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
• Merch store: Shop here

Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)

We're back!!  Well, we'll be back for real April 8th when Season 3 of Math Therapy officially launches.   To get in the zone, today Vanessa is sharing a few short stories we received from some teachers who are determined to be part of the education solution after their own brushes with math trauma.

If you have a story you want us to consider for future mailbag episodes, here are instructions:

• You can record with your phone's voice note app
• 1-2 minutes long
• Recommended: write your story down and read it out
• Speak clearly & record in a quiet space (no background noise)
• Email it to vanessa at themathguru dot ca with your name and location
• Stay tuned to the feed and you might hear your story!

Contact us:

• Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
• Math Therapy: Text the Podcast

More Math Therapy:

• Join the Facebook group
• Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
• Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
• Merch store: Shop here

Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)

It’s a Math Therapy holiday miracle!!  After bawling her eyes out watching the groundbreaking Netflix Christmas movie Jingle Jangle and raving about it to literally everyone in earshot, Vanessa had the most festive chat in the history of the podcast with the film’s creators!  Writer/director David E. Talbert & producer Lyn Sisson-Talbert discuss representation on screen and why they chose to make math such an integral (didn’t you miss the math puns?!) element to this magical story.

Connect with the film and it’s creators:

• Lyn: @LynSissonTalbert (Instagram) and @lyntalbert (Twitter)
• David: @DavidEtalbert (Instagram & Twitter)
• @jinglejanglenetflixfilm (Instagram) and #JingleJangle (Twitter)
• @netflix (Instagram & Twitter)

Contact us:

• Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
• Math Therapy: Text the Podcast

More Math Therapy:

• Join the Facebook group
• Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
• Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
• Merch store: Shop here

Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)

This season of Math Therapy might be over, but not before Vanessa meets her own personal mathematical hero, Canada’s very own Dr. John Mighton. Brace yourself for a season finale filled with joy, laughter, and tears (shockingly, NOT Vanessa’s) as Vanessa and Dr. Mighton dig deep into the way in which math, the most divisive subject of all, could actually be the key to achieving social & systemic equity if we only knew how to help teachers and students unlock its powers, once and for all. Spoiler: you’re going to want to have kleenex nearby for this one!

About John (Twitter) & JUMP Math (Twitter, Instagram)

Dr. John Mighton is a playwright turned mathematician and author who founded JUMP Math as a charity in 2001. His work in fostering numeracy and in building children's self-confidence through success in math has been widely recognized. He has been named a Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year, an Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year for Canada, an Ashoka Fellow, an Officer of the Order of Canada, and has received six honorary doctorates.

Contact us:

• Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
• Math Therapy: Text the Podcast

More Math Therapy:

• Join the Facebook group
• Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
• Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
• Merch store: Shop here

Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)

This week Vanessa goes out on a limb and does something she’s never done before on the pod: she talks to real, actual children (and their mom, of course)! Despite her rocky relationship with math growing up, Tamara Rebick chats with Vanessa about her determination to show her two daughters that math ability isn’t genetic, and that anyone - even MOMs, can do math. Her two kids Eden (13) and Nomie (11) also share their very different feelings about math class, math teachers, and well, math in general!

About Tamara / Coriphery (Website, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook)

Tamara is Founder and Chief Experience Officer of CORIPHERY Holistic Consulting Solutions, a boutique consulting firm that promotes respectful disruption in organizational culture and systems by challenging the status quo with audacious authenticity.  Tamara is an eternal optimist, a community catalyst, a night owl and most importantly, mom and role model to her two daughters, Eden & Nomie.

Contact us:

• Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
• Math Therapy: Text the Podcast

More Math Therapy:

• Join the Facebook group
• Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
• Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
• Merch store: Shop here