reeducated

TW: Discussion of pornography, sexual violence, and eating disorders.

I found Alekhya Bhat’s writing through an essay called “I No Longer Want to Hear About How Harmful Porn Is to Men.” I wanted to know what she felt was missing from that conversation. We talk about whose experiences get overlooked, how pornography can shape what people expect from sex, and why so many men have few places to talk openly about loneliness.

Alekhya talks about what men’s friendships could look like if they made more room for tenderness and for the kinds of conversations many of us save for romantic partners.

We also talk about the gap between what you know and what you feel. Alekhya knew her eating disorder was hurting her, and that knowledge became one more reason she felt she should have been able to stop. We talk about how hearing someone else say it can change the way you see yourself, and why Alekhya still keeps some of her writing just for her.

The Rant Repository: https://therantrepository.substack.com/

What happens when the questions we ask begin to change the person asking them?

In this solo episode, I return to the camera setup I used for my first podcast, Burning With G, and reflect on what 250 episodes of Re-Educated have taught me. I revisit the questions about schooling that drew me to start the show at Georgetown, and how conversations across disciplines and cultures made me more aware of the limits of my own perspective.

I also talk about why a student’s question about algebra can lead to a much bigger conversation about what we want from an education. I close with a note to my future self as I get ready to work on Re-Educated full time. Thank you to everyone who has listened and helped make that possible.

Find more conversations at reeducated.org.

What does it mean to grow up knowing the planet is changing, while having little say in the decisions shaping its future?

In this episode of Re-Educated, I’m joined by public health researcher and dancer Lexi Nutkiewicz to explore climate anxiety, the emotional weight young people carry, and how adults can help build a more hopeful future.

We discuss what “eco-emotions” mean, how small acts of care and collective action can help us stay engaged, and why individual responsibility needs to sit alongside changes to the systems shaping our lives. Lexi also challenges the idea that you need a scientific background to care about climate change.

Our conversation moves from education and community advocacy to dance, storytelling, and what it means to work with a community. Throughout, we return to a question that matters far beyond climate change: how do we stay connected to the world’s problems without becoming overwhelmed by them?

Find more conversations at reeducated.org.

At a time when Kayla Moon was struggling with her health and addiction, her mother suggested she try growing something. Caring for a tiny garden began to change the way she cared for herself.

Kayla is a floral artist and writer based in Melbourne, Australia. In this episode, we talk about how flowers helped her find hope, how discovering something she loved changed her relationship with learning, and the people who believed in her when she was struggling. She shares the messy reality of building a creative business and why making beautiful things and supporting her community have always been connected.

We also talk openly about shame, sexuality, and the parts of ourselves we find difficult to face. Kayla reflects on how journaling helped her stop hiding the truth, how we learn to perform intimacy, and why a culture obsessed with making our bodies more desirable can leave us disconnected from them. Throughout the conversation, we keep returning to sensitivity: learning to notice what we feel, question what we’ve been taught, and care more deeply for ourselves and each other.

Daniel Ott had never beaten his twin sister at Clue. In 2024, we started asking whether math could change that. What began as a plan to write some code grew into more than two years of research, simulated games, tested strategies, and explorations of probability, psychology, and the history of Clue. We eventually turned the project into a 170-page book.

The project led us to a bigger question: what happens when learning begins with something you genuinely want to figure out? Daniel reflects on following a question without knowing where it will lead, working through failed ideas, and discovering concepts because he needed them to solve a problem.

As he prepares to leave high school, we also explore confidence, the value and frustrations of school, speaking up regardless of age, and the mixed feelings of leaving home. Daniel’s curiosity runs through it all, from a family game night to the possibilities ahead of him.

As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms education and work, what abilities will matter most for the next generation?

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Jennifer Berry, CEO of SmartLab, to explore how schools can prepare students for a future where knowledge is instantly accessible but curiosity, resilience, creativity, and human judgment become increasingly valuable. Rather than viewing STEM as simply science and technology, Jennifer argues that it is fundamentally about developing a mindset in which students believe they belong, can overcome difficult challenges, and know that their ideas matter.

Our conversation explores the philosophy behind project-based learning, the importance of productive struggle, and why education should prioritize exploration over memorization. We discuss how AI should support rather than replace thinking, why failure is essential for developing the brain, and how hands-on learning helps students build confidence, collaboration, and critical thinking. Jennifer also explains SmartLab's vision for creating "STEM identity" through meaningful experiences rather than isolated classroom lessons.

We also examine some of the biggest structural challenges facing education today, including standardized testing, grading systems, siloed subjects, and the difficulty of implementing meaningful change within large school systems. Throughout the conversation, Jennifer makes the case that education should ultimately help young people become thoughtful, compassionate, and adaptable human beings who are prepared not only for careers, but for life itself.

Chapters (1:02:22 Episode)

00:00 – Introduction

02:18 – AI, Education, and the Purpose of Learning

05:28 – Why Students Should Think Before Using AI

08:18 – Productive Struggle and How the Brain Learns

13:47 – What Is a STEM Identity?

20:05 – Why Hands-On Learning Matters

24:20 – Play, Curiosity, and Critical Thinking

26:18 – Can Project-Based Learning Scale?

30:02 – Why Schools Separate Knowledge into Subjects

31:05 – Do Grades Actually Measure Learning?

36:05 – SmartLab's Vision for Educational Change

41:35 – Integrating Project-Based Learning into Schools

47:48 – Why Educational Change Is So Difficult

52:12 – Curiosity, Success, and the Purpose of Education

54:00 – Empathy, Perspective, and Raising Better Humans

58:05 – Finding Hope in Education

01:00:12 – Coaching, Leadership, and Lifelong Learning

01:01:15 – Final Reflections and Closing

Other Topics & Resources Mentioned

• SmartLab and the concept of STEM Identity
• Project-Based Learning (PBL)
• International Baccalaureate (IB) education
• Artificial Intelligence tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini)
• Google Classroom

In this solo episode, Goutham reflects on a month spent living inside an Aikido dojo in Montreux, Switzerland, exploring what the experience revealed about education, learning, and human development. Rather than focusing on martial arts techniques, he examines the philosophy behind Aikido and the lessons it offers for teaching, mentorship, and personal growth. Drawing comparisons with his own experiences studying Indian classical music, he argues that the best teachers do more than teach skills; they help students discover why a practice matters and connect technical mastery with deeper philosophical questions.

Throughout the episode, Goutham explores three central lessons from his time at the dojo. First, he reflects on the importance of purpose in education, suggesting that meaningful learning begins when students understand why they are learning rather than simply treating education as a means to an external reward. Second, he discusses the power of role models and community, explaining how living alongside practitioners from around the world reshaped his understanding of leadership, masculinity, trust, and mentorship. Finally, he argues that modern education has become overly dependent on intellectual knowledge while neglecting the intelligence of the body, sharing how Aikido helped him rediscover intuition, embodied learning, and the wisdom that can only emerge through direct experience.

Ultimately, this episode is an invitation to rethink what it means to learn. Goutham suggests that education should move beyond classrooms, textbooks, and abstract knowledge toward immersive experiences that transform both the mind and the body. Whether through martial arts, music, travel, or other deeply embodied practices, he argues that some of life's most important lessons cannot simply be read; they must be lived.

Why do people resist change? And what separates organizations that successfully adapt from those that struggle to survive?

In this episode, I sit down with Rosabeth Moss Kanter, one of the world's leading scholars of leadership and organizational change. Drawing on decades of research at Harvard Business School, Rosabeth explains why change is rarely resisted because people dislike improvement itself. Instead, resistance often comes from feeling excluded, uncertain, or powerless throughout the process. She argues that successful change depends less on announcing a new strategy and more on empowering people to become active participants in shaping it.

Our conversation explores organizational culture, leadership, innovation, collaboration, long-term thinking, and the importance of empathy in building resilient institutions. We discuss why organizations fail during periods of transformation, how leaders create cultures of trust, what sustainable companies have in common, and why purpose, values, and storytelling often outlast products, technologies, and even generations of employees.

Whether you're leading a business, a school, a nonprofit, or simply trying to navigate change in your own life, this conversation offers practical insights into how people, organizations, and societies can adapt while remaining true to their core values.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

01:35 – How Rosabeth Began Studying Organizations

02:26 – What Is an Organization?

03:40 – Why People Resist Change

06:10 – Empowerment vs. Top-Down Leadership

09:00 – Communicating Change Without Resistance

11:20 – Why Training Matters During Change

12:40 – Change Is a Journey, Not an Announcement

14:10 – Collaboration and Community Leadership

17:05 – Why Great Leaders Lead with Empathy

19:15 – Building a Culture That Embraces Change

23:10 – The Three Pillars of Organizational Culture

27:30 – Leading by Example

30:05 – Long-Term Thinking and Sustainable Institutions

35:00 – IBM, Innovation, and Organizational Identity

38:45 – Stories, Purpose, and Shared Values

41:10 – Collaboration Across Organizations

43:15 – Lessons from Sports Teams and Winning Cultures

45:20 – Teaching Leadership to Children

48:00 – Leadership, Self-Awareness, and Humility

49:45 – What Makes a Great Leader?

51:55 – Kanter's Law and Never Giving Up

53:20 – Final Leadership Advice & Closing

Books Mentioned

• The Change Masters — Rosabeth Moss Kanter
• Confidence — Rosabeth Moss Kanter
• SuperCorp — Rosabeth Moss Kanter
• Men and Women of the Corporation — Rosabeth Moss Kanter
• Think Outside the Building — Rosabeth Moss Kanter

What is money? Most of us think of it simply as something we earn, save, and spend. But according to cultural anthropologist Bill Maurer, money is far more than a medium of exchange it is a technology for creating relationships, preserving memory, organizing society, and expressing political authority.

In this episode, I sit down with Bill Maurer, Dean of the School of Social Sciences at UC Irvine and one of the world's leading scholars of the anthropology of money. We explore the surprising history of money, from ancient clay tablets and cowrie shells to credit cards, mobile payments, cryptocurrencies, and artificial intelligence. Along the way, we discuss why money is deeply connected to politics, law, trust, and social relationships rather than simply economics.

Our conversation also explores inequality, generational wealth, capitalism, debt, financial technologies, education, and why understanding money requires perspectives from anthropology, sociology, history, philosophy, and economics. Above all, Bill challenges us to see money not as an object we possess, but as a system of relationships that shapes nearly every aspect of human life.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

01:35 – How Bill Maurer Became an Anthropologist of Money

08:20 – From Tax Havens to Financial Technology

10:30 – Why Money Is a Technology of Relationships

16:05 – Money, Authority, and the Power of the State

20:15 – Wealth, Inequality, and Generational Advantage

24:05 – Cash, Digital Payments, and Cryptocurrency

29:10 – Money, Politics, and Global Financial Systems

33:20 – Why We Have Such a Complicated Relationship With Money

36:20 – Hoarding Wealth, King Midas, and Human Connection

39:00 – Meritocracy, Capitalism, and the Origins of Modern Wealth

44:50 – What Would Happen If Money Disappeared?

48:20 – How Economics Should Be Taught

51:20 – The First Forms of Money in Human History

54:40 – Love, Relationships, and the Social Meaning of Money

58:20 – Curiosity, Everyday Money, and Learning to See

01:00:40 – Recommended Books on Money

01:02:10 – Closing Reflections

Books Mentioned

• The Memory Bank — Keith Hart
• The Social Meaning of Money — Viviana Zelizer
• Overinvested: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting — Nina Bandelj
• A Cultural History of Money (6-volume series, edited by Bill Maurer)

What kind of economy creates a healthy democracy? And can markets ever truly reflect our values?

In this episode, Goutham sits down with Lisa Herzog, Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Groningen, to explore the philosophical foundations of economics. Together they examine why economic systems are never value-neutral, how ideas about competition and incentives shape our institutions, and why democracy should extend beyond elections into our workplaces, markets, and everyday lives.

They discuss meritocracy, inequality, workplace democracy, intrinsic motivation, education, collective action, and the relationship between individual success and the common good. Along the way, Lisa challenges many of the assumptions underlying modern capitalism, arguing that flourishing societies depend not only on efficient markets, but on justice, cooperation, and democratic participation.

Whether you're interested in economics, philosophy, politics, or education, this conversation offers a thoughtful look at how the systems we build ultimately shape the people we become.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Lisa Herzog

02:28 Growing Up Between Two Economic Systems

05:05 Why Economics Needs Philosophy

09:20 The Hidden Values Inside Economic Theory

12:27 Markets, Morality, and Intellectual Property

17:31 Does Economics Shape Human Behavior?

19:02 Incentives, Competition, and Collective Action

24:45 Silicon Valley, Meritocracy, and the Fear of Falling Behind

30:36 The Myth of the Self-Made Individual

32:28 Value, Wages, and Why Money Doesn't Measure Contribution

35:34 What Really Motivates People to Work?

39:28 Why Economic Inequality Threatens Democracy

44:27 What Would a Democratic Economy Look Like?

49:10 Freedom, Equality, and the Purpose of Work

53:43 Should Democracy Shape the Economy—or Vice Versa?

56:08 Meritocracy, Luck, and Equality of Opportunity

58:31 Individual Success vs. the Common Good

01:01:40 Migration, Community, and Shared Responsibility

01:04:21 Final Reflections

Books Mentioned

• Citizen Knowledge: Markets, Experts, and the Infrastructure of Democracy — Lisa Herzog
• The Democratic Marketplace: How a More Equal Economy Can Save Our Political Ideals — Lisa Herzog
• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us — Daniel H. Pink