reeducated

History is often taught as a collection of dates, names, and events. But historians rarely see it that way. Instead, they assemble incomplete fragments of evidence into narratives that help explain how societies change, why institutions endure, and how the past continues to shape the present.

In this episode, I speak with historian Joshua Rothman about the craft of historical research, the history of slavery in the United States, and the challenge of interpreting the past without reducing it to simple stories. We explore how historians construct meaning from limited evidence, why history is always an act of interpretation, and how economic systems, political institutions, and cultural beliefs emerge through centuries of gradual change.

We also discuss why conversations about slavery remain difficult today, the role history should play in education, the relationship between patriotism and historical honesty, and why understanding the past requires humility rather than certainty. Throughout the conversation, Joshua argues that history is most valuable not when it reinforces comforting narratives, but when it helps us ask better questions about ourselves and the societies we inherit.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Joshua Rothman
01:42 Discovering history through stories rather than theories
08:00 What historians actually do with historical evidence
13:55 Narratives, interpretation, and making sense of the past
19:28 Causation, contingency, and why history is never a straight line
24:45 Why people love history after leaving school
26:30 The origins of slavery and the Atlantic world
32:35 Slavery's lasting influence on economic and social structures
36:25 Studying the psychology of slave traders
39:10 Why conversations about slavery remain so difficult
48:55 Teaching painful history in schools and universities
55:05 Patriotism, national identity, and historical honesty
01:01:10 Final reflections on why history still matters

Books Mentioned

• The Ledger and the Chain — Joshua D. Rothman
• The Flush Times and Fever Dreams — Joshua D. Rothman
• Beyond Freedom — Joshua D. Rothman

Historical Figures Referenced

• Abraham Lincoln

For centuries, the story of modernity has largely been told through a European lens. But what if that story is only one of many possible paths? In this episode, I sit down with R. Bin Wong, one of the world's leading historians of China and comparative world history, to explore how Chinese history challenges many of our deepest assumptions about capitalism, state formation, economic development, and modernization. Rather than treating Europe as the universal model, Professor Wong argues that societies have arrived at similar outcomes through remarkably different historical processes.

Our conversation examines the rise of modern states, the evolution of markets, the relationship between governments and economic growth, and why comparing China and Europe reveals both shared challenges and fundamentally different solutions. We discuss industrialization, political institutions, imperial governance, global trade, environmental sustainability, colonialism, and the dangers of viewing history through a single civilizational perspective.

What stayed with me most was Professor Wong's insistence that history is not a search for one correct path but an opportunity to understand the diversity of human experience. By comparing civilizations rather than ranking them, we gain a richer understanding of the institutions, values, and historical contingencies that continue to shape our world today.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

02:15 – Growing Up Between Cultures

08:10 – Discovering Chinese History

15:20 – Why Compare China and Europe?

23:45 – Different Roads to Modernity

31:30 – The Rise of States and Political Institutions

39:40 – Markets, Capitalism, and Economic Development

47:55 – Industrialization Without One Universal Model

56:30 – Imperial China and European Empires

01:05:15 – Colonialism and Global Historical Narratives

01:13:40 – Why Comparative History Changes Everything

01:21:20 – Sustainability, Environment, and Long-Term Thinking

01:29:45 – Education, Knowledge, and Historical Understanding

01:36:30 – What History Can Teach the Future

01:42:15 – Closing Reflections

Books Mentioned

• China Transformed — R. Bin Wong
• The Limits to Growth — Donella H. Meadows et al.
• Braiding Sweetgrass — Robin Wall Kimmerer

For decades, economics was built around a simple assumption: people are rational. But what if that assumption is only partially true? In this episode, I sit down with Colin Camerer, one of the pioneers of behavioral economics and neuroeconomics, whose work helped transform economics into a discipline that takes psychology, cognition, emotion, and biology seriously. We begin with his unusual educational journey as a gifted student and trace how he became interested in the puzzles that traditional economic theory struggled to explain.

Our conversation explores what economists mean by rationality, why people systematically deviate from rational models, and how behavioral economics emerged as an attempt to better understand real human decision-making. Colin explains concepts such as choice consistency, Bayesian reasoning, judgment under uncertainty, and the psychological forces that shape our choices. Along the way, we discuss financial markets, game theory, cooperation, incentives, and the limits of human prediction.

We also examine the rise of neuroeconomics, cultural evolution, and artificial intelligence. Colin shares how technologies like AlphaGo reveal new forms of human learning and how AI may reshape the future of expertise, decision-making, and scientific discovery. This episode is an exploration of how humans think, why we make mistakes, and what economics can learn from psychology, neuroscience, and human behavior.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

01:00 – Growing Up as a Gifted Student

06:30 – Educational Acceleration and Early Learning

12:00 – Discovering Economics

16:20 – The Market Efficiency Hypothesis

18:30 – Why Behavioral Economics Emerged

19:37 – What Does It Mean to Be Rational?

25:00 – Choice Consistency and Bayes' Rule

31:00 – Why Humans Deviate from Rational Models

37:00 – Heuristics, Biases, and Judgment

43:00 – Game Theory and Strategic Thinking

49:00 – Cooperation, Competition, and Incentives

55:00 – Neuroeconomics and the Brain

01:01:00 – AI, Decision-Making, and Human Learning

01:07:00 – Cultural Evolution and Collective Intelligence

01:13:15 – AlphaGo and the Future of Expertise

01:15:30 – Closing Reflections

Colin F. Camerer: https://www.hss.caltech.edu/people/colin-f-camererBooks & Media Mentioned

Books

• Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman
• Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases — Kahneman, Slovic & Tversky
• The Foundations of Statistics — Leonard Savage

Thinkers Referenced

• Daniel Kahneman
• Amos Tversky
• Eugene Fama
• Herbert Simon
• John Nash
• John von Neumann

Games & Technologies

• AlphaGo
• Chess
• Go

In this episode, I sit down with Jishnu Das, a development economist and professor at Georgetown University, to explore what economics can teach us about education, human behavior, and social policy. We begin by unpacking the economist's way of thinking through "if-then" models and how these frameworks shape debates about college, educational investment, and public policy. Along the way, we discuss why American higher education is unusual compared to much of the world, how economists think about uncertainty and future decision-making, and why education can be understood as a form of insurance against an unpredictable future.

The conversation then shifts toward one of the most important questions in education: who should have the authority to make decisions about a child's schooling? Drawing on decades of research in Pakistan and other low-income contexts, Jishnu challenges assumptions about whether poor parents can make informed educational choices. We explore public versus private schools, the role of parental preferences, educational inequality, and the long-standing tension between family authority and state authority. From Martin Luther in the sixteenth century to contemporary school boards, we examine how societies have wrestled with this question for centuries.

What stayed with me most was Jishnu's argument that educational progress is ultimately about creating more inclusive and deliberative systems. We discuss Hirschman's concepts of exit and voice, Habermas and deliberative democracy, community institutions such as Panchayats and Seva Mandir, colonial education in India, and the challenge of respecting multiple forms of knowledge. The episode closes with findings from an eighteen-year study tracking 5,000 children across Pakistan and what it reveals about the long-term value of education, migration, earnings, and human opportunity.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

01:27 – Why Economics and Education Need Each Other

05:00 – The Power of Economic "If-Then" Thinking

11:00 – Why American Higher Education Is So Unusual

13:20 – Human Capital Beyond Wages

16:05 – Public vs. Private Schools

20:10 – Do Poor Parents Know What's Best for Their Children?

21:50 – Externalities, Public Goods, and Educational Policy

25:00 – Bourdieu, Cultural Capital, and the Limits of Economics

26:20 – Uncertainty, Risk, and Education as Insurance

29:15 – Tracking 5,000 Children Across Pakistan for 18 Years

31:20 – Parents, Schools, and Educational Authority

37:00 – Exit, Voice, and Community Accountability

41:20 – Deliberative Democracy and Educational Progress

46:30 – Seva Mandir, Panchayats, and Local Decision-Making

50:10 – Colonial Education and Macaulay's Legacy

54:15 – Measuring Educational Success

57:00 – Education, Economic Mobility, and Spillover Effects

01:00:00 – Migration, Opportunity, and Long-Term Outcomes

01:04:00 – Why We May Be Underinvesting in Education

01:05:30 – Closing ReflectionsJishnu Das:https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/0031Q000021vmDOQAY/jishnu-das

Books & Documents Mentioned

• Exit, Voice, and Loyalty — Albert O. Hirschman
• Weapons of the Weak — James C. Scott
• Macaulay's Minute on Education (1835)

Thinkers Referenced

• Gary Becker
• Pierre Bourdieu
• Jürgen Habermas
• Albert O. Hirschman
• James C. Scott
• Martin Luther
• Thomas Babington Macaulay

In this episode, I sit down with Johanna Drucker, Breslauer Professor of Bibliographical Studies at UCLA and one of the leading scholars working at the intersection of visual culture, information design, digital humanities, and the history of knowledge. We explore a deceptively simple question: what does it mean to know something? Johanna argues that visual forms are not merely ways of presenting knowledge but are themselves ways of producing it. From scientific illustrations and maps to graphs, typography, architecture, and works of art, she shows how every visual representation shapes what we are able to perceive and understand.

Our conversation examines the hidden assumptions embedded within information graphics, the limitations of objectivity, and why all visualizations involve choices about what to include, emphasize, and ignore. We discuss the relationship between seeing and knowing, the role of subjectivity in human understanding, and why experiences, perceptions, and aesthetic judgments often contain forms of knowledge that resist quantification. Along the way, we explore architecture, social media, art, mathematics, scientific observation, and the growing divide between empirical and humanistic ways of understanding the world.

What stayed with me most was Johanna’s argument that education should not simply train people to process information but should help them cultivate richer ways of perceiving reality. As artificial intelligence increasingly takes over routine tasks, she suggests that distinctly human capacities such as curiosity, creativity, observation, conversation, drawing, movement, and reflective experience may become even more important. This episode is ultimately an exploration of perception itself and a reminder that learning begins not only with what we know, but with what we learn to see.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

01:03 – What Is Visual Epistemology?

03:13 – Scientific Illustration and Learning Through Observation

06:12 – Why We See What We Know

07:20 – The Historical Elevation of Words Over Images

10:10 – Objective Knowledge vs. Lived Experience

12:01 – Why Information Graphics Are Never Neutral

15:18 – Teaching People How to Read Visualizations

18:23 – Beyond Critique: Building Better Ways of Seeing

21:14 – Social Media, Creativity, and New Visual Forms

24:09 – Time, Culture, and Changing Forms of Communication

25:20 – Humanistic Knowledge vs. Empirical Knowledge

28:25 – Architecture, Beauty, and Perception

31:17 – Aesthetics as a Foundation of Knowledge

34:07 – Language, Images, and Wittgenstein

36:22 – Schooling, Measurement, and Experiential Learning

39:02 – AI and the Future of Human Creativity

43:16 – What Art Does That Nothing Else Can Do

45:15 – Why Experiential Learning Matters

47:35 – Drawing, Watercolor, and Artistic Practice

50:20 – Finding the Through-Line Across Disciplines

51:24 – Social Physics and Human Relationships

56:10 – Curiosity, Pedagogy, and Lifelong Learning

59:30 – Managing Creative Energy and Burnout

01:02:05 – Experiencing Life Without Judgment

01:03:58 – Closing Reflections

Books & Media Mentioned

• Wittgenstein's Gallery — Johanna Drucker
• The Meaning of Life — Monty Python
• Life of Brian — Monty Python

Thinkers Referenced

• Ernst Gombrich
• Ludwig Wittgenstein
• René Descartes
• William Ivins
• William Carlos Williams

In this episode, I sit down with Mitchell Stevens, an organizational sociologist and professor at Stanford University, to explore how education became one of the defining institutions of modern society. We begin by unpacking a distinction that fundamentally reshapes how we think about the topic: schooling, education, and learning are not the same thing. Mitchell argues that much of our public discourse treats these concepts as interchangeable, leading us to measure years spent in school rather than the broader ways people develop knowledge, skills, and understanding throughout their lives.

Our conversation traces the historical rise of the American "schooled society," from universal public schooling to the postwar expansion of higher education and the emergence of college as the primary pathway into adulthood. We discuss how credentials became the dominant mechanism for sorting people into labor markets, why alternative pathways largely disappeared, and how this credential-focused system shaped both educational policy and cultural expectations. Mitchell also explores apprenticeship systems, vocational pathways, lifelong learning traditions, and the growing movement to imagine alternatives to the college-for-all model.

What stayed with me most is Mitchell's vision of a learning society. As artificial intelligence challenges long-standing assumptions about skills, work, and schooling, he argues that we may need to rethink education not simply as preparation for employment, but as a lifelong process of self-development, community participation, and human flourishing. This episode is an invitation to imagine what education could become if we stopped equating learning with credentials and started building institutions around learning itself.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

02:57 – Discovering Homeschooling and Alternative Education

06:45 – Schooling, Education, and Learning: What's the Difference?

10:42 – How America Became a Schooled Society

15:10 – The Rise of College as a Path to Adulthood

20:04 – Credential Society vs. Learning Society

21:30 – Apprenticeships, Vocational Pathways, and Alternative Routes

25:57 – Lifelong Learning Beyond School

28:16 – The Limits of Skills-Based Hiring

32:21 – Education as Self-Fashioning and Human Development

35:39 – The Hidden Benefits of Schooling

39:07 – AI, Work, and the Future of Learning

44:03 – Beyond Critique: Imagining New Educational Futures

47:32 – Closing Reflections

Mitchell L. Stevenshttps://ed.stanford.edu/faculty/stevens4

In this episode, I sit down with Justin Reich, Director of the MIT Teaching Systems Lab, to examine the recurring cycle of technological hype in education. We explore why every new wave of innovation from film strips to smartboards to ChatGPT arrives with promises of transformation, yet rarely produces the sweeping improvements people expect. Justin argues that educational technology follows a predictable pattern: excitement, overreach, weak evidence, and eventual normalization. Large language models may feel unprecedented, but the underlying dynamics are deeply familiar.

Our conversation moves into what schools should actually do in moments of uncertainty. Rather than chasing “best practices” for AI literacy, Justin suggests that we don’t yet know what works—and pretending we do may cause more harm than good. He explains why schools must experiment locally, evaluate student work carefully, and resist the pressure to race toward adoption. We also discuss the idea of subtraction in schools: instead of constantly adding initiatives, educators may need to remove practices to make space for thoughtful experimentation.

What stayed with me most is the call for humility. Schools are designed to conserve knowledge, not to chase every technological shift. If the past century of edtech teaches us anything, it is that transformation rarely comes from the tool itself. This episode invites listeners to slow down, question hype cycles, and think more carefully about what real learning actually requires.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

01:35 – From Classroom Teacher to MIT Researcher

05:00 – The “Groundhog Day” Pattern in EdTech

10:05 – Why Technology Rarely Transforms Schools

15:50 – AI in Classrooms: Arrival Without Adoption

21:30 – The Problem with “Best Practices” for AI

27:00 – Experimentation Over Certainty

32:15 – Subtraction in Schools: Doing Less to Do Better

38:20 – Discipline Differences and Local Context

44:00 – Improvement Science and Small Experiments

49:30 – Humility, Uncertainty, and the Future of AI

52:15 – Closing Reflections

Justin Reich https://tsl.mit.edu/team/justin-reich/

In this episode, I sit down with Barry Eichengreen, Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, to trace the evolution of money across more than 2,500 years of history. We begin with the Lydian king Croesus and the invention of coinage, exploring how early societies transitioned from commodity money to state-backed currencies. Barry explains how monetary systems spread through empires, how technological innovations like paper money and credit transformed exchange, and how each shift reshaped global power.

Our conversation then turns to the rise of dominant global currencies, from the Roman solidus to the British pound and eventually the U.S. dollar. We examine what it actually means for a currency to be “dominant,” why the dollar is used in transactions even when the United States is not involved, and what economic, political, and military conditions make a currency globally trusted. Barry outlines the advantages of dollar dominance, including lower borrowing costs, safe-haven flows, and geopolitical leverage, while also explaining the risks that come with debt, political instability, and institutional decline.

What stayed with me most is the historical perspective. Monetary systems do not last forever. They evolve, rise, and sometimes collapse as technology, power, and institutions change. From coinage to fiat money to digital currencies and crypto, the story of money is ultimately a story about coordination, trust, and political authority. This episode places today’s debates about the dollar and digital currency into a much larger historical arc.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

01:37 – Writing Money Beyond Borders

03:30 – The Lydians and the Birth of Coinage

06:20 – From Commodity Money to Paper and Credit

10:00 – Money as Social Convention and State Authority

14:15 – Multiple Currencies and Local Systems

17:00 – Why Global Monetary Systems Rise and Fall Faster Over Time

21:40 – What Makes a Currency “Dominant”?

24:50 – The Dollar as Global Lingua Franca

27:55 – The Advantages of Dollar Dominance

31:40 – Debt, Political Stability, and Currency Decline

35:50 – Teaching Economics: Models vs. History

42:45 – Living in a World of Black Boxes

49:30 – Individuals Who Shape Monetary History

52:10 – Final Reflections on the Future of Money

In this episode, I sit down with Fred Block, Research Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Davis, to examine the relationship between markets and the state. We explore the persistent myth that markets operate independently of government intervention, and Fred argues that modern capitalism has always depended on public institutions, policy design, and state-backed innovation. From industrial development to technological breakthroughs, the role of government is far more central than popular economic narratives suggest.

Our conversation moves into the rise of neoliberalism, the political shifts that reshaped economic governance, and the consequences of privileging market logic above all else. We discuss how innovation ecosystems rely on public investment, why the self-regulating market is largely a fiction, and how democratic institutions can guide economic transformation. Fred challenges the idea that state involvement distorts markets, instead showing how markets are structured, sustained, and stabilized through public authority.

What stayed with me most is the recognition that economic systems are political systems. They are shaped by choices, institutions, and power. This episode invites listeners to reconsider what capitalism is, who builds it, and how democratic societies might reclaim a more intentional role in shaping economic life.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

02:10 – Fred Block’s Intellectual Background

07:30 – What Was Neoliberalism?

14:20 – The Myth of the Self-Regulating Market

21:40 – How States Actually Build Markets

29:10 – Innovation, Public Investment, and Hidden Government

36:25 – The Political Shift Toward Market Fundamentalism

43:15 – Inequality, Power, and Economic Institutions

50:30 – What Comes After Neoliberalism?

58:10 – Reclaiming Democratic Economic Governance

01:02:40 – Final Reflections & Closing

Fred Block:-

https://sociology.ucdavis.edu/people/fred-block

In this episode, I sit down with Andy Hargreaves, Research Professor at Boston College and Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto, to explore what meaningful educational change actually requires. We examine decades of reform efforts, from standardization and accountability to professional collaboration and leadership. Andy argues that many reform movements fail because they prioritize short-term metrics over long-term capacity building.

Our conversation focuses on the idea of professional capital, the collective expertise, judgment, and collaboration that enable teachers to thrive. We discuss why teaching cannot be reduced to technical compliance, how leadership shapes school culture, and why sustainable improvement depends on trust, equity, and system-level coherence. Andy reflects on global reform movements, the tension between policy mandates and professional autonomy, and the importance of investing in human relationships within schools.

What stayed with me most is the emphasis on sustainability. Educational change is not about quick wins or competitive ranking. It is about cultivating environments where educators can grow, collaborate, and respond thoughtfully to complex social realities. This episode invites listeners to reconsider what it truly means to reform education in a way that lasts.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

02:05 – Andy Hargreaves’ Journey into Educational Reform

07:10 – The Rise of Standards and Accountability

13:40 – Why Reform Movements Fail

19:30 – Professional Capital and Teacher Expertise

26:15 – Leadership, Trust, and School Culture

33:00 – Equity and System-Level Change

40:10 – Global Reform Trends and Lessons Learned

47:25 – Sustainability vs. Short-Term Results

54:10 – The Future of Teaching as a Profession

01:00:40 – Final Reflections & Closing

Andy Hargreaves:

https://www.andyhargreaves.com/