Self Directed

By Cecilie & Jesper Conrad

Self Directed - A Podcast on Life, Learning, and Raising Free Thinkers. Hosts Cecilie and Jesper Conrad, full-time travellers since 2018 and parents of four, invite a new guest on the podcast every

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FAQs about Self Directed:

How many episodes does Self Directed have?

The podcast currently has 165 episodes available.

Self Directed episodes:

December 21, 2025Victoria Lenormand | From Detective To Unschooling Advocate
Ex-detective turned homeschooler Victoria Lenormand describes leaving a policing career as it shifted from service to force and recognizing the same pattern in her son’s early schooling. In this conversation, she explains how grading, labels, and constant assessment eroded confidence, and how home education replaced pressure with agency, learning by doing, and community built through shared interests rather than age-based classrooms.
🗓️ Recorded December 8, 2025. 📍 Tarragona, Spain
🔗 Relevant links
https://geminidirections.co.uk/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-lenormand-2129227b/
https://www.instagram.com/geminidirections.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/geminidirections
https://amzn.eu/d/dZz1BqH

Support the show
PODCAST INFO
Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast
YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365
Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple
Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify
RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss

SUPPORT & CONNECT
Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily
Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily
...more
53min
December 14, 2025Nicklas Bergman | How to Stay Sceptical in an Algorithmic World
Nicklas Bergman is a deep-tech investor and technology explorer who focuses on how new tools shape everyday life rather than predicting distant futures. The episode examines AI, social media, and regulation through concrete examples from work, education, family life, and investing, with an emphasis on curiosity, skepticism, and personal judgment.
🗓️ Recorded November 19, 2025. 📍 Tarragona, Spain
🔗 Relevant links
https://www.nicklasbergman.com
https://ncklsbrgmn.substack.com
https://se.linkedin.com/in/nicklasbergman

Support the show
PODCAST INFO
Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast
YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365
Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple
Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify
RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss

SUPPORT & CONNECT
Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily
Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily
...more
1h 6min
November 27, 2025Susan Yao | From Teacher to Unschooler
Susan Yao is an educator, school founder, and advocate of self-directed learning. She previously served as Middle School Head at Friends Academy in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, following more than a decade of teaching. She co-founded the Vermont Village School, a community-based microschool emphasising student-led learning, autonomy, and community engagement.
The episode connects her parents’ years in China’s school closures with her own path through American schooling and into the early stages of unschooling. The conversation outlines her family’s approach to dyslexia, late reading, and open learning rhythms.
🗓️ Recorded November 6, 2025. 📍 Tarragona, Spain
🔗 Relevant links
https://susyao.substack.com/
https://www.vermontvillageschool.org/
https://www.lionsroar.com/author/susan-yao/
The Math Myth by Andrew Hacker: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1620970686/

Support the show
PODCAST INFO
Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast
YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365
Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple
Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify
RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss

SUPPORT & CONNECT
Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily
Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily
...more
45min
November 09, 2025Missy Willis | From Unschooling To Exams
What happens when unschooled teens meet college systems, exams, and external expectations? Jesper and Cecilie Conrad speak with Missy Willis about how adolescents raised with freedom step into formal learning without losing curiosity or confidence. The conversation follows family transitions, changing homes, and the moment when rigor and motivation finally align.
🗓️ Recorded November 4, 2025. 📍 Tarragona, Spain
🔗 Relevant links
https://letemgobarefoot.substack.com
https://letemgobarefoot.com

Support the show
PODCAST INFO
Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast
YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365
Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple
Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify
RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss

SUPPORT & CONNECT
Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily
Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily
...more
1h 1min
October 25, 2025Kate McAllister | Nervous System Regulation: From Reaction to Response
Kate McAllister describes how nervous system regulation shifts behavior from reaction to response. The conversation maps how stress patterns shape daily life, from parenting and school to refugee camps and co-regulation through rhythm and presence. Breath, movement, and sensory grounding become practical tools for returning the thinking brain online when fight, flight, or freeze take over.
🗓️ Recorded October 23, 2025. 📍 Tarragona, Spain
🔗 Relevant links
https://www.thehiveadventure.com
https://www.facebook.com/thehiveadventure
https://www.instagram.com/thehiveadventure
https://www.tiktok.com/@thehiveadventure
https://www.youtube.com/@thehiveadventure
https://www.linkedin.com/in/misskatemcallister
🔗 Books mentioned in this episode
Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté
https://www.amazon.com/Hold-Your-Kids-Parents-Matter-ebook/dp/B001LOEFZU
The Chimp Paradox: The Chimp Paradox: The Mind Management Programme for Confidence, Success and Happines by Steve Peters
https://www.amazon.com/Chimp-Paradox-Acclaimed-Management-Confidence-ebook/dp/B006K26BEQ

Support the show
PODCAST INFO
Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast
YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365
Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple
Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify
RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss

SUPPORT & CONNECT
Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily
Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily
...more
53min
October 17, 2025Summer Jean | Unschooling - Living Without the Need to Prove Yourself
Summer Jean describes how growing up unschooled shaped her ideas of work, freedom, and value. She explains how her mother’s focus on connection over control helped her develop confidence in her own sense of rightness. The episode contrasts inner conviction with productivity as a measure of worth.
🗓️ Recorded October 16, 2025. 📍 Tarragona, Spain
🔗 Relevant links
https://www.facebook.com/mermaidartglass/
https://www.instagram.com/summerisafairy/
https://www.instagram.com/andanzasanpancho/
https://www.instagram.com/mermaidartglass/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/mermaidartglass
🔗 Books by John Taylor Gatto
https://www.amazon.com/Dumbing-Down-Curriculum-Compulsory-Schooling-ebook/dp/B072F9VRZP
https://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Mass-Instruction-Schoolteachers-Compulsory-ebook/dp/B0097DE6XI
https://www.amazon.com/Underground-History-American-Education-Investigation/dp/0998919101/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Taylor_Gatto

Support the show
PODCAST INFO
Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast
YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365
Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple
Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify
RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss

SUPPORT & CONNECT
Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily
Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily
...more
1h 13min
October 09, 2025Timmy Eaton | Choosing a Life with Golden Hours
Cecilie and Jesper Conrad describe how illness, travel, and questioning convention led their family from a more or less traditional path in Denmark—through a Freinet-inspired free school—to a fully unschooled, nomadic life. They explain how unschooling developed through practical choices, legal frameworks, and value-based reflection rather than ideology.
🗓️ Recorded September 20, 2025. 📍 Åmarken, Solrød, Denmark
🔗 Relevant links
https://www.thisgoldenhour.org/podcast
https://www.instagram.com/this.goldenhour

Support the show
PODCAST INFO
Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast
YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365
Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple
Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify
RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss

SUPPORT & CONNECT
Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily
Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily
...more
1h 8min
October 05, 2025Lise Damkjær | Life Is Easy—When We Allow It to Be
Co-creation unfolds when control gives way to trust. Life Is Easy grew from a shared intention among ten people who wrote together without plans or deadlines. The process reveals how purpose and openness can replace pressure, turning collaboration into a form of ease.
🗓️ Recorded September 30, 2025. 📍 Tarragona, Spain
🔗 Relevant links
https://learning4life.dk
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lise-damkjær/

Support the show
PODCAST INFO
Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast
YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365
Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple
Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify
RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss

SUPPORT & CONNECT
Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily
Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily
...more
58min
September 28, 2025Jamie Rumble | Nomadic Becoming in the Anthropocene
Jamie Rumble shares his research on digital nomadism in the era of climate change. We explore how mobility, mental health, and community connect—and what nomads can teach about resilience.
🗓️ Recorded September 22, 2025. 📍 Åmarken, Lille Skendsved, Denmark
🎙️ Listen to:
First episode with Jamie Rumble: https://www.theconrad.family/selfdirected127
Second episode with Jamie Rumble: https://www.theconrad.family/selfdirected128
📚 Books mentioned in this episode
Nomad Century by Gaia Vince - Get it on Amazon
Digital Nomad by Tsugio Makimoto & David Manners - Get it on Amazon
Education in a Time Between Worlds: Essays on the Future of Schools, Technology, and Society - Get it on Amazon

Support the show
PODCAST INFO
Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast
YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365
Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple
Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify
RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss

SUPPORT & CONNECT
Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily
Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily
...more
1h 16min
September 18, 2025Kate McAllister | The Human Hive: Building Communities of Purpose and Learning
Kate McAllister shares her journey from traditional teaching in the UK to creating The Human Hive in the Dominican Republic. We talk about learning through global projects, raising children outside the standard map, and what it means to discover that there are no dragons when you step off the expected path.
🗓️ Recorded September 10, 2025. 📍 Åmarken, Lille Skendsved, Denmark

🔗 Relevant links
https://www.thehiveadventure.com
https://www.facebook.com/thehiveadventure
https://www.instagram.com/thehiveadventure
https://www.tiktok.com/@thehiveadventure
https://www.youtube.com/@thehiveadventure
https://www.linkedin.com/in/misskatemcallister

Support the show
PODCAST INFO
Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast
YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365
Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple
Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify
RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss

SUPPORT & CONNECT
Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily
Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily
...more
21min

FAQs about Self Directed:

How many episodes does Self Directed have?

The podcast currently has 165 episodes available.

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