How do we understand the ongoing assaults on public education at all levels? What are the forces at play and what are the implications? In this episode, Allen approaches these questions with educational theorist Michael Apple. They spend the hour discussing the state of public schools in the U.S. and the struggle for democracy in education.

Michael Apple is emeritus professor of curriculum & instruction and educational policy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Formerly a teacher in New Jersey elementary and secondary schools, he has spent his career working with educators and unions to democratize educational policy and practice.

He is the author of many books, including Ideology and Curriculum (1979), Education and Power (1982), Cultural Politics and Education (1996), Can Education Change Society? (2012), and The Struggle for Democracy in Education (Routledge, 2018).