Trending In Ed with Mike Palmer

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Trending In Ed with Mike Palmer episodes

October 08 Sal Khan on AI Tutors, Durable Skills, and the Khan TED Institute | Trending in Ed w Mike Palmer
What happens when the original edtech pioneer gets an early look at GPT-4? Host Mike Palmer welcomes Sal Khan, founder and CEO of Khan Academy, for a conversation spanning two decades of edtech. Sal traces his path from hedge fund analyst tutoring his cousin Nadia over Yahoo Messenger to YouTube videos his cousins liked better than him in person, to a nonprofit serving learners in 50+ languages. He explains why he leaves his mistakes in, and why that human quality will be hard for AI to replace.
From there, Sal recounts his first look at GPT-4 months before ChatGPT and how Khan Academy turned AI's risks into features. The two dig into several threads:
> Building Khanmigo to be Socratic and benchmarking its error rate against human tutors.
> Why only ~15% of students used a passive AI tutor, and the shift to a more proactive one.
> Khanductor and AI-powered assessment that captures student reasoning, not just answers.
> Higher ed ROI, AI's reach into knowledge work, and why durable skills matter most.
> The Khan TED Institute: a degree for under $10,000 built on authentic projects and skill portfolios.
🔔 Subscribe to Trending in Education for more conversations on the future of learning, work, and what's next.
📩 Connect with Mike Palmer on LinkedIn to bring this kind of conversation to your own podcast or media program.
Resources Mentioned:
Khan Academy
Khanmigo
Schoolhouse.world
Khanductor and Reimagined Assessments
Khan TED Institute
Brave New Words by Sal Khan
The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI by Cory Doctorow

56 min
September 29 Trust, Tech Bans, and Centering the Rising Generations | Dr. Janice Jackson | Aspen Institute
Are screen bans solving the right problem, or just creating new ones? Host Mike Palmer welcomes Dr. Janice Jackson, Executive Director of the Education & Society Program at the Aspen Institute and former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, for a conversation that trades hyperbole for nuance. Janice traces her path from CPS history teacher and debate coach to superintendent, then to founder of Hope Chicago, and now to Aspen. There she helps lead the new Rising Generations Strategy Group, a cross-sector, cross-partisan, intergenerational effort that puts young people at the center of the conversation, not just on the input list.
Janice draws a clear line between phones in classrooms (ban them) and technology that augments learning (hold it accountable). She makes the equity case against blanket bans, calls for digital literacy over prohibition, and pushes the edtech industry to prove efficacy. The two dig into several threads:
> Aspen's first convening, where students opened with four provocations.
> An "AI Futures" exercise weighing risk and opportunity.
> Declining trust in institutions.
> The role of state policy, like Illinois' new AI legislation.
> A powerful lesson from Hope Chicago: getting help isn't cheating, it's what advantaged students have always done. If technology can level that playing field, we should embrace it.
🔔 Subscribe to Trending in Education for more conversations on the future of learning, work, and what's next.
📩 Connect with Mike Palmer on LinkedIn to bring this kind of conversation to your own podcast or media program.
Resources Mentioned:
Aspen Institute Education & Society Program
Rising Generation Strategy Group
Hope Chicago
Dr. Jackson on The Education Equation with Jeremy Singer
Edelman Trust Barometer
Bellwether's responsible AI framework
Digital Promise
ISTE
Kim Smith, The Learner Studio
Timestamps:
🕙 00:00:00 — Introduction: Welcoming Dr. Janice Jackson.
🕙 00:00:50 — Origin Story: From CPS history teacher to superintendent, Hope Chicago, and Aspen.
🕙 00:03:15 — The Rising Generation Strategy Group: Cross-sector, cross-partisan, and youth-centered.
🕙 00:04:30 — The Equity Risk: Why quick screen bans can lock students out.
🕙 00:06:00 — Phones vs. Edtech: Doom scrolling isn't the same as learning.
🕙 00:08:00 — The Land of Hyperbole: Bringing parents and young people into the debate.
🕙 00:10:00 — Digital Literacy: Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
🕙 00:11:00 — Students First: Aspen's convening and the Center for Rising Generations.
🕙 00:14:00 — Trust Architecture: Gap-widening vs. gap-narrowing technology.
🕙 00:15:00 — AI Futures: Mapping risks and opportunities together.
🕙 00:17:00 — The Trust Deficit: What the Edelman Trust Barometer tells us.
🕙 00:19:00 — Guardrails: Government's role and state-level AI policy.
🕙 00:21:30 — Resources: Digital Promise, ISTE, and vetting edtech tools.
🕙 00:23:30 — Advice: Be authentic, keep kids first, hone your craft.
🕙 00:25:30 — Help-Seeking: Lessons from Hope Chicago on AI and "cheating."
🕙 00:28:30 — Final Thoughts: Join the conversation on the purpose of schooling.

30 min
September 24 Howard Gardner on AI, Ethics, & 2050 | Trending in Ed S11 Kickoff
Trending in Ed kicks off Season 11 with the return of Harvard's Howard Gardner, the developmental psychologist behind the theory of multiple intelligences. Picking up where their first conversation left off, Howard and host Mike Palmer look past next year's syllabus to ask what education should be in 2050 and beyond.
Howard revisits Five Minds for the Future with a provocative claim: AI will increasingly outperform us at the disciplined, synthesizing, and creating minds, leaving the respectful and ethical minds as the core human work of education. He explains why he's adding "It" to I, We, and They, what scouting, humanistic communities, and Reggio Emilia can teach future learning, and how the "Four D's" can guide ethical dilemmas. The two also explore influencer culture, mentorship, and the ethical will Howard wrote for his grandchildren.
KEY INSIGHTS
🧠 From Intelligence to Cognition: Why an AI comparison of the Fabians and Bloomsbury convinced Howard that machines now out-synthesize him.
⚔️ Generals Fight the Last War: Tweaking today's classroom won't prepare learners for tomorrow, but Rome wasn't built in a day.
👖 Genes, Jeans, and Jelly Beans: An interest-driven, AI-supported curriculum that starts from what learners care about.
⛺ Learning Through Community: Why intergenerational groups tackling real neighborhood problems may beat the classroom.
⚖️ The Four D's: Discuss, debate, decide, and debrief as a model for ethical decision-making.
🤝 The "Influmentor": What separates a Walter Cronkite from a clout-chaser, and why mentorship still matters.
About the Guest: Howard Gardner is the Hobbs Research Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, a longtime leader at Project Zero, and co-founder of The Good Project. His many books include Frames of Mind, Five Minds for the Future, and his memoir, A Synthesizing Mind.
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⭐ Rate and review the show to help others find us.
📩 Connect with Mike Palmer on LinkedIn.
Howard's first appearance: https://trendingineducation.com/2024/11/howard-gardner-on-education-and-on-mind/
Howard's blogs: https://www.howardgardner.com
Timestamps:
🕙 00:00:00 — Howard Gardner returns
🕙 00:02:15 — Multiple intelligences at 45: animals, plants, and AI
🕙 00:04:00 — Generals fight the last war
🕙 00:05:45 — The synthesizer meets the LLM
🕙 00:09:10 — Five Minds for the Future, revisited
🕙 00:12:50 — Genes, jeans, and jelly beans
🕙 00:16:40 — Good Starts: I, We, They... and It
🕙 00:18:40 — Scouting, religion, and Reggio Emilia
🕙 00:23:00 — The Good Project and the Four D's
🕙 00:27:30 — Rethinking the influencer
🕙 00:34:00 — Mentorship and the "influmentor"
🕙 00:38:30 — Parenting and the ethical will
🕙 00:43:30 — AI around the world
🕙 00:44:30 — The end of the Anthropocene
47 min
August 28 Advancing Public Trust in Higher Education | Jeremy C. Young | AAC&U | Trending in Higher Ed
How can higher education rebuild its relationship with the public in an era of heightened political polarization, shifting financial models, and rapid technological disruption? In this episode of Trending in Ed, host Mike Palmer welcomes back Jeremy C. Young, Senior Advisor at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), to discuss the foundational new report: Advancing Public Trust in Higher Education: The Trust Agenda.
As part of our ongoing Trending in Higher Ed series—featuring insights from leaders like Eddie Watson (AI & pedagogy), Brian Rosenberg (Whatever It Is, I'm Against It), and Elliot Felix (The Connected College)—this episode explores how campus leaders can move past reactive crisis management and actively cultivate trustworthy relationships across their communities. Jeremy breaks down AAC&U’s five-point framework, offering actionable, practical strategies for institutional leaders, faculty, and advocates.
Featured Reference & Key Highlights:
📄 Featured Reference: AAC&U's Report, Advancing Public Trust in Higher Education (The Trust Agenda)—the core blueprint for this conversation, outlining actionable solutions to restore institutional trust.
🚀 Accelerate Innovation: Overcoming institutional inertia to streamline shared governance, adapt to the rapid emergence of AI, and adopt flexible academic pathways like universal transfer and "College in Three".
🤝 Prioritize Community Engagement: Drawing inspiration from trusted community colleges and regional publics to act as true anchor institutions—leveraging local procurement and public-facing research (echoing Dr. Kenneth Carter’s work in public scholarship).
🎓 Recommit to Inclusive Excellence: Centering student success, expanding support for food/housing security, and fostering genuine civil dialogue that welcomes conservative students and diverse viewpoints (referencing Lara Schwartz’s Try to Love the Questions).
📢 Tell a Clearer Story: Shift away from the media's hyper-fixation on elite Ivy League universities and reframe higher ed around shared public values like freedom, fairness, and opportunity directly through campus-level communications.
🛡️ Coordinate a Mission-Centered Defense: Protecting university autonomy and academic freedom through collaborative cross-institutional defense networks—building a proactive trust foundation before crisis management (as discussed with Legend Labs' Jeff Hunt) becomes necessary.
Episode Timestamps:
⏱️ 00:00 – Welcome back Jeremy C. Young & transition from PEN America to AAC&U
⏱️ 00:03:00 – Introducing the featured reference: AAC&U's Trust Agenda report
⏱️ 00:09:00 – Pillar 1: Accelerating innovation, AI adaptation, & shared governance reform
⏱️ 00:12:30 – Pillar 2: Community engagement, anchor institution strategy, & local impact
⏱️ 00:19:00 – Pillar 3: Inclusive excellence, student support, & engaging political difference
⏱️ 00:26:30 – Pillar 4: Reframing higher ed narratives & empowering local messengers
⏱️ 00:33:30 – Pillar 5: Collaborative defense, institutional autonomy, & cross-sector alignment
⏱️ 00:39:30 – Implementation: AAC&U's upcoming Leadership Institute & long-term outlook
Catch the full video episode now on YouTube and Spotify!
🔔 Subscribe to Trending in Ed wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com to dive into our full archive of higher ed conversations, show notes, and resources!
43 min
August 25 The Emergent Leader with Author Don Gregori COO @ First Factory
Mike Palmer reconnects with old colleague Don Gregori, COO of First Factory, to unpack core insights from Don’s book, The Emergent Leader: A Guide to Brand Building, Leadership, and Self-Mastery. Drawing from a non-linear career path—ranging from theater major and aerial stunt coordinator to an 18-year tenure at Kaplan and scaling tech teams—Don shares practical strategies for authentic leadership, proactive stress management, and navigating AI workplace disruption.
Key Takeaways
🎭 Unconventional Paths Build Strong Leaders: Creative backgrounds like theater teach team vision, feedback loops, and real-time collaboration far better than standard business classrooms.
🏷️ Authentic Brand Building: Standing out requires standing alone; authentic leaders drop polished posturing, embrace their flaws, and focus on human connection.
🧩 Self-Mastery Precedes Leadership: Mindset functions as an operating system. True self-mastery requires proactive stress preparation and ruthless prioritization rather than reactive recovery.
🤖 AI Shifts Value to Generalists: As AI commoditizes routine execution, critical thinking, problem-solving, and cross-functional synthesis become an employee's most essential assets.
💼 Delegation Drives Growth: Effective leadership requires simplifying or delegating your current tasks so you remain open to new growth and strategic opportunities.
Timestamps
00:00 - Introduction & Reconnecting 30 Years Later
01:45 - Theater, Aerial Stunts, and Unconventional Business Prep
03:30 - Digital Transformation & Career Progression at Kaplan
05:45 - Near-Shore Software Development at FirstFactory
07:15 - Why Write The Emergent Leader?
11:00 - Leg 1: Brand Building, Culture, and Authentic Leadership
20:00 - Leg 2: Leadership Development, Vulnerability, and Prioritization
25:30 - Leg 3: Self-Mastery, Mindset, and Proactive Stress Management
31:45 - How AI is Reshaping Tech, Developers, and Critical Thinking
35:45 - Early-Career Advice and Reskilling for the Future
39:00 - Parting Thoughts & Wrap-Up
Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode!
41 min
August 21 Lessons in Literacy from a 62-year-old Learner | David Chalk | Neurodiversity and Dyslexia Advocate
What if everything we know about teaching reading is upside down?
In this episode of Trending in Education, host Mike Palmer sits down with tech entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and innovator David Chalk to unpack a remarkable story of literacy, neurodiversity, trauma, and redemption.
Key Highlights & Discussion Points:
🧠 Trauma and the Literacy Crisis: David recounts his early school trauma starting on day one of first grade, highlighting how unrecognized dyslexia and ADHD left him functionally illiterate for decades.
✈️ Building Success Beyond Reading: Despite reading at a fourth-grade level, David built multi-hundred-million-dollar businesses and became an airline jet pilot by leaning into creativity and oral vocabulary.
📖 Unlocking Reading in 11 Hours: Featured in the documentary The Truth About Reading, David reversed standard instruction methods to jump from a 4th-grade reading level to post-university proficiency in just 11 hours at age 62.
🤖 AI as a Pattern-Based Learning Ally: AI language models process language through pattern training—mirroring how human brains naturally acquire spoken words—offering a powerful tool to tutor neurodiverse learners without cognitive strain.
🗣️ Vocabulary and the Future of Work: As technology evolves, rich oral communication skills, deep vocabulary, and expressive clarity will serve as critical differentiators in an AI-driven workforce.
❤️ The Role of Emotional Resilience: David emphasizes why unconditional parental support and self-esteem are essential safeguards for children struggling through academic friction.
About the Guest
David Chalk is a technology entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and neurodiversity advocate who has founded ten successful companies. After mastering fluid reading at age 62, David now applies his background in artificial intelligence and pattern recognition to transform reading instruction for struggling learners everywhere.
Subscribe & Connect
Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode! Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for show notes, resources, and more sharp takes on the future of learning.
29 min
August 14 Bringing an AI Fluency Program to Kids Globally with Dr. Taniya Mishra, CEO @ SureStart
How do we move beyond baseline AI literacy to true AI fluency, agency, and self-efficacy for the next generation? In this episode of Trending in Education, host Mike Palmer sits down with Dr. Taniya Mishra, Founder and CEO of SureStart, to explore how hands-on, mentor-led AI education is empowering youth globally to shift from passive users to confident creators.
Drawing from her 12+ years as an industrial AI researcher, Dr. Mishra shares how SureStart demystifies technology through near-peer mentorship, modular curriculum, and a layered approach to AI learning—from middle school vocabulary to vibe coding and building small language models.
KEY INSIGHTS & DISCUSSION POINTS
💡 The Heart of SureStart—Near-Peer Mentorship: How pairing middle/high school students with near-peer mentors (graduate and undergraduate students) demystifies AI, creates psychological safety, and normalizes making mistakes as a core part of the coding process.
💡 A Layered Framework for AI Education: Understanding AI through a tiered mental model (DIYer, electrician, electrical engineer, researcher) to meet students where they are—building confidence through foundational vocabulary, conceptual clarity, and practical execution.
💡 Navigating Vibe Coding & Emergent Tech: Why rapid advancements like vibe coding require students to look beneath the surface code, balancing prompt engineering efficiency with direct coding precision.
💡 Overcoming "Cautious Clickers" & Risk Aversion: Strategies to build self-efficacy among underrepresented students by prioritizing representative role modeling (50%+ female mentors) and praising questions in the learning environment.
💡 Responsible AI Across the Curriculum: Why ethics should not be an isolated module, but woven throughout every project (e.g., addressing authorship and bias in generative tools) to cultivate critical evaluation skills.
💡 Operationalizing AI in K-12 Education: Integrating flexible, modular lessons (ranging from 15-hour blocks to 60-hour semester courses) into packed public school schedules through teacher training and district partnerships.
💡 New Economy Skills & Human + AI Synergy: Preparing youth for a changing workforce by pairing AI tools with core human competencies: critical reasoning, executive functioning, data literacy, financial literacy, and an entrepreneurial mindset.
CHAPTERS & TIMESTAMPS
⏱️ 00:00 – Welcome & Introduction: Dr. Taniya Mishra and SureStart
⏱️ 01:00 – Taniya’s Journey: From PhD AI Researcher to EdTech Founder
⏱️ 04:00 – Overcoming "I'm Not a Tech Person" & Demystifying STEM
⏱️ 06:30 – The Core of SureStart: Near-Peer Mentorship in Action
⏱️ 09:50 – Keeping Up with Fast-Moving Trends & Vibe Coding
⏱️ 12:50 – The Layered Model: DIYers to AI Researchers
⏱️ 18:20 – Addressing "Cautious Clickers" & Creating Safe Failure Spaces
⏱️ 24:40 – Integrating AI Fluency into Busy K-12 Schedules
⏱️ 29:30 – Parallel Processing: Upskilling Teachers & Engaging Parents
⏱️ 34:40 – Responsible AI Frameworks & Verification Skills
⏱️ 42:30 – New Economy Skills: Data Literacy, Financial Literacy & Entrepreneurship
⏱️ 45:30 – Final Thoughts: Humans Plus AI
SUBSCRIBE & CONNECT
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🌐 Website: https://trendingineducation.com
📩 Follow Mike Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelppalmer/
47 min
August 11 The Reward Trap: Why External Rewards Backfire with Dr. Ozgur Bolat
In this episode of Trending in Education, host Mike Palmer is joined by Dr. Ozgur Bolat, associate professor of educational science and author of The Reward Trap: Why Rewards Backfire and the Real Science of Motivating Kids. Dr. Bolat shares his journey from seeking external validation to decoding the science of intrinsic motivation, offering practical strategies for parents and educators looking to move away from quick-fix rewards and build lasting resilience and internal drive in children.
Key topics discussed include:
🧠 The Pitfalls of External Validation: How relying on rewards, praise, and criticism creates an external locus of control and undermines intrinsic motivation.
🕊️ The PEACE Model: A framework (Perspective, Emotion & Cognition, Need, Commitment, Engagement) to address behavior and resistance without relying on bribes or threats.
📱 Modern Parenting & Mental Health: How overprotective parenting and digital distractions prevent kids from learning how to handle hardship and negative emotions.
🤖 Assessment in the Age of AI: Why generative AI exposes the limits of memorization-based testing and forces a shift toward assessing critical thinking, original reasoning, and conceptual understanding.
👨‍🏫 Evolving the Role of the Educator: Shifting teachers away from being mere "information transmitters" and into roles as mentors, coaches, and learning architects.
🤝 Parent and Teacher Dynamics: Research-backed insights on why warm, respectful relationships far outperform control mechanisms, anxiety, and high-pressure tactics.
About the Guest:
Dr. Ozgur Bolat is an associate professor in educational science, Fulbright scholar, Harvard Graduate School of Education graduate, Cambridge PhD, and former MIT Sloan researcher. He is the founder of parenting and teacher training initiatives dedicated to raising internally validated children. His book, The Reward Trap, features a foreword by Nobel Laureate Professor Aziz Sancar.
Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you listen to podcasts for more conversations on the future of learning, parenting, and human agency.
Visit https://www.trendingined.com for show notes and past episodes.
42 min
August 07The Education Investment Landscape with Mike Peng, Weatherstone Capital Partners
In this episode of Trending in Education, host Mike Palmer sits down with Mike Peng, Founder and Managing Partner of Weatherstone Capital Partners, to explore the evolving intersection of education, technology, and capital markets. After missing a meeting at ASU+GSV in San Diego, Mike and Mike reconnect to unpack what it takes to scale educational ventures past the startup phase and navigate the broader macroeconomic shift from venture capital to private equity in EdTech.
Drawing from his unique career journey—from engineering at UT Austin and strategy consulting at McKinsey to leading rapid growth at Block Renovation and earning an MBA at Stanford—Peng shares why Weatherstone focuses on partnering with operators in the 1-to-10 scale stage ($1M to $10M EBITDA range). Together, they examine the real "moats" in the age of AI (data ownership and customer relationships over UI), why corporate L&D and continuing certification are outperforming traditional K-12/Higher Ed models for private equity, and how simulation tools and micro-learning are reshaping workforce upskilling. Peng also offers vital advice for founders assessing whether they are the "limiting factor" in their company's growth and how to navigate tight capital markets.

KEY INSIGHTS:
0-to-1 vs. 1-to-10 Leadership: Building a product from scratch requires a scrappy, zero-to-one mindset, whereas scaling from 1 to 10 demands processes, enterprise workflows, and founders willing to look in the mirror to ensure they aren't becoming their company's limiting factor.

The Capital Shift from VC to PE: With EdTech valuations down ~60% from 2021 peaks and market maturity kicking in, 2024 marked a pivot where private equity outpaced venture capital in EdTech funding—shifting the focus from hyper-growth to unit economics, profitability, and sustainable scale.

Redefining AI Moats: User interface (UI) and simple API connections to large language models are no longer defensible differentiators. True AI moats reside in owning proprietary data, maintaining deep customer trust, and controlling end-to-end customer relationships.

Corporate L&D and Reskilling Demand: While K-12 and Higher Ed present longer sales cycles and risk aversion, Corporate L&D—particularly recurring certification, micro-training in daily workflows, and AI simulation (e.g., bedside manner nursing)—presents massive opportunity as 85% of employers seek to reskill their workforce by 2030.

Founder Discipline in Tight Markets: Bootstrapping and pivoting quickly are more viable than ever thanks to AI MVP acceleration. Founders must plan capital runway at least a year in advance and regularly "come up for air" so market evolution doesn't leave their business behind.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 – Introduction & Connecting Post-ASU+GSV
01:00 – Mike Peng's Journey: UT Austin, McKinsey, Block Renovation, & Stanford MBA
02:30 – Inside Weatherstone Capital Partners: Long-Term Platform Investing
03:30 – 0-to-1 vs. 1-to-10: Passing the Founder "Mirror Test"
05:30 – Takeaways from ASU+GSV: AI Undercurrents & Modern Moats
07:30 – Career Readiness, CTE, & The 1,400-Tool EdTech Stack
09:30 – Data is the New Oil, AI is the New Electricity
11:30 – Managing Hallucination Risk & Trust in Classroom Tech
13:30 – Segmenting EdTech: Why Capital is Moving from VC to PE
18:00 – The Future of Work: LXP, Micro-Learning, & AI Simulations
23:30 – Personal AI Tutors, Spatial Hardware, & Final Advice for Founders
26:00 – Wrap Up & How to Connect with Weatherstone
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28 min
August 04Building Constructive Dialogue Habits in Higher Ed with Francesca Schuler ED @ Dialogue Vanderbilt
How can higher education equip Gen Z to navigate rapid AI disruption, political polarization, and shifting workplace expectations? In this episode of Trending in Education, host Mike Palmer connects with Francesca Schuler, Executive Director of Dialogue Vanderbilt at Vanderbilt University. Drawing from her executive career as a COO and CEO in private-sector consumer and fitness industries, Francesca brings a fresh, operational lens to solving higher education's civil discourse challenge.
Together, Mike and Francesca explore why modern communication frequently breaks down and why developing constructive dialogue habits—such as listening with curiosity, managing emotional reactivity, and asking thoughtful questions—is critical for modern leadership and citizenship. From creating tech-free conversational spaces like the "Vandy Speakeasy" to building nationwide partnerships through the Dialogue CoLab, Francesca shares actionable strategies to cultivate emotional intelligence (EQ), foster psychological flexibility, and empower students to thrive in a complex world.
KEY INSIGHTS & DISCUSSION POINTS
Habits Over Skills in Moments of Crisis: While functional skills are vital, leaders and students ultimately fall back on ingrained habits during high-pressure situations. Practicing daily habits like asking with curiosity, showing up without rigid certainty, and listening to learn builds long-term emotional intelligence (EQ) and resilience.

Unlearning Technology's Bad Habits: Social media platforms and instant messaging reward hot takes, rigid positions, and immediate reactivity over thoughtful engagement. Treating AI as a supportive tool rather than the final answer preserves human judgment, nuance, and critical thinking.

Tactical Campus Programs for Practice: Dialogue Vanderbilt creates low-stakes practice environments—such as the phone-free "Vandy Speakeasy"—and hands-on workshops like "Switch Sides" and "From Every Angle" to rehearse respectful debate and open inquiry.

Institutional Neutrality and Citizenship: Rooted in Vanderbilt’s historical unifying mission, maintaining institutional neutrality provides faculty and students space to explore complex ideas while learning how to agree—and disagree—more constructively.

Busting Career & Personal Growth Myths: Re-evaluating pervasive narratives around imposter syndrome and work-life balance encourages individuals to embrace agency, navigate trade-offs, and prioritize core success traits: curiosity, humor, and getting things done (GSD).

Scaling Civil Discourse Across Higher Education: Through initiatives like the Dialogue CoLab, over 30 higher education institutions—ranging from community colleges to state schools and private universities—are sharing best practices to foster constructive campus cultures nationwide.
SUBSCRIBE & CONNECT
Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts to stay ahead of the curve in learning, media, AI, and the future of work.
41 min

About Trending In Ed with Mike Palmer

From the publisher's feed

At the intersection of learning, media, and the future of work, join us each week as we sense and discover where the future of education is heading. Join host Mike Palmer, the Founder of Palmer Media,…