Shows
Please Speak FreelyEpisode 42: Dorothy Jungels of Everett Stage Company School
When I met Dorothy Jungels, I knew immediately that I wanted to spend more time with her. As the co-founder and co-Artistic Director of Everett Company Stage School, Dorothy is part of an amazing “mom and pop” nonprofit community arts organization, along with many members of her family and extended family. This past year while my family and I were living in Providence, RI, my daughter Rosie had the good luck to take a Story Ballet class with Dorothy’s granddaughter Grace, I had the privilege to take an Improv class with Dorothy herself, and my wife Elia, as Executi...
2015-01-131h 05Please Speak FreelyEpisode 41: Dr. Nancy Rappaport, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist!
For a long time, I have been concerned about how young children are given drugs like Ritalin and Adderal. So when I saw Nancy Rappaport‘s recent Washington Post article, “We Are Overmedicating America’s Poorest Kids,” it caught my eye.
In this episode, I talk to Dr. Rappaport about many issues including the oversimplication of the headline that caught my eye. Mental health challenges in children are complex. In this article, and her book, The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students, Dr. Rappaport explains many of the complexities and provi...
2014-07-1755 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 40: Carla Sanger of LA’s BEST Afterschool Enrichment ProgramOne of the great things about doing this podcast is that I get to meet awesome new people. The other great thing is that I get to sit down with some of my favorite people and talk to them for an hour or so, and this is one of those episodes. Carla Sanger, the President and CEO of LA’s BEST is definitely one of my favorite people, and also a very important mentor to me and many others. I’ve been wanting to interview her since Please Speak Freely started, and I finally got the chance!
We talk...
2014-05-0651 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 39: A Memorial to theGreat Richard MurphyThis is a very special episode of Please Speak Freely, a memorial to the great Richard Murphy. Murphy was a friend and a mentor to me and countless others, and he passed away on Valentine’s Day, 2013. He was a true lion in the field of youth development. Among many other accomplishments, he founded Rheedlen Centers for Children and Families which became the Harlem Children’s Zone, created the Beacon Programs when he was Commissioner of Youth Services under Mayor David Dinkins, cofounded the Neighborhood Family Services Coalition, helped to create Food and Finance High School, and founded iMapVentures.
I...
2014-04-0828 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 38: Jaime Casap, Google’s Global Education Evangelist
Thanks to support from the National AfterSchool Association (NAA), I got a chance to interview Jaime Casap at the 2014 NAA National Convention where he was the keynote speaker. Jaime is the Global Education Evangelist at Google, a company you may have heard of. In his role, he is responsible for working with schools and organizations to bring technology into the education environment. We had a lively conversation that covered Jaime’s experience growing up in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood in NYC, my terror at the thought of having my progress as a learner evaluated on a daily bas...
2014-03-1141 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 37: Baratunde Thurston, Comedian, Entrepreneur and Author of How to Be Black!
Baratunde Thurston is the CEO and co-founder of Cultivated Wit, a design, media, and technology company. I came across Baratunde’s book, How to Be Black, in a used bookstore last summer. It caught my eye because the title is so funny, and because I recognized his name, probably from his days as Director of Digital at The Onion, his column in Fast Company, or his more than 10 years as a standup comedian. His book is so engaging and has a really smart approach to discussing race, culture, class, and much more. When I heard him discussing his e...
2014-02-1856 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 36: Pasi Sahlberg, Author of Finnish Lessons and Visiting Professor at Harvard!
If you’ve been following the national or international news about education policy over the past few years, you’ve probably heard that Finland is a big educational success story. What’s amazing about the Finnish story is that the Finnish have basically done everything the opposite of the current education reform agenda in the United States. They’ve focused on equity over excellence, improving the teaching force, limiting student testing, putting responsibility and trust before accountability, and making sure schools and districts are led by education professionals. Pasi Sahlberg and I discussed all this, but also talked about...
2014-01-1444 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 35: Selma James, Activist and Founder of International Wages for Housework Campaign!
Selma James is a freedom fighter, fighting against racism, and fighting for human rights for all, especially women. She is best known for the International Wages for Housework Campaign, launched in 1972. She has continued her fierce activism all these years, and her most recent book, Sex, Race and Class, The Perspective of Winning, A Selection of Writings 1952-2011 (PM Press 2012) had a big impact on me personally. I was honored to be able to talk with Selma James for Please Speak Freely. The challenging part was that she is based in London, so we conducted the interview over S...
2013-12-2038 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 34: Jesse Hagopian, Teacher & Co-Organizer of Garfield High School Test Boycott
Last year, people across the country were inspired by the solidarity of the faculty, students, and parents at Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington. The teachers there were tired of being forced to give a test they didn’t believe in, and they decided to do something about it. They boycotted the test, and become the leading edge of a national movement to do away with high-stakes, standardized testing and move to more intelligent and human assessments of learning. Jesse Hagopian, the teachers’ union representative at the school, became one of the leaders of the boycott movement and...
2013-11-2138 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 33: Aaron Regunberg of the Providence Student Union
If you love zombies, you’re going to love this episode! I talked with Aaron Regunberg, Executive Director of the Providence Student Union (PSU). PSU became well known nationally last year when they led a zombie marchthrough the downtown of Providence, RI to call attention to the “zombification” of students that results from high-stakes testing and the narrowing of the curriculum. We also talked about the PSU’s other creative actions, including the day they asked “objectively successful” adults to take standardized tests for themselves. We discussed the huge praise the PSU has received from Diane Ravitch, the complexities...
2013-09-2650 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 32: Kevin Coval and Jamila WoodsJust in time for this week’s 16th Annual Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Festival (held in…
2013-08-051h 08Please Speak FreelyEpisode 31: Midwest Afterschool Science AcademyWe are pleased to present this special episode of Please Speak Freely, sponsored by Project Liftoff and recorded…
2013-06-0546 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 30: Kristin Wartman, Journalist & Author of NY Times Op-Ed, “Pay People to Cook At Home”On May 10, 2013, I read an Op-Ed in the New York Times that really…
2013-05-1738 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 29: Marty Blank of Institute for Educational Leadership and Coalition for Community SchoolsAlmost fifty years go, the Institute for Educational Leadership was formed to bring together leaders from diverse…
2013-03-2547 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 28: Michelle Yanche of Good Shepherd ServicesFirst, let me apologize for the extra long delay between episodes of Please Speak Freely! While…
2013-03-0554 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 27: Tony Smith, Superintendent of Oakland Unified School DistrictI sat down with Tony Smith, Superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District at the…
2012-12-1254 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 26: Empowering Youth Voice, Live From the Bridge Conference 2012This episode was recorded live at the School’s Out Washington Bridge Conference in Seattle, WA on October…
2012-11-2751 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 25: Raffi, Children’s Troubadour and Founder of the Centre for Child HonouringChildren’s Troubadour Raffi is famous worldwide for his beautiful songs, including, “Baby Beluga,” “Bananaphone,” “Willoughby…
2012-10-3140 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 24: Lenore Skenazy, “America’s Worst Mom” and Author of Free-Range KidsYou may know Lenore Skenazy as the woman who let her nine-year old son ride…
2012-10-1251 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 23: Terry Peterson of the Afterschool and Community Learning NetworkMany years ago when I was Director of Staff Development at LA’s BEST After School…
2012-09-2734 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 22: Jason Yoon and Sarah Meyer of New Urban ArtsOne of my favorite youth programs in the country is New Urban Arts, based in…
2012-09-1446 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 21: Holly Delany Cole, Co-Director of Community Resource ExchangeIt was a pleasure to sit down with Holly Delany Cole, Co-Director of Community Resource…
2012-08-2147 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 20: Jakada Imani, Executive Director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights“I grew up as one of those kids who came from an ‘at risk’ background.…
2012-08-1449 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 18: Will Power, Performer, Playwright and Educator“A lot of times you come into a place and you’re going to have an influence…
2012-06-1954 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 17: Jane Quinn, Children’s Aid Society“We know from lots of research and from lots of experience that the work of…
2012-06-141h 03Please Speak FreelyEpisode 16: Afterschool for All Challenge 2012This special episode was recorded live from the Afterschool Alliance’s Afterschool for All Challenge, held…
2012-06-0357 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 15: Marc Mannella, CEO of KIPP Philadelphia Schools“We are trying to teach the kids that there is a way that KIPPsters act.…
2012-05-171h 10Please Speak FreelyEpisode 14: Jennifer Davis | National Center on Time and LearningJennifer Davis, Co-Founder and President of the National Center on Time and Learning, leads a…
2012-05-0353 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 13: Hanaa Arafat of the YWCA of the City of New YorkHanaa Arafat spearheaded an appeal effort that had a big statewide impact in New York,…
2012-04-0753 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 12: Brad Lupien, Co-Founder and Co-President of ARCBrad Lupien, Co-Founder and Co-President of ARC (formerly Champions) has a million ideas for how to improve…
2012-03-1451 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 10: Michael Edwards“I’m very worried that the move towards the business is best approach, right throughout society,…
2012-03-0850 min2012-03-0755 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 8: Crystal FitzSimonsThis episode of Please Speak Freely is all about food. I sat down with Crystal FitzSimons of…
2012-01-2650 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 9: Alfie KohnAlfie Kohn is a busy man, and I had to be pretty pushy to get him…
2012-01-2655 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 8: Blog – Let’s Focus on Healthy Food SolutionsBy Rhys Powell, Founder & President, RedRabbit When I listen to these types of interviews, I cannot help…
2012-01-2650 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 7: Rich BerlinAs a youth development organization, Rich Berlin and his team did an audacious thing – they started…
2011-12-1250 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 6: Dr. Paul HeckmanI’ve known Dr. Paul Heckman, Associate Dean at the University of California School of Education for a long…
2011-09-061h 01Please Speak FreelyEpisode 5: Live from the Bridge Conference in Seattle, WA with Zach Wilson and OthersThis is a special episode of Please Speak Freely, recorded live at the Bridge from School…
2011-07-0237 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 4: Karen PittmanI got to sit down with Karen Pittman, President and CEO of the Forum for Youth Investment and…
2011-07-011h 10Please Speak FreelyEpisode 3: Dr. Pedro NogueraI was pleased to speak with Dr. Pedro Noguera of New York University, who has been a leader…
2011-06-1442 minPlease Speak FreelyEpisode 2: Earl Martin PhalenIn this episode, I had a chance to talk with Earl Martin Phalen, who founded BELL andSummer Advantage and…
2011-06-101h 04Please Speak FreelyEpisode 1: Alexis MentenIn our premier episode, I had a very interesting conversation with Alexis Menten, Assistant Director…
2011-06-0359 min