Shows
Only Boring PeopleEpisode #42 - Retrieval with Dr. Shana CarpenterDr. Shana Carpenter is a Professor in the School of Psychological Science at Oregon State University and has extensive research on best retrieval practices.
2024-12-0952 minOnly Boring PeopleEpisode #41 - Human Memory with Andrew ButlerAndrew Butler is an Associate Professor of Education and Psychological & Brain Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Butler's research focuses on how the process of retrieving memories affects the content and phenomenological characteristics of those memories. We talked about his undergrad, dissertation, and research experiences, and then transitioned into the tension between desirable difficulty and retrieval accuracy and success.
2024-06-1252 minOnly Boring PeopleEpisode #40 - On Self Regulated Learning with Mark McDanielMark A. McDaniel is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Integrative Research on Cognition, Learning, and Education (CIRCLE) at Washington University in St. Louis. We discussed his 2014 publication, Make It Stick, and the principles, research, and tactics that appear in the book. I shared with him some of my classroom experiences with these techniques and Mark offered some feedback and advice.
2024-06-1051 minOnly Boring People#39 Building Thinking Classrooms with Dr. Peter LiljedahlDr. Peter Liljedahl is a professor at Simon Fraser University and a renowned mathematics education researcher. His book “Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics” presents over 15 years of research on… essentially, getting students to do more thinking. It’s a fascinating read and I was really honored that he took the time to speak with me.
2024-01-1654 minOnly Boring People#38 Strother Purdy Rd. IIStrother Purdy is the founder of Beloved Old Tree, the author of a fascinating blog, and the author of three books which can all be found here. This is his second time on the show and it is my distinct honor to welcome him back.
Without further introduction, I give you Mr. Strother Purdy.
2023-09-042h 05Only Boring People#37 The Archaeology of the Holy Land with Dr. Jodi MagnessDr. Jodi Magness is a Classical and Biblical archaeologist specializing in ancient Palestine (modern Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories) from the time of Jesus up to the tenth century. Her research interests include Jerusalem, Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient synagogues, Masada, the Roman army in the East, ancient pottery, the Byzantine-early Islamic transition, and Diaspora Judaism in the Roman world.
Without further introduction, I give you Dr. Jodi Magness.To follow her upcoming work, please visit the dig’s website.
2023-05-071h 03Only Boring People#36 Frank Lloyd Wright's Oak Park Studio with Dr. Lisa SchrenkDr. Lisa Schrenk is a Professor of Architectural History at the University of Arizona’s College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture. She is the author of multiple books, including The Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright; and she is the co-founder of the global Institute for the Study of International Expositions (ISIE).
Without further introduction, I give you Dr. Lisa Schrenk.
2023-05-0651 minOnly Boring People#35 The Hebrew Bible with Dr. Steven WeitzmanDr. Steven Weitzman is a scholar in the department of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania and his research specializes in the Hebrew Bible, ancient Judaism and the origins of Jewish culture— and it is my pleasure to invite him back to the show.
Without further introduction, I give you Dr. Steven Weitzman.
2023-04-3055 minOnly Boring People#34 Deeper Learning and Teacher Training with Dr. Sarah FineDr. Sarah Fine is an educator, ethnographer, and the co-author of In Search of Deeper Learning: The Quest to Remake the American High School. She currently directs the High Tech High Graduate School of Education’s Teaching Apprenticeship Program and also serves as a Lecturer in Education Studies at the University of California San Diego.2023-04-2335 minOnly Boring People#33 In Search of Deeper Learning with Dr. Jal Mehta
Dr. Jal Mehta is a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has written extensively on what it would take to improve American education, with a particular focus on the professionalization of teaching.
Jal is the author of several books and publications, including… In Search of Deeper Learning, a contemporary study of schools, systems, and nations that are seeking to produce ambitious instruction which he co-authored with Dr. Sarah Fine.
In addition, Dr. Mehta produces a podcast with Rod Allen called Free Range Humans.
...2023-04-2346 minOnly Boring People#32 Strong Schools Maryland with Shamoyia GardinerShamoyia Gardiner is the executive director of Strong Schools Maryland. Shamoyia is a first-generation American, first-generation college graduate from Miami. Due in part to her identities and experiences as a former educator, she’s determined that life is best spent working at the intersection of education, advocacy, and youth development.
Since its inception in 2017, Strong Schools Maryland has built a sprawling network of tens of thousands of individual grassroots supporters focused on securing the 2020 passage and 2021 veto override of the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, a law dedicating financial resources and critical policies to create a world-class system of...2023-04-0752 minOnly Boring People#31 Meditation and the Divine with Jeff CarreiraToday, I’m honored to have the chance to speak with Jeff Carreira. Jeff is a highly respected spiritual teacher and author who has dedicated his life to exploring the nature of consciousness and the vast array of spiritual experiences associated with it. Through his work, including over forty books, Jeff has helped countless individuals on their own spiritual journeys; and his teachings draw from a wide range of traditions and practices, several of which we touch on in this conversation. Additionally, we discuss Jeff's insights and perspectives on spiritual awakening, meditation, and personal transformation, and we begin to ex...2023-04-021h 16Only Boring People#30 Teacher-Powered Schools with Amy Junge and Julie Cook
Amy Junge is a former California public elementary and middle school teacher and assistant principal. She started working with teacher-powered schools in 2009 and was a contributing author for Trusting Teachers with School Success: What Happens When Teachers Call the Shots. Today, Amy is the Director of Teacher-Powered Schools, an organization started in 2014 with the goals of highlighting the successes of teacher-powered schools, and inspiring other teacher teams to either take charge in their schools or design and run new schools. Amy supports educator teams across the country with teacher-powered governance, collaborative leadership, and autonomous school models.
2023-03-3038 minOnly Boring People#29 The Quest for Character with Dr. Massimo PigliucciMassimo Pigliucci is currently the K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York. His research interests include the philosophy of science, the nature of pseudoscience, and practical philosophies like Stoicism and New Skepticism.
His most recent book The Quest for Character: What the Story of Socrates and Alcibiades Teaches Us about Our Search for Good Leaders (Basic Books, 2022) is about the philosophy of character. It delves deep into the question of whether or not character can be taught, and how, and it applies these questions to our search for upright citizens and...2023-02-261h 08Only Boring People#28 That Thou Art with Dr. David Bentley HartDr. David Bentley Hart is an author. To call him anything else, I found, gets a little tricky. He expressed to me in our conversation, for example, not really enjoying the title of theologian, though many might call him that. Similarly, others might try to categorize him as Orthodox, although again, he tells me he has little interest nowadays in orthodoxy, regardless of whether or not you capitalize the O.
The problem of trying to introduce someone like David Bentley Hart reminds me of the Whitman line: “I contain multitudes.” Having now just spoken with him, I can’...2023-02-261h 26Only Boring People#27 Experimentation and Education Reform with Michael HornMichael Horn speaks and writes about the future of education and works with a number of organizations to improve the lives of as many students as possible.
Michael Horn is the author and coauthor of multiple books, papers, and articles on education, including the award-winning book “Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns” and the Amazon-bestseller “Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools.”
To learn more about Michael, please visit his website linked here.2023-02-2028 minOnly Boring People#26 Fact and Fiction in Biography with Dr. Robert FraserDr. Robert Fraser is a renowned author and biographer. His teaching career has taken him to the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, the University of Leeds, The University of London, and Trinity College, Cambridge.
Currently, he is a professor emeritus at the Open University and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. This is his second time on the show.
Without further introduction, I give you Dr. Robert Fraser.2023-02-121h 53Only Boring People#25 The Center for Black Educator Development with Sharif El-MekkiSharif El-Mekki is the Director of the Center for Black Educator Development (CBED) which he founded in 2019. Prior to that, Sharif was an educator in Philadelphia for nearly 30 years.
Sharif served as the principal of Mastery Shoemaker beginning in 2008 and under his leadership the school received a number of notable awards including the 2016 bronze medal on the U.S. News & World Report high school rankings, 2015 Schools That Can School award, and two Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC) awards (Silver, 2011; Gold, 2009). In addition, Mastery Shoemaker ranked as the 7th-best high school for Black student achievement in PennCAN’s To...2023-02-1143 minOnly Boring People#24 Religious Studies and the Impossible with Dr. Jeffrey J. KripalDr. Jeffrey J. Kripal is the Associate Dean of the School of Humanities and holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University, where he chaired the Department of Religion for eight years and helped create the GEM Program, a doctoral concentration in the study of Gnosticism, Esotericism, and Mysticism that is the largest program of its kind in the world.
He presently helps direct the Center for Theory and Research at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, where he served as Chair of Board from 2015 to 2020. Jeff is the author...2023-02-111h 18Only Boring People#10 A Handmade Purpose with Strother PurdyIn his own words, "Strother Purdy is an almost-academic, a lifetime woodworker, a writer of three other books, a teacher, a father of two, a husband to one, a motorcycling enthusiast, and planter of googly eyes on random advertisements."
He's the founder of Beloved Old Tree, the author of a very interesting blog and the author of three aforementioned books which can all be found here.
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Only Boring People#3 Hypnosis with Krystal CepparoKrystal Ceparro is a hypnotist, an herbalist and a magick practitioner. We discuss those practices as well as psychology, spirituality, culture and the many other reasons I find her work so interesting and she finds it so fulfilling. You can read more about her practice, Innersanctum, here.2023-02-1150 minOnly Boring People#2 Checking In with Jim WoodsJim possesses the rare ability to remain alarmingly focused and objective and, unlike me, he’s concise. He prides himself, and deservedly so, on his unique ability to solve problems and to bring people together, to help them reach consensus on complex issues— and it is for all these reasons, and so many more, that I always look forward to our conversations.2023-02-111h 39
Only Boring People#1 Wellness with Dr. Aidan KayeDr. Aidan Kaye is a doctor of chiropractic medicine and a good friend of mine.2023-02-1152 minOnly Boring People#23 Seeing with the Heart with Kevin O'Brien, SJKevin O'Brien, SJ, is a Jesuit priest and educator. He has taught and served in the administration at several Jesuit universities, including Georgetown, Santa Clara, and Saint Joseph's and he is passionate about connecting his writing and teaching to the cause of environmental and social justice. He is among the most widely read authors in the field of Ignatian spirituality today. His best-selling books include The Ignatian Adventure and Seeing with the Heart. In these works, he translates the 500-year-old tradition of Jesuit spirituality to a wide audience today.
Here are links to both of his books:
Ignatian Adventure: https...2023-01-2956 minOnly Boring People#22 Seeing with Green Lenses with Dr. Mark WallaceDr. Mark Wallace is a Professor of Religion at Swarthmore College. He has a particular interest in the intersection of religion and environmentalism, and has been a frequent commentator on these issues in both the academic and the popular press. In this episode, we will be discussing his book When God Was a Bird: Christianity, Animism, and the Re-Enchantment of the World (Fordham University Press, 2019), among his other ideas.
You can access Dr. Wallace's website here.
2023-01-201h 42Only Boring People#21 Teaching as a Profession with Dr. Richard IngersollDr. Richard Ingersoll is a leading expert on America’s elementary and secondary teaching force. His research examines teaching as a job, teachers as employees, and schools as workplaces—from a teacher’s pre-employment training through their last day in the classroom.
After teaching in both public and private schools for a number of years, Dr. Ingersoll obtained a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. From 1995 to 2000 he was a faculty member in the Sociology Department at the University of Georgia. In 2000 he came to the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pen...2023-01-051h 12Only Boring People#20 The Love of the Sea with Dr. David HuntDr. Charles David Hunt is a retired neurosurgeon of over 30 years in medicine. He worked primarily in Newark, New Jersey and later in Brooklyn, specializing in trauma and cerebrovascular neurosurgery. While in Newark he was chairman of the bioethics committee and he later spent a year setting up a vascular center in Marquette, Michigan.
Now retired, Dr. Hunt is, as he put it during our conversation, focusing on being a human. Which, in my estimation, he’s doing a fine job of.
Without further introduction, I give you Dr. David Hunt.2023-01-011h 51Only Boring People#19 Computational Modeling of Learning with Dr. Elizabeth BonawitzDr. Elizabeth Bonawitz received her Ph.D. from MIT in the brain and cognitive sciences in 2009. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at University of California, Berkeley (from 2009-2013). She was an Assistant and Associate professor of psychology at Rutgers University, Newark from 2013 until 2020 when she moved to Harvard.
Currently, Dr. Bonawitz is the David J. Vitale Associate Professor of Learning Sciences at Harvard University. Her work focuses on the basic science theories of learning with the broader goal of informing educational practice. Her research bridges two research traditions: cognitive development and computational modeling. Specifically, Dr. Bonawitz’s...2022-12-2355 minOnly Boring People#18 ADHD and Neurofeedback Therapy with Dr. Connie McReynoldsDr. Connie McReynolds is a licensed psychologist and certified rehabilitation counselor with more than 30 years of experience in the field.
She has a proven track record of more than 13 years of successful outcomes using neurofeedback with children and adults ages 5-90. Additionally, Dr. Connie has published and presented internationally on her successful outcomes in treating ADHD in children and adults.
Without further introduction, I give you Dr. Connie McReynolds.
Learn more about Dr. McReynolds' work at: www.conniemcreynolds.com2022-12-1157 minOnly Boring People#17 Shamanism, Psychosis and Spiritual Awakening with Phil BorgesPhil Borges is a photographer and filmmaker whose career in humanitarian work has spanned over 25 years. He’s documented indigenous and tribal cultures around the world in an effort to portray the lives they live and the challenges they face. His work is exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide, and his award-winning books, which have been published in four languages, include Tibetan Portrait, Enduring Spirit, Women Empowered and Tibet: Culture on the Edge. He has hosted television documentaries on indigenous cultures for the Discovery channel and National Geographic. Phil also lectures and teaches internationally.
Phil’s 2017 project Craz...2022-12-091h 24Only Boring People#16 Sir James George Frazer with Dr. Robert FraserDr. Robert Fraser is a British author and biographer. He is currently professor emeritus at the Open University in London and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.2022-11-151h 18Only Boring People#15 The Marshall Memo with Kim MarshallKim Marshall was a teacher, central office administrator, and principal in Boston public schools for 32 years. Now, he leads workshops, coaches school leaders and publishes and awesome weekly memo on educational research called The Marshall Memo.2022-10-091h 10Only Boring People#14 fMRI Neurofeedback and Depression with Dr. Kymberly YoungDr. Kymberly Young is a researcher and associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine. Her research focuses on real-time fMRI neurofeedback, autobiographical memory and depression. 2022-10-081h 00Only Boring People#13 Neurofeedback Therapy with Dr. Marvin Berman of the Quiet Mind FoundationThe Quiet Mind Foundation is a public nonprofit and outpatient healthcare practice that provides neurofeedback therapy in the greater Philadelphia area.2022-09-251h 18Only Boring People#12 Sacrifice, Faith and Love with Fr. Bob Daly, SJFather Bob Daly is professor emeritus at Boston College, where he taught theology for 49 years. 2022-09-171h 20Only Boring People#11 Hinduism and Catholicism with Fr. Frank ClooneyFr. Frank Clooney is a Jesuit priest and professor of comparative theology at Harvard University. His scholarship focuses primarily on Catholicism and Hinduism. From 2010-2017 he was the Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard. You can find his personal website here. 2022-09-051h 06Only Boring People#9 Noncanonical Christian Texts or Christian Apocrypha with Dr. Tony BurkeDr. Tony Burke is a professor of humanities at the University of York in Toronto. He specializes in noncanonical Christian texts or what he calls Christian apocrypha. Here is a link to Professor Burke's page.2022-08-081h 37Only Boring People#8 James Joyce's Ulysses with Dr. Paul Saint-AmourDr. Paul Saint-Amour is a Humanities professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He specializes in 19th and 20th century British literature with a particular interest in the novel. He's served as president of the Modernist Studies Committee and he hold a position in the International James Joyce Foundation. Today, Dr. Paul Saint-Amour and I discuss James Joyce's Ulysses. 2022-08-011h 30Only Boring People#7 Ancient Judaism with Dr. Steve WeitzmanDr. Steve Weitzman is a scholar in the department of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania and his research specializes in the Hebrew Bible, ancient Judaism and the origins of Jewish culture.2022-06-201h 13Only Boring People#6 Studying the Hebrew Bible with Kevin HenslerKevin Hensler is a doctorate candidate at Temple University in Religion, with a focus in the Hebrew Bible. He holds two masters degrees: an Master of Arts in Semitic and Egyptian languages and literature from Catholic University and a master’s in theological studies from Notre Dame in Biblical studies. Furthermore, he spent a year as a visiting graduate student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.2022-04-021h 32Only Boring People#5 The Gnostic Gospels with Dr. Elaine PagelsDr. Elaine Pagels is a historian and a professor of religion at Princeton University. Her best-selling book, The Gnostic Gospels, was named one of the 100 best books of the twentieth century by the Modern Library. Professor Pagels has written several important and insightful books since, has given innumerable talks and addresses and has appeared on several prominent podcasts and television shows, including the Colbert Report— and in 2016 she was awarded the national humanities medal from President Obama.2022-03-0739 minOnly Boring People#4 Teaching Religions with Bill KunckenBill Kuncken is a PhD student of Theology and Religious studies at Villanova University as well as a high school theology teacher at a local Jesuit High School in Philadelphia. He is at once deeply knowledgeable and deeply open-minded. I find him time and time again to be refreshingly considerate of the complexity of his field as well as down-to-earth about some of the most high-brow theology I’ve ever encountered. He’s balanced, measured and fiercely interested in what he does. And it’s for all those reasons that I’m so excited that he agreed to sit down wit...2022-02-211h 16