

FreshEd
FreshEd with Will Brehm
FreshEd is a weekly podcast that makes complex ideas in educational research easily understood. Five shows. Three languages.
Airs Monday.
Visit us at www.FreshEdpodcast.com
Twitter: @FreshEdPodcast
All FreshEd Podcasts are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Airs Monday.
Visit us at www.FreshEdpodcast.com
Twitter: @FreshEdPodcast
All FreshEd Podcasts are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 3, 2025 • 31min
FreshEd #264 – Mobilizing Investment in Education (Borhene Chakroun)
FreshEd will return with new episodes next week. Today's episode is a re-run from 2021.
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In 2021, UNESCO held a high-level segment of its Global Education Meeting aimed at galvanizing political commitment towards mobilizing additional investment in education. The goal was to encourage countries to develop strong domestic systems to fund education.
My guest today is Borhene Chakroun, Director for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems at UNESCO. He has been working with UNESCO to spearhead the effort to bring conversations about financing education to the highest levels of the international community.
Resources, transcript and more: freshedpodcast.com/chakroun/
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Get in touch!
Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast
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Email: info@freshedpodcast.com
Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/support

Jul 27, 2025 • 27min
FreshEd #195 – Unpacking School Internationalization (Claire Maxwell)
Claire Maxwell, a sociology professor at the University of Copenhagen, discusses the complex themes of school internationalization. She examines the impact of elite education on privatization and racism, while also reflecting on how COVID-19 has transformed the experiences of international students. Maxwell highlights the urgent need for institutions to acknowledge their ethical responsibilities and support diverse student populations facing emotional and racial challenges. Her insights emphasize a shift towards a more inclusive and equitable educational landscape.

Jul 20, 2025 • 25min
FreshEd #346 – Collaboration (Amy Shuffelton)
In this discussion, Amy Shuffelton, a philosophy professor at Loyola University Chicago and author of "Collaboration: Philosophy of Education in Practice," explores the dual nature of collaboration. She highlights a creative program where kids build miniature towns, learning about community dynamics. Shuffelton contrasts youth perceptions of democracy, showing how historical context shapes these views. She also examines the delicate interplay of friendship and authority in collaborative efforts, advocating for a cosmopolitan approach to group dynamics.

Jul 13, 2025 • 36min
FreshEd #325 - Queering Higher Education (Louise Morley & Daniel Leyton)
FreshEd is away for the next few weeks.
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Today we talk about what it would mean to queer higher education. My guests are Louise Morley and Daniel Leyton. In their new book, they disrupt some of the norms and common ways of thinking in higher education today.
Louise Morley is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Sussex and Daniel Leyton is a Lecturer at the University of Exeter. Their new book is entitled Queering Higher Education: Troubling Norms in the Global Knowledge Economy.
freshedpodcast.com/morley-leyton/
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Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast
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Email: info@freshedpodcast.com
Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/support

Jul 6, 2025 • 33min
FreshEd #393 – Teachers’ Work (Kathryn Anderson-Levitt)
If you’d like to join our growing membership community, please visit Freshedpodcast.com/support. Member starts for as little as $10/months.
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Today we take a deep dive into the different types of teachers’ work. My guest is Kathryn Anderson-Levitt, an anthropologist of education whose new book chapter reflects on her field work over 50 years across three countries.
Kathryn Anderson-Levitt is Professor Emerita at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Her new chapter is “Teachers’ Work: Lessons Learned on Three Continents,” which will be published later this year in the Handbook of Teachers’ Work: International Perspectives on Research and Practice.
https://freshedpodcast.com/anderson-levitt/
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Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast
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Email: info@freshedpodcast.com

Jun 29, 2025 • 33min
FreshEd #392 – Spaces of Immigration (Catherine Boland Erkkila)
I wanted to welcome our newest FreshEd members, Joshua Heyes and Miguel Filipe Silva. Their support means we can continue to make FreshEd for the thousands of listeners around the world. If you’d like to join our growing membership community, please visit Freshedpodcast.com/support. Member starts for as little as $10/months.
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Today we look at immigration in the USA. It’s a hot topic, but there is a lot to learn from history. My guest is Catherine Boland Erkkila who recently published the book Spaces of Immigration: American Ports, Railways and Settlements (University of Pittsburgh Press).
Catherine Boland Erkkila is an architectural historian specializing in American cultural landscapes of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She previously worked as the managing editor of SAH Archipedia and taught at Rutgers University.
freshedpodcast.com/boland-erkkila/
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Get in touch!
Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast
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Email: info@freshedpodcast.com

Jun 22, 2025 • 30min
FreshEd #380 - Reimagining education in emergencies (Ritesh Shah & Francine Menashy)
Guests Ritesh Shah, a senior lecturer from the University of Auckland, and Francine Menashy, an associate professor at the University of Toronto, tackle the complexities of education in emergencies. They delve into the impact of systemic racism on global education, revealing the superficiality of current anti-racism initiatives. The discussion critiques how organizations like UNESCO and UNICEF often evade meaningful dialogue on race. They also advocate for urgent structural reforms to address racial capitalism and highlight hopeful initiatives that promote equity in education.

Jun 15, 2025 • 32min
FreshEd #152 – Contesting Islamophobia in education and society (Mariam Durrani)
FreshEd will be back soon with new episodes.
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Today we talk about the history and recent rise of Islamophobia worldwide. My guest is Mariam Durrani, an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Hamilton College.
In our conversation, we discusses both the state policy infrastructure enabling Islamophobia while also the everyday discourses and actions that normalize the Othering of a particular group. Dr. Durrani also discusses her own life story of growing up in a military family and witnessing the rise of Islamophobia in the aftermath of September 11th.
Mariam Durrani recently published the book chapter “Communicating and Contesting Islamophobia.”
www.freshedpodcast.com/mariamdurrani
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Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast
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Email: info@freshedpodcast.com
Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Jun 8, 2025 • 30min
FreshEd #308 – White Ignorance in Global Education (Francine Menashy and Zeena Zakharia)
FreshEd will be back soon with new episodes.
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Today we focus on a hugely important issue but one that is generally absent within the organizations and structures that make up the global education architecture. The issue is race. My guests today, Francine Menashy and Zeena Zakharia, have spent years speaking with staff members at various global education organizations – you know, places like UNESCO, UNCIEF, the World Bank, and the Gates Foundation. They also scrutinized hundreds of publications these organizations have published. Francine and Zeena come to the conclusion that few if any of these organization deal with race and racial power relations between the global north and south in any meaningful way.
Francine Menashy is an associate professor at the University of Toronto and Zeena Zakharia is an assistant professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. Their new article in Harvard Educational Review is entitled White Ignorance in Global Education.
freshedpodcast.com/menashy-zakharia/
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Get in touch!
Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast
Facebook: FreshEd
Email: info@freshedpodcast.com
Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

5 snips
Jun 1, 2025 • 33min
FreshEd #391 – The Care Economy (Tim Jackson)
Tim Jackson, an emeritus professor and director at the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity, discusses his transformative journey in valuing health and care over mere wealth. He dives into the detrimental effects of sugar on health and calls for systemic changes in nutrition. Jackson critiques traditional healthcare, advocating for holistic practices that prioritize well-being. He also addresses gender dynamics in caregiving and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing a reimagined view of prosperity that includes community health and care.