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 20, 2023 • 26min
FreshEd #328 - Live to See the Day (Nikhil Goyal)
Guest Nikhil Goyal discusses the high school dropout crisis in Philadelphia and the dismantling of the social safety net. Topics include inequality in American school financing, disparities between neighborhoods and schools, the dehumanizing environment of alternative schools, and the need for government action to address inequality and injustice.

Aug 13, 2023 • 37min
FreshEd #327 - Building the Post-Pandemic University (Mark Carrigan & Susan Robertson)
Mark Carrigan and Susan Robertson discuss the impact of the pandemic on universities, including challenges of online events, exams, and inclusivity. They explore the changes in higher education institutions and the lasting effects of the pandemic. The speakers also discuss the impact of the pandemic on collective and individual trauma, remote work challenges, and the complexities of hybrid working in universities.

Aug 6, 2023 • 39min
FreshEd #326 – Education Innovation, Scaling Strategies, and the Broader Environment (Brad Olsen)
Today we dig into the ways in which governments in low- and middle-income countries make decisions on education. What interventions work and which should be scaled? My guest is Brad Olsen. As he shows, these questions are a lot more complex than we might think.
Brad Olsen is a senior fellow with the Center for Universal Education in the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution. He has recently published the report “Government Decisionmaking on Education in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Understanding the Fit among innovation, scaling strategy, and broader environment.” This report is part of the Research on Scaling the Impact of Innovations in Education (ROSIE) multiyear project housed at the Center for Universal Education at Brookings and part of the Global Partnership for Education’s Knowledge and Innovation Exchange.
Brad’s opinions expressed on today’s episode are his alone, not official Brookings’ policy.
https://freshedpodcast.com/olsen/
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Jul 30, 2023 • 36min
FreshEd #325 - Queering Higher Education (Louise Morley & Daniel Leyton)
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.
https://freshedpodcast.com/morley-leyton/
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Email: info@freshedpodcast.com
Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Jul 23, 2023 • 41min
FreshEd #324 - The Education Myth (Jon Shelton)
Today we explore the way in which education and economic well-being were linked in the USA. My guest, Jon Shelton, calls the link a myth and shows how it prevented alternative visions of education from expanding and furthering social democracy.
Jon Shelton is a Professor and chair of democracy and justice studies at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. His new book is The Education Myth: How Human Capital Trumped Social Democracy (Cornell University Press, 2023).
https://freshedpodcast.com/shelton/
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Jul 16, 2023 • 34min
FreshEd #303 – Playing With Blocks - The Square Root Of Tree (Michael Rumbelow)
Today we air the last episode of Flux Season 2. Flux is a FreshEd series where graduate students turn their research interests into narrative-based podcasts. This episode was created by Michael Rumbelow, a PhD student at the University of Bristol. In his Flux episode, Michael takes listeners on a sonic journey to explore block play. He weaves together sounds and ideas to show the power and possibilities of play. I hope you enjoy today’s episode.
freshedpodcast.com/flux-rumbelow
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Credits:
This episode was created, written, produced and edited by Michael Rumbelow.
Johannah Fahey was the executive producer. Brett Lashua and Will Brehm were the producers.
Vicki Mitchem played Virginia Woolf and Bertha Ronge, Dave Jackson played Friedrich Froebel, Karl Marx, and Charles Dickens, and Simone Datzberger played Melanie Klein.
Studio audio technicians were Patrick Robinson and Simon Vause.
Thank you and Aray to Sifo Lakaw, chairman of the Association of Pangcah Language Revitalization in Taiwan, Adrian Rooke, Druid of the order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, Gregg Wagstaff, and the National Film Board of Canada, for kindly giving me permissions to use recordings.
With many thanks to Professor Alf Coles for educating my awareness.
And a special thank you to Gene for the Minecraft interview and stop-motion animation.
Sound effects and music credits can be found at freshedpodcast.com/flux-rumbelow
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Learn more about Flux: freshedpodcast.com/flux/about/
Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast
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Jul 9, 2023 • 31min
FreshEd #301 - River Of Development Melawan Lupa (Aizuddin Mohamed Anuar)
Today we air the next episode of Flux. a FreshEd series where graduate students turn their research interests into narrative-based podcasts. This episode was created by Aizuddin Mohamed Anuar, who recently graduated with his PhD from Oxford and is now a lecturer in education at Keele University. In his Flux episode, Aizuddin problematizes the meaning of development. Is development always a forward motion? Or does it weave side to side like a river? And how does development get written onto lives? Is it always bad? Is it always good? Aizuddin meanders through these questions, connecting family memory to the development of Malaysia.
freshedpodcast.com/flux-anuar
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Credits:
Episode created, written, produced, and edited by Aizuddin Mohamed Anuar.
Executive Producer: Johannah Fahey
Producers: Brett Lashua and Will Brehm
Voices:
Narrator, Inner monologue, Translation of Mak, Willard C. Bush: Aizuddin Mohamed Anuar
Long: Nazmi Anuar
Joint reading from text: Nazmi Anuar and Ahmad Akif
Mak: Noraini Ahmad
Young people: Students of SMK Padang Midin, Malaysia (courtesy of their English teacher, Mr. Pravindharan Balakrishnan)
Music and Sounds:
Acoustic guitar compositions (Blues Sungai Seluar, Hujan Pagi, Menyusuri Sungai Jelai, Blues Jambatan Gantung, Bunga Cengang, Balada Kilang Rokok): Ahmad Black
Link: https://ahmadblack.bandcamp.com/releases
Camera Click Sound Effect by Soundstripe
Link: https://app.soundstripe.com/sfx/63925
Chainsaw Sound Effect by InspectorJ
Link: https://freesound.org/people/InspectorJ/sounds/418042/
Clock Ticking Sound Effect by Soundstripe
Link: https://app.soundstripe.com/sfx/32756
Construction Site Sound Effect by Soundstripe
Link: https://app.soundstripe.com/sfx/198
Critters in the rural environment: Recorded by Aizuddin Mohamed Anuar
Dial-up Internet Sound Effect by Free Sounds Library
Link: https://www.freesoundslibrary.com/dial-up-internet-sound/
Drilling Rig Sound Effect by fkunze
Link: https://freesound.org/people/fkunze/sounds/407454/
Elephant Sound Effect by geronimo83
https://freesound.org/people/geronimo83/sounds/103117/
Elevator opening and going up: Recorded by Aizuddin Mohamed Anuar
Gas Flaring and Fire Sound Effect by Soundstripe
Link: https://app.soundstripe.com/sfx/3669
Hammer on Metal Sound Effect by Soundstripe
Link: https://app.soundstripe.com/sfx/39457
People Chattering Sound Effect by Breviceps
Link: https://freesound.org/people/Breviceps/sounds/465699/
Thunder and Rainfall Sound Effect by Soundstripe
Link: https://app.soundstripe.com/sfx/48305
Tiger Sound Effect by Soundstripe
Link: https://app.soundstripe.com/sfx/62307
Traffic sounds in Kuala Lumpur: Recorded by Aizuddin Mohamed Anuar
Underwater Bubbles Sound Effect by Soundstripe
Link: https://app.soundstripe.com/sfx/34316
Various River and Water Sounds: Recorded by Aizuddin Mohamed Anuar
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Learn more about Flux: freshedpodcast.com/flux/about/
Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast
Facebook: FreshEd
Email: info@freshedpodcast.com
Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Jul 2, 2023 • 32min
FreshEd #299 - Can You Hear The Subaltern Speak? (Bhavani Kunjulakshmi)
Today we air the next episode of Flux. This episode was created by Bhavani Kunjulakshmi, a recent graduate of the UCL Institute of Education and staff writer at Feminism in India. Bhavani’s episode explores the meaning of colonization and decolonization in international development and education. We might think we know what colonization is. The history. The actors involved. The exploitation. But what does it feel like? And then what would it mean to decolonize? And what would that feel like? Bhavani explores these questions.
freshedpodcast.com/flux-kunjulakshmi
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This episode was created, written, produced and edited by Bhavani Kunjulakshmi.
Johannah Fahey was the executive producer.
Brett Lashua and Will Brehm were the producers.
Fred Brehm read the quote by Noah Chomsky and Fran Vavrus read the quote by Martha Nussbaum.
Music was composed by M.C Couper
The bell hooks’ clip was a part of ‘A Public Dialogue between bell hooks & Laverne Cox hosted by Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts’ (Creative commons)
The clip of Amartya Sen was a part of ‘Equality and growth – an interview with Amartya Sen’ (Creative commons)
Quote by Noam Chomsky about Kerala was from Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Noam Chomsky, Howard Gardner, and Bruno della Chiesa Askwith Forum (Creative commons)
Quotes by Martha Nussbaum was from “Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach” (Creative commons)
Music: The Spirituals Project – Sankofa – Oh Freedom (Creative commons)
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Learn more about Flux: freshedpodcast.com/flux/about/
Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast
Facebook: FreshEd
Email: info@freshedpodcast.com
Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Jun 25, 2023 • 32min
FreshEd #297 – Am I Able? (Yanan Yu)
Today we re-air the first episode of the second season of Flux, a FreshEd series where graduate students turn their research interests into narrative-based podcasts. In this Flux episode, Yanan Yu tells a story that raises some interesting questions about how ability should be defined. Is it enough that she has a level ten certification in piano? And a master’s degree? And now works at the BBC? Or does she need something else to be considered able?
freshedpodcast.com/flux-yu
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Today’s episode was created, written, produced, and edited by Yanan Yu. Johannah Fahey was the executive producer and Brett Lashua and Will Brehm were the producers. Flux theme music by Joseph Minadeo of Pattern Based music.
The piano pieces in this episode, listed below, are all played by Yanan Yu:
Claude Debussy: Ballade L. 70
Frederic Chopin: Etudes Op. 10 No. 3
Franz Liszt : Un Sospiro, Trois Etudes de Concert S.144
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Elegy Op. 3 No. 1
Wanghua Chu, 春江舟影
Thanks to Haozhou Ding, Zeyu Wang, Yishuang Xu, Xiaotong Wang and other activists across the globe. Yanan would not have been able to express the complexities surrounding this issue without their support. Finally, Yanan hopes that her efforts may contribute to some changes, however small, in her peers’ lives.
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Learn more about Flux: freshedpodcast.com/flux/about/
Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast
Facebook: FreshEd
Email: info@freshedpodcast.com
Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Jun 18, 2023 • 35min
FreshEd #251 – A Political Act Youth Voices and Environmental Education in Brazil (Mari Casellato)
Today we air the third episode of Flux, a FreshEd series where graduate students turn their research interests into narrative-based podcasts. This episode is by Mari Casellato, a recent graduate of Teachers College, Columbia University.
Mari takes us on a journey through time, revealing the potential of youth participation in environmental education in Brazil (and beyond). You might be thinking Brazil – where the Amazon was on fire just last year and the current Bolsonaro government has been routinely criticized for doing too little to prepare for the climate crisis. But back in the 1990s and early 2000s, Brazil spearheaded this idea of environmental education, which brought together a diversity of voices through national conferences and was seen as a political act. Mari was personally involved in this history.
https://freshedpodcast.com/flux-casellato/
Credits:
This episode was created, written, produced, and edited by Mari Casellato. Johannah Fahey was the executive producer and Brett Lashua and Will Brehm were the producers.
Voices:
Narrator: Mariana Casellato
History narrator: Tiago Luna
English version of Joao: Alcides Ferreira
English version of Mariana: Renata Penalva
English version of Isis: Aline Godoy
Youth voices: Ajani Stella and Kayley Chery
Music in this episode (used with permission):
Cacuriá – Mawaca
“Temas tradicionais de cacuriá”
Maranhão – Brazil/Arrangement: Mawaca
Special guest: Tião Carvalho (Voice, cavaquinho and caixa)
Lá na Mata da Amazônia – Seu Antonio and Grupo Cupuaçu
Other music came from the Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue): Eggs and Powder and Alum Drum Solo; and Soundstripe (www.soundstripe.com) Baiao Baiao, Coco Coco, and Sambita Sambita, all by Hola Hola.
Sound effects retrieved from Freesound.org: Sea sound effect by HowNotToSail and Forest sound scape by jonasrocha.
Former UN Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali speech at Rio 92 audio retrieved from the UN Audiovisual Library: The Earth Summit.
Special thanks to Rachel Trajber and Marcos Sorrentino for their generosity and continued work; to Clóvis, for continuing to be a reference; and to João, for the energy. To Projeto Cala-boca já morreu and all of its participants for so many years of partnership, with special remarks to Grácia for all the inspiration, to Mariana, for the insights, to Tiago, for the great voice, and, to Isis for all the support and companionship now and over the years. To Danilo Fernandes, Ajani Stella, Kayley Chery, Renata Penalva, Alcides Ferreira, Aline Godoy, Daniel Corsi, Carla Hirata, and Caio Mamede for agreeing to lend their voices for this project and for all the support. Finally, to Mawaca, to Tião Carvalho, to Neila Campos Mendes and her family, and to Grupo Cupuaçu for allowing us to use their amazing songs “Cacuriá” and “Lá na Mata da Amazônia” that gave so much life to this project.


