Take Back Our Schools
102 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 71 ratingsTake Back Our Schools puts you on the front lines of the culture wars as Andrew Gutmann and Beth Feeley explore the increasing politicalization of our schools and universities and just what to do about it.
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Episodes
Lies My Liberal Teacher Told Me
June 15, 2024 22:38 - 45 minutes - 42.1 MBBeth and Andrew speak with author, professor and conservative commentor Wilfred Reilly about his recently published book, Lies My Liberal Teacher Told Me, which sets the record straight on a variety of topics that are mistaught in our nation’s schools. Reilly discusses the real history of slavery and the truth about colonialism around the world. We also talk about how our education system and history curricula became so politicized and we discuss whether a backlash to politicized history and...
Penalizing Women's Sports
May 11, 2024 15:26 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBOn this episode, Andrew and Beth speak with Kim Russell, an activist for preserving girls’ and women’s sports. Russell shares her story about what attracted her to take the position of the Women’s Lacrosse Coach at Oberlin College, a notoriously left-leaning college and how a social media post on trans swimmer Lia Thomas led to her removal from that position. She talks about the culture of fear on campus on speaking out about protecting the sanctity of women’s sports. Russell also talks abo...
Title IX Rewrite
April 27, 2024 14:34 - 40 minutes - 37.4 MBAndrew and Beth speak with education activist Erika Sanzi about the Biden administration’s recently released new Title IX Rules. Sanzi gives us a brief overview of the history of the legislation and illustrates how the rules changed dramatically under the Obama administration and then the Trump administration. And now Biden’s new rules bring back kangaroo courts and eliminate due process on college campuses for students accused of sexual harassment. She also talks about how the new rules comp...
The WPATH Files: Exposing the Insanity
April 14, 2024 15:30 - 48 minutes - 44.3 MBBeth and Andrew speak with researcher Mia Hughes, author of the WPATH report that exposed the insanity of transgender medicine worldwide. Hughes gives us an overview of the organization, World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and explains why they became so influential globally on transgender issues. She discusses some of the key findings of her report including the lack of informed consent, and the immense damage caused to children by cross-sex hormones and body mutila...
One Mom’s Journey to Activism
March 30, 2024 19:45 - 38 minutes - 35.6 MBBeth and Andrew speak with parent activist Alexandra Frank, who shares her own story about what led her to become an "accidental activist," having experienced the ideological capture of her twin daughters’ private school in Pennsylvania and then experiencing the same thing at their new public school in Massachusetts. She talks about the inappropriate sexual material being taught to elementary school aged children, about segregating affinity groups, and the influence of radical gender ideolog...
The End of Race Politics
March 17, 2024 16:20 - 43 minutes - 39.5 MBOn this episode, Beth and Andrew speak with author Coleman Hughes about his new book, The End of Race Politics. Hughes talks about race was never an issue growing up and then first experiencing the divisive obsession with race politics as a student at Columbia University. We discuss how the civil rights movement’s dream of colorblindness turned into today’s leftist belief in neoracism and DEI. Hughes also explains how the academic studies behind the idea of implicit bias are bunk. Coleman Cr...
Radical Politics and Antisemitism in Our Schools
March 02, 2024 22:10 - 43 minutes - 39.4 MBOn this episode, Andrew and Beth speak with Free Press reporter Francesca Block. We discuss her recent reporting on the blatant antisemitism and leftist ideological capture of K-12 schools, specifically in a post October 7th world. Block talks about her articles which reports on how BLM materials are used in some New York City public schools, and how one school literally wiped Israel off the map being used to teach students. We also talk about another recent piece of hers which reports on wh...
Everything Is Debatable
February 17, 2024 18:42 - 43 minutes - 40 MBOn this episode Andrew and Beth speak with James Fishback, founder of Incubate Debate. Fishback discusses how high school debate tournaments went woke in recent years and illustrates the National Speech and Debate Association’s extreme liberal bias. He shares stories of how judges are ideologically motivated and either won’t allow certain positions to be debated or dock points for non-leftist opinions. He also talks about his recent piece for The Free Press, entitled, “The Truth About Banne...
Men of Steele
February 03, 2024 20:52 - 54 minutes - 49.8 MBAfter a short hiatus, we are back with Take Back Our Schools. Welcome Back! On this episode, Beth and Andrew speak with the powerhouse father-son team of Shelby and Eli Steele about race relations in America. Both Shelby and Eli share their views on the recent Claudine Gay affair at Harvard University and give their opinions on whether this event marks a turning point in the fight against the diversity, equity and inclusion regime. Shelby talks about his own upbringing and his family’s exper...
The States Take On Social Media
December 16, 2023 17:27 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBThis week Beth and Andrew speak with Maragret Busse, Executive Director of Utah’s Department of Commerce. Busse talks about Utah’s lawsuits against Tik Tok and Meta for the harms social media platforms are causing children. We discuss these harms and the algorithms that social media platforms use to hook children. She shares her views on the possible remedies of these lawsuits, and the state’s new proposed rules for social media including age verification and parental consent. We also talk a...
The Transgender Clinic Whistleblower
December 02, 2023 18:36 - 50 minutes - 45.9 MBJamie Reed is a gay woman, a parent of five children and is married to a transgender man. So, what led her to publicly pull back the curtain on what was happening at the Pediatric Transgender Center at Washington University in St. Louis, MO and to talk of the immense harms being done to children, especially young girls? We discuss the reasons for the explosion of transgender cases we’ve seen in America over recent years, including the role of schools, social media, and healthcare economics. ...
Do Nice Guys Finish Last?
November 04, 2023 18:56 - 39 minutes - 36.6 MBBeth and Andrew speak with author Alexandra Hudson about her recently published book, The Soul of Civility. She discusses the difference between politeness and civility, and shares her opinion on where today’s uncivil society stands in relation to other eras in history. We talk about the role that social media plays in modeling uncivil behavior and Hudson shares tips for how both parents and children can create a more civil world. Alexandra Hudson is a writer, popular speaker, and the founde...
Ethnic Studies and the Rise of Antisemitism
October 21, 2023 21:58 - 44 minutes - 41 MBOn this episode, Andrew and Beth speak with Dr. Brandy Shufutinsky of the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values. Shufutinsky shares her views on the atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel and on the antisemitism we are seeing in the United States. We discuss the roots of that antisemitism on college campuses and in K-12 schools. Ethnic Studies curricula first developed in the state of California, says Shufutinsky, has led to a generation of anti-Israel and antisemitic students. We also discu...
Generation Covid
October 14, 2023 19:28 - 51 minutes - 47.3 MBAndrew speaks with author, filmmaker and former gymnast, Jennifer Sey, who tells her story of being forced out of her very prominent position at Levi Strauss & Co. for her outspoken advocacy of children during the Covid pandemic. We discuss the damage that society inflicted on children due to oppressive restrictions, and how those restrictions have led to mental health issues and unprecedented learning loss, and her upcoming documentary film on the subject, “Generation Covid.” Once a proud p...
Everything's Just Peachy
September 23, 2023 17:10 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MBOn this episode Andrew and Beth speak with author Peachy Keenan about her book, Domestic Extremist – A Practical Guide to Winning the Culture War. Keenan speaks of her own conversion from “secular nothingness” and liberal feminism as a young woman to Catholicism and traditional values as a mother and wife. We talk about the role of feminism in our culture and the difference between boys and girls and she shares some of her tips for other parents for raising children with traditional values ...
Teaching Liberty with the Tuttle Twins
September 09, 2023 18:39 - 39 minutes - 35.7 MBBeth and Andrew speak with author and freedom advocate Connor Boyack. Boyack talks about the need for parents to educate their children on the principles of freedom, a subject matter that children are not learning in their schools. We discuss his book series, The Tuttle Twins, and how it helps teach both children and their parents about free markets, liberty and American history. He also previews two upcoming additions to the series, including one detailing some of history’s most notorious v...
Black History v Black Studies
August 26, 2023 18:22 - 42 minutes - 38.5 MBBeth and Andrew speak with educator Donique Rolle on this week's episode. Rolle tells her story of what led her to become a teacher of African American history and how she realized that her our own college courses in African American studies were highly politicized. She explains the difference between African American history courses which focus on truth, facts and research, and African American studies courses which views history through a victim-based ideology. She also shares her views ab...
Loudoun Clear
August 19, 2023 18:35 - 36 minutes - 33.1 MBOn this episode Andrew speaks with Loudoun County (VA) parent activist Ian Prior about how his local school system became the epicenter of the national parent’s movement in 2021, leading to the surprise election of Glenn Youngkin as governor. Prior shares stories from contentious school board meetings that got national media coverage, including the story of father Scott Smith, whose daughter was sexually assaulted in a school bathroom as a direct result of the Board’s transgender bathroom po...
Civics vs "Action Civics"
August 05, 2023 18:02 - 40 minutes - 37 MBAndrew and Beth speak with education analyst, Tom Kelly who talks about his work with the Jack Miller Center advocating for civics education in K-12 schools. We discuss the appalling results of the recently released assessment of eighth-grade students on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) where only 14 percent of students scored proficient in US history and 22 percent in civics. Kelly also explains the difference between traditional civics education focused on America’s f...
A Liberal Take on the Transgender Cult
July 29, 2023 17:33 - 45 minutes - 41.8 MBThis week Beth and Andrew speak with journalist and author Lisa Selin Davis, who shares how she, as a self-described liberal, started being interested in writing about gender and social justice ideology. We talk about her recent expose in The Free Press, “How Therapists Became Social Justice Warriors” and Davis shares her research on how the fields of psychology and psychiatry have been co-opted by critical social justice, and the role that feminization has played in these trends. Davis also...
Can We Salvage Public Education?
July 22, 2023 18:31 - 44 minutes - 41 MBBeth and Andrew speak with educator, political scientist, and author, Rick Hess, who shares his views on whether we can reform our country’s failing K-12 education system. We discuss the appalling results of our public schools in teaching kids reading, math, history and civics, and how they have declined even more since the covid pandemic. Hess talks about how progressive ideology has taken over the education establishment including graduate schools of education and shares his opinions on wh...
Weathering the Storm in Transgender Research
July 15, 2023 17:25 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBBeth and Andrew speak with psychologist J. Michael Bailey, Professor in the Department of Psychology at Northwestern University. Bailey speaks about his more than three decades of research on gender dysphoria, transsexualism and sexual orientation. He also shares his views on the recent explosion of gender dysphoria amongst young people, especially adolescent girls, and whether it is indeed a social contagion. We also discuss his recent experience having his research on Rapid Onset Gender Dy...
A U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner Speaks on Affirmative Action
July 08, 2023 18:38 - 43 minutes - 40 MBOn this episode Beth and Andrew speak with Civil Rights Commissioner, Peter Kirsanow, who discusses his background and talks about his four terms on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and its growing political polarization. We also discuss the Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning affirmative action, including how it might affect the private sector. Kirsanow shares other controversial issues that are being brought to the civil rights commission, including transgender issues and the s...
When Race Trumps Merit
July 01, 2023 17:56 - 46 minutes - 42.5 MBOn this episode Andrew and Beth interview noted author Heather Mac Donald. She was the first to write about elite K-12 private schools being taken over by an obsession with race and identity nearly 20 years before the events of 2020 and the start of the parent’s movement. We also discuss her recently published book, When Race Trumps Merit: How the Pursuit of Equity Sacrifices Excellence, Destroys Beauty and Threatens Lives. Mac Donald talks about how the concept of “disparate impact” and how...
Catching the Trash: Predatory Teachers
June 24, 2023 13:00 - 42 minutes - 39.4 MBBeth and Andrew welcome in Paul Zimmerman of the Defense of Freedom Institute about his recently released report, “Catching the Trash: Holding Teacher Unions, School Districts, and the U.S. Department of Education Accountable for the Epidemic of Sexual Abuse in Public Schools.” Zimmerman details the alarming rise in reported sexual abuse cases by teachers in public schools in recent years and explains how abusive teachers are allowed to remain in classrooms, being passed from one school dist...
School Choice Evangelism
June 17, 2023 17:49 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MBAndrew and Beth welcome back school choice evangelist, Corey DeAngelis who updates us on the progress the school choice movement has made in the past year, and takes us on a state by state tour of who has passed “fund students not schools” legislation. Corey explains how teachers unions are typically the barrier to passing school choice bills despite the fact that school choice is overwhelming popular with Americans, both Democrats and Republicans. We also discuss Corey’s new book, Medocrity...
The Illiberal Takeover of Healthcare
June 10, 2023 16:22 - 46 minutes - 42.1 MBEvery week on Take Back Our Schools we tackle the culture of illiberalism that has permeated our education system. With teachers and administrators now involving themselves with medical decisions and parents' rights to control the care students get, this week we speak with physician and healthcare policy advocate Carrie Mendoza, MD. Dr. Mendoza discusses how the culture has changed our medical system, especially after the events of 2020. She also explains how the “administrative state” withi...
Technology and Education: Friend or Foe?
June 03, 2023 13:38 - 42 minutes - 38.9 MBBeth and Andrew speak with education innovator and author Ray Ravaglia about what lead to his founding of the Stanford Online High School back in 2007, and the challenges of using technology to create a robust online school for gifted and talented students. Ravaglia discusses how online learning has changed over the past several decades, and especially since the Covid years. We delve into his current work at the organization, Opportunity Education, and how technology can be used in the class...
Restorative Education
May 20, 2023 15:12 - 39 minutes - 36.5 MBEducation analyst Max Eden joins Andrew and Beth for a wide-ranging discussion on the issues facing today's eductaion system. Eden describes what led to him to a career studying education policy and we discuss his explosive and bestselling book about the Parkland school shooting, which concluded that progressive “restorative justice” policies in the school led to the horrific incident. Eden also gives us an update on the Biden administrations proposed changes to Title IX rules and their impa...
Can Comedy Save DEI?
May 13, 2023 16:13 - 38 minutes - 35.1 MBOn this episode, Andrew and Beth speak with comedian and diversity trainer, Karith Foster. Foster shares her views on what is wrong about the way diversity training is done in schools and corporations and talks about her own methodology for DEI trainings, which she calls “inversity.” She explains how comedy can be used in a productive way to bring people together, rather than divide them, as happens in typical DEI trainings. We also discuss the state of comedy in today’s climate of hypersens...
Academic Freedom in the Age of DEI
May 06, 2023 16:54 - 49 minutes - 45.6 MBThis week Beth and Andrew speak with geophysicist Dorian Abbot, an outspoken activist for academic freedom. Abbot discusses his views on the state of free speech and academic freedom in elite universities in the United States and talks about his own high profile experience of being cancelled from a speech he was supposed to give at MIT because of his outspoken activism against the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) regime. Abbot also shares his scientific views on climate change and wheth...
Media and the Parents Movement
April 29, 2023 15:44 - 47 minutes - 43.5 MBOn this episode Beth and Andrew speak with Chicago radio host and former Illinois gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft. Proft shares his views on the polarized media environment and how radio has changed in the decade plus that he's been a talk show host. Moreover, Proft also talks about how the parent’s movement has used media to get the story out on the insanity that is happening in our nation’s schools. Proft gives his take on the recent Chicago mayoral election, what it means for the city ...
Take Back the Schools, Take Back the Neighborhoods
April 22, 2023 18:57 - 42 minutes - 38.8 MBThis week Beth and Andrew speak with Pastor and community leader, Corey B. Brooks of Chicago. Pastor Brooks discusses the fight against violence gripping the city's poorest neighborhoods. He talks about how progressive policies over the past 60 years have led to a deterioration of black neighborhoods and the destruction of the traditional family. Moreover, Pastor Brooks explains how the loss of religion and the deterioration of schools has impacted the community and how that adds to the allu...
The Fight for Parental Rights
April 15, 2023 13:00 - 52 minutes - 48.6 MBThis week Beth and Andrew speak with attorney and activist Will Estrada, who explains what is meant by the term “parental rights” and gives a history of legislation and the important court cases that have impacted the rights of parents. Estrada also discusses his organization’s work fighting for curriculum transparency in our nation’s public schools and the importance of fighting for parental rights at all three levels of government: local school boards, state legislatures and at the federal...
Stolen Youth
April 07, 2023 20:30 - 47 minutes - 43.1 MBOn this episode, Andrew and Beth speak with journalist and author Karol Markowicz, who discusses her brand new book, Stolen Youth, which details how our nation’s children have been under siege from Covid restrictions and the left’s political indoctrination in schools. She also shares her view on what parents must do to raise their own children given today’s political climate and how they can help the fight within their kids’ schools. Karol talks about her own upbringing in the Soviet Union a...
There are Only Two Sexes
April 01, 2023 15:25 - 51 minutes - 46.9 MBOn this episode, Beth and Andrew speak with evolutionary biologist Colin Wright. Wright walks us through the controversies around gender and trans ideology from the perspective of an evolutionary biologist and discusses the difference between sex and gender and explains why there are only two sexes: male and female. He shares his views on why so few scientists and doctors are willing to speak up on these issues. That leaves it to the parents and we talk about what they need to know about gen...
Reviving Jewish Classical Education
March 25, 2023 16:31 - 47 minutes - 43.4 MBThis week Andrew and Beth speak with Eric Cohen, author and founder of The Lobel Center for Jewish Classical Education where we discuss the importance of classical education for the Jewish community, the differences between classical and progressive schooling and the relationship between classical education and academic rigor. Cohen shares some of the initiatives of his new organization, including partnerships to train Jewish classical teachers and launching a Jewish version of Teach for Amer...
The Great Parent Revolt
March 18, 2023 13:36 - 46 minutes - 42.7 MBOn this episode, Andrew and Beth speak with author and education expert Lance Izumi about his new book, The Great Parent Revolt, which highlights the stories of ordinary people that stood up to the against critical race theory and woke indoctrination in their children’s schools. We discuss how these new American heroes come from all walks of life, geographically, politically and socioeconomically. Lance talks about how many of the parents he profiles share one thing in common – an immigrant s...
Proof CRT/Social Justice Ideology is Rampant in America’s Schools
March 11, 2023 14:10 - 44 minutes - 30.6 MBOn this episode Andrew and Beth interview professor Eric Kaufmann on his new Manhattan Institute report, “School Choice Is Not Enough: The Impact of Critical Social Justice Ideology in American Education." Eric shares the findings of his comprehensive report and details how critical race theory and radical gender ideology are rampant in American schools, including public, private and religious schools. Eric discusses how this ideology in schools is influencing political beliefs and how it is ...
An Immigrant Defends the American Dream
March 04, 2023 23:00 - 42 minutes - 38.9 MBOn this episode Beth and Andrew speak with philosophy professor and author Jason D. Hill. Jason talks about his life as an American immigrant from Jamaica, what led him to the study of philosophy, and his rejection of leftist social justice ideology. He discusses the state of today’s woke college campus, including what is motivating impressionable students, and why most professors are so reluctant to speak up against illiberal trends. We talk about whether higher ed is savable and Jason share...
Saving My Daughter from the Transgender Cult
February 25, 2023 20:54 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MBIn this powerful episode of Take Back Our Schools, Beth and Andrew speak with Mom and children’s advocate, Erin Friday. Erin shares her emotional journey rescuing her own teenage daughter from the cult of transgender ideology. She speaks about the role of sex ed curriculum in schools in introducing children to concepts of gender ideology, and how the isolation from extended school closures during Covid encouraged girls to become lost in a sea of toxic social media and susceptible to social co...
James Lindsay: The Theft of Education
February 18, 2023 14:28 - 46 minutes - 43 MBOn this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Andrew and Beth speak with author and anti-woke activist, James Lindsay, known on Twitter as @ConceptualJames. James shares his views on how America’s education system was overtaken by revolutionary ideologies based in Marxism and how these ideologies, including critical race theory and queer theory, are manifested in the classroom. We discuss how parents can recognize this transformation of their children’s schools and what can be done to reclaim our...
Get Up and Fight
February 09, 2023 20:15 - 42 minutes - 38.7 MBAndrew and Beth speak with Dr. Elana Yaron Fishbein, founder of the organization, No Left Turn in Education. Elana tells her story of how she became an activist in the parents movement and founded a national “boots on the ground” grassroots organization. She talks about the issues that motivated her to begin speaking up about the crises of K-12 education, including critical race theory and the sexualization of children. She also shares her views on what has changed in the parents movement ove...
What is Wrong with Our Schools?
January 21, 2023 11:39 - 46 minutes - 42.7 MBOn this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Andrew and Beth welcome teacher and author, Daniel Buck. Daniel talks about his new book, What is Wrong with Our Schools, and shares his own experiences as a student in the progressive echo chamber of education schools and as a teacher. Daniel describes his journey away from progressive education and towards knowledge-based traditional education, especially classical literature. We discuss the importance of student behavior in the classroom and the de...
Can the Classic Learning Test Replace the SAT?
January 14, 2023 18:14 - 49 minutes - 45.7 MBOn this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Andrew and Beth welcome classical education innovator Jeremy Tate who talks about his experiences teaching in inner city New York City and what led him to found the Classic Learning Test, a standardized test for classical education that aims to compete with the SAT and ACT. We discuss the differences between classical education and progressive/modern education and Jeremy shares his views on the history of progressive education and of standardized test...
The Collapse of Parenting
December 20, 2022 15:39 - 53 minutes - 49.2 MBBeth and Andrew welcome family physician and author, Dr. Leonard Sax, who shares his views on how both parenting and children have changed over the 30+ years he has practiced family medicine, particularly how the scourge of cell phones, social media and pervasive pornography have impacted our nation’s youth. He also talks about the exploding social contagion of gender dysphoria and trans ideology, especially among girls. Sax passionately implores parents to reclaim their proper role vis-à-vis...
Britain’s Strictest Headmistress
December 13, 2022 18:46 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MBOn this episode Andrew and Beth interview “Britain’s Strictest Headmistress,” Kathrine Birbalsingh. Kathrine speaks about the state of education in the U.K., which we compare with our own experiences in the U.S. She discusses what led her to a career in teaching and to forming her own school in London, Michaela Community School. She also shares her views on woke education and how a culture of victimhood is harming children, especially lower income and inner city children. She explains what be...
Teacher’s Perspective on the Politicization of our Public Schools
December 09, 2022 03:42 - 58 minutes - 53.6 MBBeth and Andrew welcome former teacher and dissident, Frank McCormick. Frank shares his reasons for why he went into teaching and what led him to become disillusioned with the ideological indoctrination happening in his public high school in Illinois. Frank talks about what critical pedagogy and critical race theory look like in the classroom and the role of teachers unions and school administrators in pushing these Marxist ideologies. Frank also shares his views on what role parents can play...
Stopping the Illiterate Revolution
November 29, 2022 18:33 - 50 minutes - 46.8 MBOn this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Beth and Andrew speak with the Nathan Hoffman, one of the leaders of the school choice movement. Nathan talks about how the issue of school choice fared in the recent midterm elections. We discuss the parent movement’s role in the march for school choice and some of the various criticisms of school choice from both woke and non-woke camps. Nathan talks about what a hypothetical Republican presidential administration could do to in 2024 to further scho...
Pioneers of the Parents Movement
November 15, 2022 16:31 - 45 minutes - 42.2 MBIn this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Andrew and Beth speak with parent activist, Betsy Hart. Betsy was, along with our own Beth Feeley, a co-founder of the group Parents of New Trier (now New Trier Neighbors). Betsy and Beth share their stories about being pioneers of the parents rights movement. Betsy talks about what prompted the group's founding more than five years ago, and shares her views on how the parents movement has evolved. We also discuss the recent expose in Mother Jones mag...