The first three months of my current full-time position at Menlo were intense: It was my first time being truly full-time at any position where my schedule was consistent and I had to sit at a desk; I launched into planning the largest event that my office hosts annually to occur at the end of those first three months; and I had to learn everything I could about education abroad really fast, because my job labeled me the designated campus expert. It was a lot of pressure and I landed face-first more than once after tripping up here and there.
At some point, I stumbled across the podcast Inside Study Abroad while looking for free ways to learn more. I had never been quite the podcast listener yet, but I couldn’t get enough of Brooke Roberts’s interviews of education abroad experts. I savored every episode – which unfortunately left me in a sad position where I have seven episodes left, but they were taken down a few months ago as Brooke launched her latest business efforts, Remote Life Labs. (Which promises to be just as compelling, with a different focus!).
I have since accumulated more podcasts to my library, focused on education – primarily higher education, but I want to mix it up. I am still on the hunt for early childhood education and K-12 podcasts!
Future U Podacst: With Jeff Selingo and Michael Horn
After listening to the first episode of Future U, I blasted through half of the backlog of episodes. The introductory episode for me covered Michael Horn’s recently published book, “Choosing College: How to Make Better Learning Decisions Throughout Your Life,” and I promptly purchased it (review to come once I’ve read it). The first half of each episode typically starts with an interview between either Jeff or Michael and their guest, and guests range from university and college presidents to professors and other experts. My favorite so far is episode 26, an interview with Oregon Governor Kate Brown released on January 8th, 2019. Podcasts are released approximately every other week.
The Buzz: by Capture Higher Ed
Originally, this podcast covered college Admissions, but it has branched out this year to include all topics in Higher Ed. It’s hosts all work for Capture Higher Ed, a company that develops marketing and behavioral analysis automation software, most of whom (all?) work remotely. They produce a podcast episode about once a month – not nearly often enough, in my opinion, as I have found their conversations to be fascinating and engaging!
With a backlog of 150 podcasts on the Edtech industry, this podcast covers topics at all levels of education and is hosted by Sophie Bailey, based out of England. The podcast has recently become the “Voctech” podcast, focusing on technology in postsecondary education and continuing education. Sophie posts episodes weekly during the academic year with an occasional bonus episode.
Higher Ground: with John Graff
I think the most confirming moment of my passion for higher education – so far – came when I listened to a podcast episode about higher education law and felt engaged at every moment. John Graff has an extensive background in higher ed law and brings on expert guests. Unfortunately this podcast airs once every couple of months – as with most of these podcasts I am listing, I wish there was more content to listen to!
EdSurge will often cover technology-related topics in education in brief, 20-25 minute episodes published on a weekly basis. “Technology” covers a broad spectrum, which make its topics and guests extremely diverse.
School Colors: by Brooklyn Deep
School Colors is a series of about 8 podcasts (the last few yet to be published as of Nov. 1st 2019) covering how race and class have influenced education in US American history. The series, at least this first round, covers communities in Brooklyn specifically. It is very well orchestrated as a podcast, and draws the connections between history and present, never hesitating to ask the hard questions.
Though specific to teaching, I find these podcast episodes can be just as useful to administrators. I am also still exploring my teaching style, and my ability to teach, and enjoy listening to the perspectives of the many guests brought to the podcast.
Have education podcast recommendations? Send them my way! I don’t have enough on the lineup and am always eager to learn more!