Ben Averbook Podcast

Ben Averbook

Fixing education while educating myself. www.benaverbook.com

Episodes

  1. 11/04/2025

    Dr. Matt Bateman: How Traditional Schools Kill Agency (And Montessori Fixes It)

    Matt Bateman is a philosopher and founder of Montessorium, working on building Montessori schools enhanced with AI. What’s the difference between patiency and an agency? In this conversation, Matt explains why agency matters more than test scores, how AI can scale personalized learning, why education reform keeps failing, and what the world would look like if every child learned to be an agent instead of a patient. Follow Dr. Bateman on X: https://x.com/mbateman Follow me on X: https://x.com/benaverbook Check out Montessorium: https://montessorium.school/program (0:00) Would Maria Montessori Love AI or Hate It? (3:14) How AI Scales the Montessori Method (5:43) The Right Way vs Wrong Way to Use AI Tutors (7:23) Why Matt Bateman Believes Montessori Is the Best Education Philosophy Ever Created (9:45) Inside a Montessori Morning Routine: Students Running Their Own Day (14:20) What Is Agency and Why Does It Matter More Than Test Scores? (18:30) Traditional Schools Teach Kids to Be Patients, Not Agents (22:00) Can You Build Agency After 13 Years of Being Told What to Do? (24:45) Three Strategies for Developing Agency as a Young Adult (28:50) Why So Many Thiel Fellows Went to Montessori Schools (30:20) What the World Would Look Like If Everyone Had a Montessori Education (33:40) Can Montessori Scale to a Billion Kids? (36:10) Why Education Is Like Medicine Before Galen (37:50) Why Most Education Startups Die (And Why Khan Academy Weakened After Gates Foundation Money) (39:20) The Only Two Paths to Fixing Education: Build Schools and Make Arguments (41:18) School Choice and Free Market Dynamics (42:59) The Real Cost of Public vs Private Education (44:21) The Zombie Bureaucracy Blocking Education Reform (46:20) Teachers Unions Are the Biggest Problem in American Education This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.benaverbook.com

    46 min
  2. 04/09/2025

    Jason Zhao: Making the $61 Trillion IP Market Accessible to Every Creator

    My conversation with Jason Zhao, co-founder of Story Protocol. Jason breaks down the $61 trillion intellectual property market, explains how creators can better monetize their work, and shares a vision for making IP licensing as seamless as an API call. We explore the balance between incentivizing creation and enabling access, why AI training data should include compensation for creators, and how the future might revolutionize digital ownership. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Defining intellectual property and its $61 trillion market 00:04:33 - Is IP necessary? Historical origins and balancing incentives 00:09:18 - Where's the line between ideas and protectable IP? 00:11:11 - The Studio Ghibli AI controversy and style protection 00:12:05 - How licensing fees might impact virality and distribution 00:17:13 - Big names using Story Protocol (BTS, Blackpink, Sabrina Carpenter) 00:17:38 - How Aria works: bringing music IP on-chain with revenue and control rights 00:21:31 - Future of digital creators: more lucrative than Hollywood? 00:24:17 - How Mr. Beast could leverage Story Protocol for monetization 00:27:20 - AI training data and Jason's background at DeepMind 00:29:10 - Story Protocol's biggest challenges: the cold start problem 00:31:46 - Will licensing become a primary monetization vehicle for creators? 00:35:45 - Story Protocol in 10 years: the invisible infrastructure of creation Check out Story Protocol here: https://www.story.foundation/ Follow Jason on X: https://twitter.com/jasonzhao Follow me on X: https://twitter.com/benaverbook Subscribe to my channel if you haven't yet. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.benaverbook.com

    39 min
5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Fixing education while educating myself. www.benaverbook.com