Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg Spencer Greenberg

Read the full transcript here. (https://podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/186/#transcript) • Why did students struggle so much to learn through video meetings during the locked-down days of the pandemic? What are "student-led restorative practices"? What is "self-connection practice"? What tools are students lacking? When is violence the optimal solution to a problem? What are the biggest problems in education right now? What do students need in order to be successful humans? How can schools give students more agency and autonomy? What happens if students refuse to participate in restorative processes? How do our societal goals shape our educational goals? • AJ Crabill's focus is improving student outcomes. He serves as Conservator at DeSoto, Texas ISD; and during his guidance, DeSoto improved from F ratings in academics, finance, and governance to B ratings. He's also Faculty at the Leadership Institute of Nevada and Director of Governance at the Council of the Great City Schools. He served as Deputy Commissioner at the Texas Education Agency and spearheaded reforms as board chair of Kansas City Public Schools that doubled the percentage of students who are literate and numerate. Crabill is the author of Great On Their Behalf: Why School Boards Fail, How Yours Can Become Effective , and is a recipient of the Education Commission of the State's James Bryant Conant Award. Learn more about him at his website, ajc7.com (https://ajc7.com/), or follow him on LinkedIn (https://linkedin.com/in/ajcrabill/), YouTube (https://youtube.com/AJCrabill), Facebook (https://facebook.com/groups/GreatOnTheirBehalf), or Twitter / X (https://x.com/ajcrabill7/). • Further reading: • Great on Their Behalf: Why School Boards Fail, How Yours Can Become Effective by AJ Crabill (https://www.amazon.com/Great-Their-Behalf-School-Effective-ebook/dp/B0BXMMDH7C) • Results Now 2.0: The Untapped Opportunities for Swift, Dramatic Gains in Achievement by Mike Schmoker (https://www.amazon.com/results-Now-2-0-Opportunities-Achievement/dp/1416631992/) • Effective School Boards (https://effectiveschoolboards.com/) • Student-Led Restorative Practices (https://studentledrp.org/) • Staff • Spencer Greenberg (https://www.spencergreenberg.com/) • — Host / Director • Josh Castle (mailto:joshrcastle@gmail.com) • — Producer • Ryan Kessler (https://tone.support/) • — Audio Engineer • Uri Bram (https://uribram.com/) • — Factotum • WeAmplify (https://www.weamplify.info/) • — Transcriptionists • Miles Kestran (mailto:digillennial@gmail.com) • — Marketing • Music • Lee Rosevere (https://archive.org/details/MusicForPodcasts04/Lee+Rosevere+-+Music+for+Podcasts+4+-+11+Keeping+Stuff+Together.flac) • Josh Woodward (https://www.joshwoodward.com/song/AlreadyThere) • Broke for Free (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Something_EP/Broke_For_Free_-_Something_EP_-_05_Something_Elated) • zapsplat.com (https://www.zapsplat.com/music/summer-haze-slow-chill-out-house-track-with-a-modern-pop-feel-warm-piano-chords-underpin-the-track-with-warm-pads-and-a-repetitive-synth-arpeggio/) • wowamusic (https://gamesounds.xyz/?dir=wowamusic) • Quiet Music for Tiny Robots (https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Quiet_Music_for_Tiny_Robots/The_February_Album/05_Tiny_Robot_Armies) • Affiliates • Clearer Thinking (https://www.clearerthinking.org/) • GuidedTrack (https://guidedtrack.com/) • Mind Ease (https://mindease.io/) • Positly (https://positly.com/) • UpLift (https://www.uplift.app/) [Read more: https://podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/186/aj-crabill-what-tools-do-students-really-need-in-order-to-become-successful-humans]

Read the full transcript here. (https://podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/185/#transcript) • What should the goals of math education be? What does it mean to "think well"? Is math real? Why are feelings of bewilderment or confusion so common in math classes but not as common in other subjects? Schools now generally offer reading and writing instruction separately — even though both are important for language use — because the skill sets they require can differ so widely; so how might math education benefit from drawing a similar distinction? What should math classes impart to students that will enable them to engage as citizens with complex or controversial issues? What does it mean to ask good questions in math? Can math teach empathy? What is category theory? Can most people learn most things if they just have the right teacher and/or educational materials? • Eugenia Cheng is a mathematician, educator, author, public speaker, columnist, concert pianist, composer, and artist. She is Scientist In Residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She won tenure in Pure Mathematics at the University of Sheffield, UK, and is now Honorary Visiting Fellow at City, University of London. She has previously taught at the Universities of Cambridge, Chicago, and Nice, and holds a PhD in pure mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Alongside her research in Category Theory and undergraduate teaching, her aim is to rid the world of "math phobia". Eugenia was an early pioneer of math on YouTube, and her videos have been viewed around 15 million times to date. She has also written several books, including: How to Bake Pi (2015); Beyond Infinity (2017); The Art of Logic (2018); x + y : A Mathematician's Manifesto for Rethinking Gender (2020); The Joy of Abstraction: A Exploration of Math, Category Theory, and Life (2022); Is Math Real? How Simple Questions Lead Us to Mathematics' Deepest Truths (https://www.amazon.com/Math-Real-Questions-Mathematics-Deepest/dp/1541601823/ref=asc_df_1541601823/?tag=hyprod-20;linkCode=df0;hvadid=642214288061;hvpos=;hvnetw=g;hvrand=3179482984174082011;hvpone=;hvptwo=;hvqmt=;hvdev=c;hvdvcmdl=;hvlocint=;hvlocphy=9060354;hvtargid=pla-1945328117473;psc=1) (2023); and two children's books: Molly and the Mathematical Mysteries and Bake Infinite Pie with x + y . She also writes the "Everyday Math" column for the Wall Street Journal and has completed mathematical art commissions for Hotel EMC2, 6018 North, the Lubeznik Center, and the Cultural Center, Chicago. She is the founder of the Liederstube, an intimate oasis for art song based in Chicago. As a composer she has been commissioned by GRAMMY-nominated soprano Laura Strickling and is one of the composers for the LYNX Amplify series, setting work by autistic poets who are primarily non-speaking. Learn more about her at her website, eugeniacheng.com (https://eugeniacheng.com/). • Staff • Spencer Greenberg (https://www.spencergreenberg.com/) • — Host / Director • Josh Castle (mailto:joshrcastle@gmail.com) • — Producer • Ryan Kessler (https://tone.support/) • — Audio Engineer • Uri Bram (https://uribram.com/) • — Factotum • WeAmplify (https://www.weamplify.info/) • — Transcriptionists • Miles Kestran (mailto:digillennial@gmail.com) • — Marketing • Music • Lee Rosevere (https://archive.org/details/MusicForPodcasts04/Lee+Rosevere+-+Music+for+Podcasts+4+-+11+Keeping+Stuff+Together.flac) • Josh Woodward (https://www.joshwoodward.com/song/AlreadyThere) • Broke for Free (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Something_EP/Broke_For_Free_-_Something_EP_-_05_Something_Elated) • zapsplat.com (https://www.zapsplat.com/music/summer-haze-slow-chill-out-house-track-with-a-modern-pop-feel-warm-piano-chords-underpin-the-track-with-warm-pads-and-a-repetitive-synth-arpeggio/) • wowamusic (ht... [Read more: https://podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/185/eugenia-cheng-rethinking-what-it-means-to-learn-

Read the full transcript here. (https://podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/184/#transcript) • What can we learn from the parable of the two wolves? What is valuism? Do we choose our own intrinsic values? How quickly do our intrinsic values change over time, if at all? How do values and principles relate to one another? Why is behavior change so hard? What conditions need to be met in order for people to change their behavior? How can people make their behavior changes more persistent and less vulnerable to life's ups and downs? • Eric Zimmer is a behavior coach with 20 years of experience, a Certified Interfaith Spiritual Director, a podcast host, and a writer who is endlessly inspired by the quest for a greater understanding of how our minds work and how we can intentionally create the lives we want to live. He has coached hundreds of people from around the world on how to make significant life changes and create habits that serve them well in achieving the goals they've set for themselves. In addition to his work as a behavior coach, he currently hosts the award-winning podcast, The One You Feed , the title of which is based on an old parable about two wolves at battle within us. Learn more about Eric and his work at oneyoufeed.net (https://www.oneyoufeed.net). • Staff • Spencer Greenberg (https://www.spencergreenberg.com/) • — Host / Director • Josh Castle (mailto:joshrcastle@gmail.com) • — Producer • Ryan Kessler (https://tone.support/) • — Audio Engineer • Uri Bram (https://uribram.com/) • — Factotum • WeAmplify (https://www.weamplify.info/) • — Transcriptionists • Miles Kestran (mailto:digillennial@gmail.com) • — Marketing • Music • Lee Rosevere (https://archive.org/details/MusicForPodcasts04/Lee+Rosevere+-+Music+for+Podcasts+4+-+11+Keeping+Stuff+Together.flac) • Josh Woodward (https://www.joshwoodward.com/song/AlreadyThere) • Broke for Free (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Something_EP/Broke_For_Free_-_Something_EP_-_05_Something_Elated) • zapsplat.com (https://www.zapsplat.com/music/summer-haze-slow-chill-out-house-track-with-a-modern-pop-feel-warm-piano-chords-underpin-the-track-with-warm-pads-and-a-repetitive-synth-arpeggio/) • wowamusic (https://gamesounds.xyz/?dir=wowamusic) • Quiet Music for Tiny Robots (https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Quiet_Music_for_Tiny_Robots/The_February_Album/05_Tiny_Robot_Armies) • Affiliates • Clearer Thinking (https://www.clearerthinking.org/) • GuidedTrack (https://guidedtrack.com/) • Mind Ease (https://mindease.io/) • Positly (https://positly.com/) • UpLift (https://www.uplift.app/) [Read more: https://podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/184/eric-zimmer-values-principles-and-behavior-change]

Read the full transcript here. (https://podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/183/#transcript) • How do the experiences of children born into cults differ from members who join as adults? Why do some cults that grow out of western evangelical Christianity — which is notoriously obsessed with purity culture — often flip the script about sex and turn promiscuity into a virtue? How does age affect the ease with which one internalizes cult programming? To what extent do cult members approve of sexual abuses committed the name of religion? What sort of tactics do cult leaders employ to keep members from leaving? In what ways are militaries like cults? Why has the US military been so slow to fix its culture of rape and abuse of women? What are "thought-stopping" clichés? What defines a cult? What are the often unseen or less tangible consequences of leaving a cult? What sins are considered unforgivable in a cult? What are some examples of cult-like groups that don't necessarily meet every single criterion for cult-ness? • Daniella Mestyanek Young was born a third-generation member of the infamous Children of God religious cult. She grew up being trafficked around the world before escaping that life and moving to America at age 15. She put herself through high school and graduated as college valedictorian before commissioning into the US Army as an intelligence officer. She deployed twice to Afghanistan (in 2011 and 2014) and became a member of one of the Army's first Female Engagement Teams (an experiment that put women into deliberate ground combat for the first time in Army history and eventually led to the repeal of the sexist combat ban and the gender desegregation of the entire US military). She is a proud daughter of the 101st (the unit featured in Band of Brothers ), a recipient of the Presidential Volunteer Service Award from President Obama, and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Organizational Psychology at the Harvard Extension School where she focuses her research on group behavior, social norms, culture, extremism, leadership demagoguery, and cults. Learn more about her at her website, uncultureyourself.com (https://www.uncultureyourself.com). • Staff • Spencer Greenberg (https://www.spencergreenberg.com/) • — Host / Director • Josh Castle (mailto:joshrcastle@gmail.com) • — Producer • Ryan Kessler (https://tone.support/) • — Audio Engineer • Uri Bram (https://uribram.com/) • — Factotum • WeAmplify (https://www.weamplify.info/) • — Transcriptionists • Miles Kestran (mailto:digillennial@gmail.com) • — Marketing • Music • Lee Rosevere (https://archive.org/details/MusicForPodcasts04/Lee+Rosevere+-+Music+for+Podcasts+4+-+11+Keeping+Stuff+Together.flac) • Josh Woodward (https://www.joshwoodward.com/song/AlreadyThere) • Broke for Free (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Something_EP/Broke_For_Free_-_Something_EP_-_05_Something_Elated) • zapsplat.com (https://www.zapsplat.com/music/summer-haze-slow-chill-out-house-track-with-a-modern-pop-feel-warm-piano-chords-underpin-the-track-with-warm-pads-and-a-repetitive-synth-arpeggio/) • wowamusic (https://gamesounds.xyz/?dir=wowamusic) • Quiet Music for Tiny Robots (https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Quiet_Music_for_Tiny_Robots/The_February_Album/05_Tiny_Robot_Armies) • Affiliates • Clearer Thinking (https://www.clearerthinking.org/) • GuidedTrack (https://guidedtrack.com/) • Mind Ease (https://mindease.io/) • Positly (https://positly.com/) • UpLift (https://www.uplift.app/) [Read more: https://podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/183/daniella-mestyanek-young-escaping-a-cult-physically-mentally-and-emotionally]

Read the full transcript here. (https://podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/182/#transcript) • Who's Moloch? And what do we mean when we call something "Molochian"? What does healthy competition look like? How can we avoid or extricate ourselves from Molochian scenarios? Are our instincts about fairness and unfairness usually accurate? Is it possible for today's social media giants to create products that people want to use and that are actually good for people to use? What kinds of problems could conceivably be solved by "trustless" solutions? or "high-trust" solutions? Where do you fall on the "rationality-to-woo" spectrum? When do we not want to find rational explanations for mysterious phenomena? What kinds of new rational explanations might we find if we opened our minds to more "woo"? • Liv Boeree is one of the UK’s most successful poker players, winning multiple titles during her professional career, including a European Poker Tour Championship and World Series of Poker bracelet. Originally trained in astrophysics, she now works as an educator and researcher specializing in the intersection of game theory, technology, and catastrophic risk reduction. Her main focus areas at present are the risks posed by artificial intelligence and other exponential technologies. She is also a co-founder of Raising for Effective Giving (REG), an advisory organization that uses scientific methods to identify and fundraise for the most globally impactful charitable causes. Her latest project is the newly launched Win-Win Podcast, which explores the complexities of one of the most fundamental parts of human nature: competition. Follow her on Twitter at @liv_boeree (https://twitter.com/liv_boeree). • Further reading: • Icarus (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6333060/), a documentary about doping in sports • "Meditations on Moloch" (https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/) by Scott Alexander • Finite and Infinite Games (https://bookshop.org/p/books/finite-and-infinite-games-james-carse/10349390) by James Carse • Win-Win with Liv Boeree (https://www.winwinpodcast.com/) (podcast) • Staff • Spencer Greenberg (https://www.spencergreenberg.com/) • — Host / Director • Josh Castle (mailto:joshrcastle@gmail.com) • — Producer • Ryan Kessler (https://tone.support/) • — Audio Engineer • Uri Bram (https://uribram.com/) • — Factotum • WeAmplify (https://www.weamplify.info/) • — Transcriptionists • Miles Kestran (mailto:digillennial@gmail.com) • — Marketing • Music • Lee Rosevere (https://archive.org/details/MusicForPodcasts04/Lee+Rosevere+-+Music+for+Podcasts+4+-+11+Keeping+Stuff+Together.flac) • Josh Woodward (https://www.joshwoodward.com/song/AlreadyThere) • Broke for Free (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Something_EP/Broke_For_Free_-_Something_EP_-_05_Something_Elated) • zapsplat.com (https://www.zapsplat.com/music/summer-haze-slow-chill-out-house-track-with-a-modern-pop-feel-warm-piano-chords-underpin-the-track-with-warm-pads-and-a-repetitive-synth-arpeggio/) • wowamusic (https://gamesounds.xyz/?dir=wowamusic) • Quiet Music for Tiny Robots (https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Quiet_Music_for_Tiny_Robots/The_February_Album/05_Tiny_Robot_Armies) • Affiliates • Clearer Thinking (https://www.clearerthinking.org/) • GuidedTrack (https://guidedtrack.com/) • Mind Ease (https://mindease.io/) • Positly (https://positly.com/) • UpLift (https://www.uplift.app/) [Read more: https://podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/182/liv-boeree-win-win-vs-moloch-the-many-headed-monster-that-may-consume-us-all]

Read the full transcript here. (https://podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/181/#transcript) • What are the limits of tech solutionism? Do technological innovations create as many problems as they solve? Or, in other words, do technological innovations improve the world on average over time? Are humans living in the 21st century actually worse off than those that lived in the 11th century? What's the difference between "art" and "content"? If image-generating AIs just produce images that are stylistic averages across all of their training data, then is it even theoretically possible for such models to create art that's edgy, avant-garde, or off the beaten path? Is cinema dead? Is literature dead? Are the humanities dying, especially in the US? And might that be a significant contributing factor to the withering of democracy in the US? • Justin Smith-Ruiu, formerly known as Justin E.H. Smith, is a writer based in Paris. He writes speculative fiction, documentary metafiction, criticism, literary non-fiction, and poetry, and also translates poetry. In 2019-2020, he was the John and Constance Birkelund Fellow at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers of the New York Public Library. He is also a professor of philosophy in the department of history and philosophy of science at the Université Paris Cité. Learn more about him and read his writings at www.the-hinternet.com (https://www.the-hinternet.com) • Staff • Spencer Greenberg (https://www.spencergreenberg.com/) • — Host / Director • Josh Castle (mailto:joshrcastle@gmail.com) • — Producer • Ryan Kessler (https://tone.support/) • — Audio Engineer • Uri Bram (https://uribram.com/) • — Factotum • WeAmplify (https://www.weamplify.info/) • — Transcriptionists • Miles Kestran (mailto:digillennial@gmail.com) • — Marketing • Music • Lee Rosevere (https://archive.org/details/MusicForPodcasts04/Lee+Rosevere+-+Music+for+Podcasts+4+-+11+Keeping+Stuff+Together.flac) • Josh Woodward (https://www.joshwoodward.com/song/AlreadyThere) • Broke for Free (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Something_EP/Broke_For_Free_-_Something_EP_-_05_Something_Elated) • zapsplat.com (https://www.zapsplat.com/music/summer-haze-slow-chill-out-house-track-with-a-modern-pop-feel-warm-piano-chords-underpin-the-track-with-warm-pads-and-a-repetitive-synth-arpeggio/) • wowamusic (https://gamesounds.xyz/?dir=wowamusic) • Quiet Music for Tiny Robots (https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Quiet_Music_for_Tiny_Robots/The_February_Album/05_Tiny_Robot_Armies) • Affiliates • Clearer Thinking (https://www.clearerthinking.org/) • GuidedTrack (https://guidedtrack.com/) • Mind Ease (https://mindease.io/) • Positly (https://positly.com/) • UpLift (https://www.uplift.app/) [Read more: https://podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/181/justin-smith-ruiu-do-technological-innovations-yield-net-gains-in-the-long-run]