Learned Oakwood School

What skills will students need to be prepared for an increasingly complex future? As technology continues to shape our society and our structures of communication, how should education respond? And can places of privilege foster equity and inclusivity within and beyond their communities? My name is Tristan Friedberg Rodman. This is Learned.

On Learned, we’re looking beyond test scores and college acceptance rates to understand how education can shape the future of our society — and what kind of teaching we need to bring us there.

Our guest today is Callie Ryan. Callie and I were classmates, graduating together in 2011. We both went to college and studied experimental electronic music — her at UC Santa Cruz, me at Brown — before moving back to LA. We re-connected recently because we each found ourselves seeking answers for undiagnosed and chronic ailments.

Callie performs across Los Angeles, hosts a weekly radio program on Dublab, and is finishing up her first year of acupuncture school. We met up at her home in South Pasadena to talk about how she started making music, balancing creativite practice and mental health, and listening to our bodies when they say it's time to slow down.

What skills will students need to be prepared for an increasingly complex future? As technology continues to shape our society and our structures of communication, how should education respond? And can places of privilege foster equity and inclusivity within and beyond their communities? My name is Tristan Friedberg Rodman. This is Learned.

On Learned, we’re looking beyond test scores and college acceptance rates to understand how education can shape the future of our society — and what kind of teaching we need to bring us there.

Our guest today is Roy Rubin. Roy graduated from Oakwood in 1993 before enlisting with the Israeli Defense Force, pausing a business degree at UCLA to pursue web development, and founding Magento, an e-commerce company that was purchased by eBay in 2011. Ivan, Christie, and I drove out to Roy's home in Agoura Hills, where we spoke about risk taking, dual identities and immigration, and how to teach soft-skills for adaptability. 

What skills will students need to be prepared for an increasingly complex future? As technology continues to shape our society and our structures of communication, how should education respond? And can places of privilege foster equity and inclusivity within and beyond their communities? My name is Tristan Friedberg Rodman. This is Learned.

On Learned, we’re looking beyond test scores and college acceptance rates to understand how education can shape the future of our society — and what kind of teaching we need to bring us there.

Our guest today is Spencer Ludwig. Spencer graduated from Oakwood in 2009 and, after playing trumpet in the band Capital cities, signed a record deal with Warner Brothers as a solo artist. Ivan, Spencer, and Christie sat down at Oakwood to talk about using a creative education to develop concrete life skills, finding clarity of purpose, and making it work as a musician. 

What skills will students need to be prepared for an increasingly complex future? As technology continues to shape our society and our structures of communication, how should education respond? And can places of privilege foster equity and inclusivity within and beyond their communities? My name is Tristan Friedberg Rodman. This is Learned.

On Learned, we’re looking beyond test scores and college acceptance rates to understand how education can shape the future of our society — and what kind of teaching we need to bring us there.

Our guests today are Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin, Oakwood parents in the classes of 2017 and 2021. In their daughter Franny's 8th grade year, Jennifer and Mark decided to pull their kids from school and take a year off — a sabbatical. They hit pause and traveled all around the world. Jennifer and Mark also co-created Big Mouth, an animated show on Netflix starring Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, all about the pains and pleasures of puberty. We sat down at Oakwood and talked about middle school, growing pains, sex education.

What skills will students need to be prepared for an increasingly complex future? As technology continues to shape our society and our structures of communication, how should education respond? And can places of privilege foster equity and inclusivity within and beyond their communities? My name is Tristan Friedberg Rodman. This is Learned.

On Learned, we’re looking beyond test scores and college acceptance rates to understand how education can shape the future of our society — and what kind of teaching we need to bring us there.

Our guest today is Rebecca Hatkoff. Rebecca graduated from Oakwood in 1999. She received a PhD in Education from the Claremont Graduate University, where she is now a teacher-educator. She trains our future teachers. We met at Rebecca's apartment in Silverlake and talked about the skills that help teachers excel, the hidden curriculum of public schools, and how our society values teaching as a profession.

What skills will students need to be prepared for an increasingly complex future? As technology continues to shape our society and our structures of communication, how should education respond? And can places of privilege foster equity and inclusivity within and beyond their communities? My name is Tristan Friedberg Rodman. This is Learned.

On Learned, we’re looking beyond test scores and college acceptance rates to understand how education can shape the future of our society — and what kind of teaching we need to bring us there.

Our guest today is Ned Wingreen. Ned graduated from Oakwood in 1980 and now, as you heard, teaches molecular biology at Princeton University in New Jersey. He's the Howard A. Prior Professor of the Life Sciences. He also  holds a PhD in theoretical condensed matter physics from Cornell. Right now, he's focused on modeling intracellular networks in bacteria and other microorganisms. Ned, Ivan, and Christie met up at Princeton to talk about scientific communication, diversifying the faculty and student body, and the tensions between sheltering students so that they can focus and exposing them to the world beyond.