Learning and Liberation with Ben Rehrman & Genevieve Shade
Our guests today are Ben Rehrman and Genevieve Shade, both of whom are 18-year old, self-directed (unschooled) homeschool graduates. Ben and Genevieve are in the throws of producing a documentary series for YouTube titled "Learning and Liberation". Learning and Liberation is a documentary series that explores the people and places that allow young people to grow, play and learn outside of traditional school. BIOS: Genevieve Shade is a Pittsburgh based multidisciplinary artist and creator of the e-zine “Youth Liberation Now” (YLN). YLN touches on topics of youth rights, education, the history of youth movements, and politics. Through grassroots distribution, YLN has spread across the US and internationally. Beyond YLN, Genevieve is a fine artist, writer, and researcher. Her film photography work was shown at the Mattress Factory in May 2022, and at Bankrupt Bodega in November 2022. She is also a printmaker, painter, and people’s history enthusiast. One of her latest projects is a collaborative research project with her mentor Shaun Slifer, focusing on 1970s high school student activism in Pittsburgh. She is very passionate about education, having experienced 5 different models of education throughout her life. In 2020 Genevieve decided to leave public high school (one of the best decisions she’s ever made) and she has been happily unschooling for the past three years. Ben Rehrman is a filmmaker and lifelong unschooler from Eastern Pennsylvania. Their interest in film started as a child. They used all of their free time to experiment with animation and live action story telling. As a teenager they started a YouTube channel, where they began uploading educational and autobiographical videos. These videos slowly gained traction online, growing an audience for their work. Ben is interested in narrative and documentary film, having made multiple short films. Unschooling and self directed education are some of their main creative inspirations. From informing audiences about the basics of self directed education, to making autobiographical videos about their life to show what unschooling is like, to interviewing other people in the space, unschooling has driven their work. Their films have been official selections in The All American High School Film Festival, The Sun Valley High School Film Festival, The Saul Zaentz High School Film Festival, and the SE Pennsylvania Teen Filmmakers Showcase. Videos on their YouTube channel have garnered almost half a million views, making them one of the most viewed video sources about unschooling. LINKS To help crowdfund Ben & Genevieve's film, click here by April 2, 2023: https://seedandspark.com/fund/learning-and-liberation#story Learning and Liberation Website: https://learningandlib.com/ Learning and Liberation on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@learningandliberation
